428 HISTORY OF THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



tary of the State Grange twenty-five cents for each de- 

 gree the new member has taken ; also, an annual due of 

 twenty-five cents for said member, making a total of one 

 dollar and twenty-five cents for the year. The treasurer 

 of the State Grange then pays to the secretary of the Na- 

 tional Grange ten cents for each degree conferred upon 

 this member, together with an additional ten cents, as an 

 annual due for him, or a total of fifty cents for the 

 year. Thus, of five dollars and over, paid by a new 

 member into the treasury of his Grange during the first 

 year of his membership, only fifty cents is claimed by 

 the National Grange, and, after he has taken all the 

 degrees, it claims only ten cents as his annual due. 



" The woman membership feature, likewise, appeared 

 to be a very objectionable one. ' Woman's proper 

 sphere of action,' I repeated, 'is the fireside; when she 

 leaves that to join societies, etc., she takes the first step 

 towards woman's rights.' But there is no more danger 

 of her becoming a woman's rights woman at the Grange 

 than there is of her becoming one at the fireside, for at 

 each place she is in company with her husband and 

 brother. ........ 



" As to the importance of woman's aid, I thought of 

 the numerous instances afforded by history of the pow- 

 erful influence she has always exercised over the desti- 

 nies of mankind, but a stronger proof of that impor- 

 tance exists in the mind of* every man in the United 

 States who is blessed with., a faithful and intelligent 

 wife. But where is the necessity for secrecy ? Why 

 cannot the workings of the Order be open to the gaze 

 of all men ? Men who do good only are never afraid 

 to have their actions scrutinized. Certainly not. But 

 wise men keep their own counsel, and of what they do 



