In the spring of 1918, with the war raging in France, another battle was playing out in the political landscape of North Dakota. In a few short years, the Nonpartisan League, led by Arthur C. Townley, had taken control of state government.
Tired of big business and big money making the laws, Townley was able to launch a successful farmer’s revolt in the 1914 elections, and he increased his power in the elections of 1916. In the 1917 legislative session, the NPL introduced House Bill 44, an authorization to rewrite the State Constitution. Although it easily passed in the House, a more cautious Senate laid it on the table and it stalled. An unsuccessful attempt to revive this bill was made during a special session the following year. If the bill was to pass, it would have given Townley and his supporters the opportunity to revise the Constitution to make it better reflect their socialistic philosophy.
At this same time, the NPL was coming under fire for their anti-war propaganda, and many National NPL leaders were banned from speaking in towns across the state. With North Dakota boys dying in the battlefields in France, this anti-war rhetoric was diming the luster of the organization and the strong farmer support was beginning to waver.
On May 1st a new organization was created in Minot called the Lincoln Republican League. Composed of stalwart members of a somewhat dismantled Republican Party, they joined with three other groups – the State Legislative Campaign Committee, the Independent Political Association, and the North Dakota Farmer’s League. The league had but one objective in mind. George Sommes of Crosby put it this way: “In this city three years ago was born the movement which has placed the state in the hands of irresponsible men. We have come back to Minot to end that movement. The Nonpartisan League was born here and it is proper that we should bury it where the cradle stood.”
On this date in 1918, the Lincoln Republican League was meeting in Jamestown where N. T. Headalen was elected Chairman, Theodore Koeffel secretary and John E. Davis treasurer. They organized into districts and began selecting candidates for the upcoming elections. To unify the organization and, some say, to reach across the aisle to Democrats, a new name was chosen. Now known as the Independent Voters Association, it began an uphill battle to defeat the still powerful Nonpartisan League.
Dakota Datebook by Jim Davis
Sources:
Grand Forks Herald, May 1, 1918
Ibid: May 9, 1918
Ward County Independent, May 9, 1918
