In the Special Session of 1918, the North Dakota Legislature created and funded the North Dakota Council of Defense. The Council was comprised of the governor, the attorney general, and twelve members selected by the governor. The Council of Defense was granted broad powers to oversee coal resources and agricultural production. The governor was granted additional power to authorize other actions necessary for the conduct of the war.
With Lynn Frazier as governor, the Nonpartisan League was firmly in control of state government. In an incredibly bold move, the Council, comprised completely of loyal members of the Nonpartisan League, met on this date and enacted the North Dakota Council of Defense Corporation. This private corporation issued one million shares of stock at one dollar per share, with the stockholders limited to the present members of the Council of Defense.
The aim of the corporation was quite simple. Issuing a seven point declaration, its objective was to privatize and take over North Dakota’s two thousand, two hundred grain elevators and warehouses and also several hundred creameries and cream stations. Under the control of the council, a board of trustees consisting of five to seven members chosen locally, would oversee the operations. The former owners would be paid a rental fee based upon the actual assessed value of their business. In each community there would be a central point for weighing and grading the grain, which would be separated by type and grade and stored in the local elevators. The farmers would be paid for their grain plus any surplus profit, which would be prorated among them. There would be no dividends paid to the stock holders, but any proportionate expenses of the North Dakota Council of Defense Corporation would be covered. Creameries were to be operated in the same fashion.
The reaction was loud and swift. The following day outraged famer-owned and independent elevator operators descended upon the council offices. But before the general public had time to react, the Council denied they had ever approved the takeover. There may have been some discussion, they stated, but nothing showed up in their minutes, and they claimed there was never any serious consideration of endorsing the idea. Although the Nonpartisan League never attempted to reactivate the corporation, their initial idea, on a much reduced scale, surfaced in the next legislative session with a proposal for the North Dakota State Mill and Elevator.
Dakota Datebook by Jim Davis
Sources:
Bismarck Tribune, July 11, 1918
Grand Forks Herald, July 11, 1918
Ibid, July 11, 1918
The Devils Lake World, July 17, 1918
Bismarck Tribune, February 3, 1919
