1938: Texas

Area and Population.

The largest state in the Union, Texas has an area of 262,398 square miles of land surface and 3,498 square miles of water surface, a total of 265,896 square miles. Texas was admitted to statehood Dec. 29, 1845. The population, according to the 1930 census, was 5,824,715, ranking it 5th in the Union. The latest official estimate of the Census Bureau, as of July 1, 1937, was 6,172,000.

The largest cities are Houston, 292,352 (est. 322,000); Dallas, 260,475 (est. 293,000); San Antonio, 231,542 (est. 262,000); Fort Worth, 163,447; El Paso, 102,421. The capital is Austin, 53,120. Of the total population of Texas in 1930, 4,283,491 or 73.5 per cent were whites, 854,964 or 14.7 per cent were Negroes, and 683,681 or 11.7 per cent Mexicans. With respect to birth, 4,185,095 or 71.9 per cent of the population were native whites and 98,396 or 1.17 per cent were foreign-born whites, practically all naturalized citizens. The rural population of the state in 1930 was 3,435,367 or 58.9 per cent.

Agriculture.

The value of all crops produced in the state during 1938 amounted to $317,317,000. Farm income from livestock and livestock products amounted to $285,000,000, and Government benefit payments to farmers totaled about $100,000,000, bringing the total farm income to $702,317,000. Though decreased yield and lower prices cut down the income from production, increased benefit payments more than offset the decline, bringing farmers slightly more income than in 1937.

Mineral Products.

Texas ranks first in the Union in the value of its mineral products, which amounted in 1937 to about $787,000,000 compared with $638,732,530 in 1936. This leading position is primarily due to the state's outstanding rank as an oil-producer. Its average production of petroleum is about one-third that of the entire United States. In 1937, production amounted to 510,732,000 bbl. as against 427,411,000 bbl. in 1936, valued at $449,400,000. The estimate for 1938 is 475,614,000 bbl. Another product in which Texas outranks the other states is natural gas, of which it produced 860,000,000 M cu. ft. in 1937, compared with 734,561,000 M cu. ft. (value, $113,929,000) in the preceding year. Texas also showed an astonishing increase in the production of sulphur during 1937, the amount, 2,339,525 tons, representing 87 per cent of the total for the United States. In 1936, the amount was 1,630,719 tons (value, $29,352,944). The production of helium from natural gas, at the Amarillo plant of the Bureau of Mines, amounted to 4,809,230 cu. ft., a slight increase over 1936.

The total value of the state's mineral products for 1938 is estimated at $710,000,000.

Industry.

Material progress was made in industrial advancement during 1938, several heavy chemical industries entering the field. In December financing was completed for the construction early in 1939 of the first paper mill to manufacture newsprint from southern pine, the mill to be located at Lufkin, Texas. It was financed by southern newspaper publishers, together with a $3,250,000 loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. It will be the first paper mill to utilize the new chemical process for manufacturing newsprint from southern pine, as evolved by the late Dr. Charles H. Herty.

General business in Texas held up exceptionally well during the year, according to indexes of industrial production, employment, rail carloadings and other factors reported by the Bureau of Business Research, of the University of Texas. The level at the end of the year 1938 was only about 6 per cent under that at the end of 1937, a less serious decline than that registered by the country as a whole.

Education.

School apportionment by the state for local school support was maintained at $22 per capita for the 1,566,544 Texas school children enrolled in 1937-38. This was the record high per capita figure set in the preceding year. Expenditures on public school education totaled more than $67,000,000. High school and college enrollments reached new high levels, the University of Texas registering for the first time more than 10,000 students in its regular session.

Finance.

The state fiscal year closed with the general revenue fund showing an approximate $20,000,000 deficit, and the Confederate pension fund showing a deficit of $4,195,475; but the large available public school and highway funds showed surpluses. Inasmuch as the bonded debt of Texas is only approximately $14,000,000, the $20,000,000 deficit in the general revenue fund does not leave the state heavily burdened. The total indebtedness of all civil subdivisions in the state at the close of the last fiscal year was approximately $650,000,000, which is approximately $100,000,000 under the peak reached in the early years of the depression.

The state's principal relief effort is through its old-age pension, limited to $15 monthly as the state's part. Payments last year, including state and Federal funds, amounted to approximately $13.76 monthly, as compared with the national average of $19.23. The state stood relatively high on basis of eligibility, with 284,000 on the pension rolls. There will undoubtedly be an insistent campaign for liberalization of the pension provisions during the present administration.

Politics.

The outstanding political event of the year 1938 was the campaign for governor, from which W. Lee O'Daniel, Fort Worth flour salesman, and an unknown political quantity, emerged with a clear majority in the first primary election, in competition with a number of well-known figures in Texas public life. The successful candidate conducted his campaign largely by radio and, accompanied by his famous Hillbilly Band, ran on a platform consisting of the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. He also advocated specifically 'throwing out the politicians' at Austin, liberalized old-age pensions, and a program of industrialization for Texas. In the general election, which is seldom of moment in Texas because of the large Democratic majority, O'Daniel was elected over the Republican opponent, Alexander Boynton, by a wide majority.

State Officers.

As the result of the 1938 election, the chief state officers are: Governor, W. Lee O'Daniel; Lieutenant Governor, Coke R. Stevenson; Attorney General, Gerald C. Mann; Railroad Commissioner, G. A. Jerry Sadler; Comptroller of Public Accounts, George H. Sheppard; Commissioner of General Land Office, Bascom Giles; Superintendent of Public Instruction, L. A. Woods.

United States Senators:

Tom Connally and Morris Sheppard.