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WONDERFUL GROWTH OF THE ORDER.

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dred and twenty-five; in 1872, one thousand one hundred and

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It will thus be seen that there are subordinate Granges established in thirty-six States and Territories, besides those in Canada, where, there is no reason to doubt, the Order will become as popular as it is in the United States. If it is of mushroom growth, its bitterest opponent can not deny that it has the sympathy and support of many of the leading minds of the United States and Canada. A reference to the statistics of the subordinate Granges established in 1873 will convince the most skeptical that the growth is entirely healthy; otherwise, its popularity could not so steadily increase.

STRENGTH OF THE ORDER.

The strength of the Order has been variously estimated. The membership of the subordinate Granges ranges from eleven to two hundred and fifty. Our figures show eight thousand two hundred and sixty Granges. Taking seventy as a fair average membership for each Grange, which is not too high an estimate, we have a total membership of nearly six hundred thousand. It will undoubtedly be increased, before the first of January, 1874, by a hundred thousand The female membership (included, of course, in the above estimate) is believed to be from seventy-five to one hundred thousand strong.

STRENGTH OF THE ORDER.

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While, for the inception of this work, full credit should be accorded the originators, Messrs. Saunders and Kelley, and their worthy co-laborers, the rank and file the working members-must not be forgotten. The Deputies especially have had an onerous task. They have had to battle with opposition, submit to reproach, disarm suspicion, and guard the Order at all points against the attacks of wily and insidious enemies. They have borne the emblems of the fraternity among foes difficult to overcome; they have had to steady the irresolute, and support the timid. With unbending purpose, and a firm reliance in the integrity of their cause, they have planted the banner of co-operative effort in every State of the Union. They have gathered a harvest of members-men whose strong arms have hewed out homes from the forest, or reared habitations on the prairie or the mountain slope, the plain or the hillside-all over the land. So far, this great army of the bone and sinew of the land have used their power in the most careful and considerate manThe wonderful success of the organization might naturally have turned the heads of men who have long struggled hopelessly for their natural rights. That it has not thus far done so may certainly be accepted as evidence that the Order, in the future as in the past, will be actuated only by motives of honor, and a strict regard to justice and the inherent rights of man.

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CHAPTER XIII.

AIMS AND OBJECTS OF THE ORDER.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE ORDER.

Three salient and distinct features of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry are, respectively, its social, intellectual, and business elements.

The feature first named aims to bring together men and women, young and old, who, in social converse, may discuss whatever pertains to the well-being of the community. Purity of thought and expression are inculcated; and, while any question pertaining to innocent gossip may be broached, coarseness and backbiting are allowed no place.

In 1870, Mr. Saunders, at the annual meeting of the National Grange, of which he was then the Master, expressed himself as follows: "To make country homes and country society attractive, refined, and enjoyable, to balance exhaustive labors by instructive social amusements and accomplishments, is part of our mission and our aim."

Among the pleasant social features are the feasts provided, once a month, by the ladies in summer, not unfrequently taking the form of pic-nics in some grove. It is pleasant to record that this idea originated with a lady, Miss Carrie A. Hall, of Boston, Mass., who, with untiring zeal and self-abnegation, has devoted herself to the furtherance of the best interests of the Order almost from its incep

EDUCATING THE INTELLECTS.

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tion. These banquets, whether held within the Grange or in the grove, help to bind together the various other features. in one harmonious whole. The popularity of the pic-nics. especially, leaves no doubt as to their utility, not only among the members themselves, but as exercising an influence upon many who would not otherwise become united with the fraternity. The lack of social enjoyment has long been felt among farmers, and this want the Grange supplies most thoroughly.

EDUCATING THE INTELLECTS.

Another want always felt most keenly by progressive farmers has been the difficulty experienced in meeting together for intellectual improvement. The Farmers' Clubs, except in a few isolated instances, have always failed in this. It seemed impossible to make the incongruous elements of masculine humanity cohere sufficiently for persistent effort in this direction; and only when the feminine element was permitted to unite therein has it ever become permanently successful.

In the ritual of the Grange, there is music to enliven, educate, and refine; many of the Granges already possess libraries, constantly added to, whose benefits all the members may share alike. While the Grange is a place where each sex and every condition in life, if respectable, may meet upon terms of perfect equality, the refining influences therein gained have already prevented many a young man from spending his time and means in the village saloons, or billiard halls, and many soul-destroying resorts of vice. The Grange has undoubtedly redeemed some who, but for its influence, would have gone from bad to worse, and have died drunkards, and perhaps have filled paupers' graves.

The Grange is intended to be the moral and intellectual

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