ORGANIZATION 69 



be repaid and they were accordingly changed into donations. 1 

 The results of this policy were disastrous. It led the state 

 granges into business schemes which, in nearly every instance, 

 brought financial loss and discredit on the order; while it left 

 the National Grange financially embarrassed during the remain- 

 der of the decade, since the revenue from the sale of dispensa- 

 tions had almost entirely ceased, and that from dues was very 

 materially reduced by the shrinkage of membership. 



DECLINE OF THE GRANGE, 1875-80 



Tables giving the number of granges in the different states 

 are available for only two dates during the period of the decline 

 of the order from 1875 to 1880 inclusive. These are found in 

 the reports of the secretary at the ninth and tenth annual ses- 

 sions of the National Grange, which display the state of the 

 order about October i, 1875, and July i, 1876, respectively. 2 

 From January to October, 1875, the number of granges 

 increased somewhat in each of the five census areas, with the 

 exception of the North Central division, but the decline there 

 was so great over thirty per cent that the gains in the 

 other sections were overbalanced, and the total number of 

 granges in the United States fell from 21,697 to 19,007, or from 

 320 to 279 per hundred thousand of agricultural population. 

 Every state in the North Central division, Michigan alone 

 excepted, experienced a decline during the period, while in the 

 South Atlantic division the order was almost stationary, with 

 a falling off in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and but 

 slight advances in the other states. In the other divisions, 

 however, a healthy growth was still maintained, though the 

 rate of increase was somewhat diminished. 



From October, 1875, to July, 1876 (see Map IV), the 

 decline was not quite so rapid in the North Central division, 

 but it continued, and was joined by a corresponding decline in 



1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 55, 65 (February, 1875), ix. 84 (November, 



1875). 



2 The only complete statistics of actual membership in the order are given in 

 these two reports. See table following p. 58. 



