Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-05-30
The Patrons Of Husbandry.

respondent of the Philadelphia Press, who
signs herself "Olivia" has undertaken to
answer this question, of course we cannot
say how correctly. She says it is secret
society founded in 1867, having its origin
and head centre at Washington, and Its
branches in every state and in Canada. Its
founder was Mr.. William Saunders, now
superintendent of the agricultural grounds
at Washington. Its object is ito promote
the welfare of the tillers Of the soil. In
other words it is a widely organized
Farmers Union, with the power which can
always be secured by widespread secret
organization, and with more or less of the
nonsense, in its ritual, that is apt to char
acterize the forms and processes Of secret
societies. Its organization as described by
"Olivia, - is rather complex. At the base
is the local. or neighborhood grange; above
this the state grange at the apex, the Ma
tional Grange, of which Mr.. Saunders tells
her that its chief duties are ''to collect and
disseminate information for the benefit of
the whole order, to place state oranges IN
co-operatiye communication, and advise
subordinate oranges with reference to
matters of special interest" In the subor-
dinate grange, there are four degrees
first ''laborer or maid according to sex),
second "cultivator or shepherdess, = third
harvester or gles ner, = and fourth thus
bandman or matron." The fifth degree
Pomona, hopes obtained on entering
the state grange, which is composed of the
masters of subordinate oranges, and such
masters wives as are ''matrons." The
sixth-"Flora, charity''-is obtained on
entering the National Grange, which is com
posed of the masters of state oranges, and
such of their wives as have taken the
previous degree. For the seventh-"Ceres,
faith'-all members of the National Grange
are eligible after years service. This
degree has charge of the secret work of the
order, and is the tribunal for trying i'm
peaehInents.
The ceremony of conservation and blessing
is decidedly original. - On a remote plat
form" says " Olivia, - . in the hall where
the 10 Getting is held, my be seen the three
women whose charming hands must conse-
rate the new aspirant. The first is Flora,
MINED from mythology. Her brow is bound
with flowers, and, if the proper season is at
hand, they trail in garlands from her gar
ments, which are as feecy as the clouds.
From the profusion before her she selects
specimen and presents It to the new aces
sion. To the innocent young girl she pre-
sents lily. To the iuiceless old bachelor |
sprig Of rue. The woman who represents |
Ceres is usually matron. Her ripe fore
head is surmour,ted with a crown Of straw, |
which is dotted with golden grain. She |
bestows upon the candidate a handful OF /
her TT assures, or, perhaps, an ear of corn,
afte'. her part of the ceremony is over. Last,
but not least, comes Pomona, symbolic of /
II riches of harvest and autumn. 4 glor-
Gus woman she should be- When the can
ddate has passed her hands nothing more
can be done for him He is a full-iedged
Patron of Husbandry" We should add
that, after these imposing ceremonies are
over. and the business Is all transacted, the
grange resolves itself into Il committee Of
the whole on having a good time-in warm
weather, usually adjourning to outdoors.
The National Grange pos. esses no direct
pc ger over subordinate oranges. Each
grange must be self-supporting, and either
stand or fall by its own weight. Some have
desired TO make of the order a political
others wish to turn it into
grand insurance enterprise, but the Ma
ic.nal Grange says: " Let every subordinate
y ange become an insurance company and
axe care of themselves There is no rea-
'on why a house burned in Minnesota
should be paid for in part by South Caro-
ina
1t Is claimed that the order thus far
fleets politics only in an indirect way.
v hat it is going to be in the future, in this
aspect, remains to be seen; but it Is safe ,
0 prophecy that uni ess it lets politics alone {
will have the hort life of all secret I
olitical societies AT present it is flourish 1
lg- 1t is elaine that during the year t
SO new oranges were formed to the num- {
er Of one thousa nd one hundred and FIVE, q
nd 1t is adding, members at the rate of L
Q m three to ii'.e hundred per day. Its
.embership is most numerous in Iowa and I
Outh Carolina but it exists in every state a
nd territory. There must be some twenty
ID oranges, we should say, in Vermont,
lost Of them in Caledonia and Orleans
)unties. Thus far the efforts of the order e
,em to be aimed chiefly at the middle b
en, - who stand between the producers J
nd con sumers, and make their money out a
both. Its mode of operation is thus T
lustrated 50 We will suppose this grange +,
be assembled in Illinois. Some farmer, II
arp er than the rest, has found out that W
Isl hief Is brewing in Chicago in the A
e pc Of corner in grain. Instantly F
nds are voted to send trusty man to the T
enc of action to report the doings of the
larpers. The farmer then is advised ot
neither to keep or sell his hard-earned
easures. At present the grange agents n
e everywhere; they are slaughtering the tn
niddle-men by tens Of thousands. If re
Dor woman wants a sewing machine she a. a.
oplies to her grange. Iowa last year co
we'd S45O,OO0 in her purchase of agricul- co
raj implements. By means of this order be
e farmer bought direct from the manu- ON ON
cturer, whilst the middle-man or agent In
II to step aside no
Railroad men, in the states where the =.
ads are at issue with the farmers, as to tb
ties of ireights, view the order with some W
prehenSion, and doubtless with reason. al
I'd it will not be surprising if the organi- be
ton is - heard from, in future. in more afr
IN enc field of action S I
The United States Chief JustIceshig. sco
The FREEPREss is in error The first an
incement in Vermont. at least, that Sen cry
r Edmunds was ineligible to the Chief son
'ticeship of the United States was made on
The Herald. and the item was copied uer- the
IN by the FREE Press the following dav. wa