488 HISTORY OP THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



while longer. " I expect to pay you very soon/' he 

 said, " and to pay interest on the debt. I can only 

 raise money now by selling my cotton at a sacrifice, 

 and I cannot consent to do that. Cotton is worth 

 more than the price I should get for it now." 



" What would it bring you?" asked the head of the 

 house. 



The planter named a price below the market rates 

 in New York. 



"What do you think it is worth?" asked the mer- 

 chant. 



"A cent and a half a pound more," said the planter. 



This last price was still below the market rate, and 

 the merchant said to the planter that if he would 

 deliver to the Southern correspondent, of the firm 

 enough cotton to cover the amount of the debt, at the 

 rate he had named, it would be as acceptable as the 

 money. 



" I should like to do so," said the planter, hesitatingly ^ 

 "but I cannot. I am a member of the Grange, and 

 we have recently established an agency of our own for 

 the sale of our cotton, and have pledged ourselves to 

 sell through no other sourcfe. I must stand by my 

 agreement, or I would accept your offer." 



But for the Grange the planter would have sold his 

 cotton at a sacrifice, even at the higher price he had 

 named. The Order, however, gave him the means of 

 obtaining the worth of his crop. It prevented him 

 from acting in haste, and, although he was but poorly 

 informed as to the state of the market, the agency 

 through which his business was transacted possessed 

 the necessary information and saved him from the 

 effects of his ignorance. 



