IM 



PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 



1874, 4,618. As each subordinate grange con- 

 sist* of from 80 to 200 members, averaging not 

 far from 100, the total membership of the 

 order on the 1st of April, 1874, six years from 

 th day when Mr. Kellcy first set out on his 

 missionary propagandist!), cannot be less than 

 1,600,000* There are now only three States, 

 Connecticut, Delaware, and Nevada, and three 

 Territories, Idaho, Montana, and Washington, 

 which have not organized State Granges, and 

 in a few months there will not be exceptions. 

 Iowa has abont 2,000 subordinate granges, and 

 Missouri nearly as many, while Indiana, Illi- 

 nois and Kansas, are rapidly approaching the 

 same number. Among the S.mtln m States, 

 Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia, 

 have the largest number of granges, though the 

 order is popular in all. 



At the session of the National Grange in 

 fit. Louis, February 4-14, 1874,' a declaration 

 of the aims and purposes of the Order was 

 unanimously adopted. It presents with Mich 

 clearness the advantages it offers to the agri- 

 culturist, and its benevolent spirit toward nil 

 classes, even those which have been accus- 

 tomed to regard it with hostility, that we can- 

 not give the aims and objects of the order in 

 any better form than this authoritative declara- 

 tion: 



Profoundly impressed with the truth tbat the No- 

 tional Grange iihould definitely proclaim to the world 

 its general objects, we hereby unanimously make this 

 declaration of the purposes of the Patrons of Hus- 

 bandry : 



1 . United by the strong and faithful t ie of agricult- 

 ure, we mutually resolve to labor for the good of our 

 order, our country, and mankind. 



S. We heartily indorse the motto : "In essentials, 

 unity; in noii-cssentUls, liberty; in all i 

 chanty." We aliall endeavor to advance our causa 

 l>y laboring to accomplish the following objecta : To 

 develop a better ana higher manhood and woman- 

 hood among ounelvcs. To enhance the comforts 

 nnd attractions of our home*, and strengthen our at- 

 tachment to our pursuits. To foster mutual mxlir- 

 Undinif and cooperation. To maintain inviolate our 

 laws, and to emulate each other in labor. To hasten 

 -d time coming; to reduce our expcn-i r. !-. ih 



nnd corporate; to buy less ami ] r 

 more, in order to make our farms sclf-MMaining. 

 i ersifv our erops, and crop no more than we on 

 rale. To condense the weight of 

 . pelting Irs* in the bushel, and more on hoof and in 

 fleece : to systematize our work, and cal 

 ligentlv on probabilities; to discountenance the 

 in, the mortgage system, the fashion sys- 

 tem, and every other system tending to pro.: 

 and bankruptcy. We' pro; 

 talking together, work inc t<>g< tin r. hu\ 



ell i i-ral acting 

 otrsialMil protection and advancement as or 



may require. We shall avoid litigation as much as 

 poMible by arbitration in the Grange. We shall 



<'*ntlv strive tow-euro entire harmony, good-will, 

 vital brotherhood among ourselves, and'to make our 

 order perpetual. We shall earnestly cn.lc. 



nip in IH personal, local, sectional, and national pro- 

 Jo<H*e, all unhealthy rivalry, all selflah an 



uthful adherence to these principles will inmrv 

 our mental, moral, social, and material advancement. 



S-jFor oar hWnaet intreaUwe desire to bring 

 ptwauwts and eonmimers. farmers and manufactnr- 

 , Into the DHMt direct and friendlv relations pos- 

 eibU. Bence we muat 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 noaggree- 

 siv i- warfare against any other interest whatever 

 the contrary, all our acts and all our efforts, so far as 

 business is concerned, are not only for the benefit of 

 the producer and consumer, but also tor all 

 intercuts, and tend to bring these two parties into 

 speedy and economical contact. H<-nce, we hold that 

 transportation companies of every kind are necessary 

 to our success ; that their interests are intimutely 

 connected wits, our interests, and harmonious action 

 is mutually advantageous. Keeping in view the 

 first sentence in our declaration of principles of ac- 

 tion, that " individual happiness depends upon gen- 

 eral prosperity," we shall therefore advocut 

 every Stutc tin- increase in every practical way of all 

 futilities for transporting cheaply to the seaboard, or 

 I >rnve,cn home producers and consumers, all thepro- 

 ductions of our country. We adopt it as our fixed 

 purpose to open out the channels in Nature's great 

 arteries, that the life-blood of commerce may flow 

 freely. We arc not enemies of railroads, navigation, 

 and irrigating canals, norof any corporation that will 

 advance our industrial interests, nor of any laboring 

 classes. In our noble order there is no communism, 

 no agrarianism. We are opposed to such spirit 

 and management of any corporation or enterprise. 

 as tends to oppress the people and rob them of their 

 just profits. We ore not enemies of capital, but wo 

 oppose the tyranny of monopolies. We lone to *co 

 the antagonism between capital and labor removed 

 by common consent and by enlightened statesman- 

 ship worthy of the nineteenth century. We arc op- 

 posed to excessive salaries, high rates of ini 

 and exorbitant profits in trade. They greatly in- 

 crease our burdens, and do not benr a proper' pro- 

 portion to the profits of the producers. We desire 

 i nly self-protection and the protection of every in- 



"f our land by h .reactions, legiti- 



mate trade, and legitimate profits. 



4. We shall advance the cause of education among 

 ourselves, and for our children, by all jus.t means 

 within our power. We especially advocate for our 

 agricultural and industrial colleges that practical ag- 

 riculture, domestic science, and all the 

 adorn the home, be taught In their courses of s- 



6. We especially and sincerely assert the oft -re- 

 peated truth taught in our organic law, that the 



mate, is not a po- 

 litical or party organization. No Grange, if truf to 

 its obligations, CM litical or religious ques- 



tions, nor call political conventions, nor nominate 

 candidates, nor even discuss their merits In its ? 

 Ings. Yet the principles we teach underlie all true 

 politics, all true > ip. :iinl if properly car- 



ut will tend to purify the whole political at- 

 "iiiitiy. 1 the greatest 



good to the gre-.v r, hut wi- must always 



IM nr in mind that no ore by becoming a " Pat 

 Iluabtimlry " gives up tbat inalienable right and du- 

 ty, which belongs to every American ritizi-n, ' 

 a proper interest in the politics of his country. On 



i.trary, it is right for < very mrmhrr to doll] in 

 bis power legitimately t<> iiifUu-?iei' for good the ac- 

 tion of any political party to l i.-h ho 

 i his duty to do all he can in hi> own party to tiut 

 down bribery, corruption, and trickery ; to sec that 

 none but competent, faithful, and honest men, who 

 will unflinchingly stand by our indiistrinl in!- 

 are nominated for all positions. It should always 

 characterize every "Patron of Husbandly" tbat the 

 offices should si-rk tin- man and not the man the 

 office. Wr acknowledge the broad principle that dif- 

 ference of opinion in no crime, and hold that progress 

 toward truth is made by differences of opinion, while 

 the fault lies in bitterness of . V. < desire 



a proper cv 'y, and fai- ction 



for the weak, restraint upor, ; in short, 



distributed burdens, and justly -distributed 

 power. These are American ideas, the very essence 



