The Republican journal., 1909-07-22

Mass, for it. She has guided
thousands to health, free Of
charge.
was done by Mr.. Hinckley of Michigan.
He left them to paddle their own canoe,
and it needed good deal of courage for
the first six months. They took in new
members and | asked them about the de-
gree work, and they said all they knew
was the first degree, and only the sign of
that. | only mention these things to
show you what kind of men and women
it was who started the order on the road
here in the State Of Maine, which now
has membership of nearly co. 900 strong
and more being initiated every week.
We should show them all veneration and
respect, for they made it possible for us
to enjoy what we do in our order today.
And we should realize that there are
grave responsibilities as broad as our
State resting upon us today, and we can
not place our ideals too high, and we
should look out who comes inside the
gate. 1t is popular today to belong to
the grange, and in the past | fear we
have held the gate open too wide. We
have taken in too many who Were not
eligible to membership. All that cannot
cooperate with the farmer are ineligible.
| know this is true in Androscoggin
county; so many have joined the grange
that had no interest whatsoever in com
mon with tbs farmer. The National
grange has been trying for years to get
the parcels post, and they tried in that
Pomona to get a resolve through in favor
of the measure, but they came out from
the towns and cities, they who We're op-
posed to it, and killed it,.
There is great work ahead OF u.s.
First we ought to thresh out the great
farm problems. | do not criticise the
work done by those sent out from our
experiment stations, and those who come
in from other States and talk to us; but
| do say, that | believe there are many
who can string out advice by the yard,
and who have taken post graduate
courses, who couldn't take Betsey and
the babies and get a living off from a
farm. Why, believe that if you gave
them the best dairy farm in the State
that in ten years they would starve to
death. 1t is the practical experience that
counts. have been running a diary farm
Is years for profit, and over in FoXcroft
| was called on to speak Gu dairying, and
| noticed one mar who gave me the clos
est attention, and he asked if he could
ask me question, and he asked NE two
and | answered, and then he askedme an
other and | could not answer it. So |
began to ask him questions and | saw
that he knew more about it than ever
expect to know. So | asked him how
was milking 80 then and knew what
every COW was doing, and had no board
ers among them. He began with one cow
20 years ago, and two years ago, when
he built an up-to-date set, and what that
man knows about cows and has gained by
his experience couldnever be learned out
of books. | believe we can get more out
of our grange by threshing out questions,
whether it be dairying, potato culture or
any other branch of farm industry, than
in any other way.
''Some little time ago was called to
Portland to meet Senator Hale. He
said: You know the tariff is to be re-
vised, and | want you to get a list of the
things that the farmers in this State feel
the need of revision in The revision
of the tariff is business proposition, and
he wanted the Northeastern part of our
country, which lies adjacent to foreign
one, to be'represented in the schedule for
revision. have tried to get the oranges
to find out the conditions and report to
their senators; and, by the way, l don 4
want any of you to feel about the sena-
tors the way | used to do. l thought
they were set upon a pedestal and did
not care about the common people. But
my experience has been that the nearer
you get to them, the smaller they be-
, come Abraham Lincoln said, YOU
, know that God must have loved the com.
mon people, he made so many Of them
''Now l say to you there are great
, questions before us. One is the enact
ment of parcels post law. Take it UP
, in your meetings, read upon it, for be.
lieve this is second only to the rural free
, delivery, which has been the greatest