loss continued. I do not believe in publishing news papers indefinitely at a loss or by means of advertisements. If a paper supplies a felt want, it must pay its way. The subscription list however ran up steadily week by week and it began to yield profits. But during the last two years as the reader is aware the list has fallen from 21,500 to 3,000 and it is now being run at a loss. Happily Navajivan has made up for it. But even that method is wrong. Young India must stand on its own bottom or fall. It is likely that if I still retain the personal affection of the old readers, Young India will soon pay its way. But I have mentioned the loss not only to acquaint the public with the true state of affairs but also as an introduction to an important announcement.
When Messrs. Banker and Yajnik suggested that
upkeep of these weeklies and secure more subscribers, the question of stopping them may soon arise.
5. It is a bad policy to print a cheap newspaper by making profits from other work, I want the readers to be just as much interested in the upkeep of the papers as the manager and the editor are.
6. It is better that the readers become direct participators in the donation of profits than that they get their paper cheap.
7. If there is a public that does not buy the papers by reason of the prices, it is open to well-to-do subscribers, interested in the circulation of the views and policies advocated in the papers, to order as many copies as they choose and if there is a large demand, lower prices will certainly be quoted for them.
8. In view of the suggestion in clause 7, the question of the high prices is not a matter of moment since the public benefit by every single pie of the profits.
9. The size of the papers cannot very well be increased, if only because I have but limited capacity and the papers have only a limited ambition. The public do not want from me a larger weekly letter than they are getting at present.
