2l8 HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL. 



CONSTITUTION. 



ARTICLE I. 



SECTION i. This lodge shall be constituted by at least six members, 

 including a president or vice-president, and shall be known as "The 

 Brothers of Freedom." 



SEC. 2. The legislative powers of this society shall be vested in a 

 representative body, styled " The Grand Council of Brothers of Free- 

 dom." 



SEC. 3. The Grand Council shall be composed of delegates from each 

 County Council, to be elected and qualified as hereinafter provided. 

 When deemed prudent, and for the good of the order, one delegate, or 

 a minority of any committee, may be elected from among the brother- 

 hood. 



The articles which follow are in the usual form, and may be 

 omitted here, for the sake of brevity. 



The Farmers' Union. One of the four agricultural organ- 

 izations that formed what is known as the National Farmers' 

 Alliance and Industrial Union, was the Farmers' Co-operative 

 Union of Louisiana. The history of this union becomes inter- 

 esting, as showing the condition of the farmers and the methods 

 adopted in their efforts to obtain relief. It also discloses a 

 patriotic willingness to join others in an effort of similar char- 

 acter, even at the sacrifice of relinquishing independent action. 

 It is not only just, but the author considers it a duty, to record 

 for future reference the efforts made by these and other pio- 

 neers in the movement for agricultural reform. The time will 

 certainly come when these men will be honored and their labors 

 duly appreciated. 



Brother J. A. Tetts of Alexandria, Louisiana, one of the orig- 

 inators of the order, gives the following interesting account of 

 its inception : 



To get an idea of the causes and incidents that brought about the 

 formation of the Farmers' Union, it will be necessary to give a brief 

 sketch of an attempt that was made to form such an organization as 

 early as the year 1880. Some time during the spring of 1880 there was 

 a meeting held at D'Arbonne Church in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, for 



