30 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



interests, whose purposes it suited at that time to 

 "bear" the market and bring down prices. This 

 break in prices was only temporary, however, and 

 the price soon cHmbed back to the previous high 

 level. 



For years the farmers of the Northwest have been 

 protesting against this control of their industry by 

 men who contribute nothing, who produce nothing, 

 { but who take in profits nearly as much as the farmers 

 I themselves receive for their labor, their capital, and 

 fc the use of their land. They have appealed to Con- 

 ii gress and the State legislatures for protection, but 

 they have appealed in vain. Finally, in North 

 Dakota they initiated several measures by petition 

 and submitted them to referendum vote. The mea- 

 sures were carried by overwhelming majorities at 

 the election, but the State officials refused to carry 

 the laws into execution. The Non-Partisan League 

 came into existence in 1916 as the last recourse of 

 70,000 farmers in one of the largest agricultural 

 States in the West. It was a final protest at the 

 polls against the grain gamblers, warehousemen, 

 packers, banks, and terminal agencies which con- 

 trolled the prices, the marketing, the milling, and 

 the distribution of wheat, corn, and other food 

 products. The league nominated its candidates for 

 the legislature and for State offices and swept 

 everj^hing before it at the election of 1916. Its 

 platform consisted of a programme for State-owned 



