AGRARIAN PARTIES AND THEIR POLICIES 185 



and the Senate over the agrarian policies of the 

 Nonpartisan League. It was decided soon that it 

 would be necessary to amend the state constitution 

 before the League program could be enacted into 

 law. It was decided that hi order to secure speedier 

 action it would be better to frame a new constitution 

 and submit it to the people than to submit amend- 

 ments to the existing constitution. A new constitu- 

 tion was proposed, which was readily adopted by 

 the House, but when it came up in the Senate it 

 was defeated by a motion to postpone consideration 

 of the measure indefinitely. This action was de- 

 clared by the League to be "a betrayal of the farm- 

 ers' interests and a defeat of the mandate of the 

 people of the state, who have twice specifically voted 

 in favor of state-owned terminal elevators and given 

 the League candidates huge majorities in the 1916 

 election." In answer to this charge the opposition 

 claimed that the proposal of a new constitution had 

 not been an issue before the people in the preceding 

 election. 



While the Nonpartisan League suffered defeat in 

 the supreme effort to submit a new constitution to 

 the people, a number of bills were passed in the 

 interest of the farmers. These enactments included 

 a state grain grading act, a Torrens title registration 

 law, a statute guaranteeing deposits in state banks, 

 an act determining a rate of assessments on farm 

 improvements and a law reducing freight rates. A 



