The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1875-06-30

Ia'- - wv 'v-~-- ~ASsS~ tsAeaDStpVAVbp
Of the practical workings Of Oranges.
He mentioned young man who hld
noteduoation, but Joined the Grange
several, years since, and by assooia.
tion has educ ated himself and maks,s
fifteen to eighteen bales of cotton to
the, mule.
The lands in the vicinity Of the
Grange Of which the Speaker is o
member arc worth twenty dollars on
acre. The dwelling houses are oil
in fine repair, and the farmers have
dne horses and carriages, and every.
thing prospers. This is all the
result of association Of ideas and
corporation of labor. They raise
their own provisions, and last year
sold oats to the people Of Fairfield
for $l.25 to $3.50 por bushel, and
there are now in Abboville County
thousands of bushels of oats for sale.
Marlboro is twenty miles from a
railroad. Yet there have congrepat.
cd 1900 patrons at one Grange pic.
MO, every patron having his
horse and every horse fat. Those
farmers never succeeded till they
organized Oranges. ..'.'
Tho Speaker then denounced the
lien system. He illustrated tho evil
effects ef liens upon both the NOR.
chant and tho farmer. The enor.
nous per centage will ruin any me- n,
and no who, is compelled to give one
Of these liens has gotten so low, down
that he might as we'll run his cotton
off wien gathered.
In one county tho recording OF
liens gave in one year an income of
S6,50O to the Clerk of the Court,
In Abbeville tie revenue this year
is $500, and in many other coun.
ties it is also very great. The
Speakers Grange allows mono of its
members to give lien, aud from
this the greatest benefit ensues.
He then dealt the farmors some
raps about not reading. Advised
them to subscribe to agricultural
works which are as useful to them as
the law book is to the lawyer, or
the medical work to the physician.
The old prejudice against shook
farmers" must be exploded. Agri.
culture in the South is fifty years
behind hand. The delegates from
the Northern Oranges !who came to
Charleston this spring, stopped the
train between Charlotte and Colum-
bia to examine aplough, and express.
ed themselves as convinced that the
South would always remain poor until
tho agricultural Implements used
here be improved.
Any bald red spot of land may be
taken and broken up with two
horse plow and left to fallow a year
and then seven hundred pounds of
cotton can be made to the acre on it.
But old fashioned farmers will say
"you arc killing your laud." It b as
only boon adopted because some one
llstened to "fool theorist" and ex.
perimented.
The Grange clevatcs socially.
But in order that this end may be
attained, it is necessary to have
ladies in the Grange. The Speaker
then eulogized tho ladies' and declar.
ed that no grange was prosperous in
which there were none of the fair
lex to make the men behave.
Tho speaker then dwelt upon the
peouuiary benefits of the Grapge, and
showed that by co operation and
wholesale purchases, gre.t savings
can be effeetad.
ln regard to the objections raised
that this would injure the merchants
he denied it, but would only say that
where the public good conflicts with
the interests Of two or three mon,
these men must be sacrificed.
Tho speaker then explained the
secrecy OF the Orange. 1t possessed
no secrets other than those possessed d
by other organizations. AS the mer.
chants have their boards of com.
merce, the mechanics their trade
unions, the professional men their as.
sociations which no outsiders oan ioin,
just SO the farmers have their own
organization to protect their interests.
He tben touched upon the moral
and political influence exerted by the
Grange. 1t ignored religions and
creeds, making no distinctions on ao.
connt of them. But it inculeated
charity ana the Christian virtues and
thus exercised power for good. So
also it makes no distinction because
of politics. But it teaches honesty
and independence, and in this way
exercises political power. Great
revolutions in politics have beon
lately effected by the patrons "not
as body, but ns a mass.'' Poland,
of Vermont exhibited in Congress a
want Of Of manliness and independ.
ence, and although he had been re.
markably popular, he was defeated
for reelection. He told the Master
of The State Grange, "You d--d pa
irons Of husbandry caused my defeat
The speaker then urged upon hia
hearers to take interest in the g range
and then, dismissing tho general
audience, delivered lecture to the
Patrons on the workings of the ordor