The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-23
Reclaim of Delinquent Members.

ling Grange No.746, Cooper county,
Mo-, Feb. II, 1851, and ordered
sent to the Journal Of Agriculture
for publication;
Worthy Master, Brothers and
Sisters:-How can we reclaim our
delinquent members7 This is
very intricate problem, and one |
fear will not be solved very soon.
However, let us go firing at it and
if we do not drive the center the
first shot, we will, perhaps, hit some
where near it. l will only give you
my opinion about this question of
life OF death. l say life or death,
because the return of our delinquent
members is absolutely necessary to
the life of our Grange. To bring it
up to our idea of success, we must
gather up the good men and women
of our immediate vicinity, who have
never been with us. To do this,
let us go to work with a will that
cannot be baff1ed Let US think and
act together as one man, and | as
sure you there will be work per-
formed here that will surprise this
whole community. We must do all
we can to increase our funds and
not remain forever as one spoken of
in Holy Writ, who had only one
talent and buried that A great
many of our disaffected members
thought this Grange, with all others
in the world, was dead, or dying.
| think the first thing to be done in
the arduous task is, TO prove to them
incontrovertibly that we are neither
dead nor dying, and that we expect
the Order to live as long as there
are two farmers in the world to till
the soil. These delinquents felt no
doubt, that it was loss of valuable
time to come here. We would
think so too, if we, as they, had no
hope of ever accomplishing any
thing. IT we could convince them
that the Grange would be, some
time in the near future, all that we
aim to make it, every one would be
found coming back in double quick.
We must make it pay to come here.
You know the first question asked
in our day is: Does it pay? | do
not mean to gather money, but a
little of that would not hurt us. We
must have soTe attraction here for
all, old and young, male and female.
There is nothing gained in the way
of money by going to picnics, but
people are generally enthusiastic
about them and will attend them,
rain or shine. That the Grange move
in the United States has already
done a great work for the farmers,
| | reckon no one would have the
hardihood to deny. l claim that it
was mainly instrumental in remov-
ing the royalty from sewing ma
chimes and in reducing the price of
every machine and implement used
on the farm. Sewing machines
which cost from $50 to 500 before
the birth of this great Order, can be
bought to day for $50 Grange infiu-
ence is now felt in the Legislative
halls of every capital
this country unite with the Grange:
This age of progress makes it an
absolute necessity, as this is the
only known way by which the far
mers can make themselves heard
and needed by those in power
Their interest must be watched, and
it cannot be effectually done with.
out organized effort. There are
seven millions of farmers in the Uni.
ted States. Each one of them
ought to stand guard over the agri
cultural interest. Eternal vigilance
is the price of Liberty" The sue
cess of the Grange will bring wealth
and liberty, while failure will bring
poverty and abject slavery. We
must make it pay to come here
Each meeting must be an inteilec
tual feast. 1t must pay financially
socially, educationally or in some
other way.
): l will ask the Sisters a question
by way of illustrating and enforcing
what | wish to impress upon you
minds. Suppose you were to 81
down on your sewing machines ant
after running them with all you
might for two hours could not sc,
that you had sewed a stitch, VIVA
would GU do? | think you woulc
become discouraged and stay til
the machine could be put in rum
ing order. | will also ask the Broth
ers a question. Suppose you wer
to take your ak and go into tn
woods to cut down some large tree
and after banging away as hard a
you could for two hours could no
see that you had made any impress
: sion, what would yon do? | thin
you would go back into your house
r and sit down to rest, because huma
+. nature does not like to work 70
t nothing. Now. Brothers and Sis
S tiers, how much more discouragin
t would this be than to go TO you
7 Grange in good faith twice a month
for five or six years and then hav
the modification of seeing tn
Grange become dormant and forte
its character? All farmers are eithe
pro or con on the Grange question
1 If thew are not in it they are again;
f it. Those outside invariably sd
thee are not against it, but strongl
in favor of it. There is no neutr;
ground for farmers TO stand on