Non-Partisan League
Encyclopedia
The Nonpartisan League was a political organization founded in 1915 in the United States
by former Socialist Party
organizer A. C. Townley
. The Nonpartisan League advocated state control of mills, grain elevators, banks and other farm-related industries in order to reduce the power of corporate political interests from Minneapolis, Minnesota
. It originated in North Dakota
, but eventually spread throughout the American Midwest and Pacific Northwest
during the Progressive Era
and was briefly organized as a national party. It also spread northward into Canada
, running in provincial elections and providing some of the basis for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in Saskatchewan
and the Progressive Party of Canada
. The NPL goat served as the League's mascot. It was known as "The Goat that Can't be Got."
Attending the meeting was Townley, a failed flax farmer from Beach, North Dakota. Townley and a friend, Fred Wood, drew up a radical political platform on Wood's kitchen table that addressed many of the farmers' concerns. Soon, Townley was traveling the state in a borrowed Model T Ford signing up NPL members for a payment of $6 in dues. Farmers were receptive to Townley's ideas and joined in droves.
The League, supported by a groundswell of "six-dollar suckers", ran its slate as Republican candidates in the 1916 elections. It won control of the state legislature and elected a farmer, Lynn Frazier
, as governor with 79% of the vote. After the 1918 elections, in which the NPL won control of both houses of the legislature, a significant portion of the League's platform was enacted. State-run agricultural enterprises such as the North Dakota Mill and Elevator
, the Bank of North Dakota
, and a state-owned railroad were mandated. A graduated state income tax distinguishing between earned and unearned income, a state hail insurance fund, and a workmen's compensation fund that assessed employers were established. In addition, the device of popular recall of elected officials was enacted.
The NPL's initial success was short-lived. A drop in commodity prices at the close of WWI together with an untimely drought caused an agricultural depression. As a result, the new state-owned industries ran into financial trouble, and the private banking industry, smarting from the loss of its influence in Bismarck, rebuffed the NPL when it tried to raise money through state-issued bonds, calling the state bank and elevator "theoretical experiments" that might easily fail. Moreover, the NPL's lack of governing experience led to perceived infighting and corruption. Newspapers and business groups portrayed the NPL as inept and disastrous for the state's future. The socialist origins of the NPL and its widely-publicized isolationist leanings during WWI also compromised its popular appeal. In 1921, after an investigation of the state bank showed it to be insolvent, Frazier became the first U.S. state governor to be recalled. He was also the only one, until California
's Gray Davis
was recalled in 2003.
The decade of the 1920s was relatively prosperous for farmers, and the NPL's popularity receded. But the populist undercurrent that fueled its meteoric growth resurged with the coming of the Great Depression
and the Dust Bowl
conditions of the 1930s. The NPL's William "Wild Bill" Langer
was elected to the governorship in 1932 and 1936 (the two terms separated by his declaration of North Dakota's secession from the United States in 1934, and a jail term), and served in the U.S. Senate from 1940 until his death in 1959.
Many remnants of the NPL's short reign continue today, including North Dakota Mill and Elevator and the Bank of North Dakota. Perhaps the most radical of the populist reforms, prohibition of corporate farming, or indeed even of corporate ownership of farmland, was enacted in 1932 by statewide initiative and remains a cornerstone of the state's economic landscape.
A fairly accurate portrayal of the founding of the NPL was dramatized in the 1979 film, Northern Lights
, starring Joe Spano
, which won the 1980 "Camera d'Or award (best first film; literally: "Golden Camera") award at the Cannes Film Festival
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by former Socialist Party
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
organizer A. C. Townley
A. C. Townley
Arthur Charles Townley was an American political organizer best known as the founder the National Non-Partisan League , a radical farmers' organization which had considerable political success in the states of North Dakota and Minnesota during the second half of the 1910s.-Early years:Arthur...
. The Nonpartisan League advocated state control of mills, grain elevators, banks and other farm-related industries in order to reduce the power of corporate political interests from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. It originated in North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, but eventually spread throughout the American Midwest and Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
during the Progressive Era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
and was briefly organized as a national party. It also spread northward into Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, running in provincial elections and providing some of the basis for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
and the Progressive Party of Canada
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...
. The NPL goat served as the League's mascot. It was known as "The Goat that Can't be Got."
History
Its origins date from 1915, a time when small farmers in North Dakota felt exploited by out-of-state milling companies, the railroads, and the eastern capital markets. Rumors spread at an American Society of Equity meeting in Bismarck that a state legislator named Treadwell Twichell had told a group of farmers to "go home and slop the hogs." Twichell later said that his statement was misinterpreted. In fact, Twichell had been instrumental in previous legislative reforms to rescue the state from turn of the century boss rule by Alexander MacKenzie and the Northern Pacific Railroad. Ironically or not, the phrase was to become a rallying cry among large numbers of disaffected constituents.Attending the meeting was Townley, a failed flax farmer from Beach, North Dakota. Townley and a friend, Fred Wood, drew up a radical political platform on Wood's kitchen table that addressed many of the farmers' concerns. Soon, Townley was traveling the state in a borrowed Model T Ford signing up NPL members for a payment of $6 in dues. Farmers were receptive to Townley's ideas and joined in droves.
The League, supported by a groundswell of "six-dollar suckers", ran its slate as Republican candidates in the 1916 elections. It won control of the state legislature and elected a farmer, Lynn Frazier
Lynn Frazier
Lynn Joseph Frazier was a politician from North Dakota, serving as a U.S. Senator from 1923 to 1941 and the 12th Governor of North Dakota of that state from 1917 until being recalled in 1921. He was the first American governor ever successfully recalled from office...
, as governor with 79% of the vote. After the 1918 elections, in which the NPL won control of both houses of the legislature, a significant portion of the League's platform was enacted. State-run agricultural enterprises such as the North Dakota Mill and Elevator
North Dakota Mill and Elevator
The North Dakota Mill and Elevator is the largest flour mill in the United States. It is located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. The mill is owned by the U.S. state of North Dakota and is the only state-owned milling facility in the United States....
, the Bank of North Dakota
Bank of North Dakota
The Bank of North Dakota is a state-owned and -run financial institution based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Under state law the bank is the State of North Dakota doing business as the Bank of North Dakota....
, and a state-owned railroad were mandated. A graduated state income tax distinguishing between earned and unearned income, a state hail insurance fund, and a workmen's compensation fund that assessed employers were established. In addition, the device of popular recall of elected officials was enacted.
The NPL's initial success was short-lived. A drop in commodity prices at the close of WWI together with an untimely drought caused an agricultural depression. As a result, the new state-owned industries ran into financial trouble, and the private banking industry, smarting from the loss of its influence in Bismarck, rebuffed the NPL when it tried to raise money through state-issued bonds, calling the state bank and elevator "theoretical experiments" that might easily fail. Moreover, the NPL's lack of governing experience led to perceived infighting and corruption. Newspapers and business groups portrayed the NPL as inept and disastrous for the state's future. The socialist origins of the NPL and its widely-publicized isolationist leanings during WWI also compromised its popular appeal. In 1921, after an investigation of the state bank showed it to be insolvent, Frazier became the first U.S. state governor to be recalled. He was also the only one, until California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's Gray Davis
Gray Davis
Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
was recalled in 2003.
The decade of the 1920s was relatively prosperous for farmers, and the NPL's popularity receded. But the populist undercurrent that fueled its meteoric growth resurged with the coming of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
conditions of the 1930s. The NPL's William "Wild Bill" Langer
William Langer
William "Wild Bill" Langer was a prominent US politician from North Dakota. Langer is one of the most colorful characters in North Dakota history, most famously bouncing back from a scandal that forced him out of the governor's office and into prison. He served as the 17th and 21st Governor of...
was elected to the governorship in 1932 and 1936 (the two terms separated by his declaration of North Dakota's secession from the United States in 1934, and a jail term), and served in the U.S. Senate from 1940 until his death in 1959.
Many remnants of the NPL's short reign continue today, including North Dakota Mill and Elevator and the Bank of North Dakota. Perhaps the most radical of the populist reforms, prohibition of corporate farming, or indeed even of corporate ownership of farmland, was enacted in 1932 by statewide initiative and remains a cornerstone of the state's economic landscape.
Legacy
Although it began as a faction within the Republican Party in 1915, the NPL merged with the Democratic Party of North Dakota in 1956. The Executive Committee of the NPL still formally exists within the party structure of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL headed by former State Senator S. F. "Buckshot" Hoffner (D-NPL, Esmond), Chairman and former Lt. Governor Lloyd B. Omdahl, Secretary.A fairly accurate portrayal of the founding of the NPL was dramatized in the 1979 film, Northern Lights
Northern Lights (1978 film)
Northern Lights was a 1978 independent film which dramatizes the founding of the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota, a Socialist political movement which took place in the American Midwest in the early 1900s....
, starring Joe Spano
Joe Spano
Joseph Peter "Joe" Spano is an American actor who came to prominence through his role as Lt. Henry Goldblume on Hill Street Blues and is now well known for his work in NCIS as FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell....
, which won the 1980 "Camera d'Or award (best first film; literally: "Golden Camera") award at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
See also
- Minnesota Farmer-Labor PartyMinnesota Farmer-Labor PartyThe Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party was a political party in the United States state of Minnesota, the most successful and longest-lasting of the constituent elements of the national Farmer–Labor Party movement, which had a presence in other states...
- Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor PartyMinnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor PartyThe Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...
- Conference for Progressive Political ActionConference for Progressive Political ActionThe Conference for Progressive Political Action was officially established by the convention call of the 16 major railway labor unions in the United States, represented by a committee of six: William H. Johnston of the Machinists' Union, Martin F. Ryan of the Railway Carmen, Warren S. Stone of the...
- nonpartisanNonpartisanIn political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
, adj. - North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party
- Politics of North DakotaPolitics of North DakotaThe Politics of North Dakota are modeled after that of the United States, whereby the Governor of North Dakota is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Governor, and Legislative power is vested in both chambers of the North Dakota Legislature; the House of...
- Progressive Party of CanadaProgressive Party of CanadaThe Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...
- United FarmersUnited Farmers of CanadaThe United Farmers of Canada was a radical farmers organization. It was established in 1926 as the United Farmers of Canada as a merger of the Farmers' Union of Canada and the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association...
- Alberta Nonpartisan League
- A. C. TownleyA. C. TownleyArthur Charles Townley was an American political organizer best known as the founder the National Non-Partisan League , a radical farmers' organization which had considerable political success in the states of North Dakota and Minnesota during the second half of the 1910s.-Early years:Arthur...
- Political party strength in North DakotaPolitical party strength in North DakotaThe following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of North Dakota:*Governor*Lieutenant Governor*Secretary of State*Attorney General*State Treasurer*State Auditor*State Insurance Commissioner...
Other sources
- Morlan, Robert L. (1955) Political Prairie Fire: The Nonpartisan League, 1915-1922, (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis)
- Lipset, Seymour M. (1971) Agrarian Socialism, (University of California Press, Berkeley)
External links
- North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party Website
- North Dakota State University Institute for Regional Studies Nonpartisan League Collection
- Article on the NPL from the Progressive Populist
- Northern Lights - docudrama of the forming of the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota
- American Socialist Voter a non-partisan voter-ship of happening trends in 21st American socialism.