FARMERS ORGANIZE FOR ACTION 161 



society did not gain much importance until the 

 panic in 1873. But the financial distress of that year 

 fed the flames of agrarian discontent, and in a short 

 time the influence of the Grange spread throughout 

 the Middle West. It was not long before the or- 

 ganization acquired a membership of a million and 

 a half. 



The greatest strength of the Granger movement 

 developed in those sections where distress was felt 

 most keenly and where the greatest dissatisfaction 

 with railroad management existed. The states with 

 the most active Granger organizations included In- 

 diana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

 Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, California, and 

 Oregon. 



While the fundamental cause of the rapid devel- 

 opment and spread of the Granger movement was 

 the protection of class interests, the organization was 

 declared to be non-political in character. In the 

 declaration of purposes that was adopted by the 

 National Grange in 1874, the following compre- 

 hensive program was submitted as the objective of 

 this new agrarian movement : 



"We propose meeting together, talking together, 

 working together, buying together, selling together, 

 and, in general, acting together for our mutual 

 protection, and advancement, as occasion may 

 require." 



The idealistic purposes of the organization as out- 

 lined in this statement did not prevent it from 



