12/15/2006:
On this date in 1914, the Socialist party in North Dakota fired A.C. Townley and three of its organizers. Though it may have seemed like a very unfortunate time for Townley, it later resulted in North Dakota's Nonpartisan League.
A major player in North Dakotaís socialist history, Arthur C. Townley was born and raised on a farm in Minnesota and was a voracious reader on topics like politics and economics.
After teaching, Townley began a thriving farming operation in Golden Valley County, North Dakota, in 1907. He soon switched to flax and borrowed heavily for farm equipment. Unfortunately, an early frost in 1912 wiped out his business, sending him into bankruptcy.
In part, the experience caused Townley to turn to socialism. In November 1913, the Socialist party of North Dakota recognized his talents and hired him as an organizer in the western counties.
The Socialist party began in North Dakota in 1900, and many Norwegian immigrants leaned toward it. Under Henry G. Teigan, Townley began organizing in late 1913. Recognizing that farmers liked the platform but not the party, he realized that the organizers needed to place less emphasis on the party and more on reforms.
In 1914, Townley created the "organization department" and charged the farmers one dollar a month to become a member, going as far as accepting postdated checks. He had tremendous success and, in just a few months, had covered nine counties and bought four Ford cars to send additional organizers out to gather more members.
However, the Socialist party did not recognize Townleyís organization department and, on December 15, 1914, he and three other organizers were fired.
Townley then went to Bismarck to observe the 1915 Legislative session. The Legislature killed a proposal for a state-owned terminal elevator, previously passed by the 1913 Legislature and approved by the voters.
Seeing the farmers' anger, Townley decided to form a new farmers' organization. With his Socialist party experience, he developed a platform of state ownership and used his own organizing techniques.
Townley kept the new Nonpartisan League in the Republican party. As the League grew, he recruited a staff of his former Socialist organizers and bought dozens of Fords for them to travel rural North Dakota recruiting members.
The Nonpartisan League became a blend of socialism and high-pressure salesmanship. Townley was a very talented organized and agitator and, during 1915-1916, he was speaking to crowds wherever they would gather. His organizing tactics, directed at farmers and generally out of sight of the media, resulted in phenomenal success.
However, the League organization was quickly falling to pieces by March 1921. Membership drives were failing, bills went unpaid and revenues fell.
That November, Townley began serving a 90-day jail sentence in Jackson, Minnesota, for conspiring to discourage enlistments. He was later indicted for failure of the Scandinavian-American Bank in Fargo.
Townley's popularity declined, along with the NPL's, losing steam after 1921. However, its principles continued as part of the Republican Party for a time and then in its merger with the Democratic Party in the late 1950s.
Townley died in November 1959.
By Cathy A. Langemo, WritePlus Inc.