87 



merchant received a notification from the house that they could not 

 possibly let him have the ship. 



We can give the names of the parties to any of our readers who 

 may desire to have them. We have been accused of bringing 

 charges on freight rings and grain rings needlessly, but we think 

 that a perusal of our article, and a knowledge of such means as here 

 shown to be made use of to keep all the available tonnage mainly 

 in the hands of one house, will convince our readers that our de 

 nunciation of the unworthy means made use of to rob the farmers 

 of this State, have been both timely and needed. 



CHAPTER IX. 



HOW THE CLUBS BECAME GRANGES, 



MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: PRESIDENT BID WELL S REMARKS: MAJOR 

 SNYDER ADVOCATES BUILDING Co-OPERATIVE WAREHOUSES: JUDGE McCuXE 

 ON FARES AND FREIGHTS SONOMA CLUB MASS MEETING AT STOCKTON: THIRTY 

 THOUSAND DOLLARS SUBSCRIBED MR. BAXTER APPEARS ON THE SCENE 

 CONVENTION AT SAN FRANCISCO How THE GRANGERS NEGOTIATED FOR SACKS 

 AND DID NT GET THEM GEN. BIDWELL S ADDRESS A LADY S SUGGESTIONS 

 MR. HALLETT ON THE FUTURE OF THE WHEAT MARKET CONVENTION 

 RECOMMENDS THE FORMATION OF GRANGES: WINDING UP OF ITS AFFAIRS. 



THE history of the Farmers Union is virtually that of the 

 emancipation of California agriculture from its oppressive 

 burdens. It has been seen that the local clubs were the 

 centers of influence, and the germinal points of enlightened 

 public opinion, while the board of directors were active in per 

 fecting plans for immediate relief. President Bidwell called a 

 meeting of the board, in January, &quot;to devise means by which 

 the cost of moving and marketing the crops of the approaching 

 season might be reduced, thus enabling the farmer to realize a 

 larger percentage of profit. The charges for sacks and freight 

 to a market at home or abroad were so great that the farmer 

 was scarcely remunerated for his labor of production; and this 

 state of things did not so much arise from natural causes as 

 from the exorbitant exactions of those by whom the material 

 for sacking, the money to move produce, and the means of 

 transportation were provided. It was the interest and the duty 

 of the farmers, by combined action, by organization, by finan 

 cial or political power and influence, to endeavor to protect 

 themselves; to demand, exact and enforce justice and common 



