The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1873-05-08
The Order of the Patrons Of Husbandry.

mOQern Gays Is LndI knOWu dS Lue .Oruei VI tuo
Patrons of Husbandry. It's growth has been
will be more or less felt in every political cam
paign in the country. 1t processes to be es.
sentially assfarmers' union or association, and
seeks to promote the inteIets of the agricultu-
ralists of the country in preference to the in
terests of any other class of men. Their asso-
Citations, or Oranges" as they are called, are
| not mere concourse of people impelled by
casual emotion, but parts of an organized sys.
tenn, possessing vast influence and capable of
concerted action.
| According to one account it seems that the
| "Order of Patrons of Husbandry," as 1t Is
called, did not originate in the West, but the
idea was first borrowed from an Association
that had existed for many years in commune
ty of Scotch farmers in North Carolina. 1t is
said to be nothing more than secret, cooper
ative, industrial and literary association. In
the winter of 1867, while several of the leading
agriculturalists of the West were in Washing
ton on business concerning the farmers inter-
ests, the character of this Society became
known to them. The idea was taken up, and
elaborated so as to serve for the purpose OF
large and influential Order, and in the spring
of 1868, the order was introduced by the insti-
| tuition of Grange at Itasca, Minnesota. From
this beginning it spread gradually through
Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, so
that about the beginning of 1872, the number
of members in those four States were estimated
at about $4,000. Later occurrences gave. q
great impetus to the movement, SO that the
membership in the four States is now estimated
at 100000
| According to another account the order was
formed and its general plan elaborated by q
number of the prominent agriculturists OF
Minnesota early in 1868. Primarily, it was
nothing more than secret, cooperative, in
dustrial and literary association, the benefit OF
which not only the farmer, but his wife and
family, alike enjoyed. By its means, middle
men were done away with, thus making re-
duction of expense upon every article pur-
chased. whether in the line of luxury or neces-
The first lodge, or grange" was organized
in Itasca, Minnesota the second was institu-
ted in Iowa, and, few months later, two or
three each in Wisconsin and Illinois. For four
years the order made little headway, and at
the close of the year 1871 there were not In the
whole West more than $4,000 members. The
seed had been carefully sown, however, and by
degrees the people began to see the benefits
accruing from the system pursued by the
oranges. both in business and social point of
view. They saw that the patron could live at
least ten per cent. cheaper than the outsider,
while he was enabled to purchase his farming
utensils and machinery at discount of at least
twenty per cent. from the prices paid by others.
They saw, too, that the organization must some
time become q power in the land, and that it
was far better to be for it than against, or even
| Indifferent to it. Certain local causes, which
are apparent to all who have marked the cur
rent of Western events for the past year or
two, aided in giving sudden and strong lm-
petus to the movement. To-day the order ex-
lists in nineteen different States, and numbers
nearly half million members. There IS, OF
course, a grand head, to which the oranges OF
of all the States are subordinate. 1t is styled
the National Grange, and meets every two
years.
State oranges are required to meet every
year, and subordinate oranges every month, or
oftener, if occasion require, In these last,
women, as we'll as men, are admitted to all the
degrees, which are four in number, and hold
Office the same. The fifth degree is conferred
upon men only, and is peculiar to the State
oranges. Those only are eligible who have
Served as masters of subordinate bodies. The
sixth degree is conferred only on members OF
the council of the national grange. This
council is composed of masters and past mas
tiers of the State oranges. The council meets
once in every year. The seventh IS the highest
degree to which any patron can attain. 1t IS
conferred only on members OF the national
senate, which is composed of members OF the
council who have served one year IN that BODY.
The functions of the council and senate are
similar to those of representatives and senators
in legislative bodies. The supreme executive
authority in the order is lodged in the master
of the national grange; but each subordinate
grange has its own master, everseer, lecturer,
and other officers The hall or rooms used for
the meetings of many of the subordinate
oranges are elegantly fitted up, and furnished
with every attraction and incentive to atten-
dance. Libraries-some Of them numbering
thousands of volumes-pianos, pictures, chess
tables, and, in fact, everything that may serve
to amuse and INSTRUCT are the almost lnyarla-
BILE concomitants of these places. Private con-
certs and social parties are OF frequent occur,
renee the very intimacy thus cngendered
rendering the bond more frm and the action
of the organization more combined and power
full.
1t will be seen from this that the order is
compactly and thoroughly organized, and in
manner that would make all opposition to it,
on the ground of its principles merely, wholly
vain. As instances of what they have accom-
plished in material way, We are told that in
some of the Western cities they have purchased
or leased grain elevators; at other places they
have employed forwarding agents of their own
order. In Iowa they have already built an
agricultural implement mandatory of extern
sive capacity. But what is most signicant in
this movement is the almost miraculous pro-
cress it has made and is making. In Tennessee,
Mississippi, Alabama, and, most of all, in
Georgia, the people are organizing oranges
with the same avidity that has characterized
the people of the Northwest, and the idea will
probably ere long find development in the New
England and Middle States.
How AND WHEN TO TAKE NAP.-The
Herald of Health says that sleeping after din