Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-07-03
Co,fax on tho Grange.

A. KNOW LES, Sec.
Co,sax ON tho Grange.
Entirely removed now from politi-
cal position or political candidacy, /
can say, without misconstruction of
my motives, that the evils which the
grange organization was primarily
intended to correct or modify were
pointed out warningly by me in Il
Fourth of July Grafton two years ago,
before the organization had attained
its present prominence. But l have
always recognized that there are rail
road rights as well as railroadwrongs,
and that this great question must be
settled, and can only be enduringly
settled, on the basis of ri ght and JUS
ticc, and upon those principles Of
equality which have been potential
III the settlement Of all great ques-
tons confronting us in our recent
history. Thus, while all must ac-
knowledge their great usefulness in
developing the resources of the ma
ton, and opening vast areas Of our
interior to settlement and improve
mcnt, we all see plainly thatrailroads
can no more do without the produ-
GERS than the producers can do with
out them. And all should concedc
that, as railroads can only be built by
the exercise of the states right of en-
incnt domain, under charters as pub
lie highways granted by the people
through their Legislatures, they have
no more right to dcnouncc reasona-
bic Legislative supervision than fer
rics aud turnpikcs chartered by the
same authority. And if the miller
who grinds wheat can rightfully be
limited by the State in his tolls, why
cannot the railroad which brings the
wheat to his mill to be ground? The
Just ground on which all just men
can unite is that railroads should be
common carriers for all Oh common
grounds, and at equitable rates, with
out tavoritism or unjust discrimina-
ton, and on the just basis of ''reason-
able rates for the people and reason
able profits for the companies" l
remember, many years ago, how a
distinguished English statesman was
criticised for proposition that their
great railroads should run third-class
trains, morning and evening, for H.
borers, etc, ut penny two ccnts)
per mile. He was lampooncd as a
dc,nagogue and visionary theorist.
But these parliamentary trains," as
they are called, were found, when at
last reluctantly established, to be not |
only the great accommodation for the !
poor that was claimed for them, but
also among the most profitable to the |
companies Of all their trains.
Two things i'll your organization
have struck me as specially auspic-
ious. First, the admission of your
wives and daughters to membership,
enhancing doubtless the social inter
est of your meetings, and reckoning
woman onward to wider sphere of
usefulness III the community; and,
secondly, the frank and outspokcn
declarations of so many of your
oranges as to intemperance, the enc
my of the working-man and the bane
Of society. trust your organization
will never speak with an uncertain
voice OH this great evil of the ccntu-
ny. For all experience proves that
where drinking shops decrease, crime
and paupcrism with their consequent
taxation decrease, comfort and hap
pincss in the abodcs Of the poor in
crease, and law and order, peace and
quiet, industry and thrift, more gen
orally prevail.
Yonr demands, too, for increased
economy in public expenditures, and
greater watchfulness as to public
moneys, cannot fail to do good.
When you proceed from gencralitics
to details you will find that, besides
strict scrutiny as to national appro-
priations, you will need quite as
watchfnl care as to home taxation.
Gov. Hayes, of Ohio, one of the best
governors that State ever had, PROV
ed several years ago, in message
that attracted too little attention, that
local taxation was the
heaviest burden, by far, the taxpayer
had to shoulder. And that is 80 com
pletely within your power, locally, l
have great hopes ofbcncticent results
III that line from your organization.
Not being a member OF your order,
am not sure that l understand your
exact position as to "middlc-men."
If your object is to cconomizc as far
as possible, buying with cash from
manufacturers or their agents, at their
lowest prices, instead of on credit at
higher rates, and thus saving the
heavy percentages that the credit sys-
tenn absorbs from the honest poor,
that is certainly laudable. But mid
dlc-mcn, as class, are as necessary
in the operations of trade and com
mercc and business, as lawyers are in
law, and doctors in medicine, and
need a special education and adapta-
ton to their work. If you could
abolish all middlc-lnen with their ex-
perience, you would have to educate
and train up middlc-men out Of your
own ranks to fill their places. And,
as we can not buy dress patterns for
our wives direct from the Manchester
mills, we must recognize that agents
who contract at wholesale, and, TAX
ing all risks of shipments and sales,
retail goods to us, are, to large ex-
tent, a necessity. But no one can OBJ
icct to the policy of buying and sell
ing direct for the cash in hand, rs far
as it is feasible.
How to Treat Fruit Trees.