The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-08-14
Letter from the Master OF the
National Grange.

State Grange:
Worthy Brother. My time has
been SO severely taxed with official
duties, since the meeting of the
National Grange, that had almost
forgotten my promise to write to
you. After returning home from
that meeting, | began to reflect
more seriously upon the great re-
possibilities which | had assumed,
and the importance of the great
work entrusted to my hands. | re-
solved to resign the Office of Master
of the State Grange and give my
time and energies to. the work of
reviving the Order in those States
which have been unrepresented for
several years in our National ses-
sions. In this was met with OPP
position. in our State Grange, and
my resignation returned to me by
unanimous vote, SO | have been
compelled to perform the duties of
both offices. The correspondence
alone required my entire time du-
ring the. winter months. Since
spring opened | have been in the
lecture field nearly all the time |
could get from the office work. My
labors have been confined, princi
pally, to this State. | have spoken
three times in Ohio, once in Wis
consin, and .oneo in Illinois. Ileave
the ffst of August for the New
England States, to be absent four
or five weeks. Expect to attend
one or more meetings in the State
OF New York on my return. That
is probably all the time / shall be
able to give the field work outside
of this State before the meeting of
the National Grange in Washing
ton. AS far as I am able to Judge,
the condition of the Order in most
OF the States is encouraging; and a
general revival, slow but healthy,
seems to be going on. | am much
interested in the progress of our
cause in the South. From my cor
respondence l infer that the interest
is increasing in Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, Texas. Ten
nessee, and perhaps Florida, but
L am anxious about Louisiana. Can
you not lend them a helping hand?
| know that you feel anxious about
your own State, and can hardly af
ford to do missionary work in other
States, but | know that few lee
lures from you would do them
good. AT one time they were dis
posed to give up, but a meeting of
a few of the faithful was called and
they resolved to "hold the ship" |
am not surprised at the CONDITION of
the Order in that State The po-
litical cyclone which passed over
the country in 1876 carrying destruc-
ton every where, seemed to have
spent its parting fury there, and
created distrust and financial en-
barassment among all classes. The
effect was to cause the fires to burn
but dimly upon the Grange affairs.
Yet hope and expect to see our
Brothers and Sisters in that State
rise above the ruins of the storm,
and build anew upon the ruins of |
blighted hopes and fortunes.
Another political campaign is
now upon us, and the politicians
and political editors are preparing
for the conflict. The nominations |
are not satisfactory to the political
bummers.P In fact, the conserv-
alive element of both the old par
ties seemed to take control of the
conventions, and the corrupt schem-
ing and trickery of political dema
gogues was defeated. The plat
forms of the parties, as they relate to
measures Of public policy, are so
similar that no political orator will
attempt to quote from them, and
the moral standing of the candi-
dates being above reproach. there
seems to be no chance for bad men
to open afresh the sectional strife
which characterized the last cam
paign. There is growing feeling
in the South, which has become
almostunanimous among the wealth
producing classes, that it is time
for sectional strife to cease in polit-
ical campaigns, and qualifications
of candidates and questions of pub
lie policy alone be considered. But
i'll vain tie politicians will seek for
live ISSUES between the old parties,
and we must expect that an attempt
Will be made to excite the usual
partizan and sectional prejudices;
and unreasonable vituperations of
the motives of men and parties in
dulged in. And yet in my iudg-
ment all this will be of little avail
with the intelligent voters. Through |
the influence of our Order, men
have been induced to read, think,
investigate and understand for
themselves and mere partisanship
n a great measure has been done
away. To my mind, this indicates
rue progress, and a healthy condi-
ion of public sentiment. The
wealth producers Of this country
should be united in sympathy. in
crest, and efforts to protect and
elevate their class; and every him
trance in the way of accomplishing
such a result, should be removed.
The principal argument used by
politicians to keep alive sectional
prejudice in the North, has been {
BASED upon the idea that the colored
people of the South were deprived |
# the right to vote for men of their {
'hoice, without fear or intimidation.
The acknowledgements of 100000 t