J 74 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



session when an outright repudiation of its features was demanded, but 

 suddenly the tactics of the opposition were revised, with the introduction 

 of a bill providing for constitutional changes by the method that neces- 

 sitated a special election to be followed by two regular elections. This 

 was the procedure the League had sought to avoid because of the delays 

 involved. The change in opposition tactics was intended to serve a two- 

 fold purpose. The opponents, sensing the popularity of the League's 

 program with the farmers, could say that they were for the program but 

 not the League's leaders ; and by postponing enactment of the bill, it was 

 hoped that the ardor for the measures would pass after the first flush of 

 enthusiasm. The League repeatedly urged the farmers to exert pressure 

 on senators known to be against house bill 44, but despite League efforts 

 the upper house succeeded in postponing action indefinitely by a vote 

 of 29 to 20. One senator endorsed by the League voted for the delay, while 

 two not endorsed by the League voted against it. 



Some League members accepted the defeat of house bill 44 as "a piece 

 of luck," for had it passed, some members "might have expected the 

 immediate arrival of the farmers' millenium." The failure of the new 

 constitution afforded the Nonpartisan Leaguers a breathing spell, an op- 

 portunity to warn their followers not to expect too much, and a chance 

 to get the new constitution adopted by a petition to the people. 91 



Other proposals introduced in the 1917 legislature included the follow- 

 ing: repeal of the "Better Farming Law" and distribution of the accumu- 

 lated funds; compulsory notification by mortgagors before foreclosure; 

 permission to subpoena witnesses by telephone, telegraph, or mail; uni- 

 form interest rates before and after maturity, with all contracts to the 

 contrary to be null and void ; authorization of a tax levy on land for creat- 

 ing a hail-insurance fund ; a scaling-down of the legal rate of interest for 

 any indebtedness; limited woman suffrage; setting aside the third Friday 

 in January as "state temperance day" to be observed in public schools; 

 compelling farmers to rotate their crops; and a call for a constitutional 

 convention. There was a series of bills designed to provide "an evening 

 up of opportunities between country and town," and others provided for 

 the construction of a $200,000 terminal elevator wherever the Equity 

 Cooperative Exchange wanted it built and its subsequent transference by 

 91. Merz, in New Republic, XIII (November 10, 1917), p. 45. 



