The patron of husbandry., 1880-07-24

changed. and he canno. see why the Pur-
poses of the Order should not accomplish
all that was ever claimed for it. After |
wears of examinations he can see no cause
for the failure of the Grange to accomplish
these great ends except the want OF appre-
cation on the part of the farmers. He be
lieves that the failure of the Grange in any
locality is direct reflection upon the intelll-
gence of the community. But the great
misfortune is that most of his compeers OF
the first DAYS have fallen by the way, weary
in we'll doing. The only fault with these
early impressions was, that too much was
| expected at once Works of such magni-
is strong within the writer that the agita-
ton of these questions will bring about the
desired result. It was Horace Greeley
who was asked, in the infancy of the Re-
pablcan party when disaster loomed up
before it, by some one in tone of despair
I what was to be done next. His reply was,
"agitate! agitate" They did agitate. and
| with what results the world knows. Many
rushed into the Grange with a vague idea
that relief was to be immediate, without
semblance of an idea how such relief was to
come. They had an idea that all that had
to be done was to connect themselves with
| the Order, pay their dues, and all would be
/ accomplished for them. Under these cir
cumstances, Gen. Law found himself una
Bile to meet the demand for organizations
and appointed several Deputies to assist
him. Three hundred and twenty Oranges
had been organized by November 27, 1873,
the date of the organization of the State
Grange. That body authorized the Exec
utive Committee to appoint one Deputy
for each Congressional District. The
Committee made the following appoint
ments:
Hon. J. J. Roach, Mobile District.
! Col. w. G. Menafee, Montgomery District.
Gen. Geo. D. Johuston, Greensboro District.
Capt. W. S. Gordon, 0pelka District
Col. s. J. Harrington, Tuscumba District.
Rev. w. D. Jones, Huntsville District.
The writer is only acquainted with two
of these, and does not know any thing of
the fitness of the other four. But of the
two known to him. S. J. Harrington was
an eminently fit appointment, being far
mer and having no other interest. He and
Gen. Geo. u. Johnston, the other, were
both able men and eloquent speakers. But
the latter, not being in any way interested
in farming, should never have been admit
ted within the gates; he did the Order
| more harm than he did good. He organ
lied entire Oranges in towns and cities
composed of commission merchants and
other middlemen. These were direct
weight upon the efforts of the Grange in
every attempt at cooperation. Dallas
| Grange at Selma was one of this class, and
with its representatives in every Grange
convention, it defeated every attempt at
cooperation made by the Oranges of the
four surrounding counties. Gen. Law went
to that place twice, upon invitation, to or
ganize Grange there, but positively refus
ed because of the want of proper material.
The attention of the reader is here called
to the disastrous effect upon the Order pro-
duced by the two foregoing classes: those
|
mediate relief, and those received into mem
bership who were not interested in its flu
| ture prosperity. Shortly after this time
the first fell away by thousands, proclaim
| ing the Order failure because their expec.
| tations had not been realized; the second,
because they saw the decline, and no longer
feared the results upon their business. This
decline, and the discouraging reports of
those falling away, prevented others from
uniting with the Grange, and it soon after
became manifest that its existence was
| threatened. Much of this could have been
counteracted, but for the want of funds
produced by the unfortunate financial man.
agement which will be noticed hereafter.
During the year, the work of organiza-
ton steadily progressed. At the session of
the State Grange which convened at
Montgomery on November goth, 1874.
! 65S Oranges were reporte as organized.
From this time forward the progress ofthe
organization was slow from two reasons:
! first, the effect produced by the withdrawal
| just noticed; second, the field was pretty
well occupied by those already organized.
At the session of 1877, 6o4 Oranges were
| reported as having been organized. This
was the highest point ever reached.
At the first session of the State Grange
which assembled at Montgomery, Nov
27, 1873, little beyond organization was
| accomplished AS soon as this had been
perfected, it adjourned, leaving everything
in the hands of the Executive Com nitee
| Had this Committee been wisely selected,
this action would been for the best But its
members, with the exception Of DR. Bates,
were selected for their talking power. They
started the State Grange upon its financial
policy of large salaries for the officers.
| Whilst preaching economy, they fixed the
annual salary of the Secretary at $1,000
and that of the Treasurer at $500. Both CT
these were efficient officers, but in the light
| of subsequent events it is easy to perceive
| that these salaries were too high Subse-
quent State Oranges, in fixing the salaries
OF these officers were more or less influenced
by the example set, hence the bad effect.
The second session of the State Grange
convened at Montgomery, Dec. 1, 1874
This proved to be the most important ses.
sion which has been held. A great deal Of
legislation was accomplished at this ses-
sion; some good, some bad, and some with
out much effect either way. The great mis-
takes which resuIfed in the S,,bSa.,,,o,,,