Publishers' Department.
By Editor
It is generally understood that the publishers of the SIGNS have adopted what is called the “advance pay plan,” that is, all subscriptions are to be paid in advance, and when the time of the subscription expires the paper is to be stopped, unless we are authorized to continue it by written request of the subscriber. We have adopted this plan because it suits the largest number of our patrons. On some accounts it would please us just as well to send the paper until we were told to stop it, and collect its price at the close of the year. But many subscribers object to this plan. Having adopted a policy, we must follow it unless there are good reasons for a change. That all may have ample time to renew before the expiration of their subscription, we notify them by postal card two or three weeks beforehand that it is time to pay for another year. If no response is made to this card, it is our duty to stop the paper. We want to retain your names on our lists, we want you to read our paper. And if there are any of our old friends who wish to have the SIGNS another year but who cannot send the subscription price just when it is due, we will continue it at their request, until they can make payment. Some of our best friends have been offended because their paper was stopped when the time expired. They say, “We had taken the paper seven or eight years, and you ought to know that we wanted it continued. We did not have the money just then but would have sent it in a few weeks.” The clerks who have charge of the lists of subscribers do not know one per cent. of the persons whose names are on the lists. Your name looks just the same on our lists as that of the person who has subscribed for six months, who wants his paper stopped at the end of that time, and who would think we were taking a dishonest course if we should continue it six months longer and then ask for payment. Nothing will please us better than to continue your paper. Examine the credit on your paster, and if the time is near please send us your renewal, or authorize us to continue the paper till you can send it.