The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1875-02-18

ern Pacific Railroad. giving expression to their
views IN the following tcrse and conpreEen-
sve language, coming from the Committee on
transportation
Your committee have viewed with great in
terest the expressions Of approval and the APP
pcals to Congress to forward this great work,
emanatlllg from State Oranges and Boards OF
Trade from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and are
Impressed with the great obvious benefits which
WORLD result to the whole neticn b. the ,cedy
completion OF this road, and as it is an enter
prise too vast to depend alone for its success
upon private capital, equal justice to all sec
tlons OF our common country requires the aid
OF the National Government TO forward this
| work uadar proper restrictions and safeguards,
insurlng the Government against loss and the
Poop :e against unjust impostioas and discrim-
nations. Your committee, therefore, submit
| the following resol ltions:
That this National Grange earnestly invites
i the attention of Congress to the necessity Of q
| speedy completion Of the Texas Pacific Rail-
road, and asks Of that body reasonable aid to
the company which has inaugurated this great
national enterprise under such cautionary re-
strictlon and safeguards, as the prudence and
wisdom OF Congress may devise to guarantee
the Government against loss and protect the
agricultural interest of every section OF the
country against unjust discrimination in the
price OF transportation.
And then again in a more general discussion
Of the suject of cheap transportion, they say:
That several important plans for providing
more extensive and cheaper means Of transport
tation have been presented to tilem including
che Texas Pacific Railroad, the plan for the
improvement OF the mouth OF the Mississippi
and the project of a double track freight rail
road rom New York to the Missouri. Each
of these projects is national il, character, and
tbpi Cf1!o p1a
a wonderful degree the producing interests OF
the country. The committee declare that the
| time has fully come when it is the mission and
the duty OF the Government to take such meas
ures as will encourage the productive interests OF
the nation, which have Hitherto received too
little attention, and the National Grange urge
upon Congress the immediate Importance and
vital necessity of such actions as will look to
providing cheap and rapid transportation be-
tween all section OF the country and the mar
kets of the world. The opening of the mouth
Of the Mississippi river is pressing necessity,
in view Of the fact that so large territory is
dependent on this outlet for its products. and
we urge upon legislators the necessity of taking
such measures as will open this r:er to the
commerce OF the world, at the earliest possible
moment.
Remarking upon these views the Baltimore
american of the 18th, gives the folio wing il
teresting facts connected with the progress OF
the Grange movement:
The voice of the National Grange is Of some
account, because ii represents Il membership
numbering about million and a half, incu-
ding women. 1t is now hardly more than six
years since the first grange was established i'll
the United States, and the growth Of the Order
since then has been little less than marvellous.
In January, 1869, there were only ten oranges,
of which Minnesota had sx,Pennsylvania one,
Nav ppl, and linn T1,
1870 that number had increased to thirty eight,
and the following year to one hundred and
twenty-five. The great popularity Of the move
ment commenced in 1873, when the first session
Of the National Grange was held in Wishing
ton, and nineteen State Oranges were repre-
sented. Last year the National Grange met in
St. Louis, and ten thousand subordinate Gran
ges, with ninety thousand members, were re
ported. The present body represent twenty
two thousand subordinate Oranges, as stated
in an address delivered by one OF its chief Off
Gals, and as the average membership CT each is
nearly seventy, the calculation that there are
about million and Il half persons in the order
does not seem to be too high.
The sudden popularity OF the Order in this
State, however, hardly conveys an idea Of the
intensity of the Grange fever which has swept
through the West and Northwest during the
past two years, nor does the general public un-
derstand the extent TO which the members have
.AccuJ no OF Grange enterprise. There are at
the present time i'll operation under Grange
management banks. land companies, home
stead companies, immigration societies, cotton
factories, fire and life Insurance companies, a
grain feet and warehouses, mills, agricultural
machine manufactures, cooperative stores, pack
ing houses, steamboat lines, and in Minnesota
a railroad. It is claimed that thsre is over
sl5,000,00o cash capital Invested in Grange en-
terprises, while he saving to the members Of
the Order by getting the heavy discounts in
trade i'll the aggregate amounts to fully twenty
millions annually.
/ One Of the features of the Grange movement
is the prominence which il gives to women in
the Order, bringing them into positions that
necesstate knowledge of mercantile and legal
affairs, and giving them opportunities Of COM
petng on even terms in all business that the
Oranges can control. la the subordinate Oranges
they hold important official positions, and arc
necessary to complete organization. Another
benefit OF the system has been the establish
ment Of thousands OF libraries throughout the
country in places where there vas previously
little light or standard literature to b. obtained.
Increased attention has also been paid to the
circulation Of newspapers; in many Oranges il
newspaper subscription being made a requisite
Of membership. Some Oranges offer to pay a
certain per cent of whatever Il member eXpends
in newspaper subscriptions, and others advance
money for this purpose. The financial status
Of the Order is somewhat of mystery, and it
was anticipated that there would be an inquiry
made at this session of the National Grange re-
gardng the disposition made of the large sums
Of money it receives, but SO far nothing Of the
kind has been done.
Tile Oranges may some time become an in
fiuentia factor in the politics of the country,
but they have not yet gone into them with the
united action that has been looked for. In the
Northwest they have borne chief part in some
i local campaigns, but not always with success,
the late senatorial conflict in Wisconsin, in
which Mr.. Carpenter had their aid and was de-
feated by the railroad influence, being case
in point. In The Southwest they are bending
their energies to the encouragement of imm-
grafton to Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.
offering particular inducements to English and
Scotch farm laborers to settle in those States.
When the annual report is published by the
National Grange, it will state definitely what
the Order proposes to do in the future, and will
detail some vast projects which are being ma
tured by the leading men.
ssMAKINa CAPITAL. Making Capital out
of the Louisiana difficulties is still the game of
the Democrats When there was q prospect Of
compromise between the contending parties.
by which an adjustment could have been Sc
cured and comparative peace restored to the
State, dispatches were sent from the Democrat
ic clubs Of New York, Washington, Chicago,
81 no.. -