The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-09-17

By Capt III. Young, President 6hnston
COMFY alliance, at LeGchburg, dug.
7th, 1889, and published By re-
guest of the AHiance.

guest of the AAiance.
Worthy Brethren and &sters-eEAe AHi-
Gnce, friends and NetghboTs::
1t d~evolves upon us to-day to deliver a
treatise upon the advantages of u order
in a three-fold view, viz pecuniarily,
socially and Intellectually which embraces
a bird's-eye glimpse of some of these adj
vantages, as they present themselves to
our view. Man, though formed in the
likeness of his Maker, and being endowed
with r4tionaity, a part of Deity itself, is
so weak that separate and apart by him
self be is capable of accomplishing but
little or nothing; hence the Importance of
combination or cooperation. For nearly
six thousand years this development has
been slowly moving on, and strange as it
may seem, more progress has been made
in the present century tha1 in the past
.ffty-odd, all combined. Strange, we say,
yet not so much 20 if we will but consider
that intellect has been brought into action
more in this comparatively short space
THAI in all the rest combined. Mans
wants and requirements in primitive ages
were but few and easily supplied, but as
time rolled on its ponderous, wheels, the
present and future required more and
more diligence, thought and exertion
than the past; hence the absolute neceS-
sity, nay imperative duty, we may say, of
one and all, to so act that we serve our
day and generation we that.it may be
said of us when we pass from the stage
of action that we did something towards
.elevating poor, eceak, erring man to that
position he is destined to occupy before
the end Of time. Each day, each year,
each century a the wheel slowly ove
on, numbering the present with the past,
more and more is required of man, andso.
it will be as long as timellasts or man
continues to exist, tits the ,~rrevocable
law of nature itself! We are required
not only 10 exercise our own best judg-
ment and exertion, but to bring t O u
aid the experience and discoveries Of all
past time. How is this to be accomplished
except by co-operation2 In treating
upon the advantages of combination or
cooperation in a pecuniary view, it is so
apparent to all that the mind becomes
bewildered in attempting to select
influences and facts to s~ubstantiate this
assertion. The most unobservant know
that by a community's combining to-
gether in making purchases, the cost is
diminished in almost every conceivable
way; the dispensing with so many mid
dlemen, the less trouble and saving in
preparing and shipping larger quantities;
the knowledge we acquire as to what the
real value of the article we are purchasing,
is "a knowledge but little understood by
the farmers IN general,) the respect we
will certainly gain, nay demand, from the
outside world if we be but true to u
principles; and the most important of all,
as we conceive, the learning by ourselves
of the actual worth of a dollar. The
primary precept of our order is deal on
the cash system" and we will, apart from
our own present and past experience and
from the opinion of the most successful
around us that no man knows the real
value of money unless he buys and sells
on the cash system alone. It teaches a
man to be self-reliant, and without this
self-reliance a man is but part Of a man,
to say the least; for no man, so long as he
owes a dollar can honestly call what he
has, his own.
We would here earnestly impress it
upon the minds of our younger members
that they will act wisely if they follow
this Injunction of our order: deal on the
cash system and pay rs you goP' You
will, in the end, surely find it the road to
success and competence. Will you be-
lieve it, the interest alone that is yearly
paid out and is occumuJoting IS more than
| the circulating medium Of gold and silver
| throughout the word! How dangerous is
it then to deal except on the cash system
How delusive and deceptive is the actual
wealth of nations of the earth, to say
nothing of the individual members com
posing those nationsI The man who pays
| simple interest Oh money borrowed, and
| compound, and in many instances double
on what he buys on credit the greater
part of his life, has a hard. road to trdvel
indeed: There is scarcely an article but
what can be be bought in u order, by
combination, at a saving of from ten to
fifty, and often times even one hundred
per cent. But great as are the advantages
pecuniarily, they pale into almost com
parative insignifcanee when compared to
those of a social and intellectual nature.
The customs and habits of the farmers
1IIG, III a4 ages, HbFc UcCu SUCH as " nave
the effect Of rendering him selfish and un-
social, caring too often for all alone; in
different to his neighbors and even often
times envying them that prosperity which
every man of noble impulse is bound to
feel towards his felloW-being. If the
| admonitions, as enunciated in our creed,
were fully carried out in the social feature,
it would alone compensate US a hundred
fold for our loss of time and other Incl
dental expenses. How often is it the case
that WI cannot get wen a quorum to at
tend our monthly meetings, when we all
know that by a proper interchange of
views and opinions we could make these
monthly gatherings the most profitable
days to us in the year. We come out to
them, almost exhausted by the continued
strain on both mental and physical strength
for the last month, and it ought not only
be a day of rest and recreation to us, but
we ought to be greatly pro6ted by learn
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