The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-02-26

like the devil fish reaches out its long arms
| to draw in its victim and feed upon its
blood Is there no escaped or must
the peoole one by one be absorbed to
swell the bulk of insatible greed; or can
they not with one accord, with mighty
upheaval, and wide and vast accumula-
ton OF strength, create a public sentiment
too strong to be resisted? 1t is the power
OF numbers-the universal vote Of the
people, and this only, that can success-
tuily cope with monopolies and corpora
| tons.
To the accomplishment of this end the
! Grange has set its self to work and is NOV
ing steadily ahead to the attainment of this
object. Its rapid and unprecedented growth
was owing to the general demand for relief.
Men felt burdened, and sought blindly for
something to remove the pressure from
them.
The Grange was an Institution perfect
when first formed, but it took time to de-
eide upon what field to put its machinery
In operation; hesitancy and some blunder-
ing were inevitable, the experience Of the
past however has been very beneficial.
| Having seen its errors, the National
Grange feels no hesitation now in recon-
| mendlng what course to pursue to win for
agriculture responsibility and a recognition
by the Government, and it is clearly our
duty as Patrons to accept in good faith the
| suggestions and recommendations enema
ting from that Body and carry them out to
their legitimate results
| recommend to every Subordinate
Grange and indeed to every Patron and
farmer the careful perusal of the splendid
address of the Worthy Master and the re-
ports of the Standing Committees of the
| National Grange made at the last meeting
| in Washington City. They contain the
| observations, conclusions and recommends
| tions of the most advanced thinkers of the
| Order. The Committee Agriculture
| recommends that American farmers cult
vate thought, as it opens to the vision the
| sources of pleasure, happiness, and the
| material blessings that attend a wei! order
ed life" and the Committee on the good of
the Order says: 1--WE may talk as elo-
quently as we will of he necessity of in
tellectual and social culture and moral ele-
walton, and of their paramount importance
| and value, but after all has been said. and
its truth acknowledged, still the great fact
remains, that TO open the way for progress
IN these directions the pecuniary ciTcum
! stances must be made comfortable - and
further on, that When we contemplate
the wonderful agricultural productions OF
| our country, and the vast columns of statis-
tics, as furnished by the Census Bureau
and Agricultural Department, we must
| not forget that it is not from these aggre
gates that the wants of the farmer and his
family are to be supplied, but only from
the few cents of profit arising from the
| operation" Again we see it stated that
agriculture pays taxes for the support OF
the Government far beyond its Just share.
fS M L :.
view, tangible and real, and never escape. -
The effect of these depressing influences
among farmers, is loss of self-respect
and the decay of manhood.
The Committee on the Good of the Or
| der asks "What can we as legislators OF
| the Order do for the advancement of the
material interests of the farmer?" and con-
cludes as follows 'In view of these con
siderations and of the fact that under ex
listing laws large and constantly increas-
| ing proportion of the wealth of the coun
try is exempt from taxation, your commit
tee believe that the time for more advanced
measures and more aggressive efforts has
| arrived, and in accordance herewith the
! following resolutions are respectfully pre-
sented:
Resolved, That the National Grange 81
the Patrons of Hushandry most respect
fully yet earnestly request Of Congress
LIST. That the Commissioner of Agricul-
ture be made the Secretary of Agriculture
and a member of the Presidents cabinet
with the same salary as Secretaries OF
| other departments, aid that this depart
ment be sustained and encouraged by ap
| preparations commensurate with its impor-
| lance.
I'd. The enactment of a general railroad
law, prohibiting all discrimination in ia
vor OF or againstany class, locality, or in.
tere7t in the transportation of passengers
or freight; also prohibiting excessive or
exorbitant rates.
3. Such revision of the patent laws as
shall etfectually protect the iurocent pur-
chaser or user of patent article or nipple
ment, and make the manufacturer or ven
dor alone responsible for violation of the
law.
4th. The immediate enactment ola grad
| uated income tax, to the end that all wealth
may bear its just and equal proportion of
| the expenses of government, and Il at d. 0
ductive industry be so far relieved from the
| burdens of taxation as shall be consistent
with strict justice to all.
RcSOtUed, That we will hold each Sena-
| tor and Representative in Congress re.
| spOnsible for his action upon the subject
matter herein set forth, and we pledge our
| selves most cordially, and we earnestly
invite every Patron and every farmer in
| all our country to unite with us, to use our
whole influence, both by word and ballot,
wholly regardless of party ties, political
associations, or personal connections, to
carry out the spirit of the foregoing reso-
lutions"
Here we have certain specific objects
presented by our National authority. the
accomplishment of which is deemed nee
essary to our prosperity as a class. Let
every Subordinate Grange in this State
and in the United States unite their en-
deavors and success will be assured Then
the National Grange in its wisdom will be
encouraged to direct the attention of the
Order to other objects to be attained for
| advancement.
Here is an opportunity for farmers to
combine for protection and relief. The
| future will determine whether or not they
! appreciate the situation.
WHAT OUR POLICY SHOULD BE-
The question i all the time anxiouslv
asked ''What shall we do to be saved?
| What course of action on our part will
! soonest restore to this most dstrs ssed por-
| ton of .he Union something of its former
! prosperity" We as farmers NAV well dis
cuss this question most seriously, because
the State being wholly agricultural, it de-
wolves upou us to do it whenever it is done
at all And first of all we ought to con-
slider if upon agriculture alone we can ever
! hope to compete with those more fortu-
nate parts of our common country that
| have never been devastated BY war-whose