THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 479 



The State agent on receiving money credits the re- 

 mitter with the amount on his books, specifying the 

 article to be purchased and sending him a receipt. He 

 at once forwards the cash to the manufacturer or mer- 

 chant, and then debits the purchaser with the amount 

 remitted. The goods are shipped directly from the 

 manufacturer to the purchaser, but the receipted bill 

 is sent to the State agent, who files it away as his 

 voucher. If the goods are imperfect, or not as good as 

 have been contracted for, and the seller refuses to give 

 the purchaser satisfaction, then the Grange transfers 

 its entire trade to some other firm. A man who was 

 furnishing the Grange with plows, last Spring, sent a 

 few that were much inferior to the sample. A circular 

 was sent to all the Granges informing them of this fact, 

 and in less than a week orders for that plow stopped, 

 and the man has not sold one to a Grange in the State 

 since. 



" The State agent always gives preference to home 

 manufacturers. Wherever an Iowa plow-maker or 

 manufacturer of any kind can furnish first-class goods 

 as cheaply as they can be purchased at Chicago, St. 

 Louis, or New York, the Grange gives him its trade, 

 but its motto is to buy in the cheapest market which 

 ready cash will command. In some sections of the 

 State the members of the Grange have established 

 joint-stock stores, and have thus been able to purchase 

 their groceries and dry goods much cheaper than before. 

 This has not been generally encouraged by the leading 

 Grangers, except in cases where the local traders have 

 refused to deal with them on what they considered 

 fair terms. The great bulk of the home trade in this 

 State has been done on credit, and the farmers who 



