Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1875 — THE GRANGE. [ARTICLE]

THE GRANGE.

As the evenings grow longer, and there begins to be a lull in the hurry of fall work, farming communities have spare time which might be profitably devoted to the cultivation of social intercourse, and the interchange of valuable information concerning the honorable,,independent, and glorious occupation in'which they are engaged. Interest in the grange should now revive and manifest itself in more frequent attendance upon the meetings of subordinate granges that have kept alive their organizations; defunct or dormant granges should be resurrected, and new ones be established in localities where public sentiment is, or can be made, friendly. A series of fortuitous circumstances conspired to weaken the influence of this order with the masses, directly' after the excitement attendant upon its birth sw'ept ovei the land like a cyclone; and reactiou followed whose depressing effects carried the public pulse as far below its normal condition as the excitement had raised it above. The result was that many good and well disposed "people were frightened, and withdrew from the order altogether or quietly neglected to attend its meetings. But the principle of self protection upon which it is founded; the duties, charities and virtues it inculcates; the great sociaHidvantages it briugs those who thus come together; the increased power for good gained by unity of purpose and concert of action, all plead, and powerfully, for its perpetuation. Then let there be a revival among the grangers in Jasper county, with an eye single to the legitimate objects of the order. Keep out of the grange J.he cons.deration and discussion of all subjects that have a constant tendency to destroy harmony of jjggling among men, without which no society can flourish. JJuild up!

carefully upon she sure foundations of the order, promptly rejecting all unsound timber. Let wise counsel prevail in all its deliberations, and there can be no doubt of the vigor of the society, the interest f>f its meetings, and the good that will flow to its members.