EXPENSES OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. N. J. Bachelder.. The J. J. Woodman. L. Rhone....... .$ 75 80 238 89 103 25 417 94 100 00 337 30 $6,303 42 $20,120 30 report of dues from State Granges in the above report embraces only the money paid in during the fiscal year. The following is a statement of the amount of dues which are charged for the year ending June 30, 1897, from reports of State Secretaries: The Worthy Secretary, Brother John Trimble, submitted the following, his annual report: Secretary's Report I respectfully report the work of the Secretary's office for the official year ending Sept. 30, 1897. During the year dispensations were issued for new Granges to the number of one hundred and forty-one (141). These were distributed as follows: California, Colorado, 2 Nebraska,..... 1 New Hampshire,. 9 New Jersey, 3 New York, 14 9 Ohio, 20 8 Oregon, Pennsylvania, 5 South Carolina,. 13 3 4 Vermont, 11 Wisconsin, .12 Total, 4 14 141 Sixth Degree certificates (N. G.),......... The receipts of the Secretary's office during the year ending Sept. 30, 1897, were $4,283,386 from the following Sources: RECEIPTS. Seventh Degree fees (National Grange), Sixth Degree fees (National Grange), $ 83 33 Sixth Degree fees (State Granges), as follows: Colorado, $650 Connecticut, 72.50 Illinois, 11.50 Indiana,. 15 50 By excess office rent,. Adams Express Co., refunding Grange No. 822, N. Y.. Mrs. K. E. Hutton, refunding Deputy Fee, Grange No. 1158, Pa.,.. Sales as per order book, Oct 1, 1897, balance in hands of Secretary, $ 166 1 66 25.00 5 00 3,389 63 191 91 Total, $4,283 86 CR. Oct. 1, 1897, deposited in Fiscal Agency,. $3,991 00 292 86 Brother W. E. Harbaugh, the Worthy Gatekeeper, submitted his annual report, following: Report of Gatekeeper. Worthy Master, Officers and Members of the National Grange: When a train of cars pulls into a depot it is usual to hear a train man passing along under the windows and tapping with a hammer the iron boxes in which the heavy axles turn. He does this to test them, to see if they are sound. It does not satisfy the man to know that the boxes were sound in the morning; he wants to know whether they are sound now, when the train halts at noon, with "twenty minutes for dinner." So with our Grange. Watchfulness is necessary. And watchfulness is necessary all the time and at every stage of its progress and history. It will not satisfy us, who love the Grange, to know that it started well. We want to know more than this. We want to know that it not only was well at the start, but also that it continues well at the present time. Watchfulness is necessary to answer the question: Is the Grange sound in principle now as at the start? Or in her progress have some of the iron boxes given way or been cracked? One of the sound principles with which the Grange started was this: that no man should belong to it unless he had a direct interest in tilling the soil. Everybody has some interest in tilling the soil, because all must live by eating. But the Grangers' interest in tilling the soil is personal, professional and direct. The lawyer's business is to practice law; the doctor's business is to practice medicine; the manufacturer's business is manufacturing his wares; and the farmer's business is to farm or till the soil. When lawyers meet to consider their interest as a class they do not ask farmers to tell them what to do or where their interest lies. When doctors meet to consider their business as a professional men, they do not send for farmers to teach them where their interest lies. Manufacturers do not invite farmers to sit in counsel with them while considering their interest. In like manner the farmer should know his own affairs, and look after them himself and suffer no dictation from without. DuAs keeper of the gate, permit me to ask if this iron box is Grafound to-day as when the Grange started? If we are Severning our membership strictly to those who have a direct, personal and professional interest in farming or cultivating the soil? Are any admitted within our gates who have not a sufficient direct interest in tilling the soil; or may have some interest in conflict with our purposes? If a man can stand on his feet in a crowded room and talk well it multiplies his force as a man by ten, or possibly by twenty. A trained lawyer among plain farmers, unaccustomed to public speaking, has every advantage in the world. He is like a lion among sheep. The sheep are no doubt better than the lion, but this does not keep them from being eaten up by the lion. A trained and gifted speaker may be on the wrong side of a question, and yet may win, notwithstanding the fact that he is wrong all the time. A plain, honest farmer may be on the right side of a question in debate, and yet lose his side, notwithstanding the fact that he is right all the time. He may not have the gift of language, to present forcibly his side of the case, or he may have sufficient language, but not self control, while addressing large audiences. It is unfair to pit a farmer against a lawyer in debate; as it would be manifestly unfair to pit a lawyer against a farmer in raising a crop. Farmers ought to know their own business and they ought to know how to attend to it. A man once made a fortune by attending to his own business. Another iron box of principle upon the car of progress, when the Grange started, ought to be tested to-day and carefully looked after to see if it is yet sound and in good order. It is the principle which condems sectionalism or sectional prejudice. Mr. Washington often said that the worst thing that could ever happen our country would be to have one section pitted against another. His words have come true. We have seen the South pitted against the North in battle, and we know that nothing could be worse. Allow me to ask, as Gatekeeper, whether the Grange is as true to its "Declaration of Purposes" to day as when it started, as to this matter of sectional prejudice? To ask a pointed question about a practical matter, let me put the question in this way: Is it as easy in the National Grange to procure legislation in the interest of the West as it is of the East? Does it make no difference which section is to be bnefited by the measure? Is it all one with the Grange whether the advantage is going North, South, East or West? King David had fifty thousand men who could keep step. The reason they could keep step was because they had one heart. And the National Grange, North, South, East and West, will never keep step in the march of progress till they have one heart. We have one country, one destiny and one |