The Depression Years
Vogel's philosophy was closest to the original League intent for the Bank: that it would invest funds raised by taxation and use them for the benefit of the political subdivisions. Under Vogel's leadership, the Bank of North Dakota began financing state and county projects, investing in municipal bonds, and during the worst of the depression, buying subdivision warrants so that counties, cities, and schools could pay their employees when there wasn't enough cash to meet payroll.
During the 30s North Dakota's farm economy was in crisis. The agricultural depression of the 1920s continued, multiplied by the worst drought on record. Throughout the 1930s, the Bank struggled under the tremendous number of loans in default and arrears. Every effort was made to allow farmers to stay on their land but The Bank had to foreclose on more and more farms when farmers could not pay their taxes or their mortgages. By the time then-governor Bill Langer imposed a moratorium on farm foreclosures, more farmland was owned by the state than by private landowners.
As the depression lifted and some degree of prosperity returned to rural areas, the Bank made every effort for owners to repurchase their land. Many farmers whom the Bank had been allowed to rent and work their land after foreclosure were able to regain title, although the state retained half of the mineral rights in compensation. It wasn't until 1950 that the majority of lands taken in foreclosure were finally sold.