1939: Illinois

Area and Population.

Illinois, a north central state containing 102 counties, has an area of 56,665 square miles. The population, estimated in 1937 to be 7,878,000, was, by the 1930 census, 7,630,654. Of these 7,266,361 were whites, 328,972 Negroes, 28,906 Mexicans, 5,946 Asiatics, and 469 Indians. Of foreign-born whites 15.6 per cent were Germans, 14.2 per cent Polish, 9.1 per cent Swedish, 9.1 per cent Italian, 7.1 per cent Russian, 6.1 per cent Czechoslovakian, 5.9 per cent Irish, 4.1 per cent English, 3.7 per cent Canadian, 3.2 per cent Austrian, and 2.8 per cent Hungarian.

The capital of the state, Springfield, with 71,864 inhabitants, is surpassed in population by four other cities: Chicago with 3,376,438; (1930); Peoria, 104,969; Rockford, 85,864; and East St. Louis, 74,347.

Education.

By the school census of June 1938. Illinois had 1,936,806 inhabitants of school age, 84 per cent of whom were enrolled in schools. There were 11,957 elementary school districts with 962,970 pupils enrolled, and 978 high schools with 358,768 pupils. A total of 48,665 teachers received an average annual salary of $1,502.56. Schools are supported by local taxation and the state distributive fund. For 1937-38 the latter amounted to $13,813,319.01.

Illinois has 57 major colleges and universities, including those supported by the state.

Agriculture and Industry.

Illinois is one of the important agricultural states, with corn ranking first. The 1938 average corn yield per acre, according to the latest statistics available, was 45 bushels, second only to the 1937 average. All other crops except oats had large to record yields. The total area of principal crops harvested was estimated at 18,978,000 acres valued at $301,782,000, slightly lower than the ten-year average for 1927-36.

In 1939 one of the $1,000,000 Farm Research Laboratories operated by the United States Department of Agriculture to find new uses and outlets for farm products was allocated to Peoria. It will employ at least 150 scientifically trained men.

Illinois leads in the number of farmer cooperative associations, and also in the new industry of manufacturing plastics from corn waste.

Mineral Products.

In the total value of the mineral products of Illinois, which amounted in 1937 to $133,437,554, bituminous coal has the leading place, the state ranking third in the Union for that product. The output for 1938 was 40,650,000 tons from 969 mines in operation, as against 51,602,000 tons valued at $89,271,000 in 1937. The flow of petroleum in 1938 more than trebled that of the preceding year, furnishing an estimated 24,000,000 bbl., largely through increased activity in the Centralia district. This gave the state the rank of fourth in oil production. Illinois still led the states in 1938 in shipments of fluorspar, in spite of a greatly reduced production of 35,368 tons. Shipments of 4,357,119 bbl. of cement were valued at $5,993,644. Because of the industrial recession of 1938, production of pig iron, in which Illinois ranks fourth, dropped more than fifty per cent to a total of 1,519,572 tons (value, $30,899,012); and the manufacture of open-hearth and Bessemer steel, in a corresponding proportion, to 1,950,224 tons.

Industry.

Illinois ranks among the leading states in manufacturing because of abundant raw materials, cheap coal and fine transportation facilities. Chicago is the world's center for wholesale slaughtering and meat packing. The manufacture of iron and steel products also is an industry of prime importance in Illinois. During 1939 many new industries located in Illinois. Industrial products of the state are valued at approximately a billion dollars annually.

Legislative Matters.

Among important laws passed in 1939 by the 61st General Assembly were the following: a law making women eligible for jury service; an amendment to the Unemployment Compensation Act increasing its benefits; a bill creating the Illinois Development Council for promoting industrial, agricultural, cultural and recreational progress in Illinois; the codification of the probate and the revenue laws; revision of the relief laws so as to cooperate more directly with Federal Works Projects; and laws regulating trucking.

City Manager Plan for Chicago and Other Cities.

See MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

Political and Other Events.

In April 1939 Edward J. Kelly was reelected Mayor of Chicago on the Democratic ticket, with about 180,000 more votes than his Republican opponent, Dwight H. Green. On the death of James Hamilton Lewis, the state's senior United States Senator in April, his place was filled by Governor Horner's appointment of James M. Slattery, formerly chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission.

An unusual event in the spring was the $2,000,000 art exhibit held at Bloomington, Illinois. Paintings borrowed from famous galleries included Old Masters and great moderns. This exhibit, far from metropolitan areas, attracted thousands from throughout central Illinois.

In the fall the fine collection of Italian Old Masters which had been exhibited at the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco, was on view for a time at the Chicago Art Institute.

Finance.

On July 1, 1939, the bonded indebtedness of the state totaled $180,429,500.

Welfare and Correction.

The Illinois Emergency Relief Commission administers relief to the needy. The sum of approximately $72,000,000 was appropriated for relief for the biennium beginning in July 1939. During August 1939 there were 133,933 persons receiving old-age assistance. The maximum received was $30 per month, but a special session of the Legislature was called to amend the law so as to take advantage of increased Federal aid for old-age assistance.

Among the special institutions under the jurisdiction of the Department of Welfare are the following; the Research and Educational Hospital, Chicago; Dixon State Hospital and the Lincoln State School and Colony for the feeble-minded; School for the Deaf, and School for the Blind, Jacksonville; Industrial Home for the Blind, Chicago; State Training School for Girls, Geneva; State Training School for Boys, St. Charles; State Reformatory for Women, Dwight; Illinois State Farm for Men, Vandalia.

On July 1, 1938, the total population of the institutions was 52,958, an increase of 48.9 per cent in ten years.

State Officers.

Governor, Henry Horner; Lieutenant-Governor, John Stelle; Secretary of State, Edward J. Hughes; Auditor, Edward J. Barrett; Treasurer, Louis E. Lewis; Attorney General, John E. Cassidy; and Superintendent of Public Instruction, John A. Wieland.

United States Senators.

Scott W. Lucas, James M. Slattery.