Books, meters, cassettes, films and insignia are assets.
The operating principle is: Just as you would handle money, so must be handled books, meters, cassettes, films, insignia and material.
There is a difference: Money decreases in value — books increase.
But just as an FBO would not think of letting money be around, unguarded, just as he would think it vital that sums be listed and cross-checked, so should he think of books and related items.
In an area where books have been ripped off, it will be found quite difficult to get people to keep up-to-date stock lists. They know they could be detected and sent to jail for stealing if it was detected they had been ripping off books.
So it requires just as much policing on lines to handle books as it does to handle money.
Orgs can get themselves into a bind by not accurately accounting for stocks.
They suppose that the money they take in for selling books, etc., can be spent on their FP any way they please. Soon they will run out of books and have no money to replace them and there goes their local dissemination and there goes their overall GI. In short, they cut their own throats by trying to run their org using the booksale money for other things.
This was so bad in early years that it was thought orgs could not be solvent unless they used up all money taken in from books on other things.
There is another angle to this safeguarding material: That which people can rip off they do not respect. If they do not respect books and material they will not only not sell them, they will also black PR them. And there goes their public goodwill and their GI.
It has been said a single Dianetics or Scientology book is more valuable to the human race than the discovery of the wheel or fire. That is because it could halt Man’s own decline and personal demise. Be that as it may, one single book or meter gone astray in the stock inventory can seriously dent the org profit received from books.
It is a profit and loss thing: Lost stock not only denies profit, it also creates indebtedness. The books won’t balance. But in this case it is worse: If books and material do not exist to be gotten into public hands, there is no prayer of continuing an org GI.
So carelessness or inattention to book material can whittle down and then destroy the org GI.
This is why books and material and HCO Book Accounts are now under the supervision of the FBO Network.
Routinely, full inventories must be taken of all such material.And at a change of executive structure, an outside firm must be gotten in to do a certified inventory of the material and new executives and officers must sign for it in any turnover. And in the event stocks are missing, the FBO must be prepared to take police action just as he would if money were missing: He would suspect embezzlement and act that way. Thus day-to-day stock lists must be kept and inventories must be balanced with invoices routinely.
Where consignment, without cash, is done to an outlet, then a full receipt for all such assignment must be gotten AND checked up on AND the money or the stock collected in due course.
The Pubs Orgs must never operate on a credit line to orgs. In the past this has caused insolvency and denied the placing of books in public hands. An org, to get book stocks in such event, has to make cash money or GI to get books or borrow the money elsewhere and pay it back.
Books, meters, cassettes are BIG business. Regarding them as a sideline can be fatal to GI. It is the book in public hands which starts any boom, regardless of any other promotion. The books are the ambassador and messengers to the world. This has been proven countless times from 1950 forward.
This does not mean books, etc., must not be backed up by other promotion. But it is the book that closes. Try to operate without them and an org falls flat on its face!
This does not mean books, meters and cassettes should not be displayed. It is a maxim that when the public sees just one book or meter on a shelf they do not buy. And it certainly does not mean that books are not sold in volume.
It does mean that books, meters, cassettes, tapes, films and insignia are assets greater than hard money. And they must, from the moment they come off the press until they arrive in public hands, be treated as such, counted, inventoried, stock listed.
The FBO Network I/C is responsible for implementing this PL and originating routine report forms and admin that must be kept and submitted regularly to him on this subject.
And he must be prepared to take action of the strongest kind, just as he would in any other form of embezzlement, when he finds stocks missing.
It is vital to the survival of Dianetics, Scientology and orgs that this PL be given the closest attention. For one is dealing with the future health of orgs.
There is no sin in making high income from books and material themselves. Just like money, it is a crime to waste it.
A primary cause of slow expansion of Dianetics and Scientology in the world has been a carelessness from Pubs Orgs on down to orgs and FSMs in pushing and safeguarding books.
This trust is now given into the hands of the FBO Network as they have shown over the years they can be trusted.