Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-04-02
A Defense Of the Grange,
BUFFALO, March 18th, 1875
=. II. SHERIDAN,
Lieut.. Gen'l Commanding.

Mr.. ED1roR:-Having been a read
CT of the BULLETIN for several years
past, its weekly visits seem to me like
the calls of an old friend. There has
been some discussion of late through
the BULLETIN and Conservative in
which / take considerable interest.
I mean what has been said by several
correspondents, through both papers,
in reference to the Patrons of Hus-
bandry. Now, Mr.. Editor, 1 under
stand by what you have said through
the BULLETIN that you were not UNI
friendly to the order; but Judging
from the articles that have appeared
IN the BULDETIN of late, l should
conclude otherwise. Perhaps it is
because all that has been furnished
you, is on one side of the question.
There seems to be much anxiety
about that little sum of money now
under the control Of the National
Grange. Now, Mr.. Editor, l chal-
lenge The whole list of grumblers to
produce Il single instance in which
any of the funds have been dishon-
estly or unlawfully applied. Most OF
the complaints that l have heard
were, because the money was allowed
to accumulate and was not used for
the benefit of the order. And many
Of these complaints, l think, were
made without due thought. All
funds in the hands of the National
Grange are expended by the action
of the delegates to that Grange, and
those delegates are chosen by dele
gates at the State Grange, they hav-
ing been chosen by the several Sub
ordinate Oranges. Now, do not
claim that these men and women are
all saints or angels. but l do think
that they will compare favorably with
amy other equal number Of persons
wherever they may be found.
There has been much said about
the large amount Of money that is
paid out by members of the Grange
to sustain the organization. When
this is all aggregated in one sum, it
is quite an amount; but when we
come to individuals, it is very small
item. After the organization is past
land this is the case in Iowa, the
amount which is necessary for a
member to pay in order to keep in
good standing is the enormous sum
Of $l.20 per year; "a cents of which
goes to the State Grange, and the
State Grange pays out of this "a
cents to the National Grange G. cents,
50 that each member pays annually
to the National Grange cents. Is
this high taxation? / think not
Now, l am not going to call all those
that have written on this subject fools
or knaves, as the rule seems to be,
but | do think when one quotes what
another says, he should quote truth
fully, which was not the case all the
time in Yankee Jim's communication,
when he quoted what +. c. Il. said.
Your correspondent from Rural
Districts" in Wcstburg township, has
found quite grain of comfort in the
fact that Il Grange there has dis
banded. Well, hope he will get all
the consolation that he can from this
fact, for he seems to be anXiously |
watching for something to turn up;
it may be the case, however, that !
many of the members of this DIS
banded Grange may join other
Oranges, for almost all Patrons admit
that it was great mistake in this
State in organizing SO many Oranges.
The reason my friend assigns for this
disbanding is general dissatisfaction
with the way that funds, handled
and accumulated ut headquarters, are
for" Otherwise, there
was an alarm lest that six cents an
nually paid by each member should
be misapplied. One great secret that
he had discovered, as given to him
by Master, is that "Patrons were still