Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-02-27

W
of each MONTH
S. q. PIERCE, Master. Sw. RICH, Sec.
THE NATIONAL GRANGE.
Platform of Principles Adopted at St.
Louis. Feb. l1th, 1874.
Profoundly impressed with the
truth that the National Grange of
the United States should definitely
proclaim to the world its general
objects, we hereby unanimously
make this declaration of the pur-
poses of the Patrons of Husbandry:
/. United by the strong and faith
full tie of agriculture, we mutually
resolve to labor for the good of our
order, our country, and mankind.
2..Wc heartily indorse the motto:
elm essentials, unity; in non-essen-
tials, liberty; in all things, chart
ty."
3. We shall cndeavor to advance
our cause by by laboring to accom-
plish the following objects: To de-
velop better and higher manhood
and womanhood among ourselves;
to enhance the comforts and attrac-
tons of our homes, and strengthen
our attachment to our pursuits; to
foster mutual understanding and CO.
operation; to maintain inviolate our
laws, and emulate each other to la
Dor to hasten the good time coming;
to reduce our expenses, both indi-
vidual and corporate; to buy less
and produce more, in order to make
our farms self supporting; to diver
sify our crops, and crop no more
than we can cultivate; to condense
the weight of our exports, selling
less in the bushel and more on the
hoof and in fleece; to systemic our
work and calculate intelligently on
probabilities; to discountenance the
credit system, the mortgage system,
the fashion system, and every other
system tending to prodigality and
bankruptcy. We propose meeting
together, talking together, working
together, buying together, selling
together, and generally acting to-
gether for our mutual protection
and advancement, as occasion may
require. We shall avoid litigation
as much as possible, by arbitration
in the grange; we shall strive to Sc
cure entire harmony, good will, vi
tai brotherhood among ourselves,
and to make our order perpetual;
we shall earnestly endeavor to sup
press personal, local, sectional, and
national prejudices, all unhealthy
rivalry and selfish ambition. Faith
full adherence to these principles
will insure our mental, moral, So
cial, and material advancement.
4. For our business interest we
desire to bring producers and con-
sumers, farmers and manufacturers,
into the most direct and friendly re-
lations possible. Hence, we must
dispense with a surplus of middle
men. Not that we are unfriendly to
them, but we do not need them.
They are surplus, and their exac-
tons diminish our profits. We
wage no aggressive warfare against
any other interests whatever. On
the contrary, all our acts and all our
efforts so far as business is concern
ed, are not only for the benefit of
the producers and consumers, but
also for all other interests that try
to bring these two parties into
speedy and economical contact !;
hence we hold that transportation
companies of every kind are neces-
sary to our success, that their inter-
ests are intimately connected with
our interests, and harmonious &C
ton is mutually advantageous.
Keeping in view the first sentence
in our declaration of principles of
action, that individual happiness
depends upon general prosperity,
we shall therefore advocate for ev-
cry state the increase in every prac-
ticable way Of all facilities for trans
porting cheaply to the seaboard, or
between home producers and con-
sumers, all the productions of our
country. We adopt as our fixed
purpose to open out the channels in
natures great arteries, that the life
blood Of commerce may flow freely.
We are not enemies of railways,
navigable and irrigating canals, nor
any corporations that will advance
our industrial interests, nor of any
laboring classes. In our noble or
der there is no communism, no
agrarianism. We are opposed to
such spirit, and the management of
any corporation or enterprise which
tends to Cypress the people and rob
them of their just profits. We are
not enemies to capital, but we OPP
pose the tyranny of monopolies.
We long to see the antagonism be-
tween capital and labor removed by
common consent and by an enlight-
ened craftsmanship worthy Of the
nineteenth century. We are OPP
posed to excessive salaries, high
rates of interest and exorbitant per
cent. profits IN trade. They greatly
increase our burdens and do not
bear proper proportion to the
profits Of the producer. We desire
only self-protection and the protec-
ton of every true interest in our
land by legitimate transactions, le-
climate trade, legitimate profits.
We shall advance the cause Of edu-
cation among ourselves and for our
children by all just means within
our power. We especially advocate
for our agricultural and industrial
colleges that practical agriculture
and domestic science, and all the
arts which adorn tho home, be
taught in their courses of study.
5. We emphatically and sincerely
assert the oft-repeated truth taught
in our organic law, that the grange,
national, state, or subordinate, is
not political or party organization.
No grange, if true to its obligations,
can discuss political or religious