Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1874 — The Patrons of Husbandry. [ARTICLE]

The Patrons of Husbandry.

It is questionable whether anjrtonntrye.er"profffice 1 an organization, non-poiit- 1 ical in its ctiaracter, whose growth was [ more rapid, vigorous and healthful than j that known the Patroqs of Husbandry. The wonderful rapidity with which Granges have multiplied in every State of our own country, not to speak of others; I and the systematic, well-ordered net- ; work of connection which has already i been established from thff district or 1 primary Grange up through county and State to 'the national organization is a, marked illustration of the real executive ability of the yeomanry when called i'j.to requisition. We have had faith from the outset that much good would come of this ’movement. It is the legitimate outgrowth of a deep-seated dissatisfaction —an organized protest againsG a train of. abuses which have been gradually fastening themselves upon the governn\ental and business machinery of. the country. Chief among the latter is the undue multiplication of what are called mifidlemen, and the opportunities atWirded t,hese for taking advantage of the isolated, disorganized, agricultural produce rs. In the broad, scientitre sense of the term, middlemen are themselves producers. They arp just so far as they are the wants and dt-sires ot' nien. 'reTUTTib dispensable. They serve an important purpose. bub . the.v may do it very inefficiently. A laxity and clumsiness nave become manifest in the machinery of exchange, growing out of the want of intelligent and harmonious co-operation among agricultural masses on the one hand, and a willingness, not unnatural, on the part of organized capital to take advantage of the-situation on the other. The result is a waste in the producing power of the country, and in many instances an unfair distribution of the rewards of industry. If the Grange movement shall succeed in remedying these evils to any considerable extent without inflicting others .equally mischievous, it will have subserved an important end. It is destined to wield an immense power in the country, and alongfwith its power comes a grave responsibility. It has ■serious dangers to encounter. Not least itmong these are false teachings of demagogues without the Order and within it. As it shall grow in strength the opportunities for corruption inits’own ranks, as in the case of political parties, will greatly multiply, though, from the nature of the organization, by no means to the-same extent. The members of this Order have been charged by the monopoly organs with being Communists. * Nothing, we believe, could be farther from the truth than such a charge. No class of our population is more deeply interested in the preservation of those rights and privileges which law- and government were intended to secure than the farmer. None have a higher appreciation of the rights of property or a keener sense of the necessity of their preservation. We have no fears of Communism from such a source. On the other hand, the Granges, if rightly managed, must prove a valuable educating agency. In this fact centers our chief hope of good results. The movement of Patrons, then, will be watched with interest, not by demagogues alone, but also by good and true men everywhere. With power comes responsibility. Let them bear it soberly and discreetly. — Madison Democrat. ■