Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-06-20

elements of secrecy. Still I can see
that giving it the character of a Sc.
cret society land in all such organi-
zations it is not the leading princi-
pies, but unimportant ceremonies
and details of business, upon which
is placed the ban of secrecy en-
ables it, without embarrassment, or
the necessity of subjecting individ-
ual members to unpleasant criticism
to exclude parties who would creep
in with the view Of diverting it from
its purpose, or to advance their own
selfish designs. II IS THEREFORE, A
SECRET SOCIETY. l trust it will be
permanent, and hope it may be a
power for unmeasured good to the
State and to the country.
have intimated that your power
will be in your moral influence. 1t
is natural for Americans to think
that all reforms must be wrought
out through politics and the vote.
But when we trace the progress OF
the world, and the achievements Of
men, Individually and collectively,
back to their sources, we find they
are generally the result of other
than political or legislative causes.
Of course the Grange will have its
influence upon,thc politics of the
country. 1t will be felt in political
conventions and legislative assem-
blies; hut any attempt to make the
Grange distinctively political must
result in disaster. BY the moral
power of your organization, you
can give direction to public senti-
ment, and politicians are the crea-
lures of public sentiment. If, how
ever, you make it an appendage of
any mans political kite, or if you
90 following after politicians do
not mean politicians in the sense of
taking an interest in public affairs,
and seeking to become we'll inform
ed in relation to all your mental,
moral, and material interests, and
to learn how to promote them at the
ballot-box-but l mean, if you go
purring around place-hunters, this
organization will tumble into ruins
about your ears.-Moreover, if you
allow office-hunters to carry their
grists to mill in the pouches of the
Patrons, you will trail your rcgalia
in mire for which no social or in
tellectual advantages of your asso-
citation will afford compensation.
We want cheaper means oftrans-
portation. Unless such means may
be obtained, the great future of the
Mississippi Valley, when the mil
lions of acres now lying unused yet
ready for the pillow shall be brought
into cultivation, holds out sorry
hope to the farmer. No thinking
man can pass along one of our lines
of railway and see the cribs on cribs
Of unsold corn, for which there is
no market that will reimburse the
cost of shipment; and then look
upon the new crop which is being
grown, and then further abroad and
further ahead, and in Imagination
see the day when all the acres which
sweep from the base of the Rocky
Mountains to Lake Michigan shall
be brought into cultivation and
utilized in the production of corn,
wheat, oats, hay, pasture, fruits, and
vegetables, all of which must find
market and transport, without
being lost in confusion at the
thought. He will ask himself. who
is sufficient to comprehend and solve
the great problem of the future, or
even present market for their JIM
measurable Productions? Who
ever is equal 70 this must have the
patience and capacity to determine
the relation between the cost of
transporting pound Of these pro-
ducts, and the price charged by
transportation companies. He must
be able to compute the cost of con-
strucliug and keeping in repair,
as also the operating expenses of,
and the value Of the interest on the
capital invested in the different lines
of transportation, as these con-
siderations will become an element
in all regulating legislation. Then
he must solve where the rolling
stock and vessels to carry these
annual productions to market, and
the storchouscs and elevators in
which to store them while awaiting
distribution are to come from, and
finally where the mouths to eat them
or the backs to wear them are to
be found. These are questions
which confront and overwhelm the
thinker, and yet we must meet them
and settle them. The Grange of
itself will not be equal to all this;
but by discussion in it's meetings,
by the mutual interchange of opin-
ion, by the exercise Of thought, and
by concert of action, it may materi-
ally advance the early solution of
these questions, ana when solved
the common judgment which has
determined them will crystalize into
laws, fair to railway stockholders
and fair to the public, and they will
be obeycd. 1t seems to me we some
times talk upon this issue in a man
ncr calculated to mislead tile public
mind. 1t is called "'The fight with
the railroads." "the railroad wars"
"the war Of the people upon the
railroads." This in no sense defines
the issue. There is . difference of
opinion between railroad companies