1939: Indiana

Area and Population.

Admitted to statehood Nov. 7, 1816, Indiana ranks 37th in size among the states, with an area of 36,354 sq. mi. In population it ranks 11th, numbering 3,238,503 according to the Census of 1930; 3,500,000 on July 1, 1938, according to an estimate. The largest cities are Indianapolis, the capital, 364,161 (1938 est., 410,279): Fort Wayne, 114,946; South Bend, 104,193: Evansville, 102,249; Gary, 100,426; Hammond, 64,560; and Terre Haute, 62,810.

Mineral Products.

Indiana's leading mineral product, bituminous coal, accounts annually for about half of the total mineral wealth of the state (valued in 1937 at $54,886,736). Because of the general recession, production of coal in 1938 was reduced from 17,764,774 tons in the preceding year to an estimated 14,050,000 tons. There was a corresponding decrease in the state's industrial products, coke, pig iron, and steel, in each of which Indiana ranks third in the Union. Production of coke in 1938 amounted to about 2,894,548 tons as against 5,467,061 tons (value, $32,655,355) in 1937; pig iron was down to 1,807,808 tons valued at $37,925,989 in contrast with 3,694,360 tons valued at $77,990,597 in 1937; production of open-hearth steel amounted to 3,435,360 tons compared with 5,947,368 in the previous year. The flow of petroleum increased from 844,000 bbl. in 1937, to 969,000 bbl. in 1938.

Education.

The number of inhabitants of school age for the year 1938-39, including high school, which is not compulsory, was 743,746. There were enrolled in kindergartens, 9,510; in grades 1-8, 473,665; in high schools, 190,612; miscellaneous 5,071; a total of 678,858. Practically all others of elementary school age were enrolled in parochial or other private schools. The total number of public elementary and high schools in the state at the beginning of the school year 1939-40 was 3,027. The lower limit of salaries of instructors in all schools was $800, the median salary was $1,260.71.

Legislative Matters.

In the eighty-first session of the General Assembly in 1939 (Jan. 5-Mar. 6) the Senate had a large Democratic majority, and the House of Representatives a Republican majority of one; both remained intact during the entire session. The Acts of 1939 were only about half the size of the Acts of 1937, or of 1935, and of far less significance. The principal changes were revision of alcoholic beverage regulations (by abolishment of port-of-entry permits and expenses), of traffic regulations, of unemployment compensation, and of cooperative marketing; requirement of tests of pregnant women for syphilis; creation of the Indiana State Toll Bridge Commission for the purchase of toll bridges by the issue of bonds; extension to high schools of provision for free textbooks; and change of general two-year contracts for state printing to bids and contracts for individual jobs. New boards established were the State Board of Examiners in Watch-making, and the State Egg Board for establishing and enforcing standards in the marketing of eggs.

Welfare and Relief.

The State Department of Public Welfare, created by act of the General Assembly in March 1939, to cooperate with the Federal Government under its Social Security Act and to coordinate welfare activities throughout the state, represented in many respects the most significant of the newer activities of the state government. Its Division of Public Assistance supervises the administration of old-age assistance, aid to the blind and to dependent children. About 65,000 needy citizens over the age of sixty-five receive monthly awards averaging about $17,25 a month; some 35,000 dependent children are maintained through cash payments to widows or other close relatives; monthly grants of an average of $24 are paid to 2,500 needy blind persons. The Children's Division is charged with the development of child welfare under the guidance of the United States Children's Bureau. There is also a Division of Services to Crippled Children, a Division of Inspection and Investigation, a Division of Medical Care, as well as Divisions of General Administration and of Information and Public Relations. The Division of Correction supervises all penal, reformatory and correctional institutions in the state.

General poor relief is administered by the township trustee. A large number of needy and unemployed, a smaller number however than in 1938, were given employment in various WPA projects. During the latter part of the year, complaints of irregularities, especially in Marion and Lake counties, led to investigation and to prosecution of a few responsible persons. At the end of the year the extent of such irregularities was still a matter of dispute.

The building program of the state PWA resulted in the addition of numerous structures for the four state universities and colleges, as well as an Indiana University Extension Department building for the Calumet region at Gary, a Coliseum at the state fair grounds, and new buildings on the cottage plan for the State Women's Prison at Indianapolis to replace a large, antiquated structure. Work was begun by a New Harmony Memorial Commission, created in 1939 through a tax levy, on the restoration of historic buildings at New Harmony, where Robert Owen established in 1825 his short-lived idealistic community.

Events of the Year.

The long-delayed topographical survey of the state was carried on during the year. Exploration of the prehistoric 'Angel Mounds' near Evansville was carried on by the Indiana Historical Society.

By the end of the year, thirty-three rural electrification projects had been completed; an R.E.A. allocation of $17,000,000 resulted in bringing electricity to 30,000 rural customers — a larger program in proportion to area and population than in any other state. The year was marked by further suspension of electric interurban lines, only the lines from Indianapolis to Seymour and to Fort Wayne now remaining. Lines discontinued were in every instance replaced by automobile bus service, which was also generally extended.

Many oil wells were drilled, chiefly in 'The Pocket' between the Ohio and Wabash rivers, with an increase in production which reached the proportions of a boom. The year was also marked by some industrial pick-up. Among notable gains was the enlargement of the Allison Engineering Company of Indianapolis, as the result of a large United States order for the fastest airplane motors yet made.

State Officers.

Governor, M. Clifford Townsend; Lieutenant Governor, Henry E. Schricker; Secretary of State, James M. Tucker; Treasurer, Joseph M. Robertson; Auditor, Frank G. Thompson; Attorney General, Omer Stokes Jackson; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Floyd I. McMurray.

United States Senators.

Frederick Van Nuys, Sherman Minton.