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Explanation
Each local chapter was expected to either build, purchase, or lease a Grange Hall and make it open to activities by members and nonmembers alike. Over the years, these halls have served as community centers in many small towns. During its earlier years the Grange was primarily an educational and social resource for farmers and rural communities, while other organizations, notably the Farmers Alliance, were more active in the political sphere. When the Grange decided to enter the fray, its presence was quickly felt, and perhaps nowhere more strongly than in the Northwest.
The first Grange in Washington Territory was Waitsburg Grange No. 1 in Walla Walla County, started in 1873 and still active as of 2014. The economic woes that followed the Panic of 1873 led to a rapid increase in local chapters, but when the crisis passed membership fell dramatically. By 1886 Washington Territory's 60 or so Granges had been reduced to as few as six before starting a slow rebound. Until statehood, Washington's territorial chapters operated under the umbrella of the Oregon State Grange.
In September 1889 a proposed state constitution, drafted that summer in Olympia at a convention heavily influenced by railroad interests, was awaiting ratification. On September 10, almost exactly two months before Washington became the 42nd state and just three weeks before the vote on the constitution, members of 16 territorial Grange chapters met at the Pioneer Store in La Camas (now Camas), Clark County, and with the help of organizers from Oregon and California an independent Washington State Grange came into being.
The new Grange immediately objected to the proposed constitution, publishing an eight-point manifesto that asked all "farmers, laboring men and taxpayers" to reject the document (Crawford, 15). In an early sign of a populist bent, the Grange argued, among other things, that too many public offices were being created, salaries were set too high, and the result would be "an office-seeking class, the most worthless class that can exist. It will also foster machine politics of the most corrupt and offensive character" ("Statehood 1889"). The Grange also published a list of questions it intended to ask of all candidates for the state legislature in that first election. These evidenced many of the political, social, and economic concerns that would be identified with the Progressive Movement, including increased government control of the railroads and other monopolies, tax reform, woman suffrage, preservation of public lands, and the prohibition of alcohol. But for the state constitution, the Grange's efforts came too late, and the document as drafted was approved by the then all-male electorate on October 1.
Reining in the Railroads
By 1892, the Washington Grange had grown to 36 subordinate chapters with 1,219 members. One year later, the railroad companies again dragged the nation's economy down, causing the Panic of 1893 and five years of economic stagnation. By the end of 1894, only 28 local Granges remained in Washington, and the only thing keeping many members in the organization was its cooperative fire-insurance association, started that same year. But that alone was not enough, and by 1898 there were only 20 subordinate chapters and fewer than 500 members. This was the low point; from there the state Grange would rebuild, first gradually, then rapidly. By 1909 membership had grown to 9,000; three years later it had nearly doubled, to 17,000.
Railroad corporations and farmers were natural enemies, and the former found many ways to enrich themselves at the expense of the latter. During their rapid expansion in the late nineteenth century railroad companies, with vague promises of huge profits and cheap shipping, persuaded individual farmers and rural towns to invest in railroad bonds. Many did, mortgaging property and equipment to do so, and many were bankrupted when the railroads overbuilt and overspent, then evaded their obligations through complex reorganizations and fraudulent bankruptcies.
When the rail lines were complete, the promise of cheap transportation evaporated. Large shippers were given preferential rates, and railroads recouped losses from highly competitive long-distance routes by overcharging for shorter runs. The proliferation of new farms in the West led to greater production and lower prices for agricultural goods. Middlemen muscled in to take a further cut from farmers' profits, and soon there were no profits. In Washington, the Grange worked hard for change, and in 1905 the first state Railroad Commission was created, empowered to investigate and adjust rates when complaints were received. The battles would go on for decades, but this was a victory for which the Grange could broken.
