The patron of husbandry., 1880-09-04
Declaration of Purposes.
PREAMBLE.

proclaim 10 the WOIlQ llS SCnCl 81
objects, we hereby unanimously
make this Declaration of Purposes
of the Patrons of Husbandry:
6RNhRAL Objects. y
I. United by the strong and faith
full tie of Agriculture, we mutually
resolve to labor for the good OF our
Order, our country, and mankind.
2. We heartily endorse the motto,
"In essentials, unity; in non-essen-
tials, liberty; in all things, charity"
SPECIFIC OBJECTS.
3. we shall endeavor to advance
our cause by laboring to accomplish
the following objects:
To develop better and higher
manhood and womanhood among
ourselves. To enhance the COM
forts and attractions of our homes,
and strengthen our attachments to
our pursuits. To foster mutual un-
derstanding and cooperation. To
maintain invfolate our laws, and to
emulate each other in labor, to
hasten the good time coming. To
reduce our expenses, both individ-
ual and corporate. To buy less and
produce more, in order to make our
farms self-sustaining. To diversity
our crops, and crop no more than
we can cultivate. To condense the
weight of our exports, selling less
on hoof and in fleece; less in lint,
and more in warp and woof. To
systematise our work, and calculate
intelligently on probabilities. To
discountenance the credit system,
the mortgage system, the fashion
system, and. every other system
tending to prodigality and bank
ruptcy.
We propose meeting together,
talking together, working together,
buying and selling together, and,
in general, acting together for our
mutual protection and advancement,
as occasion may require. We shall
avoid litigation as much as possible
by arbitration in the Grange. We
shall constantly strive to secure
entire harmony, good will, vital
brotherhood among ourselves, and
to make our Order perpetual We
shall earnestly endeavor to suppress
personal, local, sectional, and Ma
tional prejudices, all unhealthy ri
valry, all selfish ambition. Faithful
adherence to these principles will
insure our mental, moral, social and
material advancement.
BUSINESS RELATIONS
a. For our business interests, we
desire to bring producers and con-
sumerS, farmers and manufacturers,
into the rlost direct and friendly re-
lations possible Hence, we must
dispense with surplus of middle
men, not that we are unfriendly to
them, but we do not need them
Their surplus and their exactions di-
minish our profits.
We wage no aggressive warfare
against any other interests what
ever. On the contrary, all our acts
and all our efforts, so far as business
is concerned, are not only for the
benefit of the producer and con-
sumer, but also for all other inter
ests that tend to bring these two
parties into speedy and economical
contact. Hence we hold that trans
portatiou companies of every kind
are necessary to our success, that
their interests are intimately con-
nected with our interests, and har-
monious action is mutually advant-
ageous, keeping in view the first
sentence in our declaration of prin-
ciples of action, that "Individual
happiness depends upon general
| prosperity"
We shall, therefore, advocate for
every State the increase in every
practicable way, of all facilities fol
transporting cheaply to the sea
board, or between home producers
and consumers, all the productions
of our country. We adopt it as
our fixed purpose to "open out the
channels of natures great arteries
that the life blood of commerce
may flow freely"
We are not enemies of railroads
navigable and irrigating canals, nol
of any corporation that will advance
our industrial interests, nor of any
laboring classes.
In our noble Order there is nc
communism, no agrarianism.
We are opposed to such spiri
and management of any corporation
or enterprise as tends to oppress tn,
people and rob them of their Jus
profits. We are not enemies tC
capital, but we oppose the tyranny
of monopolies. We long to see tn,
antagonism between capital anC
labor removed by common consent
and by an enlightened statesman
ship worthy of the nineteenth cen
tury. We are opposed to excessiv,
salaries, high rates Of interest, anC
exorbitant per cent. profits in trade
They greatly increase our burdens
and do not bear a proper proportion
to the profits of producers. w
desire only self-protection, and The
protection of every true interest O
our land, by legitimate transactions
legitimate trade, and legitinat
profits.
EDUCATION.
We shall advance the cause O
education among ourselves, and fo
our children, by all just mean
within our power. We especiall
advocate for our agricultural an,
industrial colleges, that practica