1939: Georgia

Area and Population.

One of the southeastern states, Georgia has an area of 59,265 sq. mi. When the last estimate of population was made in 1937 by the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Georgia Department of Public Health, the total was given as 3,076,000. Whites were 64 per cent of the total, Negroes 36 per cent. Nearly all the whites are native born, the foreign element in the state being negligible. The most striking fact about population trends in Georgia is the steady decline in the proportion of Negroes. In 1900, they constituted 46.7 per cent of the total. The population of Georgia is preponderantly rural, although the urban element is steadily growing. In the 1930 census 31 per cent of the population was classed as urban against 15.6 per cent in 1900. An unstable population condition has prevailed in Georgia for some years. Not only has there been a considerable movement within the state from country to town, but the state has lost large numbers of its citizens.

Agriculture.

Of the 37,584,000 acres in Georgia, about 25,000,000 are classed as farm lands. The 250,000 farms, including buildings, were valued in 1935 at $430,000,000. Cotton is the leading product; the yield in 1939 was 916,000 bales (compared with 1,500,000 bales in 1937, and 857,000 in 1938). Other important products with their yields in 1939 were; corn, 36,941,000 bu.; tobacco, 96,620,000 lb.; peanuts, 341,250,000 lb.; pecans, 8,700,000 lb.; peaches 4,290,000 bu. The aggregate value of all 1939 crops was $141,933,000, 6 per cent less than the 1938 figure.

Industry.

While Georgia is classed as primarily an agricultural state, there is a growing development of manufacturing, transportation, and trade, as is indicated by the fact that whereas 63.3 per cent of those gainfully employed in 1910 were in agriculture, 12.2 per cent in manufacturing, and 9.2 per cent in transportation and trade, in 1930 the comparable percentages were 43.2, 20.1, and 13.7. According to the latest available figures (1937), the value of manufactured products was then $708,650,000, nearly five times that of the main agricultural products. It must of course be borne in mind that the raw materials that go into manufacturing are largely agricultural in origin, hence one should properly consider in this regard only the value added by manufacture, which (in 1937) was $269,500,000. Cotton goods, the leading manufacture, accounted for $90,000,000 (value added), or about one-third of the total.

Mineral Products.

Production of kaolin, the mineral in which Georgia leads the Union, showed a slight decrease in 1938, the total amounting to 412,632 tons valued at $3,314,918, compared with 503,732 tons in 1937 valued at $3,546,059. Stone, which ranks first in value among the mineral resources of the state, was produced in the amount of 1,465,680 tons with a value of $3,581,319.

Finance.

For the year ending June 30, 1939, the common schools of Georgia received $11,645,000; the various eleemosynary institutions, $3,154,000; and the University system (embracing all higher educational institutions supported by the state), $1,768,000. The state appropriated $826,000 for the Public Health Department and a tuberculosis hospital. The Highway Department received $14,773,000.

The total state revenues received for the same period amounted to $43,510,000. The tax on motor fuel produced the largest amount, $20,529,000. Other important sources of revenue were: income tax, $4,979,000; general property tax, $4,941,000; motor vehicle registration, $1,875,000; insurance premium tax, $1,165,000; malt beverage and wine tax, $1,342,000; cigar and cigarette tax, $2,761,000; and alcoholic beverage tax, $1,669,000. Poll taxes amounted to $261,000. Georgia received from the United States Government grants amounting to $11,868,000. The bonded debt was $3,569,000. In 1939 Georgia had 240 state banks with resources of $179,420,000.

Education.

In 1937 the General Assembly established a minimum school term of seven months to be financed by the state, thus adding about $8,000,000 to the cost of the public schools. At the same time free school books were voted for all elementary and high school students. In 1935-36, the enrollment in the public schools of the state totaled 485,135 white pupils and 263,402 Negroes. Expenditures on the schools for the same period amounted to $17,808,361.

Political Events.

Since there was no general election in Georgia in 1939 and no meeting of the biennial General Assembly, there were few important events of a political character to be chronicled. During 1939 the attention of Georgia people was centered upon the large deficit with which the administration has been wrestling. In the absence of legislation adequate to meet the greatly enlarged program of social services and the revenue losses entailed by the limitation of property taxation, the administration faced a critical financial problem. Public opinion was sharply divided as to whether or not there should be a special meeting of the General Assembly in 1939 to authorize new taxes. None was summoned. The Governor instead managed to maintain important services by diverting funds from the Highway Department, which receives most of the yield of the gasoline tax ($20,000,000 in 1939).

While the conflict which occurred during 1939 between Governor Rivers and W. L. Miller, the Governor's appointee as Chairman of the Highway Department, did not appear to have been due specifically to the issue of diverting highway funds to general purposes, the two found themselves unable to agree about the conduct of the Highway Department. The Governor undertook to transfer Miller to another post, but Miller refused to relinquish the chairmanship. Thereupon the Governor dismissed him from office, and when Miller proved obstinate about leaving, he was forcibly ejected.

Miller then took the issue to the courts and obtained a permanent injunction restraining the Adjutant General and his subordinates from interfering with his conduct of the office. The military officers declined to accept service of this order and were held in contempt of court and sentenced to imprisonment. The court, however, was powerless to enforce its order, for the Governor meanwhile had placed the Highway Department and the office of the Adjutant General under martial law, thus setting aside civil process and he now, furthermore, issued a pardon to the officers. At the time of writing (Jan. 20, 1940) an important Constitutional issue is unsettled, namely, whether or not the Governor as the Chief Executive of the state can override the judicial branch of government, and whether he can grant pardon for contempt of court.

State Officers.

Governor, E. D. Rivers; Secretary of State, John B. Wilson; Attorney-General, Ellis Arnall; Treasurer, George B. Harrison; Auditor, Zach Arnold; Comptroller, William B. Harrison; Superintendent of Schools, M. D. Collins.

United States Senators.

Walter F. George, Richard B. Russell, Jr.