The patron of husbandry., 1880-07-24

may have been lnStruIncttdi III s.AS r
ment of such action. This State oTanse
passed resolut:ors giving per aiem aha
mileage to its members; fixing the salary
of the Secretary att $500, that OF the treas
urer at $500, and that of the Chairman Oh
the Executing Committee at s2oo' nHihg
the salaries of the Master and oehera'
Deputy at 81 900 each and travelling ex-
penses These several provisions cost the
State Grange in round numbers ABOUT
$4,000, and, including the current expenses
ran up the expenditures tor the year "
about $4,000 AS this matter wiz come up
in the financial statement which will accom-
nanv this article It will be dismissed here.
Provision was made for holding AIR IN
the fall, and Selma was selected oy the
Executive Committee as the place for hold
ing it. This Fair was financially success
full, and Gen. Johnston's salary was PAID on
with the profits Annual Fairs have been
! held since, and, though resulting once IN
| loss. have upon the whole been beneficial
financially, and the exhibits made by SUB
ordinate Oranges have done more to keep
the organization n existence than any
thing else.
By this State Grange, Gen. Johnston
was appointed General Deputy for the
State This appointment was like throw
ing wet blanket upon the Grange move
ment in the central part of the State, where
his past history was known, and where he
was sneeringly poirked out as "Granger
bv farmers outade>tle Order, who knew
that he was in 10 way identified by interest
with the purposes of the Order.
That Grange established the Southern
Plantation, a newspaper published at
Montgomery, as a Grange organ. THIS
movement ws looked upon by many at
the time as urwise. This view of the case
was based upon the facilities for communl-
cation that was afforded by the political
press. Mos of these, seeing that the Or
der possessed immense power, were bid
ding for iu support. The friends of the
Southern Argus, published at Selma,
thought that paper would furnish all needed
]
of the Grange movement and had materI-
ally aided the movement in the beginning.
But the action taken by the paper shortly
after this, in refusing to publish resolutions
in regard to the storage of cotton in Sell
ma, (although these resolutions were fully
warranted by the situation) on the ground
| that business men would withdraw their
patronage, opened their eyes to the situa
ton. The paper was willing to feed Gran
gers on chaff % get large subscription list,
and then in tIrn use this patronage as the
means of procuring advertisements at adj
vanced rates This Grange, then, did not
mistake in selecting an organ, but in the
too common error of every State Grange
attempting to sustain one of its own, and
the appointment of paper as its organ
which was edited by parties who had no
further interest in the Grange than their
business was benefited. This paper was
owned by retired preacher and his son,
who, since the collapse of his newspaper
establishment, has gone back to his legiti
mate business the practice of the law.
| Col. Chambers was induced by the Exec
utive Committee to buy out the Plantations.
| Upon its ruins he established the Farm
| sfo"~"0I, an excellent agricultural medium
but so far has had very little to say about
| Grange matters, and hence has been pro-
nounced failure as Grange paper by the
| Order. The blame for this state of affairs
rests mutually upon both sides. Had the
| Farm 1onyndi met the encouragement
that should have belonged to it, Col. Cham
| bers would have furnished better Grange
paper; had Col. Chambers furnished bet
ter Grange paper, it would have been bet
ter supported by the Order. What is
needed now is live Grange organ, which
will speak out the mind of the farmer re-
gardless of what middlemen may think of
it, regardless of their support, and which
can be furnished at low price. All these
| requirements are exactly met by THE PA
| TR0N OF HUsBANDRY, published at Co
lumbus, Miss, which should be adopted as
the medium Of communication by both the
| State Grange and Subordinate Oranges of
the State. This advice is not prompted
by any feelings of hostility either to the
Farm Journal or its able editor Moth
ing would please the writer more than to
see the ToHrnal as prosperous as its merit
deserves. The object of the State Grange
being to bring the Order back to what it
was, "a power in the land, i" he does not be-
lieve that the Journal meets the wants of
the occasion for the following reasons:
Il is a monthly journal, published in
costly form, and cannot be furnished as
cheap weekly unless the subscription list
could at once be largely increased by sub
scriptions from the Grange ranks, which is
impracticable at present.
Experience has shown that it is impossi-
BILE for each State to support an organ of
its own. AT least this has been the case
throughout the South.
THE PATRON OF HUsBANDRY has al
ready been adopted by the State Oranges
of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi
and Tennessee, and is strongly supported
by the Order in Louisiana and Texas; it
is independent of outside support, and is
fearless Grange journal; its columns teem-,
ing with good news from this immense ter.
ritory would furnish stimulant to our
dormant Oranges which would impart to
them new life, and would give new impe-
tus to the live Oranges of the State.
1t was at this session that the Secretary