The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-10-22
THE PArRoNs OF HusBANDRY.
what a mllrion ana : IIalr Of Graneers are


of state treasurer, attracts much atten-
ton to grangerism, as he is known to be
the most prominent leader of the patrons
in that state, and an incorruptible re-
former. But. to one who keeps himself
thoroughly informed upon the progress
of the order of patrons of husbandry, the
nomination of Mr.. Piolette, is only one
among thousands of signs of its rapid
growth. Es
The progress of the cooperative move
ment in England, is pointed at as Won
der; but that has been about forty years
in maturing, while grangerism has swelled
| to its present proportions in about three
years. The truth will be apparent to any
one who carefully examines the facts that
a new power is arising, from one end to
| the other of this land, of a sort that is
without precedent, and whose future in
| f1uence, therefore, can not now be meas
ured.
Although the fact is disagreeble one
to SOM classes of non-producers, it is none
| the less undeniable that the rugged health
of the movement arises from its direct
bearing upOnthe pockets of the members.
| While there is much said in granger cor
respondence about the social features of
| their wOrk-the picnics and other festiv
| ities-the chief burden is concerning the
wholesale buying and selling they have
| done through the machinery of the order.
This is, of course, different in different
states. In the west, large part of the
gain is from the Wholesale disposal of
grain, and its handling through grange
elevators. In the SOUTH planters have
saved large sums by using the grange
agents in disposing of their cotton.
GRANGE ORGANS.
The newspaper agencies inform us that
newspapers with a nominal capital of
eight million have come to naught since
the panic of 1873 The new papers arts
ing to take their places, in the west at
least, seem to be largely disposed to an
nounce themselves; even in their titles
as taking the sides of the grange. A re-
hearsal of the most prominent grange
organs by states will do much to open
the eyes of some people to the magnitude
of this movement.
1t is an interesting fact that scarcely
any grange papers are published this
side of the Allegheny Mountains, and
there are very many more in the south
than in New England. In all down east
we find no manifest grange organ, and
only two or three public NOrkingmen's
papers. 1t is said that many of the mill
owners will discharge a hand who per-
sists in taking paper that IS devoted
exclusively TO the interests OF that class.
All these grange papers are known to
be earnest advocates of the patrons of
husbsndry, but there are scores more
not thoroughly identified with the order,
but working for it. In fact it is getting
customary for nearly all the western
country papers to devote a column or
two to grange matters.
A TREMENDOUS CONSTITUENCY.
When one considers the fact that reli- |
gious, Masonic, and other mutual aid |
societies. established for many years in !
this country, only support two or three |
organs apiece it becomes apparent that |
an order that is already supporting and |
given tone to several score papers must |
have a tremendous membership and a
strong hold upon the popular affections.
There is a singular difference between
organs of the movement in different
states. In Ohio, Indiana, illinois, Kansas,
and Missouri, they are so taken up, as
general thing, with letters, speeches, and
arcumentsin favor of greenback currency,
that they have not room for many Grange
particulars In the northwest, the Orlgi-
nal seat of the movement, they are still
hard at work III their anti-mOnOpily fget
with railroads Indeed, the people OF
this country, as a general rule, seem to
think that grangerism simply means war
against railroad eXtortiOns. In Pennsyl-
vania, on the other hand, the Farmers
Friend has been all summer fOrelbly illus
trating the practical character of the
Pennsylvania Dutch aud Quakers. Its
columns have been full of letters describ-
ing the picnics that have been held all
over the state. These letters showed a
truly marvellous advance, for wht cas-
dozen years ago writers and speakers were
advocating in vain to the most advanced |
communities the benefits OF cooperation, |
here now were thousands Of the old con- |
sentative Pennsylvania Dutch farmers |
throwing themselves heartily into the
work of an order, the chief feature OF
which is cooperative buying and selling
by producers.
EMINENTLY PRACTICAL.
1t is noticeable that through the long
picnic stories in the Friend dwell mostly
on the crowds that attended this and that
festivity, and tell rather what they had
to eat, than what the speech makers SAID,
they usually conclude with very Prac-
teal statement about the thousands OF
dollars worth of goods bought by the
grange through its agents. The Pcnnsyl-
vanians now have a state purchasing
agent, with a large store in Philadelphia,
which is filled from top to bottom with
samples, for the benefit of visiting pat
rons who wish to buy through the agent
at wholesale rates. The majority of the
order in those parts, seem to delight in
| this arrangement, and their letters are
all aglow with the fine bargains they
| have made, and the thousands Of dollars
| they have savedi n this way.
| 1t is of small use to present | ttering
generalities in support of the statement
that the grange is really the great rising
power in the land, which many patrons
| say it is. Fortunately facts and figures
are not wanting. 1t is pretty good sub
| sanitation of the assertion that the
grangers number a million and half, to
| find that the merely nominal sum paid by
| the subordinates to the national grange
| gave that body n1S74an income of $2l6,-
3S1. Its receipts have so increased be-
yond all calculation, that some new
means of using the excess must be de-
cided upon, or else the fees must be re-
duced In view of such prosperity, it IS
! almost possible to believe what one of
the organs of the order says about the
pecuniary benefits accruing to members,
viz: that they have saved $2l 600, 900
through its machinery already.
WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
A meeting of state agents of the order
was held at indianapolis, in August. In
diana, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Kentucky and Iowa were represented.
=. H.. oil rnnnrt thai husiness has GROWN