St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-07-05
The -
National Grange
WHAT THE GRANGE is DOING


One OF the clearest presentations OF
the part the Grange throughout the
country Is taking In the progress
Of modern affairs was the address
by National Lecturer Oliver Wilson
before the City club Of Chicago, where
large company OF the leading bush
ness men OF the city had assembled.
Few of them had much idea Of the
meaning and mission OF the Grange as
nationwide organization, and MT.
Wilson drove home q vast amount OF
information In q most concise and di-
rect way, using for subject 'The
Grange Part in Progress
A particularly timely note which he
struck was his emphasis upon city and
country working together, being not
competitive In their interests and
needs, but rather needing each others
cooperation and assistance, for the
best good of both The situation was
thus forcibly stated by Mr.. Wilson, as
the business men Of Chicago sat up
and listened:
Il am a firm believer IN the proposi-
ton that the time has gone by when
there should be any division between
city and country interests. 1t has been
truly said that the country might get
along without the city, but that the
city could not get along at all
without the country. Nevertheless,
we have, or should have, mutual
interests.
I'm some of our great centers Of
trade, however, we can find men and
women Of seeming intelligence who
have failed to grasp the idea that the
farmer has made any advance In re-
cent years. I rarely see a picture OF
farmer. in the city papers which
represents him In his true Light. The
newspapers picture him with his cor
duroy breeches and cowhide boots.
but you would have to go q days
travel over the central part of this
state before you would md a single
farmer Of that type. The newspaper
men should wake up and picture the
farmer and his family getting into q
flne cottage with $500 team, Or into
a two or three thousand dollar auto
mobile. To say that the farmer has
made no advance is just as mistaken
and absurd as to say that the city OF
Chicago has made NO advance over
The day when the business man OF
your town transacted his business over
over plain little table, in an under
sized ONCE, by the light Of an old
tallow dip and without the aid OF
typewriter or copying press.
The city and country have been
coo much divided In their interests.
The people of the city sometimes
seem to want the state OF Illinois to
submit every question to the county
Of Cook, although the county OF Cook
has but a little over one-third of the
representatives in the general assem-
bly, of the state / believe that the
time has come when the representa-
ttves of Chicago should be big enough
and broad enough not to consider the
interests Of the city alone, but the
interests of the entire state as we'll
I am also fully convinced that the
down state representatives In our gen.
eral assembly should be big enough
and broad enough to consider the In
terests of this magnificent city of
which every son OF Illinois is justly
proud.
II wish now to tell you some of the
things for which our organization Is
working. In the very early days it adj
vocated rural mail delivery. / am
sorry to say that many of the citizens
OF our small towns opposed rural free
mail delivery, but the efforts of this
organization made 1t possible for this
service to become a permanent fea-
tnre Of the postal system.
hnT R~a
federal aid for the public highways.
We believe in good roads, but are not
necessarily advocating hard roads or
stone roads. We believe that the pub
Zig highways belong to the people and
should be improved and maintained,
not simply by the farmers, but by the
government It is just as much to the
interest Of the public to appropriate
money for the improvement of public
highways as to appropriate money for
the improvement OF waterways or of
any other public utility.
Again, we believe in and have adj
vocated for great many years bet
ter system of parcels post. That our
government should maintain a more
liberal policy in the matter of parcels
delivery for the benefit OF 80 or 35
other countries of the world than 1t
maintains for its own people is simply
absurd.
I'VE believe In the conservation of
our national resources, particularly OF
our most important natural resources,
the soil We take the position that
no farmer has the right to wear out
the soil. for the soil belongs to
the future generations. The present
owner holds it merely for time. He
should turn it over to the next gen
Grafton - good-R not better-than
he found It.