VI PREFACE 



stood that the term " Granger " is here frequently used in the 

 derived sense as applying to the ^general agrarian movement 

 which centered around the secret and professedly non-partisan 

 order of Patrons of Husbandry. 



The first chapter, which is introductory to the rest of the book 

 and is intended to bring out the causes of the movement, is 

 concerned with the condition of the farmers in the different 

 sections of the country during the decade 1870-80 and their 

 relations to the various economic and political problems of the 

 day. Chapter II tells the story of the Grange and the other 

 organizations by which the farmers proposed to effect their 

 regeneration; and Chapter III is devoted to the political aspects 

 of the movement the independent parties which grew out of 

 it and the attempts of the farmers to use their organizations 

 for influencing legislation. The three following chapters deal 

 with the first serious attempt to subject railways to effective 

 regulation by the state, an attempt which, though independent 

 in its origins, became so closely interwoven with the movement 

 for agricultural organization as to be essentially a part of it. 

 In Chapter VII the efforts of the farmers to render themselves 

 independent of middlemen and manufacturers by the establish- 

 ment of cooperative enterprises are treated, while Chapter VIII 

 sets forth the influence of the movement on social and economic 

 conditions. The last chapter attempts to trace the connection 

 of the movement with later organizations of farmers and working- 

 men and to indicate its relation to the general field of American 

 history. 



My obligations to library officials, secretaries of state granges, 

 and others who have assisted me in the collection of material or 

 the preparation of the manuscript are too numerous to permit 

 of individual mention. To Professor F. J. Turner of Harvard 

 University and Professor C. W. Alvord of the University of 

 Illinois, who have read the entire manuscript, I am indebted 

 for valuable criticisms and suggestions. I am also under 

 obligations to Professors A. B. Hart and E. F. Gay of Harvard, 

 and Professor B. H. Meyer of the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission for critical reading of several chapters. To the Carnegie 



