The Grange advance., 1874-05-06
The Mission of the Oranges,
MARLIEU.

The Mission of the Oranges.
Extracts from an Address recently deliv-
cred before the West Buffalo Iowa) Grange.
Ever since the Puritan farmers set
up their standard on this continent,
this has been the great battle cry be-
tween Freedom and slavery. Campaign
after campaign has been prosecuted
and many and great victories have been
won for Freedom. The pulpit, the ros-
trum and the tented fields by turns
have been the arenas of combat; the
pen and the sword have been alternate
weapons of warfare.
But in the struggle now impending
we hope to hear no roll of drum or can
mons roar, for no foreign tyrant has in.
vaded our soil neither do we take up
the sword in behalf of the down-trodden
Of other lands, for all this has been done
in former years but while we have
driven back the invader and while we have
loosed the chains from enslaved millions,
silently our own fetters have been forged !;
stealthily, insidiously has an enemy
crept in upon us, and we are enslaved.
When this Government was organized,
it was a farmers Government. The
signers of the 1Declaration of Independ-
ence were mostly farmers; our Senators
and Representatives were farmers our
Generals, as we'll as our private soldiers,
came from the farm consequently, econ
omy and honesty characterized the
earlier administration of our Gov
ernment. But, as the nation grew older,
other influences became predominant.
In every department of the Govern
mcnt. in every nook and corner cf the
land, from the building Of country
school-house to the erection Of Capitol
edifice costing many millions, all is
done at profit. The whole govern
ment has become an immense warehouse
of merchandise. where everything has
a price, and every transaction yields a
profit. and the farmer and the laborer
foot the bill
When, in the course of the develop
ment Of Christianity among the nations
and Governments Of the earth, God has
great work to do, He always has His
servants prepared and fitted for the
work; so, in the birth of our Republic,
the work of preparation has been going
on for hundreds of years; and, when
the great clock of the Universe struck
the hour, all was ready. And who
shall say now that the American farmer
is not ready to take this mighty Repub-
lie and drive out the hordes Of extor-
TONERS, spectators and robbers that,
like the flies Of Egypt, darken our land
and penetrate even our closets and bed
chambers, in their Unsuitable greed for
plunder; and drive out the lawyers, the
money changers, and the thieves that
have so long desecrated the fair temple
of Liberty; and place in their stead
men of honor and integrity-men who
fear God, and have regard for their fel-
low-men? Who shall say that God has
not fitted them for this work Through
generations Of toll and privation,
through poverty and sufferings, the
American farmer has kept in view those
fundamental principles of Justice,
Equality and Christianity which are the
only sure foundations of human govern
ment. For many years the American
farmer has lamented the inpouring toe
Of evil that, like food, threatens to
sweep away our liberties; he has held
up his puny arms against the torrent,
but to no purpose; he has become dis
couraged and ready to cry, "God save
or we perish!"
AS it ever happens upon the suprem-
est darkness a light breaks forth from
the direst calamity a way opens for es.
cape; the voice Of the Almighty is
heard in the land: 6 Farmers, arise ;
shake of the lethargy that has crept
over yop; like ! spell The day Of
your deliverance}l is dawning, and now
is the suspicious moment Let Truth,