EXPANSION AND DECLINE 205 



namely, the depression that was sweeping the country, the strength of 

 the anti-League propaganda, the mistakes of the League officials in ad- 

 ministering the industrial program, the general national trend against the 

 party in power, and poor management of the campaign. Among the mis- 

 takes committed by the League were those revolving about the conduct 

 of the home-builders' association program and the losses accruing from 

 operations of the state-owned mill. "Houses were built at a greater cost 

 to the state than was permitted by law and as contracted for with the 

 owners. Then, too, the small losses suffered by the state-owned mill at 

 Drake did the League administration some damage." The losses made 

 by the mill were said to be due mainly to the decline in the price of wheat 

 during the fourteen months previous. Other failures, such as the Equity 

 Packing Plant, with large losses to the stockholders, and the failure of 

 a number of cooperative stores organized by League members no doubt 

 had influenced voters to favor the recall of League candidates. 50 



Governor Nestos, in his inaugural address, repeated the campaign 

 pledges of the independents to reduce state expenses and to seek to attract 

 outside investors to North Dakota. He promised that his administration 

 would proceed cautiously in its tasks; an immediate survey of the busi- 

 ness of the state and the conditions of the industrial program would be 

 made; state credit would be restored, the number of public employees 

 would be reduced, and the Grand Forks state mill and elevator project 

 would be completed. "It is the hope and purpose of the incoming admin- 

 istration," he said, "to forget as far as possible the differences and discords 

 of past campaigns and to view the present situation in the state calmly and 

 dispassionately and with but one thought and purpose in mind, that of 

 serving honestly the best interests of the citizenship of our state. 51 



There were other forces besides the Independent Voters' Association 

 and the numerous reversals suffered in the management of League enter- 

 prises that were contributing to the disintegration of the League. Among 

 them were the internal dissension already mentioned; the agricultural 

 depression ; the indifference of Senator Robert M. La Follette, who, in all 

 probability, looked upon the League as a rival to the Progressive move- 



50. See Consumers' United Stores Company (Fargo, N. Dak., n.d.) [pamphlet]; 

 Teigan, in Labor Age, X (December, 1921), pp. 9-10. 



51. Quoted in the Minneapolis Tribune, November 24, 1921. 



