STATE GRANGE OF ILLINOIS. 113 



make noble that pursuit which above all others is man's necessity, depends 

 upon whether we wisely and honestly use the means in our hands, and 

 leaving out all selfishness, all ambition, determine to make our Order the 

 great benefactor of our class, not only pecuniarily but mentally, morally 

 and socially. 



That we have accomplished much, perhaps more than any labor organi- 

 zation ever yet has in the same time, is undoubted. 



That we have not accomplished all that was attainable, and made our 

 work so attractive as to keep alive an increasing interest in it, is proven 

 to me by the lukewarmness of many who were enthusiasts but a year 

 or two ago, and by the letters I receive. The following extracts are but 

 samples. 



"Will you come down on a given day and address a Grange pic-nic? 

 The Granges in this county have got the dry-rot, we need something to 

 arrest it." From another county : "Our Granges seem to have lost inter- 

 est in our work, and meetings are thinly attended, and we need a general 

 stirring up." From West Virginia a brother writes : " We have got over 

 the enthusiasm of organization, we now need instruction, advice and 

 encouragement. Come over and help us." 



The above, in a greater or less degree, are no doubt the experiences of 

 very many Granges. Having gotten over the enthusiasm of organization, 

 or the newness having worn ott, the novelty having ceased, there has been 

 a tdo general lack of attendance and of interest, and notwithstanding the 

 rosy pictures drawn by many who write and talk upon the Grange, it is 

 patent to all who have observed, that we have outgrown the period when, 



" By nature's kindly law 



We are pleased with a rattle 

 And tickled with a straw," 



and that something more substantial, more attractive than the mere routine 

 work of the Grange must be introduced if we would make that progress 

 which the exigencies of the times demand, and I rejoice that this body 

 has taken the initiative step in this direction by inviting speakers to dis- 

 cuss such questions as finance and revenue, questions that are so imper- 

 fectly understood by the majority of those who are so deeply interested in 

 them, and which affect every man, whether a producer or consumer. I hope 

 other State Granges may follow our example, and make sucli gatherings 

 educational instead of so much mere relative work as has been the prac- 

 tice heretofore. 



The National Grange has, in reducing salaries, set an example worthy of 

 our following, and we will freely forgive them for their many shortcom- 

 ings for this one act that cannot fail to be beneficent in its effects upon 

 our future welfare, for, while denouncing salary grabs, and increase of 

 salaries in public offices, to be honest and consistent we should guard 

 against all such tendencies in our Order, and besides, high salaries operate 

 as organized war upon members of such an organization as ours; they 

 become prizes for the sordid and corrupt, and attract sordid men to office. 



