Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1906-08-24

1868 When About to Organize the
First Oranges.
Especial Correspondence
From the Incorporation of the Order
of Patrons of Husbandry to the pres
ent day the newspaper has been the
powerful ally of the grange Its as
sistance has been sought after by lead
ers of the movement and its influence
has always been appreciated. In 1885,
when there was but one subordinate
grange in the United States, o. H.
Kelly, the originator of the Order, saw
the necessity of getting on the right
side" of the editors, and wrote these
words to f. M. Mcdowell, also one of
the founders of the Order:
I send a Philadelphia paper today In
which you Will see a letter by DR.. Trim
BILE. Have a portion OF 1t published in
one Of your papers. Interest an editor in
the grange that Is to be established in
your neighborhood, so as to have his aid
Take editors in "deadhead" and let's see
II It will fall Let US get an editor in
every grange!
The above shows Brother Kelly's
faith In the success Of the Order and
likewise the estimate which he frankly
placed on the editors value to the
grange, because of the publicity which
he was In position to give 1t. When
Brother Kelly started out on his first
tour Of organization, he says In his
history that the influence of the vii
lage press was what he most desired
| to secure.
In making his monthly report to the
national grange, among other things
he wrote:
I can now report to you the friendly aid
OF ffve agricultural papers whose columns
are open to our cause-vfz the Prairie
Farmer. Chicago; Farmers Chronicle,
Columbus. o.; Ohio Farmer. Cleveland.
o.; Rural World st. Louis: Farmers In
lon, Minneapolis Besides these, the va
rious daily and weekly papers IN this
state (Minnesota) will publish any mat
ter to advance our interests.
We have given sufficient testimony to
the fact that the press was deemed al
most q sine qua non to the success Of
the grange in Its early days. And we
wish to emphasize the statement that
! the Order would not have been the sue
cess that 1t is without the substantial
aid given 1t by the press of the country
In this opinion all who are familiar
with the progress Of the Order will
agree.
And what is the explanation? 1t lies
in the fact that country editors, as we'll
as the editors of smaller dailies, who
are in close touch with their constitu-
ents, believe 1t to be their high privi-
lege and their duty to help along every
worthy cause. and they do it unselfish-
ly and for the public good. 1t Is unfair
and unkind to attribute to them any
Interior motives. Figured In dollars
and cents, the returns they receive for
the publicity they give the grange are
as nothing to the cost Of 1t. The aver
age editor does more for the community
in which he lives than any ten mil
lionaires who may be his neighbors.
1t becomes, then, the plain duty of the
grange to manifest, as occasion may
permit, a due appreciation of the as
sistance rendered the organization by
the public press We are glad to note
In the annual addresses of our various
state masters their appreciative words
of the press. We make a single ex-
tract from one Of them, which says:
Again have we cause to express our
hearty appreciation of the valuable serv-
Ice rendered our Order the past year by
the press both the strictly agricultural
papers and the daily and weekly news
papers as we'll To such publicity, wisely
directed, much Of our success may be at
| tributed and II we are wise we shall con-
tinue to avail ourselves OF the opportuni-
ties for extension OF grange principles at
forded through the kindness OF the news
papers.
It wasn't so bad an idea of Founder
Kelly, after oil, that impelled him 10
say. Lets get an editor in every
grange" The only exception we take
to the suggestion is that there are not
editors enough to go round. But the
the editor may be invited to your pub
lie meetings and your picnics, and his
report of them will be more to the
point and more helpful to the Order
than anything a less tactful or less fa-
Gle writer might contribute. AS you
meet him thank him for any good
word spoken for the Order or any
writeup he may have given your meet
ings or for the grange column which
he may publish every week. He will
appreciate your appreciation Of his eff
forts-believe that!
Just so long as the Order OF Patrons
Of Husbandry behaves ITSELF Ito use
an expressive term) so long will 1t ind
In the press an earnest advocate and
friend. Just so soon as 1t does things
unworthy Of itself, its avowed princi-
pies and declared purposes, so soon
will it be likely to find in the press a
severe but just critic and opponent.
And why should 1t not? ]. w. ID.