Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-04-30

lost by this little msn0ugre. For in
stance. being subject to the { viii Of the
National Grange. which had, q frss.
seemed TO be 30 great an objection. began
nov 20 Iook snmeuhse like an sadruRssqe.
certainly like neosssity, For Ary bsdy Of
men 10 be effective must, be orgoxisrd.
and every organization TO be perfect rust
have q head. With 90 able corps Of
subsltern officers just ia proportios
40 an organisation is deficient in these
respects will il be deficient IN ssseaetb.
aad. rice rersa.. the same is equally
true, The Patrons Of Husbandry Is
sisnpiy grand combination OF so-
ciesies. Of which the Subordinate Grssses
sse the isdividsal aenbsss. eshs State
Grssgss the corpsy Of suhslters sikesrs.
and the National Grange, composed Of
none but those who are disting u;shed for
rre-emineut merit and ability. the greot
head. Now. each Subordinate Grange,
being only one Of q thousand. like indi-
vidual members Of one great body, it is
necessary for the good Of the 9kole that
their several workings be in harmony
With each other. and consistent with the
objects Of the Order. Therefore, to Sc
cure this general harmony aud consis-
tcncy. it is necessary that each Subordi-
nate aud State Grange should submit its
plan Of work to the approval Of the Ma
tional Grange. otherwise it might enter
upon Geld of work totally foreign to
either of the foregoing principles. Again.
the exaction by the National Grange,
from other Oranges. an annaul due for
eAch Of their members. and each degree
conferred on members during the year.
seemed to mo to be an imposiiion-a wcll-
planned scheme for extracting money
from the unsuspecting farmer. Why are
We not allowed to keep all Of our money
in our own Grange? Surely We can use
it to better advantage than any other
body Of men! When. however. l began
to think Of the functions Of this Grange.
its portion o: the work Of this immense
body Of societies. Of tae vast amount Of
information. covering every subject of
interest to the Order. daily being colec-
ted BY it all over the country. to he ham
dcd over to the printer aud afterward
re-distributed, in u printed form. to the
Oranges in every section, it occurred to
me that to do all this requires at least one
office, and one or more secretaries and cor
respondents. How is the rental of that
office to be paid These secretaries aud
correspondents must be paid for their
time. How. also. are their salaries to be
paid I? Aud more important than all.
how can it pay for this largo amount of
printing? Besides. the postage on all
this material mus. foot up handsomely at
the end Of the year.
4 new mem Der Of n subordinaec avouEs.
after having taken four degrees. has paid
into the treasury Of the Grange Eve dol
lars. besides his regular monthly dues -
Of this sum. tho treasurer Of his Grange
pays the secretary of the State Grange
twenty FIVE cents for each degree the new
member has taken: also. an annual due Of
twenty-five cents for said member, making
a total Of one dollar and twenty five cents
for the year The treasurer Of the State
Grange then pays to the secretary of the
National Grange ten cents for each de-
gree conferred upon this member, to-
an annual due for him. or total Of fifty
cents for the year. Thus. Of five dollars
and over, paid BY new member into the
treasury Of bis Grange during the FIRST
year Of his membership. only City cents
is claimed by the National Grange. and, /,
after he has taken all the degrees. it claims
only ten cents as his annual due.
The woman membership feature, like
Wise. appeared to be very Questionable
one. "Woman's proper sphere Of action. -
l repeated, lis the frcside; when she
leaves that to join societies. etc, she takes
the first step towards woman's rights
| But there is no moro danger Of her be-
coming n woman's right woman at the
Grange than there is Of her becoming one
at the ireside. for at each place she is in
company with her husband and brother.
As to the importance Of woman's aid,
thought Of the numerous instances afford
cd by history Of the powerful influence she
has always exercised over the destinies oi
mankind. but stronger proof Of that i'm
portance exists in the mind Of every man
| in the United States who is blessed with a
! faithful and intelligent wife. But where
is the necessity for secrecy? Why can
not the workings Of the Order be open to
the gaze Of oil men! Men Who do good
only are never afraid to have their actions
scrutiuixed. Certainly not. But trise
men keep their o1m counsel. and Of wha,
they do the world knows nothing uafa Il
IS d.ne. The general who couceives q
great sirage,ic movement coniides his plans
ouly to few trusty followers. and when
any business Of great n,emsnt comes before
Congress it sits an secr.t session. The
general does not conceal his plans. nor
Congress its deliberations. throu gh fear oi
the worlds scrutiny. bu, because the safe.
ty Of the interests involved demands ,ha,
secrecy be observed. In like manner
then, the Patrons conceal their delibera-
tioIs. because BY SO dong they insure
greater security and efficiency in thcir
workings. Thus. also. are bad nien pre-.
vented availing themselves of the advan.
tagcs Of the Order to impose upon the
credusi;y Of mankind. Secret societies,
too, have always been more permanent
than others. aud will flourish where the
latter die out When. however, 1 had
got this far. suddenly remembered thai
We had an agricultural society 10 oul
county. and began asking myself Why Il
would no, answer all the purposes Of ihi,
secret Order Of farmers After q listl,
reflection upon the objects Of such organ
ifsticns icund that agricultural .ocie,ie
are limited in their application to furnish