Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1900-01-10
THE GRANGE.
Some Things 1t Has Brought
About.
Some Of The Wcrk Of The Grange fhe
Good Things II Has Accomplished
The Agricultural Department Owes
Ii Efficiency to the Grange-An In
teresting Review of It's History.

| 1t EmtituCl 10 TIC VEdHst-AH IN
| teresting Review of It's History.
The following article from the
National Grange Bulletin written
by Prot. Atkeson is worth reading
not only by people interested in ag-
riculture but contains information
useful to anyone:
The work of the Grange is Of
such IA nature that its greatest ae-
complishments can never be cited
only in general way. We may
state how many dollars have been
saved to the farmers of the country
/ through cooperative trade arrange
ments and through mutual insur
ance companies, both fire and life,
and something definite can be stated
/ in regard to the vast saving to the
farmers OF the country through wise
Legislation secured and unwise leg
/ islation defeated through the infiu
ence Of the Grange, but when we
undertake to make any estimate OF
! the moral, social, and mental deyel-
opment that has been brought to
the farmer and his family through
Grange influence and Grange teach
ing, we are lost in the magnificent
results obtained. 1t is absolutely
impossible to give any intelligent
estimate Of the development of the
noble principles of manhood and
womanhood in the minds and heart
of the half million people that nave
been connected with this Order, and
of the millions of other people with
whom they have associated. 1t is
along this line that the grandest re-
suits have been achieved. Thous
ands of farm homes have been made
happier and better, and the members
of farmers families have been reap
| ing the highest enjoyments of lite
through the quickened mental abil-
tiles by Grange influence, while a
higher ideal in life has been reached
through the development of the
heart by true Grange teaching.
With these general statements we
leave the most important results
during thirty-two years of Grange
work to the imagination Of our fea
ders.
In matters of legislation, among
the first objects to claim the atten-
tion and engage the efforts of the
Grange were the state agricultural
colleges of the country, many OF
which in their early days were uni
ted with, and became part OF,
classical colleges and universities,
thus in a large measure destroying
their identity as agricultural collie
ges, and rendering them practically
worthless for the objects for which
they were established.
1t was through the direct influence
of the Grange that the additional
appropriations for agricultural col
leges by the 1890 act OF congress
were confined to instruction only in
agriculture and the mechanic arts.
The Hatch act for the establish
ment Of state experiment stations,
which are doing such great work
for the agriculture Of this country,
became law by reason OF the efforts
of the Grange to secure its enact
ment.
1t was through the influence Of
the Grange that the department OF
agriculture at Washington was rails
ed to the dignity of other depart
ments of the national government,
to be presided over by secretary of
agriculture in the presidents cab
met, thus giving farmers a voice in
the policy of the government as it
affects the agricultural interests OF
the country.
The transportation question en-
gagged the attention OF the members
Of the Grange in the early days of
the Order, and in the famous Iowa
case the decision was handed down
from the supreme court of the United
States that all railroad franchises are
subject to the power which created
them: or, in other words, that "the
creature is not greater than the ere
ator.'
Through the direct influence of
the Grange, the Interstate Com
merce Commission was established
by act of Congress, which in meas
ure aims to control interstate traffic,
and gives the people means OF re
dress from the injustice and extor-
tions which are often praeticed by
these gigantic corporations, thereby
saving the people great annoyance
and vast sums of money in reduced
rates Of transportation.
The subject Of taxation has all
ways engaged the attention OF the
Oranges and it is through the influ-
|ence Of this farmers organization
] that in many states the burdens OF
| taxation have been, in measure At
least, equalized by.a more equitable