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HARVARD HISTORICAL STUDIES

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VOLUME XIX

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U.S.A.

THE

GRANGER MOVEMENT

A STUDY OF AGRICULTURAL

ORGANIZATION AND ITS POLITICAL, ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL MANIFESTATIONS

1870-1880

BY

SOLON JUSTUS BUCK, PH.D.

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE IN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
SOMETIME FRANCIS PARKMAN FELLOW IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY

A WARDED THE TOPPAN PRIZE
FOR THE YEAR 1910-11

CAMBRIDGE
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

1913

15688

COPYRIGHT, 1913
BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY

PREFACE

SOCIAL unrest has been one of the most marked characteristics
of the last half-century in the United States. During this
period the country, and especially the western part of it, has
been transformed from a comparatively simple agricultural
community into a complex modern industrial state; and in
the process of adjustment the agricultural class of the population,
among others, has been inclined to feel aggrieved. The result
has been a series of radical agitations on the part of the farmers
for the improvement, by organized effort, of their relative con-
dition. Of this general " farmers' movement," the first wave,
which is the subject of this study, began with the establishment
of the order of Patrons of Husbandry in 1867, slowly gathered
headway for a few years, and then suddenly culminated in a
series of startling manifestations, political and economic, during
the years from 1873 to 1875. From then on to the end of the
decade, this " Granger movement " gradually subsided, although
many of its features were embodied in the programs of the more
radical agricultural movements which took their rise in the early
eighties.

It may be well to explain at the outset that this is not intended
to be a history of the " Grange," as the order of Patrons of Hus-
bandry is frequently called. The term " Granger movement,"
nevertheless, is used advisedly: in the first place, because the
phrase has the sanction of considerable usage, both contemporary
and later, in the sense in which it is here applied; and secondly,
because the movement did seize upon the order of Patrons of
Husbandry as an efficient means of organization and a con-
venient rallying point. The contentions of members of the order
that it should not be held responsible for many of the features
of the movement are doubtless sound, and it should be under-

VI PREFACE

stood that the term " Granger " is here frequently used in the
derived sense as applying to the ^general agrarian movement
which centered around the secret and professedly non-partisan
order of Patrons of Husbandry.

The first chapter, which is introductory to the rest of the book
and is intended to bring out the causes of the movement, is
concerned with the condition of the farmers in the different
sections of the country during the decade 1870-80 and their
relations to the various economic and political problems of the
day. Chapter II tells the story of the Grange and the other
organizations by which the farmers proposed to effect their
regeneration; and Chapter III is devoted to the political aspects
of the movement — the independent parties which grew out of
it and the attempts of the farmers to use their organizations
for influencing legislation. The three following chapters deal
with the first serious attempt to subject railways to effective
regulation by the state, an attempt which, though independent
in its origins, became so closely interwoven with the movement
for agricultural organization as to be essentially a part of it.
In Chapter VII the efforts of the farmers to render themselves
independent of middlemen and manufacturers by the establish-
ment of cooperative enterprises are treated, while Chapter VIII
sets forth the influence of the movement on social and economic
conditions. The last chapter attempts to trace the connection
of the movement with later organizations of farmers and working-
men and to indicate its relation to the general field of American
history.

My obligations to library officials, secretaries of state granges,
and others who have assisted me in the collection of material or
the preparation of the manuscript are too numerous to permit
of individual mention. To Professor F. J. Turner of Harvard
University and Professor C. W. Alvord of the University of
Illinois, who have read the entire manuscript, I am indebted
for valuable criticisms and suggestions. I am also under
obligations to Professors A. B. Hart and E. F. Gay of Harvard,
and Professor B. H. Meyer of the Interstate Commerce Com-
mission for critical reading of several chapters. To the Carnegie

PREFACE Vii

Institution of Washington acknowledgments are due for an
appropriation which has enabled me to make a much more
thorough study of the subject than would otherwise have been
possible.

S. T. B.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS

PAGE

THE AGRICULTURAL SITUATION (BY SECTIONS) 3

FARMERS AND RAILROADS ff$$

FARMERS, MERCHANTS, AND MANUFACTURERS 16

FARMERS AND FINANCE 19

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND PRICES 24

FARMERS AND POLITICS . . . ••••*** 34

SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITIONS 37

CHAPTER II
ORGANIZATION

ORIGIN OF THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY, 1867 40

EARLY YEARS OF THE GRANGE, 1868-71 44

RAPID GROWTH OF THE GRANGE, 1872-73 52

THE ST. Louis SESSION AND THE CULMINATION OF THE ORDER . . 63

DECLINE OF THE GRANGE, 1875-80 69

OTHER AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS 73

CHAPTER III
THE GRANGER MOVEMENT AS A POLITICAL FORCE

INDEPENDENT PARTIES 80

THE GRANGE AND STATE LEGISLATION 102

THE GRANGE AND NATIONAL LEGISLATION . . 108

CHAPTER IV
GRANGER RAILWAY LEGISLATION (ILLINOIS)

EARLY AGITATION AND THE LAW OF 1869 ^ »>/;-.> ... 124

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1870 126

THE LEGISLATION OF 1871 131

ix

X CONTENTS

PAGE

ATTEMPTS TO ENFORCE THE LEGISLATION OF 1871 136

THE RAILROAD LAW OF 1873 143

THE STRUGGLE OVER THE LAW OF 1873 149

CHAPTER V
GRANGER RAILWAY LEGISLATION (CONTINUED)

MINNESOTA 159

IOWA 166

WISCONSIN 179

SUMMARY OF STATE LEGISLATION 194

CHAPTER VI
GRANGER RAILWAY LEGISLATION (CONTINUED)

THE GRANGER CASES AND THE SUPREME COURT 206

THE AGITATION FOR FEDERAL REGULATION 214

EFFECTS 231

CHAPTER VII
BUSINESS COOPERATION

GRANGE AGENCIES 239

THE NATIONAL GRANGE AND COOPERATION 256

COOPERATIVE STORES 260

GRANGE MANUFACTURING 267

BANKING AND INSURANCE 270

REASONS FOR FAILURE 274

RESULTS 277

CHAPTER VIII
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES

THE GRANGE AS A SOCIAL FORCE 280

CHARITABLE WORK OF THE ORDER 283

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES 285

THE GRANGE AND THE SCHOOLS 290

THE ADVANCEMENT OF AGRICULTURE 293

MISCELLANEOUS INFLUENCES AND ACTIVITIES 297

CONTENTS XI

CHAPTER DC
CONCLUSION

PAGE

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MOVEMENT 302

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 315

DOCUMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS 317

NEWSPAPERS 321

GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS 329

ORGANIZATION 335

RAILROADS 341

COOPERATION • • • 349

INDEX 353

ILLUSTRATIONS

CHART I. ACREAGE OF STAPLE CROPS, 1866-80 30

CHART II. PRODUCTION AND PRICES OF CORN IN THE UNITED

STATES, 1866-80 31

CHART III. PRODUCTION AND PRICES OF WHEAT, 1866-80 .... 31

CHART IV. PRODUCTION AND PRICES OF COTTON, 1866-80 .... 32

CHART V. VALUE OF STAPLE CROPS, 1866-80 33

TABLE STATISTICS OF THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY . following 58

MAP I. PROPORTION OF GRANGES TO AGRICULTURAL POPULA-
TION, AUGUST 2, 1873 'facing 61

MAP II. PROPORTION OF GRANGES TO AGRICULTURAL POPULA-
TION, MARCH i, 1874 facing 65

MAP III. PROPORTION OF GRANGES TO AGRICULTURAL POPULA-
TION, JANUARY i, 1875 facing 67

MAP IV. PROPORTION OF GRANGES TO AGRICULTURAL POPULA-
TION, OCTOBER i, 1876 facing 69

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

CHAPTER I

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS

PERIODS of agrarian discontent have been of frequent occur-
rence in the world's history and it has generally been assumed
that they were preceded or caused by depressions in the condition
of the agricultural population. Recent investigations into the
causes of the English peasants' revolt of 1381 and the Peasants'
War in Germany in 1524-25 have suggested that the contrary
may be the case : the status of the peasant seems in both instancesl
to have been one of gradual improvement, and the risings,!
attempts to hasten the amelioration. Similarly it would be
untrue to say that the condition of the American farmers was
retrograding in the decade following the Civil War. Never-
theless, the farmers believed that they were not advancing so
rapidly as the other classes of American society, and it was
useless to point out to them that they lived much better and
enjoyed far more comforts than their grandfathers had, or
to tell them that their financial embarrassments were due to
extra vagent desires.1 The fact was, their standard of living
was advancjngjiearly, ifjoot quite, as rapidly as that of other
ranks of society, while their incomes were not inrreasinff in the^
same proportion. The causes of this situation, and of the
Granger movement, are to be sought primarily in economic
conditions, and to a less extent in political, social, and intellectual
conditions, as they affected the American farmer.

THE AGRICULTURAL SITUATION

Although the Granger movement was national in its scope
and some of the conditions which it sought to remedy were

1 Nation, xvii. 68 (July 31, 1873).
3

4 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

prevalent throughout the country, still the characteristics of
the movement differed in the various sections and were condi-
tioned in part on differences in the agricultural situation.

The northeastern part of the United States, including New
England and the Atlantic coastal plain stretching as far south
as Chesapeake Bay, was primarily a region of diversified farming.
The presence of numerous large centers of population made
dairying and market gardening profitable employments; while
in New England large crops of hay and potatoes were produced
and further south the raising of fruit for canning was becoming
an extensive industry. The production of cereals in this region
was small in proportion to the population and a large part of
the food supply had to be shipped in from the West.1 The
pressjire aLcompetition due to the great increase in agricultural
production in the more undeveloped parts of the countrvjind
the cheapening of through transportation, was

manifest itself in a decline in value of eastern farm lands, which
was to become far more serious in a later period.2 During the
seventies, however, the agriculturists of this section were still
fairly prosperous because of personal thrift, a diversified pro-
duction, and convenient markets.

A somewhat similar situation prevailed in western New York
and Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. This region had been
the granary of the continent shortly before the war and it was
still largely engaged in the production of cereals in 1870; but
the stress of western competition and the ravages of insect
pests were leading farmers to turn their energies more and more
to diversified agriculture and particularly to dairy farming.
The dairy interests of this section grew with great rapidity
during the decade from 1860 to 1870 and at the latter date
New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio led all the states in the
production of butter and cheese. Although the farm property

1 Charles Seymour, " A Western View of Interstate Transportation," in Atlantic
Monthly, xxx. 347 (September, 1873).

2 C. F. Emerick, " An Analysis of the Agricultural Discontent in the United
States," in Political Science Quarterly, xi. 452-463 (September, 1896); A. H. Peters,
" The Depreciation of Farming Land," in Quarterly Journal of Economics, iv. 18-33
(October, 1889); J. R. Elliot, American Farms, bk. ii. ch. Hi.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 5

in this region also was already beginning to depreciate in value,
there seems to have been little discontent.1 While the absence
of any considerable discontent among the farmers in this sec-
tion, and in the northeastern section as well, may have been
due in part to diversified farming and a fair amount of prosperity,
still it seems that the process of natural selection which resulted
from the westward movement of population had something
to do with it. The great flood of migration to the Middle^
West during the first half of the century drained off the elements
which were disadvantageously situated or were inclined to be
discontented with their lot, while those who resisted the attrac-
tions of the West were generally of the more prosperous and
conservative class.

The southern states of the Union remained, agriculturally,
as they had been before the war, producers of staples. Cotton,
rice, sugar, and tobacco were the principal crops in different
sections, but corn and some other grains were also produced
largely, though not in sufficient quantities to supply the demand
for home consumption.2 The South was left by the war in a
state of complete exhaustion in which agriculture shared to the?
fullest extent: farms had been devastated or neglected, often
the owners had been killed in battle or rendered incapable of]
work, and worst of all the complete change in the industrials
system made a return to normal agricultural conditions ex-l
tremely slow. Most of the large land-owners among the whitesv
had been unaccustomed to personal manual labor in the conduct /
of their plantations, while the blacks were altogether untrained)
in the management of agricultural operations and unused to
labor except under supervision. The available capital of the
section had been largely drained out by the exigencies of the
war. This fact made more difficult the development of any
wage labor system.3 Nor did the political conditions of the
South in the reconstruction period conduce to the welfare of

1 United States Census, 1870, volume on Agriculture; Emerick, in Political Science
Quarterly, xi. 454 (September, 1896).

2 United States Census, 1870, volume on Agriculture.

8 W. L. Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, 251-283, 710-733;
C. H. Otken, The Ills of the South, ch. i.

6 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

agriculture. The overwhelming extravagance and corruption,
ignorance and bad management of the negro, " carpet-bag/*
and " scalawag " governments greatly increased the rate of
taxation, and the inefficiency of local government resulted in
perpetual disorder and disregard for the rights of property.1

Two undesirable features of the agricultural situation in the
South were inherited from ante-bellum times : the credit system
based upon crop mortgages; and the excessive attention devoted
to the production of great staples, especially cotton. Although
the credit system was in existence even in colonial times, it
received a new lease of life as a result of the general poverty
of the agricultural class, both black and white, at the close of
the war. Under this system the impecunious farmer purchased
all his supplies during a year on credit from a merchant who
relied on the sale of the forthcoming crop for payment. Though
apparently a plan to help the farmer tide over the hard times,
it was really an injury to him in several ways. It put him in
the power of the merchant, and thus eliminated all competition
in the sale of commodities, the result of which and of the natural
risks and inconveniences of the system was a raising of prices
far above the normal cash scale; 2 and it led inevitably to care-
lessness, waste, and extravagance. As a result when the farmer
came to balance up at the end of the year he frequently found
himself still in debt to the merchant, after the disposal of his
crop. In many cases the annual residue of debt increased year
by year until finally crops, stock, farm, and all were absorbed
by the ruinous system.3

The nwy^rojilfli™* nf rotfnr!J also, was partially a result
of the credit system, although the roots went back to the begin-
ning of agriculture in the South. The indebted farmer naturally
wanted to devote most of his energies to the one crop which

1 Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, 571-607, 733-771; J. W.
Garner, Reconstruction in Mississippi; C. W. Howard, " Condition of Agriculture
in the Cotton States," in United States Commissioner of Agriculture, Reports,
1874, pp. 215-238; J. T. Trowbridge, The South.

2 It has been estimated that prices were fully twenty-five per cent higher be-
cause of the prevailing credit system. Otken, Ills of the South, ch. ii.

8 M..B. Hammond, The Cotton Industry in the United States, ch. v.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 7

brought in money, and in addition the influence of the merchant
to whom he was indebted was usually exerted to induce him
to produce as much cotton as possible with which to pay off
the accumulated debt and purchase new supplies. As a result
of this and other factors, there was an over-production of cotton,
which led to a rapid decline in prices, and often the value of
a farmer's crop grew less and less in spite of its increase in quan-
tity. This devotion to cotton meant also a neglect of corn and
meat raising and a consequent necessity for the purchase of
additional supplies through the medium of the merchant and
the omnivorous credit system.1 From all these causes southern
agriculture was far from flourishing in the reconstruction period.

The great prairie states of the upper Mississippi Valley,*
stretching from Ohio to the edge of settlement in Kansas and
Nebraska, were also producers of staples, but here the staples,
were the cereal crops of wheat and corn. This section was the
center of agricultural discontent during the period with which
we are dealing, and it was here that the protective movement
among the farmers manifested itself most vigorously. The
farmers in this area were from the first handicapped by the
notion that they were to make their fortunes by raising wheat,
and for a long time were unable to grasp the fact that conditions
of soil, climate, and market facilities demanded a change from
the shiftless and ruinous one-crop method to a more intensive
and diversified agriculture. The states of the upper Mississippi
Valley were experiencing the same conditions which had been
faced in western New York a generation or so earlier; but here
the farmers seemed determined to resist the westward tendency
of the wheat industry, and for a long time refused to turn their
attention to the now more profitable stock raising and dairy
farming.2

Even as early as the fifties the farmers of Illinois and Wis-
consin were feeling the depression in the wheat industry and

1 M. B. Hammond, " The Southern Farmer and the Cotton Question," in
Political Science Quarterly, xi. 450-475; Otken, Ills of the South, chs. iv, vii; Na-
tional Grange, Proceedings, ix. 60-63 (November, 1875).

2 See B. H. Hibbard, The History of Agriculture in Dane County, Wisconsin,
121-134, for an excellent account of the one-crop period and its results.

8 TEE GRANGER MOVEMENT

some of the more progressive were thinking of turning their
attention to other lines, but the transition was delayed by the
remarkable rise in the price of wheat in 1854-55, usually
attributed to the Crimean War, and again by the prevailing
high prices of the Civil War period. During the latter part
of the sixties, and the early seventies, depressed conditions
returned and the competition from the virgin wheat fields of
the farther West finally forced the long delayed transition to a
more diversified and soil-saving agriculture. Meanwhile the
farmers of Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Iowa and Minnesota,
burdened with debt and almost despairing, but unable to see
that their own inertia and lack of progressiveness were partly
at fault, began to look about them for the causes of their mis-
fortune. They fastened the blame upon the bankers, the rail-
ways, the legislatures, the tariff, and monopolies, and their
grievances along these lines were legion and some of them well
founded. These are matters, however, of a national rather
than sectional character, and will be treated later on.

Agriculture on a large scale was a new industry in California,
for it was not until the gold fever began to die down that people
realized that the soil of the state was laden with other than
mineral wealth. Oregon, on the other hand, had been from the
first an agricultural state and had helped to furnish California
with her supply of cereals, a large part of which also came from
the prairie states and Chile. In 1862 California first produced
enough wheat for her own consumption and from that time on
the increase in cereal production was rapid, until by 1880 the
total crop in the state had reached forty-five million bushels.
The rise of a great staple wheat crop in California involved the
farmers in a peculiar problem of distribution. Because of the
geographical position of the state, seven-eighths of the surplus
was shipped directly to Liverpool and the price was supposed
to be regulated by the Liverpool quotation and the cost of
shipment. The business of shipping this grain was not in the
hands of the farmers but of commission merchants who bought
up the crop, stored it in their warehouses, and shipped it to
Liverpool. It was not long before the farmers reached the

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 9

conclusion that a monopoly had developed among these com-
mission men or middlemen, as they were called, and that the
price which they received for their grain was no longer con-
trolled by the Liverpool market but by a grain ring which went
so far as to juggle the Liverpool quotations in order to deceive
them. This situation was the immediate cause of the farmers'
movement in that state.1

FARMERS AND RAILROADS

/ The farmer's prosperity depended as much on his ability
to send the crop to the consumer cheaply and get back in return
the variety of articles which he required for his consumption,
as it did on his ability to produce those crops. To help in the
solution of this problem of distribution, two things were desired
by the farmers: a cheapening of transportation and a reduction!
of the cost of handling commodities by the middlemen who stood I
between producer and consumer. It was in connection with!
these two aspects of the problem of distribution that the work'
of the Granger movement was most significant.

At the time with which we are concerned the problem of
transportation in the United States had come to be, in the
main, a railroad problem; and other means of transportation
were of subsidiary importance only. The period of active
railroad construction in the fifties had been checked by the
panic of 1857, and there was no opportunity for a revival until
the close of the war. But from the end of the war to the panic
of 1873 the amount of railroad construction increased by leaps
and bounds. The great western plains were then first bridged
by a railroad to the Pacific; the upper Mississippi Valley was
covered with a network of roads; and in the South the railway
system, shattered by the war, was repaired, reorganized and
extended.2

The mania for railroad construction which developed out
of the real need for transportation facilities very soon outran

1 Ezra Carr, The Patrons of Husbandry on the Pacific Coast, 65-87.

2 C. F. Adams, Jr., " The Granger Movement," in North American Review, cxx.
397 (April, 1875).

10 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the limits of ordinary conservative capital and a new class of
promoters was developed — men who were able to build, roads
without capital of their own and at the expense of the people.1
The desire for greater transportation facilities led towns, counties,
states, and the federal government to furnish a large part of
the means of construction in the shape of loans or donations
of bonds, purchases of stock, and grants of land.2 Not satisfied
with public charity, the promoters appealed to private individ-
uals along the right of way, and more particularly to farmers
who would be benefited by the new road. A great many shares
were thus disposed of to the unsuspecting farmers, who fre-
quently paid for them by giving mortgages on their farms,
and who expected to get good returns on the stock and at the
same time to assist in the creation of a highway which would
enable them to market their products more readily.3

The farmer was doomed to disappointment in both of his
expectations. The dividends on stock did not materialize,
and the new transportation was not cheap enough to offset the
increased competition. As a result of the operations of con-
struction rings and unscrupulous directors many of these roads
went through receiverships and reorganizations in the course
of which the stock purchased by the farmers and municipalities
was not seldom wiped out.4 The farmer who had invested
with a view to the development of the country thus found himself
with a mortgage on his land, his railway stock worthless, and

1 Nation, xx. 148 (March 4, 1875).

2 E. R. Johnson, American Railway Transportation, ch. xxii; W. W. Cook,
The Corporation Problem, 96-99; J. B. Sanborn, Congressional Grants of Land in
Aid of Railways; J. W. Million, State Aid to Railways in Missouri; C. W. Pierson,
" The Rise of the Granger Movement," in Popular Science Monthly, xxxii. 202
(December, 1887); F. A. Cleveland and F. W. Powell, Railroad Promotion and
Capitalization, chs. xii-xiv.

3 Johnson, American Railway Transportation, 320; Cook, Corporation Problem,
28; J. W. Cary, Organization and History of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul
Railway Company; J. G. Thompson, The Rise and Decline of the Wheat Growing
Industry in Wisconsin, ch. ix. An investigation into the records of eight counties
in Wisconsin disclosed about thirteen hundred of these mortgages amounting to
more than a million and a half dollars. R. E. Smith, The Wisconsin Granger
Movement (Ms.).

4 Nation, xx. 148 (March 4, 1875).

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITION? II

the expected advantages from the road a chimera. His taxes,
moreover, were increased by the investment or donation which
his town or county had made for the same purpose. This was
one of the principal causes which operated to produce a somewhat
blind antagonism among the agricultural population towards
railroads and everything connected with them. The farmers
felt that, having furnished, either in their private or public
capacity, a large share of the funds for the construction of the
roads, they were entitled to more advantages therefrom. A
result of this feeling was a sporadic movement which might
be termed a forerunner of the Granger movement and had
for its object the repudiation of the county and municipal rail-
way bonds. An attempt was made to have them declared
illegal, because issued for the benefit of private corporations;
but when a case finally reached the Supreme Court of the United
States, their legality was upheld as well as the public character
of the railway companies, a decision which was later to be of
importance in the contest over state control.1

Previous to about 1870 there was little thought of public
control of railways; they were looked upon as blessings to the
country, the extension of which should be encouraged, rather
than checked by subjecting them to any interference. It was
generally supposed that competition would prove an efficient
regulator, and so the demand was for more railroads and hence
more competition rather than for governmental regulation.2
During the period of railway expansion that followed the war,
however, it began to be evident that competition was not going

1 C. F. Adams, Jr., "The Granger Movement," in North American Review,
cxx. 410 (April, 1875); Nation, xvii. 140 (August 28, 1873), xxi. 18 (July 8, 1875),
xxv. 1 66 (September 13, 1877); D. C. Cloud, Monopolies and the People, 114-124;
M. H. Carpenter, Speech on the Power of the Legislature to Govern Corporations
(pamphlet, 1874), 16-18; Case of Olcott v. The Supervisors, 16 Wallace, 678.
See below, p. 209.

2 C. F. Adams, Jr., Railroads, their Origin and Problems, 118-120; E. R. A.
Seligman, " Railway Tariffs and the Interstate Commerce Commission," in
Political Science Quarterly, ii. 408 (September, 1887); W. Larrabee, The Railroad
Question, 129; Windom Committee, Report of the Select Committee on Transporta-
tion Routes to the Seaboard, 1874, i. 242; National Grange, Proceedings, ix. n
(November, 1875).

12 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

to curb the power of the railroad corporations because of the
ease with which consolidations were effected. Agreements
between the various trunk lines for the maintenance of rates,
made necessary by the ruinous rate wars, were also frequent
during this period, and nothing could serve better to arouse
the anger of the farmers and rural politicians than the thought
of two or three railroad magnates meeting together and agree-
ing to maintain a certain rate or, as they put it, to impose an
additional tax on the products of agricultural labor.1 It was
evident, moreover, that the very nature of the case precluded
competition at the vast majority of intermediate stations, and
that these might suffer because of increased competition at the
junction points.2

There were many things in the management of railroads in
the early seventies which tended to arouse antagonism on the
part not only of the farmers but of the public in general. Prom-
inent among those was the uncompromising attitude assumed
by the railroad authorities. Shielding themselves behind the
Dartmouth College decision and asserting their private character
so far as the management of the business was concerned, they
denied the right of the public, the states, or the nation to regu-
late or in any way interfere with their operations.3 There
seems to have been, also, a general disregard of the convenience
of customers on the part of railway officials and employees.
Travelers and shippers are said to have been subjected to all
sorts of discourtesies and even injuries and any attempt to secure
justice was apt to result in persecutions by the powerful cor-
poration.4 The feeling was quite general in the West that

1 Nation, xvii. 289 (October 30, 1873), xix- 32<5 (November 19, 1874); Speech
of Horace Greeley at Minneapolis in 1871, quoted in National Grange, Proceed-
ings, xiv. 29 (1880).

2 Johnson, American Railway Transportation, 213-227; Cook, Corporation
Problem, 18, 166-181; A. B. Stickney, The Railway Problem, 224-226; Windom
Committee, Report, i. 115-122, app., 219.

3 Adams, Railroads, 127; Seligman, in Political Science Quarterly, ii. 408 (Sep-
tember, 1887); Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, p. 62.

4 J. A. Coleman, " The Fight of a Man with a Railroad," and " My Railroad
Fight in and out of Court," in Atlantic, xxx. 641-653, xxxi. 610-618 (December,
1872; May, 1873). See also Nation, xix. 36 (July 16, 1875); Atlantic, xxxi. 380-

. FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 13

many of these abuses were due to the fact that the railroads
were owned and controlled by men who lived in the East or in
Europe. " Absentee ownership " was the term used and it was
maintained that the stockholders and directors were far less
amenable to public opinion than would have been the case had
they been residents of the affected districts.1

Complaint was also made of the influence which was exercised
by the railroad corporations over legislators and public officials.
The most generally prevalent form of this influence was the
free pass system, by which all public officials from the highest
judges to the local selectmen received free transportation for
themselves and their families over the lines of interested rail-
roads. To say that no return was expected from this munif-
icence is absurd. Even if direct services were not desired,
it was intended that a frame of mind should be created which
would prevent unfavorable treatment by the public officials.
But the corporations did not stop with passes, and bribery
appears to have flourished in more subtle forms, such as the
transfer of valuable stock to legislators at a price much below the
market value, and that to be paid out of the dividends. This
is said to have been the case in the famous Credit MobUier
scandal in Congress, an investigation of which revealed the
purpose of preventing any unfriendly legislation, by distributing
stock among members of Congress.2

It was in the shape of rates or tariffs, however, that the rail-
road problem was most closely brought home to the farmer.
The charges preferred were that railroad rates in general were

384, xxxii. 509-512 (March, October, 1873); Adams, in North American Review,
cxx. 402-404 (April, 1875); Martin, Grange Movement, ch. iv; Paine, Granger Move-
ment in Illinois, 18; S. L. Clemens and C. D. Warner, The Gilded Age (Hartford,
1874), 264-269.

1 Illinois Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, p. 17; Adams, in North American
Review, cxx. 398-402 (April, 1875); Cook, Corporation Problem, 16; Paine, Granger
Movement in Illinois, 17.

2 J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States since the Compromise of 1850, vii.
1-19; Nation, xix. 36 (July 16, 1875); Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 103
(1875); House Reports, 42 Cong., 3 sess., no. 77; W. A. Dunning, Reconstruction,
Political and Economic, 231-233; Larrabee, Railroad Question, 205-230; Martin,
Grange Movement, chs. vii, viii.

14 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

too high and that gross discrimination was practised in fixing
them. When the Iowa farmer was burning corn for fuel, because
at fifteen cents a bushel it was cheaper than coal, while at the
same time it was selling for a dollar in the East, he felt that there
was something wrong and quite naturally accused the railroads
of extortion.1 Furthermore he looked upon the various dis-
criminations in rates, justifiable or otherwise, as evidence of
extortion; for if the railroad could afford to make one rate in
one instance why could it not in all ? The railroads and their
apologists, in answer to this charge of extortionate rates, pointed
to the small average dividends which were paid and maintained
that the rates were not high enough to give a reasonable return
on the investment,2 but the extensive over-capitalization of
railway values weakened the force of this argument. It is
probably true, as the railroad men claimed, that the maximum
rates were fixed, not by the profit desired but by what the
traffic would bear, but it is also true that the existence of a large
capitalization and the desire to pay dividends thereon sometimes
prevented reductions which would otherwise have been forced
by public opinion.3

/ There were many forms of discrimination in railroad rates
put those complained of at this time~^were' principally of two
sorts: discrimination between places, or charging higher rates
at intermediate points than at points where competition in the
shape of other roads or water routes prevailed ; and discrimina-
tion between persons, or giving better terms to certain favored
individuals or firms than were enjoyed by the general public.

1 Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 102 (1875); W. C. Flagg (President,
Illinois State Farmers' Association), in American Social Science Journal, vi. 109
(July, 1874) ; Campaign speech by Senator Sherman at Alliance, Ohio, in Cincinnati
Semi-Weekly Gazette, September 26, 1876, p. 5; Martin, Grange Movement, ch. v.

2 Nation, xxi. i (July i, 1876).

3 Windom Committee, Report, 72-76; Hepburn Committee (N. Y.), Report,
18; Interstate Commerce Commission, Reports, ii. 63; Wisconsin Railroad Commis-
sion, Reports, i. 62 (1874); C. F. Adams, Jr., " Railroad Inflation," in North Ameri-
can Review, cviii. 130-164 (January, 1869); E. Stanwood, "Farmers and Rail-
roads," in Old and New, viii. 335-342 (September, 1873); Larrabee, Railroad
Question, 163-188; Cook, Corporation Problem, 11-34; Martin, Grange Movement ,
ch. iii; Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 16.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 15

The claims of the fanners that rates were raised at intermediate
points to make up for losses at competitive points are probably
not true but there was, nevertheless, a distinct injury to the
unfavored places in the advantages given to their better situated
rivals.1 Of discrimination between persons, there can be no
justification. It appeared in the passenger service mainly in
the shape of free passes, the political aspects of which were more
important than the economic. In the freight service this sort
of discrimination was usually accomplished by secret rates and
rebates and was almost always in favor of the large and powerful
shipper. It should be borne in mind, however, that most of
this discrimination, instead of being freely granted by thef
railroads, was rather extorted from them by large shippers,!
who were often able to force a rebate by threats of transferring J
their business to a rival road.2

It is quite evident then that the farmers had a number of real
grievances against the railroads, although they did not always
clearly understand the situation or realize just where the trouble
lay. The power of railway corporations was growing and was
being used to influence public officials; the system of construction
was wasteful and corrupt; the stocks and bonds were badly
watered; and in some instances the rates were undoubtedly
higher than was necessary for a fair return on the physical
value of the road. There were also gross and often totally
unjustifiable discriminations which injured both shippers and
consumers and indirectly added to another cause of complaint j
by fostering monopolies.

1 Adams, Railroads, 123-125; Hepburn Commission, Report, 48-71, and testi-
mony; Interstate Commerce Commission, Reports, i. 7; Larrabee, Railroad Ques-
tion, 143-163; J. F. Hudson, The Railways and the Republic, 25-55; E. P. Alexan-
der, Railway Practice, 5-23; W. D. Dabney, The Public Regulation of Railways,
67-174; Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 16.

2 Hepburn Commission, Report, 40-70, and testimony; Larrabee, Railroad
Question, 136-143; Hudson, Railways and the Republic, 55-66; Cook, Corporation
Problem, 34-40; I. M. Tarbell, History of Standard Oil.

l6 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

FARMERS, MERCHANTS, AND MANUFACTURERS

Among the economic doctrines propounded by the agricul-
tural agitators of the seventies, none was more frequently heard
or appears to have been more popular with the farmers than
one which bears a resemblance to some of the ideas of the physio-
era tic philosophers of pre-revolutionary France. Like the phys-
\iocrats, the farmers were wont to look upon agriculture and land
I as the source of all wealth 1 and to divide society into the two
I classes of producers and non-producers, including in the latter
all those engaged in the distribution of the products of the former.
Although the indispensableness of the non-productive class to
society was often admitted, that class was nevertheless looked
upon distinctly as a necessary evil, which ought to be restricted
to the smallest possible dimensions; and it was always stated
that the proportion of the returns received by the distributing
factors was altogether too large, and, conversely, that received
by the producers was too small.2 Next in importance to trans-
portation among these factors were the middlemen who served
as agents for the distribution of commodities between producer
and consumer: and it was against the exactions of these middle-
men that much of the wrath of the farmers was directed. From
the standpoint of the farmer the middlemen were of two principal
classes: the commission merchants and produce buyers through
whom he disposed of his products, and the numerous agents
and retail dealers through whom he purchased his supplies.3

When the farmer carried the product of his summer's work
to market and found himself practically obliged to dispose of

1 For example, the Prairie Farmer, the leading agricultural paper of the North-
west, offered in 1869, as a premium for subscriptions, an allegorical picture depicting
the relation of the farmer to the " so-called professions and business occupations "
in which the farmer was represented as saying, " I pay for all." See Prairie Farmer,
xl. 364 (November 6, 1869).

2 For a sample of this sort of economic reasoning, see R. H. Furgeson, " Coopera-
tion," an address in Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 91-96 (1875). See also
Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 131-140.

8 On this subject generally, see F. A. Fetter, " The Theory of the Middleman "
and P. M. Kieley, " The Middleman in Practice," both in L. H. Bailey, ed., Cyclo-
pedia of American Agriculture, iv. 239-243.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 17

it to commission men at quite unremunerative prices,1 it was
but natural for him to look upon these dealers as his enemies
and to feel that they controlled the situation and fixed such
prices as they chose, and indeed it seems to be true that the
returns to the farmer were often smaller and the share retained
by the commission man larger than would have been the case
had there been more competition among the merchants and more
organization among the farmers. In a small place there was
frequently but one produce buyer and where there were more
the number was so small that combination was easy for the
purpose of eliminating competition and maintaining prices.
The produce buyers were in a position to watch the markets
and their facilities for storage were such that they could take
advantage of fluctuations; while the farmers, usually ignorant
of the state of the market and with no facilities for holding
their crops, often brought about a glut and reduced prices by
throwing large quantities of produce on the market at once.
The charges of the farmers were that the commission men
exacted too high rates for their services in getting the crops to
market and that the products of agriculture were obliged to
pass through too many toll-taking hands before they reached
the consumer. This latter evil they proposed to remedy, as
will appear later, by eliminating the commission merchant or
buyer at the local center and shipping directly to the merchant
at the large central market.2

1 For an instance, see Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 92 (1875). Stories
of this sort are quite common. One, which was frequently used by the agitators,
told of a farmer carrying a load of grain to market and returning with a pair of
shoes for his boy — the sole purchase which he was able to make with the returns
from the sale of his grain.

2 United States Industrial Commission, Report, vi. 6, 36-143, 235-268; Illinois
State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 42-46 (1875); National Grange, Proceedings, vii.
*3> 57, 79 (J874); Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 75-103; J. R. Dodge, " The Dis-
content of the Farmer," in Century, xxi. 447-456 (January, 1892); W. A. Peffer,
" The Farmers' Defensive Movement," in Forum, viii. 464-473 (December, 1889).
The tendency to monopoly in the commission business was sometimes fostered
by the railroads. Because of convenience or on account of business relations, they
are said to have favored the established elevators at the expense of would-be com-
petitors. See letter from Winona County, Minnesota, in Farmers' Union, January
18, 1873-

1 8 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Just as the price which the farmer received for the commodities
he sold seemed to him to be fixed by those to whom he sold, so
also, he felt that the price of his supplies was fixed by those from
whom he bought.1 The retail dealers, like the commission men,
were comparatively few in number and usually able to prevent
serious competition among themselves. Then in many parts
of the country and especially in the newly settled areas of the
western states there prevailed a credit system somewhat similar
to that already described in connection with the southern states.
The feature of crop mortgages was usually absent in the West
but otherwise the system was very much the same; the farmer
lacked ready money and was forced to buy on credit, and an
account having been begun, he was practically placed at the
mercy of the dealer until he could square himself on the books.
A large part of the farmers' supplies were purchased, however,
not from retail dealers, but from agents who handled the articles
on a commission for the manufacturer; this was particularly
true of all sorts of farm machinery, of sewing machines, and other
patented devices. The complaints against these agents were
that their large commissions unduly increased prices, that they
frequently persuaded farmers to purchase machinery which
they did not need or could not afford, and that they sold on credit
and in addition charged exorbitant rates of interest.2

The principal complaints in regard to these supplies were
directed, however, not against the middlemen, but against the
manufacturers themselves. In the general attack upon monop-
olists — a term which was applied to practically everyone ex-
cept farmers and day-laborers — the manufacturing establish-
ments operating under the protection of patents for inventions
came in for their full share of denunciation. That there were
many abuses of the privileges of patent rights is indubitable:
in case of meritorious inventions, the profits obtained by the
inventor or his assigns were often enormous; patents which
were about to expire were renewed and extended by means of
so-called improvements or through the help of political influence ;

1 Prairie Farmer, xliii. 369, xliv. i (November 23, 1872, January 4, 1873).

2 Martin, Grange Movement, ch. xviii.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 19

but worst of all, the patent office failed to make sufficiently
thorough investigations to prevent the occasional issuance of
patents on articles or principles which were in no sense inventions
but had long been in common use. This seems to have been
the case, for example, with the Teal patent on a sliding gate
which was successfully fought in the courts by the Patrons of
Husbandry of Michigan, though not until after considerable
money had been collected from the farmers in the shape of
royalty.1 That the monopoly based on patent rights, combined
with the expensive agency and commission system of selling,
resulted in exorbitant prices for farm machinery is readily seen
when we note that many of these protected machines were
shipped to Europe by the manufacturer and there sold at con-
siderably less than the retail price in the United States.2 The
great reductions in prices which the Grangers were able to bring
about when they got their business departments into working
order also throws some light on preexisting conditions.

FARMERS AND FINANCE

The prevalence of a system of buying on credit among the
agricultural population has already been noted. Another
result of the general poverty, or at least of the lack of ready
money, among the farmers, was a widespread indebtedness as
represented by the growing burden of mortgages upon rural
property. That some of these mortgages represented enter-
prise and the improvement or extension of a farmer's operations
is probably true, but it is also true that many of them indicated
straitened financial circumstances. The worst part of the
situation was the excessive rate of interest, running as high as
fifteen or twenty per cent, which was often exacted for these
loans. The West was infested with loan agents to whom the

1 American Agriculturist, xxxviii. 493, 521 (December, 1879); Prairie Farmer t
xli. 185, 349, xliii. 132, 161, 252, 292, xlv. 89, 91, 129 (1870-74); National Grange,
Proceedings, xii. 68, xiv. 107 (1878, 1880); Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, vi.
60-62 (1878).

2 Cloud, Monopolies and the People, 248-254; National Grange, Proceedings,
vii. 13, viii. 62 (1874, 1875); Flagg, in American Social Science Journal, vi. no
(July, 1874).

20 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

farmer who had met with reverses or who wished to make im-
provements or purchase additional land was obliged to apply
for loans. The agent did not furnish the money himself but
procured it from eastern capitalists and loaned it to the farmer
on a mortgage at usurious rates of interest, after charging a
commission at both ends of the deal.1

That the disturbed state of the currency, due to inflation
during the war, was a cause of financial depression among the
agricultural classes and especially of the high rates of interest,
seems probable; however that may have been, it is evident
that the currency situation was detrimental to the welfare of
the farmer in various ways. The agricultural products of the
country, always in excess of home consumption, were obliged
to seek markets abroad, and this sale of the surplus in the world
market also fixed prices at home; but these sales abroad had
to be made in the standard gold and silver currency of the world,
while all purchases of supplies were made in a depreciated paper
currency, and there was sure to be more or less leakage in the
process of changing from one to the other.2 The farmer also
suffered from the fluctuations resulting from the unstable con-
dition of the currency and the accompanying speculation, but
the most serious injury came from the rise in value of the cur-
rency, as measured in gold, during the period from 1865 to the
resumption of specie payments in 1879. As has already been
noted, a large part of the agricultural population was in debt
from one cause or another and most of these debts, contracted
in greatly depreciated currency, had to be paid with money
worth from fifteen to twenty per cent more than the actual
value of that which had been borrowed.3 These financial
burdens were little noticed during the six or seven years of
prosperity immediately following the war, but the panic of

1 Nation, xxv. 282 (November 8, 1877); W. A. Peffer, The Farmer's Side, 34-42,
68-86; J. R. Elliot, American Farms, 45-52.

2 Flagg, in American Social Science Journal, vi. 114 (July, 1874).

3 Nation, xvi. 381 (June 5, 1873); Peffer, The Farmer's Side, 67-115; Carr,
Patrons of Husbandry, 392-428; Flagg, in American Social Science Journal,
vi. 111-113 (July, 1874); Rhodes, History of the United States, vii. 53-73; D. R.
Dewey, Financial History of the United States, 292-298, 342, 344-352, 357.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 21

1873 had a disastrous effect on agriculture and aggravated the
evils. The farming class, which had begun to feel the pinch
some time before the crash came, suffered in common with others
during the protracted depression which followed. Business was
stagnant, money scarce, and prices low, and the farmers fre-
quently found it difficult to dispose of their crops at anywhere
near remunerative prices.1

Another result of the Civil War which worked to the dis-
advantage of the agricultural class was the high customs tariff,
adopted during the war primarily for the purpose of raising
revenue but continued as a measure of protection to American
manufacturers. The urgent need of revenues occasioned by
the war, the greed of manufacturers, the necessity of off-setting
the new internal revenue duties, and the lack of any systematic
study of the subject resulted in an illogical and unsystematic
aggregation of tariff rates which were often so high as to reduce
the national revenue by restricting importation. As a war
measure, emanating from a Congress too much occupied by
more vital problems to devote itself to a study of the tariff,
this might be excusable, but there can be no justification for
its continuance in practically the same form after the war was
over. The efforts of the interested manufacturers, however,
were successful in preventing any serious alteration.2 This
tariff, as all highjprotective tariffs in a country whose production
exceeds the demand for home consumption, bore with especial
severity on the farmers, particularly in the staple producing
regions of the South and West. The price which the farmer*
received for his cotton and his grain was fixed by the sale of the
surplus in the unprotected markets of the world, while the cost
of nearly everything he consumed, whether imported or of
domestic production, was vastly enhanced for the benefit of
the manufacturers. Even the home market idea proved a

1 Rhodes, History of the United States, vii. 36-53.

2 Dewey, Financial History, 299-305, 396-398; C. B. Spahr, An Essay on the
Present Distribution of Wealth in the United States, 346; Elliot, American Farms ,
187-205.

22 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

delusion when the agricultural production was continually in
excess of the needs of that market.1

Upon the subject of taxation the farmers made many com-
plaints, and some of these were well founded.2 The American
people were undoubtedly carrying a very large burden of taxa-
tion in the period following the war, the causes of which are to
be sought in the great public debts incurred for the conduct of
the war and for the assistance of railroads and other internal
improvements,3 and in the carelessness, extravagance, and cor-
ruption of public administration. Not only was the aggregate
per capita taxation, national, state, and local, unusually high,
but its incidence was far from being arranged in proportion to
the ability to pay. In regard to the national taxation, which
was almost wholly indirect, this was particularly true because
so much of the revenue was derived from articles of common
consumption by the mass of the people. For example, prac-
tically one-half of the customs revenue was levied on the impor-
tation of sugar, molasses, and woolen and cotton goods, which
are consumed by everyone in very similar proportions. In
like manner the internal revenue duties on tobacco and liquors
bore with greatest severity on the cheaper grades of the product.
I Thus an undue share of the taxes for the support of the national
] government and the payment of its enormous war debt was

1 Peffer, The Farmer's Side, 129-147; Cloud, Monopolies and the People, 239-
247; Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 392-412; Elliot, American Farms, 90-109, 119-
131, 138; Flagg, in American Social Science Journal, vi. no (July, 1874).

2 Flagg, " Revenue," an address in Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 60-74
(1875); Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 411; Spahr, Distribution of Wealth, 346; Elliot,
American Farms, 141-144; A. H. Peters, " The Depreciation of Farming Land,"
in Quarterly Journal of Economics, iv. 22 (October, 1889); Nation, xvi. 381 (June
5, 1873) > New York Commission to revise the laws for the assessment and collection
of taxes, Report, 1871; D. A. Wells, Rational Principles of Taxation, in American
Social Science Association, Transactions, 1874; Patron's Bulletin (Kentucky),
December, 1876 (Master's address to the state grange).

3 As an indication of the part played by the railway in the increase of public
indebtedness, it might be noted that in Illinois in 1869, the state auditor reported
an aggregate local debt, — county, city, town, and township, — of thirty-nine
million dollars, forty-eight per cent of which consisted of railroad obligations.
Illinois State Auditor, Reports, 1869, pp. 93-98; Flagg, in Illinois State Grange,
Proceedings, iv. 69 (1875).

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 2$

borne by the people of small means, among whom we must/
certainly class the agricultural population.1 [

In the raising of state and local revenue, the farmer fared
somewhat better, for here practically the whole reliance was
placed on direct taxation, mainly in the form of a tax on the
valuation of real and personal property. The complaints of\
the farmers in regard to state and local taxation were that
their property, being principally in real estate and other readily
discoverable forms, was sure to be assessed and usually at its
full value; while other property, particularly that of dwellers
in urban communities and of corporations, being largely personal
and difficult to get at, often escaped taxation altogether.2 The
farmers also maintained that their real property was assessed
higher in proportion than that of the other classes, and partic-y
ularly was there complaint about the assessment of uncultivated!
land or land held for speculative purposes at a lower rate thanlj
that of equal quality which was under cultivation.3 In some
parts of the country there was also considerable outcry against
the assessment of growing crops, which the farmers preferred
to look uponas prospective property only.4

It is evident then that the financial condition of the country
at this time as it affected the agricultural population was
far from satisfactory: many farmers were burdened with large
private debts, on which they were paying high rates of in-
terest; the condition of the currency, because of its depre-
ciation, of its fluctuation, and especially of its subsequent
contraction, affected them adversely, in common with many
other classes; and the system of protection to American manu-
facturers also operated to their disadvantage. The enormous

1 Spahr, Distribution of Wealth, 133-146; Elliot, American Farms, 156-162;
Peters, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, iv. 23 (October, 1889) > Flagg, in Illinois
State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 64, 67-70 (1875); an<i 'm American Social Science
Journal, vi. in (July, 1874).

2 Cloud, Monopolies and the People, 149-153; Flagg, in Illinois State Grange,
Proceedings, iv. 64, 67-70 (1875); Peters, in Quarterly Journal of Economics,
iv. 22 (October, 1889); Resolution of Bethel Grange, in Prairie Farmer, xliv. 187
(June 14, 1873); United States Industrial Commission, Reports, xix.

3 Elliot, American Farms, 163-169.

4 California Patron, July n, 1877, p. 5.

24 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

public debts also imposed a considerable burden of taxation
on the people and the methods by which the taxes were collected
forced the farmers and other people of small means to bear an
undue proportion of the burden.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND PRICES

In considering the various causes which made agriculture
largely unremunerative in the seventies, it is difficult to assign
to each its relative importance, but if any one thing can be said
to be the primary cause of that situation, it is the great extension
or even inflation of agricultural operations in the decade follow-
ing the war; an inflation which was shared by many other
industries and which presents many of the features of a specula-
tive boom. The prevailing high prices just at the close of the
war, the inflated condition of the currency, and the spirit of
restlessness and enterprise developed by the war, all contributed
to produce a feverish industrial condition and turned men's
minds to the development of the great unsettled areas of the
West, as a new field for exploitation.1 The railroads, aided by
subsidies, pushed rapidly out, population followed, and the two
reacting on each other quickly advanced the frontier another
step across the continent.2

When the war closed in 1865, there were but twelve thousand
miles of railroad in all the states and territories of the North-
west. This amount was almost doubled by 1870 and a decade
later the mileage was over forty-three thousand. Taking the
territory west of the Mississippi only, there were less than
four thousand miles of railroad in operation in 1867, an amount
which was increased by 1877 to sixteen thousand, or consid-
erably more than the mileage of the whole Northwest at the
close of the war.3 The accompanying movement of population
can be seen by tracing the frontier line of settlement, which
in 1860 ran east and west across central Wisconsin, took in

1 Nation, xvii. 68, xix. 36 (July 31, 1873, July 16, 1874); Atlantic, xxxii. 508-512
(October, 1873); Pierson, in Popular Science Monthly, xxxii. 202 (December, 1887);
Adams, in North American Review, cxx. 421-424 (April, 1874).

2 Peffer, in Forum, viii. 464-466 (December, 1889).

3 Porter, The West, 47; E. E. Sparks, National Development, ch. iv.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 2$

the southeastern part of Minnesota, the eastern fringe of
Nebraska and Kansas, and continued down through western
Arkansas and Texas. By 1880 this line had advanced in the
Northwest to include the Dakotas and nearly all of Nebraska
and Kansas, while the partially settled areas of Minnesota and
Iowa were filled out and extended. In the Southwest, the
Texan frontier was advanced and the density of settlement in
Arkansas and eastern Texas considerably increased.1

A comparison of the population statistics of 1860, 1870, and
1880 shows a remarkable growth in the whole western area.
The population of the prairie states — the North Central division
according to the census — increased from nine million in 1860
to thirteen million in 1870 and seventeen million in 1880 an
increase during the twenty years of ninety-one per cent. The
four frontier states and territories of this section, Minnesota,
Dakota, Kansas, and Nebraska, increased from three hundred
thousand in 1860 to nearly a million in 1870 and to nearly two
and a half million in 1880. The Southwest had not recovered
sufficiently from the war to expand much by 1870 but the popu-
lation of Texas and Arkansas leaped from a million three hun-
dred thousand in 1870 to nearly two and a half million in 1880.
In the states of the Pacific slope, the first rush of settlement
was over, but a gradual increase was kept up and many of the
settlers were drawn from mining to agricultural pursuits.

That the greater part of this new population of the West
devoted itself to agriculture can be seen by examining the
statistics of improved farm lands as given in the table2 on
the following page.

Two factors made possible this great agricultural expansion:^
the land was more accessible and more easily obtained than I
ever before ; and there was a surplus of industrial population I
ready to take possession. In 1862, Congress adopted a new
principle in the disposition of the public lands by enacting the

1 See maps illustrating density of population in United States Census, 1890,
Population, pt. i ; Sparks, National Development, ch. ii.

2 Arranged from tables in United States Census, 1880, volume on Agriculture,
xviii. See also United States Commissioner of Agriculture, Reports, 1869, p. 17,
on westward progress of wheat-growing.

26

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

homestead law, which made it possible for each head of a
family to obtain a free homestead on the public domain. In
the very next year a million acres of government land were thus
occupied and by 1880 over fifty-five million had been filed on

Acreage of improved land

Percentage of increase

1860

1870

1880

1860-70

1870-80

United States
N. Atlan. Div. . . .
S Atlan. Div

163,110,720
38,981,911
71,619,829
52,308,699
33,232,226
3,689,942

188,921,099
41,117,185
60,010,064
78,409,509
31,088,775
8,102,639

284,771,042
46,385,632
65,249,232
136,842,319
49,806,771
15,565,989

15-8

5-5

I3*1

49.9

6.4 l
119.8

50.7

12.8

19.8

74-5
60.2
92.1

N. Cent. Div
S. Cent. Div
Western Div

under this law. Under the somewhat similar provisions of the
timber-culture act of 1873, nine million more acres were occupied,
and the grant by Congress in 1862 of nearly ten million acres
of land to the states for agricultural colleges operated in the
same direction, for much of this land passed into private posses-
sion at merely nominal prices.2 The enormous grants to rail-
way companies during this period also helped to make land
available to settlers.3 The corporations were eager to dispose
of their land at low prices in order to attract settlers; and they
were enabled to build railroads which made accessible, not only
their own lands, but the reserved alternate sections of the govern-
ment as well. They served as an intermediary between the
people and the desired land, bringing the one to the other and
making profitable the cultivation of the land by furnishing a
comparatively cheap means of transportation to the distant
markets.

The causes which led to the existence of a surplus industrial
population were various. Probably the most effective was the

1 Decrease.

2 Donaldson, The Public Domain, 351-355, 360; A. B. Hart, " The Disposition
of Our Public Lands," in Quarterly Journal of Economics, i. 176 (January, 1887);
E. D. Fite, Social and Industrial Conditions in the North during the Civil War, n.

3 Hart, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, i. 179; W. G. Moody, Land and Labor
in the United States, 88-in.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 2J

disbanding of the armies at the close of the war. Not only
were a million and a half men, who had for several years been
employed by the government, now thrown upon their own
resources, but the cessation of those industries which were
dependent on the war added many more to the numbers of the
unemployed. One writer has estimated that, in 1865, one-fifth
of the able-bodied men of the country were in army service,
with another fifth employed in furnishing them material and
sustenance, and that four million men were thrown out of em-
ployment by the ending of the war.1 Many of these men found
their former niche in the industrial world filled by others and
went west to make a new start on the frontier; or, if they re-
turned to their old occupations, some one else was displaced
who might take up the westward march.

Immigration, too, which had been checked at first by the
war, contributed its share to the peopling of the new regions
in the West. The number of imigrants had fallen in 1862 to
less than ninety thousand, but from that time on it rose steadily
until in 1873 it amounted to four hundred and fifty-nine thou-
sand, the highest point reached up to that time. The hard
times brought a reaction and the number sank to one hundred
and thirty-eight thousand in 1878, only to rise again rapidly
to the astounding figure of seven hundred and eighty-eight
thousand in i882.2 That a large number of these immigrants
went into the agricultural states of the West can be seen by
examining the census statistics of birth and parentage. In
1880 the percentage of persons of foreign parentage in Wis-
consin was seventy- three ; in Minnesota, seventy-one; in Dakota,
sixty-six; in Nebraska, forty-four; and in California, fifty-nine.

Another factor which helped along the great agricultural
expansion in this period was the technical advance, particularly
in the line of invention and extended use of agricultural ma-
chinery. This development had taken place to a certain extent,
in the older settled parts of the country, during the war, partly

1 Moody, Land and Labor, 149-163.

2 Emerick, in Political Science Quarterly, xi. 640-643 (September, 1896) ; Sparks,
National Development, ch. ii; Industrial Commission, Reports, xix. 958.

28 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

as a result of the scarcity of labor and the need of something
to take the place of the men who were in the army.1 The
machines enabled one man to do the work which had formerly
been done by many and thus helped to increase the surplus popu-
lation after the war closed. They made possible the cultiva-
tion of the staple crops on a large scale in the new western lands,
the result being a thin settlement spread over an extensive
area but producing large crops per capita? This tendency
was carried to an extreme in the so-called bonanza farms, against
which there was bitter complaint. Large tracts of land were
obtained by capitalists and converted into industrial plants
for the production of wheat and corn. By means of machinery,
operated by gangs of hired labor, and with large-scale production,
great crops were produced at a minimum of cost; and when,
as is said to have been the case in some instances, special favors
were received from the railroads in transportation, it is easily
seen that this competition was a real injury to the individual
farmer producing crops on a small scale.3 There was also techni-
cal advance in agricultural science in other ways, as is illustrated
by the increasing application of commercial fertilizers to the
cotton fields of the South, which made possible a considerable
expansion of the area of the cotton belt in the older states at
the same time that new cotton lands were being developed in
Texas.4

The effect of all these combined causes in producing a great
increase in agricultural operations in the staple crops, together
with a corresponding decrease in prices, can be seen from the
following tables which show the acreage, production, total
value, and average annual price of the corn, wheat, and cotton
crops in the United States from 1866 to 1880 inclusive.5

1 Fite, Social and Industrial Conditions in the North during the Civil War, 6-9.
z H. W. Quaintance, The Influence of Farm Machinery on Production and Labor;
Moody, Land and Labor, 9-30.

3 Ibid. 31-87; Elliot, American Farms, 33-57, 78-89.

4 M. B. Hammond, The Cotton Industry, 123.

6 The statistics of acreage, production, and value given in these tables are
taken from United States Department of Agriculture, Yearbook, 1897, pp. 710, 712.
The price figures are computed from the total production and value. The values

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS

CORN

Year

Acreage

Prod, in bushels

Value

Price per bushel

1866

34,306,538

867,946,295

$411,450,830

$.47

1867

32,520,349

768,320,000

437,769,763

•57

1868

34,887,246

906,527,000

424,056,649

•47

1869

37,103,245

874,320,000

522,550,509

.60

1870

38,649,977

1,094,255,000

540,520,456

•54

1871

34,091,137

991,898,000

430,355,510

•43

1872

35,526,836

1,092,719,000

385,736,210

•35

1873

39,197,148

932,274,000

411,961,151

•44

1874

41,036,918

850,148,500

496,271,255

•58

1875

44,841,371

,321,069,000

484,674,804

•37

1876

49,033,364

,283,827,500

436,108,521

•34

1877

50,369,113

,342,558,000

467,635,230

•35

1878

51,585,000

,388,218,750

440,280,517

•32

I879

53,085,450

,547,901,790

580,486,217

•37

1880

62,317,842

1,717,434,543

679,714,499

.40

WHEAT

Year

Acreage

Prod, in bushels

Value

Price per bushel

1866

15,424,496

151,999,906

$232,109,630

$1.52

1867

18,321,561

212,441,400

308,387,146

1-45

1868

18,460,132

224,036,600

243,032,746

i. 08

1869

19,181,004

260,146,900

199,024,996

•77

1870

18,992,591

235,884,700

222,766,969

•94

1871

19,943,893

230,722,400

264,075,851

1.14

1872

20,858,359

249,997,100

278,522,068

i. ii

1873

22,171,676

281,254,700

300,669,533

1.07

1874

24,967,027

308,102,700

265,881,167

.86

1875

26,381,512

292,136,000

261,396,926

.89

1876

27,627,021

289,356,500

278,697,238

.96

1877

26,277,546

346,194,146

385,089,444

i. 06

1878

32,108,560

42O,I22,4OO

325,814,119

.78

1879

32,545,950

448,756,630

497,030,142

i. ii

1880

37,986,717

498,549,868

474,201,850

•95

and consequently the prices here given are in gold so that the effect of currency
inflation is largely eliminated. If currency prices were taken the apparent decline
would be much greater in each instance.

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

COTTON

Year

Acreage

Prod, in bales

Value

Price per bale

1866

2,007,2^4

$204., s6 1, 806

$97.54

1867

*r^t 1 , OT*
2 ^IQ ^^4.

\jf4.^JL^^^\J J. ywyw

100 ^83 'CIO

70-21

1868

* ,o yooT1
2,366,467

w,o 0,0
226,794,168

/ y *
95.74

1869

7,933,000

3,122,551

261,067,037

83.61

1870

9,985,000

4,352,317

292,703,086

67.25

1871

8,911,000

2,974,35!

242,672,804

81.44

1872

9,560,000

3,930,508

280,532,629

7I-38

1873

10,816,000

4,170,388

289,853,486

69.50

1874

10,982,000

3,832,991

228,113,080

59-51

1875

11,635,000

4,632,313

233,109,945

50.53

1876

11,500,000

4,474,069

211,655,041

47-31

1877

11,825,000

4,773,865

235,72i,i94

49-38

1878

12,266,800

4,694,942

193,467,706

41.40

1879

12,595,500-

4,735,082

242,140,987

SI-H

1880

15.475,300

5,708,942

280,266,242

49.09

It will be seen from these tables and the accompanying chart
(I) that the increase in acreage devoted to these crops was rapid

1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880

70

50

j 30
20

10

CHART I, ACF

EAQE

and almost unbroken throughout the period, amounting, for
corn, to 8 1 per cent; for wheat, to 146 per cent; and for cotton,

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS

MILLION BUSHELS M ^

^J

23

MILLION BUSHELS

~* o

0) -h
(A

2°,

Sb

8 8

S %

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

to 94 per cent. The increase in production (Charts II, III,
and IV), though not so regular as that of acreage, because of
varying harvest, was, on the whole, considerably greater, thus
indicating improvement in technique. It amounted, from
1866 to 1880, for corn, to 98 per cent; for wheat, to 221 per
cent; and for cotton, to 172 per cent. The effect of this in-
creased production on the price is seen on Charts II, III, and IV,

1880

;.9o

.80

.70

10

Production and Prices of Cotton

in the United States

1866 - 1880.

Prices are in
Based oij Statistic
Dep't, of Agrid., Yearboi

Gold.

in U.S.
k, 1897,

712

.50

.40

.30

.20

.10

on which the lines indicating the average annual price have
been superimposed on those indicating the total production.
As a rule each fluctuation in the quantity of the product is met
by a fluctuation in the price of nearly equal ratio and in the
opposite direction. The percentage of decline in price for
the whole period is for corn, fifteen; wheat, thirty-seven;

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS

33

and cotton, forty-nine; but if the last two years, which were
years of recovery from the previous depression, are stricken
out and the period from 1866 to 1878 inclusive is taken, the
decline amounts to thirty-two, forty-nine, and fifty-eight per
cent, respectively.

As a result of these off-setting fluctuations of price, the value
of the total annual crop (Chart V) shows less fluctuation and
less increase during the period than does the quantity, the

1866
700

1868 1870 "1872 1874 1876 1878 1880

600

500

<400

§300
I

200

100

CHART V. VALUE

COT r

increase from 1866 to 1880 amounting to only sixty-five per
cent for corn, one hundred and five per cent for wheat, and thirty-
seven per cent for cotton; and substituting for 1880 the last
year of the depression, 1878, the increase amounts to only seven
per cent for corn, and forty per cent for wheat, while the total
value of the cotton crop shows a decrease of five per cent. Thus,
although the number of men engaged in agriculture and the
amount of capital invested in improved land and machinery
was constantly and rapidly increasing, the resulting increased
production brought in little or no more revenue than had the
smaller crops of fifteen or twenty years before.

34 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The effect of this situation upon the agricultural population
was undoubtedly severe, and particularly so on those who,
lured by the high prices just after the war and the inducements
held out by the advancing railroads, had sought a field for more
extended operations in the new West, but had been barely
able to get under way when the depression began. Many
others, also, who had assumed a burden of debt in order to
purchase additional land and machinery, found themselves
with an increased investment, on part of which they were paying
exorbitant interest, while the returns remained stationary or
declined. Adding to this the other factors which have been
considered — the treatment the farmers received at the hands
of the railway corporations, the large proportion of profits
consumed by the middlemen, an unjust protective tariff and a
depreciated currency, and finally an overgrown burden of debt
and taxation — it is readily seen that the Granger movement
was not without economic foundation.

FARMERS AND POLITICS

The relative political power and position of those engaged
in agricultural pursuits was a much discussed subject during
the Granger period. In the early days of the republic, farming
was looked upon as the most suitable occupation for gentlemen,
and a large proportion of the positions of high political pre-
ferment were filled by men from the ranks of the agriculturists;
planters or farmers were to be found in considerable numbers,
serving as legislators, as executive officials, or in judicial posi-
tions; and the interests of agriculture were sure of adequate
consideration. Just previous to the Civil War the controlling
influence in national affairs had been for some time in the hands
of the planter element of the South, whose interests, apart
from the question of slavery, generally coincided with those of
agriculturists throughout the country. The commercial and
manufacturing classes, however, were rapidly forging to the
front, particularly in the North and East, and the Civil War
marks their definite triumph in national affairs over the agri-
cultural interests of the country as represented by the southern

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 35

planters. From that time on, the needs and interests of the
more or less organized mercantile and manufacturing classes
received primary consideration and the positions of political
power were occupied more and more by representatives from
these classes or by lawyers who took substantially the same
point of view.1

The Forty-third Congress of the United States, in session
from 1873 to 1875, will furnish an example of this lack of repre-
sentation in the councils of the nation, of which the farmers
complained. Sixty-one per cent of the members of this Congress
were lawyers, sixteen per cent were engaged in commercial
or manufacturing pursuits, and only seven per cent professed
the occupation of farming. Yet the census of 1870 shows that
forty-seven per cent of the working population of the country
was still engaged in farming while commerce and manufacturing
could claim only thirty-one per cent. That this situation
was not confined to national politics can be1 seen from the
statistics of the legislature of Illinois in 1874. This included
but eight farmers among fifty-one senators and forty farmers
among the one hundred fifty-three members of the lower house,
in spite of the fact that over half of the population of the state
was agricultural.2

Not only did the farmers feel that as a class they failed to
receive adequate direct representation in the government of
the country, but there was also a belief that their interests were
not given due consideration by those who were supposed to
represent them. Ignorant often of what their true interests
were, scattered broadcast over the country, without either time
or opportunity to make their wants known, and often following
blindly in the ,wake of the political party to which they had
been attached by issues now dead and gone, the farmers were
looked upon by the political leaders as a stable element whose

1 Flagg, in American Social Science Journal, vi. 108 (July, 1874); Elliot, Ameri-
can Farms, 175-186; Alpha Messer, Benefits of the Grange (pamphlet, 2d ed.), 5.

2 Flagg, in American Social Science Journal, vi. 108 (July, 1874). Similarly, a
constitutional convention in Ohio in 1873 contained sixty-two lawyers and sixteen
farmers out of a total of one hundred and two members. American Annual Cyclo-
pedia, 1873, P- 607.

36 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

vote could be depended upon for the party. Hence their interests
received little consideration in the drawing up of party plat-
forms or the framing of legislation.1

Many of the farmers were wont to look upon this loss of
political power as the fundamental cause of the relative decline
of agriculture, laying at its door all or nearly all of the economic
evils which have been considered.2 The transportation problem
was looked upon as a result of governmental favors to the rail-
way companies, while its cure was prevented by the grip of
the railway interests upon Congress and the legislatures. In
the same way it was believed that patent rights, the currency
problem, banking legislation, and the tariff were manipulated
by the opposing interests to the detriment of the agricultural
population.

How far the farmers were justified in this belief, it is impossible
to say. Certainly many of the economic evils under which
they suffered could not have been entirely remedied by the wisest
of legislation. It is equally true, on the other hand, that the
political conditions in the period immediately following the war
were anything but pure. The political influence exerted by the
railways and the Credit Mobilier scandal have already been
mentioned, and in general this seems to have been a period of
exceptional corruption and inefficiency, in state as well as in
national government. Some of the southern states were in
the grip of notoriously corrupt reconstruction governments
which squandered their resources; and in the North several
of the state legislatures were found to be largely subservient
to the transportation and commercial interests.3 Such being
the situation, the farmers were well justified in seeking the cure
for their material ills, in part at least, through increased political
power.

1 California Patron, November 14, 1874, p. 2; C. S. Walker, "The Farmer's
Alliance," in Andover Review, xiv. 132-140 (August, 1890); Elliot, American
Farms, 187-205.

2 See the address by W. C. Flagg (President of the Illinois State Farmers'
Association), in American Social Science Journal, vi. 100-115 (July, 1874).

3 Dunning, Reconstruction, Political and Economic, chs. xiii, xiv, xviii; Nation,
xix. 36 (July 16, 1874); National Grange, Proceedings, xix. 20 (1885).

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 37

SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITIONS

A somewhat similar condition of affairs prevailed with reference
to the social and intellectual position of the farmers. Just as
they had lost political power, so their relative social position
had been lowered until the tilling of the soil, formerly considered
one of the highest of occupations, had come to be looked upon
as a pursuit suitable only to those who were not equipped for
anything else. This was due not so much to a positive decline
in status on the part of the farmers as to the rapid increase in
the social and educational advantages of those who were engaged
in occupations which permitted their lives to be spent in the
cities. The farmers, living in their scattered homesteads and
often forced by the pinch of adversity to devote their whole
time to their calling in order to provide for the mere material
wants of themselves and their families, were not in a position
to keep pace with the dwellers in urban centers who had all the
advantages which go with density of population; 1 for it must be
remembered that this was before the day of interurban trolleys,
farm telephones, and rural free delivery of mail — the three
great factors which help to ameliorate the position of the farmers
today. That they keenly realized their disadvantages is seen
in the fact that so many of them made every effort to have
their children equipped for some other occupation which might
give them an opportunity to rise in the world.

Agriculture, like other industries, demands the application
of knowledge and skill as well as mere physical labor for its
highest development, but the only teacher which the farmer had
was experience, and there was no means by which he might
equip himself with the accumulated experience of his fellows.2
The agricultural colleges of the country were then in their
infancy, and insistent complaint was heard that the gifts made
by Congress for agricultural education had been misapplied

1 Nation, xix. 36 (July 16, 1874); Peters, in Quarterly Journal of Economics,
iv- 25-30 (October, 1889); National Grange, Proceedings, xix. 17 (1885); Messer,
The Grange (pamphlet); D. Kinley, "The Movement of Population from Country
to City," in Bailey, Cyclopedia of Agriculture, iv. 117.

2 Messer, The Grange, 9.

38 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

to the so-called classical institutions.1 So also, the agricultural
press, which has since become an important educational factor,
was then weak, impractical, and little patronized. Not only
were the farmers deficient in technical education, but as a class
they lacked that knowledge of a more general nature which
the best interest of their business demanded. They knew little
of the conditions and prospects of the various crops throughout
the country, and the probable future condition of the markets;
they were ignorant of many of the usages of business; and the
lack of knowledge of simple economic principles and their appli-
cation to the politico-economic problems of the day made it
difficult for them to reason intelligently in matters in which
their own interests were at stake.2 Thus what little political
influence or power they did possess was largely nullified by their
lack of knowledge as to the true interests of agriculture.3

Such, then, was the situation as it presented itself to the
farmers of the country in the decade of the seventies; and in
casting about for a remedy it was but natural that they should
look for examples to those other classes of society which had
been forging so rapidly ahead. The one thing which presented
itself again and again in almost every other industry, but which
appeared to be lamentably lacking in agriculture, was organiza-
tion — the organization and cooperation, for their mutual advan-
tage, of those whose interests coincided. The manufacturers
were united into stock companies and more or less vague associa-
tions; the merchants had their commercial organizations; the
bankers and brokers, their stock-exchanges and clearing houses;
and even the laboring men were beginning to find and assert
their common interests in trade-unions; but for the farmer
there was nothing of the sort. Each individual went his own
way unmindful of his neighbor or of the interests of his class
as a whole, which in the long run meant his own interests.4

1 National Grange, Proceedings, xix. 17 (1885); Messer, The Grange, 16.

2 Ibid, n; Elliot, American Farms, 211-220.

3 Messer, Benefits of the Grange (pamphlet, 2d ed.), 3.

4 Nation, xviii. 55; Prairie Farmer, xliii. 369, xliv. i (November 23, 1872,
January 4, 1873).

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 39

The idea of some form of association among the farmers
for cooperation in the improvement of their condition, materially,
socially, and intellectually, appealed to them in many ways.
If they lacked opportunities for social intercourse and enjoy-
ment, how better could these be furnished than in the weekly
or bi-weekly meetings of a local association of farmers ? If
they lacked a knowledge of public problems and of their own
interest, or the ability to reason logically about them and to
present their ideas to others, how better could they gain these
things than by discussions in these same meetings ? If their
political power and prestige were waning, how could these
better be rehabilitated than by a grand national union of branch
associations of farmers, which would display their overwhelming
strength as a united class ? If they were being worsted in the
struggle with the organized mercantile and manufacturing
classes with whom they had to deal, how better could they
equip themselves than by extensive counter-organization ? J
An agricultural organization including a great part of the farmers
of the nation would be able to demand fairer treatment from the
railway corporations and to enforce it with the help of the state;
it could use its immense influence to secure more favorable
legislation on such matters as the tariff, currency, and taxation;
by means of a widespread local organization it could gather
and disseminate useful information concerning the crops and
the markets; and in general it could foster a beneficent spirit
of cooperation and mutual assistance among its members. In
this way alone can a satisfactory explanation be found for the
widespread and phenomenal movement for organization which
appeared among the farmers in the decade of the seventies.

1 Farmers' Union, January 18, 1873.

CHAPTER II

ORGANIZATION
ORIGIN OF THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY

EVER since the latter part of the eighteenth century agri-
cultural associations, both state and local, have existed in dif-
ferent parts of the United States; but their influence was slight
previous to the Civil War and was confined principally to such
aristocratic gentlemen farmers as the large planters of the
southern states. After the close of the war the idea of organ-
ization took a firm hold on the farming classes, and the country
witnessed the rise, rapid development — and often equally
rapid decline — of a number of great agricultural orders, some
of which have exerted considerable influence on the progress of
the farming population and on the economic and social develop-
ment of the country as a whole.

The first of these orders to be organized was the Patrons of
Husbandry, or Grange, as it is commonly called, which came
into existence in I867.1 Although the phenomenal growth of
this order was due principally to the economic and political
causes set forth in the preceding chapter, its immediate con-
ception came from the fertile brain of Oliver Hudson Kelley,2
a clerk in the government service at Washington. Kelley was

1 The material for the ensuing account of the origin and early years of the Patrons
of Husbandry to the permanent organization in 1873 is contained mainly in Kelley,
The Patrons of Husbandry. Short accounts covering the field are to be found in
Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, ch. x; Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 3-15;
C. W. Pierson, " Rise of the Granger Movement," in Popular Science Monthly,
xxxii. 199-208 (December, 1887); J. W. Darrow, Origin and Early History of the
Order of Patrons of Husbandry; D. W. Aiken, The Grange, its Origin, Progress, and
Educational Purposes (United States Department of Agriculture, Special Report,
No. 55); N. A. Dunning, Farmers' Alliance History, 232-236; Martin, The Grange
Movement, 407-411.

2 Father Kelley, as he has long been known to the members of the order, died
at his home in Washington, D.C., January 20, 1913, while these pages were going
through the press.

ORGANIZATION 41

a New Englander who had settled on a farm near Itasca,
Minnesota. In 1864 he secured a position as clerk in the agri-
cultural bureau and in January, 1866, he was appointed to
travel through the southern states in order to gather information
for the department.1 On his trip through the South, which
lasted three months, Kelley was struck by the lack of progressive
spirit among the agricultural classes. A Mason, and apprecia-
tive of the benefits of fraternity, he came to the conclusion that
a national secret order of farmers was needed for the furthering
of the industrial reconstruction of the South and the advance-
ment of the agricultural class throughout the country. On
returning, Kelley went to Boston, where he discussed the idea
with his niece Miss Carrie Hall, to whom is given the credit
for first suggesting the admission of women to full membership
in the order. The following summer Kelley spent on his farm
in Minnesota, but in June, 1867, he received a clerkship in the
post-office department at Washington and set about developing
his plans.

W. M. Ireland, another clerk in the post-office department,
was interested in Kelley 's ideas and the two began planning a
ritual for the order. Later in the year they enlisted William
Saunders, a clerk in the agricultural bureau, into the ranks of
the " founders," and as he was about to attend a meeting of
the United States Pomological Society at St. Louis in August,
Kelley gave him a written outline of the proposed order to
circulate among the farmers with whom he might come in con-
tact. This circular 2 set forth the deficiencies of existing agri-
cultural societies and county fairs, and proposed the establish-
ment of a secret order of farmers, modeled on the Masonic
order, with the usual equipment of degrees, signs, and pass-
words, the object being to advance agriculture and bind the
farmers together. Women were to be admitted to the order
with separate degrees and the dues were to be as low as one dollar
for each degree. This outline was circulated by Saunders while

1 See Kelley, " Origin of the Order," in The Connecticut Granges, 1-7, for a some-
what humorous account of the way in which this appointment was secured.

2 Printed in full in Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 17-20.

42 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

on his trip, with the result that several people wrote to Kelley
and manifested an interest in his scheme.

The work of getting the order under way and preparing an
elaborate ritual was now taken up in earnest by a number of
government clerks in Washington and outsiders with whom
they kept up a correspondence. Kelley, however, seems to
have been the moving spirit throughout, although he delegated
the composition of several parts of the ritual to others. In
November, 1867, three hundred printed circulars l were sent
to farmers whose addresses had been obtained, the result being
much additional correspondence concerning the order with
interested farmers.

Seven men are usually recognized by the Grange as the "foun-
ders " of the order. These were, as a writer in the Popular
Science Monthly rather sarcastically puts it,2 " one fruit-grower
and six government clerks, equally distributed among the
Post-office, Treasury, and Agricultural Departments." All but
one of them, however — so a Grange circular asserts — were
born upon farms.3 They were O. H. Kelley and W. M. Ireland
of the post-office department, William Saunders and Rev. A. B.
Grosh of the agricultural bureau, Rev. John Trimble and J. R.
Thompson of the treasury department, and F. M. McDowell,
a pomologist of Wayne, New York. These men, having worked
out a ritual for the order, framed a constitution, and adopted
a motto — Esto perpetua — met on December 4, 1867, con-
stituted themselves the National Grange of the Patrons of
Husbandry, and elected officers. Saunders was given, the
office of "Master" because of his position in the agricultural
bureau; Thompson took the office of " Lecturer " ; Ireland,
that of treasurer; and Kelley became secretary of the incipient
order. Neither Grosh nor McDowell was present at this meeting,
but a little later the former was made chaplain. McDowell
arrived in Washington on the eighth of January, 1868, and

1 Reprinted in Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 38-40.

2 Pierson, in Popular Science Monthly, xxxii. 199 (December, 1887).

3 Origin of the Grange, a leaflet, issued by authority of the National Grange
(ca. 1899).

ORGANIZATfON 43

immediately suggested changes which resulted in a complete
reorganization of the upper frame-work of the order.

The arrangement then adopted, which has remained sub-
stantially in force ever since, embraced seven degrees, four to
be conferred by the subordinate grange, one by the state grange,
and the two highest by the National Grange. The four sub-
ordinate degrees for men were entitled; Laborer, Cultivator,
Harvester, and Husbandman; and the corresponding degrees
for women were; Maid, Shepherdess, Gleaner, and Matron.
The state grange was to confer the fifth degree, Pomona (Hope),
on masters and past-masters of subordinate granges, and their
wives if Matrons. The National Grange would confer the sixth
degree, Flora (Charity), on masters and past-masters of state
granges and their wives who had taken the fifth degree. Mem-
bers of the sixth degree would constitute the National Council
and after serving one year therein might take the seventh degree
and become members of the Senate, which body had control
of the secret work of the order. This degree, Demeter or Ceres
(Faith), embraced a number of new features introduced by
McDowell and was put forward as " a continuation of an ancient
Association once so flourishing in the East." L McDowell
accepted the position of supreme head of this degree with the
title of High Priest. Although there was considerable agitation
for the abolition of the higher degrees among the rank and file
of the Grangers when the organization was at the height of its
prosperity in the seventies,2 all that was accomplished was a
series of changes which rendered these degrees accessible to all
Patrons in regular order; while the control of the order was
kept in the hands of representative delegate bodies.

Immediately after the establishment of the National Grange,
the founders proceeded to organize a subordinate grange (Poto-
mac No. i) in Washington as a school of instruction. Its
membership was made up mainly of clerks in the post-office
department and their wives, but it served as a test of the ritual

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 64.

2 Wisconsin State Grange, Bulletin, June, 1875; California Patron, November
15, 1876, p. 4.

44 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

and familiarized the organizers with its workings. Another
circular setting forth the plan and aims of the order was now
printed,1 and in February, Kelley resigned his position in the
post-office department and determined to devote his whole
energies to the order. The work of drilling in Potomac Grange
went on during February and March; parts of the ritual and
constitution were printed; and a beginning was made in the
work of advertising the order by means of letters to the news-
papers. New ways were constantly suggesting themselves
in which the order might make itself useful to the farmers, such
as the protection of members from frauds and impositions,
and the collection of reliable crop statistics. Finally Kelley
determined that everything was ripe for the introduction of
the order among the farmers, and decided to start for Minnesota,
organizing granges on the way. The National Grange held a
meeting, supplied him with a letter authorizing him to establish
subordinate granges, and voted him a salary of two thousand
dollars a year and traveling expenses, to be collected, however,
from the receipts from subordinate granges which he should
establish. Thus equipped, Kelley bought a ticket for Harris-
burg, and, with two and a half dollars in his pocket, started
out to work his way to Minnesota by organizing granges.

EARLY YEARS OF THE GRANGE

The center of interest now shifts to the Northwest, which
was particularly ripe for the introduction of such an order
because of discontent among the agricultural classes and a
growing desire for some means of joint action against oppressive
railroads and monopolies. Still it took several years of vigorous
work on the part of Kelley and his associates to start the ball
rolling. When, however, the order had been sufficiently adver-
tised by the use of circular letters, personal correspondence, and
above all by the cooperation of a number of agricultural papers
and by judicious advertisement in local papers, it soon became
evident that the farmers had here the weapon which they had

1 Reprinted in Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 67-71, and in part in National
Grange, Proceedings, xiv. 10 (1880).

ORGANIZATION 45

been looking for, ready fashioned for their hands; and as a
consequence the new order swept over the states of the North-
west like a prairie fire.

Kelley, on his trip to Minnesota, succeeded in disposing of
four dispensations for the establishment of subordinate granges
at the regular fixed price of fifteen dollars each, but only one of
these resulted in a permanent grange. He had been corre-
sponding for some time with A. S. Moss of Fredonia, New York,
and with his help succeeded in establishing in that place the
first regular, active, and permanent grange. Two of the dis-
pensations, those for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Columbus,
Ohio, were paid for by men who agreed to work up a grange
in these places, but nothing came of their efforts. The fourth
dispensation was issued to a grange gathered together by H. D.
Emery, editor of the Prairie Farmer, in Chicago, which, however,
failed to develop. Kelley had already borrowed fifty dollars
from McDowell at Wayne, New York, and now, after another
unsuccessful attempt to establish a grange at Madison, Wis-
consin, he was obliged to borrow fifteen dollars from the master
of the Masonic lodge there in order to get to his home at Itasca,
Minnesota. He seems to have made the mistake of attempting
to introduce an agricultural order by working in the large cities
instead of getting out among the real tillers of the soil; and it
was not until after he returned to his farm in Minnesota and
began to work among fellow farmers that any real success
attended his efforts.

Fortunately perhaps for Kelley, though he complained about
it at the time, the members of the so-called National Grange
at Washington began to lose interest in the work and left him
pretty much to his own devices, with the exception of calling
on him occasionally for money with which to pay printing bills
long past due in Washington. Kelley, thus thrown on his
own resources, soon found himself so embarrassed that at times
he could not even buy stamps for his correspondence; but he
never lost faith in the order and continued to keep up the delusion
of a great national organization at Washington by circulating
photographs of the founders and issuing grandiloquent circulars.

46 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

His correspondence with A. Failor, of Newton, Iowa, resulted
in the formation of a grange in that place, the first in the state,
and on May 2, 1868, the fifteen dollars for its dispensation
was received. At intervals in his farm work, Kelley endeavored
to keep the order before the public during the summer by letters
in leading agricultural papers such as the Prairie Farmer of
Chicago, the Farmers' Union of Minneapolis, and the Rural
World of St. Louis. He also induced various papers to print
the constitution of the order and such notices concerning it as
he was able to manufacture.

Finally in August, 1868, Colonel D. A. Robertson of St. Paul
was enlisted in the work, and on September 2, North Star Grange,
the first permanent grange in Minnesota, was organized at St.
Paul with his assistance. Robertson and the other members of
this grange took an immediate and active interest in the propa-
gation of the order. The circulars were revised 1 and emphasis
was laid upon such features as protection against corporations,
the advantages of crop and market statistics, depots for the
sale of produce, and concerted action in the purchase of stock
and the testing of new farm implements. The new energy
thus manifested in the work soon brought results and two more
active granges were organized before the end of the year. These
were followed by three more in January, 1869, and three in
February; and on February 23, representatives of these sub-
ordinate granges met in St. Paul and organized the Minnesota
State Grange.2 Within two months after its organization,
the Minnesota State Grange, without the sanction of the National
Grange, appointed a state purchasing agent for the cooperative
purchase of supplies and agricultural implements for Patrons;
thus taking the first step in what was to become one of the most
important activities of the order. This seems to have had much
influence on the movement in Minnesota, and by the close of
the year 1869 there were thirty-seven active granges in the

1 This revised circular is reprinted in Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 125-130;
extracts in Minnesota Monthly, i. 255 (August, 1869) and National Grange, Pro-
ceedings, xiv. ii (1880).

2 Minnesota Monthly, i. 97 (March, 1869).

ORGANIZATION 47

state.1 Some of the new granges were organized by Kelley and
others by deputies appointed by the master of the state grange.

After getting the Minnesota State Grange on its feet, Kelley,
in March, 1869, left Minnesota for a trip to the East. After
visiting Fredonia, New York, where he found an active grange
with a hundred members, he went on to Washington. In that
city, on April 13, 1869, the National Grange convened in its
so-called first annual session with six members present; it
listened to the report of the secretary on the work accomplished,
enacted a few laws for the regulation of the order, and then
relapsed into inactivity.2

Kelley soon returned to Minnesota. There, with the help of
his niece, Miss Hall, who acted as his assistant, he continued
his active work of organization, and, by an extensive corre-
spondence, laid the foundations for the order in other states.
Late in October he made a trip to northern Iowa, where the
second grange in that state was organized at Pottsville. This
trip also resulted soon after in the formation of Waukon Grange,
Iowa, which was said in 1875 to have held more meetings than
any other grange in the United States. Dudley W. Adams,
first master of the Iowa State Grange and later master of the
National Grange, came into the work as secretary of Waukon
Grange. Kelley followed up this trip by another into Illinois
and Indiana, lasting from November, 1869, to January, 1870,
which resulted in the permanent introduction of the order in
each of those states, by the establishment of granges in Illinois
at Nunda (Eureka Grange) and Henry, and in Indiana at Honey
Creek, Terre Haute, and Indianapolis (Capital Grange).3 Kelley
then proceeded to Washington to join with the other " founders "
in a meeting of the National Grange, and on his way back
organized the first grange in Ohio at East Cleveland, March 2,
1870. He then hurried on to his Minnesota home, where he
found a batch of letters containing inquiries concerning the

1 Compiled from table in Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 216.

2 Ibid. 174-179.

3 Prairie Farmer, xl. 372 (November 13, 1869) announced this trip of Kelley's
and recommended both him and the order to the editorial fraternity.

48 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Patrons of Husbandry or requests for deputies to organize,
and in general showing a growing interest in the order in all
parts of the country.

The plan of work during the next few years was to get a few
active subordinate granges started, and out of them to organize
a temporary state grange, the master of which would appoint
deputies to carry on the work of organizing subordinate granges
in the different parts of the state. Charters were issued for
subordinate granges only when at least nine men and four
women were pledged as members, and the number of charter
members was limited to thirty, of whom ten must be women.
The initiation fee was usually three dollars for men and fifty
cents for women, but this varied somewhat from time to time.
Of the money thus collected, fifteen dollars went to the National
Grange to pay for the dispensation, and sums ranging from five
to fifteen dollars and expenses were received by the deputies
for organizing the grange. In some states the state grange
also took a small fee from each grange organized, and whatever
remained went into the treasury of the subordinate grange.

During the remainder of the year 1870, the work of organiza-
tion progressed but slowly. In Illinois, the feeling of antagonism
to railroads had led to the calling of a Producers' Convention
which met at Bloomington, April 20, and appointed a committee
to take measures for the establishment of town and county
transportation leagues. Efforts were made by Kelley and W. W.
Corbett, the editor of the Prairie Farmer, to capture this move-
ment for the Patrons of Husbandry; and in June, 1870, they
revived Garden City Grange, which had been organized by
Kelley on his trip to the West in 1868, and then proceeded to
organize a temporary state grange made up largely of deputies,
but with H. C. Wheeler, a member of the committee on organiza-
tion appointed by the Bloomington convention, as its secretary.
This move proved abortive, and but one new grange was organ-
ized in Illinois in I87O.1

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 245, 269-272, 285, 289, 295; Prairie Farmer,
xli. 89, 130 (March 26, April 30, 1870). For a fuller account of this Producers'
Convention, see below, p. 127.

ORGANIZATION 49

In April, 1870, a correspondence concerning the establish-
ment of the order in Missouri was opened with Norman J. Cole-
man, editor of the Rural World of St. Louis; and in August,
Kelley spent two weeks in St. Louis and vicinity, organizing
two subordinate granges and a temporary state grange. No
further granges were organized in Missouri during the year;
but Kelley's trip brought Thomas Allen and William Muir
into the ranks, and their efforts later resulted in the rapid spread
of the order in that state.1 On his way back to Minnesota,
Secretary Kelley met General William Duane Wilson, editor
of the Iowa Homestead and Farm Journal, who had been appointed
general deputy of the order in Iowa, and together they organized
two granges in the neighborhood of Des Moines.2 By October,
1870, Kelley came to the conclusion that the transfer of his
headquarters to Washington would be an advantageous step.
A circular was sent to every grange and to every person who
had inquired concerning the order, announcing the permanent
location of the secretary's office in Washington. This circular
also stated that the order was working in fifteen states and
rapidly increasing, that a plan had been adopted for organizing
by letter, and that necessary documents would be sent to anyone
desiring to take an active part in the work.3

The labors of the secretary and the deputies during the year
1870 gave to the order nineteen new granges in Minnesota,
making forty-seven in all, and nine in Iowa, established mainly
through the efforts of General Wilson, which, added to the two
previously organized, gave that state eleven granges. Indiana,
Illinois, and New York, each added one new grange during the
year, making their totals three, three, and two respectively;
and the order was newly introduced into Missouri — two granges
— and Ohio, Tennessee, and California — one grange each.
The organizations in Tennessee and California were made by
letter as a result of correspondence with interested parties,
and similar correspondence was under way with parties in Ver-
mont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia,

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 250, 273-275, 281, 289, 295.
8 Ibid. 283. » Ibid. 285, 289.

50 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Kentucky, and Kansas.1 Thus it will be seen that on January
i, 1871, the order was in actual operation in nine states — instead
of fifteen as stated in Kelley's circular — and that in Minnesota
and Iowa alone had it shown any signs of the rapid growth
which it was soon to experience. As yet Minnesota had the
only active state grange, though temporary organizations had
been established in Illinois and Missouri.

During the year 1871, the order continued to flourish with
the most vigor in the states of the North Central division;2
especially in Iowa, where a state grange was organized on Jan-
uary 12, 1871, with representatives present from eleven subordi-
nate granges in six different counties of eastern and central Iowa.
Dudley W. Adams — later master of the National Grange when
at the height of its prosperity — was elected master of the new
state grange and General Wilson became its secretary. The
work of organization was now taken over by the state grange,
several local deputies were appointed, and by April 22, 1871, the
number of granges in the state had risen to thirty-seven. On
September 14, 1871, the state grange held its first regular session,
which was a marked success, and at the end of the year the state
headed the list with one hundred and two granges.3 In Minne-
sota the order did not fare so well; the state grange met for
its annual session in February, but not more than six or seven
new granges were organized during the year.4

Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois were coming to the front,
however. In Wisconsin, the first grange was organized in
Adams County on January i, 1871, by Deputy Burnham, and
was followed by nineteen more in Adams, Sauk, and Waushara
counties. On June 12, 1871, the state grange was organized
at Plainfield. This fair prospect was blighted by dissensions
between the deputy and the officers of the state grange, with

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 209, 243, 254, 261, 273, 278-282, 286, 291, 293-296.

2 The expressions " North Central," " North Atlantic," " South Central," etc.,
are used in this book in the same sense as in the reports of the United States census
bureau, to cover certain denned groups of states.

8 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 294-296, 305, 310, 314, 323, 326, 333, 338, 341;
Prairie Farmer, xliii. 124 (April 22, 1871), xliv. 44 (February 8, 1873).
4 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 317.

ORGANIZATION 51

the result that most of the granges had ceased operations by the
end of the year.1 In March, 1871, active work was begun in
the four northwestern counties of Indiana by Oscar Dinwiddie,
which proved to be the real starting point of the order in that
state; and the operations of J. Wilkinson, one of the successful
Iowa deputies, in northwestern Illinois resulted in the estab-
lishment of five granges there in the latter half of 1871. The
only other grange established in this group of states in 1871 was
one organized by letter in Ohio in February; but active corre-
spondence had led to the appointment of deputies in Kansas,
Nebraska, and Missouri.2

In the southern states the spread of the order began about
the same time in South Carolina and Mississippi. On the recom-
mendation of Colonel Jacques, editor of the Rural Carolinian
of Charleston, William E. Simmons, Jr. was appointed a special
deputy; and on May 25, 1871, Ashley Grange No. i was organ-
ized at Charleston. In Mississippi, the first two granges were
organized, June 3, at Rienzi, by W. L. Williams, and June 17,
at Columbus, by R. D. Powell, as a result of correspondence
with Secretary Kelley. Powell also organized another grange
at Aberdeen, December 15. One was started at Allenville,
Kentucky, by W. S. Reeves, August 10, 1871. These five,
with the one at Stockton, Tennessee, organized in 1870, were
all the granges in the South at the end of the year 187 1.3

In the East, the order did not progress any more rapidly.
A grange was organized at Clinton, Pennsylvania, by Luke
Eger, on February 22, 1871; one at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, by
Jonathan Lawrence, July 4; and another in New Jersey by
Secretary Kelley, December 26, 1871. Both Kelley and J. R.
Thompson of the National Grange spent some time in Vermont
in the latter part of the year, but they failed to get any more
granges established; Kelley also failed in an attempt to organize

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 302, 305, 310, 334, 374, 382, 388; E. M. May-
nard, Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), ch. ii; R. E. Smith, Wisconsin
Granger Movement (Ms.), ch. ii.

2 Keltey, Patrons of Husbandry, 210, 316, 319, 333, 339, 342, 354, 356, 359;
Prairie Farmer, xliii. 4 (January 6, 1872); Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 10.

3 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 310, 318, 320, 327-332, 345, 349, 354.

52 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

a grange in Boston with the assistance of George Noyes of the
Massachusetts Ploughman, who had shown himself favorable
to the order.1

Thus the year 1871 saw the introduction of the order into seven
additional states: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Mississippi, Vermont, Kentucky, and New Jersey, making a
total of sixteen in which the order was at work; also the organi-
zation of two state granges, in Iowa and Wisconsin, although
the latter had to be reorganized in the following year.

RAPID GROWTH OF THE GRANGE, 1872-73

Before taking up the work of organization of the year 1872,
it will be well to notice some features which were being intro-
duced into the order that tended to increase its popularity and
led to its rapid spread during the next three years. Although
the original idea of the founders appears to have been that the
benefits of the order to its members would be primarily social
and intellectual, it very soon became apparent that the desire
for financial advantages would prove a far greater incentive
to induce the farmers to join. This early led to two forms of
activity which left an indelible stamp upon the order, and gave
it, in large part, its importance in the history of the period:
first, the efforts to secure cheaper transportation; and, secondly,
the introduction of all sorts of schemes for cooperation in the
purchase of supplies, the marketing of farm products, insurance,
and even in the manufacture of agricultural implements.

The desire for cheaper transportation assumed the form of a
somewhat vague antagonism to railroad corporations and agi-
tation for government regulation of freight and passenger rates.
This matter will be taken up more fully in connection with the
Granger railroad legislation, and is merely mentioned here in
order to bring out the fact that this agitation came into the
order prior to its remarkable expansion in 1873-74 and was in
fact one of the causes of that expansion. The attempt in 1870
of Secretary Kelley and Editor Corbett of the Prairie Farmer

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 313, 325-327, 337, 341, 350, 355.

ORGANIZATION S3

to turn the anti-railroad sentiment of Illinois to the benefit of
the order has been noted. In May of the same year, Corbett
wrote a strong letter in which he asserted that " Railroad, Insur-
ance Companies, Warehouse and Telegraph Companies, are
crushing the life out of the producing classes," and advocated
action on the part of the Patrons of Husbandry to protect the
people from these evils, even to the extent of forming a third
party to hold the balance of power and secure the election of
candidates to office pledged to carry out the reforms demanded.1
This letter was read before the state grange of Minnesota and
then printed for circulation, and early in the following year
Kelley followed it up by securing reprints of articles by Rufus
Hatch published in the New York Independent upon stock-
watering and other railroad abuses. These, he says, " proved
excellent l fuel ' for deputies to circulate." 2

By April, 1871, according to Kelley, " ' Cooperation ' and
1 Down with monopolies J were proving popular watchwords." 3
The early activity of the Minnesota State Grange in the direction
of cooperation has been alluded to. The first efforts of the
National Grange along that line were not particularly successful,4
but by the latter part of 1872, the business agent appointed by
the Iowa State Grange was showing the possibilities of coopera-
tive buying and selling as a means of reducing prices and com-
missions.5 From this time on cooperation was a recognized
part of the work of every state grange as soon as organized,
and in many states, county councils, afterwards officially recog-
nized as Pomona granges, were formed to further the business
features of the order.

Largely as a result of the emphasis thus laid upon its pecuniary
advantages, the order began to grow vigorously in 1872, espe-
cially in the North Central group of states and in some parts
of the South. 1150 granges were organized during the year, as

1 Reprinted in Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 256-259.

2 Ibid. 256, 315, 320.

3 Ibid. 322.

4 Ibid. 302-305, 385; Rural Carolinian, iv. 36 (October, 1872). See also below,
p. 256.

6 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 409.

S4 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

compared with 132 the previous year. Of these, 652, or over
half, were in the state of Iowa.1 In Minnesota the lethargy of
the previous year was shaken off and some forty-six new granges
organized,2 and in Illinois the work of Wilkinson resulted in
enough granges to enable Kelley to reorganize the state grange
on a permanent basis at Dixon, March 5, 1872. Considerable
activity ensued and sixty-five granges were organized in the
state during the year making a total of seventy-two or seventy-
three active granges.3 In Indiana, Kelley organized a state
grange about the same time, February 22, 1872, at Terre Haute,
but the order did not take hold so vigorously there at the start
as in some of the more western states, and only thirty-eight
granges were established during the year.4

Six granges were organized in Ohio in 1872, and S. H. Ellis,
who was to make the order a success in that state, was enlisted
in the work. In Wisconsin the order was in bad repute, as
has been noted, and early in the year, Burnham, the offending
deputy, was removed and J. C. Abbot of Iowa sent into the
state to carry on the work. He transferred the field of opera-
tions to the more fertile counties in the southeastern part of
the state, organized sixteen granges in five months, and on
October 2, 1872, reorganized the state grange at Portage with
all the new and seven of the old granges represented. Six
more granges were organized in the state during the year. In
Michigan, the first grange was organized January 10, 1872,
by E. M. Jones, a special deputy, and when Abbot had com-
pleted the revival of the movement in Wisconsin, he was sent
to Michigan, where he organized seven granges before the end
of the year. Nebraska came into the field with two granges
organized by correspondence in January and February, 1872.

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 6, 8 (1873).

2 Ibid. 8.

3 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 359, 368, 374; National Grange, Proceedings,
vi. 8 (1873); Prairie Farmer, xliii. 100, 153, 273, 284, 292, 356, 388, 401, 404 (March-
December, 1872); Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 10.

4 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 359, 374, 388; Indiana State Grange, Proceed-
ings, xxxvi. 96 (Appendix); Prairie Farmer, xliii. 20, 105, 273 (January-August,
1872); National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 8 (1873).

ORGANIZATION 55

Others followed rapidly during the summer, and on August 2,
General Wilson of Iowa organized the Nebraska State Grange
with sixteen subordinate granges represented. Before the year
closed there were forty-nine granges in the state. In Kansas,
the movement got under way about the same time; the state
grange was organized by General Wilson in December, 1872:
and there were twelve granges in the state at the end of the year.
Missouri also began to take new interest in the movement,
and General Deputy Thomas Allen went actively to work during
the latter part of 1872, with the result that fourteen new sub-
ordinate granges were organized.1

In the South considerable opposition to the spread of the
Patrons of Husbandry was encountered from commission men
and local merchants, and it was stated that mortgages held
against planters were sometimes foreclosed as a penalty for
joining the order.2 There was also a natural tendency to look
with suspicion on anything of northern origin " with a great
central head at Washington City," 3 but in spite of these obstacles,
the work progressed rapidly in South Carolina under the leader-
ship of Colonel D. Wyatt Aiken of Cokesbury. He was ap-
pointed deputy at large for the southern states in January, 1872,
organized ten granges in April, and by the ninth of October
there were seventy-six granges in South Carolina. On that date
the state grange was organized by Kelley at Columbia with
seventy- two subordinate granges represented, and by the end
of the year the state ranked next to Iowa in number of granges,
having 101 on its roll. In Mississippi, the work, which was
begun by W. L. Williams at Rienzi, was kept up by him and
county deputies under his direction, and on the fifteenth of
March the state grange was organized by Kelley. Subsequent

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 367-413; National Grange, Proceedings, vi.
8 (1873). On Ohio, see also Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, c. 147 (August 29, 1901); on
Wisconsin, Maynard, Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), ch. iii; Smith,
Wisconsin Granger Movement (Ms.), ch. ii; Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings,
ii (January, 1874); on Kansas, J. K. Hudson, Patron's Handbook, 8; on Missouri,
Prairie Farmer, xliv. 3 (January 4, 1873).

2 Prairie Farmer, xliii. 356 (November 9, 1872).

3 Southern Cultivator (Athens, Georgia), xxx. 76 (February, 1872).

56 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

meetings of the state grange occurred on July 2, and December
10, 1872, and fifty-five granges were organized in the state
during the year. Kentucky added one new grange in 1872
and in Tennessee four were organized, mainly through the
efforts of General A. J. Vaughn, master of the Mississippi
State Grange. In five other southern states, the first granges
were organized in 1872: Virginia, February 16; Louisiana,
March 15; Alabama, July 15; Arkansas, August 3; and Georgia,
October 2. Before the year closed, seven more granges were
organized in Alabama, two in Louisiana, and one in Georgia.1

In the eastern states, the only active work in 1872, besides
the organization of one additional grange in New Jersey, was
done in Vermont, where Deputy Eben Thompson began work
in January and by the twenty-second of February had organized
nine granges. The state grange was established by Kelley
on the fourth of July, in connection with a Patrons' celebration
at St. Johnsbury, there being thirteen granges in the state,
but no more appear to have been organized during the year.
The year 1872 also saw the organization of the first grange in
Oregon, January 6, and the introduction of the order into Canada,
where Eben Thompson organized the first grange August 16,
and two more before the close of the year.2

To summarize the advance of the order in 1872 : state granges
were organized in six states — Indiana, Vermont, South Carolina,
Nebraska, Mississippi, and Kansas — and reorganized in Illinois
and Wisconsin, thus making, in all, ten state granges in opera-
tion. In nine states — Nebraska, Oregon, Michigan, Virginia,
Louisiana, Kansas, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia — the
order found lodgment during 1872, so that, at the close of the
year, twenty-five states had active subordinate granges within
their limits. Although the strength of the order was, at this

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 354-403; Rural Carolinian, iii. i, 70-72, 217,
iv- 37> 39> 88-93, 213 (October, i87i-January, 1873) > National Grange, Proceedings,
vi. 8 (1873); South Carolina State Grange, Minute Book (Ms.), 1-6, 18; Mississippi
State Grange, Proceedings^ iii. 9 (1875).

2 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 359, 370, 390-393, 398; National Grange,
Proceedings, vi. 8 (1873). On Vermont, see also Bryan Fund Publication, no. 4
(Grange circular); Vermont State Grange, Proceedings, i-iii. 3, 8, 37 (1872-74).

ORGANIZATION 57

time, concentrated mainly in Iowa and Minnesota in the North-
west and South Carolina and Mississippi in the South, still
its spread was so general and its centers so far apart, that it
must be looked upon even thus early as distinctly national in
character. In the North Central group, every state had now
been entered, and the territory of Dakota alone remained un-
touched by the order; while of the southern states, all had
granges except Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Florida,
and Texas. In the eastern or North Atlantic states, little
progress had been made except in Vermont, while on the Pacific
coast, the order had been introduced into both California and
Oregon, though as yet these states had but one grange apiece.

In the fall of 1872, Secretary Kelley sent letters to all the
masters of state granges, general deputies, the " founders," and
a few others who had taken an active part in the building of the
order, inviting them to attend the sixth annual session of the
National Grange, and on January 8, 1873, twenty- three men
and four women, including six of the " founders," six masters
of state granges, and a number of deputies, representing in all
eleven different states, assembled in Georgetown, D. C. It was
now a little over five years since the organization of a temporary
National Grange by a little band of government clerks in Wash-
ington, and the active workers had been looking forward eagerly
to the time when that body could be reorganized on a permanent
basis. This was now accomplished, and the control of the
great and rapidly growing agricultural order of the Patrons
of Husbandry passed into the hands of actual farmers.1

The principal business of this session was the revision of
the constitution and by-laws, the election of a new set of officers,
and the incorporation of the National Grange under an act
of Congress providing for the creation of corporations in the
District of Columbia.2 Among the articles of the constitution

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vi (1873); Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 414-
421; Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 38-40; Messer, The Grange, 5; Dunning,
Farmer's Alliance History, 235; Pierson, in Popular Science Monthly, xxxii. 199-208;
Aiken, The Grange, 7.

2 The certificate of incorporation, dated January 10, 1873, is in National Grange,
Proceedings, vi. 33-34 (1873).

58 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

are two that call for special mention because of their bearing
on the future development of the order. These are: Article V,
which provided for the admission into the order of "any person
interested in agricultural pursuits"; and Article XII, which
prohibited the discussion of political or religious questions in
the work of the order or the application of political or religious
tests for membership therein. The proper interpretation of
these two articles was to be a vexing question for the leaders
of the order for many years to come. In the election of officers,
the position of master went to Dudley W. Adams of Iowa,
Kelley retained the secretaryship, and an executive committee
was elected consisting of William Saunders of the District of
Columbia, D. Wyatt Aiken of South Carolina, and E. R. Shank-
land of Iowa.1 On these men devolved the difficult duty of
guiding the order during the years of its greatest activity.

The expansion of the order of Patrons of Husbandry during
1873 and I^74 and the beginnings of its decline in the two
following years can best be followed in connection with the
accompanying table of statistics showing the number of granges
and their proportion to the agricultural population in each state
and territory at different times during the four years. The
accompanying series of four maps, based upon these statistics,
will also be of assistance in comparing the movement in different
parts of the country.2

The rapid expansion of the order during 1873, especially
in the North Central group of states, is shown by the statistics
of its condition on May 19, August 2 (Map I), and October 18.
Iowa was strongly in the lead at the start with 1507 granges,
or 631 per hundred thousand of agricultural population. This
lead in number of granges was kept up throughout the year,
but the rate of increase was naturally not so rapid as in some
of the other states where the movement got under way a little
later. Thus Kansas and Nebraska forged rapidly to the front,
until, by October 18, Kansas almost and Nebraska quite equaled

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 15, 18, 24; Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry,
421; Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 39.

2 The maps will be found facing pages 6 1, 65, 67, and 69.

STATISTICS OF THE P.

State

May 19, 1873

August 2, 1873

October 18, 1873

March i, 1874

Septem

No. of

granges

No. per
100,000
agr. pop.

No. of
granges

No. per
100,000
agr. pop.

No. of

granges

No. per

100,000
agr. pop.

No. of
granges

No. per
100,000
agr. pop.

No. of
granges

M '

3

20
83
36

•a

132

,3

52

2

31
no

48

30
33
"4
60
3
229

79
329

New Hampshire . . .

22

' ' (6)
(2)
(7)

"38

24

i

43

6

27

6

13

47
9

Massachusetts
Connecticut
New York

(2)
(3)
(3)

8
3
9

2
5
3

12
12
29

3
19
ii

Pennsylvania

North Atlantic Div.

(37)

(4)

45

4

92

9

458

45

887

Delaware

....

2

10
56
20

3

18
no
171
257

U

4

2
21

37
73
70
30

i

43
44
31
243
249
551
31

6
Si
18
35
79
103
148
63

13
114
338

101

430
3ii

*8

Virginia
West Virginia

(2)

(i)

3
2
30
131
73

North Carolina ....
South Carolina

Florida

(20)
118
16

(6)
Si
4

South Atlantic Div.

(156)

(ix)

239

17

578

42

1,193

8S

2,042

Ohio

47
142
431
24
140
219
1,507

•ft

IOO

128

12

So

109

12

82
238

t
(78)
231
113

80
266
562
40
189
327
1*763
483
ii
300
399

20

93
142
20
in
355
741
1 66
107
694
353

163

467
676
9i

222
362

1,818

92O

25

331
596

41
163
171
45
130
394
763
315
242
763
526

594
1,502
1,148
284
410
467
1,918
1,807
47
504
1,073

149
513
284
136
235
478
775
603
364

1,010

847

1,014
1,987
1,503
496
504
538
1,999
1,976
56
596
1,350

Indiana

Michigan

Wisconsin
Minnesota
Iowa
Missouri
Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas

North Central Div.

(2,991)

(134)

4,420

197

5,671

253

9,754

422

12,019

i
13
9
112

(9)

•4
5

i

i
60

21
189
II

I

•4

22
6?

7
•4

"18

27
183
127
392
26
25

"69

10

66

40

"A
16

ii
49

567
548
471
560
79
151

244

199
196

144
192
47
62

'160

1,372
989
629
613
168
620
i
473

Tennessee
Alabama

Mississippi

Texas
Indian Territory . . .
Arkansas

IS

ii

26

South Central Div.

(159)

do)

309

18

849

50

2,620

150

4,865

2

23

2

5
37
91

23

77
213
159

6

45

2
19
112
156

195
483

"83
258
595
258

6^

4
15
48
172
225

Colorado

Nevada

Idaho

Washington

Oregon
California

(9)
8

(52)

14

12

35

69
61

Western Division . .

(17)

(13)

49

38

135

106

340

250

552

United States

(3,36o)

(52)

5,062

78

7,325

114

14,365

217

20,365

Canada

(6)

....

8

....

8

25

1 The statistics of granges in this table have been obtained from the following sources: for May 19, 1873,
from the Vermont Record and Farmer, June 13, 1873, p. 3; for August 2, 1873, from the Prairie Farmer, xliv.
260; for October 18, 1873, from ibid. 355; for March i, 1874, from National Grange, Secretary's Report, 1874
(circular); for September i, 1874, from National Grange, Monthly Bulletin, September i, 1874 (circular); for
January i, 1875, from National Grange, Secretary's Report, 1875 (circular); for October i, 1875, from National
Grange, Proceedings, ix. 190; for July i, 1876, from ibid. x. 179.

In some cases, where statistics of granges for particular states at the given date are lacking, these have
been supplied by careful estimates based on statements for the nearest dates for which they were obtainable.

ITRONS OF HUSBANDRY1

«• 1, 1874

January i, 1875

October i, 1875

July 1,1876

I No. per

100,000

agr. pop.

No. of
granges

No. per
100,000
agr. pop.

No. per

10,000
sq. ra.

No. of
members

No. of

granges

No. per
100,000
agr. pop.

No. of

members

No. of
granges

No. per
100,000
agr. pop.

37

,\i

86

6!
128
119

75
42

'!?

„*
2

9i
92
281
96
9
73
136
152

23
45
1 66
79
8
56
106
95

8,247
2,528
10,193
3,825
480
11,723
4,495
22,471

189
69
198
98
16
275
94
536

230
152
350
142
36
73
154
191

n,773
3,947
10,908
3,776
328
16,184
4,923
28,174

218
77
208
86
13
320

6?§

265
170

&

!°

163

220

87

1,133

no

67

63,961

1,475

144

80,013

1,647

1 60

78
135
136
116
Ui
129

XI5
165

16
126
449
157
477
314
683
127

95
U7
180
173
151
125
i?8
251

78

loo
63
9i
103
"5
28

503
5,635
13,885
5,990
10,166
10,922
17,826
3,8o4

23
153
663
280
342
342
545
83

136
179
266
309
109
136
142
164

969
5,859
16,041
9,376
7,562
8,440
10,161
2,894

,ji

479
295
240
232
277
94

i46

«7«

191
313

K

70
180

US

2,349

163

86

68,731

2,431

1 68

61,302

1,790

121

255
680
376
238
289
549
806
658
433
1,190
1,064

1,102
2,000
1,533
551
505
506
1,891
2,009
56
592
1,332

278
667
377
258
284
490
735
649
361
1,042
952

268
550
271
97

£

338
291

i*

162

53,327
60,298
29,063
33,196
17,226
16,617
5L332
80,059
1,178
8,177
40,261

879

1,485
789
605
446
456
1,164
1,901
53
289
409

221
498
194
283
251

441
452
613
341
508
293

53,977
48,959
12,639
29,901
12,385
9,330
32,019
42,529
697
9,867
24,658

1,214
W4$

646

593
294
295
1,018.
974
26
361
874

306

375
157
271
162

271
382
305
143
568
571

521

12,077

508

is?

390,734

8,485

357

276,961

7,440

304

481
356

IQ2
210
101
254

3"

1,493
1,042
650
630
237
916

10

567

513
372
183

210
137
348

' 348

370
248
124
135
49
35
I
105

52,463
37,58i
17,440
30,797
10,078
37,6i9
45o
20,471

1,549
1,092
531
645
315
1,203

. &

535
389

IS!

216
182

457

'388

35,933
19,411

11,200

20,606
9-750
38,149
231
11,344

1,003
492

(287)

^4
902

321

338
174
(83)
146
147
319

' 185

279

5,545

307

91

206,899

5,98i

33i

146,624

(3,726)

(200)

746
699

137
621
649
917
372

8

7

H

177
240

725
67I

224
565
763
877

377

2

6

I

2

,8

15

946
2,098

' 378
390
2,169
8,233
14,228

26
63

"3
66
186
263

787
629

' 481
602
800
926
413

888
1,653
20
214
378
1,963
8,544
9-965

25

ft

*

(190)

173

704
402
(39)
270
(5i8)
741
(885)
259

405

593

413

5

28,442

635

442

23,625

(524)

(348)

308

21,697

320

7i

758,767

19,007

279

588,525

(15,127)

(217)

....

....

450

27

In the table for July i, 1876, in National Grange, Proceedings, the numbers of granges are omitted for some
of the western states. These are supplied by estimates based on the number of members of the order in
these states. All such cases, in which the exact number of granges has not been obtained, are indicated in
the table by the use of parentheses.

The statistics of the proportion of granges to agricultural population are based on the United States census
returns of population engaged in agriculture in the census years 1870 and 1880, with estimated correction for
the intervening years.

ORGANIZATION 59

Iowa in relative proportion of granges to agricultural population;
a result which the comparative sparsity of population made
possible with a considerably smaller number of granges. Mis-
souri also experienced a phenomenal growth during the period,
while Minnesota continued to advance slowly, though it fell
back in relative rank from second to fourth place; but the
Territory of Dakota, with only twenty-five granges, surpassed,
on October 18, all the states east of the Mississippi in relative
proportion of granges to agricultural population. In the old
Northwest Territory, the order advanced rapidly in Indiana and
Illinois and made considerable gains in Wisconsin, while in Ohio
and Michigan it obtained a secure foothold during the year.

Turning to the South, a much smaller development of the order
than in the North Central division is seen, especially as regards
proportion of granges to agricultural population, but here it is
necessary to take into consideration the fact that the census
figures of agricultural population, on which the statistics are
based, include large numbers of negroes who were not admitted
into the ranks of the Patrons of Husbandry. In view of this
condition, it is probable that a given ratio in the South represents
as extensive participation by the white farmers in the work of
the order, as would a ratio nearly twice as large in the North-
west. On May 19, 1873, South Carolina ranked first among
the southern states both in actual number of granges and in
relative proportions, but the rapid development of the order in
Mississippi soon carried that state to the front, and by October
18 there were 392 granges within its borders. In Georgia,
Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina, the order was also
making rapid strides; Kentucky, Virginia, Arkansas, and
Louisiana showed a healthy growth; and in Maryland, West
Virginia, Florida, and Texas, the first granges were organized
during the year. Thus by October 18, 1873, every southern
state except Delaware had been entered by the order.

Little progress was made by the Patrons of Husbandry on
the Pacific coast previous to 1873; and, indeed, the first move
toward effective agricultural organization in that district came
in the form of independent clubs. The extortions of various

60 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

rings of middlemen and shippers, the high rates of interest
charged upon money loaned in the country, and, above all,
the monopoly of the carrying trade enjoyed by the Central
Pacific railroad and its subsidiary lines led in 1871 and 1872 to
an agitation among the farmers of California in favor of protec-
tive and cooperative organization. The first manifestation of
this movement was the establishment of a farmers' club at
Sacramento in December, 1871, followed rapidly by others
in the vicinity, and in September, 1872, delegates from eleven
of these clubs met at Sacramento and organized the California
Farmers' Union. This body at once began to make plans for
the establishment of extensive business enterprises on a coopera-
tive basis, its first efforts being an attempt to secure grain sacks
for the farmers at reduced rates; and the failure of this project,
due to the inability of the farmers to keep their arrangements
secret, exposed the need of a closer and more secret form of
organization. An opening was thus made for the Patrons of
Husbandry, and W. H. Baxter, who had been appointed general
deputy for the order in 1871, appeared before the Farmers'
Union convention at San Francisco in April, 1873, and so success-
fully set forth the advantages of the order that the work of
agricultural organization was formally turned over to the Grange
and the Farmers' Union went out of existence.1

The officers of the National Grange at once sent N. W. Gar-
retson of Iowa as a special deputy to the Pacific coast and the
organization of granges went on apace, thirty-five being formed
by the fifteenth of July, on which date representatives of these
granges met at Napa City and organized the state grange of
California.2 Having started the order on its way in California,
Garretson proceeded to Oregon where the antagonism of the
farmers of the Columbia River Valley to the monopoly of the
Oregon Steam Navigation Company made it easy for him to
organize twenty granges in a short time.3 In both of these
states the growth of the order was rapid during the remainder

1 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 75-103.

2 California State Grange, Proceedings at Organization (1873); Carr, Patrons
of Husbandry, 131-135.

8 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 142.

-9

ORGANIZATION 6 1

of the year, in view of the comparative sparseness of the popu-
lation; and by October 18, 1873, California had ninety-one,
and Oregon, thirty-seven granges, which was at the rate of
159 and 213 per hundred thousand of agricultural population,
respectively. Two other states of the Western division, Colorado
and Washington, were added to the roll of the order during this
period, the former having two and the latter five granges on the
eighteenth of October.

In the North Atlantic division the order made little progress
in 1873, there being but ninety-two granges in the whole division
on October 18, half of which were in the two states of Vermont
and Pennsylvania. First granges were organized in New Hamp-
shire and Massachusetts, but Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode
Island remained untouched by the movement.

There are a number of things which help to explain the com-
paratively slow growth of the Patrons of Husbandry in the
North Atlantic division during this and subsequent years; but
perhaps the most important of these was the fact that the eastern
farmers were, in the nature of things, largely out of sympathy
with what at that time appeared to be the principal aim of
the order in the North Central states — the reduction in the
cost of transportation of farm products from the West to the
markets of the Atlantic seaboard. The way in which eastern
farmers were suffering from competition with the virgin soil of
the West has been pointed out in the preceding chapter, and it
will readily be seen that any reduction in transportation charges
would only heighten this competition and make it still more
difficult for the eastern farmers to make a living. So it was not
until some years later, when the increase of dairy-farming and
market-gardening relieved the eastern farmers to a considerable
extent from the pressure of western competition, and when the
order began once more to place the leading emphasis on its
social and educational features, that the Patrons of Husbandry
obtained any considerable sway in the states of the North
Atlantic division.

Another matter which undoubtedly served to retard the growth
of the order in the East, and to some extent throughout the

62 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

country, was the organization of granges in Boston and New
York City composed almost entirely of grain-dealers and com-
mission men. The Boston Grange was organized by J. C. Abbot
of Iowa in August, 1873, and immediately drew forth a storm
of remonstrances from all parts of the country. Secretary
Kelley defended the organization at first, but Master Adams,
on request of the executive committee, decided to revoke the
dispensation because of the ineligibility of most of its members.
The Boston Grange took no notice of this action, and the Massa-
chusetts State Grange, which had just been organized, sustained
it in its position of insubordination. The matter was thoroughly
investigated by a committee at the seventh session of the
National Grange in February, 1874, the state grange was cen-
sured for its action, and the Boston Grange declared no longer
connected with the Patrons of Husbandry.1 A year later the
charter of Manhattan Grange in New York City was similarly
revoked by the National Grange for ineligibility of members and
attempts to involve the order in partisan politics.2

By October 18, 1873, there were granges in every state in the
Union but five — Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware,
and Nevada — and also in the territories of Dakota, Colorado,
and Washington. Before the end of the year, a grange was
organized in Maine and one in the territory of Montana,
making in all thirty-three states and four territories in which
the order had gained a foothold. At the beginning of the year
1873, 1362 granges had been established and at its close the
number had reached 10,029, being an increase of 8667 or over
six hundred per cent during the year. For the accomplishment
of this work of organization, in addition to the lecturer and
general deputies of the National Grange, 1294 state deputies
were supplied with outfits during the year. The number of
state granges was ten at the beginning of the year, but before
its close twenty-two additional state and territorial granges

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 20, 33, 73-76 (1874); Chicago Tribune,
August 29, 1873, P- i; August 22, 1873, p. 4; Cincinnati Semi-Weekly Gazette,
September 26, 1873, P- *J Prairie Farmer, xliv. 339, 371 (October 25, November
22, 1873), xlv. 83 (March 14, 1874); Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 45.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 104 (February, 1875).

ORGANIZATION 63

had been organized : five in the North Atlantic division — New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsyl-
vania; five in the South Atlantic division — Virginia, West
Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; four in the
North Central division — Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, and Dakota;
six in the South Central division — Kentucky, Tennessee,
Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas; and two in the
Western division — Oregon and California.1

THE ST. Louis SESSION AND THE CULMINATION or
THE ORDER, 1874

Such, then, was the scope of the order of Patrons of Husbandry
at the beginning of 1874, when everybody was looking forward
with interest to the approaching session of the National Grange.
This meeting, distinguished as the seventh annual session, was
held in St. Louis from February 4 to 12, 1874, and was the most
representative gathering of farmers which had ever taken place
in the United States. It was, moreover, the most important
and harmonious of all the meetings of the National Grange,
during the decade. The body of members present at this
meeting and entitled to vote was not large — forty-five in all,
including twelve women — but these members represented
thirty-two state and territorial granges, having jurisdiction over
more than ten thousand subordinate granges and somewhere
in the neighborhood of half a million members.2 With such a
backing it was but natural that considerable interest should
attach itself to the action of the leaders, who were expected
at this time to formulate the purposes and principles of the
movement.

This they did in a fairly sane and conservative though badly
arranged document, which has stood from that time to this as
the avowed platform of the order, and the principles of which
have been largely incorporated into the platforms of every

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 422; National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 21
(1874); National Grange, Monthly Bulletin, September i, 1874.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 8-10 (1874) ; Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry,
41.

64 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

subsequent agricultural organization in the United States. The
" Declaration of Purposes of the National Grange " was written
by Deputy J. W. A. Wright of California under the supervision
of a committee composed of the masters of the state granges
of Florida, California, Tennessee, Arkansas, and New York.1
It declared the general objects of the Patrons of Husbandry to
be " to labor for the good of our Order, our country, and man-
kind " and endorsed the motto: " In essentials, unity; in non-
essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.'' This was followed
by a list of specific objects, including enhancement of the com-
forts and attractions of the homes, maintenance of the laws,
reduction of expenses, diversification of crops, systematization of
work, cooperation in buying and selling, avoidance of litigation,
the suppression of personal, local, sectional, and national prej-
udices, and the discountenancing of " the credit system, the
fashion system, and every other system tending to prodigality
and bankruptcy."

As to business relations, the declaration stated that the Patrons
waged " no aggressive warfare against any other interest,"
but it also asserted an intention to dispense with a surplus of
middlemen; they (the Patrons) were not enemies to capital
but were opposed to the tyranny of monopolies, high rates of
interest, and exorbitant per cent profits in trade. On the
question of transportation, it was declared that the order was
not inimical to railroads, but held that transportation companies
of all kinds were necessary to the success of the farmer and
advocated the increase in every practical way of facilities for
cheap transportation to the seaboard. As regards politics,
the declaration emphatically asserted that the Grange was not
a political or party organization; but at the same time the
political rights and duties of the members as individual American
citizens were proclaimed. The advance of the cause of educa-
tion, especially along agricultural and industrial lines, was also
put forward as one of the important objects of the order.

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 44 (1874); Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry,
17, 43. The declaration is given in National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 56-60 (1874) ;
Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 108-110; Messer, The Grange, 32-36; and many other
Grange circulars and publications.

ORGANIZATION 65

Such, in brief, together with considerable vague generaliza-
tion and many repetitions, was the platform of the Patrons of
Husbandry as promulgated by its leaders in the National Grange.
Had the order held strictly, during the years of its greatest
popularity, to the principles here enunciated, it probably would
have been spared a part, at least, of the notable loss in member-
ship and prestige during the latter years of the decade.

At this session it was again necessary to revise the constitu-
tion, to make it better applicable to the new conditions resulting
from the great extension of the order, and more consonant with
the ideas of the rank and file of the membership.1 Provision
was made for the reduction of representation in the state granges,
some of which had become of unwieldy proportions, and for the
establishment of district or county (Pomona) granges in the
fifth degree, to have charge of the educational and business
interests of the order. Other amendments made the state and
national granges more strictly delegate bodies, changed the time
of meeting of the National Grange from February to November,2
reduced the dues paid by the state granges to the National
Grange from ten to five cents per member, and changed the
article on membership to read: " Any person engaged in agri- *
cultural pursuits and having no interest in conflict with our
purposes, of the age of sixteen years ... is entitled to
membership." These amendments did not become part of
the constitution until they were accepted by three-fourths
of the state granges, while four other amendments passed at
this session never received the consent of a sufficient number
of these bodies and hence were of no effect.3

The month of February, 1874, in which occurred the session
of the National Grange which has just been considered, saw

1 The revised constitution is given in Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 110-113; the
amendments can be found in National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 67-72 (1874).

2 This did not go into effect until after the next annual meeting and resulted in
two sessions in 1875.

3 These provided life membership in the National Grange for the seven " foun-
ders " and for past-masters of the National Grange; additional proportionate
representation in the National Grange for states having over thirty thousand
members; and an increase in the membership fee for charter members.

66 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the organization of 2239 new granges, an average of eighty
per day throughout the month. This was the largest number
ever organized in one month, though January and March of the
same year were not far behind with 2119 and 2024 new granges,
respectively. From then on, however, the number declined
rapidly and during the last six months of the year the average
number of new granges formed was only about four hundred.1
This check in the rate of increase was, in the main, merely a result
of the fact that all available territory was now pretty thoroughly
organized, but its suddenness would also lead to the conclusion
that the popularity of the order was already somewhat on the
wane in those parts of the country where it had aroused the
greatest enthusiasm.

Two of the maps, numbers II and III, fall within the period
between the seventh and eighth annual sessions of the National
Grange, and portray the condition of the order on March i,
1874, and January i, 1875. The first of these shows a very
considerable advance in all parts of the country. Since October
1 8, 1873, first granges had been organized in Maine, Delaware,
Montana, and Idaho, bringing into the ranks all of the states
except Rhode Island, which did not find room for a grange
within her borders until the next decade, and Nevada, in which,
however, seven granges were organized before the end of the
year. The map for January i, 1875, marks the culmination of
the order of Patrons of Husbandry, with 21,697 granges in the

1 The following table shows the number of new granges organized monthly

from January, 1873, to September, 1876, inclusive. It is based on data in Kelley,
Patrons of Husbandry, 422, and National Grange, Proceedings, ix. 189 (November,
1875), x. 178(1876).

1873 1874 1875 1876

January 158 2119 306 109

February 338 2239 286 108

March 666 2024 361 117

April 571 1487 309 88

May 696 937 242 58

June 623 7S2 170 45

July 611 419 125 32

August 829 396 125 21

September 917 412 89 12

October 1050 410 92

November 974 363 103

December 1235 383 100

ORGANIZATION 67

United States. In many of the states of the Northwest, how-
ever, the decline had already begun by the close of the year 1874,
and the division as a whole showed an increase between Sep-
tember i and January i of but fifty-eight granges, which scarcely
kept pace with the increase in population. Minnesota, Iowa,
Nebraska, and Kansas experienced an actual decrease in granges
during the four months and only Ohio and Michigan of the other
states of the division were able to show any considerable
advance.

Such a result was quite the natural one in view of the extent
to which this section was now crowded with granges.1 Three
of the states, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri, reached the two
thousand mark in numbers of subordinate organizations, which
gave them from six to nine hundred granges per hundred thou-
sand of agricultural population; but in Kansas and Nebraska
with their sparser settlement, the ratio reached 1190 and 1064
respectively. This means that in Kansas there was a grange
for every eighty-four persons engaged in agricultural occupa-
tions, the conclusion from which would be that at least three-
fourths of all who were eligible were members of the order in
this state. Indiana, on the other hand, had the greatest number
of granges in proportion to size, the ratio being one for every
eighteen square miles, or an average of two for every township
in the state. That such a situation could be permanent was
not to be expected, and the inevitable result, as soon as the
first enthusiasm began to cool, was a decrease in the number
of granges, by the consolidation of some, the disbanding of
others, and the revocation of charters because of delinquency
in dues to the state grange.

During the years 1874 and 1875 the great size of the order
of Patrons of Husbandry gave it prestige and influence through-
out the land, and the vastness of its projects excited universal
astonishment. The treasury of the National Grange was
plethoric with the receipts from dues and the sale of dispensa-
tions; the officers and members of the executive committee drew
salaries ranging from a thousand to twenty-five hundred dollars

1 See statistics of the density of granges, January i, 1875, in table following p. 58.

68 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

per year and traveling expenses; the members received five
dollars per day and a five cent mileage for attendance at the
St. Louis session; and at the eighth session in Charleston,
February, 1875, the per diem was increased to six dollars.1
In spite of these and other somewhat lavish expenditures, the
surplus in the treasury of the National Grange, which was about
fifty thousand dollars on January i, 1874, had doubled at the
beginning of 1875.2 The accumulation of such a large amount
of money excited feelings of distrust among many members
of the order, who feared that it would be squandered or mis-
appropriated and could see no reason why they should be com-
pelled to pay dues to increase the funds under the control of an
exclusive body, the members of which held superior degrees to
which the great mass could never hope to rise. This feeling
was inflamed by many newspaper articles, probably inspired
by opponents of the order, which hinted at the misuse of funds
and denounced the exclusiveness and extravagance of the Na-
tional Grange. The result was a widespread agitation for the
reduction of dues, the division of the surplus among the state
granges, and the reformation jof the National Grange on more
democratic lines.3

Many of the state granges, on the other hand, having embarked
upon elaborate cooperative projects, found the means at their
disposal entirely too meager for the successful development of
their plans. This, combined with the distrust of the National
Grange, led that body, at the Charleston session in February,
1875, to vote a loan of over fifty thousand dollars of its accumu-
lated funds to the state granges on the basis of $2.50 for every
subordinate grange of good standing within the jurisdiction.
By the next session, it was evident that these loans would never

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 54, 64 (1874), viii. 49, 59 (February, 1875);
Aiken, The Grange, 9-11.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 82-84 (1874), viii. 127 (February, 1875).

3 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 7, 9, 48 (1873), v- 47 (J874); Michigan
State Grange, Proceedings, i. 12 (1874); Kansas State Grange, Proceedings, iii.
26 (1875); Western Rural, xiii. 188, 196 (June, 1874); Prairie Farmer, xlvi. 371
(November 20, 1875); Maryland Farmer, xiii. 20 (January, 1876); Aiken, The
Grange, 11-13.

ORGANIZATION 69

be repaid and they were accordingly changed into donations.1
The results of this policy were disastrous. It led the state
granges into business schemes which, in nearly every instance,
brought financial loss and discredit on the order; while it left
the National Grange financially embarrassed during the remain-
der of the decade, since the revenue from the sale of dispensa-
tions had almost entirely ceased, and that from dues was very
materially reduced by the shrinkage of membership.

DECLINE OF THE GRANGE, 1875-80

Tables giving the number of granges in the different states
are available for only two dates during the period of the decline
of the order — from 1875 to 1880 inclusive. These are found in
the reports of the secretary at the ninth and tenth annual ses-
sions of the National Grange, which display the state of the
order about October i, 1875, and July i, 1876, respectively.2
From January to October, 1875, the number of granges
increased somewhat in each of the five census areas, with the
exception of the North Central division, but the decline there
was so great — over thirty per cent — that the gains in the
other sections were overbalanced, and the total number of
granges in the United States fell from 21,697 to 19,007, or from
320 to 279 per hundred thousand of agricultural population.
Every state in the North Central division, Michigan alone
excepted, experienced a decline during the period, while in the
South Atlantic division the order was almost stationary, with
a falling off in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and but
slight advances in the other states. In the other divisions,
however, a healthy growth was still maintained, though the
rate of increase was somewhat diminished.

From October, 1875, to July, 1876 (see Map IV), the
decline was not quite so rapid in the North Central division,
but it continued, and was joined by a corresponding decline in

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 55, 65 (February, 1875), ix- 84 (November,
1875)-

2 The only complete statistics of actual membership in the order are given in
these two reports. See table following p. 58.

70 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

all of the other census divisions except the North Atlantic, so
that the total number of granges in the United States fell to
about fifteen thousand. Two states of the North Atlantic
division, Massachusetts and Connecticut, dropped off in number
of granges, and in Connecticut a recently organized state grange
was unable to keep up its existence. The increase of the order
in that section as a whole, however, was maintained at about
the same moderate rate which it had experienced since it first
got under way there in 1873.

After 1876, the officials of the National Grange appear to
have come to the conclusion that it would be the part of wisdom
to refrain from publishing the story of the decline of the order.
Consequently no further tables of granges in the different states
are available, but it is possible to follow the decrease in actual
membership in the country as a whole by means of a never
failing index — the annual dues paid to the National Grange.
In 1875, these amounted to almost forty-three thousand dollars.
By 1880, they had fallen to but little over six thousand, repre-
senting probably about four thousand subordinate granges and
perhaps a hundred and fifty thousand members all told. This
marked the lowest point in the position of the order. From
1 88 1 on it has increased slowly, with some fluctuation,
until now it claims a total membership about equal to what it
had in 1874, though quite differently distributed, for the states
of the North Atlantic division have a much larger proportion
of the granges now than they had in the early days of the order.1

Some of the causes of this falling off in size and influence
of the order of Patrons of Husbandry during the latter part of
the decade 1870-80 have already been indicated and others
will be more fully developed in the following chapters, but it
may be well to summarize these causes here in order to complete
the survey of the order during the decade. Undoubtedly the
decline was in large part merely a reaction from the excessive
growth in the years 1873 and 1874. The system of organization
by deputies, the popularity and novelty of the movement, and
often the hopes of political and financial regeneration led many

1 Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 44.

ORGANIZATION 71

into the order who had no permanent interest in its real aims
and who began to drop out as soon as the excitement of organiza-
tion was over and it was seen that the order would not prove a
cure-all for the troubles of the farmers.1 The laxness of organ-
izers, moreover, permitted many to creep into the ranks who were
not only not engaged in agricultural pursuits, but whose interests
were directly opposed to those of the farmers.2 The granges of
commission men in some of the eastern cities have been noted,
but this feature was not confined to these places; throughout
the country disgruntled politicians, business and professional
men sought entrance into the order during the days of its pros-
perity, purely as a means of personal advancement; and when
the influence of the Grange began to wane, partly as a result
of the discredit which they brought upon it in the eyes of many
observing farmers, they hastened to sever their connections
with the order.3

The rapidity of organization resulted in an unwieldy and
undisciplined mass of members, whom the leaders were unable
to control, and dissensions soon arose, within the ranks. The
successful agitation for the distribution of the funds of the
National Grange at the Charleston meeting in 1875 is an illus-
tration of this situation. The jealousy of those in control,
thus manifested, was kept up throughout the decade and resulted
in continual agitation against the higher or " fancy " degrees,
as they were called, and demands for a revision of the constitution
to transform the National Grange into a mere convention of

1 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 6 (1876) ; Patrons' Bulletin (Kentucky) ,
November, 1876; California Patron, June 13, 1877, p. 5; Bulletin (Wisconsin),
February, 1877, May, 1878; Pierson, " Outcome of the Granger Movement," in
Popular Science Monthly, xxxii. 371-373 (January, 1888); National Grange, Pro-
ceedings, x. 38 (1876).

2 " Everybody wanted to join the Grange then; lawyers, to get clients; doctors,
to get patients; merchants, to get customers; Shylocks, to get their pound of
flesh; and sharpers, to catch the babes in the woods." Aitken, The Grange, 11-13.

3 Farmers' Union, June 14, 1873, P- I88; June 28, 1873, P- 2O5> Patrons' Bulle-
tin (Kentucky), December, 1876; California Patron, October 17, 1877, p. 2; Amer-
ican Farmer, January, 1881, p. 9; Pierson, in Popular Science Monthly, xxxii.
37I-373 (January, 1888); Aiken, The Grange, 11-13; Paine, Granger Movement
in Illinois, 10; Small, Joining the Grangers or Trying to be a Patron of Husbandry
(pamphlet).

72 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

delegates from the state granges. Some even went so far as to
favor the abolition of the national body and the reduction of the
powers of the state granges to the lowest possible limits. This
agitation led to an almost continuous tinkering with the con-
stitution, which, while failing to satisfy the demands of the
discontented, helped to weaken the influence of the order.1

The connection of the Grange with a number of political
movements of the time contributed in large measure to its
decline. In spite of constitutional provisions against political
discussions and the efforts of a number of leaders to keep the
movement clear from partisan politics at least, it proved to be
impossible to prevent subordinate granges in a number of
states and in some cases even the state granges from taking
an active part in the work of the various Independent,
Farmers', and Anti-Monopoly parties which flourished at the
time.2 The general public classed all these phenomena together
under the designation of the " Granger movement " ; and,
indeed, they were all component parts of the same general
movement for protective and cooperative organization of the
agricultural class. Thus when these political movements came
to naught, or discredited themselves by their extreme radicalism,
the order of Patrons of Husbandry had to suffer along with
the rest.3

Similarly in the matter of railroad regulation, the order was
compelled to suffer in part for the sins of others. The impres-
sion seems to have been quite prevalent that the main purpose of
the order was to " fight railroads," and large numbers of farmers
undoubtedly joined it with this object in view. Consequently,
in spite of the conservative position assumed in the " Declaration
of Purposes," the order in a number of states became involved
in efforts to secure railway legislation of the most radical sort.
The failure of this legislation to accomplish its purpose, and the

1 Bulletin (Wisconsin), June, 1875; Prairie Partner, xlvi. 371 (November 30,
1875); California Patron, November 15, 1876, p. 4; Pierson, in Popular Science
Monthly, xxxii. 371-373 (January, 1888).

2 See below, pp. 80-102.

8 Patrons' Bulletin (Kentucky), December, 1876; Southern Farmers' Monthly,
iii. 60 (February, 1880); Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 8.

ORGANIZATION 73

sentiment which the railroads were able to work up against it
were potent causes for the rapid decline of the order in a number
of northwestern states.1

The one feature which probably had more influence than any
other in building up the great membership of the order was the
idea of cooperative business, and this feature also contributed
more than anything else to the almost total collapse of the
Grange throughout the West. One by one, the extensive
cooperative enterprises established by the western state granges
went to pieces, leaving behind a burden of discredit and indebted-
ness which almost destroyed the order. Some state granges,
notably those of Nebraska and Arkansas, were unable to weather
the storm and surrendered their organizations; while district
and subordinate granges disbanded for fear of being held respon-
sible for the debts of the state granges. In other states — Iowa,
for example — a few of the faithful kept up the state grange and
strove to reinvigorate the order; but even to the present day
it has been impossible to make the Grange flourish in those
states where it suffered the severest financial disasters.2

* OTHER AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

The order of Patrons of Husbandry was the largest, most com-
prehensive, and most thoroughly organized of the agencies which
the farmers used in their efforts to improve their position ma-
terially, politically, socially, and intellectually, through organized
cooperation. It was not, however, the only agency which this
movement called into existence or adapted to its purposes.
For many years isolated farmers' clubs had existed in numerous
localities throughout the United States, usually in or near
some of the large cities; but their attention had been confined
almost wholly to topics of practical agriculture. Early in the
seventies this germ was taken up by a large number of farmers
imbued with the rising spirit of organized effort, and the result

1 Aiken, The Grange, 14, 29.

2 Nation, xix. 358 (December 3, 1874); California Patron, June 13, 1877, P- S>
Pierson, in Popular Science Monthly, xxxii. 368-371 (January, 1888); Paine, Granger
Movement in Illinois, 8, 43.

74 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

was the development of a series of more or less independent
clubs, usually avowedly political, and always devoted to the
project of advancing the interests of the agricultural class in
every possible way. To many farmers the secret features of
the Grange were objectionable, while others disapproved of
its non-partisan attitude; and for these the farmers' club pre-
sented the most satisfactory solution of the problem of agri-
cultural organization.1 Fostered by the same influences which
led to the great multiplication of granges, the number of these
farmers' clubs increased rapidly in many of the southern and
western states during the first half of the decade 1870-80. It
quickly became evident that some sort of machinery must be
developed whereby these clubs could work together for the com-
mon purpose, if they were to hold their place against the Patrons
of Husbandry and accomplish anything for the elevation of the
agricultural class.

The first state in which the open farmers' clubs succeeded in
uniting, and the only state in which their organization had any
considerable importance, was Illinois. Even before the Civil

War some dissatisfaction with economic conditions made its

•

appearance among the farmers of this state, and on September
15, 1858, a convention of farmers met at Centralia, set forth their
grievances against the " non-producers " and proposed the forma-
tion of farmers' clubs which should " produce concert of action
on all matters connected with their interests." 2 During the

1 It appears that a considerable number of Roman Catholic farmers did join
the Grange, especially in Minnesota, in spite of its secret features. See Prairie
Farmer, xliv. 315 (October 4, 1873), ^v- I07 (April 4, 1874); Richmond Whig and
Advertiser (semi- weekly) , July 3, 1874, P- 3- In the South the question of organ-
ization for the negro farmers received some attention. Occasionally northern
Grangers, ignorant of conditions in the South, advised their southern brethren to
admit the negroes into their granges, and the master of the Missouri State Grange
declared his intention to organize separate granges for them, but there is no evi-
dence that any negroes ever became members of the order. There were some
efforts to establish an independent secret order of negro farmers similar to the
Patrons of Husbandry, but these seem to have had no results. See Prairie Farmer ,
xliv. 275 (August 30, 1873); Industrial Age, September 27, 1873, P- 55 Western
Rural, xiii. 143 (May 8, 1875); Farmers' Home Journal, November 13, 1875,
p. 364.

2 The only reference to this convention which has been found is in Jonathan

ORGANIZATION 75

war the attention of the farmers was diverted by more pressing
issues and by the prevailing high prices of agricultural prod-
ucts,1 but unrest began to manifest itself again in the later
sixties, a number of local clubs were formed, and in 1870, a
Producers' Convention, made up largely of farmers, met in
Bloomington to consider the transportation question.2 Finally,
in the fall of 1872, a call was issued by the Union Farmers' Club
of Avon for delegates to meet at Kewanee, October 16, for the
purpose of forming a permanent state organization. By this
time the order of Patrons of Husbandry had made its appearance
in the state, and it was planned to include both the clubs and the
granges in the proposed central union. The Kewanee conven-
tion was attended by delegates from only thirteen clubs and
granges, but it got the movement under way by appointing a
state central committee on organization. Willard C. Flagg of
Moro, a member of the state senate and a prominent horti-
culturist, was the chairman of this' committee. On November
1 6, 1872, he published in the Prairie Farmer a request for all
clubs, granges, horticultural and agricultural associations in
the state to send him the names of their officers and other informa-
tion. Following this up, the committee issued a call on January
n, 1873, for a meeting of delegates from all such local bodies
at Bloomington, January 15 and 16. At this convention, 275
regularly appointed delegates from clubs and granges organized
themselves as the Illinois State Farmers' Association; adopted
a constitution in which the object of the organization was said
to be the promotion of the moral, intellectual, social, and ma-
terial welfare of the farmers; and elected as officers Hon. W. C.
Flagg, president; S. M. Smith, secretary; Duncan Mackay,
treasurer; and one vice-president for each congressional district.3

Periam, The Grounds-well, 204-206. The state fair was being held in Centralia at
this time. See Illinois Slate Journal, September 15, 22, 1858.

1 See Periam, The Grounds-well, 222.

2 See below, p. 127.

3 Testimony of W. C. Flagg, in Windom Committee, Report on Transportation
Routes to the Seaboard, ii. 646; Prairie Farmer, xliii. 316, 364 (October 5, 26, Novem-
ber 16, 1872), xliv. 9, 12, 25 (January n, 25, 1873); Periam, The Groundswell,
chs. xix-xx.

76 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The work of local organization went on rapidly after the
Bloomington convention, and many county organizations of
clubs and granges were also formed throughout the state. On
July 4, the farmers of Illinois took advantage of the occasion
to hold picnics and celebrations at which inflammatory political
speeches, filled with denunciations of railroads and monopolies,
were the rule. Mass-meetings and farmers' conventions, mainly
of a political nature, were frequent throughout the summer of
1873; and in the fall, many of the county associations assumed
the functions of a political party and nominated candidates
for office. All this excitement helped on the movement for
organization, and on December 15, when the state association
convened at Decatur for its second annual session, the secretary
was able to announce 830 clubs in the eighty counties from
which he had reports.1 After this meeting the State Farmers'
Association drifted rapidly into an Anti-Monopoly party, and
this seems to have injured its prestige, for the third annual
session, held at Springfield, January 19, 1875, was attended by
delegates from but twenty-one counties, although the secretary
estimated the number of clubs in the state at sixteen hundred.
Accepting this estimate as approximately correct, there were,
including the granges, some three thousand local farmers'
organizations with a membership of at least one hundred and
fifty thousand in a state in which about four hundred thousand
people were engaged in agriculture.2

Although many delegates from the subordinate granges
helped to form the Illinois State Farmers' Association and took
part in its earlier meetings, there was, nevertheless, a continual
rivalry and even hostility between the two forms of organization
from the beginning. The officers of the State Farmers' Associa-
tion attempted to keep them in harmony, but the leaders of
the Patrons of Husbandry in the state looked upon the clubs

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 36, 59, 100, 217, 220, 225, 409 (February-December,
1873); Chicago Tribune, 1873, March 12, p. 2, March 22, p. 4, May 10, p. 2; Ameri-
can Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, pp. 367-369; Illinois State Farmers' Association,
Proceedings, ii; Flagg, in American Social Science Journal, vi. 105 (July, 1874).

z Prairie Farmer, xlv. 27, 129, 155, 161, 195, 275, 403 (1874), xlvi. 35 (January
5, 1875); Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1875, P- 393-

ORGANIZATION 77

as preliminary steps in the formation of granges, and their
proselyting zeal caused considerable friction. The local granges
soon found their double allegiance bringing them into difficulties,
for the state grange would not look with favor upon the pay-
ment of dues by the subordinate granges to the State Farmers'
Association. The order of Patrons of Husbandry, moreover,
avowed itself to be a non-political organization, and its officers,
although they encouraged the members to take part in politics
as individuals, condemned their participation as official dele-
gates of granges in the partisan politics into which the State
Farmers' Association was rapidly drifting. Although the
inability of the two systems to pull together undoubtedly weak-
ened their effectiveness and hastened the rapid collapse of the
whole movement, they should, nevertheless, be looked upon
as merely two phases of the same general " farmers' move-
ment " or " Granger movement" for protective and cooperative
organization.1

During the early part of 1873, open clubs and local and county
cooperative associations were springing up in a number of the
other western states. Kansas was the first state to follow the ex-
ample of Illinois and organize these into a state association. On
March 26, 1873, a state farmers' convention was held at Topeka
pursuant to a call issued by the state board of agriculture.
About 250 delegates of clubs and granges attended this meeting
and organized the Farmers' Cooperative Association of the
State of Kansas, some of the declared objects of which were
cooperative buying, control of prices of agricultural products,
reduction and regulation of freight rates, reform of taxation,
and independent political action.2 ; \\

Both mass and delegate conventions of farmers were of fre-
quent occurrence in a number of states during these years.

1 Illinois State Farmers' Association, Proceedings, ii (December, 1873); Paine,
Granger Movement in Illinois, 12-14; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 401-403, xlv. 131, xlvi.
27 (December, i873~January, 1875).

2 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 91, 139, 155, 187 (March- June, 1873); Chicago Tribune,
June 10, 1873, p. 2, January 12, 1874, p. 8; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873,
p. 396; History of Kansas (published by Andreas), 263; Periam, The Groundswell,
271-279.

78 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The Missouri farmers had one in Jefferson City, October i, 1873 ; l
there was one in Maryland, April 8, i874;2 and in Wisconsin
an agricultural convention was held at Madison in February
of each year throughout the decade, under the auspices of the
State Agricultural Society.3 In most cases these conventions
got no further than discussion and resolutions and no permanent
organization was attempted, but in a few instances state organiza-
tions were established in imitation of the Illinois State Farmers'
Association. Thus the Tennessee State Farmers' Association
was formed by a convention which met at Nashville, September
16, 1873^ and Indiana fell into line June 10, 1874, with the
Indiana State Farmers' Association.5 None of these institu-
tions appear to have been very long-lived or to have exerted
any considerable influence; but they indicate the general trend
toward agricultural organization.

Early in the decade efforts were made to establish some sort
of a national association of agriculturists. In October, 1870,
an Agricultural Congress of the southern states was formed at
Augusta, Georgia, and in October, 1871, a National Agricultural
Association was organized at Nashville, Tennessee. In May of
the following year, these two bodies held a joint meeting at
St. Louis and merged under the name of the National Agricultural
Congress. In February, 1873, the secretary of the congress
issued a call for a meeting in Indianapolis in May, in which he
stated that the congress assumed to occupy the same relative
position to the farmers' clubs as the National Grange did to
the subordinate granges. This meeting was attended by about
two hundred delegates, representing twenty-five states. Ques-
tions of organization, transportation, agricultural colleges, and
public lands were discussed, and made the subjects of resolutions.

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 121, 187 (April, June, 1873); Industrial Age, September

6, 1873, P- 5-

2 Maryland Farmer, xi. 149 (May, 1874).

3 Prairie Farmer, xliii. 20, xliv. 4, 404 (1872-73); Wisconsin State Agricul-
tural Society, Transactions, 1872-80.

4 Industrial Age, September 6, 1873, P- 5> Chicago Tribune, September 17, 1873,
p. 8; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, P- 72&> Periam, The Groundswell, 100-
103.

6 Industrial Age, June 18, 1874, p. 5; Chicago Tribune, June n, 1873, P- I2*

ORGANIZATION 79

Annual meetings of a similar nature were held throughout the
decade; but the National Agricultural Congress appears to
have been too loosely organized to exert any considerable
influence, or to serve the purpose of the general farmers'
movement.1

Such were the agencies which the farmers developed or adapted
to their purposes in the movement for the elevation of the
agricultural class. The most effective of these were the order
of Patrons of Husbandry, the Illinois State Farmers' Associa-
tion, and the local open farmers' clubs.

1 Rural Carolinian, i. 776 (September, 1870); Prairie Farmer, xlii. 260, xliii.
113, 172, 177, xliv. 35, xlv. 116, 163, xlvi. 276 (1871-75); Maryland Farmer,
ix. 120, xiii. 332, 389, xiv. 292, xv. 85, 152, 332 (1872-78); American Annual
Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 376; Periam, The Groundswell, chs. xvii, xxviii; National
Agricultural Congress, Proceedings, v (1876).

CHAPTER III

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT AS A POLITICAL FORCE
INDEPENDENT PARTIES

IT has been a peculiarity of American politics since the Civil
War that the two principal parties have been controlled, in
the main, either by men of a conservative type who are naturally
opposed to taking up any new or radical issues, or by professional
politicians who find it to their interests to keep in the foreground
the old familiar questions on which parties have been divided
in the past, and thus to draw away attention from new issues
which are likely to disrupt party lines.1 Consequently almost
the only method by which the advocates of new measures have
been able to get them before the public has been the formation
of third parties. Though these parties have seldom had any
considerable or lasting success as parties, they have frequently
accomplished their purpose by forcing the adoption of their
platforms on one or the other of the old parties, and this it is
which gives to third parties their importance in American
political history.

The close of the Civil War in 1865 left the Republican party 2
in control in every state of the Northwest from Ohio to the
Pacific coast. In Ohio and Indiana on the east, in Missouri
on the south, and in California and Oregon on the west, the
Democratic party remained a factor to be reckoned with, but
in the rest of this section — in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska — the great majority
of the voters looked upon the term " Democrat " as practically

1 Cf. Bryce, American Commonwealth, ii. chs. liii-lvi, and Ostrogorski, Democ-
racy and the Organization of Political Parties, ii.

2 The party called itself " Union " at that time, but in 1868 it adopted the name
of " National Republican." In an article in the American Historical Review for
October, 1910, Professor W. A. Dunning points out that this party was distinct in
purpose, in personnel, and in name, from the Republican party which elected
Lincoln to the presidency in 1860.

80

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 8 1

synonymous with " rebel " or " Copperhead," and the party
which was thus handicapped could not be expected to make
much headway for many years to come. There was, however,
considerable opposition to the dominant Republicans in this
section during the decade of the seventies, and almost of neces-
sity much of this opposition took the form of third parties.
The first movement in this direction was the organization of
the Liberal Republican party, which won some victories in
Missouri, but the presidential election of 1872 demonstrated
that this was a party of leaders rather than of the people. Fol-
lowing closely on the heels of the failure of this movement,
there appeared a series of " Independent " parties which were
distinctly popular in their origin, and were able to make a con-
siderable showing in the elections, though they received little
support from prominent politicians of the old school.1

These Independent parties have received very little con-
sideration from historical writers, and there has been a ten-
dency to look upon them as merely preliminaries leading up to the
organization of the National Greenback party. This tendency
is a natural one in view of the fact that in one or two states
the Independent organization did affiliate with the Greenback
party. In other states, however, the platforms of the Inde-
pendent parties specifically rejected the Greenback policy, and
an examination of the movement in all the states in which it
appeared makes it clear that its causes are to be sought prima-
rily, not in the desire for fiat currency, but in two other factors
which had no connection with the old issues of war time. The
first of these factors was the growing demand for the regulation
of railway charges by the state, a demand which the dominant
Republican party was not inclined to heed, and closely related
to this was the second — the rapid organization of the agricul-
tural population of the West into clubs and granges.

1 That this movement attracted considerable attention among the politicians
of the country is evident from President Grant's fifth annual message to Congress,
dated December i, 1873, which contains the statement that "political partisan-
ship has almost ceased to exist, especially in the agricultural regions." Just what
meaning the president intended to convey by these words and whether or no he
looked upon the situation as one to be deplored, is difficult to determine.

82 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The order of Patrons of Husbandry was professedly non-
political in character, but that profession did not prevent it
from taking a decided stand on questions of public policy, and
especially upon the railroad question, while in some states the
local granges took part in the organization of new political
parties.1 On the whole, however, the leaders of the order were
able to keep it from participating directly in partisan politics,
but the large number of non-secret and more or less independent
farmers' clubs which were growing up side by side with the
granges were usually avowedly political in character,2 and the
union of these local clubs into state farmers' associations paved
the way for the establishment of the Independent parties in a
number of states. This was particularly the case in Illinois,
where the movement for a new political party, with rail-
road regulation as its principal plank, first came to a head.
There the agitation for restrictive railroad laws had been going
on with more or less intensity ever since 1865, and finally in
1870 its advocates succeeded in incorporating mandatory pro-
visions in the new constitution, which directed the legislature
to enact laws to prevent extortion and unjust discrimination
in railway charges. The general assembly of 1871 responded
with a series of so-called " Granger laws," one of which was
declared contrary to the constitution by the state supreme
court in January, 1873, because it prohibited not merely unjust
discrimination, but all discrimination in railway charges.3

In the same month in which this decision was handed down
by Chief- Justice Lawrence, the State Farmers' Association of
Illinois was organized. It immediately adopted a series of

1 The " Declaration of Purposes " adopted by the National Grange in Febru-
ary, 1874, asserted " that the Grange ... is not a political or party organization.
No Grange, if true to its obligations, can discuss political or religious questions,
nor call political conventions, nor nominate candidates, nor even discuss their
merits in its meetings." National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 58.

2 This is illustrated by the preamble to the constitution of the Central Farmers'
Association of Centralia, Illinois, which declared the object of the association to
be "to advance the interest of agriculture in every way possible; especially to
influence the Legislature and courts in behalf of the farmers' interests of the coun-
try." Prairie Farmer, xliv. 4 (January 4, 1873).

3 This subject is more fully developed in the following chapter.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 83

radical resolutions on the transportation question, and asserted
" that the power of this and all local organizations should be
wielded at the ballot-box, by the election of such, and only
such, persons as sympathize with us in this movement." 1 The
legislature was in session at this time, and was considering a
revision of the railroad laws to overcome the objections of the
supreme court.2 In order to insure the enactment of effective
laws on this subject, the executive committee of the newly
organized State Farmers' Association issued a call for a State
Farmers' Convention, to be held at Springfield, the capital
city, April 2, 1873, " for the purpose of attending to our interests
in the Legislature, and of giving that body and the Governor
to understand that we mean business and are no longer to be
trifled with; and that while we have no disposition to infringe
upon the rights of others, we demand that protection at their
hands from the intolerable wrongs now inflicted upon us by
the railroads which they have a constitutional right to give
us." 3

The principal work of this convention, which was opened
with speeches by Governor Beveridge and ex- Governor Palmer,
was the adoption of a series of resolutions setting forth its ideas
concerning railroad legislation, but these were followed by other
resolutions relating to competition in lake transportation and
the protective tariff, which furnish the first important indica-
tion that the movement was to spread out from an agitation
for railroad regulation into a full-fledged political party, with
views to express on a variety of questions. These resolutions,
which were said to be the result of efforts of Democratic politi-
cians to capture the movement and of railroad men to nullify
it by throwing the blame for high charges upon the policy of

1 Prairie Farmer, xliii. 316, 364, xliv. 9, 12, 25 (October, i872-January, 1873);
Chicago Tribune, 1873, January 16, p. 4, January 17, p. 8, January 18, p. 2;
Periam, The Groundswell, 232-262.

2 Illinois, Senate and House Journals, 1873. Tne pages of the Chicago Tribune
and the Prairie Farmer at this time are filled with resolutions of fanners' meetings
on the railroad question. For example, see resolutions of a Livingston County
convention of farmers, in Chicago Tribune, January 10, 1873, P- 5-

8 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 100 (March 29, 1873); Chicago Tribune, March 21, 1873,
p. 2.

84 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

protection, met with considerable opposition in the convention
on the ground that the farmers should concentrate their efforts
upon the question of railroad regulation; and the next day a
rump composed of about one hundred of the delegates to the
convention held a meeting, at which the resolutions in question
were reconsidered and laid on the table.1 Despite this split
in the ranks, the work of this convention on the railroad problem
and the sustained agitation on the part of the farmers finally
bore fruit in the passage by the legislature, May 2, 1873, of a
new act for the regulation of railroads, more radical and more
effective than the laws of 1871.

The first attempt of the farmers of Illinois to take part as an
organized body in the election of public officers appears to have
been a result of the decision of Chief- Justice Lawrence on the
constitutionality of the railroad law of 1871. The idea was
gaining ground that the farmers must control the courts as well
as the legislature if they were to secure any solid results, and the
judicial elections of June, 1873, seemed to them a good oppor-
tunity for making a beginning in that direction. Particularly
was that the case in the fifth district, where the term of the chief-
justice himself was about to expire. Lawrence was renominated
by means of a petition widely signed by the lawyers of the
district, but the farmers, who felt that he was not in sympathy
with their interests, held a convention at Princeton in April
and nominated Hon. Alfred M. Craig for the position. No
pledges were exacted of the nominee, but he had shown himself
favorable to the regulation of corporations by his action in the
constitutional convention of 1869-70. The convention which
nominated him also adopted a series of resolutions demanding
such action by the legislature and the courts as would make
effective the railroad provisions of the constitution, declaring
an intention to support no one whose sentiments were not
in accord with the farmers' in these matters, and recom-
mending to the " anti-monopolists " of the state the nomina-

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 114, 123 (April, 1873); Chicago Tribune, 1873, April 2,
p. 8, April 4, p. 8; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, P« 3^7; Periam, The Ground-
swell, 280-291.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 85

tion of candidates for the judicial positions in the various
districts.1

This advice was followed by the farmers of the second district,
the only other one in which a supreme court vacancy occurred
at this time, and in eight or nine of the twenty-six circuits of
the state, in each of which a judge was to be elected; while in
many of the other districts one or more of the candidates openly
declared themselves in sympathy with the farmers' views.2
The election which followed first displayed to the astonished
politicians of the country the political possibilities of the move-
ment; for in nearly every instance the candidate nominated or
favored by the farmers was elected, even Chief -Justice Lawrence
being defeated by a large majority in spite of a vigorous cam-
paign waged in his behalf. These victories provoked a storm
of criticism from the conservative press, especially in the East,
and the movement was denounced as an attempt to pack the
judiciary in the interests of a class.3 Given an elective judiciary,
however, it is difficult to see how the voters can justly be blamed
for casting their ballots for candidates who were expected to
uphold, what they believed to be their rights.4

Greatly encouraged by the success which had been won and
nothing daunted by the adverse criticism incurred, the farmers
of Illinois threw themselves with vigor into the campaign for
the election of county officers in the fall. Even before the
judicial elections had taken place, a movement was started in
Livingston County to put a farmers' ticket in the field for the

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 153 (May 17, 1873); Periam, The Groundswell, 312-316.
Many of the local clubs and granges ratified the nomination of Craig, but in one
or two cases they indorsed Lawrence. See Prairie Farmer, xliv. 266 (May 31,
1873); Chicago Tribune, May 15, 1873, p. i; Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois,
35, note.

2 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 153 (May 17, 1873); Chicago Tribune, May, 1873,
passim; Periam, The Groundswett, 312-316.

3 Nation, xvi. 393, 397 (June 12, 1873); Prairie Farmer, xliv. 185 (June 14,
1873); Chicago Tribune, 1873, June 6, p. 4, June 21, p. 8; Periam, The Groundswell,
312-316.

4 Lawrence was later attorney for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad in
litigation over the Granger law of Wisconsin. Industrial Age (Chicago), June 6,
1875, p. 4.

86 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

fall elections. May 31, 1873, the committee-men, representing
the different townships in the county farmers* association,
adopted a platform or declaration of principles which so well
expressed the sentiments of farmers throughout the state that
it was adopted or indorsed by farmers' meetings in many other
counties. The preamble to this document asserted the failure
of the old parties, declared in favor of a new political organiza-
tion, and invited the cooperation of all other classes in carrying
out the declaration of principles. The platform which followed
expressed opposition to " railroad steals, tariff steals, salary-
grab steals," approved the control by law of railway corpora-
tions, denounced taxation for the benefit of special classes,
favored equal privileges for all in the banking system, " so that
supply and demand shall regulate our money market," opposed
further grants of public lands to corporations, and favored
" a true system of civil service reform " and the application
of the principle " that the office should seek the man and not
the man the office." l

The adoption of this declaration was followed by the appoint-
ment of a committee to call a convention of farmers and all
others in sympathy with them to nominate candidates for
county officers. This action received the approval of Secre-
tary Smith of the State Farmers' Association and similar steps
were taken in other counties.2 A great impetus was given to
the movement by the celebrations, on Independence Day, of
what was widely known as the " Farmers' Fourth of July."
At the suggestion of the executive committee of the State Farm-
ers' Association this day was made the occasion of numerous
and well attended gatherings of farmers in nearly every county
in the state. At most of these meetings an important part of
the program was the reading of the new " Farmers' Declaration
of Independence," which was circulated by the association.
This document was a skilful parody on the original Declaration

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 187 (June 14, 1873); Chicago Tribune, June 3, 1873,
pp. 2, 4; Industrial Age, August 20, 1873, p. 7. For indorsements of the declara-
tion, see Chicago Tribune, June-August, 1873, passim.

2 Chicago Tribune, June, 1873, passim; Industrial Age, August 20, 1873, PP- 4> 7-

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 87

of Independence, and set forth at great length the conditions
which had led to the uprising of the agricultural class. It
concluded by declaring the farmers absolutely independent of
all past political connections, and by pledging them to give
their suffrage to such men only as would use their best endeavors
to promote the desired ends.1 This declaration was solemnly
read at hundreds of gatherings in Illinois and in some of the
neighboring states, and the customary spread-eagle oratory by
local politicans gave way to earnest discussions of political topics
by the farmers themselves, and fiery addresses by leaders of the
movement, such as that by Hon. S. M. Smith, the secretary of
the State Farmers' Association, at Pontiac in Livingston County.2
Thus the enthusiasm of the farmers for their cause was wrought
up, and numerous picnics and harvest festivals,3 together with

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 196 (June 21, 1873); Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1873,
p. i. The declaration is printed in full in Prairie Farmer, xliv. 217 (July 12, 1873),
and in Chicago Tribune, June 17, 1873, p. 2. Some extracts from this curious
document may not be out of place: —

" When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a class of the
people, suffering from long continued systems of oppression and abuse, to rouse
themselves from an apathetic indifference to their own interests, which has become
habitual ... a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes that impel them to a course so necessary to their own
protection."

Then follows a statement of " self-evident truths " and a catalogue of the sins
committed by the railroads, together with a denunciation of railroads and Con-
gresses for not having redressed these evils. The document concludes: —

" We, therefore, the producers of the state in our several counties assembled
... do solemnly declare that we will use all lawful and peaceable means to free
ourselves from the tyranny of monopoly, and that we will never cease our efforts
for reform until every department of our government gives token that the reign
of licentious extravagance is over, and something of the purity, honesty, and
frugality with which our fathers inaugurated it, has taken its place.

" That to this end we hereby declare ourselves absolutely free and independent
of all past political connections, and that we will give our suffrage only to such
men for office, as we have good reason to believe will use their best endeavors to
the promotion of these ends; and for the support of this declaration, with a firm
reliance on divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our
fortunes, and our sacred honor."

2 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 217, 220, 225 (July 12, 19, 1873); Chicago Tribune,
July, 1873, passim.

3 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 224 (August 2, 1873); Chicago Tribune, 1873, August 7,
pp. i, 2, 4, August 22, p. i.

88 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the many regular meetings of local clubs and granges, kept it
at fever heat throughout the summer; the political results
being seen when county after county fell into line, held conven-
tions, and nominated farmers' tickets for the fall elections.
The procedure in organizing the new party in most of the
counties was similar to that in Livingston, already described,1
and the platforms adopted were generally similar to the Living-
ston County declaration of principles, though in some instances
they contained more outspoken denunciation of the protective
tariff. The completeness with which old party lines were
broken up by this movement is seen in the fact that in some
counties one party and in others the opposite party, either
openly joined the " Reformers " or refrained from making
separate nominations.2

Of the one hundred and two counties of the state, independent
nominations were made by the new party in sixty-six, while
in many of the other counties the candidates of one or the other
of the old parties were acceptable to the farmers. The returns
of the elections, which took place early in November, showed
the farmers' or " Anti-Monopoly " tickets victorious in fifty-
three of the sixty-six counties in which they were in the field,
while Republican candidates were elected in sixteen, Demo-
cratic in twenty, and independents in thirteen of the remaining
counties of the state.3 The total vote in the sixty-six counties
contested by the new party was 176,263, of which the Reform
candidates received 94,188, leaving 82,075 to all the other
candidates; and it was calculated that the same ratio carried
throughout the state would have given the party a majority
in a state election of twenty- two thousand over all.4 In esti-

1 For examples, see Chicago Tribune, 1873, June 25, p. i, August 2, p. i.

2 This was generally, but not always, the party which had previously been in a
minority in the county. See Chicago Tribune, August, 1873, passim.

3 These figures are based on votes for county treasurers, who appear to have
been the most important officials elected in the several counties.

4 For returns and classification of counties, see Industrial Age, 1873, November
8, pp. 4, 5, November 15, pp. 3, 6; Chicago Tribune, 1873, October 20, p. 4, Novem-
ber 6, p. i, November 10, p. 5, November 19, p. 4; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 361, 363,
37*> 379 (November, 1873); American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 368; World
Almanac, 1874, p. 23.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 89

mating this election, the results of which were more favorable
to the new party than any other in which it took part, the fact
must be taken into consideration that it was for local officers,
and that, in general, party politics play a less important part
in local than in state elections. The Reformers were to find
their party unable to retain these handsome majorities when
it entered the broader field of state politics, because many voters,
while willing to cast their ballots for neighbors running on an
Anti-Monopoly ticket, were likely, when it was a question
of unknown candidates for offices, to return to their old party
allegiance.

Meanwhile similar movements were getting under way in
Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, which resulted in state Anti-
Monopoly or Reform parties in the general elections in the
fall of 1873. The political situations in these three states were
strikingly similar. In each the Republican party was in com-
plete control; in each a growing demand for railroad regulation
was being reflected in messages and addresses of the governor,
and in numerous bills before the legislature and in each the
farmers were being rapidly organized into granges of the Patrons
of Husbandry. The outcome was the organization of new
parties which took the name of Reform in Wisconsin, and
Anti-Monopoly in Iowa and Minnesota; and in each case
the Democratic party either fused with or accepted the candi-
dates of the new party. The method of getting the movement
under way was about the same in the three states: the farmers
and Grangers in the different counties got together during the
summer in meetings "outside the gate" and nominated candidates
for county and legislative offices; after which calls were issued,
either by one of these local meetings, or by self-constituted
leaders of the movement, for state conventions, which were held
in Iowa at Des Moines, August 13, in Minnesota at Owatonna,
September 2, and in Wisconsin at Milwaukee, September 23. 1

1 The summary in this and the following paragraphs is based on a study of legis-
lative journals, governors' messages, party platforms, and the files of the Chicago
Tribune, Prairie Farmer, and local papers. Information concerning parties and
elections, including the platforms in full, can usually be found in the American

90 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

In Iowa the state central committee of the Democratic party
decided to hold no convention, and issued an address advising
Democrats to support the Anti-Monopoly ticket.1 In Minne-
sota the Democratic convention was held and adopted a plat-
form, but indorsed the nominees of the new party.2 In Wis-
consin the Democratic convention met in Milwaukee the day
after the Reformers came together, and the two conventions
agreed upon a fusion ticket and adopted a joint platform.3
All three of the platforms adopted by these new parties declared
for the regulation of railroads or, putting it more generally,
for the subjection of corporations to the authority of the state.
Reduction of the tariff to a revenue basis, lower salaries for
public officials, and a more economical administration of the
government, were also demanded by each platform. In no case
did these platforms contain planks favorable to the Greenback
idea, while the Wisconsin platform contained a declaration that
the public debt should be honestly paid, and in Minnesota the
platform adopted by the Democratic convention which indorsed
the Anti-Monopoly nominees, declared for a speedy return to
specie payment. It early became evident that large numbers
of Republicans were going into the new party movement in these
states, and the Republican politicians made frantic efforts to
counteract it. Fortunately for them, the Republican govern-
ors in each state had advocated railroad regulation, and these
governors were all renominated on platforms which expressed
great concern for the welfare of the farmers, and which contained
planks favoring the regulation of railroads by the state.

The campaigns which followed were spirited, and the new
parties achieved some surprising results. In Iowa the Anti-
Monopoly committee suffered from a lack of campaign funds,
and the Republican state ticket was elected, but its majority,

(after 1874, Appleton's) Annual Cyclopedia under the name of the state. The
Owatonna platform of the Minnesota Anti-Monopolists, which is not given in the
Cyclopedia, is in Martin, Grange Movement, 510-513.

1 Chicago Tribune, September 2, 1873, p. i.

2 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 511.

3 Chicago Tribune, August-September, 1873, passim; Industrial Age, September
6, 1873, P- 5-

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 9!

which had been sixty thousand the year before, was cut down to
about twenty thousand, and it was claimed that the facts that
Governor Carpenter was himself a prominent Patron, and that
he had pledged himself to favor the farmers' policy, were all
that prevented an Anti-Monopoly victory. The district elec-
tions resulted in a legislature composed of thirty-four Republican
and sixteen opposition senators, with fifty of each party in the
lower house.1 As a result of this tie, a long struggle ensued
over the organization of the House of Representatives, in the
course of which, the seventy members who were also Patrons
held a meeting and tried to unite on a Grange candidate for
speaker, but found that they too were equally divided into
Republicans and opposition. This shows clearly that a large
proportion of the Grange element had not gone definitely into
the Anti-Monopoly party. The deadlock was finally broken
after 140 ballots by a compromise, according to which the
Republicans got the speakership and the opposition the other
officers, and the control of a number of committees.2

In Minnesota the outcome was somewhat the same. The
Republican majority for the head of the ticket was reduced
from the usual fifteen or twenty thousand to about five thousand,
and the Anti-Monopoly candidates for secretary of state and
treasurer were elected, while the Republican majority in the
lower house of the legislature was reduced to two. A consider-
able number, moreover, of the members of the legislature elected
as Republicans were also Grangers, and in favor of state regula-
tion of railroads.3

1 Chicago Tribune, November 8, 1873, p. 2; Industrial Age, 1873, October 18,
p. 4, November 8, p. 6, November 15, p. 5; American Agriculturist (New York),
xxxii. 439 (November, 1873).

2 Iowa, House Journal, 1874, pp. 3-48; Chicago Tribune, January, 1874, pas-
sim; Industrial Age, 1874, January 24, p. 3, February 7, p. 6.

3 Chicago Tribune, May, 1873- January, I^74> passim; Industrial Age, Septem-
ber 6, 1873, P* 4> Prairie Farmer, xliv. 291 (September 13, 1873); Martin, Grange
Movement, 510-513; Stephe Smith, Grains for the Grangers, 233-236; E. D.
Neill, History of Minnesota (4th ed.), 760-763; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873,
pp. 510-513. For the attitude of the Patrons of Husbandry toward this political
movement in Minnesota, see the Farmers' Union (Minneapolis), 1873, PP- *72,
194, 197, 218, 243, 261, 269, 276, 279, 285, 356 (May-November, 1873).

92 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

It was in Wisconsin, however, that the most startling results
were achieved. The campaign in that state developed a peculiar
alignment of interests. Governor Washburn, who was renomi-
nated by the Republicans, had frequently recommended legisla-
tion for the regulation of railroads, and in other ways incurred
the enmity of the railroad interests. As a consequence much
of the railroad influence was exerted in favor of Taylor, the
Reform candidate, whose principles were not so well known
as those of Washburn, apparently with the idea of putting
him under obligation to these interests. Another factor in the
election was the Graham liquor law, passed by a Republican
legislature, which imposed serious restrictions on the liquor
traffic, and resulted in turning the powerful brewery interests
of the state, as well as a large part of the foreign vote, to the
new Reform party. Then, of course, the order of Patrons of
Husbandry was a factor in the election, and it seems probable
that the major part, though by no means all, of the " Granger
vote " was cast for the Democratic-Reform ticket. Although
Wisconsin was normally Republican by large majorities, this
"unholy alliance" of the railroad interests and the liquor interests
with the Granger movement was sufficient to turn the scale
and bring about the election of Taylor and the whole fusion
ticket of state officers. The Democrats and Reformers also
secured a majority of twenty in the lower house of the legisla-
ture, though the Republicans retained a majority of one in the
Senate.1

In Kansas and Nebraska there were no state elections in
1873, but Independent or farmers' tickets were put in the field
in a number of counties. In Kansas the result was the election
of a sufficient number of Independents or Reformers to give
the opposition to the Republican party a majority of about
twenty in the lower house of the legislature. This was sufficient

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 379 (November 29, 1873); Chicago Tribune, October,
i873~January, 1874, passim; Industrial Age, November, 1873, passim; Wisconsin,
Legislative Manual, 1874, pp. 325, 348; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, PP- 774~
776; C. W. Lea, Granger Movement in Wisconsin (Ms.), 20; C. R. Tuttle, Illus-
trated History of the state of Wisconsin, 642; G. W. Peck, editor, Wisconsin in
Cyclopedic Form, 183.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 93

to overbalance the strongly Republican hold-over Senate, and
made possible the election of ex- Governor Harvey, a farmer
and a Reformer, to the United States Senate.1 In California
also, the new party movement made its appearance in a struggle
to control the legislature elected in 1873. The Republican
party there was believed by many to be under the influence of
the Central Pacific railroad, and a large number of Republicans,
led by Governor Newton Booth, broke away from the party
organization and supported Anti-Monopoly or Reform tickets
in the various districts. The result of the election was a legis-
lature composed of thirty-seven Republicans, forty-two Demo-
crats and forty-one Reformers, but many members elected as
Republicans or Democrats were opposed to the railroad monopoly.
The principal business of this legislature was the election of
two United States senators, and a long struggle finally ter-
minated in the election of Governor Booth for the long term,
and of John S. Hager, an " anti-railroad Democrat," for the
short term.2

During the year 1874 state Reform or Anti-Monopoly parties
were organized in all these states, and in some other states
as well. Even in Ohio there were a few local efforts in the
fall of 1873 looking toward the organization of farmers' or
workingmen's parties,3 but these came to naught, probably
owing to a vigorous revival which took place in the Democratic
party in the state at that time. In Indiana, on the other hand,
similar local meetings in the fall of 1873, at which former party
bonds were declared to be severed, finally led up to the calling
of a state convention of Independents, which met at Indianapolis,
June 10, 1874, and nominated candidates for state offices. The
platform here adopted differed from those of the Reform parties

1 Chicago Tribune, June, i873-February, 1874, passim; Industrial Age, 1873,
November 8, p. 4, November 15, p. 5; History of the State of Kansas (published
by Andreas), 264.

2 Chicago Tribune, December 22, 1873, P- 4> January 23, 1874, p. 3; Industrial
Age, 1873, October 18, p. 4, December 27, p. 4; California State Grange, Pro-
ceedings at Organization (July, 1873); Carr, Patrons of Husbandry on the Pacific
Coast, 75-103, 131-153; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, P- 83-

3 Chicago Tribune, 1873, June 9, p. i, June 18, p. 5.

94 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

in the other states in that its principal plank was a demand,
not for railroad regulation, but for the issue of greenbacks
interchangeable with government bonds and the payment of
the government debt in legal tender. Two of the nominees
of this convention refused the honor and another convention,
held in August, not only rilled their places, but also nominated
new candidates in the places of two others who had accepted
Democratic nominations for the same offices. In the election
the new party cast about sixteen thousand votes, the Demo-
cratic candidates for state offices being victorious. The Inde-
pendents secured five senators and eight representatives in the
legislature, which gave them the balance of power in the Senate,
but the Democrats controlled the House.1

In Michigan an attempt was made to break the Republican
dominance by the organization of a " National Reform " party,
which held conventions in August and September, 1874. The
principal planks in its platform were civil service reform, state
rights, tariff for revenue only, and a speedy return to " hard
money." Some of the Reform nominees were accepted by the
Democratic convention, but the Republicans were victorious,
though by greatly reduced majorities. The vote for Reform
candidates on which there was no fusion ran from two to seven
thousand.2

In Illinois the movement which had been so successful in
local elections in 1873 speedily developed into a state party
in 1874. The resolutions adopted at the meeting of the State
Farmers' Association in December, 1873, furnished the basis
for the organization of the new party. These declared that the
old parties had forfeited the respect and confidence of the people
and demanded a reduction of the salaries of public officials,
civil service reform, and the enforcement of the railroad laws.

1 On the Independent party movement in Indiana, see Chicago Tribune, 1873,
June 18, p. 5, August 23, p. i, June n, pp. i, 12, August 13, p. 7; Industrial Age,
1874, April 1 8, p. 4, June 13, p. 5, June 27, p. 4, September 5, p. 5, October 17, p. 4;
American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp. 412-415.

2 Chicago Tribune, 1874, February 12, p. 8, June 18, p. 3, August 7, p. i; In-
dustrial Age, February 28, 1874, p. 4; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp.
557-559-

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 95

The resolutions on tariff and currency were somewhat ambiguous,
but the latter seems to have definitely committed the associa-
tion to the Greenback policy.1 In May, 1874, the advisory
board of the State Farmers' Association issued a call to " the
farmers, mechanics, and other laboring men, as well as all other
citizens of Illinois who believed as declared by this Association
at Decatur, December 18, 1873," to send delegates to a state
convention at Springfield, June io.2 This convention chose
" Independent Reform " as a name for the new party; nominated
candidates for treasurer and superintendent of public instruc-
tion — the only state officers to be elected — and adopted the
resolutions of the State Farmers' Association as a platform, with
almost no changes, although a vigorous minority, led by the
Hon. Willard C. Flagg, president of the association, strove for
the adoption of a resolution " uncompromisingly opposing any
further inflation." 3

The Democratic convention, which met in August, took
issue with the Independents by demanding the resumption of
specie payments as soon as practicable, and nominated a separate
candidate for treasurer, but accepted the Independent nominee
for superintendent.4 In the election which ensued, the fusion
candidate for superintendent of public instruction received a
majority of about thirty thousand votes, but the Republican
candidate for treasurer was elected with a plurality of thirty-
five thousand, while the Independent nominee received about

1 Illinois State Farmers' Association, Proceedings, ii. 98-109. The resolutions
and reports of this meeting are also to be found in Prairie Farmer, xliv. 409, xlv.
i (December 27, 1873, January 3, 1874); Industrial Age, December, i873~January,
1874, passim; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, P- 3^8.

2 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 155 (May 16, 1874); Chicago Tribune, 1874, May 6,
pp. i, 5, May n, p. 2.

3 For the platform and reports of this convention, see Prairie Farmer, xlv. 195
(June 20, 1874); Chicago Tribune, June 11, 1874, p. i; Industrial Age, June 13,
1874, p. 5; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 402; John Moses, Illinois,
Historical and Statistical, ii. 824-826. On the campaign and local conventions,
see Industrial Age, 1874, September 19, p. 4, October io, p. 4; Prairie Farmer,
xlv. 275 (August 29, 1874). Thirty- three papers which supported the Independent
party in the campaign are listed in the Chicago Tribune, June 22, 1874, p. 7.

4 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 403; Moses, Illinois, ii. 827; Gustav
Koerner, Memoirs, ii. 583.

g6 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

seventy-five thousand votes out of a total of nearly three hun-
dred and seventy thousand. In the congressional elections
the opposition fared somewhat better, regular Republican
candidates being elected in but seven of the nineteen districts,
while the remainder were classified: eight as Democrats, three
as Independent Reformers, and one as an independent Republi-
can. In the state legislature also, the Republicans lost their
majority through this election, while the Independents secured
the balance between the two other parties with three senators
and twenty-seven representatives.1

In Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota there were enough repre-
sentatives of the new party in the legislatures of 1874 to secure
the enactment, with some assistance from anti-railroad Republi-
cans, of the Granger railroad laws of those states.2 Although
the railroad companies denied the validity of these laws and
endeavored to have them set aside by the courts, they entered
at the same time upon a campaign to secure their repeal. In
the legislative elections of 1874 the railroad forces generally
supported the Republican candidates, and the Republicans
secured a majority over the combined Democratic and Reform
opposition in both houses of all three of the legislatures.3 In
Minnesota the result was the immediate repeal of the Granger
railroad law enacted the year before, but in Wisconsin and
Iowa, enough of the Republican legislators were " anti-rail-
road " to prevent the repeal of the Granger laws in those states
at this time.

1 Election returns can be found in Industrial Age, 1874, November 7, p. 4,
November 14, p. 5; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 404; Tribune Almanac,
1875, PP- 47> 80-82; World Almanac, 1875, P- 24> Moses, Illinois, ii. 827.

2 The history of this legislation and of the struggle over its enforcement is dealt
with in chapter v below.

3 On the campaigns of 1874 in these states, see Chicago Tribune, January- July,
1874, passim; Industrial Age, February-November, 1874, passim; American
Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp. 418, 564, 810; Tuttle, Wisconsin, 649.

In Wisconsin the officers of the state grange took part in this campaign, first
by calling upon all Patrons to vote for candidates who would support the Granger
railroad law, and then by circulating a list of questions calculated to be submitted
to candidates and to force them to declare their positions on the question of rail-
road regulation. Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, ii (1874), especially the
appendix, pp. 3-12; M. E. Maynard, Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), 57.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 97

The various local farmers' and Reform parties were also
drawn together into state parties in Missouri, Kansas, and
Nebraska in 1874. In Missouri the new party was one of
opposition to the Democrats who were then in control and
received the support of the Republicans ; 1 in Kansas, on the
other hand, all the elements of opposition to the dominant
Republican party were joined under the " Independent Reform "
banner ; 2 and in Nebraska candidates were put in the field by
all three of the parties.3 The new party movement does not
seem to have made much of an impression upon the political
situation in these states, for the Democrats won in Missouri
with nearly forty thousand majority, and the Republicans in
Kansas with about twenty thousand, while in Nebraska the
vote cast by the third party was inconsiderable.

In Oregon an Independent party made its appearance in
the spring of 1874 with candidates for the June election and
an anti-monopoly platform. The two old parties were very
closely balanced in this state, and are said to have formed a
coalition in some districts to defeat the new movement. The
Independents had the support of a considerable portion of the
press and probably of most of the Grangers, who at this time
numbered nearly all the farmers of the state in their ranks,
and they displayed considerable strength in the election, the
votes on state officers and congressman being about ninety-
seven hundred for the Democrats, ninety- two hundred for the
Republicans, and sixty-five hundred for the Independents.
In the legislative elections the new party fared even better,
securing twenty-nine members of the lower house to twenty-
eight Republicans and twenty Democrats, while in the Senate
six Independents held the balance of power between the two

1 Chicago Tribune, 1874, January 10, p. 2, January 12, p. 8, February 21, p. 8,
June ii, p. i; Industrial Age, 1874, May 16, p. 5, May 30, p. 5, June 13, p. 4, July
25, p. 6, September 5, p. 4; Prairie Farmer, xlv. 75 (March 7, 1874); American
Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp. 576-579.

2 Chicago Tribune, February 21, 1874, p. 8; Industrial Age, 1874, July 25, p. 5,
September 26, p. 4; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp. 435-437; D. W.
Wilder, Annals of Kansas, 643-646, 655, 658; Andreas, Kansas, 218, 264.

8 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 586.

98 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

old parties. Two supreme court judges and many county
officials were also elected by the Independents.1

The " People's Independent " party of California, which had
been fairly successful in the legislative elections of 1873, did
not have an opportunity to take part in a state election until
1875. In that year candidates were put in the field by all three
of the parties, the outcome being the election of the Democratic
ticket with about sixty-two thousand votes, the Republican
vote being thirty-one thousand and the Independent, thirty
thousand.2

Although some striking results were achieved by these Inde-
pendent parties in 1873 and 1874, and in a few states in 1875,
their careers were all brief. In Michigan, Missouri, Kansas,
and Nebraska, where the movement met with little success,
nothing further was heard of it after 1874. The Independent
Reform parties of Indiana and Illinois took part in the forma-
tion and became component parts of the National Greenback
party in 1875 and i876;3 and as such cast considerably smaller
votes than they had in 1874, although enough Independents
and Greenbackers were elected to the legislature in Illinois to
hold the balance between the two old parties and bring about
the election of Judge David Davis as an Independent to the
United States Senate.4 In Wisconsin and Iowa, the fusion of

1 Chicago Tribune, 1874, April 16, p. 8, April 17, p. 5, May 6, p. 4, June 3, p. 5,
June 4, p. 5, June 26, p. 2; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp. 671-674.

2 W. J. Davis, History of Political Conventions in California, 331-333; T. H.
Hittell, History of California, iv; Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1875, pp. 98-101.

3 The State Farmers' Association of Illinois was represented by delegates in
the conventions at Cleveland and Philadelphia, in 1875, which made arrangements
for the national " Independent " or Greenback convention in Indianapolis, May
17, 1876. See the proceedings at the third annual session of the association in
Prairie Farmer, xlv. 403, xlvi. 35, 38 (December 19, 1874, January 30, 1875). On
the last stages of the Independent Reform party in Illinois and its transition to
the Greenback party, see ibid. xliv. 163, 196 (May 22, June 19, 1875); Western
Rural (Chicago), xiii. 196 (June 19, 1875); Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1875,
p. 393, 1876, p. 392; Moses, Illinois, ii. 834, 839, 848-850. The fourth and fifth,
which were probably the last, annual sessions of the State Farmers' Association,
were held in January, 1876, and January, 1877. Industrial Age, 1876, February
5, March 25; Illinois State Farmers' Association, Proceedings, v (1877).

4 Judge Davis had been agreed upon as the independent member of the electoral
commission to decide the Hayes-Tilden contest, but his election to the Senate at

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 99

Democrats and Reformers or Anti-Monopolists was tried again
in 1875, and with some success in Wisconsin, where the fusion
candidates for state officers, with the exception of governor,
were elected, though by very small majorities. The Republicans
regained complete control of the legislature, however, in both
states and repealed the Granger railroad law of Wisconsin in
1876, the Iowa Granger law meeting the same fate two years
later. The presidential campaign of 1876 put an end to the
Independent movement in both of these states.1 In Minnesota
a " Reform" party, which seems to have had no direct connection
with the Anti-Monopoly party of 1873, although probably
composed of about the same men, put a ticket in the field in
1875 against both Republicans and Democrats, but secured
less than two thousand votes, and did not appear again.2

There was an election for congressman in Oregon in 1875
and the Independent party again had a candidate in the field,
but he received only about eight hundred votes. In the legis-
lature which was elected in June, 1876, there were also a few
Independents in both houses, but the presidential election
in the fall probably put an end to the movement there also.3
Nor does the People's Independent party of California appear to
have kept up its organization after 1875, although many of the
Grangers and others who belonged to it cast in their lot with
the " Workingmen's party," which was organized by the followers
of Dennis Kearney in 1877 and played a considerable part in
California politics until i88o.4

this time necessitated the choice of another. If the Independents had not held
the balance of power in this Illinois legislature, it is probable that Tilden instead
of Hayes would have become president of the United States. See John T. Camp-
bell, The Hayes-Tilden Contest, in Illinois State Historical Society, Transactions,
1909, pp. 184-189 for an account of the election of Davis and its connection with
the presidential controversy.

1 Wisconsin Statesman (Madison), 1875, September 18, p. 3, November 13, p. 2,
1876, March n, p. i, March 25, p. i; Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1875, pp. 402,
763, 1876, pp. 413-415, 806-808.

2 Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1875, PP- 500-511.

3 Ibid. 609; Wisconsin Statesman, July 10, 1875, P- 3-

4 Bryce, American Commonwealth, ii. ch. xc; E. Benjamin Andrews, The Last
Quarter Century, i. ch. xiii; Bancroft, California, vii. 335-412; Lucile Eaves,
History of California Labor Legislation (Berkeley, 1910).

100 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

As a result of this survey of western state and local politics
from 1873 to 1876, it appears that Independent, Reform, or
Anti-Monopoly parties were organized in eleven states —
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa,
Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, California, and Oregon. In
some of these states, as in Wisconsin and Iowa, the new parties
secured victories, including the election of the state ticket in
Wisconsin, by coalescing with the Democrats and forming a
new party of opposition to the dominant Republicans. In
other states, as in Oregon and in part in Illinois, they main-
tained their independence of the old parties and secured local
victories over both of them, and in three states — Illinois,
Kansas, and California — they secured the election of " Reform-
ers " to the United States Senate.1

The purpose and character of this Independent movement
can best be determined by an examination of the platforms
adopted. In all of the states, except Indiana and Michigan,
these contained planks demanding the subjection of corpora-
tions, and especially of railroad corporations, to the control of
the state, and in several states regulation of all monopolies was
demanded. It was thus an " anti-monopoly " movement, and
in this direction the Granger laws were its principal achieve-
ment. But it was more than an " anti-monopoly " movement —
it was also a " reform " movement. Every platform adopted
by the new parties in all of the states denounced corruption in
government and demanded reform, economy, and reduction
of taxation, and several of the platforms contained specific
demands for " civil service reform." In this direction the move-
ment seems to have been a result of the unusually large amount
of corruption which prevailed in both national and state govern-
ments during the first half of the decade of the seventies.2

These, then, were the two principal and distinguishing char-
acteristics of the new parties — they were anti-monopoly (or

1 The Biographical Congressional Directory lists Harvey of Kansas as a Republi-
can, but Booth of California is described as an " Anti-monopolist " and Hager of
the same state as an " Anti-monopoly Democrat," while Davis of Illinois is listed as
" elected ... by the votes of Independents^nd Democrats."

2 See W. A. Dunning, Reconstruction, Political and Economic, chs. xiv, xviii.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE IOI

anti-railroad) and reform movements. Their platforms con-
tained many other planks, but some had reference to local
matters only, while others, such as a demand for the reduction
of the tariff to a revenue basis,1 were borrowed from the Demo-
crats. On the currency question the platforms were somewhat
varied, but the majority took definite stand in favor of a return
to specie payment as soon as practicable. In some cases the
currency planks appear to have been attempts to straddle the
issue, but in only two states — Indiana and Illinois — is it
possible to trace a direct connection between the Independent
movement and the Greenback parties which followed it.

There are a number of reasons which help to explain the
shortness of the lives of these Independent parties. While
the issue of reform is a good one upon which to arouse temporary
enthusiasm, it is hardly a satisfactory basis for the organization
of a new party — if the reform is accomplished the raison d'etre
of the party is gone, and if it is not accomplished the party is a
failure. It might seem that the issue of railroad regulation
would furnish a basis upon which a more permanent political
party might be built up. In this direction, however, the move-
ment suffered from the fact that the Granger laws for which
it was held responsible did not work well, partly because of
their crudeness, partly because of the determination of the
railroads to make them appear injurious to everybody, but
most of all because of the financial depression which followed
the panic of 1873. In many parts of the West, moreover, the
people still desired the construction of more railroad lines, and
there was a feeling that this would be checked by restrictive
legislation.

Again, it seems to be true, on the whole, that no political
party can survive a presidential campaign without a national
organization. The appearance of the National Greenback
party and its absorption of the Independent Reform' organiza-
tion in Illinois, where the movement had been most promising,

1 The objection to the protective tariff seems to have been based upon the
feeling that it was class legislation — that it taxed the farmer for the benefit of the
manufacturer — rather than upon the more recent argument that it fosters monop-
olies. See above, p. 21.

IO2 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

practically barred the way to the organization of a National
Reform party for the campaign of 1876. Large numbers of
the Independents, not only in the states where the parties had
declared for sound money but in Illinois and Indiana as well,
could not reconcile themselves to the Greenback doctrine and
as a result most of the wandering sheep returned to the Demo-
cratic or Republican folds. The fundamental cause for the
failure of the movement, however, seems to have been the same
as that which has caused the failure of every third-party move-
ment in the United States since the Civil War — the innate
political conservatism of the bulk of the American people.
Although recognizing that the issues which originally divided the
old parties have largely passed away, they have preferred, even
though it be a somewhat slower process, to bring forward the
new issues and to work out the desired reforms in the estab-
lished parties rather than to attempt to displace them with new
organizations.1

THE GRANGE AND STATE LEGISLATION

The formation of Independent parties was not the only way
in which law-making was affected by the Granger movement.
The order of Patrons of Husbandry, and to a less extent the other
farmers' organizations, exerted considerable direct influence
upon legislative activity in the different states of the Union.
This was usually by means of resolutions or petitions requesting
the enactment of desired legislation, in some cases particular
bills before the state legislatures being specified; and in most
states the politicians had such a wholesome respect for the
strength of the order that these petitions were likely to be
granted unless there were some other powerful interest opposed
to them. This was especially true with regard to legislation on
more or less technical agricultural subjects, such as the estab-
lishment and regulation of state boards of agriculture, the
collection of agricultural statistics, the taxation of dogs for the
protection of the sheep industry, the establishment of public
weighers of grain, and the regulation of fences. Upon such

1 This paragraph was written before the campaign of 1912.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 103

matters as these, it was generally felt that the desires of the
farming class should prevail, and since the Patrons of Husbandry
were looked upon as representing that class, their petitions
for legislation along these lines were likely to receive favorable
consideration.

When it was a question of legislation upon subjects of more
general interest, such as the regulation of corporations, taxation,
education, and the rate of interest, the Patrons often found
their resolutions and petitions productive of no results, and
sometimes adopted more effective ways of making their influence
felt. One of these methods was the holding of a Grange meeting
at the state capital while the legislature was in session, in order
that the presence of a large number of constituents might exert
an influence on the legislators. This plan was followed in Iowa
during the struggle for legislation to regulate railroads.1 Another
favorite method of attempting to influence legislation was that
of interrogating candidates for office regarding their position
on certain proposed legislative measures.2 This plan was made
use of by the order in Wisconsin and Illinois and was at times
effective in forcing candidates to declare themselves in favor of
the desired legislation in order to insure their election.

Among the subjects upon which the Patrons of Husbandry
attempted to secure legislation, first place was occupied during
this period by the question of regulating railroad corporations.
This subject will be taken up more fully in subsequent chapters,
so it will be unnecessary to go into it here, further than to state
that the different granges were practically unanimous in demand-
ing some measure of regulation of railroads by the state, and the
enactment of " anti-pass " legislation.

Another subject upon which many of the state granges fre-
quently requested legislation was that of education.3 In general

1 See below, p. 169.

2 See Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iii, appendix (January, 1875), for
a list of questions used in a campaign in Wisconsin during the struggle over the
Potter law.

3 See especially state grange proceedings: Alabama, iii; Indiana, iv; Iowa,
iv; Michigan, ii, iii, vi; Missouri, iii; New Hampshire, i,iv, vii; Maine, vi; North
Carolina, iii; Vermont, iv; Wisconsin, iii-viL See also below, pp. 290-293.

104 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

it may be said that the Patrons desired liberal appropriations
for agricultural colleges, demanded that these be kept separate
from the so-called " literary institutions/' and favored the intro-
duction of agricultural subjects into the curriculum of the public
schools. They did not, however, confine their interest to agri-
cultural education; on the contrary, the benefits of general
education, to the state as well as to the individual, and the
duty of the state to provide it were usually recognized, while
the Wisconsin State Grange in 1875 and the National Grange
in 1879 even went so far as to advocate compulsory education.1
One example, however, of a somewhat reactionary spirit should
be noted; in 1873, the Indiana State Grange passed a resolution
opposing grants of state funds to aid colleges " as being a great
injustice to a large portion of the children of the state and a
detriment to the interests of institutions of learning run by private
enterprise." 2

The matter of text-books also engaged the attention of the
granges and in a number of states, notably Maine, Michigan,
and Wisconsin, resolutions were passed for the adoption of
uniform text-books, to be furnished to the children at cost.3
How far any of these resolutions were of influence in determining
the course of legislation on the subject is difficult to determine.
It might be noted, however, that in Wisconsin, it was claimed
that a bill providing for uniform text-books was only prevented
from passage by offers of the book publishers to reduce greatly
the prices of their books. At its next session, the state grange
complained that the quality had been reduced as well as the
price, and demanded the adoption of a uniform set of books
to be published within the state.4

A reflection of the prevailing indebtedness among farmers
in this period is seen in the many resolutions and petitions of

1 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 91 (1875); National Grange, Pro-
ceedings, xiii. 99, in (1879).

2 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 403 (December 20, 1873).

3 Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 74 (1875); Maine State Grange,
Proceedings, vi (1879); Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, v. 69 (1877), vi.
65 (1878), vii. 65 (1879).

4 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, vii. 65 (1879).

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 105

state granges on the subjects of taxation, interest rate, and
exemption laws. As concerns taxation, resolutions can be found
in the proceedings of nearly all the state granges demanding
reduction and equalization, for it was felt that the farmers were
bearing an undue proportion of the heavy burden of taxation.1
Often specific measures were proposed for accomplishing these
objects, as in California, where the taxation of uncultivated
land, held for speculation, at an equal rate with cultivated land
was demanded.2 Exemption of railroad property from taxa-
tion was condemned by the granges of Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Ohio State Grange even demanded the taxation of church
property. The most general proposition on this subject, how-
ever, was that of taxing mortgages and relieving the mortgaged
property from a proportionate amount of the burden. Various
ingenious schemes were proposed for accomplishing this purpose;
but the order was not unanimous in the matter, for the Cali-
fornia State Grange opposed taxation of mortgages or other
credits, as well as of growing crops.3 Here again the results
of the efforts of the order are difficult to measure, and the most
that can be said is that changes were made during the decade in
the revenue systems of a number of states, in the direction of
a more equal distribution of the burden of taxation between
urban and rural property, between personal property and real
estate, and between the property of individuals and that of
corporations. In bringing about these reforms there were other
influences at work besides the Grange, but its work was un-
doubtedly a factor in the movement.4

In several of the states of the North Central group, where
the prevailing interest rate was high, attempts were made by
the state granges to secure legislation reducing the legal rate of
interest.5 The Wisconsin State Grange, for example, adopted
resolutions along this line in 1874, 1875, 1876, 1879, and 1880 and

1 See above, pp. 21-23.

2 California Patron, July 18, 1877, p. 5.

3 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 99.

4 Messer, The Grange, 18.

6 State grange proceedings: Michigan, vi; Indiana, iv; Wisconsin, ii-iv, vii,
viii.

106 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

went even so far as to advocate the regulation of the interest
rate by federal legislation. The Wisconsin legislature passed a
law in 1878 reducing the legal rate in the state from ten to seven
per cent. This was probably a result, in part, of the Grange
agitation, although it is impossible to show any direct connec-
tion, and the Grange continued to pass resolutions on the subject.
Another indication that farmers in general belonged to the
debtor class at this time is seen in the resolution of the Nebraska
State Grange, opposing any change in the stay or exemption
laws or the laws relating to foreclosure of mortgages and col-
lection of debts as likely to " do great injury to the debtor
class." 1 On the other hand, resolutions of the Iowa and New
Hampshire State Granges looking to the safeguarding of deposits
in state banks 2 would indicate that some farmers, at least, were
not in debt.

One practically universal demand of the Patrons was that of
reform and retrenchment in the administration of government,
state and local as well as national. In state affairs this took the
form mainly of a demand for a reduction of salaries and fees of
state and local officials, and resolutions embodying this demand
or protesting against proposed increases can be found in the
proceedings of nearly every state grange from New Hampshire
to California.3 The general argument was that, since the
income from all other occupations had decreased and since all
commodities were at bottom prices, it was but fair that salaries
of public officials should be reduced to a corresponding basis.
It is probable that this attitude of the granges, together with
the general sensitiveness on the subject resulting from the so-
called " salary grab " in Congress,4 was effective in keeping down
the compensation of public officials in a number of states. Thus
in Illinois a movement to increase the salaries of supreme court

1 Nebraska State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 33 (1874).

2 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, vi (1875); New Hampshire State Grange,
Proceedings, iv (1877).

8 For good examples see state grange proceedings: Indiana, iv; Michigan, i;
New York, ii; Ohio, iii; Wisconsin, vi.

4 Dunning, Reconstruction , Political and Economic {American Nation, xxii),
233-235.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 107

judges was frustrated,1 and in Ohio a law fixing the salaries of
county officials was passed in 1875, against the proposed repeal
of which the state grange protested vigorously in i876.2 In
addition, the general watchfulness and suspicion of public
officials which was inculcated by the granges undoubtedly served
to check to some extent the corruption and extravagance which
permeated the government of many states during the decade
following the Civil War.3

Numerous other legislative projects, mainly of local interest,
attracted the attention of different state granges. Thus in
California, a committee of the state grange circulated a, petition
asking the legislature to establish a general system of irrigation
under the control of the state. Some of the granges, located in
parts of the state where the direct advantages of the proposed
system would not be felt, refused their support to the measure;
but a bill embodying the features of the proposed system was
presented to the Assembly in January, 1874, by a Granger
member from Los Angeles. This bill, known by the name of
its introducer as Venable's bill, passed the Assembly by a majority
of thirty votes, but was defeated in the Senate, through the
influence, it was claimed, of the San Joaquin and King's River
Canal Company, a corporation which controlled a considerable
part of the private irrigation business of the state. The Grange
committee in its report to the state grange, made in the fall of
1874, intimated strongly that money was used with the senators
to defeat this measure.4

In the proceedings of a number of southern granges, resolu-
tions are to be found which reflect the conditions prevailing in
that part of the country during the era of reconstruction. Thus
the South Carolina Grange, at its fourth annual session in 1875,
asked for legislation to prohibit the traffic in produce at night,5
and in Mississippi in the same year, the state grange demanded

1 Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 32.

2 Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 85 (1876).
8 Dunning, Reconstruction, ch. xiv.

4 California State Grange, Declaration of Purposes; Carr, Patrons of Husbandry,
146-148, 183-185.

5 South Carolina State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1875).

108 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the enactment of more stringent laws for the enforcement of
contracts to labor.1 In Alabama the influence of the Grange,
as exerted by agitation and memorials to the legislature, appears
to have been a factor in securing the repeal of the personal
recognisance law and the enactment of many laws in the interests
of the white farmers; including a high license law, a law to
restrict the sale of liquor by druggists, and more stringent laws
to prevent trespass, burning of woodlands, and stealing of
agricultural products.2

Such were the main lines along which the order of Patrons
of Husbandry sought to influence the course of legislation in
the different states, and in general it would seem that the results
of this influence were salutary; certainly that was the case in
so far as it served to check the tendency toward extravagance
and corruption on the part of public officials. True, the amount
of legislation which can be pointed to as a direct result of Grange
influence, aside from the Granger railroad laws, is slight, but
the work of agitation performed by the order served at least
to inculcate an interest and a watchfulness in legislative matters
on the part of the farmers, the indirect influence of which was
probably quite extensive.

THE GRANGE AND NATIONAL LEGISLATION

The constitution of the order of Patrons of Husbandry ex-
pressly declared that political questions would not be tolerated
as subjects of discussion,3 and the founders repeatedly asserted
that the order was not a political organization. Nevertheless,
the phenomenal increase in the membership of the order during
1873 and 1874 awakened the liveliest interest, and sometimes
apprehension, among politicians throughout the Union. Thus
the New York Tribune, referring to the Grange, declared that

1 Mississippi State Grange, Proceedings, v (1875).

2 Hawkins, " The Grange in the South," in Allen, Labor and Capital, ch. xx.
Mr. Hawkins also declares that the Grange was a considerable factor in uniting
the farmers and white men in general in preparation for the reestablishment of
white supremacy in Alabama in 1874.

3 See Article XII of the constitution in National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 18
(1873), and many other places.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 109

" within a few weeks it has menaced the political equilibrium
of the most steadfast states. It has upset the calculations of
veteran campaigners, and put professional office-seekers to
more embarrassment than even the Back Pay." * There was
considerable justification for this conception of the Grange in
the fact that large numbers undoubtedly did join it in the years
of its prestige with the idea of using the order for political ends;
but the principal reason for this misapprehension of the real
purposes of the order was probably the failure of a considerable
part of the press throughout the country, particularly in the
East, to distinguish clearly between the order of Patrons of
Husbandry and the openly political aspects of the general
farmers' movement, such as the farmers7 clubs and the Indepen-
dent political parties of the western states.

Despite considerable internal pressure to the contrary and
some transgression on the part of local granges, the National
Grange succeeded in maintaining the non-political position of
the order; and the " Declaration of Purposes" adopted at the
seventh annual session 2 in February, 1874, emphasized the
position of the order on this subject by the following assertion : 3
" We emphatically and sincerely assert the oft-repeated truth
taught in our organic law, that the Grange, National, State, or
Subordinate, is not a political or party organization. No Grange,
if true to its obligations, can discuss political or religious ques-
tions, nor call political conventions, nor nominate candidates,
nor even discuss their merits in its meetings."

The idea of a secret society of farmers with political objects,
which the organization of the Grange had suggested, appears
to have been too enticing to let slip, and this declaration of the
Patrons was followed almost immediately by the organization
in New York of the " Order of Independent Grangers." 4 A few
years later, 0. H. Kelley, the " Father of the Grange " evolved

1 Quoted in Martin, Granger Movement, 415-418.

2 This was the second session of the National Grange as a delegate body. The
first five sessions were merely meetings of the founders. See above, pp. 63-65.

3 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 56-60 (1874).

4 Rural Carolinian, v. 372 (April, 1874); American Agriculturist, xxxiii. 125
(April, 1874).

110 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the idea of the " Degree of the Golden Sheaf," which was ap-
parently intended as a sort of secret inner circle within the Grange
with the object of securing concert of action at the ballot box.1
For some reason, secret political associations have never flourished
in the United States, and both of these movements appear
to have been fiascos. In general the farmers preferred to keep
the secret feature out of their political organizations, as witness
the open farmers' clubs of the western states.

At first there seemed to be a tendency on the part of some
of the leaders of the Grange to interpret the political restriction
of the constitution in such a way as to prohibit the discussion
of politico-economic questions, and the agitation for legislation
in the interest of farmers. Thus, the National Grange, when
confronted, at its seventh session, with a resolution for memoraliz-
ing Congress on the subject of national finance and the bonded
debt, decided that it would be injudicious to take any action
in the matter.2 These scruples were soon wiped away, however,
and the " Declaration of Purposes,' ' adopted at the same session,
plainly exhibits an intention to agitate for legislation along a
number of lines.3 By the tenth session of the National Grange,
in November, 1876, this work had become one of the most
prominent functions of the order, and a general plan of action
was adopted for securing the desired legislation.4 According
to this plan the master of the National Grange was to draw up
forms of a petition to Congress on the subjects decided upon;
these were to be sent to the state masters, who would circulate

1 All the evidence that has been secured relating to the " Degree of the Golden
Sheaf " is comprised in a number of circulars in the library of the Wisconsin His-
torical Society. These are signed by Kelley as " actuary," and one of them, dated
April 12, 1886, declares that the association was organized in 1875. One is tempted
to wonder if the fee, of at least five dollars, which was to be paid to the National
Branch by each subordinate branch established, was not the real raison d'etre for
the degree. In 1877 the National Grange adopted a resolution denouncing as
conspirators any members of the order " found engaged in organizing a secret
society within our order, or consisting in part or the whole of members of our Order."
National Grange, Proceedings, xi. 136 (1877).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 41 (1874).
» Ibid. 56 (1874).

4 Ibid. x. 159 (1876).

AS A POLITICAL FORCE III

them among the subordinate granges, and then return them to
the national master for presentation to Congress. In addition,
the national master was to draw up a form for a circular letter
to the individual congressmen, requesting reports on the prog-
ress of the desired legislation and urging the necessity for action,
copies of which should be sent by the master of each state grange
to every senator and representative from his state. In this way
the demands of the farmers were to be brought to the attention
of all the congressmen at the same time; for the date upon which
the letters were to be mailed was to be fixed by the master of
the National Grange. This procedure, or some modification of
it, and the appointment of special committees to lobby for its
measures, were the principal methods by which the order at-
tempted to influence the course of national legislation; although
it also took advantage of the election, in the latter part of the
decade, of several of the members of the National Grange to seats
in Congress, to press through them for the desired legislation.1

Among the objects of the Patrons of Husbandry and the other
farmers' organizations, none was more prominent in the early
seventies than that of securing reduction in the cost of trans-
portation. For furthering this object two general lines of
procedure presented themselves to the farmers; regulation of
the existing means of transportation by the government, national
or state; and increase in the facilities for transportation. The
efforts of the farmers for the regulation of railways will be
treated in subsequent chapters, but the agitation for internal
improvements can best be considered here in connection with
the general legislative activity of the Grange.

Almost as soon as they were organized, the different state
granges, especially those of the Mississippi Valley, began to
agitate for the construction of canals, and the improvement of
the river channels in which they were severally interested.2
These propositions varied according to the location of the grange,
but there was one scheme which received the general approval

1 Ibid. xii. 88 (1878), xiv. 99, 151 (1880).

2 For examples see state grange proceedings: Indiana, iv (1874); Missouri,
iii (1874); Vermont, special (May, 1874), iv (1875); Wisconsin, ii (1874).

112 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

of the order — the establishment of a workable water route
from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico by improvement
of the Fox, Wisconsin, and Mississippi rivers. In order to
bring the influence of the Grange to bear more effectively for
securing federal aid for this project, the executive committees
of the various Mississippi Valley granges held a meeting at
Keokuk, Iowa, October 6, 1873, at which arrangements were
made for carrying on a correspondence with the congressmen
from each state on the subject.1 Shortly after this a North-
western Farmers' Convention, which met at Chicago, took up
this and other schemes for internal improvement, and the officers
of this convention were given an opportunity to present the
views of the farmers on the subject before the Windom com-
mittee on transportation of the United States Senate.2 The
National Grange, in the " Declaration of Purposes " adopted
at its next meeting, February, 1874, declared that the order
would advocate the increase of facilities for cheap transporta-
tion in every practicable way.3 Resolutions were also adopted
at this and at subsequent meetings favoring specific projects.
Meanwhile the various state granges continued to pass resolu-
tions on the subject, and it seems probable that- this agitation
had considerable influence in inducing Congress to appropriate
over fifty-eight million dollars for river and harbor improve-
ment in the decade from 1870 to 1880, a sum more than four
times as great as the appropriations for similar purposes in any
preceding decade. Of this money, a considerable part was used
on the Mississippi, Wisconsin, and Fox rivers, but this general
project of a Lakes to Gulf waterway has never been successfully
carried out, because of a number of weak links in the chain
which do not seem to be susceptible of improvement.

1 The resolution embodying the proceedings of the Keokuk meeting is to be
found in Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 31 (1874); Iowa State Grange,
Proceedings, iv (1873); and also printed separately in the form of a circular, a
copy of which is in the library of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

2 Windom Committee, Report, ii. 646-688. The proceedings of the North-
western Farmers' Convention are here given in full together with testimony of
the officers before the committee.

3 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 58 (1874).

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 113

Another scheme for increasing the transportation facilities
of the country, which was extremely popular with the granges of
the interior, was the construction, preferably by the federal
government, oi a double-track freight railroad from some point
in the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic Ocean.1 The attitude
of antagonism to railroad corporations, which had been assumed
by the order in the Northwest, led the granges in that section
of the country to oppose strongly any further grants of public
lands to aid private companies in the construction of new lines ; 2
and in general their schemes for increasing transportation facili-
ties looked toward direct participation on the part of the govern-
ment. In the South, on the other hand, where the need of more
railroads was greatest and the abuses of railroad management
had been least felt, the granges were inclined to favor the con-
tinuance of the system of federal aid for the construction of lines
by private companies. Thus the Texas State Grange adopted
a resolution asking Congress to extend aid to the Texas and
Pacific railroad, and the matter was brought before the National
Grange at its eighth session, with the result that that body also
adopted a resolution favoring federal aid for the project, but
under such restrictions as would guarantee the government
against loss, and protect the agricultural interests against unjust
discriminations.3 This session of the National Grange was held
at Charleston, and appears to have been somewhat under the '
influence of the southern wing of the order, for several other
projects for legislation to encourage the construction of railroads
by private companies received its approval. These measures
were opposed by most of the delegates from the northwestern
states,4 in a number of which, state and local granges afterwards

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 85 (1874); Iowa State Grange, Proceedings,
iv (1873); Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 25 (1874), iii. 59 (1875).

2 State grange proceedings: Indiana, iv (1874); Michigan, i (1874), iii
(December, 1875); Ohio, ii (1875).

3 Resolutions of Legislatures, Boards of Trade, State Granges, etc., favoring Gov-
ernment Aid to the Texas and Pacific Railway (pamphlet, Philadelphia, 1874),
35-38; National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 85-88 (February, 1875).

4 Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, ii (1875); Prairie Farmer, xlvi. 84, 99, 107
(March 13, 27, April 3, 1875).

114 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

adopted resolutions condemning the action of the National
Grange in this particular.

The interest of the farmers in problems of currency and bank-
ing was early reflected in resolutions of a number of state granges
calling for increase in the amount of currency, the substitution
of legal tender notes for national bank notes, the repeal of the
tax on state bank notes, or the payment of customs dues in
currency.1 The National Grange at first took the stand that
these were questions of a political nature, and twice refused
to consider resolutions relating to the currency problem.2 In
the latter part of the decade, however, when the state granges
began to pass resolutions for " the issue of money directly by the
government for the benefit of the whole people," and when the
Illinois State Farmers' Association and similar bodies in other
states made the expansion of the currency one of their cardinal
issues,3 the National Grange reconsidered its position. At its
eleventh session in November, 1877, it adopted a resolution for
the repeal of the law demonetizing silver and the law fixing a
date for the resumption of specie payments.4 There seems,
however, to have been some difference of opinion in the order
upon the merits of the question, as well as upon the advisability
of considering it,5 for the New Hampshire State Grange in Decem-
ber, 1877, resolved: " That a dollar should be a full dollar, and
all debts honestly paid according to the contract." 6 This
might be considered as a mild expression of disapproval of the
stand taken by the National Grange. In committing itself on
this subject, which had been made the principal issue of the
National Greenback party, the Grange undoubtedly laid itself
open to the charge of partisanship, and this probably helped to

1 State grange proceedings: Indiana, iv (1874); Wisconsin, ii (1874), iv (1876);
North Carolina, ii (1875); Michigan, iii (December, 1875).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 41 (1874), ix. 175-177 (November, 1875).

3 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, v. 27 (1877); Illinois State Farmers'
Association, Proceedings, v (1877).

4 National Grange, Proceedings, xi. 69, 82-85 (1877).

6 The Grange divided 1 8 to 30 on the question of the indefinite postponement
of the resolution; 34 to 9 on the repeal of the demonetization law; and 30 to 14 on
the repeal of the resumption law.

6 New Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1877).

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 115

weaken its hold on the farming population of the country in the
latter part of the decade.

The tariff question, which, as has been seen, nearly caused a
split in the ranks of the reforming farmers of Illinois as early
as April, 1873, also proved to be an apple of discord for the
Patrons of Husbandry. The different state granges often had
decided views on the question, but these views were so divergent
that all attempts to reconcile them in the meetings of the Na-
tional Grange proved futile. The granges of the northern
states, in general, seemed to be more interested in preventing
the removal of duties on agricultural products than in securing
the reduction of the duties on other articles, although there was
a tendency to oppose an increase in the tax on such articles of
common consumption as tea and coffee.1 This was a time when
there was considerable agitation for a reciprocity treaty with
Canada; but the farmers were unwilling to meet the competition
of Canadian products, and the state granges of Indiana and
New York adopted resolutions condemning the proposition
and urging the senators from those states to oppose the con-
firmation of such a treaty.2 One duty particularly cherished
by the northern farmers was that on wool. This was reduced
in 1872. It is probable that the activity of the Grange in Michi-
gan and a number of other wool-growing states was largely
instrumental in securing its restoration in 1874, and in preventing
subsequent reduction during the decade.3

The California State Grange, on the other hand, advocated a
reduction of the duty on grain sacks, while granges in the South
naturally inclined toward free trade or a tariff for revenue only.
Thus the Texas State Grange sent a request to the National
Grange at its ninth session in November, 1875, that it adopt
measures to influence Congress to abolish all protective duties.
The committee to which this was referred opposed its considera-
tion as savoring of a political nature, but the subject was again

1 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1873).

2 Indiana State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1874); New York State Grange,
Proceedings, ii (1875).

3 Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, vi. 10 (1878), viii. 16 (1880); Wisconsin
State Grange, Proceedings, vi. 77 (1878), vii. 18 (1879).

Il6 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

brought up by the Texas delegate and a discussion ensued in
which the delegates from Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri opposed
the proposition. A motion was then carried to postpone its
further consideration and there is no record of any attempt to
bring it up again.1

Another branch of federal taxation which interested the
Patrons of Husbandry was the internal revenue duty on tobacco.
This was a matter which vitally concerned the pocket-books of
many farmers in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and neighboring
states, and the granges in these states early began an agitation
for the removal or reduction of this duty. The question was
brought up at the eighth session of the National Grange in
February, 1875 (the Charleston session), by the delegate from
Kentucky, and a resolution was adopted, apparently with little
opposition, requesting Congress to repeal all laws levying taxes
on tobacco, and to endeavor to secure the reduction of duties
imposed by foreign countries on the importation of this product.
A resolution in almost the same terms was adopted in the tenth
session in 1876, but some opposition developed in the eleventh
session, and it was found advisable to change the proposed
resolution to a mere request that the revenue laws relating to
tobacco be revised. At the next session, the twelfth, the execu-
tive committee was directed to prepare a memorial to Congress
on the subject, and a year later, November, 1879, the master
reported that a reduction had been secured which " had benefited
this year the farmers of the State of Kentucky alone to the
amount of over three million dollars." 2 This work of the National
Grange did not meet with the approval of all parts of the order,
however, for the New Hampshire State Grange, in December,
1878, adopted a resolution expressing regret at the position of
the National Grange on the subject and taking the stand that
Congress should lay heavy taxes on tobacco and liquor, " and
thus leave the necessaries of life as free from the burden

1 National Grange, Proceedings, ix. 46, 72, 152 (November, 1875). At the
eleventh session, resolutions were introduced by the delegate from Pennsylvania
in favor of maintaining a high duty on hides, wool, and linseed, but the Grange
refused to consider them. Ibid. xi. 119, 133 (1877).

2 Ibid. viii. 91.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 117

of taxation as the necessities of the State and Nation will
permit." l

Numerous other resolutions on federal taxation might be
mentioned, such as one adopted by the Ohio State Grange in
1873 in favor of an income tax, a subject which was taken up
by the National Grange at the very end of the decade ; 2 and
one by the Alabama State Grange, requesting the return of the
cotton tax collected during the years i 865-67 ;3 but enough
examples have been given to show that the deciding factor in
determining the action of a grange in such matters was generally
the financial interests of the individual Grangers, and when
these differed, as they were almost sure to in the National
Grange, made up of delegates from all parts of the country, it
was impossible to bring any effective influence to bear upon
Congress. May not the diversity of interests within the class,
due in the main to the great extent of the country, be rightly
considered as the principal cause for the failure of all attempts,
not only on the part of the agricultural class but of other classes
as well, to become effectively united forces in national politics ?

There were, however, a number of propositions for national
legislation on subjects pertaining more directly to agriculture
toward which the attitude of the Patrons of Husbandry was more
nearly unanimous and their influence correspondingly greater.
One of the most important of these was the project for the
advancement of the federal bureau of agriculture to the rank
of a regular department of the government, presided over by
a member of the president's cabinet. This subject was first
brought forward in a series of resolutions adopted by the National
Grange at its tenth session in November, 1876, and steps were
taken to enlist the assistance, not only of all state and local
granges, but of unaffiliated farmers and planters as well, in a
campaign for the proposition. From this time forth not a
session of the National Grange passed by without the adoption

1 New Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, v (1878).

2 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1873); National Grange, Proceedings,
xiv. 91 (1880).

3 Alabama State Grange, Proceedings, ii (1874).

Il8 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

of resolutions demanding the advancement of the bureau of
agriculture and more liberal appropriations for its use, while
many of the state granges, notably those of the New England
states, adopted similar resolutions and took steps to induce
the congressmen from their states to support the project.1
In Congress the measure met the opposition of the chairman of
the committee on agriculture of the House, but it was taken
in hand by D. Wyatt Aiken, a prominent Patron and congress-
man from South Carolina, and by him pressed to a vote in
February, 1881. The debate developed considerable opposition
on the ground that the measure was class legislation, and the
bill failed by two votes of the- two-thirds necessary for the sus-
pension of the rules. In the next Congress, the forty-seventh,
the bill was again brought forward, and was passed in the House
on May 10, 1882, by the overwhelming vote of 183 to 7; but
it was not until February, 1887, that the bill finally passed the
Senate, with amendments, and not until 1889 did the two houses
succeed in agreeing on the provisions of the measure and permit
it to become a law.2 While the Grange was, of course, not the
only force which exerted an influence in favor of this measure,
it seems clear that it was one of the most important factors in
securing the establishment and liberal support of the depart-
ment of agriculture, an institution which has been of great
service to the farmers of the country and to the nation in general.3
Another proposition for national legislation which received
considerable attention from the Patrons of Husbandry was that
of reform of the patent laws. The greater part of the machinery
and many implements and devices used by the farmers were
patented, and it was felt that these laws and the administration

1 National Grange, Proceedings, x. 23, 116, 159 (1876), xi. 105 (1877), xii. 64
(1878), xiii. 40, 94, 124, 127 (1879), xiv. 69, 79, 90 (1880); New Hampshire State
Grange, Proceedings, iv (1877), yii (1880); Maine State Grange, Proceedings, vi
(1879).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 15-18 (1881), xvi. 10 (1882); Darrow,
Patrons of Husbandry, 45-50; Congressional Record, xi. 709, 1317-1320, xiii. 3706,
3727, 3753-3776, 3794-3796, 4284, xiv. 1154-1159, 1176-1179, xx. 1399.

8 Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 50; Messer, The Grange, 17; C. H. Great-
house, Historical Sketch of the Department of Agriculture (rev. ed.), 20.

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 119

of the patent bureau in general was too favorable to patentees
and manufacturers, and bore too heavily on the consumers.
The reforms proposed were mainly of three sorts : the limitation
of the life of patents and the prevention of their extension by
renewals; the establishment of a fixed royalty with permission
to anyone to manufacture patented articles upon the payment
of such royalty; and finally, the protection of the " innocent
purchaser or user of a patented article/' making the manufac-
turer or vendor alone responsible for violations of the law.
Resolutions along these lines appear in the proceedings of
the National Grange and of the state granges of Iowa and
Wisconsin as early as 1874, and the usual method of bombarding
Congress with memorials and petitions was followed throughout
the decade, though without any considerable results.1 The
National Grange seems to have concentrated its forces on the
third of the desired reforms, and a bill purporting to grant pro-
tection to innocent users of patented articles, but declared by
the master of the National Grange to be worthless, passed the
House in 1880 and was allowed to expire in the Senate.2 Again
in 1882 another bill, more satisfactory to the Grangers, was
passed by the House, but this was held up by amendments in
the Senate.3 Although the attempt to secure general reform of
the patent laws thus came to naught, the Patrons appear to
have been more successful in dealing with individual cases, and
the claim is made that the influence of the Grange prevented
the extension of patents on sewing-machines.4 In various parts
of the country, moreover, and particularly in Michigan, the
Patrons made use of their organization to fight successfully the
various swindles, such as the patenting and collection of royalty

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 55, viii. 62, ix. 39, 72, x. 159, xi. 105, xii.
68, xiii. 40, 86, 120, 125, xiv. 69, 79, 91, 107 (1874-80); State grange proceedings:
Iowa, v (1874); Michigan, ii (1875); tNew Hampshire, vii (1880); New York,
ii (1875); Wisconsin, ii-iv (1874-76); Minnesota State Grange, Constitution
(1873). See also Congressional Record, xiv. 1694, 1759, 1942.

8 National Grange, Proceedings, xiv. 27 (1880); Congressional Record, x. 768.

3 National Grange, Proceedings, xvi. 11-13 (1882); Congressional Record, xiii.
3413, 3945, 3952-3955. xiv. 2263, 3684-3686.

4 Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 50; Messer, The Grange, 18.

120 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

upon articles long in common use, which the laxness of the patent
laws or the laxness of their enforcement made possible.1

The Grangers were also quite unanimous in demanding greater
economy in the conduct of the general government. Just as
there was a constant demand for reform and retrenchment in
state and local government, so was it also felt that there were
many ways in which the national government might be made
more efficient and less extravagant and corrupt. The various
proceedings of state and national granges are rilled with denun-
ciations of such specific examples as the " salary grab " law and
the Credit Mobilier affair, and with demands for more economical
administration of the national government, lower salaries and
fees for officials, and less display and extravagance in the erection
of public buildings, while the Michigan State Grange in 1875
went so far as roundly to condemn the contemplated appro-
priation for the centennial exhibition at Philadelphia.2

Among the various other projects for national legislation
with which the Patrons of Husbandry were concerned at dif-
ferent times during the decade are to be found propositions
for stricter quarantine against yellow fever;3 for legislation to
stamp out pleuro-pneumonia among cattle;4 for the more
merciful treatment of live-stock in transit; 5 for the improvement
of the system of levees on the Mississippi River — brought
forward by the Louisiana State Grange;6 for the appoint-
ment of a commission to devise means for the extermination
of destructive insects;7 for improvements in the signal service
of the United States weather bureau;8 for the regulation of
weights and measures;9 for changes in the rates of postage;10

1 See above, p. 18.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, xiii. 124 (1879); State grange proceedings:
Michigan, i, ii (1874, 1875); New Hampshire, i, iv, vii (1873, 1877, 1880); New
York, ii (1875).

3 National Grange, Proceedings, xii. 65 (1878).

4 Ibid. xiv. 55, 140 (1880).
6 Ibid. xii. 67 (1878).

6 Ibid. viii. 67 (February, -1875).

7 Ibid. ix. 56 (November, 1875).

8 Ibid. 174. 9 Ibid. 43, 107.
10 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1876).

AS A POLITICAL FORCE 121

for greater security of bank deposits; and for commercial
treaties to open up the markets of the world, and especially of
South America, to the products of American agriculture.1

On a number of other subjects of more general interest, the
National Grange was somewhat chary of putting itself on record,
probably for fear of antagonizing some of the members of the
order. Thus, when the proposition for the exclusion of Chinese
labor, a subject which was agitating the people of the Pacific
coast at this time and upon which resolutions had been passed
by the California State Grange, was brought before the National
Grange at its eleventh session in 1877, through a resolution
presented by a delegate from California, the resolution was
rejected without consideration.2 Women's suffrage was another
of these questions, and one in which the order had a particular
interest, since its ranks and its dignities were open to women on
practically the same footing as to men. Various state granges
frequently declared themselves in favor of giving the ballot to
women, and the question came before the National Grange at
its tenth session in 1876. It was referred to a special committee
of five which reported unfavorably. The chairman of the
committee, " Sister " Washburn of Colorado, then submitted a
minority report in favor of the proposition, but the whole subject
was indefinitely postponed by a vote of twenty-four (sixteen
men and eight women) to nine (five men and four women).3
Questions of temperance and prohibition also received occasional
attention from the order, and the Ohio State Grange once allowed
itself to be drawn into a temperance crusade which was under
way at Xenia during its session in that place.4 Resolutions
condemning intemperance, and suggesting that members should
not cast their ballots for candidates for public office who made
use of intoxicating drinks or were in sympathy with the liquor
traffic, were presented to the National Grange at its twelfth
session in 1878 by the delegate from Ohio, and were carried by

1 National Grange, Proceedings, xi. 133 (1877), xiii. 124 (1879).

2 Ibid. xi. 108, 132 (1877).

3 National Grange, Proceedings, x. 94, 96, 121, 169-171 (1876).

4 Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, i (1873). See also below, p. 298.

122 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

a vote of twenty-seven to eleven; several of those who voted
in the negative explaining that they were in sympathy with the
purposes of the resolution, but objected to its consideration by
the Grange.1

It cannot be said, on the whole, that the order of Patrons
of Husbandry exercised any considerable direct influence on
national legislation during the decade 1870-80. With the
possible exceptions of the reduction of the internal revenue duty
on tobacco and the restoration of the high tariff on wool, prac-
tically all of the demands of the order for national legislation
went unheeded by Congress or were in line with laws which
would have been enacted even without the support of the Grange.
The same probably is true of much of the legislation since 1880
for which the members of the order have been wont to claim the
credit. Even the elevation of the bureau of agriculture to a
cabinet department would doubtless have taken place in time
without the agitation of the Grange, though that agitation
probably hastened the step somewhat; and no student of national
railway legislation would be willing to accept the claim of many
members of the order that it was chiefly instrumental in securing
the passage of the interstate commerce act.2 To understand
this failure to exercise effective influence on national legislation,
even with regard to questions upon which the order was united,
consideration should be given to the facts that the Grange did
not attempt to exercise such influence to any considerable
extent until 1875 or 1876, by which time it had begun to decline
rapidly in numbers and prestige ; and that when the order began
to revive in the next decade, numerous other and more vigorous
agricultural organizations had come to the front, and it could
no longer claim to be the principal spokesman of the farming
class.

1 National Grange, Proceedings, xii. 105 (1878).

2 Messer, The Grange, 17; Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 50; J. J. Woodman,
in American Grange Bulletin, August i, 1901.

CHAPTER IV

GRANGER RAILWAY LEGISLATION (ILLINOIS)

OF all the various aspects of the movement for agricultural
organization in the seventies, none attracted so much attention
at the time, or was so significant in its results, as the attempt
to subject railway corporations to the control of the state.
Indeed, this phase of the movement has so overshadowed its
other manifestations, that to most writers, even of the present
day, the term " Granger movement" appears to connote primarily
this struggle between the farmers and the railroads, to the
exclusion of the social, intellectual, and cooperative features of
the movement. Not only does this subject present one of the
most important manifestations of the desire of the farming classes
to band together for mutual assistance and support, but it is
likewise a very significant chapter in the history of railway
transportation in America. It marks the final abandonment
of the laissez faire theory that natural laws alone are sufficient
to insure the management of railroads in the interest of the
public, and the beginning of definite attempts to solve the rail-
way problem by restrictive legislation. It is the first appear-
ance in the legislative arena, in America, of one of the most
vital economic problems which confront American legislatures,
state and national, at the present time.

In dealing with this subject, special attention will be given
to the movement in the four northwestern states of Illinois,
Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. There were attempts at
restrictive legislation in many other states during the decade,
and these will be summarized so far as they can be considered
parts of the Granger movement, but it was in these four states
that the most important laws were enacted; it was in these
states that the principal cases leading to important judicial
decisions arose; and, finally, in these states the movement for
railway legislation was most closely connected with the movement

123

124 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

for agricultural organization. But even here the agitation for
the regulation of railways began long before the Patrons of
Husbandry arose to importance, and, in Illinois, even before
the movement for rural organization in open farmers' clubs
got under way. Thus it is probable that there would have been
legislation on the subject even without the accompanying
movement for agricultural organization. On the other hand,
there is no doubt that the influence of the organized farmers
was the principal force back of these movements for railway
regulation, giving to them many of their distinctive aspects;
and therefore it is eminently proper that they should find a
place in any discussion of the Granger movement.1

EARLY AGITATION AND THE LAW or 1869

In most accounts of railway legislation in the northwestern
states the date 1870 is taken as marking the transition between
the period of feverish anxiety for the construction of more
railroads and the period of agitation for the reduction and equali-
zation of rates.2 While this is fairly accurate as a generaliza-
tion, the impossibility of marking off historical development
into definite periods with fixed dates is well illustrated by the
fact that the first period did not end in the more western states
and even in many of the less developed counties of Illinois until
long after 1870, while the feeling that legislative curbing of the
railroads was necessary began to make its appearance as early
as 1850 and became a force to be reckoned with in the decade
of the sixties.3

In Illinois the first positive movement in the direction of
restrictive railway legislation was the passage of a bill by the
House of Representatives in 1861 " to prevent and punish any

1 For an account of the conditions of railway construction and management
which led to the Granger legislation, see above, pp. 9-15.

2 See J. H. Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation and Commission Control since
1870, introduction by M. B. Hammond, for a division of railway legislation in
Illinois into periods. See also E. C. Clark, State Railroad Commissions and How
they may be Made Effective.

* F. E. Newton, Railway Legislation in Illinois from 1828 to 1870 (Ms.),
ch. x.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 12$

fraudulent discrimination by railroad companies." 1 Two years
later a bill for the appointment of railroad commissioners passed
the Senate but was not acted upon by the House.2 In 1865,
however, the House passed a bill for the appointment of a
railroad commission, by a vote of 62 to i, and also a bill limit-
ing passenger fares to three cents per mile. The Senate had now
become conservative and both of these measures were buried
by its committee on railroads.3 In the next general assembly,
which convened in 1867, a large number of bills and resolutions
were introduced, and the House finally passed, by a vote of 57
to 24, a bill for " An act to assert the control of the state over
railroad corporations, to fix the rates of freight, and to prevent
extortion." The Senate at this session went so far as to adopt
a resolution declaring that the legislature had full power to limit
fares or freights, and that the unreasonable, excessive, and
oppressive charges of the corporations made the exercise of that
power imperative; but the only railroad measure which got
so far as a third reading in that house was defeated by a tie
vote.4

The demand for the curbing of the power of railway corpora-
tions continued to grow throughout the state during the follow-
ing two years. When the twenty-sixth general assembly con-
vened in January, 1869, it was one of the principal subjects
confronting the legislature.5 A number of restrictive bills were
introduced in both houses, but the first one passed — a three
cent fare measure — was vetoed by the governor, on the ground
that the railroad charters were contracts, and not subject to

1 Illinois, Senate Journal, 1861, p. 583.

2 Ibid., 1863, pp. 89, 193, 210; House Journal, 1863, pp. 117, 503, 681, 723-732.

3 For legislative activity on the subject of railway regulation at this session,
see House Journal, 1865, pp. 113, 164, 439, 467, 506, 520, 594, 681, 701, 778, 833,
982; Senate Journal, 1865, pp. 548, 560, 675, 683, 711.

4 House Journal, 1867, i. 45, 47, 82, 97, 107, 127, 162, 240, 301, 314, 356, 446,
626, ii. 436, 673; Senate Journal, 1867, pp. 93, 95, 134, 171, 173-176, 185, 200, 205,
222, 438, 446, 469, 507-512, 532, 550, 870-875, 1231; John Moses, Illinois, His-
torical and Statistical, ii. 769.

6 Ibid. 777. For a characterization of this general assembly, see Davidson
and Stuve", History of Illinois, 933-935. Cf. Gordon, Illinois Railway Legisla-
tion, 21.

126 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

alteration by the legislature.1 In spite of the fact that the
governor's veto at this time was merely suspensive and could
be over-ridden by a majority vote of both houses, the legislature
docilely laid aside the radical bill and enacted a law which was
in accord with suggestions made by the governor.2 This " Act
concerning railroad rates " of I86Q,3 which was the first measure
on the statute books of Illinois that attempted to interfere with
the right of railway companies to fix the charges for their services,
was quite inadequate as a solution of the problem of railway
regulation and failed entirely to satisfy the growing demand
for effective measures. It contained provisions declaring that
railroads should be limited to " just, reasonable, and uniform
rates," and that they should receive " a reasonable and uniform
toll or compensation, according to the service actually rendered " ;
but the popular pro rata principle was specifically rejected by a
section providing that these declarations should not be taken
to mean that rates must be the same on all roads, or for different
classes of freight, or for shipments in opposite directions. Phrased
thus guardedly and with no adequate provision for enforcement,
the act became a mere encumbrance on the statute books.
There is no evidence that the railroad companies paid any
attention to it, or that any attempts were made to enforce it.4

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1870

The people of the state, and especially the farmers, were not
long in discovering that the legislature had given them a stone
when they had asked for bread, and the pages of the Prairie
Farmer and other newspapers soon contained numerous articles,
editorials, and letters discussing railroad abuses and the rail-

1 Senate Journal, 1869, i. 44, 186-192, 208-210, 322, 397, 471-474; House
Journal, 1869, i. 225, 227, 283, 300, 342-350, 463; Moses, Illinois, ii. 778.

2 Senate Journal, 1869, i. 404, 506, 566, 856, ii. 9-14, 97, 406, 446, 644; House
Journal, 1869, ii. 561, 589, iii. 193, 223, 251.

3 Illinois, Public Laws, 1869, pp. 309-312.

4 Cf. Hammond, in Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 17; Newton, Railway
Legislation in Illinois (Ms.), 75- During this period some of the agitation for state
control found vent in restrictive provisions in charters to new railway companies.
Ibid. ch. x.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 12J

road law and asserting the power of the state to control corpora-
tions of its own creation. One correspondent of the Prairie
Farmer declared in May, 1869, that the legislature should have
gone further and fixed the " just and reasonable rates " instead
of allowing the corporations to determine what were such;
another in August declared the law as passed to be " clumsy
and effete " and suggested that bribery was used to prevent
the passage of more effective measures.1 Although frustrated
this time, the advocates of state control of railroads did not give
up the struggle, and an opportunity to inaugurate a flank move-
ment on the enemy was presented by the fact that a convention
was to meet in December, 1869, to revise the state constitution.
The contest was at once transferred from the legislative to the
constitutional field. From the attitude on the subject of a
large majority in the convention, and the results as embodied
in the new constitution, it is apparent that the farmers and others
desirous of restrictive legislation kept that issue in mind in the
elections of delegates to the convention.

Various influences were also brought to bear upon the con-
vention in favor of radical provisions for railway regulation.
As might be expected, a considerable number of petitions relating
to the subject were received,2 and local pressure was undoubtedly
brought to bear upon the individual members, especially during
a recess of the convention.3 But even more important than these
was the movement for protective and cooperative organization
which was beginning to take a hold among the farmers of the
state. Numerous local meetings for the consideration of prob-
lems of transportation and rural organization were held in i869,4
and on March 26, 1870, Mr. Henry C. Wheeler, a farmer of
Du Page County, Illinois, issued in the Prairie Farmer a call
for a " Producers' Convention." This call contained a somewhat
intemperate discussion of the transportation question, the gist
of which was that railroad charges had not been reduced to

1 Prairie Farmer, xl. 154, 273 (May 15, August 28, 1869).

2 Illinois Constitutional Convention, 1870, Debates, i. 289, 344, 365, 451, 510,

589.

3 Ibid. ii. 1710. 4 J. Periam, The Groundswell, 224.

128 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

correspond with the rapidly declining prices in every other
department of trade and commerce. Therefore it was proposed

that the farmers of the great North-west concentrate their efforts, power,
and means, as the great transportation companies have done theirs . . .
And, to this end, I suggest a convention of those opposed to the present
tendency to monopoly and extortionate charges by our transportation
companies, to meet at Bloomington, Illinois, on the 2oth day of April
next. . . Congress is now in session, and the Constitutional Convention
of this State will then again be convened. Farmers, now is the time for
action. l

This movement received the support of the Prairie Farmer
and the convention was attended by a considerable number of
leading Illinois farmers. Its attempt to bring about the forma-
tion of " Town, County, State and National Transportation
Leagues" failed from lack of funds, but a string of vigorous
resolutions was adopted. These declared railroad companies
public corporations, subject to be regulated and controlled by
legislation; denounced the practice of railroads of delivering
grain to warehouses without the consent of the shipper or owner;
condemned the tendency to consolidation, and the corrupt
influence of corporations on courts and legislatures; and ap-
proved of canals for cheap transportation and to furnish com-
petition for railroads.2

The result of this activity is seen in the remarks of some of
the delegates in the convention. Thus Mr. Washburne declared :
" The people expect that this Convention will inaugurate by
this article a contest between the people and the railroads " ; 3
Mr. Ross said: " In my judgment there can be nothing done by
this convention that will give so much satisfaction as providing
in the organic law that the people shall be protected against the
aggressions of these monopolies " ; 4 Mr. Snyder of St. Clair

1 Prairie Farmer, xli. 89 (March 26, 1870); Periam, The Groundswell, 225-227.

2 Ibid. 227-231; Prairie Farmer, xli. 130 (April 30, 1870). Periam gives the
date of this convention as 1869, and the error is repeated in the Documentary History
of American Industrial Society (x. 42-46) and in John L. Coulter, " Organization
among the Farmers of the United States," in Yale Review, xviii. 279-281 (Novem-
ber, 1909).

3 Debates, ii. 1639.
* Ibid. 1711.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 129

County: " I say, if there is anything like unanimity in this
State upon any one thing, it is upon restricting these railroads." 1
On the other hand, the words of Mr. Parks expressed a senti-
ment which undoubtedly had considerable weight with the
members of the convention and with the people at large: " There
is another cry from the people, a cry for more railroads . . .
in trying to remedy these evils, we should consider whether we
may not run to the other extreme, and prevent the building of
any more railroads." 2 One of the delegates went so far as to
declare that if the courts had decided that a railroad charter
was an irrevocable and inviolable contract, that decision must
be overruled. " We must have a new deal and new decisions
on this subject, and we in this Convention must take the initia-
tive, and declare what the law should be in this regard." 3 There
were not wanting arguments against both the right and expe-
diency of state regulation of railroads, and especially against
the inclusion in the constitution of mandatory provisions making
it the duty of the legislature to enact certain laws; but the advo-
cates of regulation were in the majority, or the popular pressure
was effective, and the railroad sections of the new constitution
were adopted in the convention by votes ranging from 46 for
and 1 8 against to 32 for and 27 against.4

The railroad provisions of the Illinois constitution of 1870
are to be found in Article XI, headed " Corporations," 5 of which
sections 9 to 15 inclusive pertain wholly to railroad corporations.
The most important provisions relating to regulation are con-
tained in sections 12 and 15.

Section 12. Railways . . . are hereby declared public highways, and
shall be free to all persons for the transportation of their persons and prop-
erty thereon, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. And
the General Assembly shall, from time to time, pass laws establishing
reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers
and freight on the different railroads in this state.

1 Debates, ii. 1710. 2 Ibid. 1711. * Ibid. 1645.

4 Ibid. 1637-1664, 1708-1723. Cf. Moses, Illinois, ii. 788; Gordon, Illinois
Railway Legislation, 23.

6 The constitution can be found in Illinois, Revised Statutes, 1874, p. 79, in Illinois,
Bluebook, and in Thorpe, Constitutions.

I3O THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

There seemed to be considerable doubt among the members of
the convention as to the meaning and probable effect of the first
part of this section, and some apparently expected it to force
the railroads to open their tracks to anyone who might propose
to run trains upon them,1 a solution of the problem which was
frequently proposed.2 The second part of the section contains
one of the famous mandatory provisions of this constitution,
for the enforcement of which no other means was provided than
the oath of members of the legislature to obey the constitution.

Section 15. The General Assembly shall pass laws to correct abuses
and to prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates of freight
and passenger tariffs on the different railroads in this state,, and enforce
such laws by adequate penalties, to the extent, if necessary for that purpose,
of forfeiture of their property and franchises.

This section was introduced as an amendment during the debate,
and was adopted by the closest vote of any of the railroad sec-
tions. It appears to have been designed as something to fall back
upon in case the courts should prevent the operation of the last
part of section i2.3

Another subject upon which advanced ground was taken by
the Illinois constitution of 1870 and one which came to be closely
connected with the regulation of railroads, was the control to
be exercised by the state over public elevators or warehouses
for the storage of grain. As far back as 1867, the general assem-
bly had enacted a law regulating warehousemen, which laid
down rules for the inspection of grain and provided that all
public warehousemen should publish their rates on the second
Monday in each year, which rates should not be changed during
the year to the injury of any customer. Discrimination in
rates between grain received over different railroads was pro-
hibited, and railroad companies were forbidden to deliver grain
to any warehouse other than that to which it had been consigned,
without the consent of the owner or consignee. By other

1 Debates, ii. 1646, 1715.

2 By Governor Palmer, for example, in his letter to the Producers' Convention
at Bloomington. Prairie Farmer, xli. 130 (April 30, 1870).

3 Debates, ii. 1722.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 13!

sections of the act all dealing in futures was forbidden, but these
sections were repealed by the next general assembly in I86Q.1
The warehouse article of the constitution of 1870 2 denned
public warehouses ; and made it obligatory on railroad companies
to weigh or measure grain at points where shipped, to receipt
for it, and to deliver the shipment to the consignee provided
his warehouse was connected with the tracks of the railroad
company; and all railroad companies were to permit such con-
nections to be made by any warehousemen. This article also
contained mandatory sections by which it was made the duty
of the legislature to pass laws for the inspection of grain, for the
regulation of warehouse receipts, and to give effect to this article;
" which shall be liberally construed to protect producers and
shippers."

The Illinois constitution of 1870 was submitted to the people
for approval as a whole and a number of its sections were sub-
mitted for separate vote. The vote on the constitution as a
whole was 134,227 for and 35,443 against. Among the sections
submitted for separate vote were those relating to railroads,
which were approved by vote of 144,750 to 23,525; and those
relating to warehouses, which were approved by vote of 143,-
532 to 22,702. In only three of the one hundred and one coun-
ties, namely, Hardin, Jackson, and Union, all in the extreme
south, was there a majority against the railroad sections.3

THE LEGISLATION OF 1871

The duty of giving effect to the railroad and warehouse pro-
visions of the new constitution fell upon the twenty-seventh
general assembly, which convened in January, 1871. This
general assembly contained an unusually large number of farmers,
who banded themselves together in a "Legislative Farmers'
Club " and worked unitedly for railroad and other legislation

1 Public Laws, 1867, pp. 177-183; 1869, p. 410. An act regulating the trans-
portation of grain had also been passed in 1865. See ibid., 1865, p. 75.

2 Article XI.

3 Debates, ii. 1894.

132 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

desired by the farming classes.1 The governor now recom-
mended vigorous measures, including the establishment of a
board of commissioners to enforce the railroad and warehouse
laws.2 Indeed, most of the members of the legislature, as well
as the governor, seem to have " seen the light," and the various
railroad and warehouse bills met with little opposition. The
legislation proposed and enacted upon these subjects can readily
be divided into six different categories: (i) the regulation of
passenger fares on railroads; (2) the regulation of freight
charges on railroads; (3) the regulation of warehouses; (4) the
regulation of the transportation of grain on railroads; (5) the es-
tablishment of a board of railway and warehouse commissioners;
and finally, (6) the enactment of a general railway incorporation
act. Separate acts were passed at the regular session of the
twenty-seventh general assembly dealing with each of the first
five of these subjects, while the passage of a general incorporation
act was postponed to the adjourned session held in the winter
of i87i~72.3

The first of these subjects taken up was that of the regulation
of passenger fares, and " An act to establish a reasonable
maximum rate of charges for the transportation of passengers
on railroads in this state " passed the two houses by votes of 38
to 7 and 130 to 10, and received the approval of the governor.4
This passenger act of 1871 was an improvement upon the measure
vetoed in 1869, in that it provided for the division of railroads
into classes based upon their gross earnings per mile, and fixed
a sliding scale of maxima for the different classes, ranging from
two and one-half to five and one-half cents per mile.5 Still it is

1 Prairie Farmer, xlii. 49, 57 (February 18, 25, 1871); Paine, Granger Movement
in Illinois, 20.

2 Senate Journal, 1871, i. 19-23. Cf. Moses, Illinois, ii. 801; Gordon, Illinois
Railway Legislation, 25.

3 Public Laws, 1871-72. Cf. Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 26.

4 For the legislative history of this measure, see Senate Journal, 1871, i. 61, 72,
82, 85, 99, 102, 104, 117, 121, 123, 129, 131, 135, 154 (Senate bill passed), 406,
418, 443, 445, 450, 468 (House bill passed); House Journal, 1871, i. 209, 236, 332,
527, 529, 545, 550, 588, 612, 627, 631-636 (House bill passed), 704, 724.

6 Public Laws, 1871-72, p. 640; Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 28;
Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 21.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 133

difficult to see how it differed in principle from the measure of
1869, or why the governor's reasons for vetoing that act would
not have applied equally well to this.

The " Act to prevent unjust discrimination and extortions in
the rates to be charged by the different railroads in this state
for the transportation of freight on said roads " was passed by
votes of 39 to 2 and 132 to 9, and received the immediate
approval of the governor.1 This act is one of the most important
of the railroad laws enacted at this session, and as its terms
are somewhat complex and have often been incorrectly stated,
it will be well to examine them in some detail.2 Although the
title of the act declared that it was to prevent unjust dis-
crimination, section i was so phrased as to make any dis-
crimination whatever illegal; in other words it provided for the
application of the pro rata principle that charges should be
based entirely upon distance traversed. The essential part of
the section reads as follows :

No railroad corporation . . . shall charge or collect for the transportation
of goods, merchandise or property on its said road, for any distance, the
same nor any larger or greater amount as toll or compensation than is
at the same time charged or collected for the transportation of similar quan-
tities of the same class of goods, merchandise or property over a greater
distance upon the same road.

The scope of this provision will be seen when it is compared
with the " long and short haul clause " of the interstate commerce
act of 1887. 3 That act made illegal the charging of a greater
sum for a shorter than for a longer haul only when the shorter
distance was included within the longer and the haul was in the
same direction; while the Illinois act of 1871 made it an offense
to charge the same or a greater sum for a shorter distance than
is charged for a longer anywhere on the same road.

Section 3 of this act further provided that:

1 Senate Journal, 1871, i. 222, 272-276, 290 (passed), 476, 542; House Journal f
1871, i. 453, 478, 483, 527, 529, 588, 612, 625, 665, 692, 696 (passed), 781.

2 The act is in Public Laws, 1871-72, p. 635; for analyses of it, see Gordon,
Illinois Railway Legislation, 27; Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 21.

1 United States, Statutes at Large, xxiv. 379-387, section 4.

134 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

No railroad corporation shall increase its rates of toll or compensation
to be charged for the transportation, receipt, handling or delivery of any
property from any point on its line of road to any other point on its line
of road, by reason of any decrease in its rates which may be required to be
made under the first section of this act.

The normal or maximum rates for any day, above which no
increase was to be made, were fixed as the rates on the cor-
responding day of the year 1870. These provisions of the act,
all taken together, amount to an attempt to force all rates to
the level of the lowest competitive rates as they prevailed in
the year 1870, and are based upon the apparently logical reason-
ing that these competitive rates must be profitable to the
railroads or they would not do the business; ergo, uniform rates
in proportion to these throughout the line would also yield a
profit.1 No allowance was made for the fact that a large pro-
portion of the expense in railroad business is a fixed charge
and does not vary in proportion to the amount of business done,
nor for the fact that conditions might easily vary so much on
different parts of the same road as to make different rates per-
fectly justifiable. The establishment of the rates of 1870 as
maxima was especially unwise, because of the unusually large
fluctuations in rates during that year.2

The " Act to regulate public warehouses and the warehousing
and inspection of grain, and to give effect to article thirteen
of the constitution of this state " passed the two houses with
little opposition, and was approved by the governor April 25,
1871. It established, as maximum charges for the storage of
grain, two cents per bushel for the first thirty days and one-
half cent per bushel for each succeeding period of fifteen days
or part thereof. In addition, all warehousemen were required
to publish their rates for each year during the first week in
January, which rates might not be increased during the year,
and there could be no discrimination between customers.3

1 See remarks of Mr. Pierce in the constitutional convention of 1870, Debates,
ii. 1645.

2 Illinois Railroad and Warehouse Commission, Reports, 1871, p. 21; Gordon,
Illinois Railway Legislation, 28.

3 Public Laws, 1871-72, pp. 762-773.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 135

The " Act regulating the receiving, transportation and delivery
of grain by railroad corporations " forbade discrimination
between shippers and warehouses in the handling of grain.1

The most important and far-reaching in its effects of any
of these acts of the twenty-seventh general assembly was un-
doubtedly the " Act to establish a board of railroad and ware-
house commissioners, and prescribe their powers and duties."
This measure passed the Senate without a dissenting vote, 33
being registered in its favor, while in the House the vote was
103 to 9.* It provided for the appointment by the governor
of a board of three commissioners, none of whom should be
connected with or interested in the stock of any railroad com-
pany.3 The first board was to hold office until the meeting of
the next general assembly, and thereafter the term was to be
two years from January i. Section 6 of the act required every
railroad company doing business in the state to make an annual
report to the board and enumerated forty-one particulars to
be embraced in this report, including information with regard
to capital stock; assets; liabilities; debt; value of property;
amount of business; monthly earnings; expenses of operation,
repairs, and improvements; rates and tariffs; relations with
express, freight, and transportation companies; and arrange-
ments with other railroad companies. To this list the board
might add such other queries as it should see fit and warehouse-
men were also required to make such statements as the board
might call for. The information thus gathered was to be com-
piled and presented to the governor in the annual report of the
board.

The provisions for the enforcement of these various acts
differed considerably and were, on the whole, inadequate.4
The act to prevent unjust discrimination and extortions in
freight rates provided for the recovery of a penalty for violation,

1 Public Laws, 1871-72, pp. 636-641; Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 27.

2 Senate Journal, 1871, i. 184, 187-194, 204 (passed), 545, 561; House Journal,
1871, i. 102, 133, 324, 420, 544, 548, 655, 693, 698, 782 (passed), 792, 823.

3 Public Laws, 1871-72, pp. 618-625. The act is analyzed in Gordon, Illinois
Railway Legislation, 29.

4 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1871, pp. 5, 8, 13-15, 65-69.

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

not to exceed one thousand dollars, in an action of debt by the
party aggrieved, and also for forfeiture of franchises for wilful
violation; the corporation to be proceeded against by the state's
attorneys in any circuit or county through which the road
should run, by writ of scire facias or quo warranto.1 The act
establishing maximum passenger fares also provided for the
recovery of a penalty for violation by the party aggrieved, in
this case not to exceed five hundred dollars and costs; but only
after final judgment had been recovered a fifth time were the
state's attorneys authorized to proceed by quo warranto for
forfeiture of franchise.2 The act establishing the board of
commissioners made it the duty of the board to enforce the
railroad laws of the state, but no definite procedure was laid
down except in the case of a company failing to make the report
required by the law.3 The provisions for the enforcement of
the act regulating warehouses were also inadequate.

ATTEMPTS TO ENFORCE THE LEGISLATION OF 1871

The first step toward carrying out this elaborate and radical
program of railroad control was the appointment by Governor
Palmer of the members of the new board of railroad and ware-
house commissioners on July 3, 1871. They were Gustav
Koerner of St. Clair County, Richard P. Morgan, Jr., of McLean
County, and David S. Hammond of Cook County. In the
message transmitting these names to the Senate for confirmation,
at the adjourned session of the general assembly, the governor
stated that the choice of these men had been influenced " by a
desire to combine in the board the requisite experience drawn
from different pursuits and from different parts of the state." 4
The work of these men, under unusual difficulties, would seem
to indicate that they were as competent as any who were avail-
able, but there was some dissatisfaction over the appointments
among the farmers, if the Prairie Farmer can be taken as repre-

1 Section 5. 2 Sections 5, 6.

3 Sections 11-16.

4 Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 5; Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 30; Moses,
Illinois, ii. 809, 1059.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 137

sentative of their opinions. It objected particularly to Ham-
mond, who was stigmatized as a pretended representative of
the farmer's interests but in reality " a political bummer." 1

Immediately after it was organized the board issued a call to
the railroad companies for reports on gross earnings and mileage,
which could be used as a basis for classification under the law
regulating passenger fares. Four of the principal companies
responded with a joint communication declaring

that while the companies do not recognize the validity of the law under
which your Honorable Board was appointed, so far as it attempts to impose
upon these companies additional duties and obligations; yet we are willing
to furnish such information as the mode of doing our business makes rea-
sonable and practicable.

A hope was also expressed that speedy steps would be taken to
test the validity of the new laws in the courts. By October
reports were received from all but three of the twenty-one roads
of the state, although nearly all of these were prefaced by state-
ments denying the validity of the law and declaring all rights
of the companies to be reserved. Using the information con-
tained in these resports, the board proceeded to classify the
railroads upon the basis of gross earnings, in accordance with
the law. This classification was notified to the companies and
was also given publicity through the newspapers.2

It is impossible to say just what immediate effects, if any,
this classification had upon passenger fares in the state. Cer-
tainly the leading roads, which were required by the law to reduce
their fares to two and a half and three cents per mile (classes
A and B), did not observe the law; but the board reported that
complaints about passenger fares were fewer and less intense
than formerly, because of a liberal use of commutation and

1 Prairie Farmer, xli. 213. Commissioner Morgan declared in March, 1873,
that Mr. Koerner, the chairman and legal member of the commission, was early
found to be acting in the interests of the railroad companies and a drag upon all
efforts of the other members to enforce the law. Chicago Tribune, March 15, 1873,
p. 3. Morgan seems to have had the support of the farmers. Resolutions recom-
mending his re-appointment were adopted by a Livingston County convention of
farmers and by the State Farmers' Association. Ibid., January 10, 1873, P* 5J
Prairie Farmer, xliv. 26 (January 25, 1873).

2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1871, pp. 1-6, 55-60, 63, 71-156.

138 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

season tickets for those who traveled extensively. This may
have been a step on the part of the railroads to strengthen them-
selves with the traveling public, and thus indirectly a result
of the law, but the board condemned it as an injustice to the
great mass of travelers.1

As has already been shown, the commissioners could take no
steps for the enforcement of the maximum passenger fares,
other, than to advise the aggrieved parties to bring suit for the
recovery of five hundred dollars. In most cases the private
individuals refused to bring such action. The situation with
regard to the law prohibiting unjust discrimination and extortion
was somewhat different, the law allowing action to be brought
by state's attorneys in this case. Complaints of the violation
of the long and short haul clause of this law were numerous
and were attested by the very reports of the railroad companies.
The complainants, however, steadily refused to bring action
for the recovery of the one thousand dollar penalty allowed by
the law, the reasons alleged being the power of the railroad
companies to retaliate by denying them accommodations when
most wanted. Indeed, the board found it extremely difficult
to get authentic verified statements from the complainants,
but finally sufficient evidence was secured to warrant the initia-
tion of quo warranto proceedings against the Chicago and Alton.2
The first annual report of the commission, which was laid before
the legislature in January, 187 2, 3 promised that this suit would
be " pressed with vigor at the earliest day practicable."

This first report of the Illinois railroad and warehouse com-
mission also contained an illuminating discussion of the whole
problem of railway regulation, which shows that the members
of the board had been making a thorough study of the subject
and were prepared to take up advanced positions. The principal
burden of the report, however, was the inadequacy of the provi-
sions for enforcement and the inconsistencies of the laws of
187 1.4 These subjects were also brought forward by the

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1871, pp. 5, 24. 2 Ibid. 5-7.

* Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 257; House Journal, 1871, ii. 726.

4 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1871, pp. 5-8, 13-15, 18-23, 26.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 139

governor in his message to the adjourned session of the legisla-
ture.1 Two bills by which it was proposed to consolidate and
revise all the laws relating to the regulation of railroads and
warehouses, were prepared by the commissioners and introduced
in the House in January, 1872, but the press of other business
prevented action upon them,2 as also upon another bill which
proposed to strengthen the enforcement provisions of the acts
of 1871.3

In the Senate at this session a bill was introduced by Senator
Vaughn for " An act to establish reasonable maximum rates of
charges for the transportation of freight on the different railroads
in this State." This bill, which proposed to classify the various
railroads and establish a fixed schedule of maximum rates for
each class, was referred to the railroad commission for an opinion.
The commission had already expressed its belief in the inadvis-
ability of an inflexible schedule and reported accordingly, but
Senator Vaughn pressed the bill to a vote in the Senate, which
resulted in its defeat, 19 to io.4 An attempt was also made in
the Senate to pass a bill prohibiting members of the general
assembly from accepting passes. This was laid on the table
by the close vote of 14 to 13. 5 On the other hand, an attempt
was made to put a stop altogether to the movement for regulating
railroads by legislating the railroad and warehouse commission
out of existence. A bill to this effect was introduced by Senator
Harlan on February 12, but failed to reach a vote.6 On March
20, 1872, Mr. Harlan followed up the attack by introducing a
resolution which cited the failure of the commissioners to enforce
the laws, their expense to the state " without ability to render
just compensation," and " respectfully requested " them to

1 Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 5.

2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1871, p. 15, 1872, p. 12; House Journal, 1871,
ii. 338. The bills are given in full in Railroad Commission, Reports, 1872.

3 House Journal, 1871, ii. 637, 674.

4 Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 422, 462, 707, 728, 742, 758, 763-765, 776; Railroad
Commission, Reports, 1872, pp. 13, 148. A similar bill had been introduced at the
first session. See Senate Journal, 1871, i. 288, 322; House Journal, 1871, i. 272,
276, 393, 579, 619, 621.

6 Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 77.

6 Ibid. 461, 502, 707, 721, 744, 766.

140 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

resign. The vote on the adoption of this resolution, which
appears to be a test of the strength of the opposition to railway
regulation in the Senate, was 13 ayes and 19 noes.1

Four suits were brought in the courts of Illinois, involving
parts of the railroad and warehouse legislation of 1871, during
the interval between the enactment of that legislation and the
meeting of the next general assembly in January, 1873. The
first of these was brought by S. H. Moore of Kankakee against
the Illinois Central railroad to recover the five hundred dollar
penalty for an overcharge of the maximum passenger fare allowed
by the law. This suit was started in a justice's court as early
as August, 1871, and then carried to the circuit court of Kankakee
County. The case came to trial in September, 1872, on an
admitted statement of fact, and in December, Judge Wood
rendered a decision for the defendant on the grounds that its
charter was a contract, and that the legislature, having no
judicial power and no means of ascertaining what is reasonable,
could not, at any time, fix the fare. An appeal was immediately
taken to the supreme court where it came up in the September
term, 1873. The judgment of the lower court was affirmed
but the supreme court based its decision upon the grounds that
the alleged overcharge had occurred in July, 1872, some time
before the railroads of the state had been classified by the com-
mission, and that no evidence had been presented that the
Illinois Central belonged at that time in class B, to which it
was later assigned. The court further declared that the con-
stitutionality of the act of 1871 was not involved in this decision
and so declined to express any opinion on that question.2

1 Ibid. 699, 707, 721, 744, 766. The only legislation relative to railroads enacted
at this session was a general incorporation law made necessary by a provision of
the constitution of 1870 which forbade the creation of corporations by special laws.

2 68 Illinois Reports, 385. The railroad commission had aided Mr. Moore in
the prosecution of this suit and two of the commissioners presented an account
and discussion of the case as an " Additional Report " incorporated in the annual
report of the board f or 1 8 7 2 . This was, of course, before the decision of the supreme
court on the appeal. One of the commissioners, Mr. R. P. Morgan, took exception
to this action, and declared the account given to be incomplete and imperfect. It
is true that the fact that the alleged offense had been committed and the action
brought before the classification of the roads by the commission is not brought out

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 14!

The suit against the Chicago and Alton for violation of the
long and short haul clause of the act to prevent extortion and
unjust discrimination was brought by the commissioners De-
cember 5, 1871, in the circuit court of McLean County. Here
again the facts were admitted by the defendants, i. e., charging
a higher rate on shipments of lumber from Chicago to Lexington,
no miles, than the rate from Chicago to Bloomington through
Lexington, a distance of 126 miles. The case was argued in
July, 1872. The defendant's attorneys, asserting that the act
of 1871 was a violation of the constitution of the United States,
pleaded the charter of the company as a contract under which
it had the right to fix the charges, subject only to the require-
ment that they be reasonable. It was further alleged that the
rate to Lexington was a reasonable one, the rate to Bloomington
being fixed unreasonably low in order to compete with the
Illinois Central and therefore no criterion of the reasonableness
of the former rate. In reply, the counsel for the people declared
the question at issue to be the relation of the act of 1871 to the
provision of the United States constitution concerning contracts.
It was maintained that the legislature could not, by contract,
deprive the state of the right to prevent unjust discrimination
and extortion, a right which was a valid exercise of the police
powers and inherent in the sovereignty of the state. Judge
Tipton took the case under advisement and in November, 1872,
filed a written opinion for the people in which he took the posi-
tion that no part of the contract between the state and the
company was impaired by the act of 1871, and that the state
retained the right, in spite of the charter of the railroad, to
prevent unjust discrimination.1

in the " Additional Report " and the impression is given that the constitutionality
of the law was the only point involved. Railroad Commission, Reports, 1872,
pp. 21-24.

Inaccurate statements with regard to this case are made in Davidson and Stuve,
Illinois, 1028; Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 35; Moses, Illinois, ii. 1060;
Governor Cullom, in Railroad Commission, Reports, 1879, P- 266. Most of these
assert that no appeal was taken from the decision of the circuit court and give the
impression that the validity of the law was involved in the final decision.

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1872, p. 8, 1873, P- IO- The briefs of counsel
and the decision of Judge Tipton are to be found in ibid., 1872, pp. 46-114. See

142 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

«
This decision was felt to be a great victory for the people

in their struggle with the railroads, but the elation did not last
long. The case was at once appealed to the supreme court of
the state and heard in the January term, 1873. A unanimous
decision of the court, written by Chief -Justice Lawrence, reversed
the decision of the circuit court, and declared the law of 1871
to be in conflict, not with the constitution of the United States,
but with the state constitution, in accordance with the manda-
tory provisions of which it was supposed to have been adopted.
This decision was extremely important in that it laid the basis
for the railroad legislation of 1873. Its substance is embraced
in the concluding summary:

The opinion of the court is, that while the Legislature has an unquestioned
power to prohibit unjust discrimination in railway freights, no prosecution
can be maintained under the existing act until amended, because it does not
prohibit unjust discrimination merely, but discrimination of any character,
and because it does not allow the companies to explain the reason of the
discrimination, but forfeits their franchise upon an arbitrary and conclusive
presumption of guilt to be drawn from the proof of an act that might be
shown to be perfectly innocent.1 In these particulars, the existing act vio-
lates the spirit of the constitution. The judgment of the circuit court,
ousting the appellant of its franchises, must therefore be reversed.

In the course of the opinion, Judge Lawrence took exception
to much of the argument of the attorneys for the railway com-
pany. He declared that a less charge for a long than for a
shorter distance should be prima facie but not conclusive evi-
dence of unjust discrimination, and that the existence of com-
petition at one point was not sufficient to justify discrimination.
This dictum was an indication of the attitude which the courts
would take in the struggle over the law of

also Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 36-38; Prairie Farmer, xliii. 369, 388
(November 23, December 7, 1872).

1 This point does not seem to have been touched upon by the attorneys for the
railroad company. The arguments on both sides were very similar to those pre-
sented to the circuit court.

2 67 Illinois y ii. The arguments and decision of this case are given in full in
Railroad Commission, Reports, 1873, pp. 46-159- See also Chicago Tribune, 1873,
February 24, p. i, February 25, p. 4; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 57, 65 (February 22,
March i, 1873); Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 39; Railroad Commission,
Reports, 1873, p. 17; and Governor Cullom, in ibid., 1879, P- 266.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 143

Two suits were instituted in 1871 and 1872 to test the validity
of the warehouse law of 1871. The first of these was brought
by the commission against Munn and Scott, a warehouse firm
of Chicago, and was in the nature of criminal proceedings for
failure to take out licenses required by the law. Proceedings
were begun in this case in September, 1871, but the Chicago
fire and other causes of delay prevented a final hearing until
July, 1872. A verdict of guilty was then returned against the
defendant; but the case was appealed to the supreme court of
the state, which, after numerous delays, affirmed the judgment
of the lower court in September, 1873. The case was then
carried to the United States Supreme Court as Munn v. Illinois
and a final decision rendered in 1876 in favor of the state. This
was the first of the celebrated " Granger cases " to be decided
by that body.1 The other suit under the warehouse law was
brought in January, 1872, for charging more than the legal
rate for storage as fixed by the law, but the circuit court decided
in July, 1872, that there was no public remedy, the law having
fixed no penalty.2

THE RAILROAD LAW or 1873

In the interval of two years between the passage of the first
" Granger legislation " in Illinois and the session of the twenty-
eighth general assembly, a new political and economic force had
come to the front in the state, the force of an organized agri-
cultural class.3 While it is probably true that the Producers '
Convention of 1870 exerted an influence on the constitutional
convention of that year, and that the Legislative Farmers'

1 The arguments before the state supreme court and decision are in Railroad
Commission, Reports, 1874, pp. 46-102. The decision and dissenting opinions
are also in 69 Illinois, 80; and in Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1874, p. 2. For the
decision of the United States Supreme Court and dissenting opinions, see 94 United
States Reports, 113; Illinois Railroad Commission, Reports, 1877, pp. 5-20. See
also below, pp. 206-214.

2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1873, p. 12. Before the decision of Munn v.
Illinois by the United States Supreme Court, the warehousemen had regulated
their charges to conform to the rates fixed by law. These rates were lowered by
an act of 1877, and there appears to have been no difficulty over enforcement
thereafter. Ibid., 1874, p. 24, 1877, p. xv; Public Laws, 1877, p. 169.

3 See above, pp. 51,54, 75-

144 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Club was a factor in securing the enactment of the restrictive
legislation of 1871, still the marked development of the move-
ment for agricultural organization did not come until after the
passage of the first " Granger laws." The rapid organization
of farmers' clubs and granges throughout the state during the
years 1871 and 1872, together with the establishment of the
state grange in March, 1872, and the State Farmers' Association
in January, 1873, gave the farmers adequate vehicles for the
expression of their opinions on the dominant political and
economic question of the period in Illinois, the railroad problem.
Nor were they at all backward in giving vent to these opinions.1
To the farmer, who was inexperienced in politics and unfamiliar
with legal procedure, it seemed that the politicians and the courts
were combining to prevent any effective regulation of railroads,
and the demand came in no uncertain tone for the enforcement
of the railroad legislation of 1871 and the enactment of additional
and more stringent laws.2 Some of the farmers, despairing
of any enforcement of the laws by the commission or the courts,
determined to put them into effect themselves, and the result
was a curious episode of riding for " legal fares," in which the
victory lay sometimes with the farmers and sometimes with
the railroad employees. All this agitation served to keep up
the interest in the railroad question and was undoubtedly the
chief factor in the rapid development of agricultural organization
in 1872 and 1873. In the field of practical politics it led directly
to the defeat of Judge Lawrence and the organization of the
Independent Reform party, while in the field of legislation, it
brought about the enactment of another Granger law, the
railway act of 1873.

Just a week after the opening of the twenty-eighth general
assembly in January, 1873, some two hundred and seventy-five
farmers from all parts of the state, in convention at Blooming ton
for the purpose of organizing the State Farmers' Association,3

1 See the columns of the Chicago Tribune and the Prairie Farmer for 1872 and
1873, passim.

2 See, for example, resolutions adopted by a Livingston County farmers' con-
vention on January 6, 1873. Chicago Tribune, January 10, 1873, P- 5-

8 See above, p. 75.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 145

adopted a series of resolutions which put the demands of the
farmers before the legislature in concrete form. These resolu-
tions called for the enforcement of the railroad law of 1871;
declared persons tendering . " legal fare " entitled to the civil
protection of the state; expressed approval of the decision of
the McLean County circuit court; requested the appointment
of at least one farmer on the board of railroad commissioners
" who shall be recommended by them [the farmers] " ; and
urged the enactment of an anti-pass law and of a law fixing
reasonable maximum rates of freight, similar to the bill intro-
duced by Senator Vaughn in the adjourned session of the previous
general assembly.1

Apparently as a result of these resolutions, the subject of
railroad legislation was opened up in the Senate by the unanimous
adoption, January 20, 1873, of a resolution instructing the
committee on railroads to investigate cases of ejectment of
passengers tendering " legal fare," and " to consider what further
legislation is necessary to protect citizens in their person and
property from overcharges by railroad officials, and more fully
and effectually to carry out the requirements of the Constitution
contained in sections 12 and 15 of Article XI." 2 Meanwhile
the strength of the Granger element in the legislature was
demonstrated by a successful struggle with the governor over
the appointment of a new board of railroad commissioners;3
both Senate and House were deluged with petitions, resolutions,

1 Periam, The Groundswell, 242-262; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 26 (January 25,
1873); Chicago Tribune, 1873, January 16, p. 4, January 17, p. 8, January 18, p. 2.

2 Senate Journal, 1873, p. 95; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 28 (January 25, 1873).

3 The Legislative Farmers' Club, first organized in the session of 1871 and
revived for the session of 1873, disapproved of Governor Beveridge's nominees for
the board of railroad commissioners, and its efforts, seconded by a flood of petitions
and remonstrances from the various farmers' organizations, ultimately secured
the appointment of two farmers on the board. See Senate Journal, 1873, pp. 154,
226, 323, 325; Prairie Farmer, xliii. 404, xliv. 17, 26, 41, 49, 65 (December, 1872-
March, 1873); Chicago Tribune, February-March, 1873, passim; Periam, The
Groundswell, 302-311; Moses, Illinois, ii. 822; Gordon, Illinois Railway Legisla-
tion, 42. The board as finally constituted consisted of H. C. Cook, D. A. Brown,
and J. M. Pearson. Commissioner Cook died November 9, 1873, and his place
was filled by J. Steele. This board was re-appointed in 1875, and in 1877, Gover-
nor Cullom appointed W. M. Smith, G. M. Bogue, and J. H. Oberly.

146 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

and memorials from farmers' organizations, praying for more
effective legislation;1 and finally, late in February, came the
announcement of the decision of the supreme court in the McLean
County case, declaring the law of 1871 for the prevention of
extortion and unjust discrimination to be contrary to the state
constitution. Bills were at once introduced into both houses
to obviate the unconstitutional features of this law,2 but it soon
became evident that the Granger element would insist on still
more radical legislation.

Some thirty-five railroad bills of all sorts were introduced
into the two houses at this session.3 Among the most significant
of these were bills for an anti-pass law; 4 to abolish the railroad
commission; to establish a fixed schedule of maximum rates;
for the state to defend citizens in suits brought against them
by the railroad companies, for riding at " legal fares"; and
several bills proposing to empower the railroad commission to
establish a schedule of maximum rates which should be prima
facie evidence of the reasonableness of railroad charges. For
a time it looked as if the multiplicity of proposed solutions for
the problem might prevent the enactment of any effective
legislation, and the farmers determined to bring additional
pressure to bear upon the general assembly. The method
adopted was the holding of a large convention of representatives
of the farmers' organizations of the state.5 This convention met
at the state capital, April 2, 1873, with delegates present from
seventy-two of the one hundred and one counties, and resolved
" that we regard it as the undoubted power and imperative

1 Chicago Tribune, March 29, 1873, P- i; House Journal, 1873, PP- 209, 219,
229, 247, 249, 260, 271, 277, 289, 312, 322, 328, 334, 353, 386, 392, 396, 420, 437,
505, 609; Senate Journal, 1873, PP- *32, 182, 221, 230, 232, 248, 257, 262, 273, 287,
321, 334, 364, 4i8, 445.

2 Chicago Tribune, March 3, 1873, p. 2; House Journal, 1873, pp. 276, 340, 391;
Senate Journal, 1873, p. 336.

8 See Senate and House Journals, indexes under " Railroads."
4 Anti-pass resolutions were adopted at meetings all over the state and repre-
sentatives were asked in vain to surrender their passes. The bill on this subject
was introduced into the lower house and referred to the committee on public
charities. Later it was referred to the judiciary committee and appeared no more.
Chicago Tribune, March 20, 1873, p. 2; House Journal, 1873, pp. 157, 380.
6 See above, p. 83.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION

duty of the Legislature to pass laws, fixing reasonable rates
for freight and passengers without classification of roads."
Riding on the railroads at " legal fares " was endorsed by the
convention, and it was further declared that, the supreme court
having pointed the way by which unjust discrimination might
be reached, no reason existed for delay on the part of the legis-
lature.1 Shortly after the adjournment of this convention,
the House passed, by vote of 123 to 10, a bill " to prevent extor-
tion and unjust discrimination in the rates charged for the
transportation of passengers and freight on railroads in this
state, and to punish the same and to prescribe a mode of pro-
cedure and rules of evidence in relation thereto." The Senate
amended this before passing it by vote of 36 to 6 but a conference
committee quickly effected a compromise and the bill was signed
by the governor and became law on May 2, 1 8 73.*

The Illinois railroad law of 1873, which repealed and super-
seded the act of 1871 relating to unjust discrimination and
extortion, has remained the basis of railroad control in that
state to the present day and has served as a model for legislation
in other states, so it will be well to examine its provisions with
some care.3 The first two sections of this act declared that
any railroad company charging more than a fair or reasonable
rate of toll or compensation should be deemed guilty of extortion,
and any railroad company making an unjust discrimination
should be deemed guilty of having violated the provisions of
the act; in either case, the company should, upon conviction,
be dealt with as provided in the act. Section 3 defined dis-
crimination in great detail so as to cover every possible difference
in charge between persons and places for the same service in
the same direction. In this latter particular it differed from the

1 These resolutions are to be found in the American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873,
p. 367, and in Periam, The Groundswell, 286-289.

2 House Journal, 1873, pp. 503, 576, 598, 656, 680, 691, 725; Senate Journal,
1873, pp. 336, 353, 359-364, 380, 590, 606-610, 613-616.

3 The act is in Illinois, Revised Statutes, 1874, pp. 816-820 and in Railroad Com-
mission, Reports, 1873, PP- 162-167. It was omitted from Public Laws, 1873,
together with other of the acts of 1873 which were included in the Revised Statutes
of 1874.

148 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

act of 1871, which took no account of direction. It further
differed from that act — and this was in line with the dictum
of the supreme court in the McLean County case — in providing
that such discriminating rates should be taken merely as prima
facie evidence of the unjust discrimination prohibited by the
act. This allowed the company to bring forward evidence to
show the justness of the discriminating rate, but the section
contained an express declaration that the existence of competi-
tion at certain points should not be deemed a sufficient justifi-
cation for discrimination. A proviso at the end of the section
permitted the issuing of " commutation, excursion or thousand-
mile tickets."

Sections 4 and 5 provided for the enforcement of the law by
actions in the name of the state to recover fines ranging from
not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand
dollars for the first offence to twenty-five thousand dollars for
the fourth or subsequent offenses. Section 6 gave action to
the aggrieved party also for the recovery of three times the
amount of the damages sustained, together with costs and
attorney's fees. Section 7 made it the duty of the railroad
commission " to personally investigate and ascertain whether
the provisions of this act are violated " and " to immediately
cause suits to be commenced and prosecuted against any rail-
road corporation which may violate the provisions of this act."
This was important as giving the initiative to the commission
and relieving it of dependence upon aggrieved shippers, who
might fear retaliation on the part of the railroad company.1

By section 8 of this act the commission was directed to prepare
a schedule of maximum rates for the transportation of pas-
sengers, freight, and cars, upon each railroad; which rates
should be taken, after January 15, 1874, as prima facie evidence
of reasonableness in all suits involving charges of railroad com-
panies. Such schedules were to be revised by the commission
from time to time as circumstances might require. Although
this solution of the railroad problem was roundly condemned,
especially in the eastern states, as an attempt to fix rates by

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1873, p. 21.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 149

legislation,1 it should be kept in mind that the general assembly
did not authorize, and did not intend to authorize the commission
to arbitrarily determine the rates or even maximum rates of
railroad charges, but merely placed the burden of proof of the
reasonableness of rates upon the railroad companies, just as in
a preceding section it had placed upon them the burden of proof
of the justness of discrimination. Since practically all the
evidence as to reasonableness of rates or justness of discrimina-
tion must, by the nature of the case, be in the possession of the
companies, it is difficult to see wherein this is not a fair solution
of the problem. It was certainly an improvement upon the
solution proposed by State Senator Vaughn, and afterwards
adopted in several of the Granger states, of having the schedule
of maximum rates enacted by the legislature. The commission
was undoubtedly in a better position to draw up an equitable
schedule than was the legislature, and a desirable element of
flexibility was added by the provision allowing the commission
to change or revise the schedules at any time.

THE STRUGGLE OVER THE LAW or 1873

This railroad law of 1873, with the exception noted above of
the schedule of maximum rates, went into force on July i, 1873.
On that day the railroad companies, apparently by a precon-
certed arrangement, revised their rates so as to make them
conform in general to the provisions of the act relative to dis-
crimination; but they did this, not by lowering the high charges
at non-competitive points, as had been intended, but by raising
the lower rates, in some instances as much as fifty per cent.2
In meeting this move of the railroad companies the commission
was at a disadvantage, because its schedule of maximum rates

1 See Nation, xvi. 249 (April 10, 1873).

2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1873, p. 19; Governor's message in Senate
Journal, 1874, p. 5; House Journal, 1874, p. 5. See also special report of the rail-
road commission in House Journal, 1874, pp. 79-81. Although the new rates were
not maintained for any considerable length of time, there appears to have been
little discrimination between persons or places after this. Railroad Commission,
Reports, 1874, p. 26, 1875, p. 22, 1876, p. 22; Governor's message in Senate Journal,
1877, p. 19; House Journal, 1877, p. 3p.

150 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

could not be made use of until January 15, 1874. The outcry
was so great, however, that the commission determined to bring
suits for extortion, relying upon the rather vague terms of
section i of the law. Two suits were thus instituted in December,
1873, against the Chicago and Northwestern and the Illinois
Central railroads. The latter of these was soon dismissed,
the commission preferring to institute other suits against the
same company after the schedules went into effect; the former
was continued for some time and finally dismissed after a decision
of the supreme court in another case,1 to the effect that the
schedules were essential to any prosecution for extortion under
the act.2

The commissioners, meanwhile, had been at work upon the
preparation of the schedules. After extensive investigations,
in the course of which careful comparisons of the published
tariffs of the railroad companies were made and testimony
received from well-informed shippers from all parts of the state,
the roads of the state were divided into five classes, and a com-
plete schedule of rates drawn up for the roads in each class.
In determining these rates, the commission stated that it had
taken into consideration such subjects as the amount of capital
invested in the road, the amount of business done, and the pro-
portion of operating expenses to gross earnings.3 When the
day arrived for the schedules to go into effect, no attention
appears to have been paid to them by the railroad companies,
they having evidently determined to fight the issue to a finish
in the courts. As a consequence, ten suits for extortion were
brought against four different railroads by the commission
during 1874. Two of these suits, both against the Chicago,
Burlington, and Quincy, were decided by the circuit courts in
September, 1874, and judgments rendered for the people, but
the cases were immediately appealed to the supreme court.
One of these cases was heard in the January term, 1875, the

1 Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Company ». The People. 7 7 Illinois,

443-

2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1873, p. 28, 1874, pp. 8-10, 1875, p. 17.

3 Ibid., 1873, p. 28. See also ibid., 1874, pp. 21-24, 370-394.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 151

judgment of the lower court reversed, and the case remanded
because of an error in pleading. The various decisions and
dissenting opinions of the different members of the supreme
court upon this case showed clearly that a majority of the court
were ready to uphold the constitutionality of the law; but an
authoritative and explicit decision on that point was prevented
by a technicality. As the pleading had been the same in the
other cases pending before the supreme and circuit courts, it
was necessary to remand the former and to amend the declara-
tions in the latter.1

One of the cases against the Illinois Central railroad involved
unjust discrimination in charges for delivering grain upon the
track. This case was tried in the Alexander County circuit
court in January, 1874, and resulted in a judgment for one
thousand dollars and costs against the defendant. The fine
was paid and this proceeding practically put an end to the
practice, previously in vogue, of charging six dollars more per
carload for hauling grain when delivered upon the track than
when delivered to the elevators.2

Another suit, brought against the Ulinois Central in Douglas
County for extortion, was based on the charging of a higher
rate than that fixed by the schedule prepared by the commission.
Judgment was rendered by the circuit court against the company
and the case appealed to the supreme court, where it was the
first case to bring about an explicit decision upon the con-
stitutionality of the law of 1873. This case was tried in the
circuit court in January, 1875, but its decision by the supreme
court was delayed year after year to await decisions of the
United States Supreme Court, or for other reasons. Finally
in June, 1880, a decision was handed down which fully confirmed
the constitutionality of the law of 1873, and the right of the
state to prevent unjust discrimination and extortion, even
when the charter of the railroad company expressly conferred

1 77 Illinois, 443. Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, pp. 11-13, 1875, pp.
15-18, 40-44- The error in pleading consisted of the plaintiff's failing to aver the
establishment of a schedule of maximum rates by the commission.

2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, p. 17.

152 TEE GRANGER MOVEMENT

upon it the right to fix charges.1 Nearly four years before,
the Supreme Court of the United States had sustained similar
legislation in the case of Munn v. Illinois and several other
" Granger cases " from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin;2 and
two years before the supreme court of the state, in the Neal
Ruggles case, had sustained the law of 1871 regulating passenger
fares, a law which had been repealed in 1873. 3 The railroad
companies, nevertheless, refused to conform their charges
entirely to the schedules of the board until after the final deci-
sion on the law of 1873 by the state supreme court.4 In the
meantime, the commission declined to institute further pro-
ceedings against the companies while the test case was still
undecided.5

After the decision, there appears to have been no further
difficulty over the enforcement of the law; 6 the natural develop-
ment of business had of itself brought the charges below the
maxima in the schedules in most cases, for these schedules were
not revised from their promulgation in 1873 until 1881; and the
violent agitations and frantic demands for lower rates which
had characterized the first half of the decade had now almost
entirely disappeared, in large part perhaps because of the gradual
revival of prosperity. These conditions made it possible for
the railroads and the commissioners to get along peaceably
for the most part, after 1880; the board serving to prevent

1 95 Illinois, 313. See also Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, p. 17, 1876,
p. 27, 1877, p. xix, 1878, p. xviii, 1879, P- *xv, 1880, pp. 19, 556.

2 Ibid., 1877, pp. 6-27; 94 United States, 113 et seq.; Gordon, Illinois Railway
Legislation, 54.

3 91 Illinois, 256; Gordon, Illinois Railway Legislation, 36, 54; Railroad Com-
mission, Reports, 1879, PP- xxv* 306-312. The law was not specifically repealed
until the adoption of the revised statutes in 1874; but it was superseded by the
railroad law of 1873. Revised Statutes, 1874, p. 1044.

4 Governor's message in Senate Journal, 1877, p. 19; House Journal, 1877, p. 30.
6 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1876, p. 27.

6 Although the law was so worded as to apply to interstate as well as intra-state
traffic, little attempt was made to enforce it except with regard to business wholly
within the state. The United States Supreme Court decisions were ultimately
adverse to the right of the state to exercise any control over interstate traffic.
Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, p. 19; Wabash v. Illinois, 118 United States,
557. See below, p. 212.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 153

any serious abuses in railway charges within the state, but not
interfering to any considerable extent with the business of the
companies.1

The railroads, meanwhile, had not been satisfied with opposing
the enforcement of the law in the courts; they had also made
every possible effort to secure its repeal or modification. The
campaign having this end in view can be considered under two
headings; conciliation and " education." Apparently the rail-
roads hoped to disarm public opposition by better treatment,
and at the same time to " educate " public opinion to appreciate
the disadvantages of the law and the policy it embodied to the
country. An instance of the more gracious attitude of the
companies is seen in their ready cooperation with the railroad
commission in its efforts to settle disputes and adjust grievances
by arbitration. During the many years in which the protection
of the shippers and the traveling public by the means provided
hi the law was prevented by the delay of the courts, the railroad
commission followed a plan similar to that which had been
developed by the Massachusetts commission, of endeavoring
to adjust grievances by arbitration. Whenever complaints
of overcharge, discrimination, or other unjust treatment were
received from shippers, these were carefully investigated by the
board and, if found well-grounded, the board acted as an inter-
mediary, in presenting them to the railroads for adjustment.
The companies, possibly in the hope of having this kind of
regulation substituted for the more burdensome and in the end
more effective regulation embodied in the law of 1873, accepted
almost invariably the recommendation of the commission with
regard to these complaints.2 It is quite likely that this practice
contributed materially to the allaying of that antagonism to

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1876, p. 22, 1879, PP- v-viii, 269, 1880, p. 18;
Governor's message in Senate Journal, 1877, p. 19, House Journal, 1877, P- 3°-
The revision of the schedule was undertaken in 1881 in response to a request from
the general assembly in the form of a resolution. The new schedules fixed a uni-
form passenger fare of three cents a mile for all roads, and for freight rates the
roads were divided into but two groups. Railroad Commission, Reports, 1881,
pp. 15-20.

2 Ibid., 1872, p. 10, 1877, p. xx, 1878, p. xvii, 1879, p. 267.

154 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

railroads which was so strong in 1873 and 1874, but had practi-
cally disappeared by the end of the decade.

The policy upon which the railroad forces relied the most,
however, in their campaign for the repeal of the law, was that
of making the legislation as unpopular as possible by causing
it to appear to be contrary to the best interest of the state.
In this work a considerable part of the press of the state was
interested, as well as a number of the more influential eastern
newspapers. It was asserted from the beginning of the move-
ment that any interference with the railroads would prevent
all further construction in the state and thus retard its develop-
ment; it was asserted that eastern and foreign capitalists would
no longer invest money in railroads in a state in which the roads
were liable to regulation which practically amounted to con-
fiscation. Just at this time there did come a decided decline
in the extension of railroad lines, which, although it is possible
to point out many causes for it besides the Granger movement,
made the railroad argument seem plausible.1 Doubtless many
people were induced to oppose regulation by this argument,
for the desire for more railroads was still considerable in many
parts of the state.2

The first shot in the campaign for the repeal of the law of
1873 was fired on the very day upon which it became a law,
May 2, 1873, when four members of the Senate presented to
that body a formal written protest against the measure. In
this they admitted the necessity of legislation on the subject,
but declared that the measure adopted was unconstitutional,
and that it would paralyze the commercial and industrial inter-
ests of the state. The second shot came on the day upon which
the law (with the exception of the schedule feature) went into
effect, when the railroads, apparently by a preconcerted agree-
ment, raised the former competitive rates to the level of the

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1876, pp. 18-21; Nation, xvi. 384, 397, xvii.
49, 156, 218 (1873).

2 Threats were made that the quality of the service on the railroads would be
lowered, but no evidence of such action has been found. See Nation, xvi. 309
(May 8, 1873). This method of making the restrictive laws unpopular was used
in some of the other Granger states. See below, p. 163.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 1 55

non-competitive rates, and asserted that this was the working
of the new law.1 This illustrates what was undoubtedly the
favorite method of attack, — to appear to obey the law, but to
do it in such a way as to make it as obnoxious as possible. It
is said, moreover, to have been the constant policy of railroad
officials and employees to explain every inconvenience and to
answer every complaint with the assertion that the things
complained of were results of the railroad law. These methods
were followed in other states at this time with more success than
in Illinois.

Not all the forces were arrayed on the side of the railroad
companies, however, nor did the interest of the farmers' organiza-
tions cease with the passage of the laws of 1873. In September,
1873, the railroad commission held a joint meeting with the
executive committee of the State Farmers' Association to con-
sider the railroad law and its enforcement.2 In October, 1873,
a " Northwestern Farmers' Convention," which met at Chicago
to consider transportation problems, appointed a committee
to investigate the workings of the Illinois law. This committee
reported that the effects of the law were not such as had been
anticipated because of the failure of the railroads to observe
it.3 Later in the year the state grange and the State Farmers'
Association each adopted resolutions demanding the enforce-
ment of the law and opposing its repeal or modification.4 Year
after year these resolutions or similar ones were repeated by
the various state and local organizations of the farmers, and
often even more stringent legislation was demanded.5 The
different political parties, too, mindful of the votes of the farmers,

1 That the primary object of this action was to influence public opinion is in-
dicated by the fact that most of the new high rates were soon modified.

2 Chicago Tribune, September 19, 1873, p. 8.

3 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 368.

4 Illinois State Farmers' Association, Proceedings, ii. 100-109; Prairie Farmer,
xliv. 401, 403 (December, 1873).

5 Ibid. xlv. 12, 57, 59, 65, 97, 161, 164, 188, 225, xlvi. 27, 33, 38, 48, 73, 105, 237
(1874-75); Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1875, p. 393; Illinois State Farmer's Associa-
tion, Proceedings, v. 13-15, 34-36 (1877); Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, v.
36 (1876).

156 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

continued to insert planks in their platforms favoring the strict
regulation of railroads by the state.1

The fight over the railroad law of 1873 was the bitterest in
the adjourned session of the same general assembly which
passed the law. At this session, which began in January, 1874,
the legislature was deluged with petitions and memorials for
the repeal or modification of the law because of its failure to
produce the benefits expected, among the number being two
from local farmers' clubs.2 Most significant of these was a
memorial signed by one hundred and three Chicago mercantile
firms, which gives a good idea of the arguments and methods
of those who were working for the repeal of the law.3 This
memorial opened with a declaration that the legislature did not
understand the effect of the railroad law on the commerce of
the state. The merchants then proceeded to enlighten the
legislature. They admitted that they had not been satisfied
with railroad management prior to the passage of the law, and
that they had been subject to discrimination and extortion,
but asserted that in the majority of cases they had been able
to get redress from the companies. Now, the railroad law
had injured their business and customers, increased the cost of
shipment to the interior of the state and not lessened the cost
of shipment to tide-water; it had impaired the credit of the state,
and rendered it almost impossible to borrow money to build
competing roads. In fact no benefit had accrued to any citizens
unless to the officers whose positions were created by the bill.
Therefore the repeal or amendment of the law was requested
that the commerce and credit of the state might be maintained
and fostered.

Violent attacks were made upon the commission as well as
upon the law by various members of the legislature and an
attempt was made to abolish it on the popular ground of retrench-

1 See for these platforms Appleton's Cyclopedia, articles " Illinois," " Tribune
Almanacs," etc.

2 House Journal, 1874, pp. 210, 212, 318, 376, 380, 403, 408, 410, 421, 425, 437,
444, 460, 474; Senate Journal, 1874, pp. 138, 254, 322, 347, 356, 371, 379, 386, 396,
432; Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1874.

3 Illinois, Reports to the General Assembly, 1873, iv. 971.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 1 57

ment of expenses.1 This, however, failed by a large majority,
40 to 91 in the House, and an attempt to strike out section 3
of the law, the section which denned discrimination, was defeated
by the still larger majority of 25 to ioi.2 At one time it looked
as if an attempt would be made to extend the application of
the principle of the law of 1873, for the House adopted a resolu-
tion instructing its railroad committee to prepare a bill to prevent
discrimination and extortion by the Pullman Palace Car Com-
pany and other companies running sleepers, and to fix maximum
rates.3 Nothing further appears to have been done in this
direction, and though numerous bills of various sorts had been
introduced into both houses4 the only railroad legislation enacted
at this session was a minor amendment of a technical nature
to one of the enforcement sections of the railroad act of i873.5

During the session of the twenty-ninth general assembly,
which met in 1875, the railroad commission was attacked on the
ground that it had instituted suits and used the names of persons
as aggrieved parties when the persons concerned had not re-
quested or desired any such action.6 The commission admitted
the truth of the charges but declared that to make the prosecu-
tion of suits dependent on the initiative of the aggrieved parties
would nullify the law because the " fear of the exercise of the
power of corporations to inflict punishment would be sufficient,
in most cases, to deter those whose business is dependent upon
railway transportation from making public their grievances." 7
In this and in each of the next three general assemblies, which
met in 1877, 1879, and 1881, respectively, numerous bills were
introduced to change the railroad laws, some in the direction
of greater restriction and others for more lenient treatment of
the companies, but none of the proposed measures were enacted
into law. Gradually it was becoming evident that the state of

1 Ibid. 849-851, v. 591-595; House Journal, 1874, pp. 31, 33, 56-58, 61, 79-81,
194; Senate Journal, pp. 178, 226, 333, 368-371, 396.

2 House Journal, 1874, pp. 63, 194, 265. 3 Ibid. 297.

4 Ibid. 95, 163; Senate Journal, 1874, pp. n, 204.

5 Public Laws, 1874, p. 129.

6 House Journal, 1875, PP- 42S» 621-628; Chicago Tribune, March 13, 1875.

7 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, p. 18.

158 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Illinois was determined to maintain the policy of railroad regula-
tion by a commission with power to establish a schedule of
maximum rates, and that it would stand by the law of 1873 as
the best embodiment of that policy.

In concluding this survey of restrictive railway legislation
in Illinois during the Granger period, it will be well to sum up
the part which the farmers of the state played in the movement.
It is clear that the demand for such legislation made its appear-
ance before the movement for farmers' organization got under
way. This early agitation resulted in the law of 1869, which
was totally inefficient as a solution of the problem, and then the
farmers began to take hold of the matter. In 1870 their influence
was a factor in securing provisions in the constitution which
laid the basis for effective legislation, and the Legislative
Farmers' Club seems to have had a part in securing the enact-
ment of the legislation of 1871, the most important feature of
which was the establishment of the railroad commission. Then
came the decision of the supreme court invalidating an essential
part of this legislation, and thereafter the farmers, by that time
thoroughly organized, played the principal role in the move-
ment. Their influence was openly exerted upon the legislature
by the Springfield convention of April, 1873, which was followed
quickly by the enactment of the railroad law of that year. In
the trying years which followed, the farmers' organizations
stood back of the efforts of the railroad commission to enforce
the law and their opposition was undoubtedly of great influence
in preventing the law from being repealed or modified before
it could be thoroughly tested, a thing which happened to the
Granger laws of several other states. On the whole, if we use
the term " Granger " as relating to organized efforts of the farm-
ing classes, it must be conceded that the phrase " Granger legis-
lation " is rightly applied to the railway laws enacted in Illinois
during this period.

CHAPTER V

GRANGER RAILWAY LEGISLATION (CONTINUED)
MINNESOTA x

THE agitation in Illinois for railroad regulation was paralleled
by similar movements in several of the neighboring states.
Minnesota, however, was the only other state in which a
stringent law was enacted as early as 1871. The construc-
tion of railroads in this state began in 1862, and they were
welcomed with open arms as the most effective agents for the
development of its resources. By 1872 nearly two thousand
miles were in operation.2 From the first, however, there seems
to have been a premonition of the evils which would result
from giving the railroads too free a hand. In the constitution,
under which the state was admitted in 1858, section 2 of Article
IX forbade the formation of companies under special acts; and
section 4 of the same article, in providing for the exercise of
the right of eminent domain for the benefit of transportation
companies, declared that " all corporations being common
carriers, enjoying the right of way in pursuance of this section,
shall be bound to carry the mineral, agricultural, and other
productions and manufactures on equal and reasonable terms."
A section of the general railroad incorporation act passed by the
legislature in 1858 limited the charges of companies organized
under its provisions to three cents per mile for passengers and five
cents per ton mile for freight.3 The demand for more railroads
was so strong during the sixties that any attempt to enforce such a
measure would have met with disapproval as tending to interfere
with railroad construction and the act was soon superseded by
another which required merely that charges should be reasonable.

1 See R. S. Saby, Railroad Legislation in Minnesota, 1849 to 1875. This was
published too late to be of use in the preparation of this section.

2 Minnesota Railroad Commissioner, Reports, 1871, pp. 5-9; American Annual
Cyclopedia, 1872, p. 543.

3 Minnesota, General Laws, 1858, p. 170.

159

l6o THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Toward the close of the sixties, however, complaints began
to be heard that the railroads were oppressing the people by
extortionate and discriminating rates ; a dispute over the payment
of railroad bonds, which had been issued by the state to aid
various roads, helped to arouse antagonism toward the com-
panies; 1 and the order of Patrons of Husbandry, which had been
developing in the state, began to turn its attention to the trans-
portation problem.2 Restrictive railroad measures were discussed
at the session of the legislature in the spring of 1870, but nothing
was done.3 During the ensuing summer and fall, however,
the agitation for the regulation of railroads by the state grew
rapidly in volume and intensity. It manifested itself in a
transportation convention at Owatonna in November, at which
resolutions were adopted citing the exorbitant and ruinously
discriminating rates and the operation of the roads in the in-
terest of wheat rings and other monopolies, and demanding
legislation to protect the producers of the state.4 This demand
was too insistent to be denied and the legislature of 1871 quickly
responded to it by enacting two railroad laws.5 One of these
laws established a fixed schedule of maximum rates for passen-
gers and freights, the passenger maximum being five cents per
mile and the freight maxima apparently considerably below
the rates then prevailing.6 The other law provided for a rail-
road commissioner and empowered him to collect statistics and
enforce the railroad laws.7

The attitude of the Minnesota railroad companies toward
these laws was precisely the same as the attitude of the com-

1 On this question, see W. A. Scott, Repudiation of 'State Debts , 152-161; Ameri-
can Annual Cyclopedia, 1869, p. 448, 1870, p. 507, 1871, p. 516.

2 Minnesota Monthly, i. 249 (July, 1869); Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 256-
259. See also below, pp. 46, 49, 53.

8 Minnesota, Executive Documents, 1869, pp. 6-14, 1870, i. 38-55; Senate
Journal, 1870, pp. 65, 117, 249, 288.

4 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1870, p. 516.

6 Senate Journal, 1871, pp. n, 21, 26, 114, 176, 269, 292; Special Joint Railroad
Investigating Committee, Report to the Legislature, February 15, 1871; Stickney,
The Railway Problem, ch. x.

• General Laws, 1871, pp. 61-66; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1871, p. 517;
Railroad Commissioner, Reports, 1871, p. 10.

7 General Laws, 1871, pp. 56-59.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION l6l

panics of Illinois toward the laws enacted by that state in the
same year; they denied their validity and refused to make any
attempt to conform to their terms.1 In order to test the law,
a suit was brought by the attorney-general against the Winona
and St. Peter Company for violation of the rate law, and at the
same time a private suit was instituted against the same com-
pany to compel it to give up goods held because the owner
refused to pay transportation charges in excess of those fixed
by the law. The circuit court decided these cases in favor of
the railroad, but they were appealed to the supreme court of
the state, and there heard together in May, 1873. In its decision
the supreme court admitted that a railroad charter was a con-
tract under which the company was entitled to collect some
tolls, but at the same time upheld the right of the state to regu-
late or limit the rate of those tolls. The decisions of the lower
courts were therefore reversed.2 As was to be expected, one of
these cases was appealed to the United States Supreme Court,
where as Winona and St. Peter Railroad Company v. Blake
it was decided along with other Granger cases, in the October
term, 1876; the decision being in favor of Blake and thus up-
holding the validity of the law of i87i.3 Before this decision
was reached, however, the legislature had superseded that law
by another restrictive act, and then had practically given up
the attempt to control railroads.

During the interval of three years in which the law of 1871
was nominally in force but was actually a dead letter, the antag-
onism toward railroad corporations and the demand for their
control by the state continued to grow.4 The state and local
granges kept up a constant agitation of the question 5 and the

1 Railroad Commissioner, Reports, 1871, p. 10; American Annual Cyclopedia,
1872, p. 543-

2 19 Minnesota, 418, 434 (Gilfillan ed., 362, 377); Railroad Commissioner,
Reports, 1871, pp. n, 17, 1873, pp. 241-247; Attorney-general's reports in Executive
Documents, 1871, i. 74, 1872, i. 541, 1873, «• 832-836, Governor's message in ibid.,
1872, i. 5-10. See also editorial in Nation, xvii. 266 (October 23, 1873).

3 94 United States, 180.

4 On the railroad question in the legislature of 1873, see American Annual Cyclo-
pedia, 1873, p. 506; Senate Journal, 1873, pp. 24, 34, 38, 86.

5 Farmers' Union, 1873, January 18, August 9; Chicago Tribune, 1873, May 15,

162 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

victory of the Independent party in the election of 1873 1 placed
the Granger element in control of the legislature and ensured
the enactment of a radical railway law.2 The Minnesota rail-
way law of 1874, which was modelled on the Illinois law of 1873,
established a board of railway commissioners and directed it
to prepare schedules of maximum rates which should be prima
facie evidence of reasonableness. Unjust discrimination was
also denned and prohibited and it was made the duty of the
commissioners to enforce the laws by prosecuting suits against
offending companies whenever required by the public interest.3

Thus far Minnesota had followed the precedents set by Illinois
in her attempts to regulate railroads, but the commission soon
found that the preparation of schedules to be applied to the
new roads of a frontier state like Minnesota was a very different
matter from the preparation of schedules which would work in
a comparatively well settled community like the state of Illinois.
Many of the roads of Minnesota had been constructed in advance
of settlement and could not possibly return profit to the owners
for a number of years, at any rate which the traffic would bear.4
This fact was recognized by the commissioners in making the
schedules and they soon gave up all attempts to consider the
question of dividends upon capital invested. They relied,
instead, upon the existing rates, with modification when shippers
gave evidence of unreasonableness. Effort was made so to draw
up the schedules as to do away with discrimination, and to effect
reductions in passenger fares, and in the freight rates on such
staples as grain and lumber, which constituted the greater part

p. i, June 23, p. 3; Minnesota State Grange, Constitution, 1873, P- *5 (proceedings
at session of February, 1873).

1 See above, pp. 89-91.

2 American Annual Cyclopedia, 512; Chicago Tribune, November 7, 1873, p. 8,
January 6, 1874, p. 5; Rural Carolinian, v. 318 (March, 1874). At a session of
the state grange at Faribault, December, 1873, tne master advocated the appoint-
ment of a special committee by the grange to attend the legislature and assist
in framing a railroad law. Whether or not this recommendation was followed up
by the grange does not appear. Industrial Age, December 27, 1873.

3 General Laws, 1874, pp. 140-156; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 564.
See also E. D. Neill, History of Minnesota, 760-763; W. W. Folwell, Minnesota;
Chicago Tribune, 1874, January n, p. 8, January 19, p. 5.

4 See Railroad Commissioner, Reports, 1872, pp. 50-52.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 163

of the transportation business. The principal difficulties which
the commission encountered were due to the great inequality of
conditions in different parts of the state. These inequalities
made the satisfactory application of the pro rata principle,
as required by the definition of unjust discrimination in the act
of 1874, a practical impossibility. If rates were fixed which
would be reasonable in the more thickly settled parts of the
state, the roads would be forced to operate their western exten-
sions at a considerable loss; while rates which would be reason-
able in the sparsely settled districts would be unreasonably
high if not extortionate in the southeastern parts of the state.
The commission chose sometimes one and sometimes the other
horn of the dilemma, with the result that no one was satisfied:
the railroad companies complained that the rates were ruinously
low, while the farmers declared that the execution of the law
had been made a new source of oppression and complained
because they had no representative on the board of railway
commissioners.1

While the act of 1871 was in effect, the railroads of Minnesota
had consistently denied the right of the state to regulate their
charges and had refused to conform to the rates prescribed;
but the act of 1874 gave them so good an opportunity to teach
the people a lesson and to make such legislation odious, that a
complete change of front was made. The rates scheduled by
the commission were quite generally adopted and the law sub-
stantially complied with, though in such ways as to emphasize
its disadvantages and to convince the people of the desirability
of its repeal. The St. Paul and Sioux City Company, for ex-
ample, claimed that the law made the operation of its line unprof-
itable and so reduced the service that the people were led to
petition the railroad commission for a restoration of the former
rate. Perhaps the most glaring example of the injustice of the
pro rata principle occurred on the St. Paul and Pacific. This
road had maintained a rate of three cents a mile between the
cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and five cents on the rest of

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, pp. 3-9. See address of Master Parsons
before the state grange, December, 1874, in Industrial Age, December 26, 1874, p. 5.

164 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the line. The board decided that, on the whole, five cents
was a fair rate and the company accordingly raised its rate
between St. Paul and Minneapolis to protect itself from the
pro rata clause of the law.1

As a result of the unsatisfactory working of the schedule —
which seems to have been due in part to the law itself, in part
to the attempts of the companies to make it unpopular, and in
part perhaps to the inexperience and lack of skill of the com-
missioners— a considerable number of people were doubtless
convinced that the rates fixed worked injustice to the companies,2
while many others became disgusted with the attempt to regulate
railroads by law and began to look to competition and the
construction of waterways for relief.3

In the elections in the fall of 1874 the railroad forces were
particularly active, while the enthusiasm which had been back
of the Granger movement was on the wane. As a result the
newly elected legislature contained a majority opposed to the
policy of radical railroad legislation which the state had been
trying to follow for the preceding four years. It was soon
evident that the law was doomed, but there was some question
as to what should be put in its place, in order to prevent the
appearance of a total surrender of the policy of state super-
vision.4 The final outcome was the enactment of a law which
substituted a single elective commissioner with power to inves-
tigate and report merely, for the appointive board of three mem-
bers which had had power to establish schedules of maximum
rates and to enforce their observance.5 In other words it was
a change from a commission of the Illinois type to an advisory
commission of the type which prevailed at that time in Ohio
and Michigan, and which was also adopted at the end of the
Granger period in Iowa and Wisconsin. The law also contained
provisions that no railroad company should charge unreasonable
rates or should discriminate in charges " f or a like service from

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, p. 7; Statement of W. R. Marshall,
Minnesota railroad commissioner, in Wisconsin, Senate Journal, 1876, p. 340.

2 Ibid. 3 Industrial Age, December 26, 1874, p. 5.
4 Executive Documents, 1874, i. 29-31.

6 General Laws, 1875, PP- iSS-^S.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 165

the same place, and upon like condition and similar circum-
stances; and all concessions of rates, drawbacks and contracts
for special rates shall be open to all persons, companies, or
corporations alike, under similar circumstances." Such guardedly
phrased restrictions, accompanied by no provisions for their
enforcement, were not expected to and did not interfere with
the operations of any railroad in the slightest degree.1

It might be expected from the intensity of the agitation for
railroad control in 1873 and 1874 that this law would have met
with a storm of protest from the agricultural population, but such
does not seem to have been the case. The fact was that the
Granger element had overshot the mark in 1874 by forcing
through a law which was not suited to the existing conditions.
The order of Patrons of Husbandry, moreover, which undoubt-
edly had been largely responsible for the movement in this
state, had already entered upon a rapid decline, and this was
accompanied by an equally rapid decline in the interest of the
people in the railroad problem.2

The question naturally arises: Did the Granger movement
for railroad regulation in Minnesota have any positive results
other than the establishment of the constitutional right of the
state to control railway charges ? The words of Governor
Davis in his last annual message, delivered January 7, 1876,
are an answer to this question.

The agitation and discussion of the relative obligations of railroad com-
panies and rights of the people have resulted in a better understanding and
in sentiments of concession and conciliation in both parties to the contro-
versy. These sentiments found expression in the act approved March 8,
1875. I feel authorized to state, from the entire absence of complaint,
that the act has given satisfaction and that no further legislation will be
necessary so long as the present situation remains unchanged.3

1 The Industrial Age declared that the Minnesota Legislature virtually sold out
to the railroads and repealed all the legislation of 1874. See issue of March 27,
1875, p. 4.

2 This is evidenced by the fact that the commissioner found it impossible to
dispose of two thousand copies of his report, and recommended in 1876 that the
edition be reduced to eight hundred. Railroad Commissioner, Reports, 1876, p. 613
(in Executive Documents).

8 Executive Documents, 1875, i. 7. See also Railroad Commissioner, Reports,
i875, P. 5-

1 66 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

While it was perhaps unfortunate that the reaction was so
thorough and the principle of effective state control so com-
pletely given up by Minnesota in 1875 — for it was found
necessary to reassert the principle by another restrictive act
in the next decade — still there can be little doubt that the act
of 1875 was more suited to the conditions prevailing in the state
at that time than were the rigidly restrictive railroad laws of
1871 and 1874.

IOWA

The foundation for the regulation of railroads in Iowa was
laid as far back as 1856, when an act was passed by the legislature
turning over lands, donated for the purpose by the national
government, to four different railroad companies.1 Section 14
of this act declared that the companies accepting the provisions
of the act should at all times be subject to such rules and regu-
lations as might be enacted by the general assembly. Similar
provisions were inserted in other land grant acts passed during
the next ten years, and acts passed in 1866 and 1868 granting
lands or legalizing the consolidation of roads contained even
more specific provisions reserving to the legislature the right
to regulate freight and passenger rates on the roads concerned.2
As early as 1864, there were complaints of discrimination and
extortion by the railroad companies and propositions for restric-
tive legislation were brought forward in every session of the
legislature from that time on.3 In 1866 the House passed a
rate bill, which was not acted upon by the Senate.4 In 1870,

1 Iowa, Laws, 1856, extra session, ch. i. This and all other acts of the Iowa
legislature relating to railroads, up to and including 1878, can be consulted conven-
iently in Iowa Railroad Commission, Reports, i. appendix, parts i, ii (1878).

2 Laws, 1858, ch. xcix. section 5, 1860, ch. lix. section 3, 1864, ch. cviii. section 20,
1866, ch. cxxxiv. section 7, 1868, ch. xiii. section 2, ch. Ivii. section 3, ch. Iviii. section
i, ch. xxiv. section 7. See also F. H. Dixon, State Railroad Control, with a History
of its Development in Iowa, 21-23; State Senator McNutt, in Cloud, Monopolies and
the People, 162-166; Larrabee, The Railroad Question, 323, 330.

3 Iowa, House Journal, 1864, p. 102; Dixon, State Railroad Control, 23; Larra-
bee, Railroad Question, 328-330; McNutt, in Cloud, Monopolies and the People,
162.

4 Iowa, Senate Journal, 1866, pp. 25, 495, 540, 661; House Journal, 1866, pp.
159, 184, 235, 252, 290, 356, 438-456, 517, 764. On the railroad question in

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 167

three bills, — to establish a tariff of freight rates, to regulate
passenger fares, and to create a board of railroad commissioners,
— were passed in the House by large majorities; but again
all legislation on the subject was blocked in the Senate, though
the votes in that body were very close.1

By this time the demand for railroad regulation had become
so strong that the political parties found it advisable to take
cognizance of the question in their bids for votes and the plat-
forms of both Democrats and Republicans in 1870 and 1871
contained planks asserting the right of the state to control
railroads and demanding legislation on the subject.2 The
action of the legislature in 1872 was much the same, nevertheless,
as that of preceding general assemblies.3 Among the many
railroad measures introduced at this session,4 the most significant
was one known as the O'Donnel bill,5 fixing freight rates, which
passed the House by vote of 82 to 13. In the Senate this bill
was amended by adding sections providing for an elective com-
mission with power to alter the schedules established by the act,
and then passed, the vote being 26 to 23. The House refused
to concur in the amendment; the Senate by close votes refused
to recede;6 three conference committees failed to procure an

the next general assembly, see Senate Journal, 1868, pp. 27, 227, 283, 435;
House Journal, pp. 28, 107, 116, 143, 232, 282, 364, 379, 462, 487, 490, 581-583,
601-609.

1 Senate Journal, 1870, pp. 42, 54, 71, 117, 121, 129, 163, 168-170, 193, 203, 212,
219-221, 224-226, 233, 239, 247, 251, 254, 362, 365, 378, 454, 465, 554; House,
Journal, 1870, pp. 39, 90, 115, 170, 180, 187, 196, 218, 224, 241, 254, 272, 280, 300,
310, 400, 434, 437, 443, 540-542; McNutt, in Cloud, Monopolies and the People,
167; C. R. Tuttle, Illustrated History of the State of Iowa, 351.

2 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1870, p. 408, 1871, p. 416.

3 Both Governor Merrill in his annual message and Governor Carpenter in his
inaugural address urged railroad legislation. House Journal, 1872, pp. 34, 62-64;
Tuttle, Iowa, 358.

4 For titles of bills introduced, see House Journal, 1872, pp. 80, 146, 388; Senate
Journal, 1872, pp. 28, 35, 163, 326, 390.

6 For the legislative history of the O'Donnel bill, see House Journal, 1872, pp. 80,
429, 485-487, 530, 781-783, 825-827, 861; Senate Journal, 1872, pp. 413-415,
466-468, 474-476, 478-480, 482, 522, 612-615, 654-656. A Senate bill with a
similar title was passed by the Senate by vote of 23 to 22, but was not acted upon
by the House. Ibid. 326, 357-359.

8 Senator McNutt makes a statement with reference to the O'Donnel bill which

1 68 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

agreement between the two houses; and the legislature once
more adjourned without enacting a railroad law.1

While the railroad question was thus agitated in session
after session of the legislature, and partly as a result of that
agitation, the farmers of Iowa had been banding themselves
together in the order of Patrons of Husbandry, which by the
opening of the year 1873 had a membership of about fifty thou-
sand in the state.2 After the failure of the fourteenth general
assembly in 1872 to enact a law for railroad regulation, it quickly
became evident that the Grange was going to concentrate the
influence of the agricultural population in favor of such legisla-
tion at the first opportunity. Ordinarily that opportunity
would not have come until the meeting of the next general

illustrates one of the railroad abuses and a method which the railroad forces em-
ployed to prevent hostile legislation: " Those of us in the Senate who voted for
the bill, were remembered by the railroad managers when we met in adjourned
session last winter, (January i5th, 1873,) by leaving us out of the list of senators
whom they favored with free passes. But they sent passes to all the senators
who voted against the bill. The passes from the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
Railroad Company were accompanied with a private note, stating that free passes
were not now given generally, * but only to their friends.' " McNutt, in Cloud,
Monopolies and the People, 163-166.

1 The railroad lobby at this session of the legislature was said to have been made
up of four able lawyers, who posed as farmers and members of the Grange. Near
the close of the session, a resolution was adopted in the Senate as follows:

" WHEREAS, There has been constantly in attendance on the Senate and House
of this General Assembly, from the commencement of the session to the present
time, four gentlemen professing to represent the great agricultural interest of the
State of Iowa, known as the Grange; and —

" WHEREAS, These gentlemen appear entirely destitute of any visible means of
support; therefore be it —

" Resolved, By the Senate, the House concurring, that the janitors permit afore-
said gentlemen to gather up all the waste paper, old newspapers, &c., from under
the desks of the members, and, they be allowed one postage stamp each, The
American Aguriculturist, What Greeley Knows about Farming, and that they be
permitted to take with them to their homes, if they have any, all the rejected rail-
road tariff bills, Beardsley's speech on female suffrage, Claussen's reply, Kas-
son's speech on barnacles, Blakeley's dog bill, Teale's liquor bill, and be given a
pass over the Des Moines Valley railroad, with the earnest hope that they will
never return to Des Moines."

The Chicago Tribune accepted this at its face value and took the Senators to
task for their disrespectful treatment of the Grange. Senate Journal, 1872, p. 688;
Chicago Tribune, 1873, June 28, p. 4, July 5, P- 4, July 7, P- 3-

8 See above, p. 58.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 169

assembly two years later, but it happened that a special session
limited to thirty days, was held in 1873, to consider a revision
of the code of laws, which had been drawn up by a special com-
mission.

During the earlier part of this special session, the sentiment
of the legislators seemed to be in favor of letting the question
rest, except for a resolution requesting Congress to legislate on
the subject, but about the first of February, 1873, the state
grange held a meeting in Des Moines, the capital city, and gave
new life to the issue. This body, composed of over twelve
hundred representative farmers from all parts of the state,
adopted a memorial setting forth the abuses of railway manage-
ment and demanding the immediate enactment of a rate law to
protect the people from outrageous discrimination and extor-
tionate charges. The individual members of the grange,
moreover, undoubtedly exercised considerable influence by means
of personal contact with their representatives in the legislature
and by threats of united political action in the coming election.1
Possibly as a result of the pressure thus brought to bear, a section
was added to the railroad chapter of the code by which passenger
fares were limited to three and one-half cents per mile. Other
sections which proposed to incorporate a schedule of freight
rates in the code were adopted in the House, but failed of pas-
sage in the Senate by a tie vote.2

During the summer of 1873, the two interacting forces of the
demand for railroad regulation and the desire for agricultural
organization and cooperation, working largely through the local
granges of the order of Patrons of Husbandry, brought about
the formation of an Anti-Monopoly party, with government
control of railroads as the main plank in its platform.3 The

1 Senate Journal, 1873, p. 125; McNutt, in Cloud, Monopolies and the People,
168; Farmers' Union, March 8, 1873; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 44, 51 (February 8, 15,
1873); Chicago Tribune, February n, 1873, p. 2.

2 Senate Journal, 1873, pp. 7, 77, 85, 100, 129, 139, 142, 150, 234, 248, 288,
294-296, 313, 315, 3*9, 32i, 33i, 334,3475 House Journal, 1873, Passim; Iowa,
Revised Code, 1873, p. 239 (Title X, ch. v, section 1305); McNutt, in Cloud,
Monopolies and the People, 168; Chicago Tribune, 1873, February n, p. 2, April

II, p. 2.

3 See above, pp. 89-91. Platform is in Martin, Grange Movement, 513;

170 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Republican party, reading the signs of the times, inserted a
railway regulation plank in its platform,1 and by renominating
Governor Carpenter, who had advocated laws to control rail-
roads in his messages, it succeeded in electing the state ticket,
but the Anti-Monopolists secured fifty of the one hundred
members of the lower house, while seventy of the members
were Patrons of Husbandry. Everything seemed to point to
the enactment of a radical railroad law in the session of 1874.2

That the order of Patrons of Husbandry meant to take advan-
tage of its strength in the legislature was evident when the state
grange held it fourth annual session in December, 1873. By
this time the order numbered nearly two thousand local granges
in the state and probably about one hundred thousand members,
so it was in a position to speak with authority for the agricultural
part of the population. Early in the session the grange adopted
a resolution declaring the right of the state to establish passenger
fares and freight rates and later provision was made for the
appointment of a committee of twelve to memorialize the general
assembly on the subject. This committee was instructed to
indicate the kind of a railroad tariff bill that would meet the
approval of the grange.3

Eight different bills aiming at the regulation of rates were
introduced into the Senate at this session and referred to the
railroad committee,4 by which on February 13, a substitute
bill was reported providing for the classification of railroads
and containing a schedule of rates. During the consideration
of this measure, which appears to have been more radical than
many of the Grangers desired, numerous substitutes and amend-

American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 381; Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1873, p. i.
See also Nation, xvii. 122 (August 21, 1873).

1 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, P- 3Sl '•> Chicago Tribune, June 26, 1873, P- *•

2 Ibid., and Industrial Age, 1873, October 18, p. 4, November 8, p. 6.

8 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv (December, 1873); Periam, The Ground-
swell, 263-270.

4 Senate Journal, 1874, pp. 39, 53, 65, 95. For resolutions and petitions relative
to railroads, see Senate Journal, 1874, pp. 20, 64, 69, 96; House Journal, 1874,
pp. 115, 127, 128, 131, 160, 199, 336, 395, 451. For parts of the governor's address
relative to railroads, see Iowa, Legislative Documents, 1874, i. no. i, pp. 38-42.
See also ibid., ii. nos. 30, 35, 36, and Chicago Tribune, January 17, 1874, p. 2.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 17 1

ments were offered, including a proposition to make the rates
prima facie evidence of reasonableness instead of absolute maxima,
and another for the establishment of a commission to draw up
a schedule of rates. One of the substitutes, which was offered
by Senator Rowland, and which proposed to establish an inves-
tigating commission to prepare the way for future legislation,
was said to have been drafted by the committee appointed by
the state grange; but another Senator declared it to be a snare
and a delusion and drafted in a railway office.1 All these prop-
ositions were turned down one after another and the original
bill as reported by the committee passed the Senate by vote of
40 to 8.2 In the House a substitute for this bill, although
embodying the same general features, was passed by vote of
93 to 4. The Senate accepted the substitute, with a few minor
amendments which were agreed to by the House, and the meas-
ure received the approval of the governor and became law on
March 23, i874.3

This Iowa railroad act of 1874 4 is perhaps the best example
of an attempt to establish a fixed schedule of maximum rates
and remained unrepealed longer than the similar acts of any
of the other states. By sections i and 2 of the act all the rail-
roads in the state were divided into three classes on the basis
of gross earnings and the maximum passenger fares fixed at
three, three and one-half and four cents for the roads in each

1 A joint resolution had previously been adopted in the Senate by vote of 38 to
7 requesting the committee of the state grange to present its railroad bill and such
information as it might possess. This was apparently looked upon as reflecting
on the grange, for the House, with its preponderance of Patrons, rejected this and
another similar resolution by large majorities. Senate Journal, 1874, p. 90; House
Journal, 1874, pp. 153, 159, 172.

2 Senate Journal, 1874, pp. 198-219. See also Chicago Tribune, March n,

1874, P- 5-

8 House Journal, 1874, pp. 328, 344-351, 388, 395-405, 440, 44§; Senate Journal,
1874, pp. 277, 279, 292-295, 305. Over twenty railroad bills of various sorts were
introduced in the House. House Journal, 1874, pp. 62, 83, 84, 90, 91, 103, 127,
161, 162, 188, 196, 232, 247, 323, 325,341,357,525.

4 Laws, 1874, ch. Ixviii; Railroad Commission, Reports, i. appendix, cviii-cxx.
For summaries of the law, see Dixon, State Railroad Control, 26; Commissioner
McDill, in Cullom Committee, Report on Interstate Commerce, ii. 944; American
Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 416.

172 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

of the respective classes. Section 3 contained an elaborate
schedule of freight rates for every distance up to 376 miles on
merchandise in four classes, with special rates for various staple
commodities and three classes of carload rates. The maximum
freight charges on roads in the three different classes were
regulated by this schedule in proportions of 90, 105, and 120
per cent. Section 5 supplemented the schedule by an elaborate
classification of freights. Other sections forbade discrimina-
tions between persons; but there was no prohibition of dis-
crimination between places, provided all rates charged were
below the maxima fixed by the bill. The enforcement provisions
of the act were unusual: a fund of ten thousand dollars was
placed at the disposal of the governor to be used in assisting
private individuals to conduct suits for damages under the act;
and in addition, all officers or employees, convicted of being
party to violations of the act, were to be subjected to fines or
imprisonment.

Such were the carefully drawn provisions l of an act which
attracted attention all over the United States and even in the
financial centers of the old world. With such an act and forti-
fied by the numerous reservations of rights contained in the
railway charters and grants, it seemed as if the state of Iowa
was in a fair way to establish effective control of the railroad
business within its limits. That even the railroad companies
were convinced that the state's position was practically invul-
nerable, from the standpoint of legality, is indicated by the
greater measure of obedience which they rendered to this statute
than to the Granger laws of the other states.2

1 Peter A. Dey, later railroad commissioner of Iowa and an opponent of this
sort of legislation, declared, " that the Iowa legislation, for fixed legislation, was the
most perfect that man could get up." Cullom Committee, ReporJ, ii. 958. See
also Larrabee, Railroad Question, 332; Dixon, Slate Railroad Control, 27.

2 Commissioner McDill in Cullom Committee, Report, ii. 945 ; Chicago, Bur-
lington, and Quincy, Railroad Company, Annual Reports, 1876, p. ii; Governor
Carpenter, in Legislative Documents, 1876, i. no. i, pp. 10-13; Governor Newbold,
in Legislative Documents, 1878, i. no. i, p. 27. Dixon is quite unjustified in saying
that " the attitude assumed by the railroad companies was that either of indiffer-
ence or of open hostility." Dixon, State Control of Railroads, 28. See, however,
p. 174, note 4, below.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 173

The question of the justness of the rates established by the
schedule of this act, to the shippers on the one hand and to the
railroads on the other, has been the subject of a great deal of
dispute. The railroad companies at once declared that the rates
were unremunerative,1 but Senator Larrabee writes that " this
law in no case compelled railroad companies to carry freight at
a lower rate than they had voluntarily carried it in the past "
and that " the average rates fixed by the law were higher than
the rates at which the railroads had previously carried a large
portion of corresponding freight." 2 The facts seem to be that
the legislature, instead of reducing all rates to the level of the
lowest competitive rates, as had been attempted in Illinois in
1871, had merely endeavored to equalize rates, to strike a rough
average between the lowest rates that had prevailed where there
was active competition, and the higher rates from non-competi-
tive points.3 It must be remembered, however, that competition
was left in full play and would still operate in most cases to
prevent roads from raising their low rates to the maxima fixed
by the schedule. On the other hand, there was a great deal of
complaint, especially from the western part of the state, that
the schedule established by the new law operated to the dis-
advantage of many shippers. This was probably due in part,
however, to the efforts of the railroad companies to make the
law as odious as possible. On the whole, it seems that the rail-
road commission, established under the law of 1878, was justified
in its assertion " that the Tariff Act of 1874 was oppressive and
unjust in many respects." 4

In July, 1874, the president of the Chicago and Northwestern
railroad addressed a letter to the governor in which he expressed
a firm belief that the law was unconstitutional, but declared

1 Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, Annual Reports, 1874, p. 20, 1875, P- 26,
1876, pi u, 1877, p. 23; Chicago and Northwestern, Annual Reports, 1874, p. 18.

2 Larrabee, Railroad Question, 332.

3 See ibid. 322; Dixon, State Railroad Control, 27.

4 Railroad Commission, Reports, i. 51; Cullom Committee, Report, ii. 945, 958,
1002, 1057; Governor Carpenter, in Legislative Documents, 1876, i. no. i, pp. 10-13;
Senate Journal, 1876, pp. 157-165; Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, v (1874);
American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 417, 1876, p. 412, 1878, p. 446; Larrabee,
Railroad Question, 333-335; Tuttle, Iowa, 369.

174 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the intention of the company to comply with its provisions
long enough to demonstrate its absolute injustice.1 Similar
sentiments were expressed in a letter from the general super-
intendent of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific railroad,2
and the policy thus outlined appears to have been adopted by
the railroads of the state,3 with two or three exceptions. Of
these exceptions the most important was the Chicago, Burling-
ton, and Quincy,4 and in accordance with the provisions of the
law steps were taken by the attorney-general to institute a
number of suits against this road. This move was checkmated
by a temporary injunction which the railroad company pro-
cured from the United States circuit court, restraining the
prosecution of suits under the law. The question of making
this injunction perpetual came up in the May term, 1875, and
served as a test case of the validity of the law. Judge Dillon,
who heard the case, in refusing to make the injunction permanent,
based his decision on the ground that railroads were public
highways, and that whatever powers the companies possessed
to make rates were subject to the implied condition that they
be not oppressively or unreasonably exercised and also subject
to future exercise of public regulation by the state. As with
the Granger cases in the other states, an appeal was taken to the
United States Supreme Court, by which the decision of the cir-
cuit court was sustained in the October term, 1876. 5

While the appeal to the Supreme Court was pending the
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy appears to have conformed
its charges in general to the rates in the schedule, and from

1 Printed in full in Prairie Farmer, xliv. 223 (July 18, 1874). He maintained
that the rates for some lines under the law were from thirty to forty per cent lower
than the rates in force in 1873.

2 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 417; Tuttle, Iowa, 369.

3 See references above, p. 172, note 2.

4 In the annual report to the stockholders, February, 1875, the president of the
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy alluded to the railroad laws of Illinois and Iowa
and asserted that " by general acquiescence, their provisions have not to any great
extent been observed." Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, Annual Reports, 1874,
p. 20.

6 94 United States, 155; Governor Carpenter, in Legislative Documents, 1876,
i. no. i, pp. 10-13; Tuttle, Iowa, 369; Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1875, P- 4°3; Nation,
xx. 402, xxi. i (January 17, July i, 1875).

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 1 75

that time forth all the energies of the railroad interests were
directed toward securing a repeal of the law. Here as in the
other Granger states every effort was made to convince the
people that the law was disadvantageous to shippers and
the general public as well as to the railroads. At that time, it
was generally supposed that the state's right to regulate rates,
so far as it existed at all, extended to the part of an interstate
shipment which was within the state, and most of the Granger
laws were drawn with this idea in view, but it was soon found
that in actual practice such regulation could not be made effec-
tive. It was a very simple matter for the railroad companies,
although nominally charging legal rates on the part of a ship-
ment within the state of Iowa, to make the charge for the whole
through shipment as high or higher than before the law went
into effect. Through rates to Chicago were actually raised
in this manner on many commodities, especially on agricultural
products, and the public was given to understand that this
was due to the operation of the law.1 Again, railroads which
had hitherto competed strenuously for traffic at various points
seemed to forget their rivalries in the face of the danger of state
control, and thus points which had previously enjoyed very
low competitive rates frequently found their rates raised to the
maxima allowed by the law.2 Here again the railroad officials
could point to the law as the source of the evil, and with a good
deal of truth, for the equalization of rates had been one of its
avowed objects. As a result of this manipulation and of some
inherent defects in the schedule, a considerable sentiment was
soon built up in the state in favor of the repeal of the law.

On the other hand, although the order of Patrons of Husbandry
had begun to decline, the Granger sentiment in the state con-
tinued strong for a couple of years longer, and stood back of the
governor in his efforts to secure compliance with the law.3 The
political parties, also, continued to demand the control of

1 Senate Journal, 1876, pp. 157-165; Cullom Committee, Reports, ii. 1057;
Applelon's Cyclopedia, 1878, p. 446.

2 Larrabee, Railroad Question, 333 ; Dixon, State Railroad Control, 28.

* Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, v (1874); Prairie Farmer, xlv. 211 (July 4,

1874).

176 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

railroads by the state; but a hint of dissatisfaction with the law
is found in the Anti-Monopoly platform adopted in June, 1874,
in that it discountenanced any action calculated to work injustice
or retard the progress of railroad enterprises.1

As was to be expected, vigorous efforts were made to secure
the repeal of the railroad law when the sixteenth general assembly
came together in 1 876.2 Governor Carpenter treated the
question in his biennial message, describing the efforts to enforce
the law and expressing the belief that its general effects were
beneficial. His conclusion was that " the law should therefore
in its main features be retained, and perfected as experience
may unfold its weaknesses, or as may be necessary to adjust
it to the future demands of commerce.'7 3 There seems to have
been considerable sentiment in favor of revising the schedule
in the law so as to make it more satisfactory to both railroads
and shippers, but the railroad forces, in the hope of securing
the repeal of the law opposed all amendments which retained
the principle of a statutory maximum.4 In the end this law
was left unchanged; but late in the session a law was enacted,
by large majorities in both houses, which provided for the release
of any railroad company and its agents from criminal prosecu-
tion under the act of 1874, on condition that the company adopt
the schedule and file a bond to operate under it for two years
(provided it should remain in force) and not to seek to evade
it by an increase on through rates, the test of such increase to
be the rates in force in 1873. 5 This law was accepted by the
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, the Illinois Central, and the

1 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 418, 1875, P« 4°2-

2 Cf. Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1875, P- 412-

3 Legislative Documents, 1876, i. no. i, pp. 10-13.

4 Senate Journal, 1876, pp. 51, 116, 157-165, 189, 190, 206, 227, 253, 416-419,
452; House Journal, 1876, pp. 103, 192, 221, 386, 452-458, 475, 482, 506, 530-532.
See also Cullom Committee, Report, ii. 1057. That the people of the state were
still deeply stirred over the subject of railroad legislation is indicated by the large
numbers of petitions received by the two houses, some requesting the retention
and enforcement of the act, others, its repeal or modification. See House and
Senate Journals, indexes.

6 House Journal, 1876, p. 593; Senate Journal, 1876, pp. 397, 451; Laws, 1876,
ch. cxxxiii.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 177

Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul companies, and the statutory
rates appear to have been quite generally in force during the
succeeding two years.1

In the interval which elapsed before the meeting of the next
general assembly in 1878, the order of Patrons of Husbandry
declined in the state almost to extinction, and its decline was
accompanied by a material decrease in popular interest in rail-
road regulation. On the other hand, the activity of the railroad
forces in working up sentiment in favor of the repeal of the law
increased as the chances of success in this way became greater
and as the hope that the law might be declared unconstitutional
was blasted by the Supreme Court decisions of the fall of 1876.
In the summer of 1877, the president of the Illinois Central
sent an agent east to enlist the assistance of eastern magazines
and newspapers in a campaign for the repeal of the law and the
substitution of a commissioner system of regulation similar to
that which prevailed in Massachusetts and Minnesota.2 This
agent secured the publication of a long editorial in the New
York Tribune setting forth the disastrous effects of the law on
the state, and many Iowa newspapers were induced to copy
this and thus circulate it among the people it was desired to
reach. Other special articles and letters were also furnished
to such newspapers as would make use of them, the burden of
all being the advantage of the commission system of regulation
over a fixed schedule of maximum rates, for the railroad forces
now realized that there must be at least a pretense of the reten-
tion of state control. Agents were also sent among the people
of the state to get in touch with local politicians and work for
the nomination and election of candidates favorable to the rail-
road interests.3 The result of this activity and of the decline of
Grange influence was seen in the election of a general assembly
inclined to favor a repeal or extensive modification of the legis-
lation of 1874.

1 Governor's message, in Legislative Documents, 1878, i. no. i, p. 27; Chicago,
Burlington, and Quincy, Annual Reports, 1876, p. n.

2 See account of this mission by the agent, Charles Aldrich, " Repeal of the Gran-
ger Law in Iowa," in Iowa Journal of History and Politics, m. 256-270 (April, 1905).

3 Ibid.

178 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The act of 1878, by which the Granger law of Iowa was prac-
tically repealed, was passed by votes of 55 to 43 in the House
and 29 to 21 in the Senate.1 The affirmative votes on this
measure appear to have come from three classes; those who
were controlled by the very active railroad lobby; those who
were actually convinced that the law was a detriment to the state,
especially representatives from districts where additional rail-
road facilities were desired; and those who, like Senator Larra-
bee, felt that the law of 1874 had not been enforced, in spirit
at least, and preferred a commission without a schedule of
maximum rates to a schedule without a commission to enforce
it.2 With the law of 1878 3 the pendulum of railroad regula-
tion in Iowa swung almost to the opposite extreme. Although
the sections of the old law relating to classification of roads,
passenger fares, and reports of companies were retained, the
freight sections were entirely repealed, and the board of com-
missioners which was established was given no power except
to investigate, recommend, and report to the governor and
legislature.

Whether this substitution of an advisory commission for the
statutory schedule of maximum rates, as a means of regulating
railroads, was accomplished with the approval of a majority
of the people or was the result of manipulation of the legislature
by the railroad interests is a question upon which the evidence
is conflicting,4 and which cannot be answered with any degree

1 For governor's messages, see Legislative Documents, 1878, i. no. i, p. 27 (New-
bold); Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1878, p. 445 (Gear). For references to petitions,
which were again numerous, see House and Senate Journals, 1878, indexes. For
bills introduced or legislative action, see House Journal, 1878, pp. 113, 117, 159,
285, 334-337, 342-345, 495J Senate Journal, 1878, pp. 315, 350-368, 381.

2 Larrabee, Railroad Question, 334; Dixon, State Railroad Control, 28; Peter
Dey, " Railroad Legislation in Iowa," in Iowa Historical Record, ix. 558; Cullom
Committee, Report, ii. 945, 1002, 1057.

3 Laws, 1878, ch. Ixxvii; Railroad Commission, Reports, i. appendix, pp. clxxxvii-
cxciv. For discussions of the law, see Dixon, State Railroad Control, part ii. ch. i ;
Larrabee, Railroad Question, 335; Cullom Committee, Report, ii. 945-947; Rail-
road Commission, Report, i. 50-79.

4 Cullom Committee, Report, ii. 944, 958, 1002, 1057; Larrabee, Railroad
Question, 335; Dixon, State Railroad Control, 28; Railroad Commission, Reports,
i.3-

RAILWAY LEGISLATION . 179

of certainty. Whichever may have been the case, the law was
accepted by the people and for a number of years it seems to
have given quite general satisfaction.1 Undoubtedly the
attitude of railroad officials toward shippers and the public in
general was very different from what it had been before the
passage of the Granger law and the Supreme Court decisions
of 1876, and, as a general rule, the new railroad commission
had little difficulty in inducing the companies to remedy such
grievances as it found worthy of presentation. Thus if it had
no other results, the Granger agitation at least brought about
a better understanding of the rights of shippers and the public
and the duties of transportation companies, which showed
itself in the more conciliatory attitude of the railroads. Abuses
in railway management continued to exist, nevertheless, and
early in the next decade another agitation was started which
culminated in the law of 1888 establishing a commission with
power, the law which is still in operation in the state.2 This
movement in the eighties is outside the scope of this work, but
it undoubtedly builded largely upon and was profoundly affected
by the Granger movement of the previous decade.

WISCONSIN

The convention which framed a constitution for the new state
of Wisconsin in 1848, mindful of the Dartmouth College decision,
inserted a reservation in the article of that instrument concerning
the creation of corporations which provided that " all general
laws or special acts, enacted under the provisions of this section,
may be altered or repealed by the legislature at any time after
their passage." 3

Even during the fifties, when the prevalent desire for railroads
was leading counties, towns, cities, and even individuals to adopt
generous but ill-advised measures to encourage their construction,

1 Cullom Committee, Report, ii. 945-948; Dixon, State Railroad Control, part
ii; Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1879, p. 314; Governor's message in Legislative Docu-
ments, 1880, i. no. i, p. 28.

2 Larrabee, Railroad Question, 336-342; Dixon, State Railroad Control, part iii.
ch.i.

3 Article XI, section i.

l8o THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the note of complaint against extortionate and discriminating
rates was heard,1 but it was not until about the close of the
Civil War that the legislature began to consider seriously the
advisability of making use of these reserved powers. In 1864
acts were passed to compel railroad companies to carry cord
wood, to carry grain and deliver it to the consignee as directed,
and to allow any warehouseman to build a side-track connecting
with the company's line. Several bills for the establishment
of a schedule of maximum rates were also introduced at this
session but failed to receive favorable action in either house.2
From this beginning in 1864 to nearly the end of the next decade,
the railroad question occupied a prominent part in every session
of the legislature, and innumerable bills were introduced touching
upon the various aspects of the problem.

In the legislative session of 1866, the Assembly passed a
rate bill and the Senate a bill to provide for the establishment
of a commission of the advisory type. This latter measure was
amended by the Assembly in such a way as to give the proposed
commission some power over rates; but the Senate refused to
accept the amendment, and neither measure became a law.3
In 1867 the Assembly again passed a rate bill, the vote at this
time being 71 to n; but the Senate rejected it by vote of 17
to p.4 In 1870 a joint committee was appointed to investigate
railroad problems, but no legislation ensued.5 During 1872

1 H. C. Campbell, in Wisconsin in Three Centuries, iv. 256.

2 Wisconsin, Assembly Journal, 1864, pp. 214, 312, 394, 600, 604, 606, 659, 662-
664, 681, 717-735, 760, 801-804; Senate Journal, 1864, pp. 22, 88, 178, 214, 272,
319, 448, 465, 632, 637, 638, 653, 668, 690, 694; Wisconsin, Laws, 1864, chs. xlix,
cccxv, cccclxxii.

3 On railways in the session of 1865, see Assembly Journal, 1865, pp. 160, 169,
192-194, 213, 214, 234, 3i5> 368, 489, 49S> 562, 570, 811-813, 986, 987; Senate
Journal, 1865, pp. 123, 255, 316, 465, 514, 570, 803, 812. For the session of 1866,
see Assembly Journal, 1866, pp. 39, 172, 279, 289, 296, 324-337, 345, 356, 412, 478,
589, 594, 700, 732, 1125, 1135; Senate Journal, 1866, pp. 178, 521, 525, 653, 754,
782, 867, 883-897, 962-972, 984, ion, 1029, 1034; Wisconsin Democrat, March
30, 1866; C. R. Tuttle, Illustrated History of Wisconsin, 600-602.

4 Assembly Journal, 1867, pp. 488, 490, 1179; Senate Journal, 1867, pp. 21, 483,
641-649, 778, 784, 903.

5 Assembly Journal, 1868, pp. 83, 736; ibid., 1869, pp. 558-560; ibid., 1870,
pp. 30, 50, 442, 536. See also J. H. Howe, Statement in Behalf of the Chicago and

RAILWAY LEGISLATION l8l

and 1873 there was considerable agitation outside the legislature
for the regulation of rates, and Governor Washburn tried to
stir that body into activity by vigorous discussions of the question
in his annual messages.1 Nevertheless none of the numerous
bills introduced were passed by either house. Clearly the
legislature was not yet convinced that the people were in earnest
in their demand for railroad regulation, and after ten years of
agitation, the advocates of restrictive laws seemed farther
from their goal than they had been in 1864.

Before considering the railroad legislation of 1874, it will
be necessary to notice a number of things which explain the very
different attitude toward the railroad question of the legislature
of that year from that of preceding legislatures. Most impor-
tant of these factors was undoubtedly the rapid organization
of the farmers of the state into the order of the Patrons of Hus-
bandry.2 This order, which numbered less than thirty active
granges in the state at the opening of the year 1873, grew to
over four hundred local granges by March i, 1874; and by
taking a stand in favor of railroad regulation it undoubtedly
gave a great impetus to that movement. Closely connected
with the spread of this organization was the formation of the
Reform party, which made restrictive railroad regulation the
main plank in its platform.3 The Republican leaders had been
reading the signs of the times, and their party platform, adopted
in August, 1873, also declared for the regulation of railroads,
the establishment of a board of commissioners, and anti-pass
legislation.4 This, however, was too late to stem the tide.
The Reformers, by fusing with the Democrats, won the election
and secured control of the Assembly, though the Republicans

Northwestern Railroad Company Relative to Assembly Bill No. 260, Relating to
Railroad Tariffs (pamphlet, 1870).

1 Assembly Journal, 1871, pp. 55, 66; ibid., 1872, pp. 306, appendix, 22-24;
ibid., 1873, pp. 144, 616, 808, 812-814, 831, 852; Senate Journal, 1873, PP- 28,
39, 113, 116, 144, 279, 322, 487, 514, 533; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 17 (January 18,
1873); Tuttle, Wisconsin, 636.

2 See table above, following p. 58.

3 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 775- See also above, pp. 89-92.
* American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 774.

1 82 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

retained a majority of one in the Senate.1 One other factor
must be noted among the influences leading to the railroad
legislation of 1874; in the autumn of 1873, a number of leading
railroad companies were impolitic enough to raise the rates for
the transportation of agricultural products, in the face of an
abundant harvest and in spite of complaints that the rates were
already too high.2

The victory of the Reform party in 1873 involved the defeat
of Governor Washburn, who, as has been seen, had been recom-
mending railroad legislation for several years; but the governor-
elect, W. R. Taylor, was a prominent Granger and in his first
annual message took an even stronger position in favor of laws
to curb the railroad companies.3 Advice was also received by
the legislature from the state grange which held its annual
session in January.4 This was in the form of a resolution recom-
mending an increase in the tax on gross receipts of railroads
from three to five per cent and the appointment of " Com-
missioners with full power to regulate and prevent unjust dis-
crimination or excessive tariff rates and to enquire into the condi-
tion of Railways chartered by the State Government, and to
report facts on which to base future and judicious legislation."
By order of the grange, copies of this resolution were sent to the
lieutenant-governor, and to the speaker of the Assembly; and
it may be taken as an authoritative exposition of the kind of
railroad legislation desired by the leaders of the Patrons of
Husbandry.5

The numerous railroad bills which were introduced at this
session were referred to a joint committee, which finally presented
the results of its labors to both houses in the form of a bill to
prohibit any rates higher than those in force during the first

1 Chicago Tribune, November 17, 1873, p. 3.

2 Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports, i. 84; Cincinnati Semi-Weekly
Gazette, September 16, 1873, p. 7; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 300 (September 20, 1873);
Maynard, Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.); Grant City (Wisconsin)
Herald, September 25, 1873; Wester Farmer, September 27, 1873.

3 Senate Journal, 1874, appendix, pp. 3-23.

4 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, ii (January, 1874).

6 Maynard, Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), 52-56; Senate Journal,
1874, pp. 164-166.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 183

week in January, 1872, without special permission from a rail-
road commission to be established. The Assembly passed this
measure by vote of 69 to 14. In the Senate, however, the railroad
forces rallied, and fearing their inability to prevent the passage
of the bill in an open fight, they brought forward the most
extreme of the other railroad bills and had it substituted for the
committee bill by vote of 20 to 13. This bill, which had been
first introduced by Senator Potter, contained a schedule of
maximum rates very much lower than the rates then in force
on the roads of Wisconsin, and was brought forward with the
idea that so radical measure could not possibly become a law
and that thus all railroad legislation might be prevented. Two
days later this bill passed the Senate by vote of 20 to 7 but was
laid aside in the Assembly as had been expected. Shortly
after this the joint committee measure again came before the
Senate in the shape of an Assembly bill and the same tactics
were again pursued; the Potter bill being substituted for the
Assembly measure. The responsibility was thus thrown upon
the Granger members of the Assembly, and they faced the
dilemma of returning to their constituents with no railroad
legislation enacted or accepting this radical and unsatisfactory
Senate measure. Apparently much to the surprise of the
managers of the railroad interests, the Grangers chose the latter
alternative and accepted the Potter bill.1

1 Assembly Journal, 1874, pp. 23, 36, 103, 194, 367, 559, 611, 631-636, 670, 673;
Senate Journal, 1874, pp. 9, 36, 75, 92, 145, 197, 285-297, 384-386, 423, 517, 562.

An interesting parallel can be drawn between the legislative history of the
Potter law of Wisconsin and that of the " tariff of abominations" passed by Congress
in 1828. The latter was the result of the attempts of southern leaders to prevent
any tariff legislation and in both cases the measures adopted were distasteful to a
large majority, even to most of those who voted for them. See Turner, Rise of the
New West, ch. xix.

As early as January 17, 1874, the Industrial Age announced the existence of a
political deal between the Republican leaders and the St. Paul railroad officials
by the terms of which all railroad bills were to be killed either by direct vote or by
loading them with amendments to make them obnoxious or useless. After the
law was passed, O. W. Wright, a prominent leader of the Reform party, declared,
" The Potter law was unquestionably designed to defeat the ends of railway legis-
lation. If its inventors should finally be hoist with their own petard the mourners
would be few." Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1874, p. 2. See also ibid., March 1 1, p. 2.

184 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The Potter law of Wisconsin l was one of the most famous
and most condemned of all the Granger acts. It will be worth
while to note its provisions with some care. The first section
of the law divided the railroads of the state into three classes;
A, B, and C; those placed in classes A and B being listed, and
class C including all the rest, and especially the newer and less
important lines. By section 2 the maximum passenger fare
was fixed at three, three and a half, and four cents per mile
for roads in classes A, B, and C, respectively. Section 3 pro-
vided for the classification of freight into four general classes
numbered i, 2, 3, and 4, and seven special classes: D, grain in
carloads; E, flour or lime; F, salt, cement, etc.; G, lumber in
carloads; H, livestock in carloads; I, agricultural implements,
furniture, and wagons; J, coal, brick, sand, stone, etc., in car-
loads. By section 4 graduated maximum rates were fixed for
the transportation of freight in the seven special classes on
roads in classes A and B, no distinction being made between the
two classes in this case. Section 5 provided that for all freight
in the four regular classes transported on roads in classes A
and B and for all freight transported on roads in class C, the
maximum charge should be the rates in force June i, 1873.
Sections 8 to 13 inclusive provided for the appointment of three
railroad commissioners, who were empowered to reclassify all
freights except such as were placed in classes D, E, G, and H,
and to reduce rates on any road in any class whenever a majority
of the commission should believe that it could be done without
injury to the road.

It will be seen then that the maximum rates on grain, lumber,
and live-stock, in carloads, and on flour and lime, were fixed by
the act for the more important roads and could not be raised
though they might be lowered by the commission. Maximum
rates were also provided for these roads for commodities in the
other special classes, but these were subject to change by the
commission by means of reclassification. The newer and weaker
roads placed in class C were affected only by the provisions of
the act which limited their passenger fares to four cents per mile

1 Laws, 1874, ch. cclxxiii; Railroad Commission, Reports, ii. appendix A, 1-6.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 185

and their freight charges to the rates in force June i, 1873, and
this latter limitation was also applied to freight in the four
regular classes transported on roads in classes A and B. By
taking the rates of June i, 1873, maxima were secured which
had been fixed by the roads themselves and yet were in many
cases somewhat lower than the rates in force at the time of the
passage of the act because of the raise of rates in the fall of 1873.
It should also be noted that the control which might be exercised
by the commission over charges, by virtue of the power given it to
reclassify freights and to reduce rates, was very thorough-going.
There has been a great deal of controversy as to the actual
amount of the reduction in rates made by the Potter law. At
the time, the assertion was made that the framers of the law had
merely taken the lowest rates in force and reduced them twenty-
five per cent.1 The president of the St. Paul Railroad Company
also declared that the reduction amounted to twenty-five per
cent, and drew the unwarranted conclusion that a reduction of
equal proportion in the gross earnings of the company would be
the result of* the application of the Potter rates.2 On the other
hand the commissioners appointed under the law reached the
conclusion by mathematical calculation that the enforcement
of the Potter law would entail a reduction of less than five per
cent of the gross earnings on freight traffic and less than thirteen
per cent on passenger traffic, assuming that the amount of business
remain the same.3 The commissioners were probably the more
nearly correct, for it must be remembered that all freight in
the four general classes was subject only to such reduction as
was involved in a return to the rates of June i, 1873. That
the rates on most of the commodities in the special classes were
fixed unreasonably low as compared with rates previously in
force in Wisconsin and on roads elsewhere in the country is also
undoubtedly true.4

1 F. R. Leland, " The Second Stage of Wisconsin Railroad Legislation, " in
Nation, xx. 189 (March 18, 1875).

2 Railway Commission, Reports, i. division iii. 3 (1874). See criticism in A.B.
Stickney, The Railway Problem, ch. xi, and Larrabee, Railroad Question, 232-237.

3 Railway Commission, Reports, i. division ii. 21, 263.

4 Ibid., division i. 33-35; division ii. 33, 252-271.

1 86 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Another bill for " An act in relation to Railroads " was passed
at the session of the legislature in 1874 by votes of 19 to 6 and
46 to 1 6. This measure prohibited unreasonable discrimination;
the consolidation of parallel or competing roads; and the issuance
of free passes to state officers, judges, and members of the
legislature.1 An attempt was made by the Assembly to make a
violation of the pro raid principle prima facie evidence of unjust
discrimination, but this was rejected by the Senate.2 These
two acts, the Potter law and the act, " in relation to Railroads "
generally known as the " anti-pass law," constitute the Granger
legislation of the state of Wisconsin.3

As in the other states, the Granger element of Wisconsin was
to find that the enactment of radical legislation was easier than
its enforcement. The first step to be taken was the appointment
of a board of railway commissioners. For advice upon this
subject the governor turned to those who appeared to be pri-
marily responsible for the agitation which had produced the law,
the Patrons of Husbandry. On March 17, the executive com-
mittee of the state grange met at Madison at the request of
the governor, and joined with a committee chosen by Patrons
who had been members of the legislature in recommending the
appointment of J. H. Osborn of Oshkosh, chairman of the execu-
tive committee of the state grange, for railroad commissioner
for three years, and of Philo Belden for one year.4 After con-
siderable delay the governor finally appointed Mr. Osborn as
chairman of the board with John W. Hoyt and George H. Paul
as the other members.5 Mr. Hoyt was connected with the State
Agricultural Society. Mr. Paul was supposed to represent
the commercial interests of the state, but was repudiated by
the Milwaukee Journal of Commerce*

1 Laws, 1874, ch. cccxli; Railroad Commission, Reports, ii. appendix A, 7.

2 For the legislative history of this measure, see Assembly Journal, 1874, pp. 53,
57, 344, 716-721, 783; Senate Journal, 1874, pp. 23, 26, 93, 153, 271, 495-497, 536,
573, 640.

8 The law increasing the tax on gross earnings of railroads from three to four
per cent, enacted by this legislature, is sometimes included among the Granger laws.

4 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iii (January, 1875).

6 Senate Journal, 1875, p. 27.

6 Nation, xviii. 308 (May 14, 1874); Industrial Age, May 2, 1874; Maynard,
Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), 57.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 187

Early in May the board effected its organization and pro-
ceeded to notify the railroad companies of the classification
of roads and the maximum rates fixed by the Potter law.1 Mean-
while the leading railroad companies had submitted the Potter
law to such eminent jurists as William M. Evarts and Charles
O'Connor of New York and E. Rockwood Hoar and Benjamin R.
Curtis of Massachusetts,2 and relying upon the opinions of
these lawyers, the officials of the St. Paul and the Northwestern
appear to have reached the conclusion that the law was invalid
and could not be enforced. Accordingly President Mitchell
of the St. Paul and President Keep of the Northwestern ad-
dressed letters to the governor in which they took the position
that the enforcement of the law would amount to confiscation,
and declared the intention of their companies to disregard its
provisions until these were passed upon by the courts.3

These statements were looked upon as a challenge by the
Granger governor, who answered them promptly in a vigorous
proclamation dated May i, 1874, in which he enjoined

all railroad corporations, their officers and agents, peaceably to submit to
the law, for since the Executive is charged with the responsibility of seeing
that the laws are faithfully executed, all the functions of his office will be
exercised to that end; and for this purpose he invokes the aid and coopera-
tion of all good citizens.4

Most of the smaller roads of the state took steps to comply
with such portions of the laws as related to them; 5 but the
St. Paul and the Northwestern, following out their announced
intention, made no effort so to revise their tariffs as to conform

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, division i. 18; division ii. 1-4.

2 The Wisconsin Railroad Law (pamphlet in Wisconsin Historical Society li-
brary) ; F. A. Flower, Life of Matthew Hale Carpenter, 155-158. See also, with ref-
erence to a favorable opinion of the validity of the law by Senator Carpenter,
Industrial Age, May 23, 1874, p. i; Wisconsin State Journal, May 14, 1874.

3 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, division iii. 1-5.

4 Ibid. 7. The governor followed this up with an address to the people, dated
May 21, 1874, in which citizens were enjoined to pay no higher charges than the law
allowed and to report all extortions to the district-attorneys. All local officers were
also enjoined to enforce the law within their jurisdictions. Aid from the executive
was pledged if circumstances should require it. Ibid. 8-10.

6 Ibid. 1-14-

1 88 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

to the provisions of the law. Attorney- General Sloan then made
application to the supreme court of the state for leave to bring
quo warranto proceedings against these companies.1 The answer
of the railroad forces to this move on the part of the state was
the application of certain Northwestern bondholders to the
circuit court of the United States for an injunction to restrain
the company, the railroad commissioners, and the attorney-
general from applying or enforcing the rates of the Potter law
on the Northwestern lines. The case was finally argued in
July with Supreme Justice Davis and Circuit Justices Drum-
mond and Hopkins on the bench. Among the attorneys for
the plaintiffs was Hon. C. B. Lawrence, ex-chief justice of
Illinois, who had lost his seat on the bench as a result of the
Granger movement in that state, while Attorney- General Sloan
was assisted by Hon. L. S. Dixon, ex-chief justice of Wisconsin.
Three days were devoted to the argument of the case. The
principal contention of the plaintiffs was the confiscatory nature
of the act, while the defendants relied on the reserved powers
of the legislature to alter or repeal charters. On July 4, the
court by a unanimous decision overruled the motion for an
injunction.2 Appeal was at once taken to the United States
Supreme Court and the decision of that body, when it was finally
delivered in October, 1876, several months after the Potter
law had been repealed, affirmed the decision of the lower
court.3

July 8, 1874, four days after the decision of the United States
circuit court, the attorney-general tried another method of
securing observance of the law. He filed a bill in equity in
the state supreme court complaining of the violation of the law
by the Northwestern and St. Paul companies and asking that
they be enjoined to obey it. Following an eight days' legal
battle in August, the decision was delivered by Chief- Justice
Ryan on September 15. The court declared the law a valid

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, division iii. 17-26.

2 Ibid. 26-28; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp. 808-810; Tuttle, Wis-
consin, 645-651.

3 94 United States, 164; Illinois Railroad Commission, Reports, 1877, pp. 22-24;
Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, appendix B.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 189

enactment and writs were ordered to be issued as requested.1
Before the close of the month, the presidents of both the North-
western and the St. Paul companies signified their intention of
acquiescing in the decision, and after October i, the rates of the
Potter law, so far as intra-state commerce was concerned,
appear to have been in force on all the roads in the state.2

Governor Taylor is said to have celebrated the victory of the
administration in the state courts with the firing of cannon at
the capitol,3 but he was mistaken if he thought this victory was
to ensure the permanent regulation of railroad rates by the state.
Even before their cause had been definitely lost in the state
courts, the railroad forces turned their attention to another
method of obtaining relief from what seemed to them oppressive
laws, and entered on a campaign for their repeal. The methods
followed in Wisconsin were very similar to those which were
being pursued in the other Granger states at the same time;
the railroad interests endeavored to persuade the people that the
restrictive laws were not only injurious and unjust to the com-
panies but that they worked to the disadvantage of the traveling
and the shipping public and affected adversely the interests
of the whole state.4 The decision of the state supreme court
on the validity of the Potter law brought forth a threat that the
public would be given " Potter cars, Potter rails, and Potter
time " ; 5 and President Mitchell of the St. Paul company, in

1 35 Wisconsin, 425; Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, division iii. 28-78;
American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, pp. 808-810; J. B. Winslow, Story of a Great
Court, 339-347; Tuttle, Wisconsin, 645-651. A list of printed briefs, etc., relative
to the Wisconsin Granger cases, is in Wisconsin Historical Society, Proceedings,
1897, p. 143. See also Hinckley v. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Com-
pany, 38 Wisconsin, 194, in which a verdict of one thousand dollars damages for
ejection from a train after paying fare at the legal rate was sustained.

2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, division iii. 79; American Annual
Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 810. See, however, Charles W. Lea, Grange Movement in
Wisconsin (Ms.), 31, for a different conclusion.

3 Nation, xxiv. 143 (March 8, 1877).

4 Ibid, xviii. 293 (May 17, 1874), xix. 17, 199-201 (July 9, September 24,
1874), xx. 53 (January 28, 1875); American Exchange and Review, xxv. 393 (Au-
gust, 1874); Lea, Grange Movement in Wisconsin (Ms.), 27; Chicago Tribune,
July 20, 1874, p. 4.

6 Nation, xix. 199-210 (September 24, 1874).

190 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

his letter to the governor announcing the intention of his com-
pany to conform to the provisions of the law, reiterated the
charge that it would prevent any further development of the
railroads of the state. He added that the company faced
the alternative of either cutting down its service or transacting
business at a loss, but announced that the latter course would
be followed for the time being in the hope that the laws would
be repealed at the coming session of the legislature.1 The
threatened policy of retaliation seems to have been attempted
in some cases, especially by cutting down the number of local
trains,2 but it was perfectly clear, as the Nation pointed out,
that there was nothing to prevent legislation to regulate the
service of railroads as well as the rates.3 Consequently the
railroads directed most of their energies toward securing con-
trol of the next legislature, which was to meet in January,

1875-

Meanwhile the officers of the state grange were taking the
lead on the other side, in the endeavor to preserve the Potter
law or at least the principle of state control of rates. In July
the executive committee issued an address 4 on the subject which
was prepared by its chairman, J. H. Osborn, who was also chair-
man of the state railroad commission. This paper warned the
Patrons of the efforts which were being made to repeal the law
and exhorted them to see that only honest men who could be
relied upon to support the farmers' interests be nominated and
elected to the legislature. This was followed in October by an
address from the master of the state grange, John Cochrane,5
which pointed out the essential features of the Potter law and
called upon the Patrons to demand of their representatives not
merely the retention of these features but additional legisla-
tion to prevent the manipulation of railroad accounts. This

1 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, division iii. 79.

2 Lea, Granger Movement in Wisconsin (Ms.), 32, referring to " country papers ";
F. L. Holmes, in Wisconsin in Three Centuries, iv. 119.

8 Nation, xix. 199-201 (September 24, 1873).

4 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iii. appendix 6-12 (1875); Maynard,
Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), 57.

6 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iii. appendix, 1-6 (1875).

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 19 1

address was accompanied by a list of thirteen questions relating
to the position of candidates for the legislature on various aspects
of the railroad problem, and masters of local granges were advised
to submit this list to all candidates. Considerable use appears
to have been made of this questionnaire, the answers received
being made public, and it was doubtless disconcerting to such
candidates as wished to avoid the issue, for the fact of a failure
to reply to the questions was also to be announced and would
undoubtedly make an unfavorable impression.

The election which ensued was not a decided victory for either
the advocates or opponents of state control. The struggle was
at once transferred to the legislature. Neither the railroad
men, who wanted a complete repeal of the Potter law, nor the
radical Granger element, which desired to retain the Potter
rates and to strengthen the provision for enforcement, were
strong enough to put through their bills. The outcome was the
adoption of two compromise measures.1 The first of these
contained a reclassification of the roads and was designed to
relieve some of the weaker roads which had been placed in class
B by the Potter law.2 The other, which was known as the
Quimby amendment, was a revision, generally upward, of the
rates in the seven special classes established by the Potter law,
especially as applied to short distances.3

There seems to have been little difficulty over the enforce-
ment of the railroad laws during 1875,* but the companies
continued the campaign for their repeal along the same lines
as those followed in 1874. In this they had the assistance of

1 Senate Journal, 1875, pp. 376, 387, 416, 431, 443, 476, 479; Assembly Journal,
1875, pp. 170, 457, 513, 514-518, 573, 585, 614; Industrial Age, 1875, March 27,
p. 4, April 17, p. 4, May i, p. 4, June 5, p. 2; Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1875, p. 60;
Leland, in Nation, xx. 189 (March 18, 1875) and reply, " Good and Bad Grangers "
by " A Granger " in ibid. 241 (April 8, 1875); A. Keep and A. Mitchell, Memorial
of the Chicago and Northwestern and Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway
Companies to the Senate and AssemUy of the State of Wisconsin (1875); Flower,
Carpenter, 291; Tuttle, Wisconsin, 653.

2 Laws, 1875, ch. ccxxxiv; Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, appendix A,
25-30.

3 Laws, 1875, ch. cxiii; Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, appendix A, 14.
« Ibid. 28. '

192 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

a number of influential eastern papers and a large part of the
press of the state. The Nation continued to advise capitalists
to refrain from investment in the state,1 while the Evansville
Review, as an example of the local papers, asserted that " since
the establishment of the Potter law not a spadeful of earth
has been raised towards the construction of a single line of road." 2
It mattered not that the railroad situation was nowhere nearly
so bad as it was depicted, and that its unfavorable features
were not shown to be results of the Potter law. The argument
had its effect, and a majority of the people were probably con-
vinced that the railroad laws were a serious detriment to the
welfare of the state. On the other side, the officials of the
state grange continued to support the legislation. In August
Master Cochrane issued a circular defending the Potter law,
together with another set of questions to be submitted to can-
didates for the legislature. Just before the election a pamphlet
entitled The Wisconsin Railroad Laws and some Reasons for
their Repeal was issued by the railroad forces. Master Cochrane
replied to this in another circular. The Bulletin of the Wisconsin
State Grange, which had been established as the organ of the
order in the state, also defended the Potter law in editorials,
denied that it had checked construction, and declared that it
needed " to be perfected, not repealed." 3

The united Democratic and Reform parties renominated
Governor Taylor on a platform demanding the continued exer-
cise of the sovereignty of the state over corporations,4 while the
Republicans nominated Harrison Ludington, who was expected
to favor the repeal of the Potter law and who therefore received
the united support of the railroad forces. By this time many
of the people were doubtless weary of the controversy and others
had been convinced that the laws were injurious, but above all
the order of Patrons of Husbandry had declined very consider-

1 Nation, xx. 190, 241, 338 (March 18, 27, May 20, 1875).

2 Evansville Review, September 20, 1875, cited in Lea, Grange Movement in Wis-
consin (Ms.), 31-34.

8 Wisconsin State Grange, Bulletin, September, October, November, 1875.
4 Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1875, p. 764; Wisconsin Statesman, September 18, 1875,
P- 3-

RAILWAY LEGISLATION

ably in numbers and influence.1 The result was the election of
Ludington and a Republican majority in both houses of the
legislature.2

When the new legislature met, in January, 1876, Governor
Ludington depicted the sad condition of the railroads and
recommended the repeal of the Potter law and the Quimby
amendment, and the enactment of a law to prohibit and punish
unjust discrimination and extortion and to provide for a super-
visory commission.3 During the same month the state grange
held its annual session and presented a resolution to the legisla-
ture to the effect that only such railroad legislation should be
enacted as was necessary for the enforcement of the Potter
law.4 In February another body of farmers met in what was
called the Wisconsin Agricultural Convention and adopted a
resolution protesting against the proposed repeal of the Potter
law, but recommending its modification if it were deemed unjust
to the railroads.5 It is clear that many in the state still approved
of the law; for in addition to these resolutions, thirty-nine
memorials were received by the Senate and twenty by the
Assembly opposing its repeal or modification. On the other
hand, the Assembly received three and the Senate twelve me-
morials favoring its repeal or the substitution of a less drastic
measure.6

Early in the session what was known as the Vance bill was
introduced by the railroad supporters. The remnants of the
Granger forces filibustered against this measure, but they were
unable to prevent its passage, the vote being 56 to 30 in the
Assembly and 20 to 7 in the Senate, and it became law upon
publication, March i, i876.7 This measure was practically a
total surrender of the principle of effective control of railroad

1 Nation, xxii. 57 (January 27, 1876). See table above, following p. 58.

2 Lea, Grange Movement in Wisconsin (Ms.), 33; Wisconsin Statesman, Novem-
ber 13, 1875, P- 2"> Campbell, in Wisconsin in Three Centuries, iv. 277.

3 Wisconsin, Documents, 1876, i. 9-12.

4 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1876).

5 Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Transactions, xiv. 362-370 (1876);
Assembly Journal, 1876, p. 289.

8 See Assembly Journal, 1876, index, p. 91; Senate Journal, 1876, p. 578.
7 Ibid. 357, 365; Assembly Journal, 1876, pp. 78, 200, 215, 264-269, 304.

194 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

rates by the state and marks the end of the Granger railroad
legislation of Wisconsin.1 The new law provided for a single
commission with merely supervisory powers in the place of the
board established by the Potter law; there were sections pro-
hibiting unreasonable charges and discrimination for like services
from the same place; and the three principal roads of the state
were limited in freight rates to the tariff in force on the St.
Paul on June 15, 1872, a maximum which the roads had no desire
to exceed. Finally all the sections of the Potter law except
such as were merely formal or pertained to the powers of the
commission to investigate and report, together with all the other
restrictive legislation of 1874 and 1875, including the anti-pass
» law, were repealed. March 3, Governor Ludington appointed
Dana C. Lamb as railroad commissioner.2 The railroad ques-
tion did not trouble the political waters of Wisconsin again for
several years.

SUMMARY or STATE LEGISLATION

The four states in which the movement for restrictive railroad
legislation during the seventies has been traced are those in
which it achieved the most important results and in which it
was most closely connected with the movement for agricultural
organization. But the demand for the regulation of railroads
made its appearance in nearly every state of the Union during
the decade, and in a number of other states besides the four
already considered there was a more or less direct connection
between this movement and the parallel one for agricultural
organization, which, as has been seen, was equally widespread.
This was particularly true in some of the other states of the
upper Mississippi Valley, such as Missouri and Nebraska, and
also in California and Oregon on the Pacific slope.

In Missouri the agitation for state control of railroads presents
many similarities to the contemporary movement in the neigh-
boring state of Illinois. At the very beginning of the decade

1 Laws, 1876, ch. xxxvii. See also Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1876, p. 806; Nation,
xxiii. 3 (July 6, 1876); Wisconsin Statesman, March n, 1876, p. i.

2 Senate Journal, 1876, p. 489.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 195

a demand for restrictive legislation made its appearance in the
state and the Legislative Farmers' Club, organized at the session
of 1871-72, had united action upon this subject as one of its
purposes.1 Nothing was accomplished, however, until the
summer of 1874, when the farmers of the state began to desert
the old political parties and joined together to form the Indepen-
dent party with railroad regulation as its principal issue.2 In
October the state grange, representing about two thousand
local granges and nearly one hundred thousand farmers as mem-
bers of the order, declared for the effective regulation of railways ; 3
and the legislature responded at its next annual session in 1875
by passing a railroad act for which the Illinois law of 1873 and
the Potter law of Wisconsin were used as models.4 This act
fixed maximum rates for freight and passenger transportation
and established a railroad commission with extensive powers,
but here, as in the other states, considerable difficulty was
experienced in enforcing the law. More important than this
legislation were the provisions relating to railroads which the
radical element succeeded in inserting in the new state constitu-
tion adopted in the fall of 187 5.* These provisions, which
reflect the influence of similar provisions in the Illinois con-
stitution of 1870, declare railroads to be public highways and the
companies common carriers and subject to all the liabilities
as such, prohibit any railroad from charging more for a less
than for a greater distance, and make it obligatory upon the
legislature to establish reasonable maximum rates and to pass
laws to prevent unjust discrimination and extortion. The
granting of free passes to state officers is also prohibited.
The railroad sections of this constitution and the ensuing

1 Rural World, xxvi. 396 (December 16, 1871).

2 See above, p. 97.

3 Missouri State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 17, 46, 61-65 (October, 1874). See
also ibid. iv. 21, 48, 60, 71, 99 (December, 1875); Chicago Tribune, 1874, Jan-
uary 10, p. 2, January 12, p. 8; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, p. 519, 1874,
P-578._

4 Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, p. 38; Iowa Railroad Com-
mission, Reports, 1878, p. 53; Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1875, p. 519.

5 Ibid. 523. See Missouri constitution of 1875 in Thorpe, Constitutions, iv.
2264-2267 (Article XII, sections 2, 4, 12, 13, 17, 21, 24).

196 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

legislation met with the usual denunciation by railway officials
and were by no means always enforced,1 but they indicated
the determination of the people of Missouri and especially the
farmers to subject railway corporations to state control, and
they laid the basis for later and more efficient legislation.

In Kansas and Nebraska the situation was somewhat different.
These states were still largely undeveloped and the desire for
more railroad facilities was so overpowering that little attention
was paid to the question of regulation during the decade of the
seventies. The order of Patrons of Husbandry, it is true,
flourished vigorously in both states, and in Kansas there was
also an Independent or farmers' party,2 but these organizations
were here interested in business cooperation, financial legislation,
and general political " reform " rather than in the railroad prob-
lem, although the state granges did occasionally reflect the
struggle which was going on in the other states of the Northwest
by adopting resolutions expressing approval in general terms of
state and national regulation of railroads.3 In 1871 the people
of Nebraska rejected a proposed constitution which contained
articles prohibiting local aid to railway companies and the con-
solidation of parallel or competing lines.4 In 1875, however,
another attempt to provide the state with a new constitution
was successful, and this instrument reflects both the changing
sentiment in the state and the influence of the constitutional
and legislative enactments relative to railroads in the other
northwestern states.5 As in many other state constitutions
adopted during this decade, railroads were declared to be public
highways and railroad companies common carriers, and the
consolidation of parallel or competing lines was prohibited.
The legislature was empowered to pass laws establishing rea-

1 Thomas Allen, The Railroad Problem (pamphlet, 1875); Appleton's Cyclopedia,
1878, p. 579; Cullom Committee, Report, i. 112, ii. 797-800. See also Missouri
Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, gt seQ'

2 See above, pp. 58, 92, 97.

3 Kansas State Grange, Proceedings, i (July, 1873); F- H. Dixon, "Railroad
Control in Nebraska," in Political Science Quarterly, xiii. 617-647 (December,
1898).

4 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1871, p. 538.
6 Thorpe, Constitutions, iv. 2381.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 197

sonable maximum rates and was required to pass laws to prevent
unjust discrimination, extortion, and other abuses of railway
management. In spite of the mandatory character of this
last provision, the agitation for restrictive legislation did not
become intense until near the close of the decade and no legisla-
tion was secured until iSSi.1 In Kansas, likewise, the first
law providing for state regulation of railroads was not enacted
until 1883.2

On the Pacific coast, the farmers' organizations played a
considerable part in movements for railway regulation during
the decade of the seventies. The desire to curb the Central
Pacific railroad, which practically controlled the transportation
situation in California, was one of the causes for the organiza-
tion of the farmers of the state into clubs and granges, and for
the formation of the People's Independent party in 1873. At
its very beginning the state grange resolved " to labor for the
reduction of railroad fares and freights, by using all legitimate
means to obtain the necessary legislation " and its proceedings
are filled with resolutions, addresses, and reports of transporta-
tion committees discussing the railroad problem and demanding
the establishment of maximum rates and other restrictive
legislation.3 In 1874 restrictive bills passed both houses of the
legislature but neither became law.4 At the next session in
1876, however, what was known as the O'Connor bill was enacted
into law.5 This measure established an appointive railroad
commission, defined and prohibited extortion and discrimination,
and limited the granting of free passes. The commission, how-
ever, was given no specific control over rates, the provisions
of the bill proved to be too general to be of any value, and the
contest was carried into the constitutional convention of 1878.

1 Dixon, in Political Science Quarterly, xiii. 617-647 (December, 1898); Cullom
Committee, Report, i. 113, ii. 1133.

2 Ibid. i. 102.

3 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 81, 87, 95, 134, 139, 143, 152, 176; Nation, xxi.
2 (July i, 1875); California Patron, July 18, 1877, p. 5; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 355
(November 8, 1873).

4 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 100.

6 Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1876, p. 83; H. H. Bancroft, History of California, vii.
826-828; Cullom Committee, Report, i. 87.

198 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The control of this body was in the hands of the Kearneyite
or Workingmen's party aided by the organized farmers of the
state, and the outcome, so far as railroad regulation was con-
cerned, was the enactment of the most radical provisions ever
embodied in a state constitution.1 All railroad and other
transportation companies were declared to be common carriers
and subject to legislative control; and the granting of passes
to state officers, pooling with other carriers, and discrimination
between places or persons, were prohibited. The constitution
also made provision for an elective railway commission with the
power of fixing maximum rates, which should be deemed by the
courts to be conclusively just and reasonable. A law along
the line of these provisions was enacted in 1880; but the agita-
tion which had produced them soon died down, and the commis-
sion does not appear to have subjected the management of
railroads to any considerable restrictions.2

In Oregon also, the Patrons of Husbandry were active in
demanding railroad regulation during the seventies, and the
farmers' Independent party, which played a considerable part
in the election of 1874, declared for legislation fixing railroad
charges.3 In 1875, the platforms of all three parties, Democratic,
Republican, and Independent, declared for legislation to control
railroads;4 but no law was forthcoming. Again in 1876 the
state grange denounced the " exorbitant rates " and " oppres-
sive monopoly " of the railroad companies and called upon the
local granges to petition the legislature for relief.5 Nothing
was accomplished by this agitation, and it was not until i8$5
that a restrictive railway measure was enacted in Oregon.6
On the other hand, a reflection of the Granger railway legislation
of the North Central states is seen in the railroad provisions
of the constitution adopted by the new state of Colorado in

1 Bancroft, California, vii. ch. xv; Thorpe, Constitutions, i. 437-442; Cullom
Committee, Report, i. 86.

2 Cullom Committee, Report, i. 87; Bancroft, California, vii. 399, 403-406.

3 Chicago Tribune, April 17, 1874, p. 5.

4 Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1875, p. 609.

6 Oregon State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 16, 22, 42 (September, 1876).
6 Cullom Committee, Report, i. 1 19.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 199

1876. 1 These provisions, which empowered the general assembly
to alter or repeal charters and forbade unreasonable discrimina-
tion, do not appear to have been the result of any particular
agitation at the time and were not followed up by restrictive
legislation until the middle of the next decade.

The Granger movement for railroad regulation had its origin,
as has been seen, in Illinois and the neighboring states of the
upper Mississippi Valley during the later sixties. At about the
same time another movement for the regulation or rather super-
vision of railroads was getting under way in another part of the
country. It will be desirable to glance at this movement briefly
because its influence was mingled with the Granger influence
in the railway legislation of many of the eastern and southern
states, and indeed of several of the Granger states themselves
after the movement which began there had spent itself. Even
before the Civil War, railroad commissions for various purposes
had been established in several of the New England states;
but it was not until the latter part of the decade 1860-70, when
the abuses of railway management were arousing the people
throughout the country, that any serious attempt was made
to secure state supervision. In 1869 Massachusetts established
a railroad commission, to which practically no mandatory
authority was given, but which, by the application of the force
of publicity, was able to exercise considerable influence over the
management of railroads; and this commission, like the manda-
tory commission of Illinois established by the laws of 1871 and
1873, has served as a model for similar boards in a number of
other states.2

The movement which led to the establishment of this Massa-
chusetts commission seems to have started with the commercial
rather than the agricultural class, and no evidence has been found
that the order of Patrons of Husbandry in Massachusetts inter-
ested itself at all in the subject of railroad regulation during the
period. In New Hampshire and Vermont also, the Grangers

1 Thorpe, Constitutions, i. 504-506.

2 On the Massachusetts commission, see Adams, Railroads, 137-143; Johnson,
American Railway Transportation, 352-355; Massachusetts Railroad Commission,
Reports, 1870, et seq.; Cullom Committee, Report, i. 66-71.

200 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

were not at first especially interested in the railroad problem
and in each of these states the state granges accepted and thanked
the railroad companies for reduced rates to the annual sessions.1
Later in the decade, however, these state granges are found
complaining of high rates and discriminations in railway service
and asking for legislation to remedy the evils. The New Hamp-
shire State Grange addressed a petition to the legislature along
these lines in 1879 and it was claimed that the passage by the
House of Representatives of a bill to equalize railroad rates and
abolish free passes was a result of this petition.2 This measure
was rejected by the Senate but a " short haul " law was enacted
prohibiting higher transportation rates for a less than a greater
distance on the same line.3 The influence of the Grange may
also have been a factor in securing the Vermont " short haul "
law of 1882, and the New Hampshire law of 1883 establishing
a commission with power to fix maximum rates.4

The farmers do not appear to have played any special part
in the movement in New York which led to the Hepburn report
of 1879 and the law of 1882, and the law itself was of the Massa-
chusetts or supervisory rather than the Granger type.5 In
Pennsylvania, however, the constitution adopted in 1873 shows
clearly the influence of the Illinois constitution of 1870 in pro-
visions forbidding free passes, unjust discrimination, and the
consolidation of competing lines.6 The legislation which ensued
in 1874 was of a very conservative character,7 and there seems
to be no indication that the Grange or any other farmers' organ-

1 New Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 37 (December, 1876); Vermont
State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 29 (December, 1875).

2 New Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, vii (1880).

3 Cullom Committee, Report, i. 116.

4 Ibid. 117, 132.

6 Hugo Meyer, Government Regulation of Railway Rates, 216-230. See also
Industrial Age, November 22, 1873, p. 4, and New York State Grange, Proceedings,
ii (January, 1875).

6 See Article XVI, section 10, and Article XVII, sections i, 3, 4, 8, 10, in
Thorpe, Constitutions, v. 3144-3147. Cf. Illinois State Farmers' Association,
Proceedings, ii. 34-36 (December, 1873); Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports,
1874, p. 80.

7 Cullom Committee, Report, i. 122-124. See also Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1879,
p. 719-

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 2OI

ization was actively engaged in agitating for railroad regulation
in Pennsylvania.

In Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, however, the sentiments of
the farmers on the railroad question were somewhat the same as
in Illinois and Wisconsin and they made use of their organiza-
tions to agitate for restrictive legislation, but without any
considerable success. A law was enacted in Ohio in 1873 fixing
a maximum freight rate of five cents per ton mile and containing
a " short haul " clause; l but no provision was made for its enforce-
ment and the agitation on the part of the farmers' organizations
continued.2 When the state grange met for its first annual
session in 1874, a proposition to ask for reduced rates on the
return fare was voted down on the ground that the members
should not put themselves under obligations to the railroad
companies. This was followed up at the next session in March,
1875, by a resolution demanding legislation to subject railroad
corporations to the control of state authority,3 but the legislature
failed to respond.

In Indiana a somewhat similar situation prevailed. The
state grange complained of the mismanagement of railroads
in 1873, and in 1874 adopted a resolution asking for laws to make
the railroads " serve the people instead of ruling them, and com-
pel them to carry passengers and freights at rates in proportion
to the actual cost of the road, and local in proportion to through
freights";4 but no legislation of the sort was secured during
the decade. Michigan enacted a law in 1873 establishing a
single commissioner with supervisory powers and limiting

1 Cullom Committee, Report, i. 119; Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports,
1874, p. 80. Ohio had a single railroad commissioner with advisory powers as early
as 1867. Ibid. In January, 1873, a state agricultural convention requested
legislation to limit freight and passenger charges and prevent discrimination.
Cincinnati Semi-Weekly Gazette, January 10, 1873. This may have had some
influence on the ensuing legislation.

2 Chicago Tribune, June 18, 1873, P- 5- See also Cincinnati Semi-Weekly Gazette,
September 26, 1873, p. 5 ( "The Ohio Campaign") and October 28, 1873, P- 4
( " Capturing the Grangers " ).

3 Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, i. 9, 22, 26 (1874), ii. 19, 27 (1875); Ellis, in
Ohio Farmer, c. 472 (December 19, 1901).

4 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 403 (December 30, 1873); Indiana State Grange, Pro-
ceedings, iv. 30 (November, 1874).

202 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

passenger fares to three cents per mile.1 The farmers were not
satisfied with this and in January, 1874, the state grange de-
manded " such legislation as will . . . compel all railroad
companies to carry passengers and freight at reasonable uniform
rates." 2 No response was made by the legislature to this
demand, and the Grange does not appear to have been a factor
of considerable importance in securing any of the Michigan
railway legislation.

In the states of the South the railroad enactments of the
period seem to have been, for the most part, reflections of the
Granger enactments of the northwestern states rather than the
results of internal agitation. Besides Missouri, which has
already been considered, seven southern states adopted new
constitutions during the years iSyi-So.3 These states were
Alabama, 1875; Arkansas, 1874; Georgia, 1877; Louisiana,
1879; North Carolina, 1876; Texas, 1876; and West Virginia,
1872; and in all but two of the new constitutions — those of
North Carolina and Louisiana — the influence of the Illinois
constitution and the other railroad enactments of the north-
western states is clearly discernible. Most of these constitutions,
and this includes that of Louisiana also, declare railroads to be
public highways, and the companies common carriers, but the
most distinctively Granger sections are those which make it
the duty of the legislatures to pass laws to regulate freight and
passenger charges and to prevent discriminations. Mandatory
provisions of this sort are found in every one of the five con-
stitutions. In addition, the constitutions of Alabama, Texas,
and West Virginia forbade the consolidation of parallel or
competing lines,4 and those of Alabama and Arkansas contained
provisions against the issuance of free passes to public officials.
The constitution of Arkansas also contained a " short haul "

1 Cullom Committee, Report, i. appendix, 34-36; Iowa Railroad Commission,
Reports, 1878, p. 53; Michigan Railroad Commission, Reports, 1873, et seq.

2 Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, i. 31 (1874). See also ibid. ii. 31, vi
(1875, 1878).

* For these constitutions, see Thorpe, Constitutions.

* In the case of West Virginia this was permitted with the consent of the legis-
lature.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 2O$

clause applying to all traffic on the same line in the same direc-
tion, and rebating was prohibited by the constitution of Georgia.

Legislation in accordance with these constitutional require-
ments followed in most of the states. Here again the influence
of the more distinctively Granger legislation of the northwestern
states is seen. The West Virginia act of 1873 divided the
railroads into classes and established complete schedules of
freight rates; l the Arkansas act of 1873, adopted a year before
the new constitution went into effect, and the Texas acts of
1876, 1879, and 1882 established maximum rates in general
terms; and the acts of Georgia in 1879 and Alabama in 1881
established railroad commissions with power to regulate rates.2
Although this legislation was influenced indirectly by the
Granger movement, the farmers of the South, and more par-
ticularly the Patrons of Husbandry, do not, as a rule, seem to
have played any considerable part in the movement.3 Thus the
state grange of Texas, at its organization in 1873, declared that
it was not antagonistic to railroads but recognized the benefits
conferred by them, and later it endeavored to secure congres-
sional aid for a Texas and Pacific railway; 4 while the Southern
Farmers' Monthly in 1880 advised the farmers of Georgia to
keep out of the controversy over railroad legislation in that
state.5

There are some instances, however, of Grange agitation for
railroad regulation in the southern states; in Arkansas, for
example, the state grange memorialized the legislature in 1877

1 This act remained on the statute books for some time, but it is said to have been
ineffective. Cullom Committee, Report, i. 134.

2 Cullom Committee, Report, i. 78-86, 131; Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1879, p.
420. For railroad opposition to this legislation, see E. P. Alexander, Reply to
Circular No. 19 of the Railroad Commission of Alabama (pamphlet, 1881) and H. S.
Haines, The Railroads and the State (pamphlet, 1879).

3 This conclusion is based upon the examination of a large number of pro-
ceedings of southern state granges and southern agricultural papers of the
period.

4 Texas State Grange, Minutes, 7, 10 (October, 1873 and April, 1874), Pro-
ceedings, i. n, 28 (1874); National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 85-88 (February,
1875); Resolutions of Legislatures, Boards of Trade, State Granges, etc., Favoring
Government Aid to the Texas and Pacific Railway (pamphlet, 1874).

6 Southern Farmers' Monthly (Savannah), Hi. 214 (July, 1880).

204 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

for a law establishing maximum rates, but at the same time
committees were appointed to secure reduced rates by negotiat-
ing with the railroads and by contracting to give all business
of Grangers to certain lines,1 a treating with the enemy which
would not have been countenanced by the northwestern granges
for a moment. In Virginia and Tennessee, likewise, the state
granges were interested in efforts to secure reduced rates by
negotiations with the companies; but the Virginia Grange
appointed a committee in 1874 to memorialize the legislature
for a law prohibiting free passes.2 The next year the Virginia
legislature did pass an act designed to prevent discrimination
in charges, but this was superseded in 1877 by the establishment
of a commission of the Massachusetts type with supervisory
and advisory powers.3 The state grange of South Carolina
appealed to the legislature in 1877 and 1878 for laws to prevent
discrimination and other evils in railroad management. A
conservative law, but one which was approved by the officials
of the grange, was enacted in 1878. 4 The influence of the Patrons
may also have been a factor in securing the more radical restric-
tive legislation of i88i.5 In Kentucky and Tennessee, also,
the agitation of the neighboring states was reflected in attempts
to enact radical railroad laws about 1875, and the Grangers
seem to have taken part in these to some extent, but no legisla-
tion was secured in either state during the decade.6

As a result of this survey of state legislation for the control
of railroads during the decade of the seventies it is evident
that the Granger movement was a considerable factor in pro-
curing and shaping the course of this legislation in a large number
of states, while its indirect influence can be traced in the railroad

1 Arkansas State Grange, Proceedings, v. 15, 24 (1875).

2 Virginia State Grange, Proceedings, Special session, 24, 34 (1874); Tennessee
State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 39 (1875).

8 Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, P- 395 Cullom Committee,
Report, i. 132-134.

4 South Carolina State Grange, Minute Book (Ms.), 75, 88, 100.

6 Cullom Committee, Report, i. 125.

6 Tennessee State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 31, 39, 48, 57, 61, 62, 66 (February,
1875); Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, P- 4°J Cullom Committee,
Report, i. 107, 127.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION

enactments of nearly every state which has attempted to solve
the problem, either during the period or since. Several of the
principal features of American railway legislation can be looked
upon as primarily Granger in their origin. Among these are
(i) the establishment of schedules of maximum rates by direct
legislative enactment, a method which has been generally
superseded so far as freight charges are concerned by (2) the
establishment of a commission with authority to draw up sched-
ules of maximum rates; (3) the establishment of the maximum
rates, whether fixed by the legislature or by a commission, as
prima facie evidence oi reasonableness before the courts; (4) the
attempt to prevent discrimination between places by pro rata
or " short haul " clauses; (5) the attempt to preserve competi-
tion by forbidding the consolidation of parallel lines; (6) the
prohibition of the granting of free passes to public officials.
Some of these features have been found by experience to be
unsatisfactory or inconsistent with each other — for example
the attempt to preserve competition as a vital force in keeping
down rates and at the same time to prevent discrimination
between places has been practically a failure — but, on the
whole, it is not too much to say that the fundamental principles
upon which American regulation of railroads by legislation has
developed were first worked out in the Granger states of the
Northwest during the decade of the seventies.

CHAPTER VI

GRANGER RAILWAY LEGISLATION (CONTINUED)

THE GRANGER CASES AND THE SUPREME COURT

PERHAPS the most important results of the Granger railroad
legislation are to be found in the series of decisions of the United
States Supreme Court in what have always been known as the
Granger cases. These cases were the first to bring before this
high judicial tribunal the question of the right of a state govern-
ment to fix maximum rates for railroad freights and fares and
warehouse charges, and though parts of these decisions have
been reversed by later decisions, the fundamental principle of
the right of a state to regulate a business which is public in its
nature, a principle which was established by these cases, has
been maintained and constantly applied ever since. No true
conception of the present status of the law as to railway regula-
tion can be obtained without an understanding of the principles
involved in the Granger cases.

In the October term of the Supreme Court of the United
States, 1876, decisions were handed down together in the cases
of Munn v. Illinois; Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad
Company v. Iowa; Peik v. Chicago and Northwestern Railroad
Company and Lawrence v. Same; Chicago, Milwaukee, and
St. Paul Railroad Company v. Ackley; Winona and St. Peter
Railroad Company v. Blake; Southern Minnesota Railroad
Company v. Coleman; and Stone v. Wisconsin.1 In a dissent-
ing opinion on the last of these cases Justice Field spoke of them
as the " Granger cases," presumably because the legislation of
Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota which gave rise to
them had been generally spoken of as the Granger laws. With

1 94 United States Reports, 113 et seq.; Illinois Railroad Commission, Reports,

1877, PP. 5-27-

206

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 2O7

these cases might be included Ruggles v. Illinois,1 decided in
1883, in which also one of these laws was in question, and which
was decided on the same principles.2

In the first of these Granger cases, Munn v. Illinois, the
question involved was not the right of a state to regulate rail-
roads but the validity of the Illinois law of 1871 fixing maximum
rates for the storage of grain in the elevators of Chicago. In
this decision, however, were laid down the fundamental prin-
ciples which were followed in the other cases arising out of the
railroad laws, and, moreover, the warehouse act in question
was as much a Granger law as any of the restrictive railroad
acts. The way in which this case arose has been described in
a previous section.3 The supreme court of Illinois had decided
the case against the warehousemen in 1874 and it had then been
carried to the United States Supreme Court. There the at-
torneys for the appellants claimed that the act in question was
repugnant to three separate sections of the federal constitution:
Article I, section 8, which conferred upon Congress the power
to regulate interstate commerce; Article I, section 9, which for-
bade preference to the ports of one state over those of another;
and Amendment XIV, which prohibited a state from depriving
any person of property without due process of law.

The opinion of the court, delivered by Chief- Justice Waite,
considered the last of these objections first. It was pointed out
that it had long been customary, both in England and America,

1 108 United Stales, 526. This case presented no new features but came up
too late to be decided with the other Granger cases. See above, p. 152.

2 For discussion of the principles involved in these cases, see James K. Edsall,
" The Granger Cases and the Police Power," in American Bar Association, Reports,
x. 288-316 (1887); W. E. Dunbar, " State Regulation of Prices and Rates," in
Quarterly Journal of Economics, ix. 305-332 (April, 1895); Alton D. Adams, " Rea-
sonable Rates," in Journal of Political Economy, xii. 79-97 (December, 1903),
reprinted in W. Z. Ripley, Railway Problems, ch. xxiii; H. S. Smalley, Railroad
Rate Control in its Legal Aspects (American Economic Association, Publications, 3d
series, vii. no. 2), reprinted in part in Ripley, Railway Problems, ch. xxiv; Albert
Stickney, State Control of Trade and Commerce by National or State Authority, ch. iv;
J. F. Hudson, The Railways and the Republic, ch. iv; Nation, xxiv. 143 (March 8,
1877). See also David A. Wells, "How will the Supreme Court Decide the
Granger Railroad Cases ? " in Nation, xix. 282-284 (October 29, 1874).

3 See above, p. 143.

208 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

to fix by law maximum rates of charges for ferries, common
carriers, hackmen, bakers, millers, wharfingers, innkeepers,
etc., and that such regulation had never been considered as
necessarily depriving the owner of property without due process
of law. The basis of this right of regulation is to be found in
the fact that the property in question has been devoted to a use
in which the public has an interest and is therefore subject
to be controlled by the public for the common good. It then
remained to consider whether the business of warehousemen in
Chicago was one in which the public had such an interest as
would justify its regulation by the state. After pointing out
its great extent and importance, the large number of people
affected by it, and the fact that it might be a virtual monopoly,
the court reached the conclusion that " if any business can be
clothed ' with a public interest and cease to be juris privati
only/ this has been."

The attorneys for the warehousemen had. insisted that, even
admitting the public interest in the business, the owners were
entitled to a reasonable compensation for the use of their prop-
erty and that what is reasonable is a judicial and not a legislative
question. To this the court replied that the practice had been
otherwise, and that if the right to regulate existed at all, it
implied the right to fix maximum charges. " We know that
this is a power which may be abused, but that is no argu-
ment against its existence. For protection against abuses
by legislation, the people must resort to the polls, not to the
courts."

In answer to the objection based upon the power of Congress
to regulate interstate commmerce, it was admitted that the ware-
houses might incidentally become connected with interstate
commerce; but it was declared that " certainly until Congress
acts in reference to their interstate relations the state may
exercise all the powers of government over them, even though
in so doing it may indirectly operate upon commerce outside
its immediate jurisdiction." Finally the remaining objection,
based upon section 9 of Article I, of the federal constitution,
was brushed aside with the remark that the section in question

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 209

was a limitation upon the powers of Congress and in no respect
affected the states. The judgment of the supreme court of
Illinois was therefore affirmed.

To this decision of the court, Justices Field and Strong dis-
sented and Justice Field prepared a long dissenting opinion
which was concurred in by Justice Strong. In this opinion, the
ground was taken that the act in question was invalid because
it amounted to a deprivation of property without due process
of law. The basis of the precedents cited of the regulation
of ferries, common carriers, etc., was declared to be, not the
public interest in the business, but the fact that there was
some special privilege granted by the state which of course
gave to the state the right to regulate the conditions under
which the privilege should be enjoyed. The warehousemen of
Chicago enjoyed no such special right or privilege, and therefore
their charges could not justly be interfered with.1

The court next took up the railroad cases. The public nature
of the railway business had been specifically declared by the
Supreme Court in 1872 in the case of Olcott v. The Supervisors 2
and so it was possible to apply the general principle enunciated
in Munn v. Illinois. There was, however, another point to
be considered. The famous Dartmouth College case3 had
determined that a charter was a contract in the meaning of
Article I, section 10, of the United States constitution, which pro-
hibits a state from impairing the obligation of contracts, and
the railroads, through their attorneys, maintained that the
charters granted to them, either directly or by implication, the
right to fix the charges, and that in consequence the state was

1 The dissenting judges hardly established their contention, for it is difficult to
see why the state could not consider the right to operate a warehouse as a special
privilege as well as the right to conduct a ferry, an inn, or a bakeshop. It seems
that the doctrine of public interest is really the basis for requiring special grants,
franchises, or licenses in all these cases. The dissenting opinion does make it plain,
however, that the majority of the court had laid down no satisfactory rule for dis-
tinguishing between a business that is juris privati and one that has been " clothed
with a public interest." Cf. Dunbar, " State Regulation," hi Quarterly Journal
of Economics, ix. 305-332.

2 16 Wallace, 678. See above, p. n.

3 4 Wheaton, 518.

210 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

estopped from interfering. In the first of these cases — Chicago,
Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Company v. Iowa, an appeal
from the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of
Iowa — the opinion of the court applied the principle of Munn v.
Illinois. It was admitted that the charter was a contract
which could not be impaired by a state law; but it was pointed
out that the charter in question was obtained under the general
incorporation law of Iowa, which reserved to the legislature
the right to make rules and regulations.

In Peik v. Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company and
Lawrence v. same, both Wisconsin cases, the special point in-
volved was a provision in the charter of the company by which
it was specifically authorized " to demand or receive such sum
or sums of money for the transportation of persons and prop-
erty, and for the storage of property, as it shall deem reason-
able." The railroad attorneys maintained that by this express
grant the state was estopped from regulating the charges of
the company. It was shown, however, that the state constitu-
tion, in force when the charter was granted, contained a provision
declaring that all acts creating corporations " may be altered
or repealed by the legislature at any time after their passage," 1
and the court held that this restriction permitted the legisla-
ture to place the corporation on the same footing as a natural
person.

The question of interstate commerce was brought up in these
cases again, as the Wisconsin law applied to all shipments taken
up or set down within the state. The court here went even
further than in Munn v. Illinois by declaring that " until Con-
gress acts in reference to the relations of this company to inter-
state commerce, it is certainly within the power of Wisconsin
to regulate its fares, etc., so far as they are of domestic concern."
With regard to the reasonableness of the rates fixed, the court
declared as in Munn v. Illinois that it was bound by the limit
fixed by the legislature and "if it has been improperly fixed,
the legislature, not the courts, must be appealed to for the
change." The principles of Munn v. Illinois and Chicago,

1 See above, p. 179.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 211

Burlington, and Quincy Railway Company v. Iowa were there-
fore applied and the decrees of the lower court affirmed.

In another Wisconsin case — Chicago, Milwaukee, and
St. Paul Railway Company v. Ackley — the question involved
was the right of the company to recover more than the maximum
fixed by the law, for transportation performed, by showing that
the charge was no more than reasonable compensation. In
accordance with the previous decisions the court determined
that " the limit of recovery is that prescribed by the statute."
The Minnesota cases — Winona and St. Peter Railway Company
v. Blake and Southern Minnesota Railway Company v. Cole-
man — presented no new points, there being nothing in the
charters " limiting the power of the State to regulate the rates
of charge " ; and the case of Stone v. Wisconsin merely decided
that a railroad charter granted by the territory, but not accepted
nor the company organized until after the admission of the
state, was subject to the reserved right of alteration contained
in the state constitution.

To all of these cases Justices Field and Strong dissented and
in connection with the last a dissenting opinion was presented
covering the whole series. In Munn v. Illinois, as has been seen,
these justices dissented on the ground that the business in ques-
tion did not depend upon any special grant or privilege. This,
of course, would not apply to the railroad cases, so the justices
here based their dissent on the contractual character of the
charters, holding that implied rights and privileges were as
inviolable as those expressed. It was further asserted that the
reserved power to alter all laws creating corporations " should
not, in common honesty, be so used as to destroy or essentially
impair the value of mortgages and other obligations executed
under express authority of the state."

Taking the decisions of these Granger cases as a whole, the
following propositions are established :

(i) A state may, under the police power, regulate, to the
extent of fixing maximum charges, any business which is pub-
lic in its nature or which has been " clothed with a public
interest."

212 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

(2) The warehouse business (in Chicago) and the business
of operating a railroad are sufficiently of a public nature to be
subject to such regulation by the state.

(3) At least until Congress acts in the premises, a state
may regulate interstate commerce so far as its citizens are
affected.

(4) Although a railroad charter is a contract, it does not
interfere with the right of a state to regulate charges unless it
contains a direct stipulation to that effect, and the charters
are subject to reservations contained in the general laws under
which they are obtained or in the state constitutions.1

(5) The courts are not competent to review the question
of the reasonableness of charges fixed by the legislature, or
in other words the power of the state to regulate rates is subject
to no restraint by the courts.

Of these five propositions, the first, second, and fourth have
been reaffirmed in many later cases, have been consistently
followed by the state courts, and can be considered as perma-
nently established. The third and fifth, on the other hand, have
been completely reversed by later decisions of the United States
Supreme Court.

It was not until eleven years after the decision of the Granger
cases that Congress finally enacted a law to regulate interstate
commerce. During most of this period the courts and the
legislatures, as a rule, acted upon the assumption that it was
within the province of a state to regulate inter- as well as intra-
state commerce in so far as its citizens were affected thereby.
Indeed it seems to have been believed by some that the whole
field of railroad regulation might be covered by state action
and that there would be no need of federal regulation. In 1886,
however, the case of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway

1 The question as to whether a legislature could grant a valid charter containing
a contract which would restrain future legislatures from regulating charges, and
thus in effect limit the police power of the state, was not involved in any of these
cases but the implication from the opinion in Peik v. Chicago and Northwestern
Railway Company would seem to be that it could. See, however, Edsall, " The
Granger Cases and the Police Power," in American Bar Association, Reports, x.
301-316.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 21$

Company v. Illinois,1 decided by the supreme court of Illinois
along the lines of the decisions in the Granger cases, was carried
to the United States Supreme Court, and gave rise to a decision
that no state can exercise any control over commerce which
passes beyond its limits. This decision, which has ever since
been accepted as the correct interpretation of the federal con-
stitution on the subject, put an end to the attempts of state
governments to regulate interstate commerce and gave an
added impetus to the movement which resulted in the enact-
ment by Congress of the interstate commerce act of 1887.2

The principle that the right of a state to fix maximum rates
is unlimited and therefore not subject to judicial review was
practically unquestioned for nine years after the decision of
the Granger cases. In 1885, however, Chief -Justice Waite,
in delivering an opinion in the Mississippi case of Stone v. Far-
mers' Loan and Trust Company,3 intimated that the courts
would interfere to prevent such regulation as would amount
to " a taking of private property for public use without just
compensation, or without due process of law." This was a
mere obiter dictum in this case; but it left the status of the law
on the point in doubt until finally, in 1890, in Chicago, Mil-
waukee and St. Paul Railway Company v. Minnesota,4 the
Supreme Court declared a Minnesota law invalid because it
denied a judicial hearing as to reasonableness of rates. There
has been considerable doubt as to the exact scope of this decision.
Justice Bradley prepared a long and vigorous dissenting opinion,
concurred in by Justices Gray and Lamar, in which he declared
that it practically overruled the Granger cases. On the other
hand, in Budd v. New York, decided in 1892, the court seemed
to return in a measure to the older position and denied that
the Granger cases had been reversed. Step by step, however,
the courts have since been building up the doctrine of judicial

1 118 United States, 557.

2 Cf. Hudson, The Railways and the Republic (3d ed., 1889), 329 and note;
Cullom Committee, Report, i. 34-38; Johnson, American Railway Transportation,
359-361.

3 116 United States, 307.

4 134 United States, 418.

214 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

review of the reasonableness of rates fixed by legislation, a
doctrine which has materially limited the rights of the state
to regulate railway charges.1

In spite of these later developments, the fundamental prin-
ciple of the Granger cases still stands, and no one today questions
the existence of a right on the part of a state to regulate, to the
extent of fixing reasonable maximum charges, railroads and
other businesses of a public nature. Upon the establishment
of this right has depended the voluminous restrictive railroad
legislation of the last forty years.

THE AGITATION FOR FEDERAL REGULATION2

The Granger agitation for government control of railroads
had not been under way very long before it became evident
to many that the problem was national in its scope and that
the evils complained of could not be entirely removed by even
the most radical state legislation. It was believed by some that
a state might exercise jurisdiction over any railroad traffic
taken up or set down within its borders; the early Granger laws
were framed with this intention; and the United States Supreme
Court upheld this opinion in iSyb.3 It soon became evident,
however, that economic conditions made any effective regulation
of interstate traffic by state laws practically impossible, and
that any serious attempt to enforce such legislation by several
states would lead to great confusion.4 It was natural, then,
that there should be a demand for federal legislation to supple-
ment the Granger laws which were being passed in the western
states.

1 Smalley, Railroad Rate Control (American Economic Association, Publications,
3d series, vii. no. 2); Adams, " Reasonable Rates," in Journal of Political Econ-
omy, xii. 7 9-97; Dunbar, " State Regulation," in Quarterly Journal of Economics,
ix. 305-332.

2 On this general topic see L. H. Haney, A Congressional History of Railways,
1850-1887, chs. xix, xxi, xxii. This section was written before a copy of the above
came to hand.

3 See above, pp. 208-213.

4 See E. J. James, The Agitation for Federal Regulation of Railways (American
Economic Association, Publications, ist series, ii. no. 3).

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 21 5

The first serious consideration of the regulation of railroad
rates by Congress was in the second session of the Fortieth
Congress (1867-68). At this session the Senate committee
on commerce was instructed to consider the expediency of estab-
lishing maximum rates on interstate roads,1 and the House
committees on judiciary and on roads and canals were instructed
to inquire into the constitutional power of Congress to regulate
rates on railroads engaged in interstate commerce.2 The first
two of these committees failed to report, but on June 9, 1868,
the House committee on roads and canals submitted the first
report which was ever made to Congress on the subject of rail-
road regulation.3 In this report, the committee declared not
only that Congress had the power to regulate interstate traffic
on railroads, but that such regulation would be expedient.
The appointment of a select committee to consider the subject
and prepare a bill was suggested in the report, but the House
took no further action.4 Resolutions instructing committees
to investigate the subject were also adopted by both houses
of the Forty-first Congress,5 and the first bills looking toward
a general system of. federal control of railroad rates were intro-
duced into the House of Representatives in the second session
of the Forty-second Congress.6 One of these, introduced by
Mr. McCrary of Iowa, was entitled, a bill " to require uniform
charges for transporting freight and passengers by railroad
companies and other common carriers, and to prevent unjust

1 Senate Journal, 40 Congress, 2 session, 76; Congressional Globe, 343.

2 House Journal, 456, 640, Congressional Globe, 1632, 2331. It is interesting
to note that the Senate resolution indicates no doubt as to the constitutional power
of Congress to regulate interstate rates on railroads, but proposes to inquire into
the expediency of such legislation, while the House resolutions seem to take it for
granted that such regulation would be desirable, if constitutional, and call for an
investigation of the power of Congress in the premises.

3 House Journal, 828; Congressional Globe, 2977; House Reports, ii. no. 57;
James, The Agitation for Federal Regulation, 33.

4 The report was accompanied by a twelve page minority report signed by Kerr
of Indiana and Barnum of Connecticut, which took issue with the majority report
on both the constitutionality and expediency of the proposed legislation.

6 House Journal, 41 Congress, 2 session, 84; Senate Journal, 3 session, 569,

IQ43-

6 House Journal, 197, 561, 654.

2l6 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

discrimination in favor of or against particular persons or places."
None of these bills was reported by the committee to which it
was referred.

Meanwhile the agitation for state control of railways, which
came later to be known as the Granger movement, had been
getting under way in the West and had already produced the
radical provisions of the Illinois constitution of 1870, and the
Illinois and Minnesota laws of 187 1.1 The newspapers and
magazines began to be filled with articles discussing the abuses
which had appeared in railroad construction and management;
and the opinion grew that there was a railroad problem to be
solved and that the federal government should aid in its solution.
The aspect of the problem which attracted the most attention
at this time was that of securing cheap transportation to the
eastern markets for the products of the western farmers;2
and, as it was quite generally believed that insufficient facilities
and lack of competition were the causes of the prevalent high
rates, the duty of Congress seemed to many to be to construct
or aid in the construction of additional canals and trunk rail-
roads from the Mississippi River to the seaboard.

President Grant in his annual message of December, 1872^
called attention to the fact that " various enterprises for the
more certain and cheaper transportation of the constantly
increasing Western and Southwestern products to the Atlantic
seaboard " would come before Congress at that session, and
recommended the appointment of a committee to gather infor-
mation on the subject. In the House an attempt was made
to authorize the appointment by the president of a commission
of three members to collect information concerning interstate
railroads.4 It was proposed that this commission should inves-
tigate the earnings, expenditures, rates of charge, and operations

1 See above, pp. 123-205.

2 Cf. Johnson, American Railway Transportation, 367; James, The Agitation
for Federal Regulation, 34. See also, Martin, Grange Movement (published in
1874).

3 Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents , vii. 195.

4 House Journal, 42 Congress, 3 session, 263, 266, 275, 302; Congressional Globe,
893> I057-

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 217

of railroads and report to the president its findings, including
statements of what rates ought to be charged, whether they
should be uniform per mile or not, and what legislation might
be necessary on the subject. This measure failed to pass the
House, but the Senate adopted a resolution for the appointment
of a select committee of seven on transportation routes to the
seaboard, to consider the part of the president's message relating
to cheap transportation. The committee was appointed by
the vice-president, with Senator Windom of Minnesota as its
chairman, but was able to accomplish little during the session.1

The Senate also adopted several resolutions instructing its
committees on judiciary and on commerce to inquire into and
report by bills or otherwise upon the constitutionality and
expediency of legislation to regulate rates on interstate commerce,
and the right of Congress to construct and operate or authorize
the construction of interstate railroads.2 The committee on
judiciary appears to have paid no attention to these resolutions;
but the committee on commerce presented a report, February
20, 1873, in which it declared that it lacked the necessary informa-
tion to report a bill even if prepared to report favorably " which
they were not." 3 This was accompanied by a minority report
from the chairman of the committee, Senator Vickers of Mary-
land, which argued at length against the constitutionality and
expediency of federal regulation of railroads. This ended the
attempts to take action at this session; but shortly before
adjournment an important step was taken, when the Senate
committee on transportation routes to the seaboard was in-
creased to nine members; was authorized to sit during the
recess at such places as it might designate, to employ a clerk
and a stenographer, and to send for persons and papers; and
was instructed to investigate and report to the Senate at the
next session of Congress on the subject of transportation from
the interior to the seaboard.4

1 Senate Journal, 42 Congress, 3 session, 41, 73, 74, 75.

2 Ibid. 29, 35, 72, 73.

3 Ibid. 413; Congressional Globe, 1522; Senate Reports, no. 462.

4 Senate Journal, 609, 615, 616, 625, 627.

2l8 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

That the time was ripe for this investigation was evident
from the attention which the railroad question was attracting
in 1873. The Granger movement was then at its height in
the western states and the organizations which had been agitating
for state legislation were beginning to call for action by the
federal government as well. Thus the National Grange, at
its first delegate session in 1873, established a committee on
transportation and cooperation and in the next month the
Iowa State Grange resolved to petition Congress " to regulate
without delay, by a just and equitable law, the freights and
fares of all railroads within the United States." 1 The governors
of both Minnesota and Missouri in messages to the legislatures
early in 1873 recognized the inadequacy of state legislation
to control railroads and recommended that Congress be me-
morialized to assist by regulating commerce among the several
states.2 In the legislature of Illinois a joint resolution was
adopted instructing the Senators and requesting the Repre-
sentatives to work for a law regulating interstate commerce
on railroads.3 In Iowa, also, a similar resolution was adopted
by the legislature, after being amended to reserve the right of
the state to regulate rates within its borders.4

Besides these calls from the West for federal action on the
railroad question, there were a number of movements of more
national scope under way in 1873, which had " cheap trans-
portation " among their objects. Of these, the most important
was the National Cheap Transportation Association organized
in New York City, May 6 and 7, i873.5 Delegates are said
to have been present at this meeting from Illinois, Iowa, Mich-
igan, and Indiana, and other states of the Mississippi Valley, as
well as from most of the eastern states. The purpose of the

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 10, 20; Prairie Farmer, xliv. 51 (February

15, 1873).

2 Minnesota, Executive Documents, 1872, i. 5-10; American Annual Cyclopedia^

1873, P- 519-

3 Illinois, Public Laws, 1873-74, p. 152.

4 Iowa, Senate Journal, 1873, PP- 29> 48~5I> 74-

6 Periam, The Groundswell, 317-326; American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, pp.
547, 754", Nation, xvi. 329, 383 (May 18, June 5, 1873); Prairie Farmer, xliv. 155
(May 17, 1873); Industrial Age, August 20, 1873, P- 7-

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 2 19

association is made clear in the resolutions adopted. These,
after pointing out the unsatisfactory character of existing rates
of transportation, due in part to insufficiency of avenues,
declare:

that the duty of the hour, and the mission of this association is to obtain
from Congress and the several State Legislatures such legislation as may be
necessary to control and limit by law, within proper constitutional and
legitimate limits, the rates and charges of existing lines of transportation.

Other resolutions advocated an increase in the means of
transportation and recommended the establishment of subsidiary
state, county, and local associations to assist in the solution
of the problem. Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, who seems to
have been the leading spirit of this meeting, was made presi-
dent of the association; and in November, 1873, he issued a
call for a second meeting to be held in Washington, in January,
I874.1 In September, 1873, another meeting was held in New
York City at which a New York Cheap Transportation Associa-
tion was formed and resolutions adopted. Senator Windom
and other members of the Senate committee on transportation
routes to the seaboard are said to have been present at this
meeting.2

On May 20, 1873, a convention, called by Governor Smith
of Georgia, met in Atlanta to discuss projects of cheap trans-
portation between the South and the grain-growing states of
the Northwest.3 This convention was attended by governors
of several southern and western states and by delegates from
cities, granges, and other organizations, but its solution of the
transportation problem was the construction of more roads
and canals rather than the regulation of existing railroads.
About a week later, May 28, 1873, the National Agricultural
Congress met in Indianapolis and devoted most of its time

1 In this call the railroad question was discussed at length and the conclusion
reached that Congress should make a thorough investigation of the subject and
consider the expediency of enacting laws to regulate railroads. Prairie Farmer,
xliv- 353» 412 (November 8, December 27, 1873).

2 Ibid. 299, 300 (September 20, 1873).

3 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, PP- 3X9> 7S4~7S7-

220 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

and attention to the transportation problem.1 It also favored
the construction of more railroads and canals; but adopted a
resolution recommending :

that efforts be made and persevered in, until all railway corporations shall
be subjected to the regulation of the General and State Governments, so
as to insure the absolute and perpetual prohibition and prevention of ex-
tortionate charges and unjust discrimination.

Late in October of the same year, a Northwestern Farmers'
Convention was held in Chicago with two hundred delegates
present, mainly from Illinois but a few from the other states
of the Northwest.2 The first object of this convention was
stated by Mr. Flagg, the president of the Illinois State Farmers'
Association, to be: " Cheap Transportation, embracing water
transportation; regulations by legislation, State and National,
of existing railways; Governmental railways." Among the
resolutions adopted by this convention was one requesting
Congress " without needless delay to pass a maximum freight
and passenger law regulating traffic between the States," and
protesting " against the further granting of any subsidies what-
ever to private corporations of any kind." Another resolution
favored the construction and operation of canals by the national
government. In addition, the convention, by invitation of
Senator Windom, appointed a committee to meet with the
Senate committee on transportation routes to the seaboard
and supply it with information and suggestions.

These various conventions, which are manifestations of the
widespread interest in the transportation question during 1873,
served to extend and keep alive that interest. As a result,
much attention was attracted by the investigations and report
of the Windom committee, which began its sessions in New York
in September. Some complaint was heard of the railroad con-

1 American Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, pp. 376-378, 754-757; Nation, xvi. 377
(June 5, 1873).

2 For the proceedings of this convention in full, see Windom Committee,
Report, ii. 653-673. See also Martin, Grange Movement, 509; American Annual
Cyclopedia, 1873, P- 368J Prairie Farmer, xliv. 315, 345-347 (October 4, November
i, 1873); Chicago Tribune, 1873, October 23> ?• 3> October 24, p. i; Industrial Age,
September 27, 1873, p. 4.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 221

nections of several members of the committee,1 but it seems
to have made as thorough an investigation of the subject as the
time and the means at its disposal would permit. It met at
various places in the East and in the Mississippi Valley, and
also in the city of Washington; and took testimony from rail-
road officials, merchants and manufacturers, state railroad
commissioners, and representatives of farmers' organizations.
At the session in St. Louis in October, Hon. Willard C. Flagg
and Samuel P. Tufts appeared as delegates from the Northwestern
Farmers' Convention. Mr. Flagg presented the committee
with a copy of the proceedings of the convention and also dis-
cussed the organization and objects of the Illinois State Farmers'
Association of which he was president. The testimony of Mr.
Tufts is especially interesting as representing the attitude
of the more radical element among the western farmers.2 Three
propositions were advocated by Mr. Tufts : (i) Congress should
enact maximum freight and passenger tariff laws with three
cents per mile as the limit for passenger fares; (2) no subsidies
should be given to manufacturing or transportation companies,
and there should be no class legislation; (3) anyone interested
pecuniarily in any commercial throughfare should be made
ineligible to Congress. When questioned as to the constitu-
tionality of the first of these propositions, in view of the binding
force of contracts, he declared that the western people believed
that all power rested with the people, and if the courts should
declare this unconstitutional, " then do as they did in the Dred
Scott decision, wipe the Supreme Court out and get one that
would decide it."

The primary object of the Windom committee was the inves-
tigation of the problem of " cheap transportation " ; but it also
took cognizance of all other phases of the railroad question
which presented themselves, and its report contains the first
comprehensive plan for the regulation by the federal govern-
ment of interstate traffic on railroads.3 The key to this report,

1 Nation, xvii. 153, 250 (September 4, October 16, 1873).

2 Windom Committee, Report, ii. 673-676. He stated that his views were
derived from intercourse with other farmers in their clubs and conventions.

3 See James, The Agitation for Federal Regulation, 35-37.

222 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

which was presented to the Senate, April 24, 1874, is to be
found in the conclusion " that the problem of cheap transporta-
tion is to be solved through competition.''1 As a consequence, a
large part of the report was devoted to a discussion of various
proposed waterways and freight railroads to be owned or con-
trolled by the government.1 With regard to legislation estab-
lishing rates and fares on existing lines, the committee declared
that more definite and detailed information was needed than
was in the possession of Congress or itself. It did, however,
recommend a number of restrictive measures, which it declared
" may be enacted with entire safety, reserving other matters
of legislation for further inquiry and consideration." 2 Among
these measures, the most important are: complete publicity
of rates with prohibition of increases without reasonable notice
to the public; prevention of the consolidation of parallel or
competing lines; prohibition of discrimination against lake or
river ports; and the establishment of a bureau of commerce
to collect information and report to Congress on such subjects
as rates and fares; classifications, rebates, and discriminations;
receipts and expenditures; amount and value of railroad stocks
and bonds; and amount and value of commodities transported.
Before this report was presented, a resolution had been intro-
duced and discussed in the Senate for instructing the Windom
committee to report a bill creating a commission to investigate
and report as to what legislation was constitutional, necessary,
and practicable for the regulation of interstate commerce.3 No
action was taken on this resolution ; and the same was true of the
McCrary bill received from the House, and of a bill introduced
by Senator Dorsey of Arkansas which proposed to establish a
national bureau of railroads, both of these measures being
referred to the Windom committee.4 Shortly after the com-
mittee's report was received, three other bills providing in various
ways for the regulation of interstate commerce were introduced,
but the Senate failed to take any action on the subject.

1 Windom Committee, Report, i. 242. * Ibid. 240-242.

8 Senate Journal, 43 Congress, i session, 165, 173, 188; Congressional Record,
941-944.

4 Senate Journal, 383, 461.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 22$

In the country at large, however, the demand for national
legislation for the control of railroads was steadily increasing.
On December 17, 1873, the Illinois State Farmers' Association
declared that " we oppose any legislation by Congress, under
the plea of regulating commerce between the States, which shall
deprive the people of their present controlling influence through
state legislation." * That this sentiment was not the prevalent
one among the farmers of the Northwest is indicated by the fact
that the state grange of Illinois, which met about a week earlier,
adopted a resolution declaring that Congress should exercise its
power to regulate interstate commerce by controlling railroads,2
and the Iowa State Grange about the same time refused to adopt
a resolution asserting the exclusive right of the state legislature
to regulate railroads, on the ground that the constitution of
the United States gives to Congress the power to regulate com-
merce between the states.3 The Michigan State Grange also,
at its first annual session in January, 1874, demanded " such
legislation as will control and regulate the carrying trade of our
country and compel all railroad companies to carry passengers
and freight at reasonable and uniform rates," 4 which would
seem to call for federal as well as state action.

The prevailing sentiment among the farmers of the West is
also indicated by resolutions adopted by the state legislatures,
for at this time most of these legislatures were controlled by the
Granger element. Thus the general assembly of Illinois, early
in 1874, adopted a joint resolution calling upon Congress to
prevent unjust charges and discriminations on railroads engaged
in interstate business,5 and the legislature of Iowa about the
same time declared in favor of congressional legislation to regulate
freights and fares which could not be reached by state laws.6
The demand for congressional action was not confined to the

1 Illinois State Farmers' Association, Proceedings, ii. 100-109 (1873); American
Annual Cyclopedia, 1873, P- 369-

Prairie Farmer, xliv. 403 (December 9, 1873).

Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1873).

Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, i (1874).

Illinois, House Journal, 1874, p. 199; Senate Journal, 1874, p. 313.

Iowa, House Journal, 1874, pp. 420-422; Senate Journal, 1874, p. 313.

224 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

West, however, for the state Republican convention of Massa-
chusetts adopted a resolution asserting the power of Congress
over interstate commerce and calling upon it to exercise its
powers so as to reduce freights and fares to proper rates.1

In pursuance of the call of President Josiah Quincy, the
National Cheap Transportation Association met in Washington
in January, i8y4,2 while Congress was in session. All granges,
farmers' clubs, workingmen's unions, and merchants' and
manufacturers' associations, in sympathy with the movement,
were invited to send delegates, and a number of men prominent
in the agricultural organizations of the western states were
present at the meeting. The resolutions adopted by the asso-
ciation declared that relief from excessive rates and other abuses
must be brought about by regulation and competition, and
advocated the creation of a national bureau of commerce and
transportation to take charge of the first of these propositions.
Various projects for the construction of government canals
and railroads were recommended to Congress and a committee
was appointed to urge the desired legislation. The subject of
transportation also received consideration at the meeting of
the National Grange in St. Louis in February, i8y4.3 Master
Adams discussed it at some length in his address and made it
clear that he preferred restrictive legislation to the construction
of new railroads and canals, as a solution of the problem. Colonel
Smedley of Iowa presented, as the report of the committee on
transportation and cooperation, a series of resolutions, one of
which requested Congress to " so regulate the internal commerce
between the States as to make the tax upon internal transporta-
tion approximate more justly the actual cost." This was
adopted along with the rest of the report.

The greater responsiveness of the House of Representatives
to public sentiment, as compared with the Senate, is well illus-

1 Congressional Record, 43 Congress, i session, 2458.

2 Nation, xviii. 52 (January 22, 1874); Prairie Farmer, xliv. 353, 412 (Novem-
ber 8, December 27, 1873). See also report of Colonel A. B. Smedley, delegate
from Iowa, in Iowa, Legislative Documents, 1874, ii. no. 30. Smedley was prom-
inent in Grange circles and was later master of the state grange.

3 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 14-16, 30, 58, 78 (1874).

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 22$

trated by its action upon the railroad question in the first session
of the Forty-third Congress (1873-74). Some nine different
bills and one joint resolution embodying various propositions
for the regulation of railroads were introduced at this session,1
and the subject finally came before the House in the form of a
bill " to regulate commerce among the several states," 2 reported
by Mr. McCrary of Iowa, chairman of the committee on rail-
roads and canals.3 This measure proposed to prohibit extortion
and unfair discrimination by railroads engaged in interstate
commerce, and in order to determine what were reasonable
rates, a commission of nine was to be established to make sched-
ules of maximum rates for each railroad. Anyone aggrieved
by higher charges, might bring suit against the railroad company
in the courts and in such suits the commissioners' schedules
were to be taken as prima facie evidence of reasonableness,
but the corporations were to be permitted to prove the rea-
sonableness of the charges if they could do so. No method
was provided, as in the Illinois law of 1873, for prima facie
evidence as to unjust discrimination,4 but in other respects
the two measures were similar in principle.

This McCrary bill was introduced in the House on January 20,
1874; but before it came up for consideration a resolution was
adopted by a vote of 172 to 64 declaring that Congress possessed
the constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce and
that existing conditions demanded the prompt exercise of that
power.5 The debate on the McCrary bill was very extensive
and involved various questions of constitutionality, state
rights, and expediency.6 Some of the representatives were in

1 House Journal, index, p. 1543.

2 The bill is printed in full in Congressional Record, 1946.

3 McCrary had introduced one of the railroad bills in the previous Congress.
He was a lawyer and later became consulting attorney for the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe Railroad Company. Biographical Congressional Directory, 667.

4 The section prohibiting unjust discrimination seems to have been tacked on
to the bill. It is clear that the interest at this time was in " cheap transportation "
rather than in the prevention of discrimination.

5 House Journal, 408-410.

6 For the course of the McCrary bill in Congress, see House Journal, 272, 362,
520, 552, 556, 575, 595, 598, 610, 611, 614, 616, 618, 628, 656, 657, 659, 665; Senate

226 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

favor of more radical measures, providing for conclusive rates
or for equal rates for equal distances, but all amendments were
shut off by the previous question and the bill passed the House
March 26, 1874, by vote of 121 to 115. L In the Senate, as has
been seen, the measure was referred to the Windom committee.
This committee reported it back late in the session with amend-
ments, but no action was taken.

The failure of Congress to enact the McCrary bill into law
was followed by a lull in the agitation for federal control of
railroads. The Granger element in the western states seems
to have been more interested for the time being in efforts to
enforce the state laws, and the failure or repeal of most of these
laws naturally dampened the ardor of the advocates of restrictive
legislation. The agitation never disappeared entirely, however,
and occasional demands for federal action continued to come
from the West. Thus the Anti-Monopoly state convention
of Iowa, in June, 1874, demanded legislation both state and
national, to " secure the industrial and producing interests of
the country against all forms of corporate monopoly and extor-
tion." 2 The Iowa Republicans also, in July, 1874, asserted
that Congress possessed the power to regulate interstate com-
merce and should exercise it to prevent extortion and unjust
discrimination.3 The state granges of the West and the Na-
tional Grange continued to discuss and pass resolutions on the
railroad question and to call for national legislation,4 but the
order of Patrons of Husbandry was now rapidly declining in
numbers and in influence. The National Cheap Transportation
Association, likewise, held sessions in Richmond, Virginia, in
December, 1874, and in Chicago in December, 1875; adopted

Journal, 383, 661; Congressional Record, 783, 1963-1968, 2044-2050, 2144-2164,
2171-2180, 2206-2209, 2230-2251, 2414-2437, 2459-2471, 249 1-2493, and appendix,
6, 38, 75, 99, J37, 144, 149, 152, 161, 163, 169, 288, 495.

1 The Nation, xviii. 211 (April 2, 1874) stated that the railroads paid no atten-
tion to the McCrary bill, because, if passed, it could not be enforced. See also
ibid. 17, 34, 87-89 (January, 8, 15, February 5, 1874).

* American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 418.

8 Ibid. 419.

4 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. n, 85-90, 102, 107, 124, ix. 24, 40, 47, 58,
68, 152, 161, x. 12, 159 (February, November, 1875, November, 1876).

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 227

resolutions; and appointed committees to urge railroad legisla-
tion upon Congress; but the Chicago meeting seems to have
been the last appearance of this organization.1

In Congress itself, but little interest was manifested in the
subject from 1874 to 1878, and the various bills and resolutions
failed to receive any attention. Finally, however, in the second
session of the Forty-fifth Congress (1877-78), a bill for the
regulation of interstate commerce was reported in the House by
Mr. Reagan of Texas 2 as chairman of the committee on commerce
and received consideration. This measure is extremely verbose
and difficult to interpret, but it seems to embody the following
provisions: (i) no railroad to discriminate between persons
engaged in interstate commerce, or to grant rebates; (2) no
railroad to charge higher rates for a short than for a longer haul
on the same line; (3) no railroad to charge higher rates for
interstate traffic than it charged for traffic wholly within a state;
(4) schedules of rates to be publicly posted and variations
therefrom prohibited.3 A comparison of the provisions of this
bill with those of the McCrary bill of 1874 indicates a change
which had taken place in the transportation problem. In the
early part of the decade the principal object of agitation and
of the proposed laws such as the McCrary bill was " cheap
transportation/' especially for through traffic from the interior
to the seaboard. By the time the Reagan bill made its
appearance, the emphasis was laid upon the elimination of
unjust discriminations between persons and places. This was
a result of great reductions in through freights during the inter-
val; and the force of competition, which had helped to bring
about this reduction, was also responsible in large part for the
increased discriminations.4

1 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 363 (November 14, 1874); American Annual Cyclopedia,
1874, P- 799, i875, P- 672.

2 Reagan was a member of the order of Patrons of Husbandry. He later served
on the railroad commission of Texas. See Biographical Congressional Directory,
761.

3 The bill is printed in full in Congressional Record, 3412.

4 See James, The Agitation for Federal Regulation, 37-39; Johnson, American
Railway Transportation, 368.

228 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Considerable opposition to the Reagan bill developed during
the discussion. It was denounced by some as a measure in the
interests of the corporations.1 The principal objections, how-
ever, were the complicated language in which it was phrased
and the fear that it might be construed to interfere with com-
merce wholly within a state. Later in the session, Reagan
introduced a substitute measure, couched in simpler language
and definitely excluding commerce within a state from its pro-
visions, but with an added section prohibiting pooling. Time
was lacking for the consideration of this substitute and it went
over to the next session. By this time, the stream of petitions
and memorials for restrictive railroad legislation, which had been
trickling into Congress since early in the decade, had become a
flood,2 and the Reagan bill was quickly revived in the third
session of the Forty-fifth Congress (1878-79) .3 Mr. Reagan's
substitute measure was accepted by the House and the bill
passed by vote of 130 to 104. In the Senate the measure was
referred to the committee on commerce where it was allowed
to sleep undisturbed, although one senator attempted to secure
a report by introducing a resolution requesting early action.

The National Grange memorialized Congress in November,
1878, " to enact general laws, prohibiting unjust discrimination
and to regulate the rates of freight and passage," and steps were
taken in November, 1879, to inaugurate a general campaign
of petitions to Congress among the farmers.4 Partly as a result
of this action, the Forty-sixth Congress was again flooded with
petitions, memorials, and resolutions from citizens, granges,
state legislatures, and boards of trade for the passage of the
Reagan bill or some other measure for the regulation of interstate

1 For the career of the Reagan bill at this session see House Journal, 241, 525,
991, 1039, 1043, 1068, 1089, IIO2, 1149, 1170, 1184; Congressional Record, 442,
1340, 3096, 3275-3280, 3324-3327, 3392-3413, 3435-3521.

2 Senate Journal, 44 Congress, i session, 411, 422, 428, 445; House Journal,
45 Congress, 2 session, 680, 763; Senate Journal, 45 Congress, 3 session, 538 (index);
House Journal, 45 Congress, 3 session, 775 (index).

3 House Journal, 70; Senate Journal, 48, 49, 131, 228, 254; Congressional
Record, 93-102, 113, 117, 531, 1045, 1182.

4 National Grange, Proceedings, xii. 67, 72, 96-98, xiii. 24, 39, 86, 121, 124, 135,
145 (1878, 1879).

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 22$

commerce.1 Mr. Reagan again introduced his bill early in the
first session (1879), and several other railroad bills were intro-
duced in both houses, but none of them was reported from the
committees.2 The next session (1879-80) saw the introduc-
tion of another batch of bills and resolutions on the subject.
Finally, toward the close of the session, the House committee
on commerce reported three bills, one of which was similar in its
provisions to the Reagan bill.3 These did not come up for consid-
eration until the third session of this Congress (i 880-81), when,
after a brief debate in the House, the subject was dropped again.4
It seems probable that one reason for the failure to get the
Reagan bill enacted into law was the feeling that it was but a
half-way measure at best. This is indicated by the action of
the National Grange at its session in November, i88o.5 A
resolution was reported by a committee, favoring the passage
of the bill " now pending before Congress and commonly known
as the Reagan bill." By vote of 33 to n, the Grange amended
this by adding the words " so amended as to prevent extortionate
freights on all lines of railroad engaged in interstate commerce,"
and finally a substitute was adopted which made no mention
of the Reagan bill. Later on, however, another resolution was
adopted declaring :

That while the bill now pending before Congress to regulate inter-State
commerce, commonly known as the Reagan Bill, does not, in the judgment
of the National Grange, correct all the evils of railroad transportati9n, yet
we accept it as a beginning of railroad legislation, and urge upon Subordi-
nate Granges and farmers to petition their representatives in Congress to
support and vote for it.6

1 House Journal, i session, 712 (index under " Interstate commerce "); 2 ses-
sion, 1645; 3 session, 687; Senate Journal, i session, 340; 2 session, 116, 152;
3 session, 531. See also remarks of Mr. Conkling in Congressional Record, 2508.

2 House Journal, 115, 140, 150, 160; Senate Journal, 30.

3 House Journal, 35, 69, 71, 155, 180, 229, 246, 346, 433, 594, 630, 903, 1215;
Senate Journal, 371, 437, 450; Congressional Record, 1154, 1862, 1864, 2506-2510.

4 House Journal, 37, 59, 126, 150, 187, 312, 458, 554; Congressional Record,
17, 48, 362-366, 1154.

6 National Grange, Proceedings, xiv. 28-31, 46-48, 62, 69, 74-79, 89-94, 144,
151, 156 (1880). See also ibid. xv. 19-22, 97-101, 143, xvi. 13 (1881, 1882).

8 A resolution was also adopted thanking those members of Congress who had
supported the Reagan bill.

230 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The failure of the Reagan bill by no means put an end to the
agitation for federal regulation of railroads, but it does mark the
end of that part of the agitation to which the term " Granger "
can be distinctively applied. In some ways, indeed, it might
be more appropriate to confine that term to the agitation which
centered around the Windom committee report and the McCrary
bill, and which was contemporaneous with the Granger legisla-
tion of the northwestern states. At any rate, after 1880, the
influence of the agricultural element in the agitation for railroad
regulation seems to have been relatively slight. This was due
in part to the fact that the order of Patrons of Husbandry was
giving way to other farmers' organizations interested more in
financial questions than in railroad regulation; but still more to
the growing interest which the manufacturing and commercial
classes were displaying in the transportation problem. At
session after session of Congress railroad bills were introduced
and discussed, and in 1885 the Senate and House each passed
different bills. In the same year the Senate established another
select committee, with Senator Cullom of Illinois as chairman,
to investigate the subject of railroad transportation during the
recess of Congress; and the report of this Cullom committee,
made in 1886, together with the Wabash decision by which the
Supreme Court denied to the states any authority over inter-
state traffic, led to the enactment of the interstate commerce
act of iSSy.1

The claims of certain Grange enthusiasts that the credit for
this act belongs to the order of Patrons of Husbandry 2 can
hardly be substantiated, for an examination of the report of
the Cullom committee shows that the demand for regulation
of railroads was fully as insistent among merchants and manu-
facturers at this time as among farmers. It is true, however,
that the Patrons of Husbandry and other agricultural organiza-
tions of the seventies, to whose agitation for railroad regulation,
both state and national, the general term " Granger movement "

1 James, The Agitation for Federal Regulation, 39-50; Johnson, American Rail-
way Transportation, 368-370; Larrabee, The Railroad Question, 353; Cullom Com-
mittee, Report (49 Congress, i session, Senate Reports, no. 46).

2 Darrow, Patrons of Husbandry, 50; Messer, The Grange.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 23!

is applied, should be given credit for inaugurating the first
important movement for federal regulation of railways. This
movement, though unsuccessful in itself, was a forerunner of
and paved the way for the more extensive agitation which
finally produced the interstate commerce act.

EFFECTS

In concluding this survey of the Granger railroad legislation,
there are a number of questions of a controversial nature which
present themselves for consideration: (i) to what extent did
the Granger laws accomplish their purpose of securing reduction
and equalization of rates; (2) what was the effect of the legis-
lation upon the business of the railroad companies; (3) to what
extent did it prevent the construction of additional railroad
lines ?

Some attention has already been devoted to the first of these
questions in the preceding chapters and it is clear that several
of the laws could have had practically no direct effect in reduc-
ing or equalizing rates, because they were not enforced. In the
cases where the laws were enforced, there can be no doubt that
they did, for the time being, effect some very material reductions
in rates and put an end to some of the most glaring discrimina-
tions between persons and places.1 On the other hand, the rail-
road companies took advantage of every loop-hole in the law
or schedules to make their charges more instead of less burden-
some, not so much for the purpose of increasing their revenues
as with the idea of making the laws themselves unpopular.2
The period, moreover, during which the laws were in force
was generally very short indeed, because of their hasty repeal,
and in case they did remain in force for any considerable length
of time, as in Illinois, it seems probable that competition and
other economic forces would have effected reductions in the
rates without the operation of the laws. In general, then, it
appears that the direct results of the laws in reducing rates were

1 Illinois Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, P- 22> l876> P- 12; Appleton's
Cyclopedia, 1878, p. 579.

2 See above, pp. 154, 163, 175.

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

inconsiderable, but that they did put a check upon unjust
discriminations while they remained in force.

Indirectly, however, the Granger laws and the agitation which
produced them, seem to have had a considerable effect upon
rates, particularly during the years immediately following the
repeal of the laws. The desire to prevent a recurrence of the
agitation was undoubtedly one factor in bringing about the
rapid reductions of railroad rates during the later seventies,
and certainly the general attitude of railroad officials toward
the public was then very different from what it had been at the
beginning of the Granger movement.1

At the time of the Granger agitation, it was universally
asserted by the railroad officials and their supporters that the
enforcement of the laws would so curtail the revenues of the
companies as practically to ruin them and would prevent all
further railway construction in the states affected. In the
cases where the laws were enforced it was declared that the pre-
dictions had been realized. These assertions are to be found
over and over again in the annual reports of the railroad com-
panies,2 in memorials to the legislatures,3 in messages of anti-
Granger governors,4 and in newspapers and periodicals ; 5 but

1 Illinois Railroad Commission, Reports, 1876, pp. 15, 22; Governor's message
(Illinois), Senate Journal, 1877, p. 19 or House Journal, 1877, p. 30.

2 For example see Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company, i$th Annual
Report (1874), or extracts from same in Yesterday and Today, a History of the Chicago
and Northwestern Railway Company, 59-61.

3 Illinois, Reports to the General Assembly, 1873, iv. 971. See above, p. 154.

4 Governor Gear of Iowa, in his biennial message to the legislature, January,
1880, declared: " That the law of the Fifteenth General Assembly had a tendency
to restrict capital from seeking investment in railway construction in the state is
evidenced by the fact that during the four years it was in operation only 310 miles
of railway were constructed, and since the enactment of the present law nearly
700 miles have been constructed; over ninety per cent, of the cost of which has been
defrayed by the investment of foreign capital." Iowa, Legislative Documents,
1880, i. no. i, p. 28.

This is an excellent example of the way in which the Granger legislation was
made responsible for the results of the panic of 1873. See also message of Governor
Ludington of Wisconsin in Governor's Message and Accompanying Documents, 1876,
i. 9-12.

6 The Nation was especially diligent in this connection. See especially xvi.
309, 384, 397, xvii. 49, 156, 218, xviii. 55, 293, xix. 17, 199-201, xx. 53, 201, xxi.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 233

always they seem to be mere assertions without any attempt to
present positive proof either by the use of statistics or in any
other way. On the other hand, the proceedings of granges
and other agricultural organizations, the Grange press,1 the
messages of Granger governors,2 and the reports of the Granger
railroad commissions,3 are equally filled with contrary assertions
and with equal absence of conclusive proof.

This controversy did not end with the cessation of the Granger
movement. The railroad forces seized upon the Potter law and
kindred acts as " horrible examples " to hold before the people
whenever there appeared to be any danger of legislative inter-
ference; or, as A. B. Stickney, himself a railroad president,
expressed it, " the Granger laws have served the purpose of a
' bloody shirt ' to conceal incompetence in railway management
for twenty years at least." 4 The railroad side of the argument,
moreover, occupied a conspicuous place,5 while the Granger side

157 (1873-75). Some of these statements are inconsistent with the statistics
presented in ibid. xx. i (July i, 1875). See also American Exchange and Review,
xxv. 393 (August, 1874). For the attitude of local papers, see Evansville (Wis-
consin) Review, September 22, 29, 1875, quoted in Lea, Grange Movement in Wis-
consin (Ms.), 31-34-

1 Grange Bulletin (Wisconsin), October, 1875.

2 See especially the annual message of Governor Taylor of Wisconsin, January
15, 1875 in Governor's Message and Accompanying Documents, 1875, i- 24-33.
Governor Newbold of Iowa in 1878 declared that " during the years 1874, 1875,
and 1876, the increase of railroad mileage in Iowa was greater, both absolutely and
relatively, than in either of our sister states on the north and west, while those of
our neighbors that showed most decided increase were Illinois and Wisconsin, both
having laws regulating railroads." Iowa, Legislative Documents, 1878, i. no. u,
p. 27.

3 " No contemplated roads have been to our knowledge, abandoned because the
State has assumed to protect its citizens from ' extortion and unjust discrimina-
tion.' On the contrary, new roads were opened with remarkable rapidity where-
ever there seemed a remote chance of reimbursement up to the time of the panic in
September, 1873." Illinois Railroad Commission, Reports, 1876, p. 12. See also
ibid. 18-21, 1872, p. 18, 1875, PP- 1T> 22.

4 Stickney, Railway Problem, 121.

6 For example, C. F. Adams, " The Granger Movement " in North American
Review, cxx. 394-424 (April, 1875), though apparently judicial in spirit really pre-
sents a very distorted view of the movement and its effects. This and the articles
and editorials in the Nation have undoubtedly been the principal sources of the
views of later writers.

234 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

was buried in forgotten pamphlets and local newspapers, with
the result that most later investigators, even including many
who desired to be impartial, have accepted the railroad point
of view and denounced the Granger acts as violations of economic1
law and injurious to both the railroads and the public.1

There have been a few exceptions to this prevailing opinion.
As early as 1876, an anonymous writer who signed himself
" Wisconsin Granger," in an article in the International Review
declared that the Potter law did not

reduce rates below a non-remunerative standard. It did not destroy rail-
road values nor did it reduce them to any material extent nor check railway
construction. The actual gross reduction under the law was not over five
per cent. . . . The actual test of the law increased the net earnings by
reducing expenditures and increasing business, and proved wholly bene-
ficial.

Had it stopped here, there would have been nothing to distin-
guish this statement from the numerous Granger assertions
of the period, beyond the fact that it appeared in a prominent
magazine, but the writer went further and added a footnote in
which he presented statistics to show that the railways of Wis-
consin during the Granger period compared favorably with the

1 Probably the most widely known and quoted statement of the effects of the
Granger legislation is the following from Hadley, Railroad Transportation, 135.
" But a more powerful force than the authority of the courts was working against
the Granger system of regulation. The laws of trade could not be violated with
impunity. The effects were most sharply felt in Wisconsin. The law reducing
railroad rates to the basis which competitive points enjoyed left nothing to pay
fixed charges. In the second year of its operation, no Wisconsin road paid a divi-
dend; only four paid interest on their bonds. Railroad construction had come to
a standstill. Even the facilities on existing roads could not be kept up. Foreign
capital refused to invest in Wisconsin; the development of the State was sharply
checked; the very men who had most favored the law found themselves heavy
losers. These points were plain to every one. They formed the theme of the
Governor's message at the beginning of 1876. The very men who passed the law
in 1874, hurriedly repealed it after two years' trial. In other states, the laws were
either repealed, as in Iowa, or were sparingly and cautiously enforced. By the
time the Supreme Court published the Granger decision, the fight had been settled,
not by constitutional limitations, but by industrial ones."

For a large number of other quotations to the same effect, see C. R. Detrick,
" The Effects of the Granger Acts," in Journal of Political Economy, xi. 237-247
(March, 1903). See also F. L. Holmes, " Development of Transportation Facili-
ties," in Wisconsin in Three Centuries, iv. 119, on the effects of the Potter law.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 235

railroads of other states in extensions and in payment of interest
on indebtedness.1

In 1891, appeared a book by A. B. Stickney, president of the
Chicago and Great Western railroad, in which the fairness of the
Granger laws was upheld and the position taken that the evils
which had been laid at their door were really results of competi-
tion and of bad management on the part of railway officials.2
Two years later, ex- Governor Larrabee of Iowa, who had played
a part in the Granger and later railroad legislation in that state,
published The Railroad Question, in which he also asserted that
the Granger acts were fair and reasonable, and declared that if
the earnings or construction of railroads had been affected at
all, " it was due solely to a conspiracy on the part of the rail-
road managers to misrepresent and pervert the legislation in
these states."3

Finally, in March, 1903, an article by Charles R. Detrick
appeared in the Journal of Political Economy in which the whole
subject of the effects of the Granger acts upon the railroads is
examined in the light of statistics.4 The investigation of the
subject is rendered difficult by the fact that the Granger laws
were in force during the period of financial depression following
the panic of 1873 and it is necessary to determine to what extent
each of these factors was the cause of the prevailing conditions
among railroads. The problem is handled by Mr. Detrick by
comparing statistics of railway construction and earnings in the
Granger states and in various other groups of states. As a
result of this study, the following proposition can be considered
as definitely established: the percentages of increase in railroad
mileage and in average net earnings of railway companies during

1 " The Grange and the Potter Law," in International Review, iii. 665-673
(October, 1876). See especially pp. 665-667.

2 Stickney, Railway Problem.

8 Larrabee, Railroad Question, 246.

4 C. R. Detrick, " The Effects of the Granger Acts," in Journal of Political
Economy, xi. 237-256 (March, 1903). The statistics in this article have been used
by Senator R. M. La Follette in discussions of the Granger movement in several
of his pamphlets, magazine articles, and speeches. For a reply to one of these by
the general solicitor of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Company,
see Burton Hanson, Unfair Railway Agitation.

236 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the period were at least as great in the four Granger states —
Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa — as in four other
western states — Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, and Missouri, —
or in six representative middle states, or ten representative
southern states.

It might seem from this that the railroad claims are completely
refuted. There are, however, a number of other points to be
considered. In the first place, in several of the states which are
used by Mr. Detrick for comparison with the " Granger states,"
there were vigorous agitations for railway legislation of the
same sort and Missouri actually enacted a Granger act in I875.1
If the Granger laws did affect the prosperity of railroads and the
confidence of the people in them at all, it is probable that that
effect was nearly, if not quite, as great in neighboring states
where similar agitations were under way, as in the states which
had actually passed the laws. There seems to be sufficient
evidence to justify the claim that the Granger agitation did tend
to make capitalists, and especially European capitalists, hesitate
about investing money in western or perhaps in any American
railroads.2 If so, however, it is probably true, as ex-Governor
Larrabee of Iowa asserted, that this was caused rather by the
alarm sent forth by the railroad companies and their sympathiz-
ers than directly by the laws themselves.3 There is no doubt
but that the nature and effect of the laws were greatly, and
probably intentionally, exaggerated, and the Nation did not
hesitate to advise capitalists to refrain from investing in western
railroad securities.4 The contemporary business depression,
however, which followed in the wake of the panic of 1873, together
with the exposures of fraud in railway financing, were of so much
greater influence in causing lack of confidence in railway securi-
ties, that it is impossible to reach any very definite conclusions

1 See above, pp. 194-196.

2 Chicago Tribune, 1873, June 7, p. 5, June 28, p. 3; 1874, July 20, p. 4; Nation,
xvi. 384, 397, xvii. 218, xviii. 293, xx. 53, 338, xxi. 157 (1873-75).

3 The same idea was expressed by Governor Taylor of Wisconsin in his annual
message, January 15, 1875, in Governor's Message and Accompanying Documents,
i. 28-30.

4 Nation, xx. 190, 242 (March 18, April 8, 1875).

RAILWAY LEGISLATION 237

as to the effects of the Granger agitation in that direction.1
It may be true that the efforts in the West to subject railroads
to state control were factors in prolonging the depression and
preventing the earlier resumption of railway construction.
That, however, has never been proved, and probably is not
susceptible of proof. Certainly the claims which would make
the Granger movement primarily responsible for the stoppage
of construction and the general railroad depression during the
years from 1873 to 1876, are greatly exaggerated.

On the whole, it seems that the immediate economic effects
of the Granger agitation for railroad regulation were small: it
did secure some temporary reductions in rates and check some of
the worst discriminations; it probably reduced railway earnings
to some extent, although the decreased rates were in part offset
by increased business of which they were a cause; 2 and it may
have been a slight contributing factor in checking railway con-
struction in the western states. The indirect and political
results of the movement, however, were more important: it
led to decisions of the United States Supreme Court which
established the right of states to control railroads; and it laid
the foundation for later legislation. In judging the results
of this movement and comparing it with the more recent and
more successful attempts at state regulation, allowance must
be made for the fact that the problem had just begun to be
studied in the seventies. The railroad laws of the present
time are, as a rule, drawn up with care by men who have made
a study of railroad economics and are administered by trained
experts. The measure of success which these laws have attained
attests the soundness of the fundamental principles first developed
in the Granger acts of the seventies.

1 " Nothing is more certain than that any cloud which now hangs over American
credit in England and Holland is due to the extensive defaults in American railroad
bonds, to the dishonest management of American railroad corporations, and to the
hostile legislation of Western states, and the wild and furious denunciations of
capitalists and money-lenders indulged in by Western politicians during the last
two or three years." Nation, xxi. 157 (September 9, 1875).

2 Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Reports, 1874, p. 34.

CHAPTER VII
BUSINESS COOPERATION

UP to the close of the Civil War, the farmers of the West
were generally content to confine their business operations
to the raising of crops and stock. They disposed of their sur-
plus products in the most convenient market and purchased
the few supplies needed from the nearest store-keeper, without
bothering their heads about the extortions of manufacturers
or the profits of middlemen. During the decade of the seventies
however, there was a determined effort on the part of the farmers
to establish direct relations between producers and consumers,
with reference to both the products which they wished to dis-
pose of and the supplies they had to purchase. The explanation
of this is to be sought in changing economic conditions. The
western farmers in the pioneer period were independent in their
economic relations with the outside world, and indeed each
farm was almost a self-sufficing unit. But the rapid develop-
ment of the country and the increase in transportation facilities
changed all this, and by 1870 the farmers had become largely
producers of staple crops for market and nearly as dependent
upon outsiders for supplies as were those engaged in other
occupations. With no adequate conception of the actual
services performed by the middlemen or the complexities of the
business of distribution,1 and with the example of successful
cooperation in England to urge them on, the western farmers
believed it possible to regain their economic independence by
themselves assuming the management of those industries which
touched them most closely. Two things were prerequisite
for this — organization, and a certain amount of mutual con-
fidence— and these were furnished by the rapid growth of
farmers' clubs and especially of the order of Patrons of Hus-

1 Cf. Fetter, " The Theory of the Middleman " and Kieley, " The Middleman
in Practice," both in Bailey, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, iv. 239-243.

338

BUSINESS COOPERATION 239

bandry during the early seventies. The result was the estab-
lishment of an almost incredible number of cooperative or
pseudo-cooperative enterprises under the control of the farmers'
organizations. These enterprises included local, county, and
state agencies for the purchase of implements and supplies
and the sale of farm products, local grain elevators and coopera-
tive stores, the manufacture of farm machinery, banking,
insurance, and even organizations for bringing about direct
trade between the American producer and the European con-
sumer.

Most of the enterprises were short-lived and many brought
disaster to those involved; but they are, nevertheless, distinctly
worthy of study, not only as an illuminating, though pathological,
chapter in the history of cooperation, but also as an integral
part of the movement for agricultural organization which swept
the country in the seventies. To trace in detail the history of
these cooperative enterprises in the various states would require
a volume in itself, and it will be necessary to confine this account
to a brief sketch of the development of this feature of the Granger
movement with some consideration of its scope, characteristics,
and results.

GRANGE AGENCIES

Even as early as October, 1867, two months before the estab-
lishment of the preliminary National Grange, one of Kelley's
correspondents had suggested that the proposed order should
be so framed as to confer a pecuniary benefit upon its members.
Kelley himself appears to have looked with favor upon this
idea; but it was opposed by others of the " founders " and the
constitution and early circulars of the order dwelt almost entirely
upon the social, fraternal, and intellectual benefits to be conferred.
When the work of organizing local granges was begun, however,
the farmers were inclined to ask, " What pecuniary benefit are
we to gain by supporting the organization ? " and it was not
long before the circulars were revised to lay emphasis on the
possibilities of protection and cooperation which the order
presented.1

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 35, 79, 112-114, 129.

240 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Thenceforth, business cooperation was a leading feature
of the movement and one of the principal incentives for the
growth of the order. Whenever a local grange was formed,
almost the first step taken was to adopt some plan of cooperative
buying and selling. Often, especially during the early years,
all that was done was to make arrangements with certain local
dealers for special rates in return for the cash trade of all the
members.1 This plan never worked very long and generally
made way for the establishment of a local agency. In some
cases, the agent simply attended to forwarding the cash orders
of the members to a manufacturer or jobber or to the state
agency, if established, and distributed the shipments when they
arrived. For these services the agent might receive a small
commission or he might be paid a small salary by the grange.
More often, perhaps, he got no compensation but the oppor-
tunity to purchase his own supplies at a reduced price and the
satisfaction of helping his neighbors. In other cases, the agency
was supplied with a small amount of capital by the grange or
by a stock company of members, and then it approached more
nearly to the dignity of a cooperative store.

Often the granges of a county or other district found it
advantageous to join together in a county council or Pomona
grange and established a county or district agency to assist
the members in their buying and selling.2 These larger agencies
varied in methods much as did the smaller ones connected with
a single grange. At first most of their energies were devoted
to inducing manufacturers and wholesale dealers to make special
terms. In this, of course, they were more successful than the
local agencies because of their ability to control a larger trade.
Later many of the county and district associations developed
into cooperative stores of one form or another. Whatever the
method, the object in view was the same throughout: to secure
supplies at lower prices by bulking orders and dealing as directly
as possible with manufacturers and jobbers; and to eliminate

1 A " Trading Card " of the Winnebago County (Wisconsin) Council, Patrons
of Husbandry, is in the library of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

2 See Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 298.

BUSINESS COOPERATION 241

some of the profits of the middlemen by shipping produce directly
to the large markets instead of disposing of it to the local
dealers and commission men. The aggregate business done
by or through these local agencies throughout the country was
certainly enormous during the years 1873, 1874, and 1875, and
they no doubt effected very considerable savings for the members.
Their operations, moreover, naturally tended to force local
dealers to lower their prices in order to meet the competition,
and so were beneficial to many who were not members of the
order.1

But the Grangers were never satisfied with local cooperation.
If so much could be accomplished by the united efforts of the
members of a single grange or in a single county, what was to
prevent the cooperation of all the Patrons in a state or the
United States from accomplishing many times as much ? As
a result state agencies were established in state after state,
until by December, 1874, twenty-six state granges had adopted
some- sort of an agency system.2 The methods of operation
of these agencies were even more diverse than those of the
local agencies, and can perhaps best be made clear by sketching
the careers of a few of them as types.

When the first state grange was organized in Minnesota in
1869, business cooperation was one of the principal subjects
discussed, and the general sentiment was strongly in favor of
the appointment of a state agent to purchase supplies and dis-
pose of produce for the Patrons. Kelley and others of the
" founders " feared that such a move might be premature, and
when the subject of appointing state agents and a general busi-
ness agent for the order was brought up at the so-called first
annual session of the National Grange in April, 1869, it was
laid on the table.3 If the National Grange had taken hold of
the subject at this time and worked out a comprehensive system
of cooperation for the order, it might possibly have guided the

1 The Prairie Farmer for 1873, 1874, and 1875 contains many reports of the
work of different local agencies. See especially xliv. 369, 387, 395, xlv. n (Novem-
ber, 1 8 73- January, 1874).

2 See list of state agents in Prairie Farmer, xlv. 411 (December 26, 1874).

3 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 168, 170, 171, 176, 183, 186.

242 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

movement along more conservative lines and prevented much
of the confusion and disaster that followed. As it was, how-
ever, each state grange was left to work out its own salva-
tion in the matter of business cooperation, and Minnesota led
the way.

In the same month in which the " founders " laid the subject
of cooperation on the table, Master Smith of the Minnesota
State Grange appointed C. A. Prescott of St. Paul as state
business agent and issued a circular which announced that the
agent would sell produce and make purchases for members.1
The agent proceeded to issue weekly bulletins giving prices of
produce and sent a circular to manufacturers of agricultural
implements inviting them to send samples to be tested and
reported upon by the state grange.2 The appointment of
Prescott as agent was confirmed by the state grange when it
met in July, i86g,3 but no further record of the operations of
this earliest agency, prior to 1873, has been found. In Febru-
ary, 1873, the state grange appointed a committee to develop
a feasible plan for cooperation in the purchase of farm imple-
ments,4 and later in the year another state agent, J. H. Denman,
was engaged in visiting manufacturers and wholesale dealers
in order to secure special terms for members of the order.5
At the meeting of the state grange in December, 1873, Denman
was elected state purchasing agent for the ensuing year with a
salary of not to exceed sixteen hundred dollars to be derived
from commissions on sales.6 The Minnesota agency never
succeeded in doing business on as large a scale or securing as
favorable terms as did some of the other grange agencies, partly
because the number of granges in the state was comparatively
small; nevertheless, the Patrons of the state claimed to have

1 The agent received a commission on business transacted. The first purchase
is said to have been a jackass for one of the officers of the state grange. Kelley
commented: " This purchasing business commenced with buying jackasses; the
prospects are that many will be sold" Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 180.

2 Minnesota Monthly, i. 134, 213 (April, June, 1869).
a Ibid. 249 (July, 1869).

4 Minnesota State Grange, Constitution, 1873, pp. 13-16.
6 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 355 (November 8, 1873).
6 Ibid. 412 (December 27, 1873).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 243

saved large amounts of money through the operations of the
state and local agencies.1

Iowa was the first state in which Grange cooperation achieved
a marked success. Local agencies existed in the state from the
very beginning of the organization of granges and in 1872 a
state business agency was established at Des Moines, with
J. D. Whitman as state agent, and a Chicago firm was chosen
to receive shipments of produce from Iowa Grangers. Whit-
man appears to have been energetic and capable. He soon
succeeded in building up a large business in the sale of farm
implements and supplies to Patrons. Negotiations were entered
into with manufacturers and wholesale dealers, and the special
rates secured communicated to the granges by means of con-
fidential circulars. Whenever possible the state agent seems
to. have turned the orders over to these firms to be filled, but
some of the shipments were made through the agency. Many
orders were also sent by local grange agents or individual Patrons
directly to the manufacturers or wholesalers. At first the state
agent seems to have worked without any capital, but as the
business developed he was allowed to use part of the funds of
the state grange. This enabled him to take advantage of
opportunities to secure very low rates by making large pur-
chases outright and then filling orders as they came in.2

Even as early as December, 1872, before the state agency
had gotten into operation, glowing reports were made of the
savings effected by the Patrons of Iowa.3 It was declared
that one-third of the grain elevators and warehouses in the
state were owned or controlled by the Granges and that five
million bushels of grain and large numbers of cattle and hogs
had been shipped direct to Chicago through grange agents,
upon which a saving of from ten to forty per cent had been
effected. On the purchases of agricultural implements alone

1 Martin, Grange Movement, 487.

2 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv, v. u (1873, 1874); Prairie Farmer, xliv.
377, 411 (November 29, December 27, 1873); Martin, Grange Movement, 473-
485-

3 S. Leavitt, Township Cooperation (pamphlet), 3, quoting a letter from Des
Moines to the New York World. Same in Rural Carolinian, iv. 493 (June, 1873).

244 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the farmers of the state were said to have saved a total of $365,000
and an example was given of a reaper which had been retailing
at $240 but was sold to granges at $140. During 1873 the
business of the local agencies increased by leaps and bounds
under the stimulus of the state agent. At the state grange
meeting in December of that year, the executive committee
reported that the agents of the order in the state had done a
business during the year of five million dollars, and effected a
saving of at least fifteen per cent on family supplies and twenty
per cent on agricultural implements.1

During 1874 the operations of the business agencies con-
tinued to increase, but the state grange also embarked in the
business of manufacturing farm machinery and that was the
beginning of the end.2 In 1875 the crash came — the failure
of the implement works bankrupted the grange, and though
the state agency continued for a while to do a large business,
it had gotten beyond its depth and was hampered by the lack
of capital. An attempt to provide it with twenty-five thousand
dollars by the sale of stock to Patrons at ten dollars a share
was a failure, and the rapid decline of the order after 1875 soon
snuffed it out along with most of the local agencies.3

In Illinois, also, the beginning of cooperation was practically
contemporaneous with the organization of the first active granges
in Lee and Whiteside counties and successful operations were
reported even before the organization of the state grange in
i872.4 In this state the situation was somewhat complicated
by the existence of large numbers of open farmers' clubs, side
by side with the Grange. The members of these organizations
were as eager to attempt cooperation as were the Patrons and
in many instances county or district farmers' associations,
made up of both clubs and granges, were organized to manage
the business feature.5 Some of these were very successful for

1 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1873).

2 Ibid. v. n, 16-26 (1874); National Grange, Proceedings, x. 38 (November,

1875)-

3 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, vi. 11-15, 29> 35. 4*> 45> 46 (*87S)'

4 Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 39, note.

6 The purpose of these associations is clearly indicated by the following resolu-

BUSINESS COOPERATION 245

a few years, as, for example, the Central Farmers' Association
of Centralia. This organization was formed in January, 1873,
and a purchasing agent was appointed in March. The, agent
experienced considerable difficulty in getting terms from imple-
ment manufacturers, because most of them had already made
arrangements with dealers for the year. Opposition was also
experienced from the local merchants; but the farmers persisted
and in November, 1873, the secretary of the association was able
to report the sale of about one hundred thousand dollars* worth
of implements alone, through the agency, with a saving to the
farmers living within a radius of fifteen miles of Centralia of
twenty-five thousand dollars over prices which had formerly
prevailed.1

The Illinois State Farmers' Association, though primarily
interested in politics, also gave some attention to cooperation
and at one time attempted to establish a state agency to serve
the clubs and granges. This experiment was a failure,2 and no
very considerable degree of success attended the attempts of
the state grange to establish a purchasing agency for the Patrons.
The first state grange agent, who was appointed as early as
December, 1872, merely negotiated for special terms for Patrons
and issued circulars of information to the local granges and
agencies.3 During 1874 and 1875 more extensive operations
were attempted; but the agent and the executive committee
disagreed as to methods to be pursued, and the local agents were
inclined to take advantage of temporary concessions made
elsewhere, instead of dealing through the state agency. At
the fourth annual meeting of the grange, in December, 1875,
it was generally conceded that the state agency had been a
failure. The reports indicated clearly, moreover, that the local

ti on which was adopted by one of them at its organization in 1873: "Resolved,
That we buy everything we need direct from manufacturers and wholesale
houses, and buy by large quantities and pay cash, and that we sell our produce
in large quantities together, when sold, endeavoring thereby to get better prices,
lower freights, etc." Prairie Farmer, xliv. 83 (March 15, 1873).

1 Ibid. xliv. 4, 369 (1873). For the operation of other local agencies, see ibid.
xliii. 385, xliv. 43, 52.

2 Ibid. xliv. 124, xlvi. 35 (1873, ^s); Industrial Age, January 31, 1874, pp. 5, 7.
8 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 83, 91, 131 (March, April, 1873).

246 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

agencies, with the exception of a few which had organized as
stock companies, had proven unsatisfactory and were declining.1
At this session the donation from the National Grange2 was
turned over to the executive committee to be used for business
purposes and the committee was authorized to establish a new
agency to be located in the city of Chicago and placed in charge
of a salaried agent who should be under bonds. This plan was
tried during 1876 with considerable success, according to the
reports made to the state grange in December of that year,3
and the new agency continued operations on a small scale well
down into the eighties.4

Meanwhile the work done by state agencies in other states
had been taken over in part in Illinois by a number of com-
mercial firms of Chicago which early began to advertise that
they were prepared to fill orders for clubs and granges at whole-
sale prices. Prominent among these were the firms of Z. N.
Hall, which for several years furnished the granges with groceries
at wholesale prices and other supplies for a small commission,
and Montgomery Ward and Company, which has since developed
into one of the largest mail order houses in the country.5 For
facilitating the direct shipment of produce by the local granges
or agencies to Chicago a contract was made by the state grange
with the commission firm of Reynolds, Corbett, and Thomas,
by which it was officially recognized as Grange agent. When
this firm failed, late in 1874, though without loss to shippers,
its members declared that the Grange support had not been
such as to warrant further experiments of the kind.6 The
executive committee of the state grange succeeded, never the-

1 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 52, 202 (February 14, June 27, 1874); Illinois State
Grange, Proceedings, iv. 12, 15, 17, 23-31 (1875).

2 See above, p. 68.

3 Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 42, 44, v. 9, 48-50, 55-57, 90-101 (1875,
1876).

4 A. G. Warner, " Three Phases of Cooperation in the West," in American
Economic Association, Publications, ii. no. i, p. 34 (March, 1887) and in Johns
Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 384.

6 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 91 (adv.), 92, 348, 411 (adv.), xlvi. 172 (1873, 1874).
6 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 52, 396 (February 14, December 12, 1874); Industrial
Age, December 12, 1874, p. 5.

BUSINESS COOPERATION 247

less, in making a similar arrangement with another Chicago firm,
which was placed under bond for one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars, and in the course of time commercial firms at Peoria and
St. Louis were also given official recognition as state agents.1

Another feature of the cooperative movement in Illinois
is of interest. There was considerable talk among the farmers
to the effect that prices were fixed by rings and monopolies,
and it was quite common for the agitators to advise the farmers
to retaliate by forming organizations to control the prices of
farm products. One of the first attempts in this direction
was made by the Northwestern Farmers' Convention which
met in Chicago in October, 1873. Among the resolutions
adopted was one recommending to the farmers of the North-
west that they withhold their hog products from the market
until the price should reach five dollars per hundred pounds.2
What was the result of this attempt to raise prices by regulating
the supply does not appear, but it may be assumed that it was
a failure. Many farmers were so situated that it was not feasible
for them to withhold their hogs from market. The organiza-
tion, moreover, was too incomplete to give such a movement
a chance of success.3 Later on various county and subordinate
granges in Illinois and other western states attempted to control
prices by agreeing to " hold their hogs," and in January, 1878,
the state grange recommended that hogs be withheld from
market for thirty days, unless certain specific prices should be
previously offered.4 No evidence has been found which would
indicate that any of these attempts were successful.5

1 Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 12, v. 52 (1875, 1876).

2 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 347 (November i, 1873). The proceedings are also to
be found in Windom Committee, Report, ii. 646-688. There were a few delegates
present from other states, but the convention was mainly a gathering of Illinois
farmers.

3 See Prairie Farmer, xliv. 353 (November 8, 1873).

4 Paine, Granger Movement in Illinois, 44. See also Prairie Farmer, xlvi. 372
(1875); Wisconsin Statesman, July 31, 1875, P- 3-

6 These experiments are of interest in view of the recent attempts of the Ameri-
can Society of Equity to control the price of grain in the same way. For Granger
propositions for controlling the price of grain, see Prairie Farmer, xliv. 249, 265
(August 9, 23, 1873); Chicago Tribune, August 18, 1873, p. 3.

248 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The operations of Grange agencies in the other states of the
Middle West may be briefly summarized. Both state and a
profusion of local agencies existed in every state from Kansas to
Ohio, but they were similar in their general features to those
already described in Iowa and Illinois. The Ohio agency did
a large business for several years under the direction of W. H.
Hill as state agent, located at Cincinnati, but dissensions arose,
and it was closed out by the state grange about iSyS.1 The
Indiana agency was first established on a commission basis.
Later the state grange paid the agent a regular salary and
allowed him to use fifteen thousand dollars of its funds as capital.
During 1875 the business of this agency amounted to three hun-
dred thousand dollars, and in 1876 it was still larger; but bad
management soon brought it to bankruptcy, entailing a loss of
several thousand dollars upon the state grange.2 In Michigan
the state grange was generally conservative in business matters
and most of the Grange cooperation was carried on through
county councils and local agencies, the state agent confining
himself to making contracts with manufacturers and dealers.
One of these contracts is said to have broken up the " plaster
ring " and saved the farmers a large amount of money on their
purchases of land plaster. In the later part of the decade
arrangements were made with commercial firms in Detroit
and Chicago to act as Grange agents for filling orders and selling
produce. A special agency was also established in Ypsilanti
in 1878; but the business was so small that the executive com-
mittee was obliged to permit the agent to run it as a general
commission house in order to clear expenses.3 In Wisconsin
the first state grange agent was appointed as early as 1871.
The work of the agency was confined to making contracts and

1 On the Grange agencies of Ohio, see Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, i-iii
(1874-76); W. H. Hill, Revised and Consolidated Price List and Grange Book of
Reference; Ellis, " History of the Grange in Ohio," in Ohio Farmer, c. 348, ci. 32,
274, 298, 370 (1901, 1902); Warner, " Three Phases of Cooperation in the West,"
in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 371.

2 Indiana State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 12, 15, 16, 26, 29, 31, 35-37 (1874),
xxxiv. 98 (appendix); Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 17 (1875); Rural
Carolinian, v. 592; Warner, in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 382.

3 Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, i-vii (1874-80).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 249

to general supervision of the business features of the order, until
1876, when a regular business agency for filling orders and
receiving consignments of produce was established in Milwaukee.
This agency did a considerable business for a few years and
persisted during the decade of the eighties. In 1886, however,
the agent reported that the business was not confined to members
of the order and that the service of the agency was most con-
siderable as a bureau of information as to prices and a regulator
of local trade.1 The operations of the Grange agencies in Kansas,2
Nebraska,3 and Missouri 4 were similar to those in Iowa though
on a smaller scale, and were all brought to a close by the collapse
of the order in these states in the later seventies. In Missouri
the Patrons had at one time besides the ordinary purchasing
agent, a commission agent and a live stock agent in St. Louis.

The business operations of the order in California were exten-
sive and different in many ways from those attempted in other
parts of the country, and consequently it will be worth while
to sketch them in some detail.5 The primary purpose of the
California farmers in organizing the State Farmers' Union,
out of which grew the state grange of the Patrons of Husbandry,
was to bring about cooperation in the marketing of products,
especially grain, and in the purchase of grain sacks and other
supplies. Various plans were laid by the Farmers' Union during
1872 and 1873 for different forms of cooperation, but the actual

1 On Grange cooperation in Wisconsin, see Wisconsin State Grange, Proceed-
ings, ii-viii (1874-80); Prairie Farmer, xliv. 211, 369, xlv. 139, xlvi. 283 (1873-
75); Maynard, Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), 16-29, 52> 66; Lea,
Grange Movement in Wisconsin (Ms.), 14; Wisconsin Bureau of Labor and In-
dustrial Statistics, Reports, ii. 208-211 (1885-86); Albert Shaw, " Cooperation in
the Northwest," in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 316-318.

2 See Kansas State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 3, 4, 7-11, 32, 34-37 (1875) and
J. K. Hudson, Patrons' Handbook, 26.

3 Nebraska State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 7-12, 22-25, 31-36 (1874); Prairie
Farmer, xlv. 235 (July 25, 1874).

4 Missouri State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 16, 34-43, iv. n, 21-23, 78-80, 103,
108-113, 119-131 (1874, 1875).

6 Most of the documents and other material upon which the following account
of business operations in California is based, can be found in Carr, Patrons of
Husbandry, chs. ix, xii, xiv-xvi. See also Prairie Farmer, xlv. 291, 331, 347, 355,
361, 387, xlvi. 21, 75 (1874-75).

250 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

operations devolved upon the state grange, which was organized
in July, 1873. The way in which the business feature dominated
the movement in California is seen in the declaration adopted
at this time, by which the specific objects of the state grange
were said to be to establish farmers' banks and Grange stores;
to arrange for the purchase of farm machinery directly from
manufacturers and the shipment of products directly to con-
sumers; gradually to substitute the cash for the credit system;
and eventually to introduce the shipment of grain in bulk instead
of in sacks.1

In carrying out this program, the executive committee of
the state grange made arrangements with the firm of Morgan's
Sons to act as shipping agents for the Patrons, and appointed
a state agent under bonds, who devoted himself, in addition
to supervising the operations of the shipping agent, to making
favorable terms with dealers in implements and importers of
grain sacks and other supplies. Morgan's Sons also entered
the field as direct purchasers of grain, and a lively competition
sprang up between them and the old " wheat ring," which pushed
the price of wheat up steadily. As a result of the operations
of this firm and the purchasing agency during the year 1873-74
it was claimed that over five million dollars were saved for the
farmers of the state.2

The wheat crop of 1874 in California was very large, being
nearly double that of the preceding year, and Morgan's Sons
apparently got beyond their depth in attempting to handle
the Granger consignments. Seventeen cargoes in all were
shipped for the Patrons in 1874 and fifteen more were in port
under charter to load when, through a combination of circum-
stances, the firm of Morgan's Sons was forced into bankruptcy.
It might be thought that this experience would be enough for
the Grangers, for their losses were considerable, and it was,
probably, the most potent cause for the rapid decline of the
order in the state during the next few years. The leaders,
however, were only spurred on to greater effort. A special

1 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 134; Chicago Tribune, July 26, 1873, p. 5.

2 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 160, 177.

BUSINESS COOPERATION 2$I

meeting of the state grange was held in November, 1874, at
which it was determined to incorporate a " Grangers' Business
Association " to take the place of the bankrupt firm as shipping
agent for the Patrons. The business agency and the recently
established dairy agency were to be departments of the asso-
ciation.

This association was incorporated in February, 1875, with a
nominal capital stock of one million dollars, divided into shares
of twenty-five dollars each.1 The articles of incorporation
declared its purposes to be to deal in all kinds of agricultural
produce, farm implements, and general merchandise, and to
ship grain and other merchandise to foreign ports, " as factors
and broker and not otherwise." The by-laws of the association
provided that none but Patrons could be stockholders or direc-
tors, and this seems to have been all that distinguished it from
an ordinary stock company, for the profits, if any, were to be
divided among the stock-holders in the usual way. Great
things were expected of the Grangers' Business Association
of California, 2 for the order was at the highest point of mem-
bership in the early months of 1875. By July, 1876, however,
the number of granges in the state had declined from 263 to
I73,3 and the decline continued during the following years.
This must have seriously crippled the operations of the new
stock company, but it was reported as still in existence and
doing a considerable business in i88i.4

In Oregon alone, of the other states of the Far West, were
there enough granges to make possible any considerable attempts
at distributive cooperation. The methods followed in this
state were similar to those in California; a state agency, with
a fund of over five thousand dollars raised by subscriptions
from granges, did an extensive business in 1875 and 1876; and
Grange shipments were made through a commercial firm.
Some of the Patrons of Oregon appear to have suffered losses

1 For articles of incorporation and by-laws, see Carr, Patrons of Husbandry,
207-210.

2 Ibid. 205-207; Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, 17 (1875).
8 See table above, following p. 58.

4 National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 36 (1881).

252 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

through the failure of Morgan's Sons, and in 1882 the master
of the state grange reported that the business ventures had not
been successful and had entailed a considerable debt upon the
state grange.1

Numerous Grange agencies were also established in the
southern states; but they operated, as a rule, on a smaller scale
than did those of the Middle West. In Maryland the executive
committee of the state grange made arrangements in 1874
to enable the members of the order to purchase fertilizers at
wholesale rates, and soon after a Baltimore firm was placed
under bonds to act as business agent for the Patrons of the state.
This firm was reported to have done a Grange business of $185,-
ooo in 1875 ; but the arrangement apparently was not satisfactory
for in 1876 a warehouse was rented in Baltimore and a member
of the order put in charge on a salary basis. A fund of about
sixteen hundred dollars was raised by subscription among the
local granges and the agency did a business of $358,000 during
1877. Complaints were made that the support of the agency
by the Patrons was not universal; but it seems to have had a
successful career, and in 1881 was reported as having a " sur-
plus capital " of over ten thousand dollars. In 1882 plans
were being laid for reorganizing the business on the Rochdale
plan.2

In West Virginia the Grange was not strong enough to estab-
lish an independent agency, but in 1877 five hundred dollars
were contributed to the fund of the Maryland agency. Trouble
soon arose, however, because the West Virginia Grange was not
allowed any share in the control of the agency, and it withdrew
after a few months.3 In Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida,
little seems to have been accomplished in the way of distributive

1 Oregon State Grange, Proceedings, iii (1876); Illinois State Grange, Pro-
ceedings, iv. 17 (1875); National Grange, Proceedings, xvi. 39 (1882).

2 Maryland State Grange, Proceedings, i (March, 1874), special session (De-
cember, 1875); Maryland State Grange Agency, Circular (March 20, 1876);
American Farmer, v. 138, vi. 33, vii. 12-14, 147, viii. 7-12, 148 (1876-79); National
Grange, Proceedings, xv. 38, xvi. 31 (1881, 1882); R. D. Randall, " Cooperation
in Maryland and the South," in Johns Hopkins University, Stiidies, vi. 506.

8 American Farmer, vii. 13, viii. 148; National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 44
(1881).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 253

cooperation beyond making arrangements for securing ferti-
lizers at reduced prices.1 In Kentucky and Tennessee, however,
more extensive operations were undertaken by the order. The
Kentucky State Grange rented a warehouse in Louisville and
put it in charge of an agent on a commission basis, part of the
rent of the building being defrayed by leasing space in it to
manufacturers for the exhibition of machinery. In 1875 the
agency was reported as doing a business of between two and
three hundred thousand dollars. Plans were then laid for chang-
ing the agency to a salary basis and for raising a fund of twenty-
five thousand dollars by the sale of bonds. The Tennessee
Patrons shared in the work of the Kentucky agency for a while
and commercial firms in New Orleans, Memphis, and Atlanta
also received recognition from the state grange. In 1875,
however, the executive committee was ordered to arrange for
the establishment of an independent state agency, with sub-
ordinate agents for each of the three grand divisions of the state.
In neither of these states did the business ventures have any
lasting success, and their failure discredited the order there
for many years.2

The state granges of Alabama and Mississippi adopted the
plan of choosing established firms in the various commercial
centers of the state or neighboring states and placing them
under bonds to act as Grange agents. The Alabama State
Grange had, in addition, a similar agent in New York, and the
Mississippi Grange, one in Liverpool, England, to look after
consignments of cotton.3 The executive committee of the
Georgia State Grange made arrangements with the various

1 Virginia State Grange, Proceedings, i (1873-74); Illinois State Grange, Pro-
ceedings, iv. 17 (1875); North Carolina State Grange, Proceedings, ii-iv (1875-77);
South Carolina State Grange, Minute Book (Ms.); Prairie Farmer, xlv. 411 (De-
cember 26, 1874).

2 Tennessee State Grange, Proceedings, ii (1875); Illinois State Grange, Pro-
ceedings, iv. 17 (1875); National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 37, 43 (1881); Prairie
Farmer, xlv. 411 (December 26, 1874); Randall, in Johns Hopkins University,
Studies, vi. 505.

3 Alabama State Grange, Proceedings, ii, iii (1874, 1875); Mississippi State
Grange, Proceedings, v (1875); Prairie Farmer, xlv. 411 (December 26, 1874);
Hawkins, " The Grange in the South," in Allen, Labor and Capital, 487.

254 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

cotton buyers as early as 1873 to enable Patrons to sell their
cotton by contract and in bulk.1 In Louisiana a member of
the order was established as Grange agent at New Orleans and
did a business on a commission basis during the year 1875
amounting to $744,000.2 In Arkansas and Texas the business
ventures were mainly in the hands of local agencies during the
early years and the failure of many of these cooled the ardor of
the members. The executive committee of the Texas State
Grange issued circulars informing Patrons of special offers
made by merchants or manufacturers and the Arkansas State
Grange established an agency at Little Rock in 1876, but its
business was too small to warrant its continuance.3

In the eastern states the Grange did not make much headway
until after the middle of the decade, when the Rochdale plan
of cooperative stores had quite generally superseded the agency
plan. Still there were many local agencies in more or less
successful operation in these states, and Maine, New Hampshire,
and Vermont each had state purchasing agents for a time. The
Maine and New Hampshire agents confined themselves to
making arrangements with different firms for doing business
for Patrons at reduced rates, but the operations of the Vermont
agency were somewhat more extensive. The by-laws of the
Vermont State Grange made definite provision for a business
committee in each subordinate grange and these seem to have
operated through the state agent. The purchasing business
of the state agency amounted to between seventy and eighty
thousand dollars in 1874 and was more than doubled the next
year.4 The executive committees of the state granges of
Massachusetts and New York made trade arrangements for
Patrons with various firms, and in New York several commission

1 Rural Carolinian, v. 152 (November, 1873).

2 Louisiana State Grange, Proceedings, iii (1875); Prairie Farmer, xlv. 411
(December 26, 1874), xlvi. 259 (August 14, 1875); Rural Carolinian, v. 512 (Au-
gust, 1874).

3 Arkansas State Grange, Proceedings, v (1877); Texas State Grange, Minutes
(October, 1873), Proceedings, i (August, 1874); National Grange, Proceedings,
xv. 35, 43 (1881).

4 State grange proceedings: Maine, i, ii (1874, 1875); New Hampshire, i-iii
(1873-76); Vermont, i-iii (1872-75).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 2$ 5

houses were recognized as Grange agents in return for offers
of special rates to Patrons.1

It appears, therefore, that state grange agents for distributive
cooperation, of one sort or another, were established in the
decade of the seventies throughout the United States from
Maine to California: in the Middle West every state had a
regular Grange purchasing agent who was himself a member
of the order, and some had also arrangements with bonded
firms in different commercial centers; on the Pacific coast the
interest centered in schemes for direct shipment of grain to
Liverpool, but the state agents of California and Oregon also
did a considerable business in purchasing implements and sup-
plies; in the South the efforts were directed mainly toward
securing reliable firms for handling the staple crops at reasonable
rates, and making arrangements for the purchase of fertilizer,
but the state agencies of Maryland, Kentucky, and Louisiana
did an extensive business in purchasing implements and general
supplies; in New England and the Middle States, the work
of the state agencies, except in Vermont, was inconsiderable.
As a general rule these agencies made their appearance in a
state within a year after the organization of the state grange,
did a flourishing business for a few years while the order was
growing rapidly, and then either came to a disastrous ending
or gradually lost ground with the decline of the order itself in
the later part of the decade. While they were in active opera-
tion they undoubtedly effected great reductions in the cost of
implements and supplies and saved the Patrons a considerable
amount in commissions on produce; but in this connection
the work of the local agencies, county and district associations,
must not be forgotten. Less ambitious and generally with
less capital, if any, they often served their immediate neighbor-
hoods more effectively than did the state agencies.

1 Massachusetts State Grange, Quarterly Bulletin, January, 1876; Proceedings,
v (1877); New York State Grange, Proceedings, ii, iii (1875, 1876).

256 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

THE NATIONAL GRANGE AND COOPERATION

The failure of the National Grange to enter actively into
the early schemes for business cooperation has been noted.
In January, 1871, however, Secretary Kelley distributed a lot
of circulars to subordinate granges informing them of offers to
sell seeds at wholesale prices, and the next year a circular was
issued inviting manufacturers of agricultural implements who
desired to trade directly with granges to send their wholesale
price lists for publication in a confidential bulletin.1 At the
sixth annual session of the National Grange in January, 1873,
the subject of cooperation was referred to the executive com-
mittee. During the following year this committee visited
manufacturing establishments in various parts of the country
and issued three business circulars informing subordinate granges
of special terms offered. At the next session, in February,
1874, the executive committee recommended the establishment
of a national business agency, which among other duties should
publish " a complete business directory of the order " showing
all arrangements made by the national and state granges. The
subject of cooperation received considerable attention at this
session; but the only positive action taken, aside from the
declaration of an intention to " dispense with a surplus of middle-
men, " was the adoption of a resolution instructing the executive
committee to give special attention to furnishing Patrons with
implements and supplies at low prices and to make arrangements
for a mutual exchange of products between different sections
of the country.2

The executive committee at this time consisted of William
Saunders, one of the founders and past-master of the National
Grange, D. Wyatt Aiken of South Carolina and E. R. Shankland
of Iowa, and these men were untiring in their efforts to advance
the business interests of the order during 1874. They devoted
themselves first to the compiling of national price lists

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 302-305, 385.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 10, 20, vii. 13, 29-32, 57, 79 (1873, l%74)>
Rural Carolinian, v. 206 (January, 1874).

BUSINESS COOPERATION

containing terms offered by manufacturers throughout the
country. It was understood that these terms should be con-
sidered as confidential but it soon proved impossible to keep
the circulars from falling into the hands of outside parties.
As a result, many of the manufacturers withdrew their offers,
and the executive committee decided to make no further attempts
in this direction until some plan could be developed by which
the arrangements could be kept secret. The committee then
turned its attention to encouraging the state granges to invest
their funds in state agencies and manufacturing establishments
and to securing for the order the right to manufacture certain
makes of the more expensive agricultural implements.1

In addition to the work of the executive committee some
of the other officers of the National Grange at times allowed
their names to be used in endorsing certain commercial firms
as Grange agents and in one case with disastrous results. The
firm of Farley and Company of New York City was appointed
Grange agent by the state granges of North Carolina and Miss-
issippi and was recommended to Patrons all over the country
in a circular signed by Secretary Kelley of the National Grange.
Farley was master of Manhattan Grange, but the firm seems to
have been wholly fraudulent. Orders for supplies accompanied
by money and consignments of produce were received from
Patrons in many parts of the South and East without any returns
being made. As a result the confidence of many in the order
and especially in the officers of the National Grange was shaken.
The North Carolina State Grange reimbursed the Patrons in
that state for their losses, and claims were presented to the
National Grange at its eighth session in February, 1875. The
matter was thoroughly aired at this and the following sessions,
but the Grange finally decided that it was not responsible for
the endorsement of the firm. The charter of Manhattan Grange
was revoked, however, and resolutions were adopted directing
that in the future no officers other than the executive committee
should endorse agents and no firms should be recommended

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vm. 23-26, 29-31 (February, 1875); Virginia
State Grange, Proceedings, i. 22 (April, 1874); Aiken, The Grange, 12.

258 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

unless under sufficient bonds to secure the members of the order
from possible loss.1

At the eighth session of the National Grange, in February,
1875, business cooperation was the all-absorbing theme among
the delegates, but the work of the National Grange in this direc-
tion was crippled by the loan of fifty thousand dollars to the
state granges to assist them in carrying on the extensive agencies
and manufacturing enterprises undertaken. A plan recom-
mended by the executive committee for the appointment of
three national purchasing agents in New York, Chicago, and
New Orleans, with salaries to be paid by the National Grange,
was rejected. The operations of the committee during the
year were approved, however, and encouragement was given
for continuing them along the same lines.2

During the summer of 1875, a sub-committee of the executive
committee visited a number of states for the purpose of deciding
upon a location for the headquarters of the National Grange,
and advantage was taken of this opportunity to investigate
the workings of the state business agencies. This sub-committee
reported that many of the agencies were unsatisfactory, especially
those doing business on a commission basis, which differed little
from ordinary commission firms, and recommended the inaugura-
tion of a permanent, uniform cooperative business system in
the order. As a result of this investigation the executive com-
mittee adopted a series of resolutions condemning the commission
system as at variance with cooperative principles and recom-
mending the abolition of all commission agencies and the estab-
lishment in each state of a single salaried state agent. When
the National Grange met in November, 1875, it expressed its
approval of this action by adopting a similar resolution, with
the added recommendations that the agents be members of the
order, that they be placed under bonds, that they cooperate

1 On this episode, see National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 51, 90, 98, 104, ix. 100,
135, 141, 155, x. 23, 101 (1875-76); State grange proceedings: North Carolina,
Hi. 12, 27, 36 (1876); New York, ii. 13, 22-24, 42-44, 56 (1875); Ohio, iii. 7 (1876).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 23-31, 55, 65, 70, 77, 99 (February, 1875);
Woodman, " Early History of the Grange," in American Grange Bulletin, xxx.
nos. 38, 41 (March 7, 28, 1901).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 259

with each other by exchanging price lists, and that they buy
and sell for Patrons of other states on the same terms as for
those of their own.1

In response to another resolution of the National Grange
the executive committee at this session reported a system of
rules for the government of cooperative associations within
the order. These rules embodied what is generally known as
the Rochdale plan. The principal features were the organiza-
tion of a stock company with shares of five dollars each to be
held only by members of the order and in limited amounts;
each holder of a share or more of stock to be a member of the
association and have an equal voice in its management regard-
less of the amount of stock held; sales to be for cash and at the
usual retail rates; and profits, after payment of a limited in-
terest on stock, to be divided among purchasers in proportion
to amounts purchased, the proportion to non-members to be
only one-half that to members of the association. These rules
were intended to be used in the organization of local coopera-
tive stores by a single grange or by the granges of a neighborhood,
but it was also expected that more extensive wholesale associa-
tions might be formed along the same lines, the stock to be
held in part by the local associations. The rules were explained
at length to the National Grange by one of the members of the
executive committee and after thorough discussion the Grange
decided to recommend them to Patrons throughout the country.
In addition the executive committee was authorized to have
them printed, together with such forms and blanks as it might
deem necessary, for distribution to interested Patrons.2

Another scheme for a comprehensive form of distributive
cooperation made its appearance at this session of the National
Grange. During the summer the members of the executive
committee had been in correspondence with representatives
of the English Cooperative Union by whom a suggestion was
made " that the time had come for a system of international
exchanges between the cooperations [cooperators ?] of England

1 National Grange, Proceedings, ix. 20-33, I4I (November, 1875).

2 Ibid. 23, 93-100, 130, 171.

260 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

and the Mississippi Valley." Negotiations were carried on by
the executive committee with the approval of the National
Grange, and finally a delegate was sent to England to perfect
the arrangements. The outcome of the whole matter was the
organization of the " Anglo-American Cooperative Company "
which was to have an American branch under the supervision
of the National Grange. The scheme was presented to the
National Grange at its tenth session in November, 1876, and
was recommended by it to the Patrons in connection with a
comprehensive plan for cooperation, embracing local cooperative
stores, state and interstate cooperative associations, and finally,
at the top, the American branch of the Anglo-American Coopera-
tive Company. The inauguration of this scheme for inter-
national cooperation depended upon the raising of a certain
amount of capital in America; but by this time the order of
Patrons of Husbandry had declined so much in numbers and
prestige that this was impossible and the plan never went into
operation.1

COOPERATIVE STORES

By the time of the tenth annual session of the National Grange
in November, 1876, the members had pretty generally lost
faith in Grange agencies of any sort and in Grange manufac-
turing, but most of them had become converts to the Rochdale
system of cooperation. From this time on the National Grange
devoted much of its energies to disseminating literature concern-
ing this system and to encouraging the organization of coopera-
tive stores and associations and their substitution for existing
Grange agencies and corporations.2 Long before the promulga-

1 National Grange, Proceedings, ix. 89-93, x- 8-10, 25, 48-67, 124-130, 144-152,
162, 167-169, 172, xi. 12, xii. 95 (1875-78); Aiken, The Grange, 13.

In September, 1876, the Oregon State Grange planned the organization of a
" Cooperative Association of the Northwest " to be ultimately connected with the
Anglo-American Company. In January, 1877, the Arkansas State Grange recom-
mended the organization of corporations which should take stock in and serve as
distributing agencies for the Anglo-American Company. Oregon State Grange,
Proceedings, iii; Arkansas State Grange, Proceedings, v.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, ix-xvi (1875-82); Rules for Patrons' Coopera-
tive Associations . . . Recommended by the National Grange (pamphlet, 1876);

BUSINESS COOPERATION 261

tion of the rules for cooperative associations by the National
Grange, stock companies made up solely of members of the order
had existed in many parts of the country, for the purpose of
providing capital for local stores or for agencies. Almost in-
variably these early stores attempted to operate by selling
goods to members of the order at very low prices, but the profits,
when there were any, were divided among the stockholders in
proportion to the amount of stock held. Corporations of this
sort operated under serious disadvantages. Their low prices
aroused the antagonism of neighboring merchants and involved
them in intense competition; and there was no incentive to
hold the trade of Patrons when better bargains were offered
elsewhere. As a consequence most of these organizations
either were forced out of business or raised their prices and gave
up all pretense of being cooperative.

The Rochdale system was an improvement on these cor-
porations in many ways. By selling at ordinary rates the
intense competition of the neighboring merchants was pre-
vented; by issuing stock in small shares and giving an equal
voice in the management to each shareholder, large numbers
were given a personal interest in the concern; and by division
of profits among purchasers, the same if not greater savings
could be effected as by attempting to sell at cost. It was a
distinct misfortune, both for the order of Patrons of Husbandry
and for the advancement of cooperation, that the National
Grange did not begin to propagate the principles of the Rochdale
system until after the ineffectiveness and often disastrous
consequences of the early attempts had disgusted many of the
Patrons with the idea of cooperative stores and the rapid decline
of the order had begun. As it was, the rules for cooperative
associations issued by the National Grange were eagerly sought
by Patrons everywhere and hundreds of cooperative stores,
with a few more extensive associations, were organized wherever
the Grange continued to flourish. In the course of time many

J. W. A. Wright, Address on Rochdale and Grange Cooperation (pamphlet, 1877);
Wright, Cooperation; Europe and the Grange (pamphlet, 1876?); Aiken, The
Grange, 13.

262 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

of these failed, either through bad management or failure to
practise some of the essential features of the system, but many
of them had long and successful careers and were probably
efficient factors in preventing the total extinction of the order
of Patrons of Husbandry in the latter seventies and early eighties.
A brief survey of the operations of these cooperative associations
in different parts of the country will be of value.

In the states of the Middle West large numbers of Patrons'
cooperative stores were established in the years 1874 and 1875,
often, however, without the essential feature of the Rochdale
system, division of profits in proportion to purchases.1 As a
consequence of this and other factors most of these establish-
ments were short lived; some, however, were reorganized on
the Rochdale plan, and a few which were exceptionally well
managed survived and continued to do business for a number of
years on their original plan of selling at cost.

In Ohio it is said that there was at one time a Grange store
in practically every county in the state; but no record has been
found of any of them continuing in business for more than a
few years. Just at the close of the decade, however, a " Cin-
cinnati Grange Supply House " was established under the aus-
pices of the state grange to take the place of the state agency
which was being closed out. This corporation was organized
on the Rochdale plan so far as the laws of Ohio permitted. It
was intended that it should serve as a general supply house
for the granges and cooperative stores of Ohio, Indiana, Ken-
tucky, and West Virginia and should lead to the establishment
of tributary stores all over the Middle West. By this time,
however, the enthusiasm and class spirit which the Grange had
engendered among the farmers of the West had largely passed
away and the house does not appear to have done a very exten-
sive business at any time. In 1883 a branch house was estab-
lished at Cleveland, which was not a success, and in 1886, as
a result of bad management, faulty organization, and lack of

1 Prairie Farmer, xliv. 43, xlv. 97, 139, xlvi. 21, 75, 107 (1873-75); Industrial
Age, March 7, 1874, p. 7; Western Rural, xiii. 196, 356 (1875); Illinois State
Grange, Proceedings, iv. 17 (1875).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 263

patronage, it was found necessary to appoint a receiver to liqui-
date the affairs of the association.1

In the other states of the Northwest, also, large numbers of
so-called cooperative stores were established; but the only ones
which appear to have had any considerable success were a few
established late in the decade which followed the rules recom-
mended by the National Grange as closely as the state laws
would permit. Good examples of these are the Huntington Coop-
erative Store, established by Patrons at Huntington, Indiana,
about 1879, and one at Brandon, Wisconsin, established in 1877.
Both of these were reported as doing a large business about the
middle of the next decade. In Iowa, the Farmers' Exchange
of Grinnell, which was started in 1873 with a membership limited
to Patrons, survived the collapse of the order in that state, but
was obliged to admit others to membership after 1878. The
Rochdale system was never adopted in this store; but provision
was made for limiting the voting power of large stockholders,
and, largely because of skilful management, the store continued
to do an extensive business during the decade of the eighties.2

In Kansas, also, the first crop of Grange stores went to pieces
about the middle of the decade; but in 1876 some of the leading
Grange workers of the state brought about the organization
of the Johnson County Cooperative Association at Olathe upon
the Rochdale plan as embodied in the rules recommended by the
National Grange. The success of this store was phenomenal.

1 Warner, in Johns Hopkins University, Sttidies, vi. 372-378; S. H. Ellis,
" History of the Grange in Ohio," in Ohio Farmer, ci. 32, cv. 399 (1902, 1904).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 45, xvi. 34, 46 (1881, 1882); Illinois State
Grange, Proceedings, v. 74, 94-96 (1876); Michigan State Grange, Proceedings,
viii. 1 6 (1880); Warner, in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 382-384; Shaw,
in ibid. 316; Wisconsin Bureau of Statistics, Reports, ii. 208-211 (1885-86).

In November, 1876, a meeting of managers of the cooperative stores of the
Northwest was held in Chicago in connection with the session of the National
Grange. Representatives were present from about twenty different stores and
associations located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Tennessee, Arkansas,
and New York. Steps were taken for the organization of a " Northwestern Co-
operative Association " to be located in Chicago and to serve as a wholesale house
for the local stores, but the association does not appear to have been established.
Probably it was not possible to dispose of enough stock to secure a working capital.
Illinois State Grange, Proceedings, v. 102-107.

264 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Its capital rose in ten years from eight hundred and fifty dol-
lars to over forty thousand dollars; nearly two hundred and
seventy thousand dollars' worth of goods were sold in 1883;
and a three-story modern building equipped with a hall for the
local grange was erected at a cost of seventy-five thousand
dollars. The success of this attempt at cooperation led to the
establishment of some twenty or thirty similar cooperative stores
in the state. Some were under the control of the Grange and
some independent, but nearly all were successful when based
upon the Rochdale plan. It is probable that this movement
was an important factor in the revival of the order of Patrons
of Husbandry in Kansas during the early eighties.1

In California a considerable number of Grange corporations
were organized in 1873 and 1874 for the purpose of running
local cooperative stores, and several more extensive cooperative
associations were organized in the commercial centers. Among
the most successful of these were the Farmers' Cooperative
Union of San Jose, the Grangers' Union of Stockton, and
a Grangers' cooperative association for Southern California at
Los Angeles. The method of operation of all of these was prob-
ably about the same and the last will serve as an example.
The capital of this association was fixed at one hundred thousand
dollars divided in shares of fifty dollars each, which could be
held only by Patrons and not more than ten by any one person.
The holding of one share of stock admitted a Granger and his
family to all the privileges of the company. Goods were sold
to members at as near cost as possible but to outsiders at the
usual rates. While this was not the Rochdale system, it con-
tained a number of distinctively cooperative features and most
of the Grange cooperative associations of California were reported
as " meeting with marked success " as late as i882.2

The earliest attempt at the organization of a Grange coopera-
tive association in the southern states seems to have been the
Direct Trade Union, which was incorporated in Georgia in

1 Warner, in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 384; National Grange,
Proceedings, xv. 37, xvi. 30 (1881, 1882).

2 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 165-168; National Grange, Proceedings, xvi. 27
(1882).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 265

1874 to handle shipments of cotton and import foreign goods
for the Patrons of the South. The only feature which distin-
guished this Union from an ordinary stock company was the
limitation of shares to Patrons of Husbandry and the declared
intention of charging only the lowest possible commissions.
Stock was subscribed for by Patrons of Alabama, Tennessee,
Georgia, and North Carolina and operations began early in 1874.
Many southern Patrons appear to have been benefited by
shipping through this Union in 1874 and 1875; but there were
some losses, complaints were made of mismanagement, and this
attempt at cooperation seems to have been given up in I876.1

Few cooperative stores were established by the Grange in
the South during the early years; but after the promulgation
of the rules by the National Grange in 1875, they began slowly
to make their appearance. By 1882 Grange cooperative stores
or associations had been formed on the Rochdale plan in Ala-
bama, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas
and probably in some of the other states, and all were reported
to be successful.2 In Texas, however, appeared what was des-
tined to be the most successful example of distributive coopera-
tion in the United States.3 Here as in the other southern states,
the Grange stores on the Rochdale plan began to make their
appearance about the middle of the decade, and in 1878 repre-
sentatives of these got together and organized the Texas
Cooperative Association to handle shipments of cotton and
the wholesale business in general. This association, which
was also organized on the Rochdale plan, started with a paid-up
stock of two hundred and fifty dollars in 1878, and grew steadily
until in 1887 it had a paid-up capital of over fifty thousand
dollars, did a business of over five hundred thousand dollars,
and divided almost twenty thousand dollars of net profits.

1 Rural Carolinian, v. 426, 483, 592 (1874); Prairie Farmer, xlv. 259 (August
15, 1874); State grange proceedings: Alabama, ii. 12, 17, 22, 25 (1874); Tennes-
see, ii. 22, 30, 38, 39 (1875); North Carolina, ii. u, 27, 28, 33, 39, iii. 6, 12, 20, 31
(1875, 1876).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 35, 43, xvi. 28, 36, 38 (1881, 1882).

3 On the Texas Cooperative Association, see ibid. xv. 43, xvi. 43; Wisconsin
Bureau of Statistics, Reports, ii. 158-160 (1885-86); Randall, in Johns Hopkins
University, Studies, vi. 503-505.

266 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Great as was this success, it was out-distanced by that of the
local cooperative stores in the state. By 1882 there were ninety-
two of these which held stock in the general association, and by
1887 the number increased to about one hundred and fifty. The
total capital of these stores at that time was about seven hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, and in 1885 their combined sales
amounted to nearly two million dollars, from which profits of
over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were divided. In-
deed the success of the cooperative movement in Texas was
so great that the business interests of the state combined in
1885 and secured a change in the laws which prevented the
further organization of local associations. Another result of
this success was the flourishing condition of the order of Patrons
of Husbandry in Texas during the eighties, when it was making
little progress in other parts of the South and West.

In the eastern states, also, the advocacy of Rochdale coopera-
tion by the National Grange bore fruit. The Grange in this
section had no record of past failures in cooperation to live down,
and Grange stores were organized during the later seventies
and early eighties in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware* In
1877 a Patrons' Cooperative Corporation was established at
Portland, Maine, to do a wholesale business in groceries, grain,
provisions, and farm supplies. A large part of the capital was
furnished by the state and subordinate granges. This corpora-
tion does not appear to have been organized on strictly Roch-
dale principles, but it did a large business for a number of years,
supplying Grangers and Grange stores with goods at low prices.
While this form of cooperation did not sweep everything before
it in the East as it did in Texas, still, generally speaking, these
Grange stores appear to have been successful in a small way.1

Of all the activities undertaken by the National Grange with
the view of advancing the pecuniary interests of the members

1 National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 36, 38, 40-42, xvi. 28, 33 (1881, 1882);
E. W. Bemis, " Cooperation in New England," in Johns Hopkins University,
Studies, vi. 33-36; Massachusetts State Grange, Quarterly Bulletin, January,
1876; State grange proceedings: Maine, vi. 16, 18, 26, 37 (1879); New Hampshire,
i-vi (1873-79); Massachusetts, v. 20 (1877).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 267

of the order, by far the most effective and enduring was its
promulgation of the rules for Patrons' cooperative associa-
tions, together with its consistent advocacy of the Rochdale
system. Plans for extensive agencies and manufacturing plants
and for international cooperation may have come to naught,
but the successes achieved by cooperative associations where
the rules were followed bear witness to the ultimate wisdom of
the members of the National Grange.

GRANGE MANUFACTURING

Unfortunately for the welfare of the order, the Grangers were
not satisfied with distributive cooperation. When the purchas-
ing agencies were getting under way they often experienced
considerable difficulty in making arrangements with manufac-
turers for machinery at wholesale rates.1 The manufacturers
had a system of disposing of their wares through agents with
exclusive territory, and such arrangements as the Grangers
wished to make, though perhaps on the face of them advanta-
geous to the manufacturers, meant serious interference with
this system and perhaps loss in the end. In the course of time
the Grange agents generally succeeded in finding some manu-
facturer or dealer who would make suitable terms, so far as the
smaller and less expensive implements or machines were con-
cerned, but the manufacturers of harvesters persistently held
back. Just at this time the treasuries of the national and state
granges were overflowing with money, which had been collected
from dispensations and dues. How better could these funds
be invested than in independent Grange factories which could
be used to " smash " the " Harvester Ring," the " Plow Ring,"
and other combinations which were adverse to the interests of

1 For example, at a meeting of plow manufacturers in November, 1873, an agree-
ment was signed by twenty-two firms that no plows should be sold to clubs or
granges except at retail prices, but local agents were advised to give reduced rates
for cash sales in large quantities. The granges and farmers' clubs responded with
resolutions of boycott against the firms in the " Plow Ring." Prairie Farmer, xliv.
379, 403, xlv. 19, 84 (1873-74). For other instances, see Chicago Tribune, August
21, 1873, p. 2; Lea, Grange Movement in Wisconsin (Ms.), 14, quoting Evansville
(Wisconsin) Register, June 17, 1873.

268 TEE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the farmers ? So at least reasoned the leading Patrons; and
when the order was once embarked in this direction, all sorts of
schemes for Grange manufacturing made their appearance.

As early as 1872 the state grange of Nebraska made arrange-
ments for the manufacture of headers under its auspices. The
header was a comparatively simple machine, which was used
for a while in some parts of the West for gathering merely the
heads of the grain. For a year or two this enterprise appeared
to be a success, and the machines, which had previously retailed
for from $225 to $300, were now furnished to Patrons for $150.
Later, however, the state grange undertook the manufacture
of cultivators and harvesters and as a result of overstocking,
defective machines, and bad management, it suffered a severe
financial loss. Even the assistance from the National Grange
in the form of loans and donations was not sufficient to retrieve
the disaster, and the Grange disappeared from Nebraska.1

The most important attempt at manufacturing agricultural
machinery by the Patrons of Husbandry originated in Iowa.
When, in 1873, the state agent found it practically impossible
to induce the manufacturers of harvesters to sell to the order
at wholesale rates, the idea occurred to some one that the Grange
might manufacture its own harvesters. A man was discovered
in Wisconsin who owned a patent on a machine known as the
Werner harvester, and State Agent Whitman with E. R. Shank-
land of the executive committee of the National Grange were
sent to Wisconsin to make arrangements for its control. The
outcome was the purchase of the patent for one thousand dollars
and a royalty of two dollars on each machine manufactured.
Arrangements were at once made for the establishment of
foundries in various places in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska
to manufacture the harvesters under contract for the different
state granges. During the summer of 1874 about 250 in all
of these machines were manufactured and were furnished to
Patrons at $140, or about half the prevailing price for harvesters.

1 Nebraska State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1874); National Grange, Proceedings,
viii. 30, 68, 82, 105 (February, 1875); Warner, in Johns Hopkins University,
Studies, vi. 368; Woodman, " Early History of the Grange," in American Grange
Bulletin, xxx. no. 38 (March 7, 1901).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 269

The Werner harvester was said to be a good one and appears
to have given satisfaction in most cases; some of the machines,
however, proved to be defective; others were received from the
foundries too late to be used in the harvest; and in nearly every
case the state granges involved found at the close of the season
that they had lost money by the venture. In 1875 new com-
plications arose; the Marsh Harvester Company threatened
suits for infringement of patents; and the contracts for manu-
facture appear to have been annulled.1

During the summer of 1874, when the manufacture of the
Werner harvesters was to all appearances a great success, the
members of the executive committee of the National Grange,
and especially E. R. Shankland, the member from Iowa, con-
ceived the design of having practically all machinery used by
farmers manufactured under the auspices of the Grange. They
went about the country buying up patents for the order on all
sorts of implements; cultivators, seeders, hay racks, a combined
reaper and mower, and so on; and care was not always taken
to have the machines thoroughly tested or to be sure that the
patents were valid. Some of these patents were purchased by
the National Grange and others by state granges, and a lack of
definite understanding between the two as to the exact obliga-
tions incurred paved the way for future difficulties. In state
after state the order entered eagerly upon the manufacture of
these agricultural implements; harvester factories, plow and
wagon factories, sewing machine factories, threshing machine
factories, and general implement factories were planned in
Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ken-
tucky, and some of them actually established; but capital was
difficult to procure, the state granges were short of funds, a few
failures dampened the enthusiasm, and by the close of 1875
the idea of the manufacture of agricultural implements by the
Grange was practically abandoned.2

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 30, 68, 82, 105 (February, 1875); Prairie
Farmer, xliv. 411, xlv. 139, 347 (1873-74); Western Rural, xiii. 188 (June 12, 1875);
State grange proceedings: Iowa, iv, v (1873, 1874); Kansas, iii (1875); Nebraska,
iv (1874).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 29-31, ix. 21, 37, 39, x. 38 (1875-76);

270 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

The main object of all these manufacturing schemes was to
provide members of the order with the products of the factories
at a low price; but there was another sort of Grange factories,
the object of which was to provide a market for the raw materials
produced by the farmers. Grist-mills, cheese and butter fac-
tories, linseed oil factories, starch factories, pork-packing estab-
lishments, and even hemp factories and cotton mills in the South,
were projected under the auspices of the order in great profusion,
and many were established. Most of these enterprises were
local in character, the capital being furnished by the organiza-
tion of a stock company among the Patrons of a neighborhood,
and as a general rule they seem to have been more successful
than the more ambitious agricultural implement factories.
Farmers' cooperative creameries and cheese factories had made
their appearance in some parts of the West even before the rise
of the Grange, but their number was greatly increased by the
order and they undoubtedly helped to bring prosperity to many
a neighborhood.1

BANKING AND INSURANCE

Another business in which the Grangers proposed to invest
their surplus capital was that of banking. Projects for Grange
banks were discussed in several of the southern and western
states,2 and a New York speculator proposed the establishment
of a " Grangers' Mortgage Bank " in that city,3 but the only state

Prairie Farmer, xlv. 139, 355 (1874); Western Rural, xiii. 380 (November 27, 1875);
Woodman, in American Grange Bulletin, xxx. nos. 38, 41, 43, 48 (1901); Maynard,
Patrons of Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), 66; State grange proceedings: Iowa,
iv-vi (1873-75); Nebraska, iv (1874); Texas, i. 25 (1874).

Some of the state granges refused to be drawn into these manufacturing schemes.
See Michigan State Grange, Proceedings, ii (1875); Missouri State Grange, Pro-
ceedings, iii, iv (1874, 1875); Prairie Farmer, xlv. 243, 371 (1874).

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 39 (1875); North Carolina State Grange,
Proceedings, ii-iv (1875-77); Prairie Farmer, xliv. 57, 377, xlv. 139, 186, xlvi.
355 (1873-75); Wisconsin Statesman, July 31, 1875, P- 3; Maynard, Patrons of
Husbandry in Wisconsin (Ms.), 66; Shaw, in Johns Hopkins University, Studies,
vi. 340; Warner, in ibid. 378-382.

2 Virginia State Grange, Proceedings, i (1874); North Carolina State Grange,
Proceedings, ii, iv (1874, 1877).

3 E. J. Nieuwland, High Interest Monopoly and its Remedies (leaflet, 1874).

BUSINESS COOPERATION

in which anything was done in this direction during the seventies
was California. The farmers of that state complained that the
existing banks discriminated against them and aided the specula-
tors in their efforts to manipulate the markets. They got to-
gether, therefore, in 1874, and organized the Grangers' Bank
of California with the purpose of enabling the Patrons to secure
loans of money on " the landed security of the agriculturist,"
" upon as favorable terms as it can be obtained in the city for
commercial purposes." Only Patrons of Husbandry could be
stockholders or directors of this bank, and the rights of small
stockholders were guarded by provisions restricting the voting
power of those holding more than fifty of the one hundred dollar
shares. The bank went into operation on August i, 1874, and
within a year had two million dollars on deposit and a paid up
capital of about half a million dollars. It seems to have had
a successful career, and is reported to have saved the farmers
of the state a large amount of money at a time of depression
in the wheat market, by loaning them three million dollars and
thus enabling them to hold their wheat for a rise in the market.1
Two other Grange banks were established in 1874 in Colusa and
Solano counties, California,2 and in 1883 a Patrons' Coopera-
tive Bank was established at Olathe, Kansas, where a very suc-
cessful cooperative store was already in existence.3

The subject of mutual insurance early attracted the attention
of the Patrons of Husbandry.4 Farmers' mutual fire insurance
companies had been in existence in many parts of the country
before the appearance of the Grange, and it soon became evident

1 For the organization and by-laws of this institution, see Carr, Patrons of Hus-
bandry, 160-165. See also ibid. 175; National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 36 (1881);
Prairie Farmer, xlvL 355 (November 6, 1875); M. Whitehead, " Patrons of Hus-
bandry," in New Jersey Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries, Reports,
ix. 344 (1886).

2 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 165, 167.

3 Warner, in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 386; Whitehead, in New
Jersey Bureau of Statistics, Reports, ix. 344 (1886).

4 References on insurance are scattered through the proceedings of nearly all
of the state granges. See also National Grange, Proceedings, xv. 36, 38, 44, 45,
xvi. 38 (1881, 1882); Country Gentleman, xlv. no (February 12, 1880); Whitehead,
in New Jersey Bureau of Statistics, Reports, ix. 345 (1886) ; Shaw, in Johns Hopkins
University, Studies, vi. 318, 341-344.

272 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

that they were especially suited to the purposes of that organiza-
tion. As a rule these Grange fire insurance companies were
confined to a single township or county and were very simple
in form. Small fees were paid for admission to the company
and proportional assessments made upon members whenever
a loss occurred.1 Organizations of this sort were formed by the
Patrons of Husbandry in every state in the Union in which the
order flourished. The careers of many of them in the western
states were checked by the dissolution of local granges during
the later seventies; but in the East, where the order suffered
no set back at this time, they continued to flourish and multiply,
and many of them are still in existence.2 In a number of the
states more ambitious schemes for fire insurance were attempted
by the state grange or by Patrons' stock companies. Thus the
California Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized
by Patrons of that state in 1874 as a stock company, with a
capital of one hundred thousand dollars and with a somewhat
complicated method of doing business.3 Grange fire insurance
companies which were state-wide in their scope were also organ-
ized in Kansas in i874,4 New Hampshire in 1878,* and Maine in
iSyg.6 The Maine company seems to have been formed by
the consolidation of the several local companies previously
existing in that state.

The first and one of the most flourishing Grange life insurance
companies organized was the Patrons7 Mutual Aid Society of
Elmira, New York.7 The mode of operation of this society,
which was established in December, 1874, was fairly simple.

1 See constitution of a company formed at Muscatine, Iowa, in 1873, in Prairie
Farmer, xliv. 387 (December 6, 1873).

2 F. W. Card, " Cooperative Fire Insurance and Telephones," in Bailey, Cyclo-
pedia of American Agriculture, iv. 303-306.

Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 168-172, 175.

Kansas State Grange, Proceedings, iii (1875); J- K. Hudson, Patrons' Hand-
book, 27.

New Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, i-iii, v, vii (1875-80).

Maine State Grange, Proceedings, vi. 26, 29.

Patrons' Aid Society of Elmira, New York, By-Laws, adopted December,
1874, By-Laws, as amended March 16, 1876, Sixth Annual Report (1881); New
York State Grange, Proceedings, iii (1876).

BUSINESS COOPERATION 273

It was open to Patrons only and entrance fees ranging from three
to fifteen dollars, depending upon age, were collected from appli-
cants. These fees were kept as a reserve fund, but when the
fund exceeded ten thousand dollars the surplus was to be used
to pay death claims. Otherwise the death claims were to be
met by assessments of one dollar upon each member but were
not to exceed two thousand dollars. At the end of six years,
the Elmira society had a membership of about eleven hundred,
and ten death claims had been paid. The by-laws of the society
were circulated among Patrons all over the country, and furnished
a model for the organization of a considerable number of similar
societies in other states, usually under the auspices of the state
granges. Patrons' mutual aid societies were thus established
in Arkansas,1 Tennessee,2 Kansas,3 and Wisconsin,4 in 1875, in
North5 and South Carolina6 in 1877, in Maine7 and New
Hampshire 8 in 1878. The Patrons' Benevolent Aid Society of
Wisconsin had a membership of about eleven hundred in 1880;
but this began to decrease soon after and it went out of existence
about 1890. As a general rule, Grange life insurance does not
appear to have been as successful as fire insurance. It worked
all right for a few years ; but soon the death rate began to increase
and then the membership generally decreased.9

1 Arkansas State Grange, Proceedings, v. 23 (1877).

2 Tennessee State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 55 (1875).

3 Kansas State Grange, Proceedings, iii (1875).

4 Wisconsin State Grange, Proceedings, iv-xvi (1876-88); Patrons' Benevo-
lent Aid Society (Wisconsin), Annual Circular with Articles of Incorporation and
By-Laws, 1878; Lea, Grange Movement in Wisconsin (Ms.), 16-18.

5 North Carolina State Grange, Proceedings, iii, iv (1876, 1877).

6 " Essays Read before the South Carolina State Grange," in South Carolina
State Agricultural and Mechanical Society, Transactions, 1877, pp. 24-27.

7 Maine State Grange, Proceedings, vi. 29, 32, 39 (1880).

8 New Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, i-iii, v, vii (1875-80).

9 A curious insurance scheme made its appearance in Alabama. The Grangers'
Life and Health Insurance Company of the United States was organized by
private parties at Mobile in 1875 and agreed to give the state grange twenty-five
per cent of the first premium on all policies obtained through the influence of the
order. Alabama State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 5, 36 (1875).

274 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

REASONS FOR FAILURE

On the whole, in spite of occasional remarkable successes,
it can be said that this attempt of the American farmer to regain
his economic independence by taking upon himself the business
of the middleman, the capitalist, the manufacturer, and the
banker, through cooperative organization, was a failure. Neces-
sarily many of the causes for this failure have been suggested
in the foregoing sketch but it will be well to summarize them
here.

Perhaps the most fundamental cause was the incompatibility
between the cooperative method of business and rural life and
conditions as they existed in America. Cooperation implies
a working together, a reliance on one another, a patience and
foresight, which were wanting in the character of the independent,
self-reliant, aggressive, and suspicious American farmer. Living
on isolated farms, and lacking business experience, the Grangers
found themselves at a decided disadvantage when their enter-
prises came into competition with those run by shrewd, ex-
perienced men of business who had no other occupations to
distract their attention. Too often, moreover, there was a
lamentable lack of foresight. The very ones who had been
loudest in denunciation of monopoly prices and foremost in
the establishment of cooperative enterprises would allow them-
selves to be led astray by the temporary low prices of competi-
tors and thus help to bring about the destruction of the institution
which had caused the low prices. They were unwilling to forego
immediate and temporary gain for ultimate advantage.

Another important factor in the failure was the unsuitability
of many of the undertakings to the cooperative system. That
was especially true of the manufacturing enterprises, for it
should be noted that these were not true examples of productive
cooperation as the phrase is understood in England. There
the workmen are the cooperators and furnish the capital for the
enterprises, but in these schemes the cooperators were either
the consumers of the finished product or the producers of the
raw material. The Patrons could buy patents and get their

BUSINESS COOPERATION 275

machines manufactured cheaply; but they could not prevent
their alert competitors from getting control of improvements
which threw their machines out of the market, and they lacked
the necessary capital to withstand the intense competition to
which they were subjected by combinations of regular manu-
facturers. The system of selling without agents also placed
the Grange machines at a disadvantage. If a machine failed
to work properly or if the farmer did not know how to run it,
there was no one for him to call upon for adjustment of the
machine or for instruction. These were services which had
been performed by the local agents under the old system of selling.
As a consequence, the Grange machines sometimes got the reputa-
tion of being unsatisfactory when all that was needed was a
little adjustment or instruction to the operator.

The farmers might have had some chance of success if they
had gone into business operations on a small scale at the start,
as did the " Rochdale Pioneers " in England, and gradually
expanded the enterprises as their experience increased. But
a few early successes, together with the marvelous growth of
the Grange, turned their heads and they rushed pell-mell into
all sorts of business schemes without considering where the
capital and business ability to carry them out were to come
from. The incomes of the state and national granges furnished
capital for many of the schemes, and these incomes were large
in the early years; but they came principally from dispensations
for new granges and could not by any possibility continue at
the same rate. The different schemes, moreover, were generally
so interwoven one with another, that a disaster to one involved
the failure of all the others and the collapse of the whole house
of cards.

If the Grangers were not willing to let their business plans
develop gradually while they were gaining experience, it would
seem as if they might at least have availed themselves of the
experience of cooperators elsewhere. Many of them, of course,
had never heard of the English cooperators, but even those
who had were inclined to believe that their own home-made
theories were better than any principles which had been worked

276 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

out in England. As a consequence, they fell into many pitfalls
which the English cooperators had learned to avoid. Even
when the leaders of the Grange attempted to introduce the true
principles of cooperation they met with considerable opposition,
and the old enterprises generally retained their original form
to the end. The cooperative undertakings which were begun
after 1875 had the advantage, however, not only of the experience
of the English cooperators as promulgated in the rules of the
National Grange but also of the disastrous experience of their
predecessors, and, as has been seen, they were moderately suc-
cessful. In this connection it might be noted that the laws of
many of the states made the organization of cooperative associa-
tions in strict accord with the Rochdale plan an impossibility.1
Had this difficulty appeared in the early years when the Granger
movement was a political force, the desired laws would probably
have been quickly enacted; but as it was the articles of asso-
ciation had to be modified to conform to the laws, and this was
a partial cause of the failure of some of these enterprises.

Finally, the poverty of the farmers and the prevalence of the
credit system stood in the way of the success of Grange coopera-
tion. A certain amount of ready money was necessary, not
only to provide capital for the stores and agencies, but to enable
the farmers to take advantage of the opportunities they offered,
and ready money was far from plentiful with the farmers at
this time. The substitution of cash payment for the credit
system was one of the great objects of the Grange and the business
operations under its auspices were generally conducted on a
cash basis. The change from a credit system to cash payments
can be accomplished only gradually and many farmers who were
compelled to go to the regular merchants when they wanted
credit felt under obligations to trade with them when they had
cash. On the other hand, the giving of credit was a factor in
the ruin of some of the cooperative enterprises.2 When com-
petition became strong, the teaching of the Grange was sometimes
forgotten and credit extended. Once started in this direction,

1 Warner, in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 372-374, 389.

2 Ibid. 374-377, 382.

BUSINESS COOPERATION 277

it was easy to continue until a considerable portion of the all
too scanty capital was tied up in outstanding claims. A manager,
moreover, cannot be expected to be as careful about such things
as a proprietor, and in some cases losses were experienced from
" bad debts." On the whole it seems to be true that the cash
basis is the only safe one for cooperative enterprises.

RESULTS

The results of Grange cooperation can be divided into two
classes, the temporary and the permanent. The temporary
results are so obvious that they need only to be mentioned.
In the first place, the cooperative phase of the movement was
one of the principal causes of the rapid growth of the Grange
from 1873 to 1875; and, conversely, its failure to meet expecta-
tions was one of the principal causes of the rapid decline of the
order in the succeeding years. There can be no doubt that
hope of pecuniary profit was the motive factor in inducing
large numbers of farmers to join the Grange, and when their
extravagant expectations failed to be realized, most of them
ceased to pay dues. Secondly, it is perfectly clear that a very
considerable amount of money was saved to farmers as a result
of the business enterprises of the order. Even those who were
not members of the Grange or who never patronized a Grange
store or agency were benefited by the general reduction of prices
which was brought about by this new competitive force. What
the total amount of this saving was, it is impossible even to
estimate, but it certainly was vastly greater than the losses
sustained as a result of occasional failures or misplaced confidence.

The permanent results of Grange cooperation are not quite
so tangible. On the whole, it seems to have taught a salutary
lesson to both farmers and merchants. The farmers learned
that the despised middlemen rendered some very important
services in the industrial organization and that if they were
going to dispense with these middlemen they must be prepared
to render the same services. The merchants and manufacturers,
on the other hand, discovered that the farmers were not entirely
helpless and that it was not wise to burden them with excessive

278 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

charges, even when the lack of competition made it possible
to do so. As a result, lower prices, smaller profits, and more
cordial relations seem to have prevailed for some time after the
collapse of the Granger movement. But the farmers as well
as the merchants had discovered that they were no longer help-
less: they had learned the power of organization and could keep
it in reserve even if they did not use it; they had also learned
the advantage of direct trade and purchases in large quantities,
and, as a result, the business of mail order houses has grown
steadily from that day to this.

Again, Grange cooperation undoubtedly helped to break up
the credit system, and thus in another way tended to make the
farmers independent of the local merchants. The insistence
of the Grange on cash purchases caused the farmers to make
an effort to free themselves from the bonds of the credit system,
and the very savings effected through the Grange agencies made
it possible for them to continue to buy for cash even after the
agencies had disappeared.

As a result of their connection with the cooperative enter-
prises of the Grange, a considerable number of farmers received
a business training which might be of use to them in many ways.
In particular, it gave them a very great advantage in their future
dealings with merchants and commission men. Added to this
general business training was an increased knowledge of the
principles and possibilities of cooperation, as a result not only
of the occasional successes but of the failures as well. These
things paved the way, in some parts of the country at least,
for successful and enduring cooperation not only among farmers,
but also among workingmen. On the whole, although the
Grangers did not succeed in revolutionizing business as they
set out to do, nevertheless, a great deal of good both temporary
and permanent resulted from their attempts at business coopera-
tion.

CHAPTER VIII

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES

THE founders of the order of Patrons of Husbandry believed
that they were establishing an institution, the primary purposes
of which should be the promotion of social intercourse and the
spread of knowledge among the farmers of the country. For
a time these purposes seemed to be overshadowed by the desire
to secure cheap transportation and the enthusiasm for business
cooperation, but they were present, nevertheless, and the per-
manence of these features of the movement, or rather, the per-
manence of the order where these features have been uppermost,
has demonstrated the wisdom of the founders. That there
was a real need of such an institution is almost self-evident.
The lonely and monotonous life, the lack of opportunity for social
contact and exchange of ideas, and as a result, the provincialism
of the average western farmer and his family of the period can
better be imagined than described.1 Farms were so large that
the nearest neighbor was generally at least half a mile away;
cities were few and far between; and the crossroads villages,
even when accessible, offered no better amusement than lounging
in a grocery store or saloon. Rural free delivery of mail, rural
telephones, and interurban electric lines were things of the future,
and if a book or paper did make its way into the farmer's home
it was apt to be about as valuable and interesting as a last year's
almanac. Worst of all, this lack of social intercourse often led
to a distaste for it and the farmers refused to avail themselves
of the opportunities which were offered. Here was where the
business plans and the railroad agitation were of service ; many a
farmer, who cared nothing for the social and educational advan-
tages of the Grange, joined in the hopes of obtaining pecuniary
profit, but once in, these features had a chance to exert their in-
fluence upon him and in time perhaps to draw him out of his shell.

1 See Martin, Grange Movement, 450-453, 459.
279

280 TEE GRANGER MOVEMENT

THE GRANGE AS A SOCIAL FORCE

The social opportunities of the order came primarily in con-
nection with the regular monthly, semi-monthly, or sometimes
weekly meetings of the local granges. Here the farmers, with
their wives, and sons and daughters of at least fourteen and
sixteen years respectively, met in secret conclave to perform
the work of a pleasing and appropriate ritual; 1 a literary and
musical2 program usually followed and then there was oppor-
tunity for games and general conversation. The ritual of the
order provided for a monthly " Feast of Pomona " but the women
generally saw to it that refreshments of some sort were served
at the other sessions as well. These meetings were held at first
in the country school houses, village halls, or even in the houses
of the members; but many granges throughout the country
built grange halls, especially equipped for their needs. Generally
the meetings were held in the evening; but sometimes they began
in the afternoon, and then there was, of course, an enlarged
opportunity for social intercourse.3

In addition to the regular meetings of the subordinate granges,
Patrons' picnics or festivals were of frequent occurrence in many
neighborhoods. On these occasions the members of three or
four neighboring granges would usually join together; repair
to some convenient grove; and spend the day in getting ac-
quainted, discussing matters of local or general interest, playing
games, listening to speeches and music, usually furnished by
members of the order, and consuming the good things brought
in the lunch baskets.4 Independence Day was commonly chosen
as an occasion for these picnics, and in 1874 the farmers' picnics

1 See Aiken, The Grange, 16-18.

2 A Grange song-book was compiled by Miss Carrie Hall, niece of Secretary
Kelley, as early as 1872. The National Grange purchased the copyright of this
for one thousand dollars and issued a revised edition in 1874. Large numbers of
these song-books were sold to subordinate granges throughout the country. Kelley,
Patrons of Husbandry, 405; National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 33.

3 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 249; Martin, Grange Movement, 453-458.

4 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 334; Martin, Grange Movement, 457, 461, 466;
Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, c. 495, ci. 12, cv. 18, 399 (1901-04); Massachusetts State
Grange, Proceedings, v. 8 (1877); Prairie Farmer, 1873-75, passim.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 28 1

and celebrations were so numerous that the day was known
as the " Farmers' Fourth of July." Farmers' clubs as well as
granges joined in these amusements, in the parts of the country
where they existed.1 The social influence of such gatherings
as these could not help but spread; acquaintances would be
formed which would ripen into friendships and bring about
much more frequent intercourse between farm and farm.

The influence of women in the order and of the order upon the
position of women are subjects which are much dwelt upon by
Grange writers. It seems to be a fact that the Grange was the
first secret order to admit women to full and equal membership.
If there was any inequality, indeed, it was in favor of the women,
for part of the offices were reserved especially for them, while
the remainder were open equally to both sexes. Probably in
a majority of local granges the lecturer, who had charge of the
programs, was a woman. In the state and national granges,
too, the presence of women was insured by the rule which made
each delegation consist of the master of the local or state grange,
as the case might be, and his wife. Without this feature of the
order many of the social advantages would have been impossible.
That the example and teaching of the Grange was an influence
in causing many farmers to look upon their wives more as com-
panions and less as household drudges is also quite possible.
Undoubtedly the order offered to women, even more than to
men, an opportunity for broader service and the cultivation of
the social graces.2

The social service of the Grange, however, was not confined
to local matters. If it brought about more sympathetic and
friendly relations between individuals of the same neighborhood,
it also helped to bring about a better understanding between
the people of different sections of the country. The state grange
meetings brought together men and women from all parts of a
state, with differing ideas and interests, while in the National

1 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 338, 390-393; Prairie Farmer and Chicago
Tribune, July, 1874, passim.

2 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 423; Martin, Grange Movement, 453, 456;
State grange proceedings: Indiana, iv. 32; Maryland, i. 12; Michigan, iii. 56, 73;
Missouri, iii. 22.

282 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

Grange the market gardener and horticulturist of the eastern
states, the tobacco and cotton planters of the South, the corn
grower of the Middle West, and the wheat raiser of the farther
West met and exchanged ideas. These meetings occurred only
once a year; but they sometimes lasted ten or twelve days,
and the members were the chosen leaders of the agriculturists
in their respective states. Here men who had recently been in
Confederate armies met men who had fought to save the Union.
They met now, not as enemies but as brothers in a great fraternal
order with the common purpose of uplifting the American farmer.
What better institution could be devised for the eradication of
sectional prejudice ?

At the close of the seventh session of the National Grange in
St. Louis, in February, 1874, an incident occurred which is
illustrative of this influence. Worthy Master Wardlaw of the
state grange of Florida delivered an address in which he alluded
to the fact that at the Democratic convention of 1860 in Charles-
ton it had fallen to his lot to pronounce a eulogy upon ex- Gover-
nor Robinson of Vermont, a member who had suddenly been
stricken with death. Wardlaw then added that if the repre-
sentative of the Grange in Vermont were present he would like
to clasp hands with him in token of good will and amity. E. P.
Colton, the master of the Vermont State Grange, stepped for-
ward and the two clasped hands amidst prolonged and enthusi-
astic cheering.1 The next session of the National Grange, in
February, 1875, was held in Charleston and was probably the
first national convention of importance held in the southern
states since the war. The good will and hospitality exhibited
by the southern Patrons on this occasion must have been a
revelation to many of the northern delegates.2 When churches
refused to reunite, the Grange was probably one of the most

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 112 (February, 1875); Rural Carolinian,
v. 370 (April, 1874); Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, c. 391 (November 21, 1901).

2 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 109-126, especially 121-122, ix. 203. A
Grange committee in Illinois is said to have invited Jefferson Davis to deliver an
address at a local fair. Nation, xxi. 109 (August 19, 1875). On this general sub-
ject, see also Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 378; National Grange, Proceedings, x.
19 (1876).

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 283

influential factors in assuaging the sectional bitterness left by
the war.

CHARITABLE WORK OF THE ORDER

As is the case with most fraternal orders, the Grange under-
took to assist its members in cases of special affliction. Oppor-
tunities for the application of this principle on a rather large
scale occurred in 1874 and 1875, at the time when the order was
at the height of prosperity. In April, 1874, the Mississippi
River overflowed its banks and brought disaster and suffering
to a considerable number of farmers living in Louisiana and
Alabama. Many of these farmers were Patrons and appeals
were at once made for assistance to the masters of the state
granges and through them to the order at large. The executive
committee of the National Grange sent one thousand dollars
of its funds to the master of the Louisiana State Grange to be
used as he might deem best. Later the committee expended
about three thousand dollars in purchasing flour and bacon in
the West, which were distributed to the suffering Patrons through
the masters of their state granges.1 In addition large amounts
of money were collected from the different state and local granges,
and from individual Patrons in all parts of the country, to relieve
the suffering in this section. There is no way of arriving at the
total amount of these contributions but they were as high as
five thousand dollars from some states and are said to have been
received from every state but one in which the order existed.2

During the preceding year the grasshopper plague made its
appearance in the states west of the Mississippi River and its
return during the summer of 1874 caused a great deal of destitu-
tion. Again the appeal went up to the National Grange to make
appropriations from its overflowing treasury, and again the
response was generous. The executive committee sent about
eleven thousand dollars to the masters of state granges in Iowa,
Minnesota, Dakota, Kansas, and Nebraska to be used in relieving

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 31, 136 (February, 1875).

2 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 203 (June 27, 1874); Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, ci. 78 (January
23, 1902); State grange proceedings: Missouri, iii. 14 (1874); North Carolina,
ii. 10, 18 (1875); Ohio, ii. 6, 9, 21 (1875); Vermont, i-iii. 14 (1874).

284 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the wants of suffering Patrons. When the National Grange
met in February, 1875, these expenditures were approved,
and further appropriations made of five hundred dollars to
Arkansas, and three thousand dollars to the state grange of
Kansas to enable it to pay its dues to the National Grange.
Provision was also made for the executive committee to act as
a standing committee on relief, and during the following year
it made additional appropriations to Dakota, Arkansas, Missouri,
Tennessee, Colorado, and Iowa, which brought the total amount
for the year up to ten thousand dollars. During 1876 the state
grange of South Carolina received a donation of one thousand
dollars to aid sufferers from a prolonged drought in that state.
Two hundred and sixty-five dollars were also appropriated for
Minnesota, and a special loan of thirty-five thousand dollars to
the Nebraska State Grange was made a donation, on account
of continued distress in those states.1

As in the case of the sufferers from the Mississippi floods,
large amounts of money were collected throughout the different
states to relieve the sufferers from the grasshopper scourge.
Some state granges made specific appropriations and others
arranged for committees to collect money from local granges
and individual Patrons. In many states over a thousand dollars
were thus raised and the contributions from Ohio amounted
to $8,783. As a general rule this money seems to have been sent
to the masters of the state granges in the affected states and then
distributed or expended in the purchase of provisions and seed
by relief committees in the respective counties. The Patrons
in those parts of Iowa and Missouri which were not afflicted by
the grasshoppers seem to have been especially active in the
collection of money and supplies for their suffering brethren.2

The charitable work of the Patrons of Husbandry was not
confined to spectacular cases of disaster affecting whole com-

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 31, 69, 71, 73-75, 98, 101, 136, ix, 19, 187,
196, x. 17, 109, 112, 136 (1875-76).

2 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 411 (December 26, 1874); Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, ci. 78
(January 23, 1902); State grange proceedings: Kansas, iii (1875); Iowa, iv, v
(1873, 1874); Michigan, ii, iii (1874, 1875); Missouri, iv (1875); Nebraska, iv
(1874); New York, ii (1875); Ohio, ii, iii (1875, 1876); Vermont, i-iii (1872-74).

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 285

munities. The precepts of the order were also applied to cases
of individual need. It appears to have been no uncommon
occurrence for the members of a subordinate grange to get to-
gether and harvest a crop for a sick brother or to rebuild a
Patron's house after it had been damaged by fire or tornado.1
The constitution of the National Grange, as adopted in 1873,
made it the duty of Patrons to visit and render needful assistance
to sick brothers and sisters and in some states standing com-
mittees of relief were appointed for that purpose.2 In New
York arrangements were made for Patrons to help each other
in the recovery of strayed or stolen property.3

In still another way the order of Patrons of Husbandry at-
tempted to help its members when in trouble. This was by
encouraging, and in some cases providing specific machinery
for, the arbitration of disputes between members of the order.
The object was, of course, to save the Patrons concerned the
expense of litigation in the regular courts and to prevent, if
possible, the neighborhood feuds which are apt to result from
trivial disagreements. No information has been found as to
how far this feature was put in practice; but it was recommended
by state granges as far apart as Vermont and Iowa.4

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

The educational work of the order, as well as the social feature,
came largely in connection with the meetings of the local granges.
Each of these granges was a literary society in which the members
might train themselves in public speaking and parliamentary
practice. It was the duty of one of the officers, known as the
lecturer, to prepare a program for each meeting, and these pro-
grams might be and undoubtedly often were instructive to both

1 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 100, 339 (March 28, October 24, 1874); State grange pro-
ceedings: Alabama, ii. 8; Missouri, iii. 16; New York, ii. 59.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 16 (1873); Vermont State Grange, Proceed-
ings, i-iii. 53; Virginia State Grange, Proceedings, 7, 28.

3 New York State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 32-40, 59 (1876).

4 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 123 (1874); Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 123; National
Grange, Proceedings, vii. 57 (1874); State grange proceedings: Iowa, iv (1873);
Michigan, ii (1874); New Hampshire, iii (1876); Vermont, i-iii (1872-74).

286 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

participants and listeners.1 Sometimes the state granges came
to the assistance of the local granges in this matter. For ex-
ample, the executive committee of the Iowa State Grange in
1874 prepared a series of questions for discussion in each of the
local granges. These included, as main questions; the desira-
bility of cooperation in business, the benefits secured by the
order of Patrons of Husbandry, and the control of transportation
companies by law; with subdivisions of each question.2 Such
discussions could not help but be stimulating even though con-
clusions were sometimes reached which were at variance with
orthodox political economy. When funds were available it was
quite common for the masters and lecturers and sometimes
other officers of the state granges to spend a considerable part
of their time visiting local granges throughout the state, encourag-
ing them to continue in the work, lecturing to them on the dignity
of farming as an occupation or sometimes on more practical
agricultural subjects, and spreading information generally.3
Similar services were also performed at times by the officers of
the National Grange; and in 1875 the national executive com-
mittee adopted the plan of suggesting programs and subjects
for discussion to the subordinate granges.4

The educational advantages to those who went as delegates
to meetings of state and national granges are obvious. The
traveling expenses were always paid out of the grange treasuries

1 New Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, vii (1880); Martin, Grange Move-
ment, 460; M. Whitehead in New Jersey Bureau of Statistics, Reports, ix. 347-349
(1886). Here is a typical Grange program:

" The Patrons of Grange 435 met Saturday night to confer the fourth degree
upon a new member. The lady members had prepared a fine table filled with
the many blessings bestowed upon us by Our Heavenly Father. It was our harvest
feast and we appreciated it very much. After the table was cleared, Sister Hupp
read an essay upon Butter Making, and a speech was made by a brother from
Hazel Wood Grange. The Worthy Master made a few appropriate remarks,
and Brother Henry Bull read an appropriate piece. The question for the next
debate will be ' Can anything be made by feeding, to hogs, corn worth fifty cents per
bushel, when hogs sell for five cents per pound ? ' " Prairie Farmer, xlv. 3 7 1 ( 1 874) .

2 Prairie Farmer, xlv. 347 (October 31, 1874). See also National Grange, Pro-
ceedings, xiii. 25 (1879).

3 Ibid. xi. 38, xiv. 42 (1878, 1881); Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 180.

4 National Grange, Proceedings, ix. 23, 141 (November, 1875).

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 287

and thus many farmers were enabled to take trips which would
have been impossible for them otherwise. On these occasions,
they not only saw something of the world but experienced the
liberalizing influence of rubbing shoulders with men from differ-
ent parts of the state or country. And when they returned
they were expected to give an account of their experiences
to the home grange, thus passing the influence along to every
Patron.

All the leaders of the order from the National Grange down
were insistent that members should be encouraged to read.
Large numbers of tracts, folders, and leaflets of a more or less
educational character were distributed by the National Grange,
as well as handbooks, guides, and manuals of parliamentary
practice.1 A considerable number of the more flourishing
granges established libraries of their own 2 and it was quite
common for a grange to subscribe for four or five leading agri-
cultural papers, which would be passed around among the
members.3 The habit of reading was stimulated in another
way^ — the discussions in the grange aroused the interest of
the farmer in all sorts of topics, agricultural, economic, and even
political, and he soon discovered that if he were going to take
part in or profit by these discussions he must cultivate the
acquaintance of books and papers. As a result the sale of books
and more especially the circulation of papers is said to have
increased very considerably in some neighborhoods.4 One

1 Ibid. viii. 33, x. 20 (February, 1875, 1876); Martin, Grange Movement, 462;
Aiken, The Grange, 10.

2 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 249; National Grange, Proceedings, x. 20, 36,
xvi. 46 (1876, 1882); Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, i, iii (1874, 1876); Aiken,
The Grange, 10.

3 Rural Carolinian, iv. 493 (June, 1873); Martin, Grange Movement, 468.

4 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 7, xii. 100 (1873, 1878); Alabama State
Grange, Proceedings, iii. 14 (1875); Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, iii. 66-69
(1876); Martin, Grange Movement, 470; Whitehead, in New Jersey Bureau of
Statistics, Reports, ix. 348 (1886). The number of agricultural journals increased
in the United States during the decade 1870-80 from 93 with an aggregate circula-
tion of 770, 752 copies to 173 with an aggregate of 1,022,771 copies. S. N. D. North,
" The Newspaper and Periodical Press," in United States Census, 1880, viii. 121.
Farmers and members of their families were also stimulated to write for the
papers. For example, the Prairie Farmer offered prizes for essays on such subjects

288 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

postmaster reported that " there are now thirty newspapers
taken at this office, whilst there was but one taken before the
establishment of the Grange in this vicinity. " 1

Part of this increased circulation was undoubtedly due to
the appearance of a new sort of agricultural papers which strove
to serve as organs of the " farmers' movement." These papers,
while not entirely neglecting topics of practical agriculture,
devoted a large amount of space to such subjects as railway
regulation, cooperation, and the new Independent parties.
News of the doings of granges and farmers' clubs also held a
prominent place in their columns. The Prairie Farmer, of
Chicago, one of the oldest and most extensively read of the
agricultural papers of the West, quickly adopted this policy,
and in January, 1873, a department headed " Patrons of Hus-
bandry " made its appearance, to be followed shortly after by
a department for the clubs and the State Farmers' Association.
The Chicago Tribune, also, though by no means an agricultural
paper, reported the doings of the farmers' organizations at length
and appeared to be in sympathy with their aims. In August,
1873, however, a number of men connected with the Illinois
State Farmers' Association established in Chicago a weekly
paper under the name of the Industrial Age, and this purported
to be the particular organ of the movement. All these papers
and a number of others transcended the limits of any one state
in their interest and circulation, but there were also a large
number of local Granger or industrial papers which sprang into
existence at this time throughout the Middle West. Either
with or without the endorsement of some branch of the Patrons
of Husbandry, they essayed to print news of interest to members
of the order and of the farmers' clubs, and generally supported
the Independent parties in politics. When the Granger move-
ment died down in this region during the later seventies most

as " The Grange; How Best to Conduct it." Prairie Farmer, xlvi. 35, 43, 51
(January 3, February 6, 13, 1875). The amount of correspondence from farmers
in the Prairie Farmer and other papers was very much greater in 1874 than in
1870.

1 Aiken, The Grange, 10.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 289

of these papers went out of existence or became organs of the
Greenback party.1

While this first wave of enthusiasm was subsiding, another
class of Grange papers began to make its appearance in all parts
of the country. The leaders of the order wanted to get into
closer touch with the membership, partly perhaps with the idea
of checking the decline, and the best and cheapest way in which
this could be done was through the press. As a result official
Grange organs were established in nearly every state in which
the order existed. Sometimes the officers of the state grange
themselves edited and published a monthly paper, or bulletin,
as it was generally called, but more frequently some established
agricultural paper was chosen and an agreement made whereby
the paper was recognized as an official organ of the order in
return for the publication of such Grange matter as might be
furnished to it. In addition, a number of other Grange papers
were established as private enterprises, built up a large circula-
tion among the members by printing Grange news, and in the
course of time generally succeeded in securing the recognition
of state or local granges as official organs. There can be no
doubt but that such papers as the Dirigo Rural of Maine, the
American Grange Bulletin of Cincinnati, The Grange Visitor of
Michigan, the Patron of Husbandry of Mississippi and the Cali-
fornian Patron, exerted a wholesome influence upon the social
and intellectual conditions of the farmers as well as helped to
stay the decline of the Grange.2

At the ninth session of the National Grange in November,
1875, resolutions were introduced calling for the establishment
of an organ under the direction of the National Grange. The
proposition did not meet with favor at the time; but by the next
session in November, 1876, the national treasury had reached
such a low stage that it seemed necessary to adopt some cheap
means of communication or give up altogether the attempt to

1 On the Granger and Anti-Monopoly papers of Illinois, see Franklin W. Scott,
Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois (Illinois Historical Collections, vi), pp. c-ci.

2 National Grange, Proceedings, x. 87, xiii. 25, 37, xiv. 130, xv. 38, 39, 42, xvi.
26-29, 35> 4i, 44 (1876-82). See bibliography below, pp. 321-329.

THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

keep in touch with the subordinate granges. It was probably
hoped, also, that a national organ would help to check the alarm-
ing decline in the membership. Various plans for an organ
were brought forward at this session; and though none of them
appear to have received the definite approval of the Grange,
the executive committee got out the first number of the Grange
Record in April, 1877. During the first year this paper was
issued as a monthly in editions of about fifteen thousand copies.
Only five hundred of these were paid for by subscribers, the
remainder being sent gratuitously to state, county, and sub-
ordinate granges.1

THE GRANGE AND THE SCHOOLS

The educational activities of the Grange were not confined
to the improvement of its members, for the order, from the first,
took a decided interest in the schools, and especially in the
country schools and the agricultural colleges. With regard to
the former, the attitude of the order was one of encouragement
and support. As a general rule, better teachers, better text-
books and the introduction of practical agricultural subjects
into the curricula were called for. Thus a committee on educa-
tion of the Maine State Grange favored uniform text-books,
better teachers, and the teaching of the elements of agricultural
chemistry in the public schools, while the North Carolina State
Grange adopted a resolution calling for instruction in a variety
of subjects " necessary to the intelligent regulation and manage-
ment of the farm . . . and the household." 2 During the latter
part of the decade the National Grange began to take an active
interest in the subject of agricultural education, and resolutions
advising Patrons to endeavor to have the study of the elementary
principles of agriculture introduced into the public schools
were adopted in 1878 and 1879. In 1880 the committee on

1 National Grange, Proceedings, ix. 55, x. 86, xi. 40 (1875-77).

2 See Ibid. xiii. 25, 37, 85, 99, in, 112, xiv. 79, xvi. 43 (1879-82); Martin,
Grange Movement, 470; State grange proceedings: Maine, vi. 29-32 (1879); North
Carolina, iii. 28 (1876); New Hampshire, vii (1880). See also Carr, Patrons of
Husbandry, 200.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 2<)l

education reported that gratifying progress had been made in
this direction.1

In the southern states, where the local schools were very
inadequate, steps were taken by some of the granges to increase
their number. The North Carolina State Grange recommended
that the subordinate granges of the state interest themselves
in the establishment of good local schools and make appropria-
tions for their support. When practicable, it was suggested
that primary and even high schools be established in connection
with county and local granges.2 Grange schools, established
by the local branches of the order, existed in parts of Alabama,
North Carolina, Louisiana, and perhaps in some of the other
southern states.3 In Michigan, also, it was reported in 1879
that there were seven grange schools in active operation in one
county, parts of the Grange halls being used for school rooms.4
Another step in this direction was the establishment of primary
granges for the entertainment and instruction of the children
of Patrons. This was tried in California with considerable
success and was recommended by the secretary of the National
Grange in iSyy.5

During the seventies the various agricultural and mechanical
colleges and state universities, which profited by the land grants
made by Congress in 1862 for the encouragement of education
in agriculture and the mechanic arts, were just getting on their
feet. But few students in agriculture presented themselves
at these institutions as a rule and so the funds were used for the
support of other departments. Some of the farmers were inclined
to complain of this and to demand that college farms be estab-
lished for more practical work in agriculture and that manual
labor on the farms be required of the students. Where separate
agricultural and mechanical colleges were established, there
seems to have been less difficulty; but where the work along

National Grange, Proceedings, xii. 99, xiii. 113, xiv. 52, 63, 129 (1878-80).
North Carolina State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 22, iii. 28, iv. 30 (1875-77).
National Grange, Proceedings, xvi. 38 (1882); Randall, in Johns Hopkins
University, Studies, vi. 505.

National Grange, Proceedings, xiii. 36 (1879).
Ibid. xi. 42 (1877).

292 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

these lines was given in departments of more general institutions,
there was often complaint that the result was " a literary kite
with an agricultural tail." l The Patrons of Husbandry interested
themselves in this subject in a number of states. In California,
a committee of the state grange investigated the state univer-
sity in 1873 and reported a neglect of agricultural instruction
and mismanagement of funds; 2 and in Ohio a similar investiga-
tion was made in 1877 into the workings of the Agricultural
and Mechanical College at Columbus, which has since become
Ohio State University.3

The National Grange in its " Declaration of Purposes" adopted
in 1874, asserted: " We especially advocate for our agricultural
and industrial colleges that practical agriculture, domestic
science, and all the arts which adorn the home, be taught in their
courses of study." 4 In 1876 a resolution was adopted declaring
" that the agricultural colleges ought to be under the exclusive
control of the farmers of the country, and that . . . these col-
leges ought to be, as far as possible, separate and distinct schools."
The following year the committee on education of the National
Grange presented a report concerning agricultural colleges in
fourteen states, approving some but condemning others because
no practical work in agriculture was done or because the agri-
cultural were subordinated to the literary departments.5 Just
how much direct influence all this agitation had upon the colleges
concerned is difficult to say; but at least it spread a knowledge
of the opportunities in existence for agricultural education and
was perhaps a factor in bringing about the great increase in the
number of students seeking instruction along these lines. When
the demand for better facilities and more attention to the work

1 Carr, Patrons of Husbandry, 376.

2 Ibid. 150, 179, 184-200, 376-381. See W. C. Jones, Illustrated History
of the University of California, no, 288-300; University of California, Reports
to the President from the Colleges of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, 1877,

PP- 3-"-

3 Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, i, iii-v (1874-78) ; Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, cv. 139
(February 6, 1904); National Grange, Proceedings, xi. 129 (1877).

4 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 58 (1874).

6 Ibid. x. 106-108, xi. 73, 129-132 (1876-77). See also Carr, Patrons of Hus-
bandry, ch. xxvi.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 293

in agriculture came from actual or prospective students it seems
to have been met in most cases.

THE ADVANCEMENT OF AGRICULTURE

A large part of the educational activity of the Grange related
to technical agriculture and here it was on a ground which had
been cultivated in part by previous institutions — agricultural
papers, boards of agriculture, farmers' clubs, and county or
state fairs. The Grange did not seek to supplant any of these
institutions but rather to encourage and supplement them.
The grange meeting naturally gave opportunity for informal
exchanges of experience between practical farmers; the ones
who had been most successful in certain lines were able, and
generally willing, to explain their methods to less successful
brethren; and thus each was able to profit by the experience of
his neighbor. In large numbers of granges, more formal methods
of agricultural education were undertaken. A grange in South
Carolina arranged for each member to take a record of the
kinds and quantities of fertilizers used and the results obtained;
other granges offered prizes for the best specimen of a certain
product or the highest yield on an acre; and in nearly every
grange formal papers were read on technical agricultural subjects.
The women, likewise, held discussions, made reports, and read
papers on various topics of household economy.1

The holding of agricultural fairs was especially encouraged
by the order and in many instances they took place under its
auspices. Thus a local grange in Mississippi held a fair as early
as 1872 at which agricultural products and agricultural machinery
were exhibited,2 and a successful state grange fair was held in
Alabama in 187 5. 3 Fairs were established under the auspices

1 National Grange, Proceedings, xiii. 25, 101 (1879); North Carolina State
Grange, Proceedings, ii. 19-22, iii. 16, 30-32, 35, iv. 11-16, 23-26 (1875-77); New
Hampshire State Grange, Proceedings, vii (1880); American Farmer, vii. 147 (April,
1878); Martin, Grange Movement, 468; Shaw, in Johns Hopkins University,
Studies, vi. 335. See also above, p. 286, note i.

2 Prairie Farmer, xliii. 308 (September 28, 1872).

3 Alabama State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 9, 12, 14, 19, iii. 18, 38 (1874, 1875).
Mr. T. M. Owen, Carrollton, Alabama, has a copy of the Programme and Schedule
of Premiums of the Alabama State Grange Fair of 1875.

294 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

of state and local granges in other parts of the country, especially
in New England, and where they previously existed under the
control of other organizations, the granges gave them hearty
support and tried to make them something more than mere
horse-racing exhibitions and collections of side-shows.1 In
many granges also, and especially in those which owned their
own halls, attempts were made to form permanent museums
composed of specimens of farm products and other objects of
interest. A " National Farmers' Museum " was projected by
the National Grange in 1875, and a nucleus of specimens
was collected in Louisville.2 It was thought at that time that
permanent headquarters of the National Grange would be
established at Louisville and so there would be an oppor-
tunity for the preservation of such a collection. In a short
time, however, the National Grange resumed its migratory
habits and nothing further was heard of the "National Farmers'
Museum."

One great desideratum of the farmers of the United States
has always been a complete and reliable system of crop reports.
Farmers believe that if they have at their disposal information
relative to the amounts, conditions, and probabilities of the
different crops in all parts of the country they can decide more
intelligently what proportion of each crop it is desirable for them
to grow, and what prices they should receive for their produc-
tions. The bureau of agriculture of the United States govern-
ment was making some efforts in the direction of the collection
and dissemination of agricultural statistics, but its reports are
said to have been unreliable and slow in coming out. When
the order of Patrons of Husbandry was spreading rapidly all
over the country, it seemed to many that it might furnish a most
excellent medium for the collection of such statistics.3 Several
of the state granges, especially in the southern states, early

1 National Grange, Proceedings, xvi. 38 (1882).

2 Ibid. viii. 105, ix. 42, 48, 146-149 (February, November, 1875).

3 On this subject in general, see state grange proceedings: Alabama, ii. 33;
Iowa, vi. 51; Michigan, i. 37, iii. 16, 94; Mississippi, v. 29; Missouri, iii. 47, 66-70;
iv. 60, 114; New York, ii. 46, iii. 18; North Carolina, iii. 31; Ohio, i. 9, ii. 16;
Tennessee, ii. 26; Virginia, i. 23.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 295

undertook this work: special committees were appointed in the
local granges to. report monthly on the condition of crops and
stock in their respective vicinities; and these reports were
sent to the secretaries of the state granges who compiled them
into general state reports.1 Calls for a national crop report to
be compiled through the Grange soon began to come from the
West; 2 and at its seventh session, in February, 1874, the National
Grange authorized the executive committee to establish " a
system of statistical crop reports."

The committee deliberated upon the subject and finally
decided to issue blanks to and call for reports directly from
subordinate granges, thus ignoring the state granges entirely.
A force of clerks was engaged in Washington and work was begun
in March, 1874. Circulars and blanks were sent out to from
sixteen thousand to twenty-two thousand subordinate granges
at intervals of two months throughout the summer; but in no
case were returns received from more than one-fifth of the
granges, and the vast majority of these were said to be incomplete,
unsatisfactory, and " accompanied by lengthy epistles, con-
taining advice, complaints, suggestions, encouragement and
caustic criticism." In spite of the neglect of the great majority
of the granges to make these reports, the returns which were
received came from all parts of the country, and the consolidated
reports are said to have been of considerable value. The work
was very expensive, however, and was not continued by the
National Grange after the eighth session in February, i875.3
After this experiment was given up, state granges in all parts of
the country again took up the work of collecting crop reports,
but none of them appear to have had any considerable degree
of success. If the order had continued to flourish as it did for
a few years, it is quite possible that a workable method of col-
lecting crop statistics through it might have been developed in

1 Alabama State Grange, Proceedings, ii. 33 (1874); Mississippi State Grange,
By-laws, 1872, p. n.

2 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv. 82 (1873).

3 National Grange, Proceedings, vii. 31, viii. 26-29 (1874-75); Western Rural,
xiii. 236 (July 24, 1875); Martin, Grange Movement, 463; Carr, Patrons of Hus-
bandry, 122; Aiken, The Grange, 13.

296 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

time. As it was, this phase of the movement is of interest
principally as illustrating the aspirations and enthusiasm of the
leaders.

The Grange in the South seems to have been especially inter-
ested in projects for the advancement of the agricultural interests
of that section. It was generally believed that the cotton
planters of the South would experience greater prosperity if
they could be induced to devote less energy to the production
of the staple and more to the growth of breadstuffs. During
1874 and 1875 there was a concerted movement in this direction
in which the Grange had a part. At the St. Louis session of the
National Grange in February, 1874, the representatives of North
and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana got together and drew up
a " Memorial to the Cotton States." 1 This memorial, which
received the sanction of the National Grange, presented strongly
to the Patrons of Husbandry in the cotton-growing sections of
the country the desirability of limiting the size of the cotton
crop and producing their foodstuffs at home. It was hoped
that by these means large sums annually expended for supplies
might be saved, and, at the same time, depression of the cotton
market avoided. Similar recommendations were made by several
of the state granges and by a " Cotton States Convention" which
was held at Atlanta in 1874, and it was reported that in Georgia
the planters were substituting wheat for cotton in many cases.2
On the whole, however, it does not seem probable that these
efforts had any considerable effect, for there is always a tempta-
tion to the individual planter to increase the size of his own crop
when he believes that the total crop is going to be decreased
and the price enhanced. They are of interest, nevertheless,
as illustrating the activities of the order in the South, and also
as one of a long series of attempts to restrict by artificial
means the production of southern staples — attempts which
began in Virginia and Maryland in the seventeenth century

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 60-63 (1874).

2 Alabama State Grange, Proceedings, ii (1874); North Carolina State Grange,
Proceedings, iii. 32 (1876); Rural Carolinian, v. 255 (February, 1874).

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 297

with colonial laws placing restrictions upon the planting of
tobacco.1

Another way in which southern granges proposed to advance
the agricultural interests of the South was by encouraging
immigration. Nearly every state grange in the South and
many of the local granges undertook some scheme in this direc-
tion.2 For example, the state grange of Alabama in 1874 had
a pamphlet prepared containing information furnished by the
subordinate granges with regard to the resources of each county.
In several of the counties of Arkansas, the granges appointed
joint committees to collect and publish information designed
to attract immigrants.3 A grange in Mobile County, Alabama,
issued a pamphlet in German, setting forth to immigrants of
that nationality the desirability of settling in southern Alabama.4
Nor was interest in this subject confined entirely to the South,
for the state grange of Iowa resolved in 1873 " that the immi-
gration of skilled farm laborers should be encouraged, and we
hail gladly all proper arrangements that foster this enterprise." 5

MISCELLANEOUS INFLUENCES AND ACTIVITIES

As a result of the sudden prominence attained by the Grange
in the middle of the decade of the seventies, all sorts of move-
ments and " reforms " sought its support and alliance. About
1873 a new wave of temperance agitation got under way in
western New York and Ohio. This movement, which ulti-
mately led to the organization of the Women's Christian Tem-
perance Union, seems to have been social rather than political

1 C. M. Andrews, Colonial Self-Government, 213.

8 State grange proceedings: Alabama, ii. 6, 12, 14, 17, 26, iii. 21, 28; Arkansas,
v. 6, 18; Louisiana, iii. 19; Maryland, i. 9, 13; Mississippi, v. 6-9; North Carolina,
ii. 21, iii. 29, iv. 17; Virginia, i. 33, 35.

3 Wisconsin Statesman, August 21, 1875, p. 3.

4 This pamphlet is entitled: Mobile County, eine passende Heimath fur den
deutschen Farmer. Bericht uber die Einwanderung nach Sud-Alabama besonders
der deutschen Farmer des Westens, vorgelegt in der Gulf City Grange no. 68, Patrons
of Husbandry, nach einem in der am 25. Juni 1874 abgehaltenen Versammlung
gefassien Beschlusse. See also a pamphlet prepared by a Grange committee en-
titled: History, Description and Resources of Darlington County, State of South Caro-
lina, 1874. Copies of both of these pamphlets are in the Library of Congress.

6 Iowa State Grange, Proceedings, iv (1873).

298 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

in character, and was carried on principally by bands of women
who invaded or camped in front of saloons and by praying and
singing or other demonstrations endeavored to persuade the
proprietors to give up the business.1 The influence of the order
of Patrons of Husbandry was from the first strongly on the side
of temperance: the title of "Bacchus" originally proposed for
one of the officers was quickly changed to the more prosaic
" lecturer "; temperate habits were a necessary qualification for
admission to the order; and lessons in temperance were incul-
cated by the ritual.2 It is not strange therefore that attempts
were made to get the Grange and the temperance movement
to work in harmony for the promotion of the cause.

Temperance resolutions of various sorts were adopted by
state and local granges in all parts of the country, and even by
the National Grange, while the Illinois State Grange went so
far as to condemn the use of tobacco; 3 but it was in Ohio that
the closest connection was made between the Grange and the
temperance movement. At the time of the first regular session
of the Ohio State Grange at Xenia, in February, 1874, the women
of that place were conducting a characteristic crusade against
the local saloons. Finally the proprietor of the " Shades of
Death " was moved to invite the crusaders to pour out his liquor;
they in turn invited the state grange to accompany them; and
the grange accepted the invitation by a unanimous vote. The
procession was formed and marched to the resort, the liquor
was poured out, and the master of the state grange made a
temperance speech to the multitude from an emptied whiskey
barrel. Later the state grange adopted resolutions indorsing
and pledging support to the temperance work and it is said to
have maintained this position steadily thereafter.4

1 E. B. Andrews, The Last Quarter Century, ii. ch. xxii.

2 Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 54; Martin, Grange Movement, 466; Whitehead,
in New Jersey Bureau of Statistics, Reports, ix. 348 (1886).

8 National Grange, Proceedings, xii. 105 (1878); Texas State Grange, Minutes,
14 (1872-74); State grange proceedings: Illinois, iv. 34, 44 (1875); Michigan, i.
33 (X874); Vermont, i-iii. 18 (1872-74).

4 Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, i. 23 (1874); Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, c. 368
(November 14, 1901).

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 299

In the constitution which was adopted by the National Grange
at its sixth session, in January, 1873, one section provided that
" Any member found guilty of wanton cruelty to animals shall
be expelled from the order." Later in the same session a resolu-
tion was adopted expressing the intention of the order to cooper-
ate with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in
carrying out the humane principles of that association. Kind-
ness to animals thus became one of the lessons of the order and
was occasionally emphasized by resolutions of state and local
granges.1 Other lessons said to have been inculcated by the ritual
and otherwise are orderliness, industry, thrift, and economy.
The order was declared to be the uncompromising foe of care-
lessness and disorder, idleness and vice. That greater attention
to the care of farm machinery, the condition of the farm and
house, and even to the dress and general appearance of the
members themselves, was often the result of the establishment of
a grange in a community, has been claimed and is probably true.2

The subject of women's suffrage naturally attracted the
attention of the first order to admit women to full and equal
membership; but in this particular, at least, the Grange showed
itself to be conservative, and resolutions favoring it were gen-
erally frowned down when they made their appearance in the
national and state granges.3 In 1875 a " Woman's Dress Reform
Movement " caught the attention of the National Grange for
a time. " Sister " Garretson of Iowa addressed the Grange in
advocacy of the movement and the subject was " referred to a
special committee consisting of all the sisters entitled to vote in
the body." The committee does not appear to have made a
report, and nothing further was heard of this movement.4

At the eighth session of the National Grange in February,
1875, the Washington National Monument Association appealed

1 National Grange, Proceedings, vi. 27 (1873); Virginia State Grange, Proceed'
ings, i. 7, 28 (December, 1873).

2 Mississippi State Grange, Proceedings, v (1875); Martin, Grange Movement,
465; Aiken, The Grange, 10.

3 National Grange, Proceedings, x. 94, 96, 121, 169-171 (1876). See also above,
p. 121.

4 National Grange, Proceedings, ix. 53 (November, 1875).

300 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

to it for assistance in raising funds to complete the monument
before the centennial year. A resolution was introduced for
the appropriation of five hundred dollars to the fund; but this
was rejected, and another resolution adopted recommending
state and subordinate granges to make subscriptions or to
endeavor to raise money among their members. Twenty-five
thousand letters of appeal furnished by the monument associa-
tion were circulated by the officers of the National Grange,
and a considerable number of subscriptions were received in
response.1

Another Grange activity of some interest was the Patrons'
encampment at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in
1876. As early as February, 1874, the master of the National
Grange was instructed to appoint a committee " to devise a
scheme whereby the Patrons of Husbandry can be fully repre-
sented at such exposition." Shortly after this a " Patrons' Cen-
tennial Encampment Association " was organized by members
of the order in Pennsylvania, and received the approval of the
National Grange. This association erected a temporary hotel
with accommodations for about four thousand at a railway
station three miles from the exposition grounds, where Patrons
were taken care of at very moderate prices. The accommodations
of the hotel were open to the general public, but it served as head-
quarters for Patrons attending the fair. An attempt was also
made to have the National Grange designate July 4, 1876, as a
date for a special Patrons' celebration at the exposition, but this
project does not appear to have been carried out.2

Taking it all together, the fraternal, social, and educational
side of the Grange movement bulks large. At the time it did
not attract a great deal of attention, partly because it was over-
shadowed in the public mind and, it must be admitted, in the
minds of many of the participants, by other phases of the move-
ment, partly also because its work was of the sort which would
naturally be carried on quietly and without attracting much

1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 101, ix. 125 (February, November, 1875).

2 Ibid. vii. 46, ix. 53, 166 (1874, November, 1875); American Agriculturist, xxxv.
87 (August, 1876).

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 3<DI

attention from the outside world. Even in the sections of the
country where the order of Patrons of Husbandry quickly died
out the influence of its work in this direction persisted: habits
of social intercourse and intellectual activity had been formed;
and other organizations, local or general, arose to continue the
work. But in New England, in New York and Pennsylvania,
in Ohio and Michigan, and in Oregon, the Grange suffered no
serious depression, or quickly regained its membership, and by
emphasizing the social and educational features it has done and
is still doing a great work in improving the conditions of rural
life.

CHAPTER IX

CONCLUSION
THE SIGNIFICANCE or THE MOVEMENT

IF the Granger movement had been a mere episode in Ameri-
can history, it would still have been worthy of investigation
because it exhibits the conditions, opinions, and desires, which
prevailed among large numbers of American farmers during
the seventies, and because it actually played a considerable
part in the history of the decade. Many, however, of these
conditions, opinions, and desires, which were first brought into
prominence by the Granger movement, have remained active
forces in American history to the present day.

The Granger movement was, primarily, a movement for agri-
cultural organization, for the advancement of the welfare of
farmers in every possible way — socially, intellectually, politi-
cally, economically — by concerted effort. It was, moreover,
the first attempt at agricultural organization on a large scale,
but it was far from being the last, and the ideas and ideals, if
not the direct influence, of the Patrons of Husbandry can be
traced in every one of the later organizations. In some parts
of the country, and particularly in the East, the Grange itself,
as has been seen, continued and still continues to serve as the
principal agency for united effort among farmers. In the West
and South, however, where the Grange flourished most vig-
orously in the early seventies, and where its most striking mani-
festations appeared, other organizations arose and assumed
the leadership in this more general farmers' movement.

The first of these organizations to become really national
in scope was the Farmers' Alliance, which spread all over the
South and West in the later eighties. Numerous state and
local orders, however, made their appearance in many parts
of the country somewhat earlier.1 About 1874 or 1875 local

1 On the Farmers' Alliance and its various component parts, see N. A. Dunning,
The Farmers' Alliance History and Agricultural Digest; W. S. Morgan, History of

302

CONCLUSION 303

bodies which were known as farmers' alliances were established
in New York, in Kansas, and in Texas. These movements in
the first two states came to naught, but in Texas the local alliances
spread slowly during the later seventies, county alliances were
organized, and in 1879 the " Grand State Alliance of Texas "
was formed. The similarities between this organization and
the Patrons of Husbandry are striking. Each was a secret
order restricted to farmers; each admitted women to full mem-
bership; each labored to improve the social and intellectual
condition of the farmers; each was professedly non-political
and non-partisan but attempted to exert an influence upon
legislation; and each engaged in schemes for cooperation in the
purchase of supplies and the sale of products. The direct
influence of the Grange upon this Texas Farmers' Alliance is
clearly visible in the " Declaration of Purposes " adopted by the
latter in 1880. 1 This document endorsed the motto, " In things
essential, Unity, and in all things Charity " and stated the
purposes of the Alliance to be, " to develop a better state,
mentally, morally, socially, and financially ... to constantly
strive to secure entire harmony and good will among all man-
kind and brotherly love among ourselves; to suppress personal,
local, sectional, and national prejudices, all unhealthy rivalry
and all selfish ambition." A comparison of the two shows this
document to be but a crude paraphrase of parts of the " Declara-
tion of Purposes " adopted by the National Grange in 1874.2

During the first half of the decade of the eighties two agri-
cultural orders similar to the Alliance of Texas arose in Arkansas,

the Wheel and Alliance; H. R. Chamberlain, The Farmers' Alliance; C. S. Walker,
"The Farmers' Alliance," in Andover Review, xiv. 127-140 (August, 1890); H. R.
Chamberlain, " Farmers' Alliance and Other Political Parties," in Chautauquan,
xiii. 338-342 (June, 1891); W. A. Peffer, " The Farmers' Defensive Movement," in
Forum, viii. 464-473 (December, 1889); W. Gladden, "The Embattled Farmers,"
in Forum, x. 315-322 (November, 1890); J. T. Morgan, "The Danger of the
Farmers' Alliance," in Forum, xii. 399-409 (November, 1891); E. M. Drew, " The
Present Farmers' Movement," in Political Science Quarterly, vi. 282-310 (June,
1891); K. L. Butterfield, " Farmers' Social Organizations," in Bailey, Cyclopedia of
American Agriculture, iv. 295.

1 Dunning, Farmers' Alliance History, 28.

2 See above, p. 64.

304 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

— the Agricultural Wheel, and the Brothers of Freedom, —
and about the same time a Farmers' Union made its appearance
in Louisiana. The purposes and characteristics of these various
orders were so nearly alike that little difficulty was experienced
in merging them in a single organization. In 1885 the Brothers
of Freedom were consolidated with the Wheel making a total
of over a thousand local branches under the jurisdiction of the
State Wheel of Arkansas; in 1887 the Alliance of Texas and the
Union of Louisiana joined to form the National Farmers' Alliance
and Cooperative Union of America; and in 1889 this National
Farmers' Alliance merged with a National Wheel, which had
developed from the Arkansas Wheel, and took the name of the
" Farmers' and Laborers' Union of America." This last title
does not appear to have been used very extensively and the
order was generally spoken of from this time on as the National
Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union. Meanwhile this
movement had been spreading from the Southwest, where it
originated, until at the session of the National Alliance in St.
Louis in December, 1889, delegates were present from every
southern state except West Virginia, and also from Indiana,
Kansas, and Nebraska. At the next session at Ocala, Florida,,
in 1890, the National Colored Farmers' Alliance, and the Farmers'
Mutual Benefit Association, which had a considerable member-
ship in Indiana and Illinois, were absorbed, and a total member-
ship of between three and four million was then claimed for the
order. It will be noticed that the course of development of the
Alliance was somewhat different from that of the order of Patrons
of- Husbandry, which started out as a national organization and
then established the local and state granges; but all the main
features of the Alliance and its component parts, prior to 1890,
were strikingly similar to those which had been developed by the
Grange in the preceding decade. About 1890, however, the
order was drawn into the maelstrom of party politics and from
that time on its decline was as rapid as that of the Grange had
been.

While this new phase of the farmers' movement was developing
in the South, another agricultural organization with a very

CONCLUSION 305

similar name made its appearance in the Northwest. In April,
1880, a farmers' club or alliance was organized in Chicago under
the auspices of Milton George, editor of the Western Rural.
This " Cook County Alliance No. i " proceeded to issue dis-
pensations for the establishment of other alliances in the states
of the Northwest and in October, 1880, a convention " repre-
senting Granges, Farmers' Clubs and Alliances " was held in
Chicago to organize a National Farmers' Alliance of the United
States.1 This organization, which is generally spoken of as the
Northwestern Alliance to distinguish it from the Southern
Alliance, spread rapidly throughout the Northwest, and in
1882 eight state and two thousand local alliances with a mem-
bership of over one hundred thousand were claimed. This
order was very loosely organized, had no secret features, and
was from the beginning openly political in character. Its
platforms or resolutions bear a strong resemblance to those
adopted by the various Independent parties which arose in
connection with the Granger movement. In 1881, for example,
resolutions were adopted in favor of government regulation of
railroads, prohibition of free passes, reduction of salaries of
public officials, restriction of patent rights, and the more equi-
table adjustment of taxes including an income tax.2

Attempts were made at various times to unite the two national
alliances and in some states consolidations were effected; but
the Northwestern Alliance maintained its separate organization
and claimed a membership of three or four hundred thousand,
mainly in Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota, during the later
eighties. This order, like its southern namesake, declined
rapidly during the nineties, probably as a result of political
developments. A similar fate befell numerous other agricul-
tural orders, such as the Patrons of Industry, which was modeled
largely on the Grange and operated in Michigan, New York,
Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin in the later eighties; 3 and the

1 On the Northwestern Alliance, see Western Rural, publisher, Rides of Order
and . . . History of the Farmers' Alliance Movement; Dunning, Farmers' Alliance
History, 225; Butterfield, in Bailey, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, 295.

2 Western Rural, publisher, Farmers' Alliance Movement, 14.

8 Butterfield, in Bailey, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, 295.

306 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

National Farmers' League which was established in Massa-
chusetts in 1889, primarily for the purpose of securing a law
regulating the sale of oleomargerine.1 As one organization or
one group of organizations declined, however, others arose to
take their places and the farmers' movement went on. By
1890 the Grange had recovered sufficiently from the disasters
of its early career to begin a reconquest of its old fields; more
or less independent farmers' clubs have continued to flourish
in many parts of the West; and today the American Society of
Equity, with purposes similar to those of the Grange, though
perhaps more openly political, is enrolling large numbers of
farmers in its ranks.

The influence of the Granger movement as an example of
organization was not confined to the agricultural class. When
the order of Patrons of Husbandry was at the height of pros-
perity an attempt was made to combine the workingmen of
the country into a similar secret society adapted to their pur-
poses. The order of Sovereigns of Industry, of which the very
name betrays an imitation, was founded by William H. Earle
in Massachusetts in 1874^ Like the Grange this order was
composed of subordinate, state, and national councils and the
preamble of the constitution adopted by the National Council
at its session in Philadelphia in 1875 declared its purpose to be
to elevate and improve the condition of the laboring classes of
every calling. It further expressed an intention of presenting
an " organized resistance to the organized encroachments of the
monopolies and other evils of the existing industrial and com-
mercial system." The hand of fellowship was extended to kindred
organizations and " especially to the Patrons of Husbandry,
whose colossal growth and power already command that consid-
eration so justly due to the great basic industry of agriculture."3

1 Butterfield, in Bailey, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, 295; Chamberlain,
Farmers' Alliance, ch. vii.

2 Earle was intimate with Dudley W. Adams, master of the National Grange
from 1873 to 1875. He admitted that his inspiration came from the Patrons of
Husbandry. Bemis, in Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. 37. On the Sov-
ereigns of Industry, see ibid. 37-52; R. T. Ely, The Labor Movement, 174-177.

3 Sovereigns of Industry, Constitution . . . revised and adopted . . . 1875.

CONCLUSION 307

Trades unions and labor organizations of various sorts had
existed in the United States for some time, but this seems to
have been the first attempt on a large scale to unite workingmen
of all occupations in a single order to advance the welfare of the
laboring class as a whole.1 For a few years the Sovereigns of
Industry flourished vigorously and councils were established
in all of the New England and Middle States, in all of the states
of the old Northwest except Indiana, and in Kentucky, Mary-
land, and the District of Columbia. About five hundred councils
in all appear to have been established with a total member-
ship of nearly forty thousand. Over half of the membership,
however, was in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The prin-
cipal activity of this order was in the direction of distributive
cooperation,2 and large numbers of stores were organized on the
Rochdale plan in New England. Some of these were very suc-
cessful for a few years; but the Springfield store, which was the
largest, was dissolved in 1879, and the order collapsed in the
following year.

Another labor organization of a somewhat similar character
was the order of the Knights of Labor.3 This was founded in
Philadelphia in 1869, but did not spread to any considerable
extent until the latter part of the next decade. In 1878 the
name of the order was first made public and from that time on it
grew rapidly and became the first great national organization of
workingmen in America. While it is probable that the Grange ex-
erted no direct influence on the Knights of Labor, still the declara-
tions of the two orders exhibit a similarity of purpose. The pre-
amble adopted by the Knights declared their general aims to be:

1 The American Agriculturist, xxxiii. 47 (February, 1874) mentions the order of
" Patrons of Industry " as a weak imitation of the Patrons of Husbandry, for
workingmen, with headquarters in New York. This is, of course, not to be confused
with the order of " Patrons of Industry " which was organized in Michigan about
1887 as an agricultural order.

2 At the request of the Ohio Council of the Sovereigns of Industry, the Ohio
State Grange ordered its agent to cooperate with the Sovereigns in the purchase
of supplies. Ohio State Grange, Proceedings, iii (1876).

3 T. V. Powderly, Thirty Years of Labor; Ely, Labor Movement, 75-88; An
Historical Paper Showing the Aims and Objects of the Knights of Labor (leaflet in
University of Illinois library).

308 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

To secure for the workers the full enjoyment of the wealth they create;
sufficient leisure in which to develop their intellectual, moral, and social
faculties; all of the benefits, recreation, and pleasure of association; in a
word, to enable them to share in the gains and honors of advancing civili-
zation.1

In order to secure these results various demands were made
upon the state and national governments, among which were
the reservation of public lands for actual settlers; the issue of
legal-tender money " direct to the people, without the inter-
vention of banks " ; government ownership of railroads; postal
savings banks; and a graduated income tax. It is said that in
the later eighties large numbers of farmers joined the Knights
of Labor in parts of the South and West. In some states friendly
relations were established between the Knights and the different
farmers' organizations; while the National Assembly of the
Knights of Labor and the National Farmers' Alliance and
Industrial Union subscribed to a joint platform in St. Louis in
1889.2

The Granger movement, broadly viewed, was more than a
movement for class organization and its influence can be traced
in other directions. It was a movement to subject railroad
corporations to public control and the permanent influence of
its work in this direction has already been indicated. It was
also a movement for independence in politics, for a preference
for men and measures over parties, and even, when necessary,
for the organization of third parties. Politically, as otherwise,
the movement transcended the organization from which came
its name and even the agricultural class; but it was, neverthe-
less, distinctly a movement, not of leaders, but of the masses.
The political organizations of the Grangers soon passed away;
but the idea persisted that the people could break away from the
old political parties, which were still dividing on bygone issues,
and could force new issues to the front in spite of the opposition
of conservative political leaders.

In a few instances, as has been seen, it is possible to trace a
direct connection between the Independent parties of the Granger

1 Ely, Labor Movement, 86.

2 Ibid. 83; Dunning, Farmers' Alliance History, 122, 154.

CONCLUSION 309

period and the Greenback party, but the main issues of the
Independent parties were " reform " and railroad regulation,
while the Greenbackers demanded " reform " and fiat money.
The Peoples' or Populist party, however, seems to have been
the heir of both of these. The origin of the Populist party is to
be found in the St. Louis platform adopted by the Farmers'
Alliance and the Knights of Labor in 1889.* This platform
demanded the issue of legal tender treasury notes on a per capita
basis ; laws to prevent speculation in agricultural and mechanical
productions; free coinage of silver; reservation of public lands
for actual settlers; tariff reform and reduction of taxation; and
finally government ownership of railroads. With this platform
and, in the South, with a proposition for government warehouses
or sub-treasuries where the farmer could store his produce as
security for loans at nominal interest, the alliances went into
politics in 1890 and won notable victories in a number of southern
and western states.

In 1892 the Populist party became the political representative
of the alliances, as the Independent parties had been the political
representatives of the Granger movement. The Alliance plat-
form was elaborated and planks added favoring postal savings
banks, the old parties were denounced for agreeing to ignore
such issues as " capitalists, corporations, national banks, rings,
trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of silver, and the
oppressions of the usurers " ; and again victories were won by
the third party, though in many cases by means of fusion with
the weaker of the old parties. By 1896 the free silver plank
had risen to first place among the demands of the Populists;
and in that year this radical political movement, which came
from the West and the South, got control of the organization
of the Democratic party.2

The political and economic propositions of the Grangers,
the Alliance, and the Populists, were generally ridiculed by

1 Dunning, Farmers' Alliance History, 122. On the Populist party, see also
F. L. McVey, The Populist Movement; J. A. Woodburn, Political Parties and Party
Problems in the United States , 110-117; Chamberlain, Farmers' Alliance, ch. v;
D. L. Dewey, National Problems, 244-246.

2 Cf. Woodburn, Political Parties, ch. viii.

310 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

the conservative elements at the time, and some of them, like
the sub-treasury plan, were probably quite unsound. Others,
however, have remained constantly before the American people
and in the course of time have become respectable, at least.
Thus the necessity for the regulation of railroads by the govern-
ment, which was the principal political plank of the Grangers,
is now a generally accepted proposition; a postal savings bank
law has recently been enacted by Congress; an amendment
to the constitution to authorize the income tax has just received
the approval of the states; anti-trust laws are being enacted
by Congress and the state legislatures; and the reduction and
revision of the tariff is expected to be the principal work of
Congress at its next session. The " farmers' movement " has
been merged in a general "reform" or "progressive" move-
ment which transcends class and party lines; and a new
political party, which assumes to be the special representa-
tive of this movement, has jumped to second place at its first
appearance.

What, then is the significance of all this ? What does it
mean that the Grangers, the Sovereigns of Industry, the Green-
backers, the Farmers' Alliances, the Knights of Labor, the
Populists, the Bryan Democrats, the La Follette Republicans,
and now the Roosevelt Progressives have all denounced capital-
ists, corporations, monopolies, and special interests and have en-
deavored to devise ways by which their power might be curbed ?
What does it mean that practically every one of these agricul-
tural and labor organizations has attempted schemes of distribu-
tive or productive cooperation in the hope of making its members
more independent of these same capitalists, these same monop-
olies ? Does it not mean that writh the close of the Civil War
American history entered upon a new phase in which the domi-
nant feature has been a struggle of the people, or of parts of them
at different times, to preserve the political and economic democ-
racy which they believed to be endangered if not actually
destroyed by the rising power and influence of great accumula-
tions and combinations of wealth ?

CONCLUSION 311

Prior to about 1870 American history appears to have had
two distinguishing and characteristic features to which nearly
everything else can be related. In the first place it was the
history of the occupation of a continent by a civilized people;
and, secondly, it was the history of a struggle between two
incompatible social and economic systems established in the
two great sections of the country. One of these features passed
into the background with the Civil War and reconstruction, the
other with the practical disappearance a few years later of
free land suitable to the purposes of the individual pioneer.
Before the Civil War there had been no great accumulations
and combinations of wealth; but the industrial stimulus of the
war, the development of the corporate idea, and the great advance
in the applied sciences brought such accumulations and com-
binations rapidly to the front, while the disappearance of the
frontier closed a door of opportunity which had previously been
open to the oppressed and discontented. The result was a
tendency toward protective and cooperative organization along
class lines, of which the labor movement is one aspect, and the
farmers' movement another. The Grangers organized to fight
this " greater capitalism " wherever it made its appearance.
They saw it in the great railroad corporations of the country,
and they strove to subject them to public control; they saw it
in politics, and they organized independent parties to oust it;
they saw it in great industrial establishments and their agents,
the middlemen, and they established cooperative enterprises
in the endeavor to restore their economic independence. Trie
Greenbackers and the Populists believed that the stronghold
of this greater capitalism was in the monetary system of the
country, and they proposed to break its power by the issue of
fiat money. Thus in one form or another the struggle has been
carried on by agricultural organizations, by labor unions, and by
political parties or factions within political parties until it seems
to have culminated in a nation-wide movement for political,
social, and economic reform.

If this interpretation be correct, then the Granger movement
deserves a prominent place in American history. The decade

312 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT

of the seventies was the period of transition: it witnessed the
last stages of reconstruction and the disappearance of the frontier,
which mark the passing of the old ; and it witnessed the Granger
movement which marks the opening of the new period of Ameri-
can history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE material for the study of the Granger movement is voluminous
and widely scattered and much of it is of a fugitive sort and difficult
to locate; much of it also is to be found in the files of agricultural
and Grange papers, and such files are far from common. For conven-
ience in locating material, the libraries in which the more uncommon
items are to be found have been indicated by means of the following
symbols: L.C., Library of Congress, Washington; D.A., Library
of the Department of Agriculture, Washington; B.P., Boston Public
Library; H.C., Harvard College Library, Cambridge; W.H., Wis-
consin Historical Society Library, Madison; U.W., University of
Wisconsin Library, Madison; C.H., Chicago Historical Society
Library; J.C., John Crerar Library, Chicago; U.I., University of
Illinois Library, Urbana.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

FEDERAL

Senate and House Journals. The official record of the activities of Congress.

Congressional Globe. Contains the proceedings and debates in Congress in
full to 1873.

Congressional Record. Superseded the Globe in 1873.

Reports of Committees. These are printed for each house of each Congress.
The principal reports on the railroad question are listed separately under
" Railroads," below.

Supreme Court Reports. Contain the decisions of the Granger cases.

Richardson, James D. Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897.
Washington, 1898. 10 vols. Contain President Grant's allusions to
the railway question and to political conditions in the West.

United States Census. The eighth, ninth, and tenth censuses, 1860, 1870,
and 1880, contain pertinent material, especially the volumes on agri-
culture.

Commissioner of Agriculture. Reports, 1862-88. Washington, 1863-89.
These reports contain some valuable material for the study of agricul-
tural conditions during the period.

Interstate Commerce Commission. Annual Reports, 1887+. Washington,
1887+. These contain material which is helpful for an understanding
of the transportation conditions in the earlier period.

315

3 1 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Industrial Commission. Report. Washington, 1900-02. 19 vols. Deals
mainly with a later period; but parts of the report throw light also on
the earlier conditions in agriculture, transportation, and the grain eleva-
tor business.

STATE

The official publications of the several states are listed in Richard R.
Bowker, State Publications (New York, 1899-1908. i vol. in 4 parts), and
it will be unnecessary to do more here than to indicate the classes of docu-
ments in which material on the subject is found. The Index of Economic
Material in the Documents of the States, now being published by the Carnegie
Institution is useful in locating material in the Journals and Collected Docu-
ments. Volumes are out for Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu-
setts, Rhode Island, New York, Delaware, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and
California.

Senate and House or Assembly Journals. The official sources for the legis-
lative history of the Granger laws. They frequently contain also the
,messages of the governors and reports of committees which deal with the
railroad question.

Collected Documents. Under various titles, as Reports, Executive documents,
Legislative documents, etc., each state publishes a set of collected docu-
ments. They contain reports of committees, governors' messages,
and special communications on the railroad question.

Session Laws. Under various titles, as Laws, Public Laws, General Laws,
etc., each state publishes the acts of a general nature enacted at each
session of the legislature. These are, therefore, the official sources for
the Granger laws.

Revised Statutes. Some of the Granger acts can be found in the various
compilations or codes of laws published by the states from time to time.
The Revised Statutes of Illinois for 1874 contain the Illinois railroad law
of 1873 which was omitted from the Public Laws of that year. These
railroad laws can sometimes be found in the reports of railroad com-
missions or in special collections.

Supreme Court Reports. Those of Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
contain decisions of Granger cases.

State Railroad Commissions. Reports. These are the most valuable
sources for the workings of the Granger railroad laws and the litigation
over them. The most pertinent are: Illinois, 1871 + ; Wisconsin,
1874 + ; Minnesota, 1871 + ; Iowa, 1878 + ; Missouri, 1875 + ; Cali-
fornia, 1878 + ; Michigan, 1872 + ; Massachusetts, 1870+.

State Boards of Agriculture or Agricultural Societies. Proceedings, Trans-
actions, or Reports. These frequently contain material which throws
light upon the agricultural situation. In some cases, as Wisconsin, they
contain proceedings of agricultural conventions.

State Labor Bureaus. Reports. Occasionally contain material on the
cooperative phase of the Granger movement. Some of this is listed
below under " Cooperation."

BIBLIOGRAPHY 317

Legislative Manuals or Bluebooks. Annual or biennial publications con-
taining the constitutions, rosters of state officers and legislators, election
statistics, etc.

Thorpe, Francis N., editor. The Federal and State Constitutions. Wash-
ington, 1909. 7 vols.

Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Illinois,
convened at the City of Springfield, Tuesday, December 13, 1869. Spring-
field, 1870. 2 vols.

Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Illinois, convened at
Springfield, December 13, 1869. Springfield, 1870. This and the pre-
ceding item are essential to an understanding of the origin of the railway
and warehouse provisions of the Illinois constitution of 1870.

DOCUMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

NATIONAL

Commons, John R. and Andrews, John B. Labor Movement, 1860-80.
Cleveland, 1911. 2 vols. This collection forms volumes ix and x of
the Documentary History of American Industrial Society, which has been
prepared under the auspices of the American Bureau of Industrial Re-
search. About one hundred pages of the second volume are devoted to
documents of farmers' organizations, part of which were selected by the
writer when collecting material for the present work. They are taken
from Periam, The Groundswell; Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry; and
National Grange, Proceedings, vi-xiii (1873-79). The book appeared
too late to permit references to be made to it, but many of the resolutions
of the National Grange and other documents alluded to in the text can
be found in it conveniently. The volume contains documents of the
Knights of Labor also and the introduction to the two volumes is sug-
gestive.

National Grange, Journal of Proceedings. 1873+. L.C., W.H., U.W.,
D.A. The published proceedings begin with the sixth session, January,
1873, and continue to the present time. There has been one session
every year and in 1875 there were two, one in February and one in
November. These proceedings, together with the state grange proceed-
ings, form the principal body of material on the order of Patrons of
Husbandry. Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, supplies the place of the
proceedings for the sessions prior to 1873. In 1880 a committee was
appointed to compile and publish the proceedings of these early sessions,
but nothing ever appeared. (National Grange, Proceedings, xiv. 113,119.)
Secretary Kelley stated that a mass of letters which he had preserved
while secretary was sent to the paper mill by his successor. Smith,
Wisconsin Granger Movement (Ms.), 17. See also National Grange,
Proceedings, xiv. 45, 96.

National Grange. Constitution. Six different editions, published 1871-76,
in W.H.; edition of 1874, in L.C.

National Grange. Bryan Fund Publication, no. 4, n. p., n. d. W.H. Thomas
B. Bryan of Chicago contributed fifty dollars in 1870 to pay for the

3l8 BIBLIOGRAPHY

publication of tracts advertising the order, and Kelley gave them the
above title. Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 270, 278-280.

National Grange. Dedication of Grange Halls, adopted by the National
Grange, 1875. Louisville, 1875. W. H. Illustrates the fraternal side
of the order.

National Grange. Digest of the Laws and Enactments of the National Grange
to March 1, 1877 . . . issued by authority of the National Grange. Louis-
ville, 1877. 140 pp. W.H., L.C. Contents: articles of incorporation
of the National Grange by the state legislature of Kentucky, 1876;
declaration of purposes; outline of organization; constitution and by-
laws; rules and suggestions relative to cooperative stores; plan for
district granges; parliamentary guide; formula for public installation of
officers; formula for dedication of grange halls; funeral ceremony; and
digest of laws, decisions, etc.

National Grange. Manual of Subordinate Granges of the Patrons of Hus-
bandry, adopted and issued by the National Grange. 3d ed. Washington,

1871. 64 pp. L.C. 4th ed. Washington, 1872. 70 pp. L.C., W.H.
5th ed. Philadelphia, 1874. 72 pp. W.H.

National Grange. Origin of the Grange, n. p., n. d. A leaflet published

about 1899.
National Grange. The Patrons' Parliamentary Guide. Washington, 1874.

i6pp. L.C., W.H.
National Grange. Secretary's Reports or Monthly Bulletins. W.H. Under

various titles, occasional lists of officials of state granges, with statistics

of the number of granges in each state were published during 1874 and

1875-

Degree of the Golden Sheaf . Circulars. W.H. See above, p. no, note i.
National Agricultural Congress. Proceedings. i and v (1872, 1876) in

L.C.; vinD.A.
National Agricultural Convention. Proceedings. 1872. Washington,

1872. 84 pp. (42 Congress, 2 session, Senate Miscellaneous Documents,
no. 164).

National Agricultural Association. Proceedings at Organization, December,
1879. D.A.

Proceedings of a Convention of Agriculturists held at the Department of Agri-
culture, January 23-29, 1883. (United States, Department of Agri-
culture, Special Report, no. 2, miscellaneous series.)

STATE

No collection of state grange proceedings which is anywhere nearly com-
plete is known to exist. The collection in W.H. is probably the most ex-
tensive. The proceedings vary in fulness, in some cases containing but a
bare record of business transacted and in others containing speeches and
reports of committees in full. Possibly the most valuable parts of them are
the numerous resolutions or sets of resolutions which were almost invariably
adopted at each session of each state grange. Documents which have to do
solely with the business features of the order are listed under Cooperation.
The arrangement is alphabetical by states.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 319

Alabama State Grange. Proceedings, ii and iii (1874-75) i*1 W.H.

Alabama State Grange. Alabama State Grange Fair, Selma, Alabama, to
commence Tuesday, October 27 [26], 1875 and continue five days. Pro-
gramme and schedule of premiums etc. Selma, Alabama, 1875. Copy
in library of T. M. Owen, Carrollton, Alabama.

Gulf City Grange, no. 68, Mobile, Alabama. Mobile County ', eine passende
Heimath fur den deutschen Farmer. Bericht iiber die Einwanderung nach
Sud- Alabama Besonders der deutschen Farmer des Western, wrgelegt in
der Gulf City Grange no. 68, Patrons of Husbandry, nach einem in der
am 25. Juni 1874 abgehaltenen Versammlung gefassten Beschlusse. St.
Louis, 1874. 16 pp. L.C.

Arkansas State Grange. Proceedings, v (1877) in W.H. J. P. L. Russ
of El Paso, Arkansas, is reported to have a complete file. Arkansas
Historical Society, Publications, i. 224.

California State Grange. Organization . . . at Napa City, July 15, 1873.
San Francisco, 1873. The proceedings of the first and second annual
meetings, October, 1873, and October, 1874, are given quite fully in Carr,
Patrons of Husbandry.

Illinois State Grange. Proceedings. The secretary of the Wisconsin State
Grange has iii-v (1874-76) ; iv and v are in U.I.; and iv is in W.H.

Illinois State Grange. By-laws, 1875. Sterling, Illinois, 1876. W.H.

Illinois State Farmers' Association. Proceedings, ii (December, 1873) is in
L.C.; iii (January, 1875) and v (1877) are in U.I.; and v is also in D.A.

Indiana State Grange. Proceedings. A summary of the proceedings at the
organization of the state grange, February, 1872, and at sessions
November, 1872, and November, 1873, has been published in the appen-
dix to the proceedings of the thirty-sixth annual session, and also as a
leaflet, iv (1874) and viii+(i877+) are in W. H.

Iowa State Grange. Proceedings, iv-vi (1873-75) are m W. H.

Kansas State Grange. Proceedings, iii (1875) is in W. H.

Kansas State Grange. Constitution and By-laws. Lawrence [1875 ?]. W.H.

Kentucky State Grange. Constitution and By-laws, 1874. Lexington, Ky.,
1875. W.H.

Louisiana State Grange. Proceedings, iii (1875) is in W.H.

Louisiana State Grange. Memorial of the Patrons of Husbandry, of the State
of Louisiana, to the Forty -third Congress of the United States of America,
asking the government to facilitate the navigation of the Mississippi River,
by building the Fort St. Philip canal, and until its building can be
accomplished, to control the towing of vessels across the bar. New Or-
leans, 1873. 4 pp. L.C.

Maine State Grange. Proceedings. Proceedings at organization and i and
ii (1874-76), all in one pamphlet, are in W.H.; vi (1880) is in D.A.

Maryland State Grange. Proceedings. i (1874) and special session
(December, 1875) are in W.H.

Maryland State Grange. Constitution, 1874. W.H.

Maryland State Grange. By-laws, 1875. Baltimore, 1875. W.H. All
records and papers of the state grange were consumed by fire in 1878.
American Farmer, February, 1878, p. 74.

320 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Massachusetts State Grange. Proceedings, v (1877) is in D.A.

Massachusetts State Grange. Quarterly Bulletin. Issue for January, 1876,
is in W.H.

Michigan State Grange. Proceedings, ii and iii (January, December,
1875) are in W.H.; vi (1878), viii (1880) in D.A. The secretary of the
state grange has an office file of the proceedings.

Michigan State Grange. Blank form for articles of association of Michigan
granges under act of the Michigan legislature " to incorporate State and
Subordinate Granges" April 8, 1875. W.H.

Michigan State Grange. Blank form for subordinate grange charter. W.H.

Minnesota State Grange. Constitution, February, 1873. Lake City, Minn-
esota, 1873. W.H.

Mississippi State Grange. Proceedings, v (1875) is in W.H.

Mississippi State Grange. By-laws. 2ded. (1872). W.H.

Missouri State Grange. Proceedings, iii and iv (1874-75), also master's
address from v (1876), are in W.H.

Missouri State Grange. Constitution and By-laws, 1873. Kansas City,
1783. Ibid., October, 1874. St. Louis, 1874. W.H.

Montana Territorial Grange. Proceedings, i (1875) is in W.H.

Nebraska State Grange. Proceedings, iv (1874) is in W.H.

Nebraska State Grange. Constitution, 1873. Lincoln, 1874. W.H.

New Hampshire State Grange. Proceedings. Proceedings at organization
and i and ii (1873-75), in one pamphlet, iii (1876), vii (1880) are in
W.H.; iii + (1876+) in D.A.

New Hampshire State Grange. By-laws, 1876. Claremont, N. H., 1877.
W.H.

New York State Grange. Proceedings, ii and iii (1875-76) are in W.H.
The secretary of the state grange has a complete file in his office.

North Carolina State Grange. Proceedings, ii-iv (1875-77) are m W.H.

Ohio State Grange. Proceedings, i-iii (1874-76) are in W.H. ; vi (1879)
is in L.C.

Ohio State Grange. Patrons1 Song Book; for use in the grange; containing
a choice collection of original and selected gems, compiled and published
under the auspices of the Ohio State Grange. Cincinnati, 1877. 55 pp.
Rev. ed., Cincinnati, 1879. W.H.

Oregon State Grange. Proceedings, iii (1876) is in W.H.

Pennsylvania State Grange. Proceedings. The secretary of the state
grange has a complete file in his office.

South Carolina State Grange. Proceedings. iv (1876) is in W.H. A
manuscript Minute-book in the office of the secretary of the state grange
contains a complete record of the proceedings. The South Carolina
State Agricultural and Mechanical Society, Transactions for 1877 and
1 88 1 (Columbia) contain state grange proceedings.

South Carolina State Grange. By-laws. Charleston, 1873. W.H.

History, Description and Resources of Darlington County, State of South
Carolina. Charleston, 1874. 29 pp. L.C. Prepared by the com-
mittee on immigration of a convention of granges of Darlington County.

Tennessee State Grange. Proceedings, ii (1875) is in W.H.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 321

Texas State Grange. Proceedings. Minutes of sessions from organization,
October, 1872, to April, 1874, and i (August, 1874) are in W.H.

Texas State Grange. Constitution, 1874. Waco, Texas, 1874. W.H.

Vermont State Grange. Proceedings. Proceedings at organization, July,
1872, and i-iii (1872-74), in one pamphlet, and iv (1875) are in W.H.

Virginia State Grange. Proceedings. Minutes, i (December, 1873) and
called session (April, 1874), in one pamphlet, are in W.H.

Wisconsin State Grange. Proceedings. ii+ (1874+) in W.H.

Wisconsin State Grange. Grange List of Patrons of Husbandry, of the State
of Wisconsin, for the year 1874. Neenah, 1874. n pp. W.H. Lists
505 granges; also gives the names of thirty-nine deputies and county
purchasing agents. The Prairie Farmer, xlvi. 186 (June 12, 1875) states
that the practice of publishing these lists of subordinate granges was to
be abandoned and that Illinois and Wisconsin would not publish that
year.

Wisconsin State Grange. Constitution and By-laws . . . together with
forms for subordinate granges and county councils. Oshkosh, 1874. 30 pp.
Copy in W.H. bound with the Proceedings.

Rock County (Wisconsin) Pomona Grange. Constitution, By-laws, list of
officers and members and time of meeting of Rock County Pomona Grange,
no. 5, of Wisconsin. Janesville, Wisconsin, 1877. 26 pp. W.H.

Fond du Lac County (Wisconsin) Pomona Grange, Constitution and By-
laws. Fond du Lac, 1877. W.H.

NEWSPAPERS

Next to the state grange proceedings, the Grange and other agricultural
papers are the most valuable sources for the study of the movement in
particular states or localities. The following list contains the principal
agricultural papers published during the period and all papers which are
known to have had any special connection with the movement. It is hoped
that the publication of this list may lead to the location and preservation
of files of some of these papers. The dates given are years during which
the paper is known to have been issued and not necessarily the dates of
establishment and discontinuance. The arrangement is alphabetical by
states and the following abbreviations are used: d., daily; s.-w., semi-
weekly; w., weekly; s.-m., semi-monthly; m., monthly.

Rural Alabamian, Mobile, Alabama, m., 1872-73. Complete file for 1872-

73 in D.A.
Arkansas Grange, Little Rock, m., 1873-77. Established in 1873 as the

official organ of the order in the state.
Weekly Grange, Little Rock, Arkansas, w., 1875-77.
California Farmer, San Francisco, w., 1855-80.
California Granger, San Jose, 1874. Consolidated with the Pacific Rural

Press, January, 1875.
California Patron, San Francisco, m., s.-m., 1875-80. Established in May,

1875 and published under the control of the executive committee of the

state grange. File, May, i876-June, 1878, in W.H.

322 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pacific Rural Press, San Francisco, w., iSyo-date.

Sacramento Valley Agriculturist, Sacramento, California, w., 1873-79. Es-
tablished in 1873; "devoted to agriculture, horticulture, and Grange
interests of California."

Semi-Tropical Farmer, Los Angeles, California, w., 1875-76. Established
in 1875 by a member of the Grange and printed Grange news extensively.

Colorado Grange, Greeley, m., 1876. Published by the master and secretary
of the state grange under the authority of the executive committee.

Florida Agriculturist, De Land, w., 1874-80.

Florida Patron, m., 1874. Edited by W. H. Wilson, lecturer of the state
grange, on his farm near Wellborn.

Grange Bulletin, Wellborn, Florida, m., 1876. Published by W. H. Wilson.
Probably a successor of the Florida Patron.

Georgia Grange, Atlanta, w., 1874-76. Claimed to be the official organ of
" the Patrons of Husbandry, the Direct Trade Union, the State Agricul-
tural Society and the Department of Agriculture " and to be read by
every farmer in Georgia and many in the adjoining states. Absorbed
by the Southern Cultivator.

Rural Southerner and Plantation, Atlanta, Georgia, w., 1868-76. In 1876
it claimed to represent " the interests of farmers, Patrons of Husbandry,
the Direct Trade Union " etc., and to have a circulation of six thousand.
File for 1870 in D.A.

Southern Cultivator, Athens, Atlanta, and Augusta, Georgia, m., i843~date.
File, April, i868-December, 1881, in D.A.

Southern Farmer and Home, Macon, Georgia, m., 1869-73. File, December,
i869-October, 1873, in D.A.

Southern Planter and Grange, Atlanta, Georgia, w., 1873-80. Circulation
over three thousand in 1879. File, 1873-80 in L.C.

Anti-Monopolist, Bloomington, Illinois, 1873-74. Merged with the McLean
County Anti-Monopolist of Saybrook, January, 1874.

Anti-Monopolist, Hillsboro, Illinois, 1874.

Anti-Monopolist, Salem, Illinois, 1873.

Anti-Monopolist, Woodstock, Illinois, 1873.

Appeal, Bloomington, Illinois, w., 1875. Supported the Independent
movement.

Chicago Tribune, d. and w., i847~date. Under the editorship of Horace
White the Tribune supported the Grangers in their struggle for railroad
regulation, but it changed hands in the fall of 1874. It is an important
source of information on the Granger movement in all the western states.
Complete files for the decade of the seventies in the Tribune office; C.H. ;
Chicago Public Library; Newberry Library, Chicago; and nearly
complete files in W.H., Boston Athenaeum, and the library of the Amer-
ican Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Christian County Farmers' Journal, Taylorville, Illinois, w., March, 1875-
1907. Established in March, 1875, as the Independent. Name changed,
January, 1876. Organ of the Granger and Greenback element of the
county.

Farmers' Advocate, Bement, Illinois, 1873-75.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 323

Farmers' Advocate, Marion, Illinois, 1873-74.

Farmers' Advocate, Monticello, Illinois, 1874.

Farmers' Union, Lawrenceville, Illinois, 1873-74. Supported the Granger
movement.

Granger, St. Anne, Illinois, 1873-74.

Illinois Granger, Macomb, Illinois, w., 1873-76. Name changed to Inde-
pendent in 1876. Supported the Greenback party.

Independent, Kewanee, Illinois, w., 1871-95. Supported the Independent
party movement.

Independent Reformer, Springfield, Illinois, 1874. A campaign paper in the
interests of the Independent party. Circulated gratuitously in the fall
of 1874.

Industrial Age, Chicago, w., 1873-77. Established in August, 1873, as the
organ of the farmers' movement. Later Greenback in tone. The Prairie
Farmer, xliv. 289, 292 (September 13, 1873), said it was supposed to be
backed by the McCormick Reaper Company. Circulation reported as
five thousand in 1876. File from beginning to February, 1877, in
W.H.; file for 1876 in U.I.

Industrial Press, Galena, Illinois, w., February, 1874-84. Supported the
Independent party movement.

Liberal Reformer, Morris, Illinois, w., 1872-79. Supported the Independent
party movement.

McLean County Anti-Monopolist, Saybrook and Bloomington, Illinois,

1874-75-

National Crop Reporter, Jacksonville, 1873. See same title, Jackson, Ten-
nessee.

New Era, Woodstock, Illinois, w., 1873-80. A Grange and later a Green-
back paper.

Northern Granger, St. Charles, Illinois, w., 1873-74.

Ogle County Granger, Oregon, Illinois, w., 1873-75.

People's Paper, Chicago, 1873. A Grange paper edited by Edward N.
Fuller. Only two numbers, July 26, and August 16, 1873, appear to
have been published. The paper was then merged in the Industrial
Age. Copies of both numbers are in C.H.

Prairie Farmer, Chicago, w., i843~date. Early favorable to the Patrons
of Husbandry and established a Grange department in December, 1873.
Later another department was added for the clubs and the State Far-
mers' Association. Favored railroad regulation and looked with approval
upon the Independent party movements. Claimed a circulation of
twenty thousand in 1876. Files: nearly complete in U.I.; 1869-75 in
B.P.; 1875-76 in C.H.; May-December, 1873, in W.H.

Spirit of the Grange, Bloomington, Illinois, w., 1876. Vol. i. no. 7 (August
3, 1876) owned by the McLean County Historical Society.

State Grange News, Freeport, Illinois, 1877. Published by J. M. Chambers,
the secretary of the state grange.

Western Agriculturist (and Live Stock Journal), Quincy, Illinois, m., 1868-
date. Files: February-December, 1874, 1878-1900, in D.A.; 1875-79
in Chicago Public Library; 1877-88 in U.I.

324 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Western Farmer, Dixon, Illinois, m., 1868-82. Established as Rock River
Farmer. The Industrial Age in 1873 accused it of " working for monop-
oly masters." Partial file, 1875-77, in C.H.

Western Rural, Chicago, w., 1863-90. Claimed a circulation of twenty-five
thousand in 1876. Took the lead in organizing the Northwestern
Alliance in 1880 and served as its organ. Files: 1868-70, 1875-94 in
C.H.; May-December, 1875, in W.H.

Workingman's Advocate (and Anti-Monopolist), Chicago, w., 1864-79.
" Official organ of the labor union, and devoted to the interests of the
producing classes."

Grange, Terre Haute, Indiana, 1875.

Hoosier Patron and Lady Granger, Indianapolis, w., 1874-76. Official organ
of the state grange. Claimed a circulation of sixty-five hundred in
1876.

Indiana Farmer, Indianapolis, w., i845~date.

Indiana Granger, Muncie, Indiana, 1874.

Indianapolis Sun, w., 1873-79. Supported the Independent and Green-
back parties. Claimed a circulation of nineteen thousand in 1876.

Jay County Granger, Portland, Indiana, w., 1871-79.

National Crop Reporter, Indianapolis. See same title, Jackson, Tennessee.

Western Granger and Home Journal, Lafayette, Indiana, w., 1871-79. " De-
voted to the interests of the Grange, farm and fireside." Claimed a
circulation of fifteen hundred in 1876.

Des Moines Leader, Iowa, d. and w., 1874-76. Supported the Anti-Monop-
oly party.

Iowa Homestead and Western Farm Journal, Des Moines, Iowa, w., 1855-
date.

Patrons' Helper, Des Moines, Iowa, w., 1874-76.

Waukon Standard, Waukon, Iowa, w., 1868-96. " Has done us good service,
both in favoring and opposing the movement." Kelley, Patrons of Hus-
bandry, 212.

Western Stock Journal and Farmer, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, m., 1872-80.

Farmers' Advocate, Salina, Kansas, w., 1875-76.

Kansas Farmer, Topeka, w., 1863-80. Established at Leavenworth, moved
to Topeka. Edited by J. K. Hudson, author of a Patrons' Handbook
and prominent in Grange work. Claimed a circulation of over six thou-
sand in 1876.

Kansas Patron and Farmer, Olathe, w., 1878-96. Official paper of the
state grange after 1881.

Patrons' Gleaner, Emporia, Kansas.

Spirit of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, w., 1872-80. An agricultural paper.
Supported the Granger movement.

Standard of Reform, Lawrence, Kansas, d. and w., 1870-79. " The acknowl-
edged state organ of the opposition [Independent] party."

Vox Populi, Lawrence (?), Kansas, 1873-74. Edited by Henry Bronson of
the Douglas County Farmers' Union, author of a pamphlet on Farmers'
Unions and Tax Reform. Reported as " down and out " early in 1874.

Farmers' Home Journal, Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, w., i865~date.

BIBLIOGRAPHY $2$

Grange Record, Louisville, Kentucky, April, 1877 + (?)• Published by order
of the National Grange under the supervision of the executive committee.
See above, p. 289. Vol. i. no. i, is in W.H.

Home and Farm, Louisville, Kentucky, s.-m., 1876-80. File, April, 1879-
December, 1880, in B.P.

National Granger, Louisville, Kentucky, w., 1875-76. In 1876, claimed
to be the leading Grange paper with the hearty support of the order and
a circulation of over five thousand, but sold out before the close of the
year to the Southern Agriculturist.

Patrons' Bulletin, Georgetown, Kentucky, m., 1875-77. " The only official
organ of the State Grange." Published by the executive committee
and one copy sent to each grange to be read in meetings. Confidential.
File, November, i875-August, 1877 in W.H.

Southern Agriculturist, Louisville, Kentucky, 1870-79.

(Farmers' Vindicator and) Cooperative News, New Orleans, w., 1875-79.
Had the approval of the state grange.

Louisiana Sugar Bowl, New Iberia, w., 1870-79. Organ of the sugar plant-
ers.

Our Home Journal and Rural Southland, New Orleans, w., 1865-79. Official
organ of the state grange in 1875. Claimed a circulation of over seven
thousand in 1876.

Son of the Soil, New Orleans, w., 1875-76. " Devoted to the farm and grange
interests of the South." Claimed a circulation of over four thousand in
1876.

Southwestern Granger, New Orleans, w., 1876. Claimed to be " generally
endorsed by the Grange fraternity," and to have a circulation of over
two thousand.

Dirigo Rural, Bangor, Maine, w., 1874-82. A strong Grange paper. Cir-
culation about two thousand.

Maine Farmer, Augusta, i833~date.

American Farmer, Baltimore, Maryland, m., 1866-81. Published Grange
items. Files: 1869, 1872-81 in D.A.; 1876-81, incomplete, in W.H.

Maryland Farmer, Baltimore, m., 1864-96. Published many Grange items.
File, 1869-96 in D.A.

Our Fireside, Baltimore, 1877. Assumed to be an organ of the state grange.

American Cultivator, Boston, Massachusetts, w., i839~date.

Massachusetts Ploughman, w., Boston, 1841-96. Supported the Patrons of
Husbandry as early as 1871.

New England Farmer, Boston, w., i848-date. File, 1866-76 in American
Antiquarian Society library, Worcester, Massachusetts.

New England Homestead, Springfield, Massachusetts, w., i868-date.

Northborough Farmer, Northborough, Massachusetts, w., 1873-80.

Grange Standard, Detroit, Michigan, s.-m., 1876.

Grange Visitor, Schoolcraft, Michigan., m., 1875-76. Issued by the execu-
tive committee of the state grange.

Michigan Farmer and State Journal of Agriculture, Detroit, i867~date.

New Era and Grange Index, Owosso, Michigan, w., 1874-76. Absorbed the
Northern Granger, of Lansing in 1874.

326 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Northern Granger and Farmers' Advocate, Lansing, Michigan, 1874.
Anti-Monopolist , St. Paul, Minnesota, w., 1874-79. Published by Ignatius

Donnelly, who took the lead in the Anti-Monopoly party movement in

Minnesota.
Farmers1 Union, Minneapolis, w., 1867-80. Favorable to the Grange.

Files: 1869-70 in B.P.; 1873 in W.H.
Grange Advance, Red Wing, Minnesota, w., s.-w., 1873-79.
Minnesota Monthly, St. Paul, m., 1869. Edited by D. A. Robertson, who

helped Kelley to get the Grange started in the state. File, 1869 in D.A.
Sank Rapids Sentinel, Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, w., 1868-80. The editor

was a friend of Secretary Kelley and the paper served as an organ of the

order in the early days.
Canton Mail (Grange), Canton, Mississippi, w., 1865-79. Listed as a Grange

paper in 1875.
Farmer's Vindicator, Jackson, Mississippi, 1873-75. Edited by E. G. Wall,

a Grange leader in the state.
Patron of Husbandry, Columbus, Mississippi, w., 1873-80. About the most

prominent Grange paper in the South.
Coleman's Rural World, St. Louis, Missouri, w., i848-date. The oldest and

most prominent agricultural paper in the Southwest. Early came to the

support of the Grange. Files: 1871 in B.P.; 1882-85, incomplete, in

W.H.
Grange Correspondent and Dry-Goods Reporter, St. Louis, 1875. Established

in August, 1875, by a Grange purchasing agent who got into trouble

by printing statements derogatory to some of the officers of the state

grange. See National Grange, Proceedings, xi. in (1877). '

Grange Monitor, Missouri, 1874.

Journal of Agriculture and Farmer, St. Louis, w., 1866-96.
Midland Farmer, St. Louis, m., 1871-80.
Missouri Farmer, Boonville, Missouri, 1874-75. Consolidated with the

Journal of Agriculture of St. Louis, in 1875.
Missouri Granger, Macon, Missouri, w., 1875-76.
Monthly Talk, St. Louis, m., 1875-76. Issued by the executive committee

of the state grange.
National Granger, St. Louis, w., 1874.
Patron of Husbandry, Savannah, Missouri, w., 1875-76.
Rocky Mountain Husbandman, White Sulphur Springs, Montana, w., 1875-

80.

Center-Union Agriculturist, Omaha, Nebraska, w., 1869-79.
Farmers' Blade, Nebraska, 1874.
Grange Review, Salem, Nebraska, 1875.
Granger, Brownville, Nebraska, w., 1876.
Nebraska Patron, 1874.

Rural Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska, m., 1868-80.

Mirror and Farmer, Manchester, New Hampshire, w., i85i-date. Pub-
lished Grange news and announcements. Files: 1859-72, March 23,

1878, in B.P.; 1868-72 in American Antiquarian Society library at

Worcester, Massachusetts.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 327

Portsmouth Weekly, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, w., 1877-80. Organ of
the state grange in 1880.

New Jersey Granger, Vineland, New Jersey, w., 1874. The Vineland Inde-
pendent adopted this name in 1874.

American Agriculturist, New York City, m., i842-date. Had probably the
largest circulation of any agricultural paper in the country, about fifty
thousand. Contained some Grange material. Files: complete to 1900
inD.A.; 1856-94 in B. P.

American Rural Home, Rochester, New York, w., 1870-80.

Chautauqua Farmer, Forestville, New York, w., 1869-80.

Cultivator and Country Gentlemen, Albany, New York, w., i83i-date. Con-
tained a few Grange items but did not become enthusiastic over the
order. Files: 1866-79 in D.A., 1869-75 in W.H.

Farmers' Journal, Carthage, New York, w., 1875-76.

Grangers' Prices Current, later Patrons' Gazette, New York City, m., 1875.
A " Grange Commercial Paper," apparently published in the interests
of a mail order firm.

Husbandman, Elmira, New York, w., 1874-80. Edited by the secretary of
the state grange.

Moore's Rural New Yorker, Rochester and New York City, w., i85o-date.
Contained considerable information on the Granger movement especially
after 1873. File, 1856-63, 1869-79 in D.A.

Nation, New York City, w., i865~date. Denounced the Granger movement
vigorously.

National Agriculturist and Working Farmer, New York City, m., 1848-80.

National Record, Dansville, New York, 1876. " To present crop statistics
for Patrons only and from Patrons."

New York Tribune, d., w., and s.-w., i84i-date. The Tribune took a great
interest in the farmers' movement and sent a special correspondent to
the West to report on it. Files of the daily are quite common ; the semi-
weekly, 1861-79, is in U.I.

Scythe, New York City, 1873-74. Its purpose was " to mow down monop-
oly and extortion," but the Industrial Age said it cut the fingers of all
who touched it.

Carolina Farmer, Wilmington, North Carolina, m., 1868-79.

Southern Home, Charlotte, North Carolina, w., 1870-79. Had the approval
of the state grange.

(American} Grange Bulletin, Cincinnati, Ohio, w., i875~date. Had a cir-
culation of about three thousand in 1879. Is one of the few Grange
papers which have survived to the present day. Files: 1895-1900 in
D.A.; 1900-02, containing historical articles on the Grange by J. J.
Woodman and others, in W.H.

American Patron, Findlay, Ohio, w., 1875-76. Claimed to be " the leading
grange and agricultural paper," and to have a circulation of eight thou-
sand in 1876. The editor was a Patron.

Grange Visitor and Farmers' Monthly Magazine, Springfield, Ohio, m., 1875-

79-
Harvest Home, Mt. Washington, Ohio, 1875.

328 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Live Patron, Springfield, Ohio, w., 1877-80.

Ohio (Practical) Farmer, Cleveland, w., i852-date.

Patrons' Advance, Batavia, Ohio, 1875-76.

Union and Patron, Urbana, Ohio, w., 1875. Probably a name adopted by
the Urbana Union in 1875 and changed the next year to Union and
Democrat.

Eugene City Guard, Eugene City, Oregon, 1867-79. Supported the Granger
movement and the Independent party.

Oregon Cultivator, Albany, w., 1876.

Oregon Granger, Albany, 1875.

Willamette Farmer, Salem, Oregon, w., 1868-80.

Farmers' Friend, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 1874-80. Edited by the
secretary of the state grange. Claimed to have a circulation of thirteen
thousand and to be the official organ of the Patrons of New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia.

National Farmer and Horticulture Register, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1870-
71. Used by Secretary Kelley to advertise the Grange in 1871.

Practical Farmer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, i855-date.

Rock Hill Grange, Rock Hill, South Carolina, w., 1875-76.

Rural Carolinian, Charleston and Cokesbury, m., 1869-77. Edited by
D. H. Jacques and later by D. Wyatt Aiken, both prominent Grange
leaders. One of the first southern papers to take up the Patrons of
Husbandry and valuable for following the Granger movement in the
South. File, October, i869-September, 1871, October, i872-September,
1874 in D.A.

American Farmers' Advocate, Jackson, Tennessee, 1872-73. " Devoted to
the interests of the National Agricultural Congress and the order of
Patrons of Husbandry." File, 1872-73 in B.P.

Grange Journal, Humboldt, Tennessee, w., 1876.

(Living Age and} Grange Outlook, Knoxville, Tennessee, w., 1874-76. Claimed
a large circulation in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and
North Carolina.

National Crop Reporter, Jackson, Tennessee, 1873. An anti-Grange and
anti-secret society paper. Moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, and then to
Indianapolis.

Patron of Husbandry, Memphis, Tennessee, w., 1874-79.

Rural Sun, Nashville, Tennessee, w., 1872-79.

Southern Farmer, Memphis, Tennessee, w., 1876. Ran a Grange depart-
ment.

Southern Husbandman, Nashville, Tennessee, m., 1877-79. Organ of the
state grange.

Southern Granger, Memphis, Tennessee, s.-m., 1875-76.

(East) Texas Patron, Crockett, Texas, w., 1875-79.

Examiner (and Patron), Waco, Texas, w., 1868-79.

Grange Reporter, Tyler, Texas, w., 1876.

Valley Farmer, Windsor, Vermont, w., 1873-80.

Vermont Record and Farmer, Brattleboro, w., 1862-80. File, 1870-73 in
B.P.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 329

Southern Planter and Farmer, Richmond, Virginia, m., i84i-date. Ran a
Grange department. Files: 1869-71, 1883 in D.A.; 1875-76 scattered
numbers and 1877-80 in W.H.

Virginia Granger, Portsmouth, w., 1879-80.

Virginia Patron, Richmond, w., 1875-78.

Adams County Press, Friendship, Wisconsin, w., i86i-date. Edited by the
master of the state grange and official organ of the order in 1871-72.
File, i865-date in W.H.

Bulletin of the Executive Committee of the State Grange of Wisconsin, Patrons of
Husbandry, Madison, Oshkosh, and Neenah, m., s.-m., 1875-85. Edited
at first by J. H. Osborn, master of the state grange and chairman
of the railroad commission, afterwards by the secretary of the state
grange. Became semi-monthly in 1880. After 1880 it was a general
agricultural paper containing much besides Grange matter. Absorbed
by the Western Farmer of Madison in 1885. File, 1875-81, and scat-
tered numbers 1881-84, in W.H.

Oshkosh Times, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, w., i867~date. Was practically an
organ of the Grange for several years. File, 1873-83 in W.H.

Western Farmer, Madison, Wisconsin (i), w., 1868-75. Merged in Western
Rural of Chicago, 1875. File, 1869, 1871-74 in W.H.

Western Farmer, Madison, Wisconsin (2), w., 1882-91. Absorbed the
Grange Bulletin in 1885 and was the organ of the order, 1885-86. File,
1882-90 in W.H.

Western Journal of Agriculture, Milwaukee, s.-m., 1873-74. Started in the
fall of 1873 by Dr. O. W. Wright, one of the leaders of the Peoples'
Reform party. Subscription list turned over to the Industrial Age of
Chicago in January, 1874.

Wisconsin Granger, Madison, w., 1873-75.

Wisconsin Post, Shawano, w., 1872-74. A German paper supporting the
Peoples' Reform party. File, 1873-74 in W.H.

Wisconsin Statesman, Madison, w., 1875-76. Successor to the Wisconsin
Granger. Published Grange news and supported the Peoples' Reform
party. Democratic in national politics. In December, 1873, the editor
stated that it did not have sufficient patronage to support it but that
he would continue to publish it for his own amusement. File, July,
i875-October, 1876 in W.H.

GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL

GENERAL

Andrews, Elisha B. The History of the Last Quarter-Century in the United
States, 1870-95. New York, 1896. 2 vols. Popular and sketchy.
Characterizes the Granger movement briefly in a chapter on "Agrarian
and Labor Movements in the Seventies " and brings out its connection
with the Kearneyite agitation in California.

Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events, 1861-}-.
New York, 1862+. Prior to 1875 the title reads, American Annual

330 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cyclopedia. Articles: "Patrons of Husbandry,'* "Illinois," and
" Iowa " in the volume for 1873 contain documentary material. There
are also convenient summaries of politics and legislation under the differ-
ent states in each volume of the period.

Bailey, L. H., editor. Cyclopedia of American Agriculture; a Popular
Survey of Agricultural Conditions, Practices, and Ideals in the United
States and Canada. New York, 1907-09. 4 vols. The first volume
contains a useful survey of agricultural conditions in the various sections.
The last volume, entitled " Farm and Community," is especially perti-
nent. It contains chapters on " Business Organization in Agriculture,"
" Social and Service Association," and " Education by Means of Agri-
culture," which summarize and interpret many phases of the Granger
movement.

Bemis, Edward W. " The Discontent of the Farmer," in Journal of Politi-
cal Economy, i. 193-213 (March, 1893). Examines the causes for the
failure of farming to increase in profit and attractiveness as rapidly as
city occupations.

Bogart, Ernest L. The Economic History of The United States. New
York, 1910 (copyright, 1907). 522 pp. (Longmans' Commercial Text-
Books.) A convenient summary of economic conditions and develop-
ments.

Bolles, Albert S. Industrial History of the United States, from the Earliest
Settlements to the Present Time. Norwich, Connecticut, 1879. 936 pp.
Contains an inaccurate general account of the Granger movement.

Bryce, James. The American Commonwealth. New York, 1888, and later
editions. 2 vols. Gives a clear insight into American political condi-
tions since the war. The Granger railroad legislation is treated briefly
but fairly.

Butterfield, Kenyon L. Chapters in Rural Progress. Chicago, 1908. 251
pp. The chapter on the Grange is a revision of his article in the Forum.
The other chapters are suggestive on the condition and needs of the
farmer.

Cloud, D. C. Monopolies and the People. Davenport, Iowa, 1873. 514 pp.
A radical exposition of economic and political abuses of monopoly. The
book is dedicated to the Patrons of Husbandry.

Coman, Katharine. The Industrial History of the United States, for high
schools and colleges. New York, 1905. xviii, 343, xxiv pp. Contains
a succinct statement of the causes and course of the Granger movement.
Also useful for the economic background.

" Condition of Agriculture in the Cotton States," in Commissioner of Agri-
culture, Reports, 1874, pp. 215-238. Gives an insight into the causes of
agricultural depression and discontent in the South.

Cooper, Thomas V., and Fenton, Hector T. American Politics (non-parti-
san) from the beginning to date; embodying a history of all the political
parties, with their views and records on all important questions. Great
speeches on all great issues; the text of all existing political laws. Boston,
1882 and later editions. 1097 pp. Contains a brief account of the
Granger movement and the Granger railway legislation of Illinois.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 33!

Dodge, John R. " The Discontent of the Farmer," in Century, xxi. 447-456
(January, 1892). A discussion of the complaints of the farmers and the
causes of discontent both general and local. Sympathetic but optimistic
in tone.

Dun, Finlay. American Farming and Food. London, 1881. 477 pp.
Throws light on agricultural conditions.

Dunning, W. A. Reconstruction, Political and Economic, 1865-1877. New
York, 1907. 378 pp. (American Nation, xxii.) Touches the Granger
movement only incidentally, but is useful for the political and economic
background.

Elliot, J. R. American Farms; their Condition and Future. New York,
1890. 262 pp. An inquiry into the causes of the lack of prosperity in
rural districts and an examination of the proposed remedies.

Ely, Richard T. The Labor Movement in America. New York, 1886. xvi.
399 pp. Treats the Patrons of Husbandry and Sovereigns of Industry
incidentally in the chapter on " Cooperation." The Knights of Labor
are treated more at length.

Emerick, C. F. " An Analysis of the Agricultural Discontent in the United
States," in Political Science Quarterly, xi. 433-463, 601-639, xii. 93-127
(September, December, 1896, March, 1897). A thorough-going and
scientific analysis of the agricultural situation in the nineties, throwing
light also upon previous conditions. Among the proposed remedies for
the ills of the farmers, reform in taxation and thrift are approved. A
useful bibliography is appended.

Fite, Emerson D. Social and Industrial Conditions in the North during the
Civil War. New York, 1910. 318 pp. Furnishes a background for
the Granger movement.

Greathouse, Charles H. Historical Sketch of the United States Department
of Agriculture. Washington, 1898. 74 pp. (United States Department
of Agriculture, Division of Publications, Bulletins, no. 3.) Recognizes
the influence of the Grange in securing the creation of the agricultural
department.

Hammond, Matthew B. The Cotton Industry; an Essay in American
Economic History. New York, 1897. 382 pp. Throws light on the
economic condition of the southern cotton planters during the period.

Hammond , Matthew B . " The Southern Farmer and the Cotton Question , ' '
in Political Science Quarterly, xii. 450-475 (September, 1897). Deals
with the effects of the war, the credit system, and the over-production
of cotton upon the southern farmers.

Hart, Albert B. " The Disposition of our Public Lands," in Quarterly
Journal of Economics, i. 176 (January, 1887). Helpful for ah under-
standing of the causes of the great agricultural expansion following the
Civil War.

Lloyd, Henry D. Wealth against Commonwealth. New York, 1894. 563 pp.
A radical and unsystematic work dealing with monopolies, trusts, rail-
road abuses, corruption in politics, etc.

McPherson, Edward. Political History of the United States during the Period
of Reconstruction. 2d ed., Washington, 1875. ^ Handbook of Politics.

332 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Washington, 1872-80. 5 vols. The Political History covers the period
1866-70 and the Handbook, the decade 1870-80. They contain national
and state platforms, laws, election statistics, etc.

McVey, Frank L. " The Populist Movement," in American Economic
Association, Economic Studies, i. no. 3, pp. 131-209. (London, 1896.)
A superficial treatment. Contains a bibliography.

Moody, William G. Land and Labor in the United States. New York,
1883. 360 pp. Some features of the agricultural situation such as the
influence of machinery on agriculture and the " bonanza " farms are
treated.

New Englander (pseudonym). "The Farmers' Grievance," in Nation,
xvii. 112 (August 14, 1873). Sees the causes of the farmers' evils in the
tariff and the too rapid extension of agriculture resulting in over-pro-
duction.

New York Tribune Almanac and Political Register. New York, 1838+.
Useful for party platforms and election statistics.

Otken, Charles H. The Ills of the South; or Related Causes Hostile to the
General Prosperity of the Southern People. New York, 1894. xii, 277 pp.

Peffer, William A. The Farmer's Side; his Troubles and their Remedy.
New York, 1891. 275 pp. Peffer was a Populist leader and the book
discusses agricultural conditions. Free silver is the remedy proposed.

Peters, Alfred H. "The Depreciation of Farming Land," in Quarterly
Journal of Economics, iv. 18-33 (October, 1889). Among the causes of
agricultural depression are included heavy and unequal taxation, railway
abuses, social disadvantages, etc.

Peto, Sir Samuel M. The Resources and Prospects of America, ascertained
during a Visit to the States in the Autumn of 1865. London and New
York, 1866. xv. 428 pp. Peto was a member of Parliament. The
sections on agriculture and the South throw light on the causes of rural
discontent.

Porter, Robert P., and others. The West, from the Census of 1880. Chicago,
1882. 630 pp. Presents agricultural and other statistics from the
census in convenient form.

Quaintance, H. W. " The Influence of Farm Machinery on Production
and Labor," in American Economic Association, Publications, series 3,
v. no. 4, pp. 731-904 (February, 1904). Throws light on the causes of
agricultural expansion following the Civil War.

Rhodes, James F. History of the United States from the Compromise of
1850. New York, 1892-1906. 7 vols. Touches upon the Granger
movement only incidentally, but furnishes a political background.

Sargent, C. S. " Agricultural Depression," in Garden and Farm, ix. 391-
392 (September 30, 1896). Finds the cause of agricultural depression
in over-production due to the homestead act, the development of ma-
chinery, improved technique, etc.

Spahr, Charles B. An Essay on the Present Distribution of Wealth in the
United States. New York, 1896. 184 pp. High and unequally dis-
tributed taxes and extortionate and discriminating railway charges are
dwelt upon as causes of the concentration of wealth.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 333

Sparks, Edwin E. National Development ,1877-1 88 5. New York, 1907. 378
pp. (American Nation, xxiii.) The three or four pages on the Granger
legislation and the Granger cases contain a number of inaccuracies.

Stahl, John M. The Real Farmer, especially how he has voted on the "re-
pudiation of the public debt," fiat- greenback, free coinage of silver and Popu-
lism. Quincy, Illinois, [ca. 1908]. no pp. U.I. Stahl, who is editor of
the Illinois Farmer and has been prominent in the efforts of the National
Farmers' Congress to obtain legislation believed to be in the interest
of farmers, attempts to prove that these radical movements originated
among and received their support from the workingmen of the cities
rather than the farmers. He over-emphasises the part played by the
Knights of Labor in the origin of the Populist party and minimizes the
part of the Farmers' Alliance.

Tobey, Edward S. The Industry of the South: its Immediate Organization
Indispensable to the Financial Security of the Country. Boston, 1865.
15 pp. J.C. Portrays the agricultural situation in the South at the
close of the war.

Trowbridge, John T. The South: a Description of the Present State of the
Country — its Agriculture — Railroads — Business and Finances. Hart-
ford, 1866. xiii, 590 pp. Observations made on a long tour through the
South.

Veblen, Thorstein B. " The Price of Wheat since 1867," in Journal of
Political Economy, i. 68-103 (December, 1892). A detailed discussion,
with charts, of the fluctuations in wheat prices and their causes.

Wells, David A. " Rational Principles of Taxation," in Journal of Social
Science, vi. 120-133 (1874). Brings out the inequalities of taxation.

West, Max. " The Distribution of Property Taxes between City and
Country," in Political Science Quarterly, xiv. 305-324, 470-499 (June,
September, 1899). A careful study leading to the conclusion that, as a
general rule, farmers are relatively overtaxed.

Woodburn, James A. Political Parties and Party Problems in the United
States. New York, 1903. 314 pp. The chapter on recent party his-
tory is suggestive as to the influence of farmers' organizations and agri-
cultural unrest upon political conditions since the Civil War.

LOCAL

" Does Farming in New England Pay ? " in United States Commissioner of
Agriculture, Reports, 1874, pp. 187-214. Throws light on agricultural
conditions in New England and answers the question in the affirmative,
if the farming is " conducted with skill and enterprise, combined with
the use of sufficient capital."

Scharf, John T. History of Delaware, 1609-1888. Philadelphia, 1888.
2 vols. Contains an account of the development of the order of Patrons
of Husbandry in Delaware.

Bennett, Fremont O. Politics and Politicians of Chicago, Cook County, and
Illinois. Chicago, 1886. 612 pp. L.C., W.H. Touches upon the
political aspects of the Granger movement in Illinois.

334 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davidson, Alexander, and Stuve, Bernard. Complete History of Illinois
from 1873 to 1884. Springfield, Illinois, 1884. 1040 pp. Treats the
Granger railway legislation and the political aspects of the Granger
movement in the state.

Moses, John. Illinois, Historical and Statistical . . . 2d ed., rev., Chicago,
1895. 2 vols. The second volume contains a superficial account of
the Independent party movement and Granger legislation in Illinois.

Campbell, Henry C., editor. Wisconsin in Three Centuries, 1634-1905.
New York, 1906. 4 vols. Several chapters in the last volume touch
upon the political or railroad aspects of the Granger movement.

Hibbard, B. H. The History of Agriculture in Dane County, Wisconsin.
Madison, Wisconsin, 1904. (University of Wisconsin, Bulletins, Eco-
nomics and Political Science Series, i. no. 2, pp. 67-214.) Illuminating
on the causes of agricultural depression in the Middle West.

Matteson, Clark S. The History of Wisconsin from Prehistoric Periods.
Milwaukee, 1893. 587 pp. Treats superficially the political and rail-
road aspects of the Granger movement in Wisconsin.

Peck, George W., editor. Wisconsin; comprising Sketches of Counties,
Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, arranged in Cyclopedic Form.
Madison, Wisconsin, 1906. 417 pp. Articles on " The Granger Move-
ment," and " The Potter Law " treat the subject in the conventional
manner.

Thompson, John G. The Rise and Decline of the Wheat Growing Industry
in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin, 1909. 250 pp. (University of
Wisconsin, Bulletins, Economics and Political Science Series, v. no. 3.)
Throws light on agricultural conditions and the causes of rural antag-
onism to railroads.

Tuttle, Charles R. An Illustrated History of the State of Wisconsin. Boston,
1875. 800 pp. L. C., W. H., J. C. Treats the political aspects of the
Granger movement in the state.

Folwell, William W. Minnesota, the North Star State. Boston, 1908. 382
pp. Contains an impartial and accurate but necessarily brief, account
of the Granger movement for railroad regulation in Minnesota.

Kirk, Thomas H. Illustrated History of Minnesota; a Handbook for Citi-
zens and General Readers. St. Paul, 1887. 299 pp. W.H. Treats
briefly the political and railroad phases of the Granger movement in
Minnesota.

Neill, Edward D. The History of Minnesota: from the Earliest French
Explorations to the Present Time. 4th ed. 928pp. L.C., W.H. This
edition covers the Granger period of Minnesota history briefly.

Gue, Benjamin F. History of Iowa from the Earliest Times to the Beginning
of the Twentieth Century. New York, 1 903 . 4 vols. Treats the Granger
movement in the state briefly.

Tuttle, Charles R., and Durrie, Daniel S. An Illustrated History of the
State of Iowa . . . including a Cyclopedia of Legislation. Chicago, 1876.
732 pp. L.C., W.H. Covers the Granger period of Iowa history.

Boyle, J. E. The Financial History of Kansas. Madison, Wisconsin, 1908.
178 pp. (University of Wisconsin, Bulletins, Economics and Political

BIBLIOGRAPHY 335

Science Series, v. no. i.) Discusses the attitude of the Grangers toward

taxation in Kansas.
History of the State of Kansas . . . illustrated. Chicago, Andreas, 1883.

1616 pp. Treats the political phase of the Granger movement in Kansas.
Wilder, Daniel W. The Annals of Kansas. Topeka, Kansas, 1875. 691

pp. Contains information upon the political aspects of the Granger

movement in Kansas.
Bentley, Arthur F. The Condition of the Western Farmer as Illustrated by

the Economic History of a Nebraska Township. B altimore, 1 893 . 9 2 pp.

(Johns Hopkins University, Studies, ii. nos. 7, 8.) Throws light on the

agricultural situation in the West.
Collins, Lewis, and Collins, R. H. Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky.

Covington, Kentucky, 1882. 2 vols. L.C. This edition treats of the

order of Patrons of Husbandry in the state.
Fleming, Walter L. Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama. New York,

1905. xxiii, 815 pp. The political, social and economic conditions

prevailing during the reconstruction period are brought out with a wealth

of illustration.
Garner, James W. Reconstruction in Mississippi. New York, 1901. xiii,

422 pp. Portrays political and economic conditions in Mississippi during

the period.
Wooten, Dudley G., editor. A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685-1897.

Dallas, 1898. 2 vols. Touches upon the Grange and states that it was

reported to have exerted an influence on the constitutional convention

of 1876 in favor of measures of economy.
Bancroft, Hubert H. History of California. San Francisco, 1884-90. 7

vols. (in his Works, xviii-xxiv). The development of agriculture, the

Granger movement, railroad legislation, and the constitutional conven-
tion of 1878 are dealt with in the last volume.
Davis, Winfield J. History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-92.

Sacramento, 1893. 711 pp. (California State Library, Publications,

no. i.)
Hittell, Theodore H. History of California. San Francisco, 1885-97.

4 vols. The Granger period is covered in the last volume.

ORGANIZATION
GENERAL

Aiken, D. W. The Grange: its Origin, Progress, and Educational Purposes.
Washington, 1883. 18 pp. (United States Department of Agriculture,
Special Report, no. 55.) This is a paper " read before a convention
called by the Commissioner of Agriculture January 23, 1883, to con-
sider the subject of agricultural education." It is also published in the
proceedings of the convention. Aiken was a member of the executive
committee of the National Grange in 1874 and 1875. The paper is
especially useful on the educational work of the order.

Allen, Emory A., editor. Labor and Capital; containing an account of the
various organizations of farmers, planters, and mechanics, for mutual

BIBLIOGRAPHY

improvement and protection against monopoly. Cincinnati, 1891. 5 1 8 pp.
L. C. Contains chapters on the Grange by John Trimble, one of the
" founders " and later secretary of the National Grange, Mortimer
Whitehead, lecturer of the National Grange, and Colonel Hiram
Hawkins, master of the Alabama State Grange. Other chapters deal
with the later organizations of farmers.

Ashby, N. B. The Riddle of the Sphinx. A discussion of the economic
questions relating to agriculture, land, transportation, money, taxation, and
cost of interchange: a consideration of possible remedies for existing in-
equalities, and an outline of the position of agriculture in the industrial
world; with a comprehensive history of the leading farm organizations,
their constitutions and by-laws. Des Moines, 1890. 474 pp. L.C.

Bricktop (pseudonym of George C. Small). Joining the Grangers; or trying
to be a Patron of Husbandry. New York, 1873. 64 pp. L.C. A
comical account of the experiences of a politician among the Grangers.

Bronson, Henry. Farmers' Unions and Tax Reform. Jackson, Tennessee,
i873- 56 pp. W.H. Bronson was a member of the Douglas County,
Kansas, Farmers' Union.

Butterfield, K. L. "Farmers' Social Organizations," in L. H. Bailey,
Cyclopedia of American Agriculture^. 289-297 (New York, 1909). An
excellent summary of the movement for rural organization. The period,
1870-92, is treated under the head of " The Farmers' Movement." The
Grange, the Alliance, and minor organizations are outlined and the sig-
nificance of the movement well brought out.

Butterfield, K. L. "The Grange," in Forum, xxxi, 231-242 (April, 1901).
An exposition of the order, its aims and achievements, with the emphasis
on the social and educational side.

Chamberlain, H. R. " Farmers' Alliance and other Political Parties," in
Chautauquan, xiii. 338-342 (June, 1891). Sketches the career of the
organization and discusses its influence on the political situation.

Chamberlain, H. R. The Farmers' Alliance; what it aims to accomplish.
New York, 1891. 91 pp. Chamberlain was a reporter on the New
York Sun. The book gives a succinct account of the origin and the
growth of the Alliance, with platforms and other documents. Also
treats of other organizations, especially the " Citizens' Alliance."

Coulter, John L. " Organization among the Farmers of the United States,"
in Yale Review, xviii. 273-298 (November, 1909). Based largely on
Periam's Groundswell.

Cramer, J.A. The Patrons' Pocket Companion. Cincinnati, 187 5. 257 pp. L.C.

Darrow, J. W. Origin and Early History of the Order of Patrons of Hus-
bandry in the United States. Chatham, New York, 1904. 56 pp.
Based mainly on Kelley's work, with a chapter on " Achievements " in
which the author claims everything from the interstate commerce act to
the Sherman anti-trust law for the order.

Drew, Frank M. " The Present Farmers' Movement," in Political Science
Quarterly, vi. 282-310 (June, 1891). Describes the various organiza-
tions, including the Grange, states their demands, and summarizes the
results achieved.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 337

Dunning, N. A., editor. The Farmers' Alliance History and Agricultural
Digest. Washington, 1891. 742 pp. Contains much padding, but
also a great deal of information about the alliances and other farmers'
organizations, their origins, careers, and purposes.

Everitt, James A. The American Society of Equity and its Need in our
Country. [1906?]. 15 pp. U.I. An address by the founder and
president of the order at its annual session in St. Louis, October,
1906.

Everitt, James A. The Third Power, Farmers to the Front. Indianapolis,
1903. 275 pp. Deals with the American Society of Equity.

Geeslin, A. W., editor. Exposition of the Grange. Chicago, 1875. 96 pp.
L.C.

Gladden, Washington. "The Embattled Farmers," in Forum, x. 315-322
(November, 1890). An account of the causes and objects of the
Farmers' Alliance movement, with an estimate of its probable results.

Gracchus Americanus (pseudonym of T. S. Goodwin). The Grange: a
Study in the Science of Society. New York, 1874. Copy in the Brooklyn
Mercantile Library.

The Grangers, or Patrons of Husbandry; their textbook; including the complete
secret work, with the illustrations of the signs of all the degrees. New York,
[1875]. L.C.,J.C.

" Granges and Farmers' Clubs in America," in Cornhill, xxviii. 556-567
(November, 1873). An inaccurate general account of the order and its
manifestations in politics, and of railroad regulation in Illinois.

Grosh, Aaron B. Mentor in the Granges and Homes of Patrons of Husbandry,
designed to explain the Origin, Aims, and Government of the Order. New
York, 1876. 478 pp. L.C.

Gustin, M. E. An Expose of the Grangers; containing the opening and
closing ceremonies of a Grangers' lodge; the ceremonies of initiation, and
the eight degrees of the order; being an accurate description of one of the
greatest monopolies of the age. Dayton, Ohio, 1875. 130 pp. A copy
of this curious pamphlet was picked up by the writer in a second-hand
book store. The first part purports to give the secret work of the
Grange and this is followed by " Dr. J. Gustin's experience, confession,
and burlesque on the Patrons of Husbandry."

Hall, Carrie A. Songs for the Grange, set to music and dedicated to the order
of Patrons of Husbandry in the United States. New York, 1872. W.H.

An Historical Paper, showing the aims and objects of the order of Knights of
Labor, as promulgated by the founder in 1869 — its growth and success
caused by appealing to reason and not to passion. 4 pp. [1897 ?]. U.I.

Howland, Marie. " The Patrons of Husbandry," in Lippincott's, xii. 338-
342 (September, 1873). A general account of the order for English
readers. Deals particularly with the cooperative and social features.

Hudson, J. K. The Patrons' Handbook; for the use and benefit of the order
of the Patrons of Husbandry. Topeka, Kansas, 1874. W.H. Hudson
was editor of the Kansas Farmer. The book contains a large amount
of material, partly documentary, relative to the Grange hi Kansas, with
some on the order in general.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kelley, O. H. " Early Struggles of the Grange," in American Grange Bulle-
tin, xxxiv. no. 9 (September i, 1904). This is an address which was read
at a Grange Chautauqua on August 20, 1904.

Kelley, O. H. " Grange History; Personal Reminiscences and Gossip of
the Early Days," in American Grange Bulletin, xxxv. nos. 5-9 (1905).
W. H.

Kelley, O. H. Origin and Progress of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry in
the United States; a History from 1866 to 1873. Philadelphia, 1875.
441 pp. U. W., W. H., U. I. A detailed account of the inception and
development of the order, with a large number of letters and other
documents. Invaluable for the early history of the Grange.

List of Agricultural Societies and Farmers1 Clubs . . . oh the Books of the
Department of Agriculture, July 4, 1876. Washington, 1876. 63 pp.
(United States Department of Agriculture, Reports, no. 12.) Similar
lists were issued for 1870 and 1872.

Martin, E. W. (pseudonym of J. D. McCabe). History of the Grange Move-
ment; or the Farmers' War against Monopolies; being a full and authentic
account of the struggles of the American farmers against the extortions of the
railroad companies; with a history of the rise and progress of the Order of
Patrons of Husbandry, its objects, present condition and prospects; to
which is added- sketches of the leading Grangers. Chicago, 1874. 544 pp.
U.I., W.H. This work, which was gotten out at the height of the move-
ment to be sold at subscription, is especially useful for giving an insight
into the Grangers' point of view. Naturally, it is prejudiced, unreliable,
and carelessly put together.

Messer, Alpha. The Grange: its Advantages; what it has accomplished;
what it hopes to accomplish; Organization of Granges; Declaration of
Purposes. Washington, 1895. 40 pp. L.C., W.H. Messer was
lecturer of the National Grange and got out several editions of this
pamphlet during the nineties. It is partly historical. In some editions,
the title is Benefits of the Grange.

Morgan, John T. " The Danger of the Farmers' Alliance," in Forum, xii.
399-409 (November, 1891). Sympathizes with the farmers in their
efforts to curb the power of monopoly, but fears that the movement is
being discredited by intruders who hope to exploit their vagaries and
their personal politics.

Morgan, W. S. History of the Wheel and Alliance, and the impending Rev-
olution. St. Louis, 1891. 776 pp. W. H., J. C.

New York Tribune, publisher. The Farmers1 War: Letter from the Western
States; the Rise, Progress, and Purpose of the Farmers' Granges. (New
York Tribune Extra, no. 13.) The writer has been unable to find this
pamphlet but has seen several references to it. It was probably
published early in 1874, and was all out of print by September, 1874.

Peffer, W. A. " The Farmers' Alliance," in Cosmopolitan, x. 694 (1885).
Peffer was the editor of an agricultural paper and one of the leaders of
the alliance movement in Kansas.

Peffer, W. A. " The Farmers' Defensive Movement," in Forum, viii. 463-
473 (December, 1889). Sees the origin of the movement in the opera-

BIBLIOGRAPHY 339

tions of " railroads, middlemen, and banks." Describes the Grange,
the alliances, and other farmers' organizations.

Periam, Jonathan. The Groundswell; a History of the Origin, Aims, and
Progress of the Farmers' Movement: embracing an authentic account of
farmers' clubs, granges, etc.; a full discussion of the transportation question
and other grievances; and a history of industrial education in the United
States, together with sketches of the lives of prominent leaders. Cincinnati
and Chicago, 1874. 576 pp. W.H., U.I. Like Martin's Grange
Movement, this book was designed to be sold by subscription to farmers.
It aims to present the farmers' side of the various questions and contains
considerable documentary material, especially with reference to the
movement in Illinois.

Pierson, Charles W. " The Rise of the Granger Movement," and " The
Outcome of the Granger Movement," in Popular Science Monthly, xxxii.
199-208, 368-373 (December, 1887, January, 1888). The first article
deals mainly with the railroad side of the movement and the second with
cooperation. They are popular and unreliable.

Powderly, T. V. Thirty Years of Labor, 1850-1889; in which the history of
the attempts to form organizations of workingmen for the discussion of
political, social, and economic questions is traced: the National Labor
Union of 1866; the Industrial Brotherhood of 1874; and the order of the
Knights of Labor of America and the World. . . . Columbus, Ohio,
1890. 693 pp. U.I. Powderly was " Grand Master Workman " of the
. Knights of Labor for many years.

Root, George F., and Smith, Mrs. S. M. The Trumpet of Reform; a collec-
tion of songs, hymns, charts, and set pieces for the grange, the club, and all
industrial and reform organizations. Cincinnati and Chicago, 1874. W.H.

Smedley, A. B. Manual of Jurisprudence and Cooperation of the Patrons of
Husbandry. Des Moines, 1875. xyi> 2°° PP- L.C. Smedley was
a prominent Iowa Granger.

Smedley, A. B. The Principles and Aims of the Patrons of Husbandry; their
Origin, Rapid Growth, and General Statistics. Burlington, Iowa, 1874.
44 pp. L.C.

Smith, Stephe. Grains for the Grangers; discussing the Farmers' Movement
for the Emancipation of White Slaves from the Power of Monopoly. W.H.

Sovereigns of Industry. Constitution of the Order . . . revised and adopted
at the annual session of the National Council held at Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania . . . 1875. Worcester, Massachusetts, 1875. U.I.

Swalm, Mrs. Pauline. " The Granges of the Patrons of Husbandry," in
Old and New, vii. 96-100 (1873). A brief and quite inaccurate account
of the order.

Trimble, John. An Address before the Patrons' Reunion at the Ohio State
Fair, Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, September 5th, 1895. Washington,
1895. 16 pp. U.I. Treats of the value of the order, especially along
social and educational lines.

Walker, C. S. " The Farmers' Alliance," in Andover Review, xiv. 127-140
(August, 1890). A discussion of the agricultural situation is followed
by a sympathetic exposition of the Alliance and its purposes.

34° BIBLIOGRAPHY

Walker, C. S. " The Farmers' Movement/' in Annals of the American
Academy, iv. 790-798 (March, 1894). Treats the general farmers'
movement under headings of organization, education, cooperation,
political action. Suggestive also on agricultural conditions.

Wells, John G. The Grange illustrated; or Patrons' Handbook, in the inter-
ests of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry; embracing the origin and history
of the Order, constitutions, by-laws . . . together with valuable suggestions
for farmers' every day wants. New York, 1874. 184, 55, 48 pp. L.C.,
U.I.

Western Rural, publisher. Rules of Order and Rallying Song-book; also
History of the Farmers' Alliance movement, which began in 1880. Chicago,
1882. U.I. Contains an account of the Northwestern alliance, which
was the special protege of the Western Rural. The songs included such
titles as " Alliance Rallying Song " and " Justice and Freedom for the
Farmers."

Whitehead, Mortimer. " The Grange in Politics," in American Journal of
Politics, i. 113-123 (August, 1892). The author was lecturer of the
National Grange.

Whitehead, Mortimer. "The Patrons of Husbandry," in New Jersey
Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries, Reports, 333-350 (1886).
General and sketchy account of the order and its work.

Whitehead, Mortimer. A Silver Jubilee; Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the
Organization of the First Farmers' Grange in the world; Fredonia, Chau-
tauqua Co., N. Y., April 20 and 21, 1893. Washington, 1893. 44 pp.
U.I. Contains considerable material on the early history of the order,
including an address by O. H. Kelley.

Woodman, J. J. " Early History and Reminiscences of the National
Grange, Patrons of Husbandry," in American Grange Bulletin, xxx. no.
21, to xxxii. no. 3 (1900-02). Based mainly on the Proceedings, but
contains some personal reminiscences.

LOCAL

The Connecticut Granges, edited by a committee of the Connecticut State Grange.
New Haven, 1900. W.H. The Grange did not flourish in Connecticut
until after 1880, so the book has to do mainly with the later aspects of
the order. It opens with an account of the origin of the order, written
by O. H. Kelley, which supplements his Patrons of Husbandry in one or
two points.

Ellis, S. H. " Early History of the Grange in Ohio," in Ohio Farmer, c-cv
(1900-04). Ellis was the most prominent man in Grange work in Ohio
in the early years, being master of the state grange for several years.
He makes use of the published proceedings and other documentary
material.

Paine, A. E. The Granger Movement in Illinois. Urbana, Illinois, 1904.
53 pp. (University of Illinois, Studies, i. no. 8.) A useful but not very
thorough study of the movement in a single state.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 341

Butterfield, Kenyon L. " Recent Grange Work in Michigan," in Outlook,
Ix. 176-179 (September 17, 1898). Illustrates the influence of the order
on state legislation and describes certain charitable and cooperative
enterprises. The early career of the order is briefly sketched by way of
introduction.

Lea, Charles W. The Grange Movement in Wisconsin. (University of
Wisconsin, Ms. thesis, 1897.) U.W. Based largely upon a study of
local papers.

Maynard, Myra Edith. History of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry in
Wisconsin up to 1875. (University of Wisconsin, Ms. thesis, 1895.)
U.W.

Smith, R. E. Wisconsin Granger Movement. (University of Wisconsin,
Ms. thesis, 1895.) U.W. Goes into detail on the first few years of the
order in the state. The bibliography mentions a series of letters, dated
1870-72, relating to early Grange history in Wisconsin in possession of
S. C. Carr of Milton Junction, Wisconsin, also letters in possession of
the author.

Carr, Ezra. The Patrons of Husbandry on the Pacific Coast: being a complete
history of the origin, condition, and progress of agriculture in different
parts of the world; of the origin and the growth of the order of Patrons, with
a general and special Grange directory, and full list of charter members of
the subordinate granges of California; also, of the foes of the farmers, or
monopolies of land, water, transportation and education; of a protective
tariff, currency and banking. San Francisco, 1875. 461 pp. U.W.,W.H.
Carr had been professor of agriculture in the University of California,
but was removed in 1874. He was prominent in Grange circles. The
book is an unscholarly hodge-podge, but illustrates the Grangers' point
of view, and gives much documentary material on the movement in
California.

History of the Grange in Canada, by a member of the Dominion Grange.
Toronto, 1876. Pamphlet. H.C.

RAILROADS

GENERAL

The number of books dealing with the relations between railroads and
the state is very large and most of them contain some reference to the
Granger movement. No attempt is here made to list all such works, and
many additional titles can be found in a bibliography compiled by the
Bureau of Railway Economics and entitled: Railway Economics; a Collec-
tive Catalogue of Books in Fourteen American Libraries (Chicago, 1912.
446 pp.).

Adams, Alton D. " Reasonable Rates," in Journal of Political Economy,
xii. 79-97 (December, 1903). Deals with the Granger cases and the
later decisions of the Supreme Court which have swept away the power
of the state to fix conclusive rates.

342 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, Charles F., Jr. An Address, delivered at Oshkosh, Wis., Sept. 3, 1875.
" Which will quickest solve the railroad question: force bills or public
opinion ? " n. p., n. d. 20 pp. H.C.

Adams, Charles F., Jr. " The Granger Movement," in North American
Review, cxx. 394-424 (April, 1875). Probably the most widely known
article on the railroad phase of the Granger movement. Mr. Adams
looked upon the movement as a thing of the past and assumed to treat it
" in a spirit of critical justice." Though he admitted that there were
adequate causes for the movement in the abuses of railway management
and that much good would probably result from it, still he made assump-
tions as to the character and effects of the Granger legislation which are
not well founded.

Adams, Charles F., Jr. Railroads; their Origin and Problems. New York,
1878. 216 pp. A classic book on the subject. The abuses in railway
organization and management are clearly set forth and it is admitted
that the Granger movement was perhaps necessary for the purpose of
bringing about a better understanding of the obligations of railway
corporations to the public.

Adams, Charles F., Jr. " The State and the Railroads," in Atlantic, xxxvii.
360-371, 691-699, xxxviii. 72-85 (1876). The first article deals with
the problem abroad, the others bring out the events which result from
unrestrained competition and advocate consolidation as the remedy.

Adams, Henry C. "The Farmer and Railway Legislation," in Century, xxi.
780-783 (March, 1892). A statement of reasons why the farmer is
especially affected by the railway problem and of the abuses in railway
management, followed by an account of railway legislation in effect in
1892.

American Cheap Transportation Association. National Convention . . .
held at Washington, D. C., January iqth, 1874. Troy, New York, 1874.
99 pp. . U.I. Contains proceedings and numerous addresses, including
those of Messrs. Flagg and Allen of Illinois.

American Board of Transportation and Commerce. Report of the committee
on railroad transportation . . . at the third annual convention of that body,
held in Chicago, December i8th, 1875. 15 pp. U.I. This was merely
the American Cheap Transportation Association under another name.
The committee was composed of five delegates from New York, Iowa,
Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana. The Iowa and Illinois representatives
were A. B. Smedley and S. R. Moore, both of whom were prominent in
the farmers' movement in their respective states.

Atkinson, Edward. The Railroad and the Farmer, nos. one and two, and The
Standard of Adequate Railroad Service. New York, 1883. 56 pp. L.C.,
U.I. An argument against government control.

Atlantic Monthly. Editorials: " Railway Despotism," xxxi. 380-384
(March, 1875). " Report of the Erie Investigating Committee," xxxii.
124-128 (July, 1873). " Granges against the Railroads," xxxii. 508-
512 (October, 1873). "Railway Stock and Stockholders," xxxii. 764-
768 (December, 1873). These editorials bring out clearly a number of
abuses in railway management; but the position is taken that it was the

BIBLIOGRAPHY 343

stockholders and not the western farmers who were injured. The cause
of the farmers' movement is seen in a " glut in the grain market."

Gary, J. W. The Organization and History of the Chicago, Milwaukee and
St. Paul Railway Company. Milwaukee, 1873. 392 pp. J.C. Gary
was general counsel for the company in the early days, and his book
throws a strong light on early methods of railway financiering.

Clark, Frederick C. " State Railroad Commissions, and how they may be
made effective," in American Economic Association, Publications, vi.
no. 6, pp. 473-583 (November, 1891). The Granger agitation is said
to be " the real beginning of an enlightened public opinion on the rail-
road question." The work of the Illinois commission is treated at some
length.

Coleman, John A. " The Fight of a Man with a Railroad," and " My
Railroad Fight in and out of Court," in Atlantic, xxx. 641-653, xxxi.
610-618 (December, 1872, May, 18-73). Illustrates what Charles
Francis Adams, Jr., termed " bad manners " on the part of railway
employees and officials.

Cook, William W. The Corporation Problem. New York, 1893. 262 pp.
Sets forth the abuses in railway management and the dangers to be
feared from the increased power of corporations. Cook was a New York
lawyer and had written a treatise on corporation law.

[Cullom Committee.] Report of the Select Committee on Interstate Com-
merce. Washington, 1886. 2 vols. (49 Congress, i session, Senate
Reports, no. 46.) The report contains a useful summary of state rail-
way legislation, and some of the testimony in the second volume relates
to the Granger legislation.

Davis, C. W. " The Farmer, the Investor, and the Railway," in Arena, iii.
291-3 13 (February, 1891). Discusses railway profits and discriminations
and favors government control.

Detrick, Charles R. " The Effects of the Granger Acts," in Journal of
Political Economy, xi. 237-256 (March, 1903). A careful statistical
study. See above, p. 235.

Dunbar, William H. " State Regulation of Prices and Rates," in Quarterly
Journal of Economics, xi. 305-332 (April, 1895). Discusses the Granger
cases and later decisions along the same line.

Edsall, James K. " The Granger Cases and the Police Power," in American
Bar Association, Reports, x. 288-316 (1887). Bases the right of the
state to regulate railroads upon the inherent power of every government
to protect its citizens; in other words, upon the police power. Edsall
was attorney-general of Illinois at the time the Granger cases were being
tried in that state.

Fink, Albert. Cost of Railroad Transportation; Railroad Accounts and
Government Regulation of Railroad Tariffs. Louisville, 1875. 48 pp.
L.C., W.H. An argument against government control of railroad rates
by the president of the Louisville and Nashville Railway Company.

Grosvenor, W. M. " The Communist and the Railway," in International
Review, iv. 585-599 (September, 1877). Calls the Granger legislation
communistic and assigns it as the principal cause of the panic of 1873.

344 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grosvenor, W. M. "The Railroads and the Farms," in Atlantic, xxxii.
591-610 (November, 1873). A discussion of the relation of railroad
rates to land values. The pro rata idea is condemned, and the blame for
high local rates placed upon the tariff on iron.

Hadley, Arthur T. Railroad Transportation, its History and its Laws. New
York, 1885. 269 pp. Accepts fully the railroad claims as to the effects
of the Granger legislation. See above, p. 234, note i.

Hadley, Arthur T. " The Railway in its Business Relations," in The Ameri-
can Railway, its Construction, Development and Appliances, 344-369
(New York, 1889). Contains an exaggerated statement of the disastroas
effects of the Granger laws.

Haines, Henry S. The Railroads and the State. 1879. Pamphlet. W.H.
Opposed to government regulation of railroad rates.

Haney, L. H. A Congressional History of Railways in the United States,
1850-1887. Madison, Wisconsin, 1910. 335 pp. (University of Wis-
consin, Bulletins, Economics and Political Science Series, vi. no. i.) A
detailed study of the railway question in Congress. Contains a chapter
on " Congress and the Granger Movement " but this period is also par-
tially treated in other chapters. The arrangement is somewhat confusing.

Hanson, Burton. Unfair Railway Agitation. [Chicago, 1905.] 52 pp.
U.I. See above, p. 235, note 4.

Hassler, Charles W. Railroad Rings. New York, 1876. Pamphlet. H.C.
A paper read before the American Social Science Association, September
8, 1876.

Hendrick, Frank. Railway Control by Commissions. New York, 1900.
161 pp. The Granger laws are condemned and the conventional view
of their disastrous effects is set forth. The supervisory commission of
the Massachusetts type is preferred to the Granger commissions.

[Hepburn Committee.] Proceedings of the special Committee on Railroads
appointed under Resolution of the Assembly to investigate alleged abuses
in the management of railroads chartered by the state of New York. New
York, 1789. 5 vols. Throws a flood of light on the abuses in railway
management.

House Committee on Roads and Canals. Regulation and Control of Rail-
roads. Washington, 1868. 20 pp. (40 Congress, 2 session, House
Reports, no. 57, serial no. 1352.) This was the first report ever made to
Congress on the subject.

Hudson, James F. The Railways and the Republic. New York, 1889. 532
pp. A strong indictment of the railroads.

James, Edmund J. " The Agitation for the Federal Regulation of Rail-
ways," in American Economic Association, Publications, ii. no. 3, pp.
344-395 (July, 1887). An account of the early abuses in railway man-
agement is followed by a sketch of the activity of Congress in the direc-
tion of railway regulation.

Johnson, Emory R. American Railway Transportation. 26. ed., rev.,
New York, 1908. 434 pp. One of the best books on the subject.
Contains a brief but accurate and unprejudiced account of the Granger
movement for railway regulation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 345

Kupka, P. F. Die Verkehrsmitlel in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nord-
Amerika. Leipzig, 1883. x, 413 pp. Contains an account of the
Granger movement and the railway legislation of Illinois.

La Follette, Robert M. Railway Regulation, State and Interstate. Chicago,
1905. 115 pp. See above, p. 235, note 4.

Langstroth, Charles S., and Stilz, Wilson. Railway Cooperation. Phila-
delphia, 1899. xv, 2 10 pp. The Granger legislation is treated in the
second part by Mr. Stilz with the conventional view of its disastrous
effects.

Larrabee, William. The Railway Question; a Historical and Practical Trea-
tise on Railroads, and Remedies for their Abuses, nth ed., Chicago,
1906 (copyright, 1893). 488 pp. Larrabee was a member of the Iowa
legislature during the Granger legislation in that state. The book is
unscientific; but it makes clear the evils complained of, and throws
light on the legislation of Iowa.

McLean, Simon J. " State Regulation of Railways in the United States,"
in Economic Journal, 349-369 (September, 1900). A useful summary,
containing a succinct and fairly accurate account of the Granger
legislation.

May, Charles S. The Farmers1 Movement; an address delivered at the St.
Clair County Fair at Port Huron, Michigan, Thursday, October 14, 1874.
Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1875. 4 pp. W.H. Deals principally with the
railroad question and takes exception to the statements by C. F. Adams,
Jr., in " The Granger Movement," which appeared in the North American
Review of the preceding April.

Meyer, B. H. Railway Legislation in the United States. New York, 1903.
329 pp. Discusses the Granger movement incidentally as one of the
events leading up to the interstate commerce act.

Meyer, Hugo R. Government Regulation of Railway Rates. New York,
1905. xxvii, 486 pp. Opposed to government regulation. Treats
the Granger agitation as one of the " growing pains of progress."

The Nation. Editorial and miscellaneous articles.

" The ' Farmers' Clubs ' and the Railroads," xvi. 249 (April 10, 1873).

" Transportation and the Tariff," xvi. 296 (May i, 1873).

" The Latest Reform Movement," xvi. 329 (May 15, 1873).

" The Causes of the Farmers' Discontent," xvi. 381 (June 5, 1873).

" The ' Grangers ' and the Judges," xvi. 397 (June 12, 1873).

" The Latest Device for Fixing Rates of Transportation," xvii. 36 (July

17, 1873).

" Another Aspect of the Farmers' Movement," xvii. 68 (July 31, 1873).
" Agricultural Exposition of Corporate Law," xvii. 140 (August 28, 1873).
" The Next Descent upon the Treasury," xvii. 156 (September 4, 1873).
" A Few Words to Railroad Moralists," xvii. 220 (October 2, 1873).
" The Watered-Stock Hallucination," xvii. 237 (October 9, 1873).
" The Railroad Mystery," xvii. 285 (October 30, 1873).
" The Farmers' Future," xviii. 55 (January 22, 1874).
" Congress and the Railways," xviii. 87 (February 5, 1874).
" Railroad Evolution," xviii. 120 (February 19, 1874).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

" The Cheap Transportation Report," xviii. 294 (May 7, 1874).

" Corporations and Monopolies," xviii. 359 (June 4, 1874).

" The Granger Method of Reform," xix. 36 (July 16, 1874).

" The Right to Confiscate," xix. 199 (September 24, 1874).

" Potter and His Law," xix. 231 (October 8, 1874).

" The Farmers and the Supreme Court," xx. 53 (January 28, 1875).

" The Farmer as a * Mediaeval Baron,' " xxi. 145 (September 2, 1875).

" A General Regulation Act," xxi. 384 (December 16, 1875).

" The Granger Collapse," xxii. 57 (January 27, 1876).

" The Last Railroad Grievance," xxii. 189 (March 23, 1876).

" The Granger Decisions," xxiv. 143 (March 8, 1877).

" The Granger Theory applied to the Grangers," xxvii. 37 (July 18, 1878).

" The Farm Change in Politics," Hi. 453 (June 4, 1891).

These articles together with the briefer paragraph editorials scattered
through the Nation are largely responsible for the long prevalent idea of
the Granger movement as a dishonest attempt of the western farmers to
confiscate railroad property by securing control of the legislatures and
the courts.

Railroad Companies. Annual Reports to the Stockholders. Some of these
contain discussions of the Granger legislation from the railroad stand-
point. The most significant are: Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy,
1874,1876; Chicago and Northwestern, 1874-76; Chicago, Milwaukee,
and St. Paul, 1874, 1875.

Ringwalt, John L. Development of Transportation Systems in the United
States. Philadelphia, 1888. 398 pp. The Granger legislation is
treated at some length and the abuses in railway construction and man-
agement are brought out; but the laws themselves are looked upon as
attempts " to compel railways to render services for inadequate compen-
sation."

Sanborn, J. B . Congressional Grants of Land in Aid of Railways. Madison,
Wisconsin, 1899. 130 pp. (University of Wisconsin, Bulletins, Eco-
nomics, Political Science, and History Series, ii. no. 3.) The standard
work on the subject. Useful for an understanding of the railway situ-
ation during the Granger period.

Seligman, Edwin R. A. " Railway Tariffs and the Interstate Commerce
Law," in Political Science Quarterly, ii. 222-264, 369-413 (June, Septem-
ber, 1887). The Granger movement is discussed as one of the origins
of the commission system of government control. The conclusions that
" the Granger movement was economically as unwise as it was politically
important and successful " and that " the compulsory commissions
were an avowed failure," are stronger statements than the facts would
seem to warrant.

Senate Committee on Commerce. Rates of Freight on Railroads. Wash-
ington, 1873. 20 pp. (42 Congress, 3 session, Senate Reports, no. 462,
serial no. 1550.)

Seymour, Charles. " A Western View of Interstate Transportation," in
Atlantic, xxx. 345-351 (September, 1872). Maintained that transpor-
tation rates were too high and favored the construction of canals.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 347

Smalley, Harrison S. " Railway Rate Control in its Legal Aspects," in
American Economic Association, Publications, series 3, vii. no. 2, pp.
327-473 (1905). The Granger cases are discussed at some length.

Stanwood, E. " Farmers and Railroads," in Old and New, vii. 335-342
(September, 1873). A general consideration of railway abuses and their
effect on the farmer.

Stickney, Albert B. The Railway Problem, St. Paul, 1891. 249 pp. The
author was president of the Chicago and Great Western Railway Com-
pany; but his book is a tremendous indictment of railway management,
and sustains many of the charges of the farmers as well as the justice
of the Granger legislation.

Stickney, Albert B. State Control of Trade and Commerce by National or State
Authority. New York, 1897. xiv, 202 pp. Discusses the Granger
cases as establishing the right of the state to control public employment.

Thompson, J. Q. The Farmers' Fight against the Railroads; an Impartial
View of the Merits of the Quarrel; Facts and Figures for the Calm Con-
sideration of Honest Men. Indianapolis, 1874. 16 pp. L.C.

Van Oss, Steven F. American Railroads as Investments; a Handbook for
Investors in American Railway Securities. New York, 1893. 815 pp.
Railway abuses and the Granger legislation are summarized. The
treatment is fair in spite of some inaccuracies.

Wells, David A. " How will the United States Supreme Court Decide the
Granger Railroad Cases ? " in Nation, xix. 282-284 (October 29, 1874).
Relying upon the Dartmouth decision and the fourteenth amendment
to the constitution, Mr. Wells expected the decision to be adverse to
the laws.

Wharton, Francis. " Retrospective Legislation and Grangerism," in In-
ternational Review, iii. 50-63 (January, 1876). A judicial discussion
leading to the conclusion that the Granger laws were invalid.

[Windom Committee.] Report of the Select Committee on Transportation
Routes to the Seaboard. Washington, 1874. 2 vols. (43 Congress,
i session, Senate Reports, no. 307.) The second volume, " Testimony,"
contains statements of W. C. Flagg, President of the Illinois State
Farmers' Association and Samuel P. Tufts, both representing the
Northwestern Farmers' Convention which met at Chicago, October
22-23, 1873. The entire proceedings of this convention are also incor-
porated in the volume. On the report proper see above, pp. 220-222.

Yesterday and Today; a History of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway
Company. Chicago, 1905. 1 24 pp. Contains extracts from the annual
reports relative to the Granger legislation.

LOCAL

Gordon, J. H. Illinois Railway Legislation and Commission Control since
1870. Urbana, 1904. 81 pp. (University of Illinois, Studies, i. no. 6.)
Valuable, but does not exhaust the material.

Newton, Fred E. Railway Legislation in Illinois from 1828 to 1870. (Uni-
versity of Illinois, Ms. theses, 1901.) U.I.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, Edward F. " The Wisconsin Method of Railway Reform," and
"The Granger Morality," in Nation, xix. 121, 234-236 (August 20,
October 8, 1874). Mr. Adams defends the Wisconsin " Reformers "
whom the Nation had charged with dishonesty. He also gives an
account of the way in which the Potter law was passed.

Carpenter, Matthew H. Speech on the Power of the Legislature to Govern
Corporations. 1874. Pamphlet. W.H. Senator Carpenter early
affirmed the right of a state to regulate railroads.

Gary, John W. Brief in the Case of the State of Wisconsin vs. Chicago, Mil-
waukee, and St. Paul Railway Company, n. p., [1874]. 40 pp. W. H.
This was one of the Granger cases. Gary was counsel for the railroad
company.

Flower, Frank A. Life of Matthew Hale Carpenter. Madison, Wisconsin,
1883. 584 pp. L.C., W.H. Brings out the connection of Senator
Carpenter with railroad legislation and litigation in Wisconsin.

A Granger (pseudonym). " Good and Bad Grangers," in Nation, xx. 241
(April 8, 1875). Reply to the letter of F. R. Leland on the " Second
Stage of Wisconsin Railroad Legislation." Denies that the order of
Patrons of Husbandry was responsible for the legislation.

Howe, James H. Statement in behalf of the Chicago and Northwestern Rail-
road Company relative to Assembly Bill no. 260, relating to Railroad
Tariffs. Chicago, 1870. Pamphlet. W.H. Argument against a
bill pending in the Wisconsin legislature.

Hoyt, John W. " Second Stage of Wisconsin Railroad Legislation," in
Nation, xx. 275 (April 22, 1875). Hoyt was a member of the railroad
commission of Wisconsin. This is a reply to charges made by F. R.
Leland of Lacrosse in a letter published under the same heading in an
earlier number of the Nation.

Keep, Albert, and Mitchell, Alexander. Memorial of the Chicago and North-
western and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Companies
to the Senate and Assembly of the State of Wisconsin. 1875. Pamphlet.
W.H. An appeal for relief from the Potter law.

Lawrence, C. B . , and Cook, B.C. Brief in the Case of the State of Wisconsin
vs. Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company. Chicago, [1874], 4 pp.
W.H.

Leland, F. R. " The Second Stage of Wisconsin Railroad Legislation," in
Nation, xx. 189, 313 (March 18, May 6, 1875). The first letter purports
to be an account of the way in which the Grangers controlled the legis-
lature of 1875 and prevented any just amendment of the Potter law; the
second is a rejoinder to a reply by Commissioner Hoyt of Wisconsin
to the first.

Orton, H. S. Brief in the Case of the State of Wisconsin ex rel. Attorney-
General vs. the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company, n. p.,
[1874]. 42 pp. W.H.

Pope, Carl C., and another. Railroads are Private Property and Subject
to Legislative Control. Lacrosse, Wisconsin, 1869. Pamphlet. W.H.
A reprint of newspaper correspondence discussing the legal character
of railroads.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 349

Smith and Lamb. Brief in the Case of State of Wisconsin vs. the Chicago and
Northwestern Railway Company, n. p., [1874]. 29 pp. W.H. The
injunction case.

The Wisconsin Railroad Law: Letter of Hon. Alex. Mitchell, Preset C. M. &•
St. P. R'y; Letter of Albert Keep, President C. & N.-W. Railway; Opinion
of Honorable B. R. Curtis; Opinion of Honorable Wm. M. Evarts.
n. p., [1874]. Pamphlet. W.H. One of the documents used in the
campaign for the repeal of the Potter law.

Wisconsin Granger (pseudonym). " The Grange and the Potter Law," in
International Review, iii. 665-673 (September, 1876). A reply to a pre-
vious article by Francis Wharton in the same review. Throws light on
the Granger legislation in Wisconsin.

Saby, Rasmus S. Railroad Legislation in Minnesota, 1849 to 1875. St.
Paul, 1912. 188 pp. A University of Pennsylvania thesis reprinted
from Minnesota Historical Society, Collections, xv. Besides an exhaus-
tive account of the Granger railway legislation in Minnesota, the work
contains a treatment of the beginnings of the order of Patrons of Hus-
bandry and a useful bibliography. It did not come to hand until the
present work was in press.

Aldrich, Charles R. " Repeal of the Granger Law in Iowa," in Iowa Journal
of History and Politics, iii. 256-270 (April, 1005). An account of the
way in which the Illinois Central Railway Company created sentiment
in favor of the repeal of the Iowa law. Aldrich acted as agent of the
company in this connection.

Dey , Peter A. ' ' Railroad Legislation in Iowa, ' ' in Iowa Historical Record, ix.
555 (October, 1893). Dey was railroad commissioner in Iowa after the
Granger period. He did not believe in the Granger method of regulation.

Dixon, Frank H. State Railroad Control, with a History of its Development
in Iowa. New York, 1896. 251 pp. The treatment of the Granger
period is brief and unsatisfactory.

Allen, Thomas. The Railroad Problem, 1875. Pamphlet. W.H. De-
nounces the attempt of Missouri to regulate railroad rates.

Dixon, Frank H. " Railroad Control in Nebraska," in Political Science
Quarterly, xiii. 617-647 (December, 1898). The Granger period and the
constitution of 1875 are briefly treated.

Warner, Amos G. " Railroad Problems in a Western State," in Political
Science Quarterly, vi (March, 1891). A clear statement of the railway
abuses and attempts at regulation in Nebraska.

Alexander, E. P. Reply to Circular No. 19 of the Railroad Commission of
Alabama. Louisville, 1881. 20 pp. L.C., W.H. Denounces the
attempt of Alabama to regulate railway charges.

COOPERATION

Adams, Herbert B., editor. History of Cooperation in the United States.
Baltimore, 1888. 540 pp. (Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi.)
This is itself a cooperative work; but it is by no means an adequate
history of the subject. The various parts are also listed separately.

350 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bemis, Edward W. Cooperation in New England. Baltimore, 1888. (Johns
Hopkins University, Studies, vi. nos. 1-2, pp. 11-134.) Contains a
brief account of Grange cooperation in New England, mainly, however,
of the period since 1880.

Catalogue of Prices at which Goods will be Sold to Patrons of Husbandry by
Elrich and Company, Managers of the Business-Sales Department of the
Patrons' Gazette. New York, 1875. (Supplement to the Patrons1
Gazette, ii. no. 12.) W.H.

Coulter, John L. Cooperation among Farmers, the Keystone of Rural Pros-
perity. New York, Sturgis & Walton, 1911, vii, 281 pp. Deals
mainly with the present, but contains a few references to the Granger
attempts at cooperation.

Dunn County (Wisconsin) Council, Patrons of Husbandry. Constitution
and By-laws of the Cooperative Council of Dunn County Patrons of Hus-
bandry. Neenah, Wisconsin, 1875. Pamphlet. W.H.

Flower, Frank A. " Cooperation in the United States and Cooperation in
Wisconsin," in Wisconsin Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics,
Reports, ii. parts iii-iv. 117-237 (1876).

Foster, Florence J. " The Grange and the Cooperative Enterprises in New
England," in Annals of the American Academy, iv. 798-805 (March,
1894). Very general on cooperative stores, agencies, and insurance.

Hill, W. H. Revised and Consolidated Confidential Price List and Grange
Book of References of the Ohio State Grange, Patrons of Husbandry; com-
piled and published by A uthority of the State Executive Committee. Sharon-
ville, Ohio, 1876. W.H. Hill conducted the business agency of the
Ohio State Grange.

Kentucky State Grange. Circular Letter No. i, January 19, 1876. W.H.
Relates to cooperative plans.

Leavitt, Samuel. Township Cooperation; the Legitimate Fruit of the Pro-
tectionist Theory; also the History of American Socialism; Two Lectures
delivered before the New York Liberal Club. Pamphlet. W.H. Con-
tains a section entitled " The Great Farmers' League," which deals with
Grange cooperation in Iowa.

Morsell, James N., publisher. The Grangers' Friend; a Business Guide
to Baltimore, comprising a Descriptive List of the most Reliable and Fair
Dealing Mercantile Houses in the City. Baltimore, 1875. 112 pp. L.C.

National Grange. Rules for Patrons' Cooperative Associations of the Order
of Patrons of Husbandry, and Directions for Organizing such Associations;
recommended by the National Grange, November, 1875. Louisville, Ken-
tucky, 1876. W.H.

Nieuwland, E. J. The Grangers' Glucose Company; a very Safe and most
Profitable Investment for Farmers. New York, 1874. Circular. W.H.
Capital, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in shares of fifty, one
hundred, five hundred, and a thousand dollars; dividends, forty-six
per cent.

Nieuwland, E. J. High Interest Monopoly and its Remedies; dedicated to
Patrons of Husbandry. New York, 1874. Folder. W.H. A pro-
spectus for a " Granger's mortgage bank " in New York.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 351

Patrons' Aid Society of Elmira, New York. By-laws . . . adopted Decem-
ber 24, 1874. Elmira, New York, 1875. By-laws . . . as amended
March 16, 1876. Elmira, New York, 1876. Sixth Annual Report.
Elmira, New York, 1881. W.H.

Patrons' Benevolent Aid Society of Wisconsin, Annual Circular with Articles
of Incorporation and By-laws. Madison, 1878. 16 pp. W.H.

Patrons' New York Business Directory; a List of Leading Business Houses
and Manufacturers in New York City, to be filed for Reference in each
Grange Room in the United States and Canada. New York, [1876 ?].
W.H. No indication is given of the authority by which this directory
was issued.

Randall, Daniel R. Cooperation in Maryland and the South. Baltimore,
1888. (Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. nos. 11-12, pp. 483-
528). The section on " Distributive Cooperation " contains a good
account of Grange cooperation in Texas.

St. Louis (Missouri) Grange Cooperative Store. Constitution. Pamphlet.
W.H.

Shaw, Albert. Cooperation in the Northwest. Baltimore, 1888. (Johns
Hopkins University, Studies, vi. nos. 4-6, pp. 193-360.) Contains a
few pages on the origin, character, and significance of the Granger move-
ment, which are suggestive. Also treats briefly of Grange cooperation
in Wisconsin and Iowa.

Warner, Amos G. Three Phases of Cooperation in the West. Baltimore,
1888. (Johns Hopkins University, Studies, vi. nos. 7-8, pp. 361-440.)
Also in American Economic Association, Publications, ii. no. i, pp. i-
119 (1888). The first part, entitled " Cooperation among Farmers,"
deals almost entirely with Grange cooperation in Ohio, Indiana, Michi-
gan, Illinois, Kansas, and Nebraska. The discussion of causes of failure
and residual benefits is suggestive.

Winnebago County (Wisconsin) Council, Patrons of Husbandry. Trading
card (issued to J. H. Osborn), April n, 1874. W.H. Illustrates one
form of cooperation practised by the Granges in the neighborhood of
Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Winnebago County (Wisconsin) Industrial and Provident Society. Appli-
cation for shares. W.H.

Winnebago County (Wisconsin) Industrial and Provident Society. Articles
of Association. Oshkosh, 1878. Pamphlet. W.H. This was a Grange
cooperative organization in Oshkosh.

Wright, J. W. A. Address on Rochdale and Grange Cooperation and other
Grange Topics. [1877 ?] Pamphlet. W.H.

Wright, J. W. A. Cooperation; Europe and the Grange. 1876. Pamphlet.
W.H. An address delivered at the Patrons' centennial encampment
at Philadelphia in 1876. Wright had been in Europe as agent of the
National Grange.

INDEX

INDEX

Abbot, J. C., organizes granges, 54, 62.

Aberdeen (Miss.), grange organized, 51.

Absentee ownership of railroads, 13.

Ackley, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St.
Paul Railroad Company »., 211.

Adams, A. D., " Reasonable Rates," 341.

Adams, C. F., Jr., books and articles on
railroads, 342.

Adams, D. W., secretary Waukon (la.)
Grange, 47; master Iowa State Grange,
50; master National Grange, 58;
revokes dispensation Boston Grange,
62; advocates railroad regulation,
224; influence on Sovereigns of In-
dustry, 306 note 2.

Adams, E. F., Wisconsin Method of Rail'
way Reform, 348.

Adams, H. B., ed., Cooperation in the
United States, 349.

Adams, H. C., " The Farmer and Rail-
way Legislation," 342.

Adams County (Wis.), granges organ-
ized, 50.

Adams County Press (Friendship, Wis.),

329-
Agricultural and Mechanical College of

Ohio, 292.

Agricultural clubs, see Farmers' clubs.
Agricultural colleges, land grants, 26;

attitude of National Grange, 292. See

also Agricultural education.
Agricultural Congress, organized, 78.
Agricultural discontent, 3; in East, 5;

in prairie states, 7; bibliography, 331-

333-
Agricultural education, gifts by Congress

misapplied, 37; advocated by Grange,

64, 104, 292.
Agricultural fairs, encouraged by Grange,

293-
Agricultural organization, arguments for,

39; before the Civil War, 40; bibliog-
raphy, 317-321, 335-34L See also
Farmers' Alliance, Farmers' dubs,
Patrons of Husbandry.

Agricultural population, proportion of
granges to, 58 ff.

Agricultural press, 38; supports Grange,
44, 46, 49, 52; increased circulation,
287.

Agricultural products, statistics (1866-
80), 28-34.

Agricultural Wheel, 304; bibliography,
338.

Agriculture, relative status, 3; in East,
4; in South, 5-7; in upper Mississippi
Valley, 7; in Far West, 8; effect of
panic of 1873, 20; inflation following
Civil War, 24-31; technical advance,
27; proportion of population engaged
in, 35; efforts of Grange to advance,
293-297.

Aiken, D. W., Grange deputy, 55; officer
National Grange, 58, 256; pushes
department of agriculture bill, 118;
editor Rural Carolinian, 328; The
Grange, 335.

Alabama, railroad regulation, 202, 203;
flood sufferers, 283; bibliography, 319,
321, 335, 349-

Alabama Patrons of Husbandry, first
granges, 56; statistics, 58 ff.; growth,
59; influence on legislation, 108; busi-
ness agency, 253; cooperative stores,
265; insurance, 273 note 9; schools,
291; encourage immigration, 297.

Alabama State Grange, organized, 63;
influences legislation, 108; advocates
return of cotton tax, 117; establishes
agencies, 253.

Aldrich, C. R., " Repeal of the Granger
Law in Iowa," 349.

355

356

INDEX

Alexander, E. P., Reply to Railroad Com-
mission of Alabama, 349.
Allen, E. A., ed., Labor and Capital, 335.
Allen, Thomas, Grange organizer, 49, 55.
Allen, Thomas, The Railroad Problem,

349-

Allen ville (Ky.), grange organized, 51.
American Agriculturist (N. Y.), 168 note

1,327.

American Annual Cyclopedia, 329.

American Bureau of Industrial Research,
Documentary History, 317.

American Cheap Transportation Associa-
tion, 218, 224, 342.

American Cultivator (Boston), 325.

American Farmer (Baltimore), 325.

American Farmers' Advocate (Jackson,
Tenn.), 328.

American Grange Bulletin (Cincinnati),
289, 327.

American Rural Home (Rochester, N.Y.),

327-

American Society of Equity, 306; bib-
liography, 337.

Andrews, E. B., Last Quarter-Century,

329-

Andrews, J. B., ed., Labor Movement,
1860-80, 317.

Anglo-American Cooperative Company,
260.

Anti-Monopolist, title of Illinois and
Minnesota papers, 322, 326.

Anti-monopoly movement, effect on
Grange development, 53.

Anti-Monopoly party, see Independent
party movement.

Anti-pass legislation, demanded by
Illinois farmers, 145; Wisconsin law,
186. See also Railroad regulation.

Appeal (Bloomington, 111.), 322.

Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 329.

Arbitration, of railroad grievances, 153;
of disputes between Patrons, 285.

Arizona, Grange statistics, 58 ff.

Arkansas, increase of population, 25;
railroad regulation, 202, 203; agri-
cultural organizations, 304; bibliog-
raphy, 319, 321.

Arkansas Grange (Little Rock), 321.

Arkansas Patrons of Husbandry, first
grange, 56; statistics, s8ff.; growth,
59; business agency, 254; cooperative
stores, 263 note 2; insurance, 273.

Arkansas State Grange, organized, 63;
cause of collapse, 73; advocates rail-
road regulation, 204; establishes
agency, 254; receives donation for
grasshopper victims, 284.

Army, effect of disbanding after Civil
War, 26.

Ashby, N. B., Riddle of the Sphinx, 336.

Ashley Grange No. i, organized at
Charleston (S. C), 51.

Atkinson, Edward, The Railroad and the
Farmer, 342.

Atlanta (Ga.), transportation conven-
tion, 219; Grange agency, 253; Cot-
ton States Convention, 296.

Atlantic coastal plain, agricultural con-
dition, 4.

Atlantic Monthly, editorials, 342.

Augusta (Ga.), Agricultural Congress
formed at, 78.

Avon (111.), Union Farmers' Club of, 75.

Bailey, L. H., ed., Cyclopedia of American
Agriculture, 330.

Baltimore (Md.), Grange business
agency, 252.

Bancroft, H. H., California, 335.

Banks, Grange, 270, 350.

Barnum, Congressman, on interstate
commerce regulation, 215 note 4.

Baxter, W. H., Grange deputy, 60.

Beardsley, Iowa legislator, 168 note i.

Bemis, E. W., Cooperation in New Eng-
land, 350; " Discontent of the Far-
mer," 330.

Bennett, F. O., Politics and Politicians
of Illinois, 333.

Bentley, A. F., Condition of the Western
Farmer as illustrated by the Economic
History of a Nebraska Township, 335.

Beveridge, Governor (111.), 83.

Blake, Winona and St. Peter railroad
v., 161, 211.

INDEX

357

Blakeley, Iowa legislator, 168 note i.

Bloomington (111.), Producer's Conven-
tion at, 48, 75, 128; State Farmers'
Association organized, 75, 144.

Bogart, E. L., Economic History, 330.

Bogue, G. M., Illinois railroad commis-
sioner, 145 note 3.

Bolles, A. S., Industrial History, 330.

Bonanza farms, 28.

Booth, Newton, elected United States
senator from California, 93.

Boston (Mass.), attempt to establish
grange, 51.

Boston Grange, charter revoked, 62.

Bowker, R. R., State Publications, 316.

Boyle, J. E., Financial History of Kansas,

334-

Bradley, Justice, upholds Granger de-
cision, 213.

Brandon (Wis.), Grange cooperative
store, 263.

Bricktop (pseud.), Joining the Grangers,
336.

Bronson, Henry, editor Vox Populi, 324;
Farmers' Unions and Tax Reform,
336.

Brothers of Freedom, organized in Arkan-
sas, 304.

Brown, D. A., Illinois railroad commis-
sioner, 145 note 3.

Bryan, T. B., contributes funds for
Grange tracts, 317.

Bryan Fund Publications, 317.

Bryce, James, American Commonwealth,

330-

Budd v. New York, 213.
Bulletin of Executive Committee of the

State Grange of Wisconsin, 192, 329.
Bureau of agriculture, 117, 122.
Burnham, Grange deputy, 50; removed,

54-

Business cooperation, 238-278. See also
Cooperation.

Butterfield, K. L., Chapters in Rural
Progress, 330; " Farmers' Social Or-
ganizations," 336; "The Grange,"
336; " Recent Grange Work in Michi-
gan," 341.

California, agricultural condition, 8;
cooperation by Farmers' Union, 60;
political situation (1865), 80; Inde-
pendent party movement, 93, 98, 99;
railroad regulation, 197; constitution
of 1878, 198; bibliography, 319, 321,

335, 341-

California Farmer (San Francisco), 321.

California Farmers' Union, 60.

California Granger (San Jose), 321.

California Mutual Fire Insurance Com-
pany, 272.

California Patron, 289, 321.

California Patrons of Husbandry, first
grange, 49; statistics, s8ff.; absorb
Farmers' Union, 60; growth, 61; de-
cline, 250, 251; cooperative stores,
264; banks, 271; insurance, 272;
primary granges, 291.

California State Grange, organized, 60;
advocates: equalization of taxes, 104;
irrigation, 107; exclusion of Chinese
labor, 121; low duty on grain sacks,
115; railroad regulation, 197 — in-
corporates Grangers' Business Asso-
ciation, 251; investigates state uni-
versity, 292.

Campbell, H. C., Wisconsin in Three
Centuries, 334.

Canada, Grange in, 56, 58 ff.; reciprocity
with, 115; bibliography, 341.

Canals, Granges advocate, m.

Canton Mail Grange (Miss.), 326.

Capital Grange, established at Indian-
apolis, 47.

Carnegie Institution, Index of Economic
Material in the Documents of the States,
316.

Carolina Farmer (N. C.), 327.

Carpenter, Governor (la.), favors farmers'
policy, 91; urges railroad legislation,
167 note 3; re-elected, 170; upholds
railroad law, 176.

Carpenter, M. H., Power of the Legisla-
ture to Govern Corporations, 348; Life
by Flower, 348.

Carr, Ezra, Patrons of Husbandry on the
Pacific Coast, 319, 341.

358

INDEX

Gary, J. W., Brief in Wisconsin vs. St.

Paid Railway, 348; Organization and

History of the St. Paid Railway, 343.
Catalogue of Prices to Patrons (Elrich &

Co.), 35°-
Centennial Exposition (Philadelphia),

Grange encampment, 300.
Center-Union Agrkidturist (Omaha,

Neb.), 326.
Central Farmers' Association of Centra-

lia (111.), objects, 82 note 2; coopera-
tive purchasing, 245.
Central Pacific railroad, monopoly, 60;

agitation against, 197.
Centralia (111.), convention of farmers at,

74; Central Farmers' Association, 82

note 2, 245.
Cereal production, East, 4; prairie states,

7; California and Oregon, 8; statistics

(1866-80), 28-34.
Chamberlain, H. R., " Farmers' Alliance

and other Political Parties," 336;

Farmers' Alliance; what it aims to

accomplish, 336.
Chambers, J. M., publisher State Grange

News (111.), 323.

Charitable work of Grange, 283-285.
Charleston (S. C.), grange organized, 51;

eighth session National Grange, 68, 71,

113, "6-
Chautauqua Farmer (Forestville, N. Y.),

327-

Cheap transportation, effect on eastern
farm values, 4; importance to farmers,
9; agitation for, influences Grange
development, 52; attitude of eastern
farmers, 61; agitation by farmers'
organizations, in; desired by Na-
tional Grange, 112. See also Railroads,
Transportation.

" Cheap Transportation Report," 346.

Chicago (111.), attempt to establish
grange, 45; attempt to organize state
grange, 48; Northwestern Farmers'
Convention, 112, 155, 220, 247; mer-
chants ask repeal of railroad law,
156; National Cheap Transportation
Association, 226 ; Grange agents,

248; Northwestern Farmers' Alliance,

305-

Chicago and Alton railroad, suit against,
in Illinois, 138, 141.

Chicago and Northwestern railroad,
People of Illinois v., 150; president
protests against Iowa Granger law,
*73J opposes Potter law, 187; suit
against, in Wisconsin, 188; Lawrence
v., 210; Peik »., 210; bibliography,
347, 348, 340.

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy rail-
road, suits against, in Illinois, 150;
opposes Iowa Granger law, 174; ac-
cepts Iowa law of 1876, 176.

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroad
v. Iowa, 210.

Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul rail-
road, opposes Potter law, 185, 187;
accepts Iowa law of 1876, 177; bibliog-
raphy, 343, 348, 349.

Chicago,- Milwaukee, and St. Paul rail-
road v. Ackley, 211.

Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul rail-
road v. Minnesota, 213.

Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific rail-
road, gives passes to Iowa legislators,
167 note 6; protests against Iowa
Granger law, 174.

Chicago Tribune, reports agricultural
activities, 288; bibliography, 322.

Chinese labor question, attitude of
Grange, 121.

Christian County Farmers' Journal (Tay-
lorville, 111.), 322.

Churches, Ohio State Grange demands
taxation, 105.

Cincinnati Grange Supply House, 262.

Civil service reform, farmers' advocate,
86; demanded by Independents, 94,
95, 100.

Civil War, effect on southern agriculture,
5; effect on Illinois farmers, 74;
Grange helps to remove bitterness,
'283.

Clark, F. C., State Railroad Commissions,

343-
Claussen, Iowa legislator, 168 note i.

INDEX

359

Cleveland (O.), Greenback convention,

98 note 3; branch of Cincinnati

Grange Supply House, 262.
Clinton (Pa.), grange organized, 51.
Cloud, D. C., Monopolies and the People,

330-
Clubs, organized by farmers, 73-79.

See also Farmers' clubs.
Cochrane, John, address on Potter law,

190, 192.

Cokesbury (S. C.), 55-
Coleman, Southern Minnesota railroad

v., 211.
Coleman, J. A., " Fight of a Man with a

Railroad," 343.
Coleman, N. J., corresponds with Kelley,

49-

Coleman's Rural World (St. Louis), ad-
vertises Grange, 46; bibliography, 326.

Collins, Lewis, Kentucky, 325.

Colorado, Grange statistics, 58 ff., 61;
railroad provisions of constitution,
198; donation to state grange, 284.

Colorado Grange (Greely), 322.

Colton, E. P., master Vermont State
Grange, shows good-will to South,
282.

Columbus (Miss.), grange organized, 51.

Columbus (O.), attempt to establish
grange, 45-

Coman, Katharine, Industrial History,

330-
Commercial class, triumph in politics,

34-

Commission men, California to Liverpool
grain trade, 8; opposition to Grange
in South, 55; organize granges in New
York and Boston, 62; join Grange,
171. See also Merchants, Middlemen.

Commons, J. R., Labor Movement, 1860-
80,317.

Competition, as a means of regulating
railroads, n; between farmers, 61.

" Condition of Agriculture in the Cotton
States," 330.

Congress, Credit Mobilier, 13; war tariff,
21 ; occupation of members, 35; in-
fluence exerted by Grange, no, 122;

appropriates for internal improve-
ments, 112; creates department of
agriculture, 118; considers regulation
of interstate commerce, 214-217;
Windom committee investigates trans-
portation, 217, 220-222; urged to
regulate railroads, 218-220, 223, 226,
228, 229; McCrary railroad bill, 222,
224-226; Reagan railroad bill, 227-
230; interstate commerce act, 230;
bibliography, 315.
Congress and the Railways," 345*

Connecticut, Grange statistics, 58 ff.,
70; Grange cooperative stores, 266;
Sovereigns of Industry, 307.

Connecticut Granges, The, 340.

Constitution of National Grange, adop-
ted, 42; revised, 65 ; changes demanded,
71; provides for visiting the sick,
285; enforces kindness to animals,
299; bibliography, 317.

Constitution of Sovereigns of Industry,
306.

Cook, B.C., Brief in Wisconsin vs.
Northwestern Railway, 348.

Cook, H. C., Illinois railroad commis-
sioner, 145 note 3.

Cook, W. W., Corporation Problem, 343.

Cook County Alliance No. i, 305.

Cooper, T. V., American Politics, 330.

Cooperation, beginning of, in Grange,
46, 52, 53; advantage of secrecy, 60;
needed by farmers, 238; business
agencies, 239-259, 276; Rochdale
plan, 259, 261-267, 275, 307; stores,
260-267, 276, 307; manufacturing,
267-270, 274; banking, 270; insurance
271-273; difficulties, 274-277; ad-
vantages, 277; Farmers' Alliance,
303; significance, 310; bibliography,
316, 349-3S1' See also under sepa-
rate states.

Cooperative News (New Orleans), 325.

Corbett, W. W., editor Prairie Farmer,
48; letter on railroads, 53.

Corn, burned for fuel, 14; statistics
(1866-80), 28-34. See also Cereal
production.

360

INDEX

Corporations, Independents demand
state control, 100. See also Railroads.

" Corporations and Monopolies," 346.

Corruption in politics, 36; denounced by
Independents, 100; efforts of Grange
against, 106, 120.

Cotton, over-production, 6; area ex-
tended by fertilizers, 28; statistics
(1860-80), 28-34; attempts to re-
strict production, 296; bibliography,

33i.

Cotton States Convention, recommends
restriction of cotton production, 296.

Coulter, J. L., Cooperation among Far-
mers, 350. " Organization among
Farmers," 336.

County granges, 65, 240.

Courts, see Granger cases and Granger
laws.

Craig, A. M., elected chief-justice of
Illinois, 84, 85.

Cramer, J. A., Patrons1 Pocket Com-
panion, 336.

Credit Mobilier, 13, 36, 120.

Credit System, effect on southern agri-
culture, 6; in West, 18.

Crop mortgages, in South, 6; in West,
18.

Crop statistics, collection by Grange, 44,
46, 294-296.

Cullom, Senator S. M., chairman trans-
portation committee, 230.

Cullom committee, report on transporta-
tion, 230; Report, 343.

Cultivator and Country Gentlemen (Al-
bany, N. Y.), 327-

Currency, effect of depreciation on
farmers, 20; attitude toward inflation :
Independents, 81, 90, 94, 95, 101, 102;
Greenbackers, 91, 309; Grange, 114;
Knights of Labor, Farmers' Alliance,
and Populists, 309.

Curtis, B. R., consulted on Potter law,
187.

Dairy farming, in New York, Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio, 4; neglect in prairie
states, 7; increase in East, 61.

Dakota, increase in population, 25;
Grange statistics, 58 ff., 59; terri-
torial grange organized, 63 ; donations
for grasshopper victims, 283.

Darrow, J. W., Patrons of Husbandry
336.

Dartmouth College decision, 12, 209.

Davidson, Alexander, Illinois, 334.

Davis, Governor (Minn.) , discusses rail-
road legislation, 165.

Davis, Judge (Wis.), upholds Potter
law, 1 88.

Davis, C. W., The Farmer, the Investor
and the Railway, 343.

Davis, Judge David, elected senator
from Illinois, 98; political description,
100 note i.

Davis, W. J., Political Conventions in
California, 335.

Decatur (111.), Illinois State Farmers
Association, 76, 95.

Declaration of Independence, Farmers',
86, 87.

Declaration of Purposes of the Farmers'
Alliance of Texas, 303.

Declaration of Purposes of the National
Grange, 64; conservative position on
railroad question, 72; asserts non-
political character of order, 109;
favors internal improvements, 112;
favors industrial education, 292; in-
fluence on Farmers' Alliance, 303.

Dedication of Grange Halls, 318.

Degree of the Golden Sheaf, no, 318.

Delaware, Grange statistics, 58 ff., 59,
66; Grange cooperative stores, 266;
bibliography, 333.

Democratic party, status in 1865, 80;
relations with Independent parties,
90-98.

Demonetization law, attitude of Grange,
114.

Denman, J. H., Grange agent, 242.

Department of agriculture, advocated
by Grange, 117; established 118, 122;
bibliography, 331.

Des Moines (la.), state farmers' con-
vention, 89; state grange session, 169.

INDEX

361

Des Moines Leader, 324.

Detrich, C. R., " Effects of the Granger

Acts," 235, 236, 343.
Detroit (Mich.), Grange agents, 248.
Dey, P. A., " Railroad Legislation in

Iowa," 349.
Digest of Laws and Enactments of the

National Grange, 318.
Dillon, Judge (la.), upholds Granger

law, 174.

Dinwiddie, Oscar, organizes granges, 51.
Direct Trade Union, established, 264;

official organ, 322. •
Dirigo Rural (Bangor, Me.), 289, 325.
Distribution, importance to farmers, 9;

attitude of farmers toward those

engaged in, 16. See also Commission

men, Middlemen, Railroads.
District granges, 65, 73, 240.
Dixon, F. H., "Railroad Control in

Nebraska," 349; State Railroad Con-
trol, 172 note 2, 349.
Dixon, Hon. L. S., defends Potter law,

188.
Dixon (111.), state grange reorganized,

54-

Doctors, join Grange, 71 note 2.

Documents, bibliography: federal, 315;
state, 316; agricultural, 317, 321.

Dodge, J. R., " Discontent of the Far-
mer," 331.

" Does Farming in New England Pay ? "

333-

Donnelly, Ignatius, publisher Anti-
Monopolist, 326.

Dorsey, Senator, introduces bill on inter-
state commerce, 222.

Drew, F. M., " Present Fanners' Move-
ment," 336.

Drummond, Judge (Wis.), upholds
Potter law, 188.

Dues paid to National Grange, 70.

Dunbar, W. H., " State Regulation of
Prices and Rates," 343.

Dunn, Finley, American Farming and
Food, 331.

Dunn County (Wis.) Council, Patrons
of Husbandry, Constitution, 350.

Dunning, N. A., ed., Farmers' Alliance

History, 337.
Dunning, W. A., Reconstruction, Political

and Economic, 331.
Durrie, D. S., Iowa, 334.

Earle, W. H., organizes Sovereigns of
Industry, 306.

East, growth of Grange, 51, 56, 61; in-
fluence of Grange, 302.

East Cleveland (O.) grange established,
47-

East Texas Patron (Crockett), 328.

Edsall, J. K., " Grange Cases and the
Police Power," 343.

Education, fostered by Grange, 34, 286-
293; legislation favored by Grange,
103.

Educational features of Grange, 285-
290; influence on order in East, 61.

Eger, Luke, organizes grange, 51.

Eighth Session National Grange, 71, 113,
116, 258, 282, 299.

Eleventh Session National Grange, 114,
116, 121.

Elliot, J. R., American Farms, 331.

Ellis, S. H., enters Grange work in Ohio,
54; " Early History of the Grange in
Ohio," 340.

Elmira (N. Y.) Patrons' Mutual Aid
Society, 272.

Elrich and Company (N. Y.), Grange
agents, 350.

Ely, R. T., Labor Movement in America ,
33i.

Emerich, C. F., " Analysis of the Agri-
cultural Discontent," 331.

Emery, H. D., attempts to establish
grange in Chicago, 45.

Emigration, to West, 5. See also Immi-
gration.

English Cooperative Union, asks coopera-
tion of Grange, 259.

Eugene City Guard (Ore.), 328.

Eureka Grange, established at Nunda
(111.), 47-

Evansville Review (Wis.), on Potter law,
192.

362

INDEX

Evarts, W. M., consulted on Potter law,

187.
Everitt, J. A., American Society of Equity,

337; Third Power, 337.
Examiner and Patron (Waco, Tex.), 328.

Factories, Grange, 267-270.
Failor, A., organizes grange, 46.
Fairs, encouraged by Grange, 293, 294.
Far West, agricultural condition, 8. See

also Pacific coast, West.
Faribault (Minn.), state grange session,

162 note 2.
Farley, master of Manhattan Grange,

257-
Farley and Company, Grange agents,

257.

" Farm Change in Politics," 346.

Farm lands, increase (1860-80), 25, 26.

Farm values, depreciation in East, 4.

" Farmer as a ' Mediaeval Baron,' " 346.

Fanners, relative status, 3; discontent,
3, 5, 7; effect of credit system on, 6;
inertia, 8; need cheap transportation,
9; purchase railroad stock, 10; antag-
onism to railroads, n; attitude to-
ward railroad rates, 14; physiocratic
theories, 16; and middleman, 16-18;
ignorance of market conditions, 17;
complaints against manufacturers, 18;
indebtedness, 19; and currency de-
preciation, 20; and tariff, 21; and
taxation, 22-24; political influence
before Civil War, 34; and politics,
34-36; political interests not consid-
ered> 35; small percentage in office,
35; social and intellectual conditions,
37; isolation, 37; lack of information,
38; lack of organization, 38, 41; or-
ganize clubs and granges, 44-79, 81;
dependence on railroads, 64; objec-
tions to Grange, 74; organize political
parties, 84-88; indebtedness, 104;
interest in politics aroused by Granger
movement, 108; interest in monetary
questions, 114; demand enforcement
of Illinois Granger laws, 144; support
Illinois railroad commission, 155; in-

fluence on Illinois railroad legislation,
158; attitude toward railroad regula-
tion in South, 203; desire cooperation
with manufacturers, 238; organize
insurance companies, 271; benefited
by cooperation, 277; life broadened
by Grange, 279-282; later organiza-
tions, 302-306; join Knights of Labor,
308. See also Agriculture, Grange.

Farmers' Advocate, title of Illinois and
Kansas papers, 322, 323, 324.

" Farmers and the Supreme Court," 346.

Farmers' and Laborers' Union of
America, 304.

Farmers' Alliance, 302-305, 309, 310;
bibliography, 324, 336-339.

Farmers' Blade (Neb.), 326.

Farmers' Clubs, California, 59; early
organizations, 73; rapid spread, 74;
union in Illinois, 74-77; Kansas, 77;
connection with Independent parties,
81, 86, 88; influence legislation, 102;
confused with granges, 109; business
cooperation, 238; bibliography, 338.
See also Grange, National Farmers'
Alliance, Northwestern Farmers' Al-
liance, and various state farmers'
associations.

" ' Farmers' Clubs' and the Railroads,"

345-
Farmers' Conventions, 74-79, 146. See

also Producers' Convention.
Farmers' Cooperative Association of

Kansas, 77.
Farmers' Cooperative Union of San Jose*

(Calif.), 264.
Farmers' Declaration of Independence,

86, 87.

Farmers' Exchange of Grinnell (la.), 263.
Farmers' Fourth of July, 281.
Farmers' Friend (Mechanicsburg, Pa.),

328.

" Farmers' Future," 345.
" Farmers' Grievance," 332.
Farmers' Home. Journal (Ky.), 324.
Farmers' Journal (Carthage, N. Y.), 327.
Farmers' Loan and Trust Company,

Stone v., 213,

INDEX

363

Farmers' 'Mutual Benefit Association,
304.

Farmers' party, see Independent party
movement.

Farmers' Union (Calif.), 249.

Farmers' Union (Lawrenceville, 111.), 3 23.

Farmers' Union (La.), 304.

Farmer' 's Union (Minneapolis), adver-
tises Grange, 46; bibliography, 326.

Farmer's Vindicator (Jackson, Miss.),
326.

Farmers' Vindicator and Cooperative
News (New Orleans, La.), 325.

Farmers' War: Letter from the Western
States, 338.

Feast of Pomona, Grange festival, 280.

Fen ton, H. T., American Politics , 330.

Fertilizers, extend area of cotton produc-
tion, 28. Grange purchases, 248, 252.

"Few Words to Railroad Moralists,"

345-

Field, Justice, dissenting opinion in
Granger cases, 206, 209, an.

Fink, Albert, Cost of Railroad Trans-
portation, 343.

Fire insurance, Grange, 272.

First annual session National Grange,
47, 241.

Fite, E. D., Social and Industrial Condi-
tions in the North during the Civil War,

33i.

Flagg, W. C., president Illinois State
Farmers' Association, 75; opposes
currency inflation, 95; states object of
Northwestern Farmers' Convention,
220; appears before Windom Com-
mittee, 221.

Fleming, W. L., Civil War and Recon-
struction in Alabama, 335.

Florida, Grange statistics, 58 ff., 59;
state grange organized, 63; Grange
agency, 252; bibliography, 322.

Florida Agriculturist (De Land), 322.

Florida Patron, 322.

Flower, F. A., " Cooperation in the
United States and Cooperation in
Wisconsin," 350; Life of M. H. Car-
penter, 348.

Folwell, W. W., Minnesota, 334.

Fond du Lac County (Wis.) Pomona

Grange, 321.

Foreign population, in West (1880), 27.
Foster, F. J., " Grange and Cooperative

Enterprises in New England," 350.
" Founders " of Grange, 41-44; lose

interest, 45; meet as National Grange,

47; attend sixth session National

Grange, 57.
Fox River (Wis.), Grange advocates

improvement, 112.
Fredonia (N. Y.), 47.
Frontier, advance of (1860-80), 24.
Fuller, E. N., editor People's Paper, 323.

Garden City Grange, Chicago, 45, 48.

Garner, J. W., Reconstruction in Missis-
sippi, 335-

Garretson, " Sister," addresses National
Grange, 299.

Garretson, N. W., organizes granges, 60.

Gear, Governor (la.), on effects of
Granger law, 232 note 4.

Geeslin, A. W., ed., Exposition of the
Grange, 337.

" General Regulation Act," 346.

George, Milton, starts Northwestern
Farmers' Alliance, 305.

Georgetown (B.C.), sixth session Na-
tional Grange, 57.

Georgia, railroad regulation, 202, 203;
bibliography, 322.

Georgia Patrons of Husbandry, early
correspondence, 50; first granges, 56;
statistics, 58 ff.; growth, 59; state
grange organized, 63; decline, 69;
business agencies, 253; cooperative
stores, 264.

Gladden, Washington, " Embattled
Farmers," 337.

" Good and Bad Grangers," 348.

Goodwin, T. S., The Grange, 337.

Gordon, J. H., Illinois Railway Legisla-
tion, 347.

Gracchus Americanus (pseud.), The
Grange, 337.

Graham liquor law (Wis.), 92.

364

INDEX

Grain, see Cereal production.

Grain sacks, efforts to secure reduced
prices, 60.

Grain trade, monopoly in California, 8;
regulation in Illinois, 130, 134. See
also Warehouse regulation.

Grand State Alliance of Texas, 303.

Grange (Order of Patrons of Husbandry),
inception, 40; degrees, 43; methods
of organization, 48; growth, 40-63;
financial advantages made prominent,
52; national character, 57; control
passes to farmers, 57; table of statis-
tics, 58 ff.; eligibility, 58, 62; negroes
excluded, 59, 74 notei; maps illus-
trating status, opposite 61, 65, 67, 69;
platform, 63-65; constitution revised,
65; culmination, 66; great enter-
prises, 67-69; decline, 67, 69, 122,
226, 230, 244, 260, 262; causes of
decline, 70-73; present membership,
70; features objected to, 74; influence
on: railroad regulation, 96 note 3,
144, 158, 160, 162 note 2, 168-170, 175,
181, 186, 190, 192-204, 218, 223-230;
state legislation, 102-108; national
legislation, 108-122; other agricul-
tural organizations, 302, 303; labor
organizations, 306, 307 — non-political
character, 82, 108; attitude toward:
public education, 103, 291; financial
questions, 104-106, 114-117; currency
expansion, 114; tariff, 115; tobacco
tax, 116; agricultural colleges, 291-
293 — advocates: political reform, 106,
120; reduction of transportation rates,
HI; canals, HI; increased railroad
facilities, 113; department of agricul-
ture, 117; patent reforms, 118-120 —
methods of influencing Congress, no;
cooperative enterprises, 238-278; local
business agencies, 239-241, 243, 244,
248; state agencies, 241-255; national
cooperative schemes, 256-259; coop-
erative stores, 250-267; manufactur-
ing, 269-271; banking, 271; insur-
ance, 273; failure of cooperation, 274-
277; original purposes, 279; fosters:

social life, 280; reading, 287; agricul-
tural fairs, 293; immigration, 297 —
position of women in, 281; removes
sectional prejudices, 281-283; relief
work, 283-285; arbitration of disputes,
285; character of local meetings,
285, 286 note i ; newspapers, 288-290,
321-329; schools, 291; crop statistics,
294-296; attempts to limit cotton
crop, 296; interest in temperance, 297;
lessons of ritual, 299; helps build
Washington monument, 299; encamp-
ment at Centennial exposition, 300;
later career, 302; bibliography, 317-
341. See also National Grange, and
under separate states.

Grange (Terra Haute, Ind.), 324.

Grange Advance (Red Wing, Minn.), 326.

" Grange and the Potter Law," 349.

Grange Bulletin (Cincinnati, O.), 327.

Grange Bulletin (Wellborn, Fla.), 322.

Grange Correspondent and Dry-Goods
Reporter (St. Louis, Mo.), 326.

Grange Journal (Humboldt, Tenn.), 328.

Grange Monitor (Mo.), 326.

Grange Outlook (Knoxville, Tenn.), 328.

Grange Record (Louisville, Ky.), 290, 325.

Grange Reporter (Tyler, Tex.), 328.

Grange Review (Salem, Neb.), 326.

Grange Standard (Detroit, Mich.), 325.

Grange Visitor (Schoolcraft, Mich.), 289,

325.

Grange Visitor and Farmers1 Monthly
Magazine (Springfield, O.), 327.

Granger (Brownville, Neb.) , 326.

Granger (St. Anne, III.), 323.

Granger cases in United States Supreme
Court, 143, 152, 161, 206-214; prop-
ositions established, 211; effect of
decisions, 237.

" Granger Collapse," 346.

" Granger Decisions," 346.

Granger laws, referred to, 82, 85, 96, 99,
loo, 123; Illinois, 123-158; Minne-
sota, 159-166; Iowa, 166-179; Wis-
consin, 179-194; Missouri, 194-196;
general principles, 204; tested in Su-
preme Court, 206-214; effect on rates,

INDEX

365

231; effect on railroads, 232-237; per-
manent results, 237. See also Railroad
regulation.

" Granger Method of Reform," 346.

" Granger Theory applied to the Gran-
gers," 346.

" ' Grangers ' and the Judges," 345.

Grangers' Bank of California, 271.

Grangers' Business Association of Cali-
fornia, 251.

Grangers' Cooperative Association of
Southern California, 264.

Grangers' Life and Health Insurance
Company of the United States, 273
note 9.

Grangers' Mortgage Bank, proposed,
270.

Grangers, or Patrons of Husbandry; their
textbook, 337.

Grangers' Prices Current (N. Y.), 327.

Grangers' Union of Stockton (Calif.),
264.

" Grangers against the Railroads," 342.

" Granges and Farmers' Clubs in
America," 337.

Grant, President, on political conditions
in West, 81 note i; advises investiga-
tion of transportation question, 216.

Gray, Justice, upholds Granger decision,
213.

Greathouse, C. H., Historical Sketch of
the Department of Agriculture, 331.

Greenback party, relation of Indepen-
dent parties, to 81, 90, 95, 98, 101,
308; organization, 98 note 3, 101; re-
lation of Grange to, 114; significance,
310; newspapers support, 322, 323,

324-

Grinnell (la.), Farmers' Exchange, 263.
Grosh, Rev. A. B., " founder " of Grange,

42; Mentor in the Granges and Homes

of Patrons of Husbandry, 337.
Grosvenor, W. M., " Communist and

the Railway," 343; "Railroads and

the Farms," 344.
Gue, B. F., Iowa, 334.
Gustin, M. E., Expose of the Grangers,

337-

Hadley, A. T., Railroad Transportation,
234 note i, 344; " Railway in its Busi-
ness Relations," 344.

Hager, J. S., elected United States sena-
tor from California, 93; political de-
scription, 100, note i.

Haines, H. S., Railroads and the State,

344-

Hall, Carrie, suggests admission of
women to Grange, 41; assists in or-
ganizing granges, 47; Songs for the
Grange, 280 note 2, 337.

Hall, Z. N., wholesales groceries to
granges, 246.

Hammond, D. S., Illinois railroad com-
missioner, 136; criticized by Prairie
Farmer, 137.

Hammond, M. B., Cotton Industry, 331;
"Southern Farmer and the Cotton
Question," 331.

Haney, L. H., Congressional History of
Railways, 344.

Hanson, Burton, Unfair Railway Agita-
tion, 344.

Harlan, Illinois legislator, introduces
bill to abolish railroad commission,
139.

Harrisburg (Pa.), dispensation issued for
grange, 45.

Hart, A. B., " Disposition of our Public
Lands," 331.

Harvest Home (Mt. Washington, O.), 327.

Harvey, elected United States senator
from Kansas, 93; political description,
ico note i.

Hassler, C. W., Railroad Rings, 344.

Hatch, Rufus, articles on railroads cir-
culated by Grange, 53.

Hayes-Tilden contest for presidency,
influence of Illinois Independents on,
98 note 4.

Hendrick, Frank, Railway Control by
Commissions, 344.

Henry (111.), grange established, 47.

Hepburn Committee (N. Y.), Proceed-
ings, 200, 344.

Hibbard, B. H., History of Agriculture in
Dane county, Wisconsin, 334.

366

INDEX

Hill, W. H., Ohio Grange agent, 248;

Confidential Price List, 350.
Historical Paper, showing the aims and

objects of the order of Knights of Labor,

337.
History, Description and Resources of

Darlington County, South Carolina,

320.

History of the Grange in Canada, 341.
Hittell, T. H., California, 335.
Hoar, W. M., consulted on Potter law,

187.

Home and Farm (Louisville), 325.
Homestead Law, 26.
Honey Creek (Ind.), grange established,

47-

Hoosier Patron and Lady Granger (In-
dianapolis), 324.

Hopkins, Judge (Wis.), upholds Potter
law, 188.

Howe, J. H., Statement in Behalf of the
Northwestern Railroad, 348.

Rowland, Marie, " Patrons of Husban-

dry," 337.

Hoyt, J. W., Wisconsin railroad com-
missioner, 1 86.

Hudson, J. F., Railways and the Republic,

344-
Hudson, J. K., editor Kansas Farmer,

324; Patrons' Handbook, 337.
Huntington (Ind.), Grange store, 263.
Husbandman (Elmira, N. Y.), 327.

Idaho, Grange statistics, 58 ff.; organiza-
tion of granges, 66.

Illinois, public aid to railroads, 22 note
3; occupations of legislators, 35; an-
tagonism to railroads, 48, 53; agricul-
tural discontent, 74; farmers' clubs,
74-76; extent of agricultural organi-
zation, 76; political situation (1865),
80; Independent party movement, 82,
84-89; State Farmers' Convention,
83, 146; judicial elections (1873), 84;
county elections (1873), 85-89; Inde-
pendent Reform party organized in,
94; general election (1874), 95 ; Legis-
lative Fanners' Club, 131; legislature

favors interstate commerce legislation,
218, 223; bibliography, 317, 319, 322,
324, 333, 340, 347, 35i.

Illinois Central railroad, suits against, in
Illinois, 140, 150, 151; accepts Iowa
railroad law, 176.

Illinois Granger (Macomb), 323.

Illinois Patrons of Husbandry, attempt
to establish grange at Chicago, 45;
early granges, 47, 49; growth, 51, 54,
59; statistics, 58 ff.; relations with
State Fanners' Association, 75, 76;
decline, 77; oppose increase of judicial
salaries, 106; business agencies, 244-
247; cooperative stores, 263 note 2;
manufacturing, 269. See also Illinois
State Grange.

Illinois railroad and warehouse regula-
tion, constitution (1870), 125-131;
passenger act (1871), 132; act regu-
lating freight rates (1871), 133; act
regulating warehouses, 134; act es-
tablishing railroad commission, 135;
difficulties of enforcement, 136-138,
140-143; proposed legislation (1872),
138-140; commission sues companies,
140-143; freight act (1871) uncon-
stitutional, 142; warehouse law up-
held, 143; influence of farmers' organ-
izations; 143-145, 146, 158; proposed
laws (1873), 145; Granger law (1873),
147-149; litigation over Granger Law,
149-152; commission prepares sched-
ule of rates, 150; attempt to repeal
law, 153-158; arbitration of disputes,
153; farmers support law, 155; at-
tacks on commission, 156; proposed
legislation (1874), 156; influence on
other states, 162, 194, 198-202; cases
in United States Supreme Court, 207-
209, 211-214; influence on agitation
for federal law, 216, 225.

Illinois State Farmers' Association, or-
ganized, 75, 144; rapid growth, 76;
friction with Grange, 76; political
activity, 82-84; resolutions on rail-
road regulation, 83; platform, 94;
connection with Greenback party, 98

INDEX

367

note 3; advocates currency expansion,
114; supports Illinois railroad law,
155; opposes federal railroad legisla-
tion, 223; attempts cooperation, 245;
officers establish Industrial Age, 288.

Illinois State Grange, organization at-
tempted, 48; reorganized, 54; sup-
ports railroad law, 155; urges federal
regulation of railroads, 220; establishes
agency, 245; condemns use of tobacco,
298.

Immigration, increase (1862-82), 27;
encouraged by Grange, 297.

Independence day, Vermont Grange
celebration, 56; proposed Grange
celebration at Centennial Exposition,
300. See also Farmers' Fourth of
July.

Independent, title of Illinois papers, 322,
323-

Independent (N. Y.), railroad articles by
Hatch, 53.

Independent party movement, connec-
tion with Grange, 72, 82, 89, 91, 92,
308; effect on Illinois State Farmers'
Association, 76; causes, 80, 82; re-
lations with Greenback party, 81, 95,
98, 101; Democratic affiliations, 83,
88, 89, 90; Illinois State Farmers'
Convention, 83; judicial elections in
Illinois (1873), 84; criticism, 85; plat-
forms, 86, 90, 94, 100, 181; enthusiasm
worked up, 86-88; local elections in
Illinois (1873), 88; state parties or-
ganized, 89, 94, 97; campaigns, 89-
98; decline, 98; political results, 100;
purposes, 100; causes of failure, 101;
newspapers support, 322-324, 326, 328.

Independent Reformer (Springfield, 111.),

323-

Indian Territory, Grange statistics, 58 ff.

Indiana, fanners organized, 78; political
situation (1865), 80; Independent
party, 93; railroad legislation, 201;
Patrons of Industry, 305; bibliog-
raphy, 319, 324, 351.

Indiana Farmer (Indianapolis), 324.

Indiana Granger (Muncie), 324.

Indiana Patrons of Husbandry, early

granges, 47, 49; growth, 51, 54, 59 J

statistics, 58 ff.; density of granges, 67;

business agency, 248; cooperative

stores, 263 note 2; manufacturing, 269.

See also Indiana State Grange.
Indiana State Farmers' Association, 78.
Indiana State Grange, organized, 54;

opposes state aid to colleges, 104;

opposes Canadian reciprocity, 115;

demands railroad legislation, 201;

establishes state agency, 248.
Indianapolis (Ind.), grange established,

47; convention of Independents, 93;

National Agricultural Congress, 78,

219, 220; Greenback convention, 98
note 3.

Indianapolis Sun, 324.

Industrial Age, on Wisconsin railroad
legislation, 183 notei; established,
288; bibliography, 323, 329.

Industrial education, advocated by
Grange, 290-293.

Industrial Press (Galena, 111.), 323.

Insurance companies, denounced, 53;
Grange cooperative, 271-273.

Intellectual conditions among farmers,
37-

Interest, high rate in California, 60;
Grange resolutions, 105.

Internal improvements, Grange advo-
cates, in.

Internal revenue, and farmers, 22; the
Grange and the tobacco tax, 116.

Interstate commerce, act (1887), 122,
133, 212, 230; state control, 152, 152
note 6, 208, 210, 212, 213; need of
federal legislation, 214; President
Grant recommends investigation, 216;
Windom committee, 217, 220-222,
agitation for federal regulation, 218-

220, 223, 226, 228-230; McCrary bill,
222, 224-226; Regan bill, 227-230.
See also Railroad regulation.

Iowa, political situation (1865), 8°> Anti-
Monopoly party, 89-91; legislature
favors federal railroad regulation, 218,
223; republicans favor federal railroad

368

INDEX

regulation, 226; Northwestern Far-
mers' Alliance, 305; bibliography, 319,

324, 334, 349, 35°.

Iowa Homestead and Western Farm
Journal (Des Moines, la.), 49, 324.

Iowa Patrons of Husbandry, early
granges, 46, 47, 49; growth, 50, 54;
beginnings of cooperation, 53; largest
number of granges (1873), 58J statis-
tics, 58 ff.; decline, 67, 175, 177; con-
nection with Anti-Monopoly party,
89, 91 ; influence on railroad regulation
168-171, 175; business agencies, 243;
cooperative stores, 263, 263 note 2;
manufacturing, 268, 269; programs
for local granges, 286. See also Iowa
State Grange.

Iowa railroad regulation, attitude of
Anti-Monopoly party, 96, 169, 176,
226; Republicans repeal Granger
law, 99; early agitation, 166; O'Don-
nell bill fails, 167; attitude of Grange,
168-170, 175; Granger law (1874),
170-173; attitude of railroads, 173,
174, 176; litigation, 174; amend-
ment (1876), 176; campaign against,
177; commission law substituted for
Granger law, 178; later legislation,
179; case in United States Supreme
Court, 210.

Iowa State Grange, organized, 50; busi-
ness agent, 53; advocates: safeguard-
ing bank deposits, 106; patent
reforms, 119; state railroad legislation,
169; federal railroad legislation, 218,
223; arbitration of disputes, 285;
immigration, 297 — session at Des
Moines, 169; strength, 170; upholds
railroad law, 175; manufactures ma-
chinery, 244, 268; receives donation
for grasshopper victims, 283.

Ireland, W. M., " founder " of Grange,
41, 42; treasurer National Grange,
42.

Irrigation, California State Grange
advocates, 107.

Itasca (Minn.), home of O. H. Kelley,
41.

Jacques, Colonel D. H., recommends
Grange deputy, 51; editor Rural
Carolinian, 328.

James, E. J., " Agitation for the Federal
Regulation of Railways," 344.

Jay County Granger (Portland, Ind.),
324.

Jefferson City (Mo.), farmers' conven-
tion, 78.

Johnson, E. R., American Railway Trans-
portation, 344.

Johnson County (Kans.), Cooperative
Association, 263.

Joining the Grangers, 336.

Jones, E. M., organizes grange, 54.

Journal of Agriculture and Farmer
(St. Louis, Mo.), 326.

Kansas, increase in population (1860-
80), 25; farmers' association, 77;
political situation (1865), 80; Inde-
pendent party, 93, 97; railroad
agitation, 196; Farmers' Alliance,
303; bibliography, 319, 324, 334, 351.

Kansas Farmer (Topeka), 324.

Kansas Patron and Farmer (Olathe),
324-

Kansas Patrons of Husbandry, early
correspondence, 50; deputies ap-
pointed, 51; growth, 58; statistics,
58ff.; decline, 67; lack interest in
railroad problem, 196; business
agency, 249; cooperative stores, 263,
264; revival, 264; manufacturing,
269; insurance, 272, 273.

Kansas State Grange, organized, 55;
approves state control of railroads,
196; establishes business agency, 249;
receives donation for grasshopper
victims, 283, 284.

Kasson, Iowa legislator, 168 note i.

Kearney, Dennis, founds Workingmen's
party, 99.

Kearneyite party (Calif.), 99; influence
in constitutional convention, 198.

Keep, Albert, president Northwestern
railroad, opposes Potter law, 187;
Memorial of Railway Companies, 348.

INDEX

369

Kelley, O. H., conceives idea of Grange,
40; southern tour, 41; secretary of
National Grange, 42; starts organiz-
ing trip, 43; establishes granges on
way to Minnesota, 45; organizes
granges in Minnesota, 46; gets order
under way, 47-50; transfers Grange
headquarters to Washington, 49;
takes up anti-monopoly agitation, 53;
organizes Illinois and Indiana state
granges, 54; organizes South Carolina
and Mississippi State Granges, 55;
organizes Vermont State Grange, 56;
calls sixth session National Grange,
57; re-elected secretary National
Grange, 58; defends Boston Grange,
62; founds Degree of the Golden
Sheaf, 109; attitude on Grange
cooperation, 239, 241, 242 note i,
256; recommends fraudulent commis-
sion firm, 257; preserves Grange
correspondence, 317; death, 40 note 2;
"Early Struggles of the Grange,"
338; " Grange History; Personal
Reminiscences," 338; Patrons of
Husbandry, 40 note i, 317, 338.

Kentucky, benefited by free tobacco,
116; railroad legislation, 204; bibliog-
raphy, 319, 325, 335, 350.

Kentucky Patrons of Husbandry, early
correspondence, 50; first grange, 51,
56; statistics, 58 ff.; growth, 59;
state grange organized, 63; business
agency, 253; manufacturing, 269.

Keokuk (la.), meeting of Mississippi
Valley granges, 112.

Kerr, Congressman, minority report on
interstate commerce, 215 note 4.

Kewanee (Ill.)> farmers' convention,

75-

Kirk, T. H., Minnesota, 334.

Knights of Labor, organized, 307; plat-
form, 308; bibliography, 337, 339.

Koerner, Gustav, Illinois railroad com-
missioner, 136; charged with favoring
railroads, 137 note i.

Kupka, P. F., Die Verkehrsmittel in den
Vereinigten Staaten, 345.

Labor organizations, influence of Granger
movement, 306-308; bibliography,

3i7, 324, 33i, 335, 337, 339-
La Follette, R. M., Railway Regulation,

345-

Lamar, Justice, upholds Granger deci-
sion, 213.

Lamb, Brief in Wisconsin vs. North-
western Railway, 349.

Lamb, D. C, Wisconsin railroad com-
missioner, 194.

Land, grants to railroads, 10, 166; availa-
bility, 25; homestead law, 26; acreage
devoted to staples (1866-80), 28-34;
bibliography, 331, 332, 346.

Langstroth, C. S., Railway Cooperation,

345-

Larrabee, William, comments on Iowa
Granger law, 173; 235; Railway
Question, 345.

" Last Railroad Grievance," 346.

" Latest Device for Fixing Rates of
Transportation," 345.

" Latest Reform Movement," 345.

Lawrence, C. B., chief -justice Illinois,
declares railroad law unconstitutional,
32, 142; candidate for re-election, 84;
defeated, 85, 144; attorney for rail-
road, 85 note 4, 188; Brief in Wiscon-
sin vs. Northwestern Railway, 348.

Lawrence, Jonathan, organizes Grange
in Vermont, 51.

Lawrence v. Chicago and Northwestern
railroad, 210.

Lawyers, in politics, 35; join Grange, 71.

Lea, C. W., The Grange Movement in
Wisconsin, 341.

Leavitt, Samuel, Township Cooperation,
350.

"Legal fares," fanners' attempt to
enforce, 144.

Legislative Farmers' Club (111.), organ-
ized, 131; influence, 143, 145 note 3,
158.

Legislative Farmers' Club (Mo.), 195.

Leland, F. R., " Second Stage of Wis-
consin Railroad Legislation," 348.

Liberal Reformer (Morris, 111.), 323.

INDEX

Liberal Republican party, 81.

"List of Agricultural Societies and
Farmers' Clubs," 338.

Little Rock (Ark.), Grange agency, 254.

Live Patron (Springfield, O.), 328.

Liverpool, California grain trade, 8.

Living Age and Grange Outlook (Knox-
ville, Term.), 328.

Livingston County (111.), farmers' con-
vention, 144 note 2.

Lloyd, H. D., Wealth against Common-
wealth, 331.

Los Angeles (Calif.), Grangers' Coopera-
tive Association of Southern Cali-
fornia, 264.

Louisiana, railroad provisions in con-
stitution, 202; flood sufferers, 283;
Farmers' Union, 304; bibliography,
319, 325-

Louisiana Patrons of Husbandry, first
granges, 56; statistics, 58ff.; growth,
59; business agency, 254; schools,
291.

Louisiana State Grange, organized, 63;
advocates Mississippi levees, 120;
establishes agency, 254; receives
donation for flood victims, 283.

Louisiana Sugar Bowl (New Iberia), 325.

Luddington, H., elected Governor of
Wisconsin, 193; recommends repeal
of Potter law, 193.

McCabe, J. D., Grange Movement, 338.

McCormick Reaper Company, 323.

McCrary, Congressman, introduces in-
terstate commerce bills, 215, 225;
railroad attorney, 225 note 3.

McCrary bill in Congress, 222, 225.

McDowell, F. M.t " founder " of Grange,
42, High Priest of sixth degree, 43;
loans money to Kelley, 45.

Machinery, agricultural, sold to farmers
by agents, 18; development, 27;
effect on production, 28; purchased
through Grange, 242-245, 250, 251,
2S3> 255, 256; Grange manufactures,
243, 257, 258, 267-269; bibliography,
332.

Mackay, Duncan, treasurer Illinois
State Farmers' Association, 75.

McLean, S. J., "State Regulation of
Railways," 345.

McLean County (111.), railroad suit, 141,
142, 145, 148.

McLean County Anti-Monopolist (111.),
322, 323.

McNutt, Iowa legislator, on passes for
legislators, 167 note 6.

McPherson, Edward, Handbook of Poll-
tics) 33 xj Political History of Recon-
struction, 331.

McVey, F. L., " Populist Movement,"
332.

Madison (Wis.), attempt to establish
grange, 45; farmers' convention, 78;
state grange session, 186.

Mail order houses, 278.

Maine, bibliography, 319, 325.

Maine Farmer (Augusta), 325.

Maine Patrons of Husbandry, statistics,
58 ff.; first granges, 62, 66; attitude
on education, 104, 290; business
agency, 254; cooperative stores, 266;
insurance, 272, 273.

Manhattan Grange (N. Y.), charter
revoked, 62, 257.

Manufacturers and farmers, 18; politi-
cal influence, 34.

Manufacturing, Grange, see Cooperation.

Market-gardening, in East, 61.

Marsh Harvester Company, 269.

Martin, E. W., Grange Movement, 338.

Maryland, Grange statistics, 58 ff., 59;
Grange agency, 252; bibliography,

3i9, 32$» 350, 35i-

Maryland Farmer (Baltimore), 325.

Masonry, influences Patrons of Hus-
bandry, 41; master of Madison lodge
loans money to Kelley, 45.

Massachusetts, railroad commission, 153,
*77> *99> 204; Republicans favor
federal railroad regulation, 224; Na-
tional Farmers' League, 306; Sover-
eigns of Industry, 306, 307; bibliog-
raphy, 320, 325.

Massachusetts Patrons of Husbandry,

INDEX

371

early correspondence, 50; attempt to
establish grange at Boston, 52; statis-
tics, 58 ff.; troubles of Boston Grange,
62; state grange organized, 63; decline,
70; business agencies, 254; coopera-
tive stores, 266.
Massachusetts Ploughman (Boston), 52,

325-

Matteson, C. S., Wisconsin, 334.

May, C. S., Farmers' Movement, 345.

Maynard, M. E., Patrons of Husbandry
in Wisconsin, 341.

"Memorial to the Cotton States,"
urges limitation of cotton crop, 296.

Memphis (Tenn.), Grange agency, 253.

Merchants, credit system in South, 6;
relations with farmers, 16-18; in-
fluence in politics, 34; opposition to
Grange in South, 55; join Grange, 71.
See also Commission men, Middle-
men.

Merrill, Governor (la.), urges railroad
legislation, 167 note 3.

Messer, Alpha, The Grange, 338.

Meyer, B. H., Railway Legislation, 345.

Meyer, H. R., Government Regulation of
Railway Rates, 345.

Michigan, political situation (1865), 80;
National Reform party, 94; railroad
legislation, 201 ; Patrons of Industry,
305; bibliography, 320, 325, 341,

351.

Michigan Farmer and State Journal of
Agriculture (Detroit), 325.

Michigan Patrons of Husbandry, attack
patent swindles, 19, 119; early
granges, 54; growth, 55, 59, 67; statis-
tics, s8ff.; business agency, 248;
cooperative stores, 263 note 2; schools,
291.

Michigan State Grange, organized, 63;
advocates: uniform text-books, 104;
tariff on wool, 115; railroad regula-
tion, 223 — condemns appropriation
for Centennial Exposition, 120; estab-
lishes agency, 248.

Middlemen, 9; lack of competition, 17;
extortions in California, 59; de-

nounced by Grange, 64. See also
Commission men, Merchants.

Midland Farmer (St. Louis, Mo.), 326.

Milwaukee (Wis.), political conventions,
89, 90; Grange agency, 249.

Milwaukee Journal of Commerce, on rail-
road commissioner, 186.

Minnesota, increase in population (1860-
80), 25; political situation (1865), 80;
Anti-monopoly party, 89-91, 99; Re-
form party, 99; governor recommends
federal control of railroads, 218;
Farmers' Alliance, 305; bibliography,
320, 325, 334, 349.

Minnesota Monthly (St. Paul), 326.

Minnesota Patrons of Husbandry, early
granges, 46, 49; growth, 50, 54; statis-
tics, 58 ff.; decline, 67, 165; connec-
tion with Anti-Monopoly party, 89;
influence on railroad regulation, 160,
165; business agency, 242, 243. See
also Minnesota State Grange.

Minnesota railroad regulation, attitude
of Anti-Monopoly party, 96, 162;
early legislation, 159; rate and com-
missioner laws (1871)., 160; attitude
of railroad companies, 160-162; litiga-
tion, 161, 213; Grange agitation, 161;
Granger laws (1874), 162; dissatisfac-
tion, 163; moderate law (1875), 164;
results, 165; case in United States
Supreme Court, 213.

Minnesota State Grange, organized, 46;
appoints purchasing agent, 46; annual
session (1871), 50; circulates anti-
monopoly letter, 53; annual session
(1873), 162 note 2; favors Grange
cooperation, 241; business agency,
242; receives donations from National
Grange, 283, 284.

Mirror and Farmer (Manchester, N. H.),
326.

Mississippi, Grange statistics, 51, 55,
58 ff., 59; Grange agency, 253; bib-
liography, 320, 326, 335 See also
Mississippi State Grange.

Mississippi River, levees, 120; Grange
advocates improvement, 112.

372

INDEX

Mississippi State Grange, organized, 55;
demands laws for enforcement of labor
contracts, 107.

Mississippi Valley, agricultural condi-
tion, 7.

Missouri, fanners' convention, 78; politi-
cal situation (1865), 80; Independent
party, 97; railroad regulation, 194-
196; Legislative Farmers' Club, 195;
governor recommends federal control
of railroads, 218; bibliography, 320,
326, 349, 35i.

Missouri Farmer (Boonville), 326.

Missouri Granger (Macon), 326.

Missouri Patrons of Husbandry, first
granges, 49; deputies appointed, 51;
statistics, 58 ff., 67 ; growth, 59; granges
for negroes proposed, 74 note i ; busi-
ness agency, 249; cooperative stores,
265; manufacturing, 269.

Missouri State Grange, temporary
organization, 49; organized, 63; ad-
vocates railroad regulation, 195; es-
tablishes agency, 249; receives dona-
tions for grasshopper victims, 284.

Mitchell, Alexander, president St. Paul
railroad, opposes Potter law, 187, 189;
Memorial of Railway Companies, 348.

Mobile (Ala.), 273 note 9.

Mobile County (Ala.) eine passende
Ueimath fur den deutschen Farmer,

3i9-

Monopolies, California commission men,
8; attacked by farmers, 18; Grange
denunciation, 53, 64; transportation
on Pacific coast, 60; opposed by
Independents, 100; bibliography, 330,
331. See also Independent party
movement.

Montgomery Ward and Company,
wholesales supplies to granges, 246.

Montana, Grange statistics, 58 ff., 62,
66; bibliography, 320, 326.

Monthly Talk (St. Louis, Mo.), 326.

Moody, W. G., Land and Labor in the
United States, 332.

Moore, S. H., suit against Illinois Cen-
tral, 140.

Moore's Rural New Yorker (Rochester),
327-

Morgan, J. T., " Danger of the Farmers'
Alliance," 338.

Morgan, R. P., Jr., Illinois railroad
commissioner, 136; criticizes asso-
ciates, 137 note i, 140 note 2.

Morgan, W. S., History of the Wheel and
Alliance, 338.

Morgan's Sons, California Grange agents,
250, 252.

Morsell, J. N., pub., Grangers1 Friend,

35°-

Mortgages, given by farmers for rail-
road stock, 10; burden, 19; foreclosed
in South to check Grange, 55.

Moses, John, Illinois, 334.

Moss, A. S., assists in establishing grange
at Fredonia (N. Y.), 49.

Muir, William, Grange organizer, 49.

Munn and Scott, Chicago warehouse
firm, 143.

Munn v. Illinois, 143, 143 note 2, 152,
207-209.

Museum, attempted by Grange, 294.

Napa City (Calif.), state grange
organized, 60.

Nashville (Tenn.), farmers' convention,
78; National Agricultural Associa-
tion organized, 78.

Nation (N. Y.), on Granger laws, 190,
232 notes; advises against railroad
investments, 236; bibliography, 327,
332, 345, 347, 348.

National Agricultural Association, 78.

National Agricultural Congress, or-
ganized, 78; considers transportation
question, 219, 220.

National Agriculturist and Working
Farmer (N. Y.), 327.

National Branch Degree of the Golden
Sheaf, no.

National Cheap Transportation Asso-
ciation, organized, 218; advocates
bureau of commerce, 224; bibliog-
raphy, 342.

National Colored Farmers' Alliance, 304.

INDEX

373

National Council Sovereigns of Industry,
constitution, 306.

National Crop Reporter, 328.

National Farmer and Horticulture Regis-
ter (Philadelphia), 328.

National Farmers' Alliance (southern),
organized, 304; platform, 308, 309;
connection with Populists, 309.

National Farmers' League, 306.

National Farmers' Museum, 294.

National Grange, annual sessions: early
(1869, 1870), 47, 109 note 2, 241, 317;
Sixth (1873), 57, 256; seventh (1874),
63-65, 68, 109, no, 295; eighth (Feb.,
1875), 68, 71, 113, 116, 258, 282, 299;
ninth (Nov., 1875), 115, 282, tenth
(1876), no, 116, 117, 121, 260;
eleventh (1877), 114, 116, 121;
twelfth (1878), 116, i2i— estab-
lished, 42; constitution, 42, 57, 65,
285, 299, 317; "founders" lose
interest, 45; investigates Boston and
New York granges, 62; Declaration
of Purposes, 63-65, 109, 112, 303;
membership, 65, 65 note 3; dues, 65,
70, 284; salaries, 67; financial re-
sources 67, 69; reform demanded,
68; loans and donations, 68, 258, 283;
abolition advocated, 72; advocates:
compulsory education, 104; increase
of transportation facilities, 112; fed-
eral aid for railroads, 113; repeal of
demonetization law, 114; reduction
of tobacco tax, 116; department of
agriculture, 117; patent reforms, 119;
federal railroad regulation, 224, 226,
228, 229; agricultural education, 290,
292 — denounces inner orders, no;
lack of unity, 117; considers: income
tax, 117; transportation question,
218, 224; woman's dress reform, 299 —
indorses: Rochdale plan of cooperation,
259; primary granges, 291; restric-
tion of cotton crop, 296; temperance,
298; Washington Monument asso-
ciation, 299; Patrons' Centennial
Encampment association, 300 — atti-
tude toward cooperation, 241, 256-260;

purchases patents, 269; publishes
song-book, 280 note 2; allays sectional
bitterness, 282; aids distressed Patrons,
283; officers lecture, 286; officers
suggest programs for local granges,
286; organ, 290, 325; establishes
farmers' museum, 294; crop reports,
294, 295; teaches kindness to animals,
299; lessons of ritual, 299; bibliog-
raphy, 317, 325.

National Granger (St. Louis, Mo.), 326.

National Granger and Farmers' Advocate
(Lansing, Mich.), 325, 326.

National Greenback party, see Green-
back party.

National Record (Dansville, N. Y.), 327.

National Reform party (Mich.), 94.

National Wheel, agricultural order, 304.

Neal Ruggles case (111.), 152.

Nebraska, increase in population (1860-
80), 25; political situation (1865),
80; railroad regulation, 196; Farmers'
Alliance, 305; bibliography, 320, 326,

335, 349, 3Si.

Nebraska Patron, 326.

Nebraska Patrons of Husbandry, depu-
ties appointed, 51; first granges, 54;
growth, 58; statistics, 58 ff., 67; de-
cline, 67, 73, 268; business agency,
249.

Nebraska State Grange, organized, 55;
disbanded, 73; advocates debtor legis-
lation, 106; establishes agency, 249;
manufactures headers, 268; receives
donation for grasshopper victims, 283,
284.

Negroes, effect of emancipation on agri-
culture, 5; excluded from Grange, 59,
74 note i ; separate organization pro-
posed, 74 note i ; Colored Farmers'
Alliance, 304.

Neill, E. D., Minnesota, 334.

Nevada Patrons of Husbandry, statistics,
58ff.,66.

New England, agricultural condition,
4; granges advocate department of
agriculture, 1 1 8; railroad commissions,
199; Sovereigns of Industry, 307.

374

INDEX

New England Farmer (Boston), 325.

New England Homestead (Springfield,
Mass.), 325.

New Englander (pseud.), "Farmers'
Grievance " 332.

New Era (Woodstock, 111.), 323.

New Era and Grange Index (Owosso,
Mich.), 325.

New Hampshire, railroad legislation,
200; bibliography, 320, 326.

New Hampshire Patrons of Husbandry,
statistics, 58 ff.; business agency, 254;
cooperative stores, 266; insurance,
272, 273.

New Hampshire State Grange, organized,
63; advocates safeguarding bank de-
posits, 106; monetary policy, 114;
opposes reduction of tobacco tax, 116;
attitude toward railroad regulation,
199; establishes agency, 254.

New Jersey, Grange statistics, 50, 51, 56,
58 ff.; state grange organized, 63;
bibliography, 327.

New Jersey Granger (Vineland), 327.

New Orleans, Grange agency, 253, 254.

New York (state), agricultural condition,
4; Order of Independent Grangers,
109; railroad regulation, 200; Budd
t>., 213; Farmers' Alliance, 303; Pat-
rons of Industry, 305, 307 note i; bib-
liography, 320, 327, 344, 351.

New York Cheap Transportation Asso-
ciation, 219.

New York City, Manhattan Grange, 62;
National Cheap Transportation Asso-
ciation organized, 218; New York
Cheap Transportation Association
organized, 219; Windom committee
sessions, 220.

New York Patrons of Husbandry; early
granges, 45,49; statistics, 58 ff.; busi-
ness agency, 254; cooperative stores,
263 note 2, 266.

New York State Grange, organized, 63;
opposes Canadian reciprocity, 115.

New York Tribune, on political influence
of Grange, 109; on Iowa railroad laws,
177; bibliography, 327.

New York Tribune Almanac, 332.

Newbold, Governor (la.), on effects of
Granger laws, 233.

Newspapers, editors assist Grange, 45,
48, 49, 51, 52; advertise Grange, 46;
charge misuse of funds by Grange
officials, 68; attack Illinois railroad
laws, 154; increase in circulation, 287;
bibliography, 321-329.

Newton, F. E., Railway Legislation in
Illinois, 347.

Newton (la.), grange organized, 46.

" Next Descent upon the Treasury," 345.

Nieuwland, E. J., Grangers' Glucose
Company, 350; High Interest Monop-
oly and its Remedies, 350.

Ninth session National Grange, 115, 282,
289.

North Atlantic division, definition of
term, 50 note 2; Grange statistics,
58 ff., 61, 70. See also New England.

North Carolina, constitution (1876), 202;
bibliography, 320, 327.

North Carolina Patrons of Husbandry,
statistics, 58 ff.; growth, 59; decline,
69; business agency, 252; cooperative
stores, 265; insurance, 273; schools,29i.

North Carolina State Grange, organized,
63; establishes agency, 252; re-im-
burses Patrons for losses to fraudulent
commission firm, 257; encourages
education, 290, 291.

North Central division, increase of popu-
lation (1870-80), 25; growth of
Grange, 50, 53-55; definition of term,
50 note 2; Grange statistics, 58 ff.;
decline of Grange, 69-73; high interest
rates, 105; railroad legislation, 198.
See also Northwest.

North Dakota, see Dakota.

Northborough Farmer (Mass.), 325.

Northern Granger (St. Charles, 111.), 323.

Northern Granger and Farmers' Advocate
(Lansing, Mich.), 325, 326.

Northwest, agricultural condition, 7;
advance of frontier, 25; discontent of
farmers, 44; Sovereigns of Industry,
307. See also North Central division.

INDEX

375

Northwestern Cooperative Association,
establishment attempted, 263 note 2.

Northwestern Fanners' Alliance, 305;
organ, 324.

Northwestern Farmers' Convention
(Chicago), 112; investigates Illinois
railroad law, 155; discusses transpor-
tation problem, 220; advocates hold-
ing farm products, 247.

Noyes, George, attempts to establish
grange, 52.

Nunda (111.), grange established, 47.

Oberly, J. H., Illinois railroad commis-
sioner, 145 note 3.

Ocala (Fla.), National Farmers' Affiance
session, 304.

O'Connor, Charles, consulted on Potter
law, 187.

O'Connor bill (Calif.), 197.

O'Donnel bill (la.), 167.

Ogle County Granger (Oregon, 111.), 323.

Ohio, agricultural condition, 4; occupa-
tion of members of constitutional con-
vention, 35 note 2; political situation
(1865) , 80; farmers' and workingmen's
parties, 93; official salaries, 107; rail-
road legislation, 201; Patrons of In-
dustry, 305; bibliography, 320, 327,
328, 340, 350, 3Si-

Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical Col-
lege, 292.

Ohio Farmer (Cleveland), 328.

Ohio Patrons of Husbandry, first granges,
45, 47, 49, 51; growth, 54, 59, 67; sta-
tistics, 58 ff.; business agency, 248;
cooperative stores, 262. See also Ohio
State Grange.

Ohio Practical Farmer (Cleveland), 328.

Ohio State Grange, organized, 63 ; advo-
cates: church taxation, 105; taxation
of railroads, 105; income tax, 117;
railroad legislation, 201 — joins tem-
perance crusade, 121, 298; closes out
state agency, 248; investigates Agri-
cultural and Mechanical College, 292.

Ohio State University, 292.

Olathe (Kans.), Johnson County Coop-

erative Association, 263; Patrons'
Cooperative Bank, 271.

Olcott v. The Supervisors, 209.

Order of Independent Grangers, 109.

Oregon, agricultural condition, 8; politi-
cal situation (1865), 80; Independent
party, 97, 99; railroad legislation, 198;
bibliography, 320, 328.

Oregon Cultivator (Albany), 328.

Oregon Granger (Albany), 328.

Oregon Patrons of Husbandry, first
grange, 56; statistics, 58 ff.; growth,
60; support Independent party, 97;
business agency, 251; demand rail-
road regulation, 198.

Oregon Steam Navigation Company,
monopoly, 60.

Organization, extends to all classes, 38;
bibliography, 335-341. See also Agri-
cultural organization, Labor organiza-
tions.

Origin of the Grange, 318.

Orton, H. S., Brief in Wisconsin vs.
Northwestern Railway, 348.

Osborn, J. H., Wisconsin railroad com-
missioner, 1 86; address on Potter law,
190; editor Grange paper, 329.

Oshkosh Times (Wis.), 329.

Otken, C. H., Ills of the South, 332.

Our Fireside (Baltimore), 325.

Our Home Journal and Rural Southland
(New Orleans, La.), 325.

Overproduction of agricultural staples,
6, 7, 24-34, 296.

Owatonna (Minn.), Anti-Monopoly con-
vention, 89; transportation conven-
tion, 1 60.

Owen, T. M., 293 note 3.

Pacific coast, agricultural condition, 8;
increase of population (1860-80), 25;
growth of Grange, 59-61; bibliography

34i.

Pacific Rural Press (San Francisco), 322.

Paine, A. E., Granger Movement in Illi-
nois, 340.

Palmer, J. M., governor of Illinois,
speaks at State Farmers' Convention,

376

INDEX

83; letter to Producers' Convention,
130 note 2; appoints railroad commis-
sioners, 136.

Panic (1857), effect on railroad construc-
tion, 9.

Panic (1873), effect on agriculture, 20;
effect on railroad regulation, 101;
ascribed to Granger laws, 232 note 4.

Parks, member Illinois constitutional
convention, 129.

Parsons, master Minnesota State Grange,
address, 163 note i.

Patent rights, abuses, 18; reforms de-
manded by Grange, 119.

Patron of Husbandry (Columbus, Miss.),
289, 326.

Patron of Husbandry (Memphis, Tenn.),
328.

Patrons1 Advance (Batavia, O.), 328.

Patrons' Benevolent Aid Society of Wis-
consin, 273.

Patrons1 Bulletin (Georgetown, Ky.),

325-

Patrons' Centennial Encampment Asso-
ciation, 300.

Patrons' Cooperative Bank (Olathe,
Kans.), 271.

Patrons' Cooperative Corporation (Port-
land, Me.), 266.

Patrons' Gazette (N. Y.), 327, 350.

Patrons' Gleaner (Emporia, Kans.), 324.

Patrons' Helper (Des Moines, la.), 324.

Patrons' Mutual Aid Society of Elmira

(N.Y.),272,35i.

Patrons' New York Business Directory, 357.

Patrons of Husbandry, see Grange.

Patrons of Industry, 305, 307, note i.

Patrons' Parliamentary Guide, 318.

Paul, G. H., Wisconsin railroad com-
missioner, 1 86.

Pearson, J. M., Illinois railroad commis-
sioner, 145 note 3.

Peck, G. W., ed., Wisconsin, 334.

Peik t;. Chicago and Northwestern rail-
road, 210.

Peffer, W. A., Farmer's Side, 332; " Far-
mers' Alliance," 338; " Farmers' De-
fensive Movement," 338.

Pennsylvania, agricultural condition, 4;
Grange statistics, 45, 51, $8ff., state
grange organized, 63; railroad legisla-
tion, 200; Grange stores, 266; bibliog-
raphy, 320, 326.

People s Independent party (Calif.), 98,
99, 197. See also Independent party
movement.

People's Paper (Chicago), 323.

People's party, 309.

People's Reform party (Wis.), see Inde-
pendent party movement.

Periam, Jonathan, Groundswett, 74 note

2,317,339.

Periodicals increase in circulation, 287.
See also Newspapers.

Peters, A. H., " Depreciation of Farming
Land," 332.

Peto, S. M., Resources and Prospects of
America, 332.

Philadelphia (Pa.), Greenback conven-
tion, 98 note 3 ; Centennial Exposition,
120; session National Council Sover-
eigns of Industry, 306.

Physiocrats, fanners hold similar theo-
ries, 16.

Pierson, C. W., " Granger Movement,"

339-

Platform, National Grange, 63-65; Inde-
pendent parties, 86, 90, 94,95, 100, 101.

Politicians, join Grange, 71.

Politics, in South, 5; railroad influence,
13; and farmers, 34-36; effect on
economic problems, 36; reform party,
advocated, 53; discussion in Grange
prohibited, 58; at dose of Civil War,
80; recent, 309-312.

Pomona granges, provision for, 65;
establish cooperative stores, 240.

Pontiac (111.), 87.

Pope, C. C., Railroads are Private Prop-
erty, 348.

Population, increase in West (1860-80),
25; surplus after Civil War, 25, 26.

Populist party, origin, 309, significance,
310; bibliography, 332, 333.

Portage (Wis.), state grange reorgan-
ized, 54.

INDEX

377

Poiter, R. P., West, from the census of
1880, 332.

Portland (Me.), Patrons' Cooperative
Corporation, 266.

Portsmouth Weekly (N. H.), 327.

Potomac Grange No. i, established in
Washington, 43.

Potter, Wisconsin legislator, 183.

" Potter and His Law," 346.

Potter law (Wis.), enactment, 183; terms,
184; upheld by courts, 188; agitation
for repeal, 193; repealed, 194; at-
tacked by railroads, 233.

Pottsville (la.), grange established, 47.

Powderly, T. V., Thirty Years of Labor,
339-

Powell, R. D., organizes granges, 51.

Prairie Farmer (Chicago), aids Grange,
45, 46, 47, 48; editor's letter on rail-
roads, 53; aids State Farmers' Asso-
ciation, 75; discusses railroad abuses,
126, 127; issues call for Producers'
Convention, 128; criticises appoint-
ments to Illinois railroad commission,
136; establishes departments for
Grange and farmers' clubs, 288; bib-
liography, 323.

Prairie states, agricultural condition, 7;
increase of population (1860-80), 25.
See also North Central division, North-
west, West.

Prescott, C. A., Minnesota Grange agent,
242.

Press, see Agricultural press, Newspapers.

Primary granges, 291.

Princeton (111.), farmers' convention, 84.

Producers' Convention (111.), 48, 75, 127,

143-
Pullman Palace Car Company, 157.

Quaintance, H. W., " Influence of Farm
Machinery on Production and Labor,"
332.

Quimby amendment (Wis.), 191, agita-
tion for repeal, 193.

Quincy, Josiah, president National
Cheap Transportation Association,
219, 224.

Railroad Evolution," 345.
Railroad Mystery," 345.

Railroad regulation, failure of competi-
tion, ii ; effect of agitation on Grange,
52; demand for state, 81, 82, 89, 100,
103, 194; Illinois, 84, 123-158; Min-
nesota, 89, 96, 159-166; Iowa, 89, 96,
166-179; Wisconsin, 89, 96, 179-194;
importance of Granger phase, 123;
Missouri, 194-196; Kansas and Ne-
braska, 196; California, 197; Oregon
and Colorado, 198; Massachusetts
type of commission, 199; New Eng-
land, 199; New York and Pennsyl-
vania, 200; Ohio, Indiana, and Michi-
gan, 201; the South, 202-204; extent
of Granger influence, 204, 205; deci-
sions of United States Supreme Court,
206-214; principles established by
Granger decisions, 211; modifications
of Granger decisions, 212-214; neces-
sity for interstate commerce law, 214;
demand for federal,*2i6, 218-221, 223,
226, 228, 230; considered by Congress,
216, 220-222, 224-226, 227, 230; effect
on rates, 231; effect on railroads, 232-
237; indirect and political effects, 237.
See also Congress, Granger laws, In-
terstate commerce, and under various
states.

Railroads, extension after Civil War, 9,
24; methods of promotion, 10; public
aid, 10, 22 note 3, 26, 113, 166; antag-
onism toward, 11, 12, 48, 52, 72, 73,
86; abuses in management, 12; cor-
rupt influence in politics, 13, 15;
abuses in rates, 13-15, 28; overcapital-
ization, 14; monopoly, 60; attitude
of Grange, 64, 105, 205; extensions
desired, 101; taxation, 105; special
rates to Grange, 205; bibliography,
315, 3i6, 341-349-

" Railway Depotism," 342.

"Railway Stocks and Stockholders,"
342.

Randall, D. R., Cooperation in Maryland
and the South, 351.

Rates, see Railroad regulation.

378

INDEX

Rates of Freight on Railroads (U. S.,
Senate Kept.}, 346.

Reagan, Congressman, 227.

Reagan bill in Congress, 228, 229.

Reciprocity with Canada, 115.

Reeves, W. S., organizes grange, 51.

Reform, third party proposed for, 53;
advocated by Independents, 100.

Reform party, see Independent party
movement.

Regulation and Control of Railroads
(U. S., House Kept.}, 344.

Religion, discussion in Grange prohibited,
58.

" Report of the Erie Investigating Com-
mittee," 342.

Republican party, status in 1865, 80;
declares for railroad regulation in
Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, 90,
181. See also Independent party
movement.

Repudiation of railroad bonds, n.

Retail dealers, and farmers, 18. See
also Middlemen, Merchants.

Reynolds, Corbett, and Thomas, Illinois
Grange agents, 246.

Rhode Island, 66.

Rhodes, J. F., United States from the
Compromise of 1850, 332.

Richardson, J. D., Messages and Papers
of the Presidents, 315.

Richmond (Va.), National Cheap Trans-
portation Association, 226.

Rienzi (Miss.), grange organized, 51.

" Right to Confiscate," 346.

Rings, California commission men, 9;
railroad construction, 10, 344.

Ringwalt, J. L., Transportation Systems,
346.

Ritual of Grange, 40-44.

Robertson, Colonel D. A., assists in
organizing grange, 46; editor Minne-
sota Monthly, 326.

Robinson, Governor (Vt.), 282.

Rochdale Pioneers (Eng.), 275.

Rochdale plan of cooperation, rules
promulgated by National Grange,
259, 350; advantages, 261; used by

Grange stores, 263-267; state laws
prevent full use, 276; bibliography,

350, 35i.
Rock County (Wis.), Pomona Grange,

bibliography, 321.
Rock Hill Grange (S. C), 328.
Rock River Farmer (Dixon, 111.), 324.
Rocky Mountain Husbandman (White

Sulphur Springs, Mont.), 326.
Root, G. F., Trumpet of Reform, 339.
Ross, member Illinois constitutional

convention, 128.
Ruggles v. Illinois, 207.
Rural Alabamian (Mobile), 321.
Rural Carolinian (Charleston, S. C.),

5i,328.

Rural Nebraska (Omaha), 326.
Rural Southerner and Plantation (At-
lanta), 322.

Rural Sun (Nashville, Tenn.), 328.
Rural World (St. Louis, Mo.), 49, 326.
Ryan, Chief-Justice (Wis.), upholds

Potter law, 189.

Saby, R. S., Railroad Legislation in
Minnesota, 349.

Sacramento (Calif.), Farmers' Union
organized, 60.

Sacramento Valley Agriculturist (Sacra-
mento, Calif.), 322.

St. Johnsbury (Vt.), grange organized,
51; Patrons' celebration, 56.

St. Louis (Mo.), granges organized near,
49; seventh session National Grange,
63, 68, 224, 282, 296; National Agri-
cultural Congress organized, 78;
Grange agency, 249; National Far-
mers' Alliance session, 304.

St. Paul (Minn.), grange organized, 46.

St. Paul and Pacific railroad, 163.

St. Paul and Sioux City railroad, 163.

St. Paul railroad, see Chicago, Milwau-
kee, and St. Paul.

" Salary grab," in Congress, 86, 106, 120.

San Francisco (Calif.), Farmers' Union
convention, 60.

San Joaquin and King's River Canal
Company (Calif.), 107.

INDEX

379

San Jose (Calif.), Farmers' Cooperative
Union, 264.

Sanborn, J. B., Congressional Grants of
Land in Aid of Railways, 346.

Sargent, C. S., " Agricultural Depres-
sion," 332.

Sauk County (Wis.), granges organized,
50-

Sauk Rapids Sentinel (Minn.), 326.

Saunders, William, " founder " of
Grange, 41, 42, officer National
Grange, 42, 58, 256.

Scharf, J. T., Delaware, 333.

Scythe (N.Y.), 327.

Seligman, E. R. A., " Railway Tariffs
and the Interstate Commerce Law,"
346.

Semi-Tropical Farmer (Los Angeles,
Calif.), 322.

Seventh session National Grange, 63,
109, no, 295.

Sewing machines, patents on, 119.

Seymour, Charles, "Western View of
Interstate Transportation," 346.

Shankland, E. R., officer National
Grange, 58, 256; obtains harvester
patent for Grange, 268.

Shaw, Albert, Cooperation in the North-
west, 351.

Simmons, W. E., Jr., Grange deputy, 51.

Sixth session National Grange, 256.

Sloan, Attorney-General (Wis.), enforces
Potter law, 188.

Small, G. C., Joining the Grangers, 336.

Smalley, H. S., " Railway Rate Control
in its Legal Aspects," 347.

Smedley, Colonel A. B., 224; Manual of
Jurisprudence and Cooperation, 339;
Principles and Aims of the Patrons of
Husbandry, 339.

Smith, Brief in Wisconsin vs. North-
western Railway, 349.

Smith, Governor (Ga.), calls transporta-
tion convention, 219.

Smith, master Minnesota State Grange,
242.

Smith, R. E., Wisconsin Granger Move-
ment, 341.

Smith, S. M., secretary Illinois State
Farmers' Association, 75; approves
call of convention, 86; speaks at
Pontiac (111.), 87.

Smith, Mrs. S. M., Trumpet of Reform,

339-
Smith, Stephe, Grains for the Grangers,

339-

Smith, W. M., Illinois railroad commis-
sioner, 145.

Snyder, member Illinois constitutional
convention, 128.

Social conditions, among farmers, 37,
279; bibliography, 331.

Social features of Grange, 61, 279-283.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, 299.

Son of the Soil (New Orleans, La.), 325.

Songs, for farmers' organizations, 280
note 2, 337, 339, 340.

South, agricultural condition, 5-7, 41;
cotton belt extended, 28; growth of
Grange, 51, 55, 57, 59; attempt to
organize negro farmers, 74 note i ;
conditions during reconstruction, 107;
lacks railroads, 112; railroad legisla-
tion, 202; Grange efforts for advance-
ment of agriculture, 296; Farmers'
Alliance, 302; minor agricultural
organizations, 302; bibliography, 332,
333, 351. See also Southwest.

South Atlantic division, definition of
term, 50 note 2; Grange statistics,
58 ff . , 69. See also South.

South Carolina, railroad legislation,
204; bibliography, 320, 328.

South Carolina Patrons of Husbandry,
early correspondence, 50; first grange,
51; growth, 55, 59; statistics, 58 ff.;
influence, 204; business agency, 252;
insurance, 273.

South Carolina State Grange, organized,
55; urges prohibition of traffic in prod-
uce at night, 107; advocates rail-
road legislation, 204; establishes
state agency, 252; receives donation
for drought sufferers, 284.

South Central division, definition of

380

INDEX

term, 50 note 2; Grange statistics,
58 S. See also South, Southwest.

South Dakota, see Dakota.

Southern Agriculturist (Louisville), 325.

Southern Cultivator (Ga.), 322.

Southern Farmer (Memphis, Tenn.), 328.

Southern Farmer and Home (Macon, Ga.)
322.

Southern Farmers' Monthly (Savannah,
Ga.), 203.

Southern Granger (Memphis, Tenn.), 328.

Southern Home (Charlotte, N. C.), 327.

Southern Minnesota Railroad Com-
pany v. Coleman, 211.

Southern Planter and Farmer (Richmond,
Va.), 329-

Southwest, increase of population (1860-
80), 25. See also South.

Southwestern Granger (New Orleans,
La.), 325.

Sovereigns of Industry, 306, 307; bibliog-
raphy, 339.

Spahr, C. B., "Essay on the Present
Distribution of Wealth," 332.

Sparks, E. E., National Development, 333.

Spirit of Kansas (Lawrence), 324.

Spirit of the Grange (Bloomington, 111.),
323-

Springfield (111.), State Farmers' Asso-
ciation, 76; State Farmers' Conven-
tion, 83; Independent Reform party
organized at, 95.

Stahl, J. M., Real Farmer, 333.

Standard of Reform (Lawrence, Kans.),
324-

Stanwood, E., " Farmers and Railroads,"
347-

Staples, overproduction, 6; statistics
(1866-80), 28-34. See also Cereal
production, Corn, Cotton.

State Farmers' Association, see Illinois
State Farmers' Association, etc.

State Farmers' Convention, see Illinois.

State Grange News (Freeport, 111.), 323.

State granges, representation in National
Grange, 65; character of, 65; dues to
National Grange, 65; cooperative
schemes, 68; contributions from Na-

tional Grange, 68; restriction advo-
cated, 72; political activities, 72;
debts, 73; demand equalization of
taxes, 105; resolutions on finance,
114; establish agencies, 241; compile
crop reports, 295. See also Illinois
State Grange, etc.

Steele, J., Illinois railroad commissioner,
145 note 3.

Stickney, A. B., comments on Granger
laws, 233, 235; Railway Problem, 347;
State Control of Trade and Commerce,
347-

Stilz, Wilson, Railway Cooperation, 345.

Stockton (Calif.), Grangers' Union, 264.

Stockton (Tenn.), grange organized, 49,
Si-

Stone v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Com-
pany, 213.

Stone v. Wisconsin, 211.

Strong, Justice, dissenting opinions in
Granger cases, 209, 211.

Stuve Bernard, Illinois, 334.

Supervisors, Olcott v., 209.

Swalm, Pauline, " Granges of the Pa-
trons of Husbandry," 339.

Tariff, effect on farmers, 21, 22; far-
mers' resolutions, 83, 86; Independent
platforms, 101 notei; differences in
Grange, 115.

Tariff of Abominations, 183 note i.

Taxation increased by public aid to
railroads, n; effect on farmers, 22-
24; resolutions of state granges, 105;
bibliography, 333.

Taylor, W. R., elected governor of Wis-
consin, 92; attitude on railroad
regulation, 182; proclamation on
Potter law, 187; celebrates enforce-
ment of Potter law, 189; defeated,
192.

Teal patent case, 19.

Teale, Iowa legislator, 168 note i.

Telegraph companies, denounced, 53.

Temperance, supported by Grange, 121,
298.

Tennessee, farmers organized, 78; rail-

INDEX

381

road regulation, 204; bibliography,
320, 328.

Tennessee Patrons of Husbandry, first
granges, 49, 5*, 56J statistics, 58 ff.;
growth, 59; business agency, 253;
cooperative stores, 263 note 2, 265;
insurance, 273. See also Tennessee
State Grange.

Tennessee State Farmers' Association, 78.

Tennessee State Grange, organized, 63;
urges railroad regulation, 204; es-
tablishes agency, 253; receives dona-
tion from National Grange, 284.

Tenth session National Grange, no, 116,
117, 121, 260.

Terre Haute (Ind.), grange established,
47; state grange organized, 54.

Texas, increase of population, 25; rail-
road regulation, 202, 203; Farmers'
Alliance, 303; bibliography, 321, 328,

335-

Texas and Pacific railroad, Congressional
aid asked, 113, 203.

Texas Cooperative Association, 265

Texas Patron (Crockett), 328.

Texas Patrons of Husbandry, statistics,
58 ff.; first granges, 59; business
agencies, 254; cooperative stores, 265,
266; revival during eighties, 266.

Texas State Grange, organized, 63;
advocates: federal aid for railroads,
"3, 203; free trade, 115; railroad
regulation, 202 — executive committee
issues trade circulars, 254.

Text-books, Grange resolutions, 104.

Thompson, Eben, Grange deputy, 56.

Thompson, J. G., Wheat Growing Indus-
try in Wisconsin, 334.

Thompson, J. Q., Farmers' Fight against
the Railroads, 347.

Thompson, J. R., " founder " of Grange,
42; lecturer National Grange, 42; in
Vermont, 51.

Thorpe, F. N., ed., Federal and State
Constitutions, 317.

Tilden, S. J., 98 note 4.

Tipton, Judge (111.), upholds railroad
law of 1871, 141.

Tobacco tax, attitude of Grange, 116.

Tobey, E. S., Industry of the South, 333.

Trades unions, 307. See also Labor
organizations.

Transportation, monopoly, 60; Illinois
Producers' Convention, 127; resolu-
tions of convention at Owatonna
(Minn.), 160; convention at Atlanta
(Ga.), 219. See also Cheap transpor-
tation, Interstate commerce, Railroads.

" Transportation and the Tariff," 345.

Trimble, Rev. John, "founder" of
Grange, 42; address before Patrons'
reunion, 339.

Trowbridge, J. T., The South, 333.

Tufts, S. P., on railroad regulation, 221.

Tuttle, C. R., Iowa, 334; Wisconsin, 334.

Twelfth session National Grange, 116,

Union and Democrat (Urbana, O.), 328.
Union and Patron (Urbana, O.), 328.
Union Farmers' Club of Avon (111.), 75.
Union party, 80 note 2.
United States Pomological Society, 41.
United States Senate, Reformers in, 100.

See also Congress.
United States Supreme Court, Granger

cases, 143, 152, 161, 174, 188, 206-

214, 237.

Urbana Union (O.), 328.
Usury, denounced by Grange, 64.

Valley Farmer (Windsor, Vt.), 328.
Van Oss, S. F., American Railroads as

Investments, 347.
Vance law (Wis.), 193.
Vaughn, Illinois legislator, railroad bill,

139, 145-

Vaughn, A. J., organizes granges, 56.
Veblen, Thorstein, " Price of Wheat,"

333-
Venable, California legislator, irrigation

bill, 107.

Vermont, railroad regulation, 200; bib-
liography, 321, 328.

Vermont Patrons of Husbandry, early
correspondence, 49; first grange, 51;

382

INDEX

celebration, 56; growth, 56; statis-
tics, 58 ff.; business agency, 254. See
also Vermont State Grange.

Vermont Record and Farmer (Brattle-
boro), 328.

Vermont State Grange, organized, 56;
advocates -railroad regulation, 200;
establishes state agency, 254; recom-
mends arbitration of disputes, 285.

Vickers, Senator, opposes federal rail-
road regulation, 217.

Vineland Independent (N, J.), 327.

Virginia, railroad regulation, 204; bib-
liography, 321, 329-

Virginia Granger (Portsmouth), 329,

Virginia Patron (Richmond), 329.

Virginia Patrons of Husbandry, first
grange, 56; statistics, 58 ff.; growth,
59; state grange organized, 63; favor
railroad regulation, 204; business
agency, 252.

Vox Populi (Lawrence, Kans.), 324.

Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific railroad

v. Illinois, 212.
Waite, Chief- Justice, decision on railroad

regulation, 213.
Walker, C. S., " Farmers' Alliance," 339;

" Farmers' Movement," 340.
Wall, E. G., editor, Farmer's Vindicator,

326.
Wardlaw, master Florida State Grange,

shows good-will to North, 282.
Warehouse companies, denounced, 53.
Warehouse regulation, Illinois, 130, 131,

134; upheld by Illinois courts, 143;

decision of United States Supreme

Court, 143, 207-209, 212.
Warner, A. G., " Railroad Problems in a

Western State," 349; Cooperation in

the West, 351.
Washburn, Governor (Wis.), defeated,

92, 182; urges railroad regulation,

181.
Washburn, " Sister," advocates women's

suffrage, 121.

Washburne, member Illinois constitu-
tional convention, 128.

Washington (D. C.), Patrons of Hus-
bandry established, 41; subordinate
grange established, 43; National
Grange sessions, 47; Grange head-
quarters, 49; National Cheap Trans-
portation Association, 224.

Washington (state), Grange statistics,
S8ff.,6i.

" Watered-Stock Hallucination," 345.

Waukon (la.) , grange established, 47.

Waukon Standard (la.), 324.

Waushara County (Wis.), grange or-
ganized, 50.

Weekly Grange (Little Rock, Ark.), 321.

Wells, D. A., "How will the United
States Supreme Court Decide the
Granger Railroad Cases?" 347; "Ra-
tional Principles of Taxation," 333.

Wells, J. G., Grange Illustrated, 340.

Werner harvester, manufactured by
Grange, 268.

West, Max, " Distribution of Property
Taxes between City and Country,"

333-

West, emigration to, 5; increase of rail-
road mileage (1865-80), 24; increase
of population (1860-80), 25; foreign
population (1880), 27; decline of
Grange, 73; Farmers' Alliance, 302;
minor agricultural organizations, 302;
bibliography, 332, 351. See also North
Central division, Northwest, South
Central division, Western division.

West Virginia, Grange statistics, 58 ff.,
59; state grange organized, 63; rail-
road regulation, 202, 203; Grange
cooperation, 252.

Western division, definition of term, 50
note 2; Grange statistics, 58 ff., 59-61.
See also West.

Western Agriculturist (and Live Stock
Journal) (Quincy, III.), 323.

Western Farmer (Dixon, 111.), 324.

Western Farmer (Madison, Wis.), 329.

Western Granger and Home Journal
(Lafayette, Ind.), 324.

Western Journal of Agriculture (Milwau-
kee), 329.

INDEX

383

Western Rural (Chicago, 111.), 324, 329-

Western Stock Journal and Farmer
(Cedar Rapids, la.), 324.

Wharton, Francis, " Retrospective Leg-
islation and Grangerism," 347.

What Greeley knows about Farming, 168
note i.

Wheat, over-production, 7; shipment
from California to Liverpool, 8; sta-
tistics (1866-80), 28-34; bibliography,
333 , 334- See also Cereal production,
Grain trade.

Wheel, agricultural organization, 304;
bibliography, 338.

Wheeler, H. C, secretary Illinois State
Grange, 48; calls Producers' Conven-
tion, 127.

White, Horace, editor, Chicago Tribune,
321.

Whitehead, Mortimer, " The Grange in
Politics," 340; " Patrons of Husban-
dry," 340; Silver Jubilee, 340.

Whitman, J. D., Iowa Grange agent,
243; obtains Werner harvester patent,
268.

Wilder, D. W., Kansas, 335.

Wilkinson, J., organizes granges, 51, 54.

Willamette Farmer (Salem, Ore.), 328.

Williams, W. L., organizes granges, 51,

55-

Wilson, W. D., organizes granges, 49, 55;
secretary Iowa State Grange, 50.

Wilson, W. H., publisher Grange Bulletin,
322.

Windom, Senator, chairman interstate
commerce committee, 217; attends
cheap transportation meeting, 219;
asks cooperation of Northwestern
Farmers' Convention, 220.

Windom committee on transportation
routes, farmers appeal to, 112; ap-
pointed, 217; investigations, 220;
resume" of report, 221; Report, 347.

Winona and St. Peter railroad v. Blake
161, 211.

Wisconsin, farm mortgages exchanged
for railroad stock, 10 note 3; frontier
line, 25; farmers' convention, 78;

political situation (1865), 80; Reform

party, 89, 90, 92, 96; interest rate, 106;

Patrons of Industry, 305; bibliography,

321, 329, 334, 34i, 348, 350-
Wisconsin Agricultural Convention,

opposes repeal of Potter law, 193.
Wisconsin Granger (pseud.), "The

Grange and the Potter Law," 234,

349-

Wisconsin Granger (Madison), 329.

Wisconsin Patrons of Husbandry, early
granges, 45, 5°J growth, 54, 59, 89,
181; statistics, 58 ff.; political activ-
ity, 89, 92, 96 note 3; support Potter
law, 96 note 3; agitation for railroad
regulation, 182; decline, 192; business
agency, 248; manufacturing, 269;
insurance, 273. See also Wisconsin
State Grange.

Wisconsin Post (Shawano), 329.

Wisconsin Railroad Law, 192, 349.

Wisconsin railroad regulation, Reform
party supports, 96, 99, 181; early
attempts, 179-181; Grange advo-
cates, 181, 182, 190; Potter law en-
acted, 183; provisions of Potter law,
184; anti-pass law, 186; commissioners
appointed, 186; attempts to enforce,
187-189; cases in United States Su-
preme Court, 188, 210, 21.1; campaign
against, 189, 191-193; Quimby amend-
ment, 191; Vance law substituted for
Potter law, 193.

Wisconsin River, improvement advo-
cated, 112.

Wisconsin State Grange, organized, 50;
reorganized, 54; advocates: uniform
text-books, 104; compulsory educa-
tion, 104; taxation of railroads, 105;
regulation of interest rate, 106; patent
reforms, 119; railroad legislation, 182
— officers recommend candidates for
railroad commission, 186; upholds
Potter law, 190, 193; establishes
agency, 248.

Wisconsin Statesman (Madison), 329.

Women, in Grange, 41, 43, 281; suffrage
for, 121; dress reform, 299.

384

INDEX

Women's Christian Temperance Union,
297.

Wood, Judge (HI.), decision in railroad
case, 140.

Woodburn, J. A., Political Parties, 333.

Woodman, J. J., "Early History and
Reminiscences of the National
Grange," 340.

Wooten, D. G., ed., Texas, 335.

Workingman's Advocate (and Anti-Mo-
nopolist) (Chicago), 324.

Workingmen, influence of Granger move-
ment on organization, 306-308.

Workingmen's party (Calif.), organized,
99; influence in constitutional con-
vention, 198.

Wright, Dr. O. W., comments on Potter
law, 183 note i; editor Western
Journal of Agriculture, 329.

Wright, J. W. A., author of " Declaration
of Purposes of the National Grange,"
64; Rochdale and Grange Cooperation,
351; Cooperation; Europe and the
Grange, 351.

Xenia (0.), state grange session, 121,
298.

Yesterday and Today; History of the

Northwestern Railway, 347.
Ypsilanti (Mich.), grange agency, 248.