National Grange In Harrisburg Adopts Policy, Elects Officers
(Continued trom Pago At)
lowering the likelihood that local
agrarian enterprise could effec
tively compete with other capita
listic opportunities for control of
the land and other resources.
Adopts Policies
The Grange adopted policy it
considers would protect private
property rights, while at the same
time help protect the environment
and natural resources.
The policy calls for the “U.S.
Constitition to be designated as the
ultimate protector of private prop
erty,” according to the press office
of the National Grange.
At the same time, the Grange
policy includes a recognition of the
importance of protecting local
watersheds.
For other environmental goals,
the Grange has adopted the posi
tion that voluntary programs
should be created which give local
communities the say as to which
resources are best managed
through public agencies.
The Grange also adopted policy
that would direct the use of public
agricultural support toward the
family farmer in an effort to pro
vide a buffer against large coipo
rate farms.
In this policy, the Grange calls
for the use of “means testing” for
all major commodities, full plant
ing flexibility, and basing support
payments on production, not
acreage.
The National Grange also agree
d to call upon the U.S. Congress to
produce a tax system that is less
Bill Buffington, a membar of Kennat Granga No. 19, in Chaatar County, raada tha
inscription on the tombstone of Grange founder Rev. Aaron Grosh, while other nation*
al delegates look on.
National Grango dalagataa poaa at tho Davil'a Den rock outcropping In Gettysburg
National Battleground ta recreate a photographic pose of delegatee similar to one
taken by national delegatee during a trip to the battlefield on March. 12, 1897.
complicated and more fair.
In their consideration of a varie
ty of proposals for tax and fiscal
policy, die delegates approved
backing a tax system that would
use a simpler and fairer federal
income tax. such as a flat tax;
reform of capital pins tax to allow
a 50-percent deduction, coupled
with a graduated note tied to higher
income brackets; and reform of
federal estate tax laws to exclude
the first $1.5 milllion of qualified
family business assets from estate
taxes.
In related policy, the Grange
spoke out against the concentra
tion of economic power in the
hands of large commercial banks.
Delegates adopted a position
that opposes allowing large banks
to buy insurance funds or sell
securities.
The Grange seeks protections of
the rights of parents to make deci
sions regarding the discipline and
welfare of their children instead of
having those rights taken over by
legislative bodies and the judicial
system.
The Grange delegate body also
called for strong opposition to the
ratification of the United Nation’s
Treaty on the Rights of the Child,
because it “challenges parents’
rights that are protected by the U.S.
Constitition,” said Maurice Wiles,
chairman of the National Grange
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, the Grange
delegate body endorsed the Paren
tal Rights and Responsibilities Act
of 1995 because it is seen as a pro
tection of the rights of parents in
the education and health care of the
children, while protecting children
from abuse and neglect.
Master’s Address
National Granp Master Robert
E. Barrow presided over the
convention.
In his opening speech to the del
egates. Barrow, a member of the
Grange of the Order of Patrons of
Husbandry, said, “We cannot
neglect the small to mid-size com
mercial farms.
“Until new programs are
created, we must support means
testing and directing program ben
efits to this class of farms.
“Throughout the debate on the
1995 Farm Bill, we have heard the
(Clinton) Administration, law
makers and other farm organiza
tions say that any cut in farm com
modity program benefits would be
devastating to rural America,”
Barrow said.
“But since 1970, farming has
become significantly less impor
tant as an economic factor in a
majority of rural areas.
“Less than 12 percent of rural
counties were farm-dependent by
the end of the 1980 s. M
According to Barrow, as the
number of farms has decreased,
those counties still with farms are
considered to be those counties
where residents enjoy higher
incomes and standards of living
than most the “have” counties.
“The government’s farm prog
ram payments contribute almost
nothing to income in poor rural
counties,” Barrow said. “In the
Pennsylvania State Grange Master Gordon Hiller pre
sents a hand-made patriotic tie to state Gov. Tom Ridge. All
men from the Pennsylvania host state wore the same tie
pattern made special for the 129th national convention.
upper income counties, nearly 10
percent of the income is derived
from the government’s farm pay
ments as compared to only 2 per
cent in the poorer counties.”
According to Barrow, he told
both the U.S. Senate and House
agriculture committees that an
understanding of the current char
acter of U.S. agriculture is order to
create a Farm Bill that helps where
help is needed.
“It is against today’s demo
graphies of rural America that we
must consider farm plicyand rural
development, not on what agricul
ture was, but on what agriculture
is,” he said.
He said he told Congress that
means testing and making sure
program payments go to small to
mid-size commercial farms is
essential.
In addition, he said that new
programs have to ignore govern
ment classifications as “farm
dependent" because it doesn’t
reflect the rural reality of need.
There are 2,083 such counties. He
said new programs have to be
focused on providing help to those
This It the Manietta gravesHe of Rev. Aaron B. Grosh,
one of the seven founding members of the Grange. Grange
members In Pennsylvania tor Ha 129th convention vieHed
the Grosh gravesHe, the Gettysburg National Battle*
grounds and other slghta of Interest.
with need, not based upon govern
ment classifications about com
munity economic structure.
In addition, Barrow said that for
additional rural development, that
industry related to agriculture must
be promoted.
“We have suggested that the
potential for increased growth in
rural employment can be found by
attracting industries related to agri
culture, such as adding value to
farm products or manufacturing
new industrial uses for farm com
modities,” he said.
As a word of caution, he said
that emphasizing agribusiness as a
source of employment for rural
economic development could be
the same level of mistake made in
support programs caused by over
emphasizing the intensity of farm
ing in a county.
According to a news release
from the National Grange outlin
ing his speech, Barrow said that
those same counties currently
receiving the bulk of government
support are already financially
well-off and most likely the coun-
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