The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1879-12-20
THE NATIONAL GRANGE.
REPORTS FROM THE ST

BY. BRO. 1n1ng, OF Mdlne.-L Hat lic
hour of ago tomorrow be appointed tor
a general discussion in the interests of the
Order. =
Amended and adopted, fixing the time
at ego to-day, at which hour by cali of
roll ofsStates, this. interesting and profta-
BILE discussion was carried on. We regret
we can only give few points OF all the
many good things said by the represents
tives from all parts of our great Grange
field. 49,
Bro. Adams was first called and said
that in his annual address he had embod-
led. all he had to say at this time.
Bro. Spilman, of California, said-Thes
Grange in California is on a good solid
basis; we have about got clear of our poor
material the element we now have can
be relied upon to carry out the principles
of our Order. Our last State Grange
meeting, held month ago, was the lar
gest, most enthusiastic and best ever held.
Our subordinate Oranges are in good Wor-
king condition; they are taking IN large
numbers of young people, who are be-
coming much interested. We have many
business organizations on the Rochdale
plan which are a great success; we have
bank, insurance company, and feel full
of hope for the future.
Bro. Rosa, of Del-Our Grange farms
like our State are small, but in proportion
to our numbers, we are receiving as great
benefits as in any other State. We have
lost some members and taken in others
who more than fill their places. Have as
many members as ever, and those we now
have are of better material than the aver
age of those who first joined.
Bro Booth, of Colorado-Was sorry he
could not make a better report. In the
early days of enthusiasm too many joined
for financial benefits alone. We have had
many difficulties to contend with. The
officers of our State Grange receive no
salaries, and being farmers can not give
the time necessary to thoroughly advance
the work; hence, some Oranges have be-
come dormant. We need lecturers to
travel over the State to stir up our farm
ers and members to the importance of the
Order. What members we now have are
of the best material, true Patrons in all
respects. Had suffered severely from
grasshoppers, leaving our people poor,
was another cause of not attaining COM
plete success but we are now working
| for better times In business matters we
| established an agency with s., 500 sub
scribed and 5000 paid in; the first year
the business amounted to over $1,000 900.
| When some ambitious ones, thinking We
were able to do the entire business of the
State, attempted too much; failure came,
and much damage thereby to the Order
| in our State. Dormant Oranges were
now reviving, and he felt sure that bet
| ter report next year could be presented
! from Colorado.
Bro. Wilson, of Fla.-In our State the
| Order is languishing, brought about by
various causes. Business ventures and
experiments bankrupted the State Grange
treasury by the second year. Through
unfortunate selections of agencies the
| business features had not always resulted
in success, which has cooled the zeal of
many. They still had determined few
v, I.~ld:.>s 1 el;-, as. ho q
for brighter and better days.
Bro. Forsythe, of HIN our State the
| Order was born in a whirlwind and born
unde- a necessity, that of relieving the
farmers of the State from the burdens inn
posed upon them by the railroads and
other monopolies; and it did good work
as long as these necessities existed We
have about 400 Oranges in good standing.
l have had many reports within short
time that the Order is looking up, and
confidently expect a genuine revival and
renewal of interest. aa
Bro. James, Of Ind could not in the
/ brief time of this discussion give a full
idea of the condition of the Order in our
State. From various causes we too have
had a decline. We were organized under
too much excitement. In management OF
our funds mad been more fortunate than
others; had never less than six or seven
thousand dollars in the treasury of the
State Grange and all our debts paid. We
had at one time 2,o47 Oranges. Had we
never had but 900 it would have been
better. Had at present 900 to 5000 live
MEMBERS some only see the dead ones
and get discouraged. In lecturing, their
experience had been that it was better to
lecture live Oranges than dead ones
Stimulate the best, and their example and
good works will help others. The mem
oers we now have are systematizing their
work better than ever, building halls, and
cooperating generally. Taking all to-
gether, can report our State in good con-
dition with Frightening hopes
Bro. Sims, of Kan.-The condition OF
the Order in our State is bad | can moi
at this time enter into discussion of the
causes in full We organized too rapidly
more rapidly than we educated. Our f.
nancial affairs were badly managed We
have one thing on which to build hope
Where we have established cooperative
business enterprises and succeeded, there
the Order is success; where they have
failed the Order has died out; where NO
efforts have been made in this direction
it has languished. In every single in
stance where the Rochdale plans have
been adopted and lived up to, it has
proved a complete success, and the Order
is there strong.
Bro. Thing, of Maine Thought the re.
marks of Bro. Sims applied to Maine as
well as any he had heard. Maine had
grown slowly but surely; large pro.
portion of the Oranges organized were