the same person. It is equally important to observe that, according to Art. V., to be eligible to become a member in future, they must be engaged in agriculture as a pursuit, and must have no interest conflicting with the purposes of our Order.]

BY-LAWS.

ARTICLE I.—The fourth day of December, the birthday of the Patrons of Husbandry, shall be celebrated as the anniversary of the Order.

ARTICLE II.-Not less than the representation of twenty States present at any meeting of the National Grange, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

ARTICLE III.—Questions of law and usage arising in Subordinate Granges, shall be decided by the Master, subject to an appeal to the Master of the State Grange. Questions of law and usage arising in the State Grange, or brought by appeal from the Subordinate Grange, shall be decided by the Master of the State Grange, subject to an appeal to the Master of the National Grange, whose decision thereon shall be final.

ARTICLE IV.-It shall be the duty of the Master to preside at meetings of the National Grange; to see that all officers and members of committees properly perform their respective duties; to see that the Constitution, By-Laws and resolutions of the National Grange, and the usages of the Order are observed and obeyed, and generally to perform all duties pertaining to such office.

ARTICLE V.--It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a record of all proceedings of the National Grange; to keep a just and true account of all moneys received and deposited by him in the fiscal agency; to countersign all drafts drawn by the Treasurer; to conduct the correspondence of the National Grange; and to perform such other duties appertaining to the office as may be required by the Master and Executive Committee.

It shall be his duty, at least once each week, to deposit with the fiscal agency holding the funds of the National Grange, all moneys that may have come into his hands, and forward a duplicate receipt therefor to the Treasurer, and to make a full report of all transactions to the National Grange at each annual session.

It shall be his further duty to procure a monthly report from the fiscal agency, with whom the funds of the National Grange are deposited, of all moneys received and paid out by them during each month, and send a copy of such report to the Executive Committee and the Master of the National Grange.

He shall give bond in such sum and with such security as may be approved by the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE VI.-Section 1. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to issue all drafts upon the fiscal agency of the Order, said drafts having been previously approved by the Master, and countersigned by the Secretary of the National Grange.

,Sec. 2. He shall report monthly to the Master of the National Grange, a statement of all moneys deposited to his credit in the fiscal agency, and of all drafts signed by him during the previous month.

Sec. 3. He shall report to the National Grange at each annual session, a statement of all moneys deposited in the fiscal agency, and of all drafts signed by him since his last annual report.

Sec. 4. It shall be his duty to collect all interest accruing on investments made by the Executive Committee, and to deposit the same in the fiscal agency. ARTICLE VII.--It shall be the duty of the Lecturer to visit, for the good of the Order, such portions of the United States as the Master or the Executive Committee may direct, for which services he shall receive compensation.

ARTICLE VIII.-Section 1. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to exercise a general supervision of the affairs of the Order during the recess of the National Crange. They shall have authority to act on all matters of interest to the Order, when the National Grange is not in session; shall provide for the welfare of the Order in business matters; and shall report their acts in detail to the National Grange, on the first day of its annual meeting.

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to furnish to the Masters of the several State Granges, at the commencement of each quarter, a statement of the receipts and disbursements of all moneys by the National Grange during the preceding quarter.

Sec. 3. The Executive Committee shall, at the close of each annual session of

the National Grange, appoint two of their number, who, together with the Worthy Master of the National Grange, shall constitute a Court of Appeals, to which shall be referred all appeals that may be taken to the National Grange. The Worthy Master, as President of the Court, shall convene the Court whenever the business in his hands shall make it necessary, and when thus convened, the Court shall try all cases coming before it, or continue the same as the equities of each case may demand.

It shall prescribe its own mode of procedure; its decisions shall be final and must be reported to the next session of the National Grange.

ARTICLE IX.-Section 1. Such compensation for time and service shall be given the Master, Lecturer, Secretary, Treasurer, and Executive Committee, as the National Grange may, from time to time, determine.

Sec. 2. Whenever General Deputies are appointed by the Master of the National Grange, said Deputies shall receive such compensation for time and services as may be determined by the Master and the Executive Committee; provided, in no case shall pay from the National Grange be given General Deputies in any State after the formation of its State Grange.

ARTICLE X.-Section 1. The financial reports of Subordinate Granges shall be made on the first day of January, the first day of April, the first day of July, and the first day of October.

Sec. 2. State Granges shall date their financial existence three months after the first day of January, first day of April, first day of July, and the first day of October, immediately following their organization.

Sec. 3. The financial year of the National Grange-shall close on the 30th day of September.

ARTICLE XI.-Each session of the National Grange shall fix the compensation of its members.

ARTICLE XII.-Special meetings of the National Grange shall be called by the Master upon the application of the Masters of twenty State Granges, one month's notice of such meeting being given to all members of the National Grange. No alterations or amendments to the By-Laws or Ritual shall be made at any special meeting.

ARTICLE XIII.--Upon the demand of five members, the ayes and noes may be called on any question, and when so called, shall be entered by the Secretary upon his minutes.

ARTICLE XIV.-Past-Masters are Masters who have been duly elected and installed, and who have served out the term for which they were elected.

ARTICLE XV.-Vacancies in office may be filled at any regular meeting of the Grange.

ARTICLE XVI.-Two or more Subordinate Granges may be consolidated in the manner following, to wit:

Application for permission to consolidate shall be made to the Master of the State Grange and his consent obtained. One of the consolidating Granges shall then vote to surrender its Charter and to consolidate with the other; and the other must vote to receive all the members of the surrendering Grange.

A copy of each vote, duly authenticated, must be transmitted to the Secretary of the State Grange, and the surrendered charter must be returned to the National Grange, through the office of the Secretary of the State Grange, with the fact and date of its surrender and consolidation endorsed thereon, authenticated by the seal and signature of the Secretary of the State Grange; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize the surrender of the charter of a Grange in which nine men and four women shall desire to continue the organization thereof.

ARTICLE XVII.-Section 1. In case satisfactory evidence shall come to the Master of a State Grange, that a Grange has been organized contrary to the laws and usages of the Order, or is working in violation of the same, it shall be the duty of the Master to suspend such offending Grange, and at once forward to the Master of the National Grange notice of the same, together with the evidence in the case, who shall, if in his opinion the good of the Order requires such action, revoke the Charter of such offending Grange.

Sec. 2. Granges, whose Charters are thus revoked, may appeal to the National Grange at its next session for the final action of that body,

ARTICLE XVIII.--Members of the State and Subordinate Granges shall be amenable to their respective Granges under such regulations as may be prescribed by the State Granges for the trial of causes in their respective jurisdictions; provided

that members of the Subordinate Granges shall be allowed the right of appeal to their State Granges, and members of the State Grange shall be allowed the right of appeal to the Court of Appeals.

ARTICLE XIX.-Each officer required by law to report to the National Grange at its annual sessions, shall furnish, in connection with his report, an itemized statement of the expenses of his office for the current year.

ARTICLE XX.-The Secretary of each State Grange shall send to the Secretary of the National Grange, two printed copies of the proceedings of his State Grange, as soon as practicable after each annual session, and also copies of the Constitution and By-Laws of his State Grange, and the Secretary of the National Grange shall preserve, in his office, one copy of each of these documents.

ARTICLE XXI.—All communications, circulars, and all other documents transmitted by the officers of the National Grange, or any department thereof, to the Subordinate Granges, shall pass through the office of the State Grange to which they belong.

ARTICLE XXII.-These By-Laws may be altered or amended at any annual meeting of the National Grange by a two thirds vote of the members present.

ELIGIBILITY.

Of all applicants, either for charter membership or otherwise, the questions should be asked:

1st-Are they "engaged in agricultural pursuits?"

2d-Have they "any interests in conflict with our purposes?" If they are not engaged in agricultural pursuits they are not eligible. If they have any conflicting interest they are not eligible. Organizing officers and the members decide these points.

The amendment which embodies the above restriction was brought in at the St. Louis meeting in 1874; more explicitly defining the original requirement. Like all other amendments it required the ratification of twenty-seven State and Territorial Granges. It is now the law of admission, but not an ex post facto law; is not retroactive, and cannot affect any member already in the Grange.

RULINGS.

To the Rulings of our Worthy Master Adams, masters and members in all the States must render a cheerful obedience, until an appeal may be sustained by the National Grange.

A married woman derives her eligibility to become a member of a Grange from the eligibility of her husband, and if he is not eligible. and worthy of being admitted to the Grange, the wife should not be admitted alone. It is not safe or good policy to admit_married women to the Grange whose husbands are opposed to our Order, or who, being eligible, have no disposition to join it. Unless the bylaws of a Subordinate Grange fix a time which must elapse before a new application can be made for a rejected candidate, there is nothing in the National Constitution to prohibit the application being renewed at any subsequent meeting.

If the Master of a Grange has good reason to believe that some of the members have cast black balls by mistake, he should, before declaring the result of the ballot, make such statement and recommend another ballot. If, however, he declares the ballot, and the

members themselves are satisfied a mistake has been made, it will be in order for some one to move for a reconsideration. And if a majority of the members vote to reconsider, the ballot may be taken over again and the result must be final. A ballot can only be reconsidered at the same meeting the vote is declared.

The Treasurer's report of the National Grange for 1874 has been made public. The total receipts were $132,151 28, .of which $129,315 00 was for dispensations to 8,621 Granges; $1,261 68 for dues from Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. These are the only States from which dues are reported, and nothing was received from Iowa of dues for 1873. The expenses for the year seem to have been $79,343 75, leaving a balance in the treasury of $52,807 53. The largest item of expense was for printing--$29,314 40.

The salaries amounted to $5,416 67-of which Secretary Kelley received $3,500. The contingent expenses were $13,840 81. There was paid to deputies $5,983 35; to Executive Committee, $1,039 00; traveling expenses, $1,188 00; mileage, $546 80. It seems the treasury was empty at the beginning of the year, and owed Secretary Kelly, $3,321 74.

The National Grange has seventy thousand dollars invested in registered sixes. The investment was made through the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, in New York, which acts as financial agent for the Grange. This company is one of the strongest and safest in the country, having gone through all the panics and financial crises without suspension or question of its integrity or ability to meet every obligation. If, however, the company should fail, remember that the bonds are registered, and so have the entire security of the nation's good faith. Besides this bond investment, there is a working fund, varying, of course, but averaging about twenty thousand dollars. This fund is also on deposit with the financial agent in New York, and a monthly report is made by the agent to each member of the Executive Committee, setting forth the amount on deposit from day to day, with the receipts and disbursements.

The Secretary of the National Grange also sends weekly to each member of the Executive Committee a full statement of the amount of money received and disbursed through his office. No money is paid out by the financial agent without the order of the Worthy Master, countersigned by the Secretary, the orders being made at the request of the Executive Committee.

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The Committee also directs all purchases, and audits all bills; so that not a dollar is expended without its knowledge. The Treasurer keeps an accurate account of all moneys, and countersigns orders before they are paid by the financial agent. Accounts are opened upon the books of the Secretary with the several State Granges, and each is duly credited with all moneys received from it, and charged with whatever is disbursed for its benefit. The balance, less its proportional share of the expenses of the National Grange, shows what we will call the deposit of that Grange with the National Grange. These balances or deposits are held as sacred trusts for the benefit of the State Granges, to be used, as during the past year, to the amount of more than twelve thousand dollars, in the relief of suffering, or in such other manner as may be determined on hereafter. More than twelve thousand dollars has been expended during the year for the relief of suffering from grasshoppers, from floods, and from other disasters; the several amounts having been paid back to the State Granges, out of their deposits, and so far as possible in proportion to those deposits.

The general disposition of the Order is toward a reduction of salaries, the abolition of the supply feature, and, disregarding all party ties, to act unitedly for the common good of all classes, and for the whole country.

CHAPTER XI.

WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.

GROWTH-CAUSES OF NUMERICAL STRENGTH-GRANGES OF THE FIRST AND SECOND GROWTH-INVESTMENTS AND SAVINGS-GENERAL AND INCIDENTAL BENEFITS-WORTHY MASTER ADAMS' ADDRESS AT CHARLESTON: SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS: WHAT WAS DONE ABOUT THE TEXAS PACIFIC RAILROAD, AND WHY IT WAS DONE.

IN 1873 ten States were represented in the meeting of the National Grange. In 1874 the number had swelled to thirtyone, and the business of the Central Bureau, at Washington, required a heavy staff for its successful prosecution. No great enterprises are moved without a corresponding outlay of brain and money power; but it was marvelous to the uninitiated, to see what the "little drops of water and little grains of