A movement begun in 1867 as a social and educational association of mid-western farmers in the USA. It was more properly known as the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry. It believed in the importance of the family farm and opposed what it saw as a drift towards economic monopolies, particularly the abuse of freight rates. It never formed a major political party, but its supporters in a number of states did produce local legislation to fix maximum railway rates. These were validated by the US Supreme Court, which accepted the important new presumption that public regulation of private property was legitimate if the property provided public service. After the mid-1870s the movement declined.