1938: California

Area and Population.

Admitted to statehood Sept. 9, 1850, California ranks 2nd in size among the states, with an area of 158,297 sq. mi. In population it ranks 6th, numbering 5,677,251 according to the census of 1930; 6,154,000 on July 1, 1937, according to the latest Federal estimate. The largest cities are Los Angeles, 1,238,048 (1930); San Francisco, 634,394; Oakland, 284,063; San Diego, 147,995; Long Beach, 142,032. The capital is Sacramento, 93,750. Racial divisions include: native-born whites, 4,230,213; foreign-born whites, 810,034; Negroes, 81,048; Mexicans, 368,013; Orientals, 168,731; and Indians, 19,212.

Irrigation and Water Supply.

For irrigation projects and water supply see CIVIL ENGINEERING; RECLAMATION. See also NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS.

Agriculture.

California's farms number 150,360; farm acreage totals 30,437,995 A.; estimated gross income from crops, $427,000,000. The estimated gross income from livestock is $195,000,000.

Industry.

Gross receipts from principal industries and services in 1937 were as follows: manufacturing, $2,546,000,000; trade, $5,994,000,000; finance, $1,900,000,000; light, power, and water, $302,000,000; transportation utilities, $317,000,000; construction, $235,000,000; professional services, $150,000,000; amusements, $183,175,000.

Mineral Products.

In 1937 California retained its position as the third state in the Union for the value of its mineral products. The largest share was furnished by petroleum, 238,521,000 bbl. in 1937, valued at $237,845,872, as against 214,773,000 bbl. in 1936, valued at $215,900,000. Over 1,000 new wells were drilled in 1937. Production for 1938 is estimated at 249,749,000 bbl. The 1937 production of natural gas exceeded that of 1936, with a total of about 357,420,000 M cu. ft. (value $19,859,865), as against 320,406,000 M cu. ft. the previous year. In these two products, California ranks next to Texas. Shipments of cement were lower in 1937 than in 1939, 11,877,642 bbl. compared with 13,225,868. In both gold and silver, production was increased; the former from 1,077,442 oz. to 1,174,578 (value, $41,110,230), California still leading the Union; the latter from 2,103,709 oz. to 2,888,265. Shipments of tungsten, 511 tons, were more than double those of 1936. In the latter year the total value of California's minerals was $443,430,942.

Education.

California's universities, colleges, junior colleges and professional schools number 77, with a total faculty membership of 6,343 and a total net student enrollment of 71,470; teachers employed in elementary and secondary schools number 39,107, receiving an average annual salary of $1,899; 1,116,058 pupils are enrolled in elementary and secondary schools out of an estimated population, between the ages of five and seventeen, of 1,237,600. In 1937-38 the average expenditure per pupil was $74.67, the highest rate in the Union.

Banking.

Banks: total number, 233; number operating branches or additional offices, 35; number of branches or additional offices, 853. Branch banking has developed to a greater extent in California than in any other state in the Union. Total deposits amount to $3,278,733,000.

Legislative and Other Events.

Of the twenty-five measures on the ballot in November, 1938, nineteen were proposed Constitutional amendments, three were acts submitted by initiative petition, and three were referendums on laws enacted by the state Legislature. Eighteen of the proposed twenty-five measures were defeated, including the Life Retirement Payments, commonly referred to as the 'Thirty Dollars every Thursday' or 'Ham and Eggs' proposal; a modified single tax measure, an anti-vivisection proposal disguised as a measure to regulate pounds; and an anti-labor proposal disguised as a measure to authorize peaceful picketing and eliminate labor strife. Mayor Shaw of Los Angeles was recalled from office September 17, 1938, to be succeeded by Judge Fletcher Bowron. The major issue in this recall election was the alleged understanding existing between municipal officials and underworld figures.

The total state registration of motor vehicles in 1937 was 2,484,053; the total number of passenger automobiles entering the state from January to October, 1938, 723,971, of which 341,400 were out of state cars. The total number of transients coming into the state during the same period were 66,125 of whom 46,304 were from 'drought' states. Approximately 2,000,000 tourists visited the state during 1937, spending an estimated $277,836,440.

Among the principal labor disputes of 1937 were the San Francisco department store strike, the Long Beach automobile workers' strike, the San Francisco longshoremen's strike, the American Can Company strike (Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose), the San Francisco hotel strike, and the northern California lumber workers' strike. As a result of the settlement of these and other disputes employer-employee relations in California have become more stable than at any time since the beginning of the depression. Late in 1938 the San Francisco employers organized for collective action in labor disputes on a plan similar to the San Francisco Labor Council, thus inaugurating a unique move in labor-employer relations. The state's unemployed in 1937 totaled 258,750; emergency workers numbered 91,475.

In 1939 the Golden Gate International Exposition, a world's fair, opens on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, to celebrate the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland San Francisco Bridge across the San Francisco Bay.

State Officers.

As the result of the 1938 election the chief officers of the state are: Governor, Culbert L. Olsen; Lieutenant Governor, Ellis E. Patterson; Secretary of State, Frank C. Jordan; Controller, Harry B. Riley; Treasurer, Charles G. Johnson; Attorney General, Earl Warren; Superintendent of Public instruction, Walter F. Dexter.

United States Senators.

Hiram Johnson, Sheridan Downey.