THE STORY OF THE NOXFARTISAN LEAGUE 



Dakota." According to competent authority, 

 this is the best mining law ever enacted in 

 this or any other country, for it combines 

 with research the best features of all the 

 laws that have been elsewhere the product of 

 long experience. Every phase of the miner's 

 work to the minutest detail is covered and 

 protected. The place of chief coal mining 

 inspector is created with a Board of Exam- 

 iners, and all coal mining is placed under the 

 observation of these officers. 



A law about which some misgivings were 

 felt was Senate Bill No. 19, "An Act Declar- 

 ing the purpose of the state of North Dakota 

 to engage in the enterprise of providing homes 

 for residents of this state and to that end to 

 establish a business system operated by the 

 state under the name of the Home Building 

 Association of North Dakota." This alone 

 of all the measures enacted at this session 

 seemed to be departing into dreamland and 

 Utopia. The state, it was felt, might prop- 

 erly enough try to protect the lives of coal 

 miners, but it had no call to furnish them 

 with dwelling-houses. It is to be observed, 

 however, that the bill was not so formidable as 

 it looked, and the first six months of its opera- 

 tion showed some excellent results in its favor. 



The Home Building Association is under 

 the direction of the Industrial Commission. 

 It invites deposits on which it pays 5 per 



270 



