The Bank of North Dakota: A Bold Social Experiment

by Cally Peterson

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Arthur C., A.C., Townley addresses a group of Nonpartisan League (NPL) members. Townley is credited with conceiving the NPL, which began as a discontented agrarian movement. The league was one of the early advocates for a state-owned bank.

The Bank of North Dakota: A Bold Social payday loans Iowa Experiment

One hundred years ago, a bold social experiment began on the prairie, settling into its first form at the corner of Seventh and Main streets in Bismarck. The succeeding century would not come without its share of hurdles, but the will of North Dakota’s people would reign.

We’ve always struggled out here on the prairie, says Eric Hardmeyer, the current and 13th manager of the Bank of North Dakota. It was that mindset that nobody’s going to look out for us except us, that feeling that we needed to take control of our own destiny. That’s what made the Bank of North Dakota.

It was through the organized efforts of the Nonpartisan League, and the desire to protect the social and economic position of the farmer, that both BND and the North Dakota Mill and Elevator were established. As an ag-based economy, state ownership of these entities made it easier for farmers to make a living, no longer at the mercy of out-of-state grain dealers who suppressed prices, farm suppliers who increased their prices, or big-city banks that jacked up interest rates.

And while BND grew from those agrarian roots, the bank has evolved over the years to meet the current needs of North Dakotans.

What started off as an agrarian movement has evolved and changed into a larger kind of experience, Hardmeyer says. The ability to adapt and change to meet the evolving needs of the state that’s really the beauty of the bank. It’s about looking around the corner.

THE EARLY YEARS The 1919 North Dakota Legislature provided the enabling legislation to start the Bank of North Dakota and required the new state bank be open for business within 90 days of adjournment. Also established during the 1919 legislative session, the newly formed Industrial Commission went to work immediately, fulfilling that duty. The bank opened its doors on July 28, 1919, with 46 employees and $2 million of capital.

After the dramatic changes brought forth by the 1919 legislative session, the Independent Voters Association (IVA) referred several bills, including that which created BND. A bitter campaign, in which the IVA lied repeatedly to the people of North Dakota ensued, as described on the BND microsite created to commemorate the bank’s 100th anniversary. By a 23,256-vote majority, the Bank of North Dakota was reaffirmed.

I think (the referendum) was the critical early test. (The bank) survived. Hardmeyer says. The people said, This still works. We still want to do this.’

The Bismarck Tribune led its June 27, 1919, issue, the day following the referendum vote, with news of the victory, Industrial Democracy’ Indorsed.’ North Dakotans had spoken, and the bank was here to stay.

It was a bigger catastrophe in North Dakota than it was in Oklahoma, or Arkansas, or Kansas, or Nebraska, or even South Dakota, says Clay Jenkinson, a well-known area historian and scholar, in a video reflecting on this period in the bank’s history. We were thee epicenter of the Dust Bowl catastrophe, a man-made environmental disaster on the Great Plains.

In 1935, one-third of North Dakotans were on direct federal assistance, Jenkinson goes on, and people needed a hero. That hero came in the form of William L. Langer, who took office as North Dakota governor in 1933.

It was Langer who pulled BND out of the state toolbox to help keep North Dakota going and save family farms. During this period, the Bank of North Dakota redeemed warrants against future tax collections, which local governments and school districts used to pay employees, at face value. Essentially, these were post-dated checks. Langer also helped shape BND policy, so that the bank would only foreclose on: completely abandoned land; lands controlled by court officials or heirs of property of mortgaged land that they were not occupying; lands not occupied or operated personally by bona fide farmers; or lands where the mortgagee agreed to the foreclosure in order to clear title.


Publicado el 31/3/2022 Categoría Iowa best payday loans.

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