J 4 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



change claimed, would stimulate competition, bring higher prices, pro- 

 vide farmers with adequate storage facilities, aid them in their cleaning 

 and drying operations, and, in short, provide them with many of the 

 benefits that the Canadian farmers already enjoyed. With the failure of 

 the North Dakota Board of Control to act on the measure, St. Paul be- 

 came the desirable spot for the location of this elevator because of its 

 strategic situation at the head of the Mississippi River, its admirable trans- 

 portation facilities, its willingness to contribute to the success of the 

 venture, and its well-established reputation of friendliness to the farmers' 

 cause. 67 The subsequent efforts of the North Dakota farmers to secure a 

 terminal elevator are closely interwoven with the history of the Non- 

 partisan League, and will be considered in the next chapter. 



The bitter campaigns in behalf of a terminal elevator which the Equity 

 Society was waging in North Dakota against the Minneapolis Chamber 

 of Commerce no doubt helped the organization to spread westward into 

 Montana. This state lies beyond the boundary of the western Middle 

 West, but since in its farming activities it was becoming a kind of projec- 

 tion of North Dakota, its interest in the Equity Society is worth noting 

 briefly. Montana, in 1914, was still a booming pioneer state about to com- 

 plete the transition from a cattle-raising to a grain-growing economy. 

 Rising grain prices and bumper crops promised to make grain growing 

 a veritable bonanza. Montana's prospects had lured thousands of immi- 

 grants from the Dakotas, Minnesota, Canada, and other grain-growing 

 areas. With easy credit provided by eastern mortgage companies and 

 middle western bankers, loan agents were familiar people. So, too, were 

 automobile and tractor salesmen. New towns, churches, schools, and roads 

 appeared. Land values soared, and so did debts; but the favorable climate, 

 the breaking of much fresh sod, and the European war helped many to 

 conclude that prosperity had come to stay. 68 



The influx of new population, together with bumper crops and high 

 wheat prices, which enabled farmers to pay dues, accounted largely for 



67. Ibid., pp. 932-35; Pioneer Press (St. Paul), February 3, 4, 1915; 

 Daily Tribune, January 31, 1915. 



68. Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry, Montana Resources and Oppor- 

 tunities (Helena, 1933), p. 75; Cooperators' Herald, July 23, 1915; Montana Re- 

 sources and Opportunities, pp. 74-75. 



