ALi &amp;lt;- 



DECLARATION OF PURPOSES. 109 



not need them. Their surplus and their exactions diminish our prof 

 its. We wage no aggressive warfare against any other interests 

 whatever. On 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 for all other interests that tend to bring 

 these two parties into speedy and economical contact. Hence we 

 hold that transportation companies of every kind are necessary to 

 our successT that the?Tlnterests are intimately connected with our 

 interests, and harmonious action is mutually advantageous, keeping 

 in view the first sentence in our declaration of principles of action, 

 that Individual happiness depends upon general prosperity.&quot; 

 We shall, therefore, advocate for every State the increase in every 

 practicable way, of all facilities for transporting cheaply to the sea 

 board, or between home producers and consumers, all the produc 

 tions 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.&quot; We are not enemies of railroads, navi 

 gation and irrigation canals, nor of 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 are 

 not enemies to capital, but we oppose the tyranny ojf nfuM^yVHpg 

 We long to see the antagonism between capital and labor removed 

 by common consent, and by an enlightened statesmanship worthy of 

 the nineteenth century. We are opposed to excessive salaries, high 

 r ^j6S_oJLinJlfist , and exorbitant per cent, profits of producers. We 

 desire&quot; only self-protection and the protection of every true interest 

 of our land by legitimate transactions, legitimate trade, and legiti 

 mate profits. We shall advance the cause of education among our 

 selves and for our children, by all just means within our power. We 

 especially advocate for our agricultural and industrial colleges that 

 practical agriculture, domestic science, and all the arts which adorn 

 the home, be taught in their courses of study. 



5. We emphatically and sincerely assert the oft-repeated truth 

 taught in our organic law, that the Grange, National, State, or Sub 

 ordinate, is npt a political or party organization. No Grange, if 

 true to its obligations, can discuss political or religious questions, 

 nor call political conventions, nor nominate candidates, nor even 

 discuss their merits in its meetings. Yet the priciples we teach un 

 derlie all true politics, all true statemanship, and, if properly carried 

 out, will tend to purify the whofe political atmosphere of our coun 

 try. For we seek the greatest good to the greatest number. We 

 must always bear in mind that no one, by becoming a Patron 

 of Husbandry, gives up that inalienable right and duty which be 

 longs to every American citizen, to take a proper interest in the 

 politics of his country. On the contrary, it is right for every mem 

 ber to do all in his power legitimately to influence for good any 

 political party to which he belongs. It is his duty to do all he can 

 in his own party to put down bribery, corruption, and trickery; to 

 see that none but competent, faithful, and honest men, who will un 

 flinchingly stand by our industrial interests, are nominated for all 



