PERIODICITY OF THE SPIRITIST MAGAZINE
RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER SPECIAL NEWSPAPERS
People always show the desire to see the Magazine published every two weeks or weekly, even to the expenses of an increase in the subscription fees. We are very sensitive to that testimony of sympathy, but it is impossible, at least as of today, to change our pattern of publication. The first motive is the multiplicity of the activities as a consequence of my position, whose extension is difficult to imagine. We are absolutely telling the truth when we say that there isn’t for us one single day of absolute rest and that, despite all our activities, it is physically impossible to us to attend to everything. By doubling or quadruplicating our monthly publication, we understand that the majority of the subscribers would be able to read it; however, to us it would be in detriment of the more important works that we still have to do.
The second motive is in the very nature of our Magazine itself, which is less of a newspaper than the complement and development of our doctrinarian works. The periodic format allows us to introduce more variety than in a book, and register the current events. Then they are grouped according to the opportunity and circumstances, the refutations, the instructions from the spirits; it is in the Magazine that the different phases of the progress of the Spiritist Science shows; it is in the Magazine also that under a doubtful form, the new theories are tested, the new theories that cannot be accepted unless blessed by the sanction of the universal control.
In one word, the Magazine is a personal work, whose responsibility we have taken entirely, for which we should not and do not want to be hindered by any strange will; it is conceived according to a determined plan to support the objective that we want to achieve. Once transformed into a weekly magazine, it would lose its essential character. The same nature of our works oppose that we get into the details of worries and vicissitudes of journalism. That is why the Spiritist Magazine must remain as it is. I shall continue while its existence in the current format is proven necessary to us. As a matter of fact, by changing its mode of publication we would give the impression of competing with the new published papers about the subject, which could not take place in our ideas.
By its more frequent periodicity those papers fill out the indicated blank; by the diversity of the subjects that they can handle, and that come into their scripts, by the number of enlightened and talented spiritists that can make themselves heard through them, finally by the diffusion of the idea under different forms, may do great services to the cause. There are so many other champions that work for the Doctrine, whose institutions we have the pleasure to see multiplying. We shall always support those who frankly march over a useful life, which don’t become neither instrument of little groups or personal ambitions, those, at last, who drive themselves according to the principles of the spiritist moral. We shall be happy to encourage them and help them with our advices, if considered necessary. But our cooperation stops there.
We declare not to have any material solidarity with any of them, without exception. None of them is published by us, nor is it effectively sponsored by us. We let each one to take responsibility for their publications. When the requests for subscription on their account are addressed to the management of the Magazine, we forward them out of good fraternity, not having however any interest in that, not even the normal commission of the intermediaries, which we would not accept, even if offered.
We thus consider explained the status of these things for the enlightenment of those who think that certain spiritist newspapers are linked to our Magazine by some sort of interest. No doubt that all of them have a common interest, for they tend to the same objective as we do. All owe reciprocal benevolence to each other, since otherwise they would give false testimony of spiritist newspapers, but each operates in the sphere of their own means and responsibilities. The Doctrine can only benefit from their independence in credit and dignity, while the agreement of vision and principles that they share with the Magazine would have nothing of remarkable to those coming from the same origin. Had we produced any other periodical from our own initiative and support we would openly declare it. Spiritist Magazine, November 1864.
Allan Kardec