The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-01-14


nents of the Grange has been &c
impress the farmers with the BELIEF
that IT was not permanent institu.
ton. This idea has been artfully
put forward on every occasion, and
it has undoubtedly caused many to
lose confidence in the stability OF
the organization and prevented
thousands becoming members. Ev-
cry movement of our leaders, every
cooperative enterprise inaugurated
by a Grange, has been misrepre-
sented and the leading men charged
with selfish and often corrupt
motives. When a leading Pa
tron is sent out by the National or
State Grange, his speeches are mis-
represented by the political press,
if they are noticed at all, dnd he is
charged with seeking some politi-
cal Office. All these misrepresenta-
tons and charges are made simply
to arouse the suspicious of the far
mers and to destroy their confidence
in the capacity of the Grange to
unite and hold the farmers together.
The efforts of many of our best
leaders have been defeated by this
artful system of warfare; and ii is
only where the members of the Or
der are well informed and under
stand the tactics of the enemy, that
these attacks prove harmless.
Probably no system adopted by
the Order for the promotion and
protection of the interests of farm
ers has been more stubbornly op-
posed and misrepresented than the
grand system of cooperation in
business recommended by the Ma
tional Grange Wherever CO.
operative enterprise has been inau-
gUrated in an important business
center it has to fight its way from
the start And the chief obstacle
to its success has been the lack of
confidence in the system by the
farmers themselves; and confidence
in the system las been destroyed
by the false representations and
corrupt practices of those who
ought never to have enjoyed the
confidence or received the support
of farmer. To establish con-
fidence in the Grange and in CO.
operation, it is only necessary for
farmers to inform themselves
through publications devoted to
their interests and by attending the
appointments of Grange Lecturers.
The Grange press has been the
especial object of attack and mis-
representation by the opponents
of the Grange. These attacks and
misrepresentation have been made
at all times and in all conceivable
shapes. No true Grange paper has
been established but has had to en-
counter this opposition, and the first
idea put out has been that the paper
would soon die out. This journal,
fer instance, has been published
since 1873, but its greatest obstacle
has been the belief among members
of the Order that it could not sue
coed, and to establish this idea has
been the object of those who seek
to destroy the Grange. Scores oil
country post masters-indeed, we
may say Misunderstanding are op.
posed to the Grange, see the impor-
lance of destroying confidence in
the stability of THE PATRON, and
they have thrown every obstacle in
the way of its prompt delivery tc
subscribers. This has been going
on for years, but it has only been
since August, when the Order be.
gan to revive throughout the South
that this rascality on the part oil
these post masters and route agents
began to assume such proportions
as to enable US to bring it to the at.
tention of the Post Office Depart.
ment. This petty system of warfare
upon THE PATRON has most seri-
ously damaged it in preventing
hundreds of subscribers from re-
newing their subscriptions and in
creating widespread fear among its
friends as to its permanence. We
venture the assertion that no paper
in the South has ever suffered SO
much from the corrupt interference
of post office officials.
But true Patrons ought not to
permit such tactics to cause them to
lose confidence in their Order or
to withdraw their active support
from fba;r Ia. Jaxs aoJ %ba:- ~xoo.