1938: Louisiana

Area and Population.

Admitted to statehood April 30, 1812, Louisiana ranks 30th in size among the states, with an area of 48,506 sq. mi. In population it ranks 22nd, numbering 2,101,593, according to the census of 1930; 2,132,000 on July 1, 1937, according to the latest Federal estimate. The largest cities are New Orleans, 458,762 (1930 census); Shreveport, 76,655; Baton Rouge, the capital, 30,729.

Agriculture.

Substantial gains characterized Louisiana's agricultural industry in 1938, with sugar showing an all-time record crop of 6,000,000 tons of cane. Cotton, rice, and other staple crops also showed gains.

Mineral Products.

Maintaining its rank as fourth among the states in the production of petroleum, Louisiana's total for 1937 was 90,924,000 bbl. compared with 80,491,000 bbl. (value, $85,600,000) in 1936. The estimate for 1938 is 94,812,000 bbl. Natural gas showed a 15 per cent gain in 1937, rising from 290,151,000 M cu. ft. to 339,000,000 M cu. ft., Louisiana easily retaining third place as a gas-producing state. Production of sulphur, in which Louisiana ranks next to Texas, amounted to 342,230 tons as against 333,475 tons (value, $5,980,101) in 1936. Salt showed a slight increase over 1936, with 974,403 tons.

Industry.

Industrial expansion with accompanying economic betterment, and a broadening of public welfare activity, were features of the year 1938 in Louisiana. Economic recession, which threatened at the year's start to halt Louisiana's commercial progress, was staved off by vigorous executive action. Industrial production, banking transactions, manufacturing, and retail sales all reached record high levels. Christmas sales set records throughout the state.

Maintenance of employment was assured when, in February, Governor Leche asked business to cooperate with government in a 'sustained employment' drive. Approximately 7,000 employers responded, to assure the jobs of over 300,000 workers for a period of six months. Industrial expansion continued under the Governor's program of tax exemption of new industries: eighty new industries invested money in Louisiana to bring to a total of $75,000,000 the amount of new industrial capital.

Other reports were also bright. Production of Louisiana's natural resources, especially oil, gas, and sulphur, rose during the year, pouring millions into the pockets of private citizens and into the treasury of the state. In March an oil boom developed in New Orleans, when a gusher came in below the city. A score of new oil fields were developed during the year. particularly in southern Louisiana. In July Shreveport's oil boom was augmented by a new gusher in the Cross Lake area. In September the fourteenth new oil field since the first of the year was discovered in Lafourche Parish.

Education.

Louisiana State University held dedicatory services in April for new buildings erected at a cost of $10,000,000. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace was guest speaker.

In November Louisiana was granted $428,929 by the Federal Government for a fight on illiteracy. In the same month contracts for construction of five college buildings were let by the state.

Finance.

Announcement was made in January that the bonded indebtedness of New Orleans had declined to nearly $10,000,000 below the depression high of $56,822,000. A. P. Tugwell, state treasurer, also announced that Louisiana had attained its greatest cash balance in history, $12,897,193. In April he reported a rise in the state's cash balance to $18,199,000. In November, Commissioner of Public Utilities Jess S. Cave announced that the city of New Orleans owed no bank, had no floating indebtedness and held an outstanding bonded indebtedness of $23,000,000 (as of October 1). The Federal Home Loan Bank report for the year reflected an increase in Louisiana business.

Legislation.

The state Legislature convened on May 3 for a two months period. Political harmony during the session was notable. The Legislature adjourned in July after enactment of a program which included bills exempting new homes from taxation for three years, prohibiting women from working more than 48 hours a week, and levying a general sales tax to provide for the Department of Public Welfare.

Events of the Year.

In March Governor Leche and a delegation of citizens pleaded successfully in Washington for immediate construction of the Morganza floodway, to eliminate the danger of floods from the mouth of Old River southward to below New Orleans. Later a plan to reclaim 4,000,000 acres of lowlands near New Orleans was launched. In April the Federal Housing Authority granted New Orleans $10,000,000 for slum clearance. In the fall an additional $5,000,000 was ear-marked for New Orleans slum clearance. The State Hospital at Independence, dedicated in August, was another in the chain erected for free hospitalization.

The National Eucharistic Congress, held in New Orleans Oct. 17-20, was attended by thousands of Catholics from all over the United States. On Oct. 18, Pope Pius XI broadcast an address from Rome to the Congress assembled for an open-air Mass in the City Park Stadium.

In November the 'canal beneath canal' was completed in New Orleans, marking the opening link in the $1,500,000 lakefront drainage system chain. During the same month the state planning commission endorsed 29 WPA projects to cost $779,551, and B. W. Cason, commissioner of the state department of labor announced that Louisiana ranked high in employment levels in the United States.

In December work was begun on the $9,000,000 channel, which will open a deep-sea shipping route direct from Lake Charles to the Gulf of Mexico and establish a new era in industrial and commercial expansion for Lake Charles and the southwestern section of Louisiana. Construction of a National Guard air base loomed for New Orleans following an inspection tour in December of Shushan Airport and Jackson Barracks by Major General Albert H. Blanding, head of the National Guard Bureau. In December, too, New Orleans was selected as a site for one of four $1,000,000 governmental agricultural research laboratories. When the $5,000,000 Pontchartrain Bridge span was purchased by the state for $600,000 it marked the passing of the last toll bridge in the state.

State Officers.

The chief officers of the state are as follows: Governor, Richard W. Leche; Lieutenant Governor, Earl K. Long; Secretary of State, E. A. Conway; Treasurer, A. P. Tugwell; Auditor, L. B. Baynard; Attorney General, G. L. Porterie; Superintendent of Education, T. H. Harris.

United States Senators:

John H. Overton, Allen G. Ellender.