The Star.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 53, 13 October 1880, Page 2

The Star.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 18S0.

FAEMERS' CLUBS.

It is generally an enthusiast on a subject who succeeds in persuading his fellow m> n to join him in furthering a new scheme. We are thorough and somewhat .enthusiastic believers in co-opera-tion, and in a farming district a farmers' club, or grange, is the only form in which there is much scope Sor ihe flevelopsnent of the movement. Consequently, we hope to succeed in convincing a large majority of our readers that this hobbyhorse of ours is a good staunch steed, which, when -put into harness, will help to pull them merrily along the road to prosperity, and will not jib at a mountain of difficulty.

It would be impossible to deal exhaustively with so large a subject within the space of a single article ; but we are able to lay before our readers a concise exposition of the aim and object of the National Grange in the United States, whose motto is, "In essentials, unity ; in non - essentials, liberty ; in all things, chanty." The following specific obects are set forth by an American writer as those by which "the cause is to be advanced :—: —

To develop a better and higher manhood and womanhood among those constituting the order ; to enhance the comforts and attractions of home, and strengthen the attachment to their pursuits; to foster mutual understanding and co-operation ; to maintain inviolate the laws, and emulate each other in hastening the good time coming; to reduce expenses, both individual and corporate; to buy less, and produce more> in order to make Oheir Garros seit'-sustaiumg ; to diversify crops, anA to crop no more than can be cultivated ; to condense the ■weight of exports, selling less in the bushel, and more on hoof and in the fleece; to systematize work, and to calculate intelligently upon probabilities ; to discontinue the credit system, the mortgage system, the fashion system, and every other system tending to prodigality and bankruptcy; to meet together, talk together, work together, buy and sell together ; and hi general act together for mutual protection and advancement, as association may require ; to avoid litigation as much as possible, by arbitration in the grange ; to constantly strive to secure entire harmony, good-will, and vital brotherhood, and to make the order perpetual; to endeavour to suppress persona}, local, sectional, and national prejudices, all unhealthy rivalry, and all selfish ambition.

The main object of the grange, from a purely business point of view, is to bring producers and consumers, farmers and manufacturers, into direct communication with one another. They attempt to do this La many ways. From the first, they have devoted themselves to the encouragement of transportation or carrying companies, who shall deal both cheaply and quicMy with all the produce, not of a few farmers, but of a whole district. In the Western States great gain is yearly made by the establishment ol grange machinery to deal wholesale with grain ; in. the South, planters have saved large sums by disposing of their cotton through grange agents. Califo nian grangers have their own fleet, and ship direct to Liverpool, by which, according to Mr. Devens, they saved two million dollars hi freights alone in a single year. In the words of another American authority, Mr. Aiken, the grange proposes to act as middleman to the farmers; he buys individually (retail), hub skips collectively (wholesale), is his own disbursing agent (i.e., provides his own capital), and pockets the result of his profitable labors.

According to the best authorities on cooperation, the great principle for which tlry contend is that labor shall be the master, and capital the servant of the cooperators. In the case before us, the farmers are the producers, and as such, the representatives of labor. They may, by combination, buy and sell and carry their goods to market wholesale in their own ships, receiving their supplies on the return voyage in like manner. How long it may be, before any association which might be started in this district would be able to undertake such extended duties, it is impossible to foretell. But if the idea should bo taken up heartily, as we Lope it will, and if a West Coast Grange should. be established, we see no reason why the growth of the movement should not extend until it rivalled in usefulness the work done by the grange-movement in the United States. In that go-ahead land of notions, the first grange was started in December, 1867 ; in eight years' time, in 1875, there were 20,500 granges or lodges, with 1,311,226 members. By the close of 1876, it was estimated that there would be 30,000 lodges, with not less than two million members. We hope to recur to tins subject very shortly, and to be able to FJXV that the first steps towards ifae formation of a grange have been taken.