No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 77 



GENERAL OBJECTS. 



" 1. United by the strong and faithful tie of Agriculture, we mu 

 tually resolve to labor for the good of our Order, our country, and 

 mankind. 



2. We heartily endorse the motto: "In essentials, unity; in non 

 essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." 



3. We shall endeavor to advance our cause by laboring to accom- 

 plish the following objects: 



To develop a better and higher manhood and womanhood among 

 ourselves. To enhance the comforts and attractions of our homes, 

 and strengthen our attachments to our pursuits. To foster mutual 

 understanding and co-operation. To maintain inviolate our laws, 

 and to emulate each other in labor, to hasten the good time coming. 

 To reduce our expenses, both individual and corporate. To buy less 

 and produce more, in order to make our farms self-sustaining. To 

 diversify our crops, and crop no more than we can cultivate. To 

 condense the weight of our exports, selling less in the bushel and 

 more on the hoof and in fleece; less in lint, and more in warp and 

 woof. To systematize our work, and calculate intelligently on prob- 

 abilities. To discountenance the credit system, the mortgage sys- 

 tem, the fashion system, and every other system tending to prodi- 

 gality and bankruptcy. 



We propose meeting together, talking together, working together, 

 buying together, selling together, and, in general, acting together for 

 our mutual protection and advancement, as occasion may require. 



We shall avoid litigation as much as possible by arbitration in the 

 Grange. We shall constantly strive to secure entire harmony, good 

 will, vital Brotherhood among ourselves, and to make our Order 

 perpetual. We shall earnestly endeavor to suppress personal, local, 

 sectional, and national prejudices, all unhealthy rivalry, all selfish 

 ambition. Faithful adherence to these principles will insure our 

 mental, moral, social and material advancement. 



BUSINESS RELATIONS. 



4. For our business interests, we desire to bring producers and con- 

 sumers, farmers and manufacturers, into the most direct and friendly 

 relations possible. Hence we must dispense with a surplus of middle 

 men, not that we are unfriendly to them, but we do not need them. 

 Their surplus and their exactions diminish our profits. 



We wage no aggressive warfare against any other interests what- 

 ever. On the contrary, all our acts and all our efforts, so far as busi- 

 ness is concerned, are not only for the benefit of the producer and con- 

 sumer, but also for all other interests that tend to bring these two 

 parties into speedy and economical contact. Hence we hold that 



