The Georgia grange. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1873-1882, August 12, 1875, Image 1

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Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.

Newspaper Page Textj i . —ir-'.. ■ - K A *' _. _ ■ - _ ■ ■ - - ■ ““““ re . _ -,;~1. ~ , i /:.v Vo .<£> fliF* MB WrW < ' ""•"" "*" L ~ ?V h A 4fe> I jpy> 1( M * c fiv H <« is . -1 Aizz VOLUME 11. THE #a ,Z|SB& H w wo Official Organ of the Patrons of Husbandry. GRANGE GOSSIP. —German Granges are being organ ized in Wisconsin. —A Grange packet is soon to be placed on the Ohio River. —The Patrons of Kentucky are mov ing to have a dog tax law passed in that State. —The Farmer's Friend says that the Saltsburg (Pa.) Grange has $20,000 in its treasury. .—A new Grange cannot be formed in the jurisdiction of a suspended Grange during the time of its suspen sion. —Anj member of the Order hold ing a dimit is subject to trial before the Grange in whose jurisdiction he re sides. —The Grange is now firmly es tablished in eighty-four counties in Virginia. —The order in Kansas appears to be considerably exercised about the Pomo na granges, and would rather not have them. —The Patious of Indiana want all dues and fees of lady members abol ished, in the hope of adding a larger number of the sex to the Order. —The Patrons of East Tennessee have taken steps to establish an iron manufactory at Telford’s Station, Washington county. —There are about two hundred gran ges in Canada and the order there is beginning to attract the attention of some of the leading men, who are using the most strenuous efforts for its ad vancement. —Brother A. B. Groscb, Chaplain of the National Grange, has completed his labors of revising, rearranging and adding new matter to our song book, to which duty he was appointed by the National Executive Committee. —Everybody is pleased with the new i National Grange headquarters in Lou- ! isville. —The Cherokee Agriculturist and Patron of Husbandry is the title of a new grange and agriculturial paper published at Dalton, Ga., by H. A. Wrench. We have received the first number. It is a fine paper, ably got ten up, and will fill a very uesful sphere. Success to it. —D. W. Adams, Master of the Na tional Grange, truly says: “ The history of the world and its present condition has established this fact: that all countries are poor which export crude, raw material, and im port the manufactured articles, and the tendency of the people is all the time toward a condition of dependence. To this there have been no exceptions, and we would do well to ‘ heed the warning and escajH? the doom.' \\ here the great industries —agriculture and manufacture*—are equally dvveloj-ed. the gem ral prosperity is assured. ’ ADDRESS Delivered before the Early County Agricultural Society. BY ROBERT B. TAYLOR, ESQ. Jfr. President and Gentlemen: The honor conferred upon me of again addressing your society, I assure you is appreciated, and though feeling inade quate to do justice to the task, yet, I offer my humble effort for your consid eration, and will be entirely satisfied if but the slightest ray of light be brought to your reflections. I propose then to enter into the most absorbing subject of the day, “ Capital and its Influ ence,” and to delineate this topic in all its general and special bearings. In the outset, I look upon capital distrib uted by the baud of justice and ruled by the rod of wisdom, as a nation’s safeguard, developing its resources in time of peace, and strengthening its borders in time of war. It imparts a tone of confidence in the government throughout all classes of its people, and supports with a powerful arm, the fundamental principles of liberty and prosperity. It sustains the currency of a country; keeps the rich secure in their investment, and the poor satisfied with the i eward of their labor. To acquire this general satisfaction in the security of person, property and liberty throughout a nation, every sec tion of the country must have its re sources developed to such an extent as to open an inviting field for sound and healthy capital to flow into, so that each portion organizing its own peculiar in terests, can stand upon an equal foot ing in the grand march of a country’s glory and honor. The best, the strongest governments the world has ever seen those in which power and wealth have been sustained, those which have successfully stood the shocks of war, are those in which its capital has been equally distributed, as far as possible, throughout all its sec tions ; bringing from all, those reve nues which place it upon a basis of suc cess and stability. And, therefore, cap ital which knows no North nor South, nor East nor West, but flows on its un interrupted course, keeping down the barriers of prejudice, and cementing the ties of national affection, is the great promoter of a nation’s peace within itself, and the guardian of its safetv from danger abroad. And why ? From the simple fact, that every citizen has unbounded confidence in his govern ment, faith in his fellow countrymen, and in his bosom burns a national pride that nothing but death can quench; hence, a country so guarded and pro tected by the hearts and affections of its people, can never be conquered, and upon its banner the words of liberty will ever blaze in characters of burn ing light. If I were asked to predict the longest standing of the nations of the earth, I would select from the multitude, those countries which have the greatest com mercial and internal improvements; im provements, which not only have de veloped the wealth and energies, but the intelligence and affections of its people; improvements, which cause a love of country, a love of home; im provements which atone can come from a sound and impartial capital. On the other hand, the greatest cause of dis sensions and rebellion, crime and blood shed of nations, if you trace it to the fountain head, can be attributed in a majority of cases, to monopolized cap ■ ital, as when one section possesses more i advantages and resources than another, |or when the ingenuity, and energy of I the one have ma’.ured its abilities and [improvements over the other ; thereby controlling the moneyed facilities of the land. Clothed with this power, ras cality and corruption are generated and cultivated, and with these elements, bribery thrusts in its hideous head, and ‘ under its baneful influences corrupted FRANKLIN STEAM PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, AUGUST 12, 1875. representatives are bough*, and unjust and tyrannical laws are forced upon the dependent section. The liberty and peace of the country are threatened, and the poorer section suffers the burden and oppression of the richer. Confidence and love of country are gone ! Prosperity is stagnated, energy prostrated, and monarchy and ruin hover like a darkening cloud over such an unfortunate people! Trace up the downfall of nations, from the days of Rome down to the present, and nine cases out of ten, greedy monopolies have been the grand motive cause of their fall. Monopoly creates party, party forms rings, rings breed corruption, corruption weakens government, and a government sur rounded with these misfortunes is di vided against itself, and being divided cannot stand, and therefore, perishes the liberty, the power, the wealth, the progress of the nation. To illustrate my position in a true and practical light, in. an individual capacity, let us lake from our midst one of our own citizens, place around him wealth and power, let his authority be gospel to his community, his commands be undis- what becomes of him ! From his long usage of power he becomes conceited, ambitious, imperious and tyrannical; thwart him and he will crush you. His sympathies are dead, all the nobler impulses of his nature are swallowed up in the stream of sor did, degraded ambition, and he stands before the eyes of an honest people, as a monumentof the vilest degradat ion. The picture, though an unpleasant one, is true to life; it is the course of human nature, when shorn of the influence of religion, and if the meanness of human nature can be developed under these influences in an individual capacity, it will be more rapidly matured in a col lective capacity, and inasmuch as there is wisdom in the multiplicity of good counsel, just so there is in the mul tiplicity ot rascality much meanness, danger and corruption. Now, sirs, having shown the great advantages of a well organized and general cap : tal, developing the entire interests of a whole country, and the untold sorrows and disadvantages of monopolized capital, destroying all gen eral prosperity, let us proceed to apply it to our own country, and to investi gate its influence, and the order of investments before and since the war. Many years ago the North saw that slave labor was unprofitable, and characteristic of the yankee people, not holding anything that will not pay, commenced transferring this property to a climate more suitable to the negro nature, and turned its attention to a different order of developments and investments. In the course of a few years, Northern capital, seeking outlet, was launched into a variety of enter prises—railroads, steamships, canals and manufactories, and when the sound of war shook the peace of the nation, the yakees had by their untiring and indomitable energies, by their economy and well directed investments, estab lished a firm basis of prosperity ; per fecting their educational facilities as well as augmenting their financial re sources, all of which resulted in suc cess, placed them on a sound and pro gressive footing, and whose power and wealth rested on their great and va: ied internal improvements. On the other hand, the South, equally as ambitious as the North, but not so ingenious, saw but one mode of becoming wealthy, and bent all her energies and applications to the accomplishment of but one in vestment. Her hopes as a people, as individuals, hung upon amassing negro property. That seemed to be the lead ing ambition of the Southern mind, and finding the cultivation of cotton and the raising of negroes, the most rapid way of becoming rich, madly pur sued that course to the neglect of ail other great, diversified interests, which are the strength and power of a country. Rapidly becoming independent, she was ambitious, and ambition linked with wild enthusiasm, foreqs reason and judgment down, and the generations that mingled in it, each felt it was the salvation of their times, and the only road to wealth and honor for their pos terity. Up to the time of the war though wealthy, in what did it consist ? Four milllions of slaves, (a tremendous capital, but not one of permanent se curity), a capital that could not stand the defeat which threatened the South, and unaided by the alliance of other great internal investments, stood trem bling in the balance. War did come, the Southern arms were overpowered ; at the mandate of the conqueror, the great accumulation of years, the only great investment, was swept away like a passing cloud, and the poor, bleeding South, with no financial resources, lay prostrate at the feet of the North, while the latter, powerful in her diver sified wealth, became richer and more powerful, and to bring the application of my argument, she was ambitious, corrupt and tyrannical. How has she manifested it? In every conceivable manner that has shown vindictiveness and relentless hatred. Possessing the capital and the means of sustaining it, she has'ever since the late war, main tained her power, nursed corruption, fed lawless ambition, and is now water ing the fast increasing plants of tyranny and injustice. The seat of government, in all its legislation, has been tainted with the foul atmosphere of oppression towards the poorer section, and it being unable to have a voice of respect in the council of the nation, has had to stand like a poor pleading beggar, only to suffer and be denied. And, sirs, when I think of the injustice she has con tended with; when I think of the ig noble exactions she has had to,accede to; when I see the persecutions that have been heaped upon my afflicted country, and how nobly and patiently she has borne them ; when I see the huge form of monarchy hovering over the bulwarks of republican liberty, and still see the efforts of our enemies try ing to enact every ignominious law to humiliate our manhood and bring the blush of shame to the cheeks of our fair women, patience ceases to be a virtue, my old soldier nature up within my indignant heart, and I pant and long for anether opportunity to strike one blow for the safety of our noble women, and the liberty of our Southern laud! But under present circumstances, to gain our rights, or to attain to indepen dence by another war, we know to be useless. Shall we, then, be compelled to abide by corrupt legislation and unjust taxation the balance of our existence? No, sirs, I trust not; but we will have to suffer those indignities attendant upon an overpowered and impoverish ed section, for som< i me yet to come. What, then, is oyt hope, and what is our course ? Let us see what should be the true policy of the South, and how that policy can alone be effectual. I hold the position that under the pres ent embarrassed condition of the South ern people, they can never reach the foothold of security and equal rights by submission, nor by statesmanship or party triumph alone. I know the opinion is prevalent that the ballot box is our only hope ; and the government once in the hands of our party, that our glory will be achieved and our am bition reached, whether the great fi nancial interests otf the South are de veloped or not. Never, sirs, were the confidence and hopes of a people led bv a more delusive phantom ; never in the history of the world has there ever been recorded one single instance of a vanquished nation, stripped of her cap ital and rights, that ever rose rapidly to her former eminence and respected rights, unless the cause were attributa ble to one fact alone—her great natu ral resources, and her recuperative financial power The same laws of respect that gov ern individuals can justly be applied to nations. Let misfortune strip a man of his earthlv goods, no matter what his attainments are, he meets the cold shoulder on every side ; he then and there loses his power and influence. Let him, on the other hand, by inher itance, or his indomitable will, rise again in wealth : there is a social word for him on every lip ; his views are lis tened to; he is offered every assistance, and his rights are protected and re spected. Then, sirs, the only hope, the only resort to throw off the ■ yoke of our thraldom as a people, is to become independent, that by its power we can force our way through the labyrinths of Radical prejudices and Northern corruption ; and instead of begging, we will command our rights. Then clad in the sunshine of prosperity, our voice will be heard, and Southern peace, with Southern rights, will be se cured. To control this position, all the Southern States should administer their governments with the strictest economy ; that by their savings, they could offer splendid inducements to their people in bringing to light the hidden wealth of the earth—the great mineral resources which a kind Provi dence has so lavishly bestowed upon us. Manufactories and steamships should be encouraged by special legis lation, and the most liberal indujjfl* ments; from the fact that these two great developers of a country’s wealth would be the surest foundation of Southern success —the outlet for direct trade, the grand thoroughfare to South ern independence. Thus, a spirit of competition would ensue between the ability of the North and the wealth of the South, and from a feeling of rival ry there would arise on the part of the former a feeling of respect; old preju dices would be wiped out, legislation would be just, and their self-interest would prompt them to raise no barrier against us, but seek to perpetuate ami cable relations between the two power ful sections. It is human nature, it is true, and never, never can we secure and retain our rights, until our re sources are equally developed, and we equally independent with the North. And in conclusion, by what sole method can we effect our aim ; and upon what hinge does the great prob lem hang? I answer, upon agriculture and home institut : ons rests the redemp tion of the South, both politically and financially. Not by such management as has been adopted for the last few years, moving Heaven and earth to strain credit and to make cotton, while the contents of our barns and smoke houses, nearly all of our wearing appa rel and farming implements, are coming from the North, but a system that has for its grand aim diversified agricul ture ; that would make us proud of wearing Southern clothes,eating South ern bread and meat, patronizing South ern institutions generally, and investing in Southern manufactories. An agri culture that makes every home self supporting, knows no mortgages, wants no credit; and, independent in itself, can sustain other languishing institu tidns of the land, and with its surplus capital, can develop the great sleeping resources of our noble South. Can it be done? Yes; with will and econ omy we can tear from us the sorrows of poverty, drive away Southern gloom, and make glad our firesides with the sunshine* of plenty and satisfaction. Not to sit in, or about our homes watch ing a few trifling laborers, under the impression they will make us indepen dent ; no, but rise in our glorious manhood, and, with our sturdy arms, to wield the blows that will shake off our trving waftts ; nor to adopt the ruinous credit system, with every want at home to be supplied, but to try to make our homes self-sustaining ; our wants but little and necessitous, and fur that little, pay the cash ! Are we Approaching it? I am proud to say our condition is improving. The bitter ex perience of debt, empty cribs and smokehouses, spurious guano and low priced cotton, has made such an im pression upon the Southern farmer, driving away his wild enthusiasm, that they have left a space for common sense and sober judgment to creep into, and the universal cry is now “Economy and retrenchment,” with the glorions motto on his banner, “On to victory and independence.” The bulwarks of Southern economy are gradually being raised so high that the tide of extortion that has inundated us in the past, begins to slacken at the sight of our resistance, and this year millions of dollars will be saved to the South in the raising of corn, meat and home-made manures, which here tofore have drained us to such an ex tent, that our merchants have had to cast upon us a “cross-eyed look,’’and our loved ones at homer, a gentle, but stun ning reproof. But, thank God, the future bids fair to undo the past, and the poor Southern farmer looks out upon the horizon of gloom and doubt, and sees a light gleaming ! It is the vanguardjof the Grangers’ march,whose torchlight is in the hand of lovely wo man, revolutionizing the land with economy and improvement. Already the power of the Brotherhood is felt, as it calls upon the sons of the mourn ing South to rally to its flag, marching with its proud banner, scattering roses of hope among the homes of agricul ture’s afflicted children, waging war upon the task-masters and monopolies of the North, who have been living in luxury upon the sweat of our honest toil, and like the canker worm, have eaten up our substance. And now, fellow-laborers, let us be true to our selves and the cause we represent, and all will be well. Already the task masters begin to feel the power of our rebellious spirit, and, like the weary, oppressed Israelite, panting for liberty, we will yet march over on dry ground through the sea of our troubles, and standing safely upon the other side from the touch of pursuers, we can quietly look upon the enemies that have enslaved us swallowed up in the waves of a just retribution I Then we can exclaim,“Once impoverished South, thy weary wings will droop no more 1” and grasping her trailing, tattered banner, we can hoist it upon the mast head of our industries, and as its folds are proudly waving, proclaim to the world liberty and independence forever. RIPE WHEAT. We bent to-day o’er a coffined form, And onr tears fell softly down ; We looked our last on the aged face, With its look of peace, its patient grace, And hair like a silver crown. We touched our own to the clay-cold hands, From life’s long labor at rest; And among the blossoms white and sweet, 1 , We noted a bunch of golden wheat Clasped close to the silent breast. The blossoms whispered of fadeless bloom, Os a land where fall no tea: s ; The ripe wheat told of toil and care, The patient waiting, the trusting prayer, The garnered good of the years. We know not what work his hands had found What rugged places his feet; What cross was his, what blackness of night; We saw but the peace, the blossoms white, And the bunch of ripened wheat. As each goes up from the field of earth, Bearing the treasure of life, God looks for some gathered grain of good, From the ripe harvest that shining stood, But waiting the reaper’s knife. Then labor well, that in death you go Not only with blossoms sweet Not bent with doubt, and burdened with fears, And dead dry husks of wasted years— But laded with golden wheat, For the Georgia Grange.] Postponed. Editors Grange—Our Grange fes tival is postponed until the third Wed nesday in September. The appoint ment for 12th of August conflicted with the Agricultural meeting in Dal ton, and for 14th, with the Baptist meeting appointed to commence then at Fair Mount. Respectfully, J. G. B. Erwin. Fair Mount, July 24. 1875. We learn tQ climb by keeping our eyes not on the hills that lie behind, but on the moun tains that rise before us. The sense of guilt often makes men afraid without cause. NUMBER 18.

Georgia Historic Newspapers

The Georgia grange. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1873-1882, August 12, 1875, Image 1