104 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



it may be said that the Patrons desired liberal appropriations 

 for agricultural colleges, demanded that these be kept separate 

 from the so-called " literary institutions/' and favored the intro- 

 duction of agricultural subjects into the curriculum of the public 

 schools. They did not, however, confine their interest to agri- 

 cultural education; on the contrary, the benefits of general 

 education, to the state as well as to the individual, and the 

 duty of the state to provide it were usually recognized, while 

 the Wisconsin State Grange in 1875 and the National Grange 

 in 1879 even went so far as to advocate compulsory education. 1 

 One example, however, of a somewhat reactionary spirit should 

 be noted; in 1873, the Indiana State Grange passed a resolution 

 opposing grants of state funds to aid colleges " as being a great 

 injustice to a large portion of the children of the state and a 

 detriment to the interests of institutions of learning run by private 

 enterprise." 2 



The matter of text-books also engaged the attention of the 

 granges and in a number of states, notably Maine, Michigan, 

 and Wisconsin, resolutions were passed for the adoption of 

 uniform text-books, to be furnished to the children at cost. 3 

 How far any of these resolutions were of influence in determining 

 the course of legislation on the subject is difficult to determine. 

 It might be noted, however, that in Wisconsin, it was claimed 

 that a bill providing for uniform text-books was only prevented 

 from passage by offers of the book publishers to reduce greatly 

 the prices of their books. At its next session, the state grange 

 complained that the quality had been reduced as well as the 

 price, and demanded the adoption of a uniform set of books 

 to be published within the state. 4 



A reflection of the prevailing indebtedness among farmers 

 in this period is seen in the many resolutions and petitions of 



1 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 91 (1875); National Grange, Pro- 

 ceedings, xiii. 99, in (1879). 



2 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 403 (December 20, 1873). 



3 Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 74 (1875); Maine State Grange, 

 Proceedings, vi (1879); Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, v. 69 (1877), vi. 

 65 (1878), vii. 65 (1879). 



4 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, vii. 65 (1879). 



