124 WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. 



high tariff makes the annual repairs on our railroads cost millions 

 of dollars more than they should; and the farmers, in the form of 

 dearer freights, must pay these needless millions forever. Whoever 

 would be free, himself must cast the vote.&quot; 



The annual address of Worthy Master Adams, at the last 

 session of the National Grange, held at Charleston, February, 

 1875, will be read with pleasure by every Patron, and received 

 as the most authoritative expression of the sentiments which 

 will govern the future of the Order in the United States : 



Patrons of Husbandry: From the snow-clad hills, the flowery 

 vales, the golden shore, and prairie lands we meet together by the 

 historic palmetto. Not as nomads who gather at a shrine in obedience 

 to a sentiment do we come, but as chosen representatives of the fra 

 ternity, whose object is the moral and material advancement of the 

 greatest industrial interests of the great republic. Standing as we do 

 to-day upon the narrow line which divides the past from the future, 

 about to step forward into that time which is all unseen by human eye, 

 it behooves us to well scrutinize the track behind us, that we gain 

 thereby some clue to the path before. One year ago, we met be 

 yond the Father of Waters, and congratulated ourselves on the 

 growth and strength of our gigantic young Order. To-day, by the 

 ever-sounding seas, we proudly proclaim that our members have in 

 creased one hundred -fold. Two more sister States (Maine and 

 Montana), have joined our ranks, and the few remaining ones are 

 joyfully on the way. The work has spread from ocean to ocean. 

 The winds have wafted the sounds across, and now they come 

 back like echoes from the other shore, asking us to extend to other 

 people a helping hand. This uprising and organizing of a great and 

 scattered interest has not a parallel in the history of the world. The 

 magnitude and force of the movement has surprised its friends, and 

 astonished and alarmed its foes. It has burst upon us with the 

 suddenness of the erratic comet, yet promises to remain with the brill 

 iancy and permanency of the sun. It found the agriculture of the na 

 tion unorganized, isolated, unrecognized, weak, plodding, and their 

 voices virtually unheard in the councils of the land. To-day, they are 

 organized, united, strong, thoughtful, and duly respected and recog 

 nized as one of the great powers that be. Though much has now 

 been done in awakening thought and clearing the field, yet we have 

 but just stepped upon the mount and caught a faint glimpse of the 

 promised land. Right before us it lies awaiting our possession. 

 But ere we fairly reach the goal and fully possess the land, we see a 

 wide and dreary waste is to be crossed, which will tax to our utmost 

 our prudence, our perseverance, and our valor. 



The positions of honor and trust, the avenues to great wealth, the 

 molding of the political, financial and educational institutions of 

 the nation, have long been in the hands of members of other call 

 ings. This monopoly will not be given up without a struggle; and 

 whoever enlists in the Patrons of Husbandry, in the expectation of 

 an easy victory, reckons without his host. Our movement has been 

 and will be met by a most determined and persistent warfare every 



