64 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



subsequent agricultural organization in the United States. The 

 " Declaration of Purposes of the National Grange " was written 

 by Deputy J. W. A. Wright of California under the supervision 

 of a committee composed of the masters of the state granges 

 of Florida, California, Tennessee, Arkansas, and New York. 1 

 It declared the general objects of the Patrons of Husbandry to 

 be "to labor for the good of our Order, our country, and man- 

 kind " and endorsed the motto: " In essentials, unity; in non- 

 essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." This was followed 

 by a list of specific objects, including enhancement of the com- 

 forts and attractions of the homes, maintenance of the laws, 

 reduction of expenses, diversification of crops, systematization of 

 work, cooperation in buying and selling, avoidance of litigation, 

 the suppression of personal, local, sectional, and national prej- 

 udices, and the discountenancing of " the credit system, the 

 fashion system, and every other system tending to prodigality 

 and bankruptcy." 



As to business relations, the declaration stated that the Patrons 

 waged " no aggressive warfare against any other interest," 

 but it also asserted an intention to dispense with a surplus of 

 middlemen; they (the Patrons) were not enemies to capital 

 but were opposed to the tyranny of monopolies, high rates of 

 interest, and exorbitant per cent profits in trade. On the 

 question of transportation, it was declared that the order was 

 not inimical to railroads, but held that transportation companies 

 of all kinds were necessary to the success of the farmer and 

 advocated the increase in every practical way of facilities for 

 cheap transportation to the seaboard. As regards politics, 

 the declaration emphatically asserted that the Grange was not 

 a political or party organization; - but at the same time the 

 political rights and duties of the members as individual American 

 citizens were proclaimed. The advance of the cause of educa- 

 tion, especially along agricultural and industrial lines, was also 

 put forward as one of the important objects of the order. 



1 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 44 (1874); Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry,. 

 17, 43. The declaration is given in National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 56-60 (1874) ; 

 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 108-110; Messer, The Grange, 32-36; and many other 

 Grange circulars and publications. 



