The Grange advance., 1874-06-24
From the Pioneer 18th inst !

From the Pioneer 18th inst.1
Mr.. Donnelly, in = personal interview.
gives as his reasons for starting new Anti
Monopoly journal that the Grange Advance
| and the Farmers Union are both hostile to
him, and are doing all they can to impair his
| usefulness as member of the Order and
further, that he believes there ought to be
good strong central organ of the move
ment in St. Paul. Mr.. Donnelly is spicy
| and effective writer, as well as speaker,
and if he doesn't make a sparkling paper,
and give some Of his attacking enemies
quite as good as he gets, We shall miss
very positive prediction.
In personal interview Mr.. Donnelly did
not complain to US that the GRAzGE AD-
VANCE was "hostile I" to him, but thought
the Parsons article '3did him Injustice"
Neither the Pioneer nor Mr.. Donnelly can
find in the ADVANCE "hostility" to Mr..
Donnelly or "any other man." Our hos
tility is to corrupt systems, not to individ-
uals. In the identical article in which Mr..
Donnelly finds injustice, the Minneapolis
Tribune discovers enough to pronounce
the ADVANCE Donnelly organ.
The position taken by the GRANGE AD-
VANCE was more liberal than any other
paper in the State, by announcing that it
was "free forum for the discussion of all
the topics Of the day, including criticisms
upon its own editorials.
''For none ever feared thatthe truth should
be heard
But such as the truth would indite.''
We have said and again repeat, that we
think Mr.. Donnelly, when in the heat of
passion or enthusiasm, is too prone to run
into untenable extremes. For instance,
when he asserts with one breath that rail-
roads are bankrupt, and with the next that
freight rates are ruinously high, we have
had numerous farmers ask US how those
two contradictory assertions could be recon-
ciled. If roads cannot pay running ex
penses how can they afford to lower their
rates! We could readily furnish all the
voluminous facts explanatory Of the work.
ings of the roads, but we cannot undertake
to harmonic Mr.. Donnelly's extremely
opposite positions. 1t was the introduction
Of such weak and contradictory arguments,
apparent to all into the AntiMonopoly
address, that destroyed its influence by
casting suspicion over the whole docu-
ment.
More than month ago, when the avowed
personal enemies Of Mr.. Donnelly opened
their beligerent crusade against him, the
GRANGE ADVANCE offered its columns alike
to both parties, so long as discussion would
be conducted temperately and free from
personalities, and as Mr.. Donnelly neglected
to avail himself of this medium to argue his
cause, or defend himself through all parts
Of the State, he has no legitimate ground
to accuse us of hostility :"
We here repeat what we published last
week, and i" this is the head and front of
our offending":
Gas we understand it, the disapproval of
Mr.. Donnelly's course is not SO much of
what he has done or is doing to remove
the plague spots from the government, but
the erratic method or manner he adopted in
pretentious!y assuming the leadership,
with the light and power to dictate the
course of action to all the Oranges in the
State. We believe Mr.. Donnelly is con
demned more for his presumption and
folly than for actual crime against the
order.''