Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1876-04-06

from it's appearance yesterday. But / know
that was. not a fair criterion. There was al
auction. sale of stock of goods going on
and a grange meeting. The sale was adj
journed at the hour of the public grange
meeting, and the largest hall in the tow
was crowded uncomfortably, and man,
could not gain admittance, while some re
tired, for fear the building might give way.
A grange meeting assembledin half an houl
after-the adjournment of the public meeting
and was well attended by the representa-.
tives of most of the oranges north of the
Usage. Late in the evening this meeting
adjourned, to hold another at Z p. m,-thus
holding three meetings the same day. anC
many had considerable, distances to &C
home, over bad roads in a dark night. Does
this look like the grange was dead, Or dy-
ing? These grange meetings are conducted
on what might be called. the inquiry plan
Such questions us the following are the lead
ing ones WHAT'S your membership? How
are your meetings attended? What. degree
OF interest is manifested in the objects of the
order? What are they? What have you
saved or gained by cooperation /? etc. This
brings out the condition of each grange, and
gives a fair indication Of the health of the
order in the county. The result Of these in
quiries SO far, indicates that the order was
never in a more healthy and prosperous CON
dition. A few, and very few, oranges are
found in a dead. dormant, or dying condi-
ton. A close Investigation into the causes
shows that improper persons Were admitted
into them, either as charter members Or sub
sequently; those who felt no true sympathy
or interest with us. My observation CON
vinces me that one such member can ruin
and break up a grange, especially. if he is a
storekeeper or petty merchant. They inya-
riably run the grange, if suffered to remain
in it. They u it. into the ground. They
hate cooperation as. they do poison, unless
it is concentrated!to their own interest and
self-aggrandizement. No grange should ev-
er receive one as a member. Their 6 inter-
ests. are in conflict with our purposes"
Heretofore, / have been very slow to urge
farmers to embark in cooperative store en-
terprises. But | am now feeling much more
favorable towards such enterprises. There
are some localities where they must do it,
or submit to be slaves to, a few greedy cor
morants. And if a whole community of
farmers will submit to this, they deserve to
be slaves. Better take. half a dozen law
yers into a grange, than one storekeeper.
The lawyers will ~monopolize the talking
and offices, but they have more true sympa-
thy with the farmers than the ~storekeepers.
If you will let them do the talking and hold
the offices, they will be inclined to help you
to become prosperous, so that you can pay
them by big fees. They know yoll cannot
do it unless you are. But, the storekeeper
will take. the last bit of hide off of you. He
is not only sordidly selfish. and greedy, but a
fool into the bargain, as well as a tyrant,
and cannot see that he is running himself in
the long run. O~fcourse do not mean to
honorable exceptions. When you find such
q one, concentrate on him as long as he deals
with you fairly and squarely, rather than
the risk of even q cooperative store. In
all other cases start your store, being very
careful to select competent, honest and true
men to manage it. Then you can ship your
products to market through that medium
direct, and realize all it will bring, instead
of, giving it to the storekeeper for an old
song. Our recognized grange agents in St.
Louis are tried and true men; they are rn-
der good and sufficient bonds to protect you
from any accidents. 1t is your. duty as Pat