1939: Arizona

Area and Population.

Sometimes known as the 'Apache State,' Arizona is more frequently referred to as the Copper State or the Grand Canyon State. The name is Indian for 'little springs.' It was admitted to statehood Feb. 14, 1912. The state ranks 5th in size and 43rd in population. Of the area, 113,956 sq. mi., 24.4 per cent is privately owned, 11.7 per cent state owned, 18.6 per cent public domain; the remainder comprises national forests, parks, monuments, Indian and military reservations.

The population of the 1930 census, 435,573, fell to 406,000 in 1936, owing to closing of the copper mines, but turned upward in 1937, the estimate for 1939 being 490,000. Racially, the population is 60.7 per cent white, 2.5 per cent Negro, 26.2 per cent Mexican, 10 per cent Indian and .6 per cent others. The largest cities are Phoenix, the capital, 48,118 (1930); and Tucson, 32,506. Others include Douglas, Bisbee, Prescott, Nogales, Yuma and Flagstaff.

Resources.

Arizona's outstanding resources are mineral wealth; alluvial soil adapted to agriculture; pine timber forests; large cattle range areas; the power potentialities of the Grand Canyon; wild game; health-giving climate; unusual scenic attractions, and archaeological wonders.

Climate.

In the northern and higher portions of the state, where the summer climate is especially favorable, the average temperature of the warmest period (June, July, August) at principal points is 66° F., average maximum 80.2° F.; in the southern and lower portions, where the winters are noted for mildness, the average temperature of the coldest months (December, January, February) at principal points, is 53.3° F., average maximum 38.4° F. The opposite extremes are found in the mountainous north in winter, with an average of 33° F., average minimum of 17.6° F., and an occasional low of 28° below zero; and in the southern valleys in summer, with an average of 86.1° F., average maximum of 100.8° F., and a possible high of 119° F. The effects of these extremes, both in summer and winter, are moderated by the exceptionally dry atmosphere.

The average annual precipitation in the state, over a period of forty-three years, was 13.96 in., ranging from a sixty-three-year low at Yuma (141 ft. elevation) of 3.28 in. to a high at Crown King (6,000 ft.) of 36.96 in. As in 1938, when the average precipitation for the state fell to 12.80 in., the precipitation for 1939 has, despite heavy rains in September, added to the deficiency which has been accumulating for a number of years. An excess of temperature has marked every month except two, and November and December were unusually warm for the period.

Mineral Products.

The leading industry of Arizona is mining, the principal minerals being copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc. The total value of these in 1939 was estimated at $72,433,400, an increase of 24 per cent over 1938.

In the production of copper the state has long led all the states of the Union. The principal mines are at Jerome, Bisbee, Ajo, Superior, Ray, Miami, Inspiration and Morenci. Due to a decline in the price of the metal, which unfailingly regulates the rate of mining operations, production fell from 580,493,036 lb. fine, smelter output, in 1937, to 421,316,212 in 1938, valued at $41,316,212. The acceleration of demand for copper in 1939 greatly stimulated production, or to an estimated 518,400,000 lb. valued at $53,913,600. A project for the construction of 500 or more model structures to provide living accommodations for miners, at a cost of about $30,000,000, is under way by the Phelps-Dodge Corporation at Morenci.

The 1939 production of other leading metals was: gold (lode and placer), 323,000 fine oz., worth $11,305,000; silver, 7,975,540 fine oz., worth $5,413,700; lead, 21,500,000 lb., worth $1,075,000; zinc, 13,700,000 lb., worth $726,100. Tungsten concentrates were negligible in 1938 at 35 tons, compared with 312 in 1937.

Agriculture.

The growing of farm crops in Arizona is almost entirely by means of irrigation, with water stored in huge reservoirs behind dams in the principal waterways. The largest of such structures are Boulder Dam at Black Canyon in the Colorado River; Roosevelt, Horse Mesa, Mormon Flat, and Stewart Mountain dams in the Salt River; Bartlett Dam in the Verde, and Coolidge Dam in the Gila. The Yuma-Gila project is under construction. When completed it will reclaim approximately 500,000 acres near the city of Yuma with Colorado River water.

Alfalfa, both for hay and seed, grains, cotton, winter vegetables, late fall and early spring lettuce, early cantaloupes and melons, grapefruit, oranges and dates are the leading crops. In 1938, with 2,358 cars of cantaloupes and 10,797 cars of lettuce, Arizona was the second largest shipper of these products in the nation. With 4,536 carloads of grapefruit it ranked fourth. With 673 carloads or oranges it ranked third. In average yield of alfalfa seed per acre it leads all states, and in total production is third. Arizona produces practically all of the American-Egyptian long staple cotton grown in the United States. The average farm value of principal crops, not including livestock, dairy and poultry products, in 1938 on 622,500 acres, was $45.28 an acre, a figure exceeded by only two states. The total acreage of irrigated land in 1930 was 757,378.

A considerable portion of the state, where rough terrain or absence of water for irrigation precludes farming, is utilized for grazing. Livestock estimates for 1939 are: cattle, $27,000; sheep, $33,000; wool clip, 5,200,000 pounds.

Lumbering.

From the largest yellow pine forests in the west, thirty-seven Arizona mills in 1938 sawed 118,200,000 board feet of lumber and 3,170,000 of lath.

Hunting and Fishing.

Game and fish, the taking of which is carefully regulated by law, are abundant. The latest game census affords an estimate of 93,715 deer, 4,620 elk, 2,040 antelope, 5,975 peccary, and 290 buffalo, the last-named being the only herd of unfenced bison in the United States. Wild turkey are plentiful in certain places, and mountain sheep are found in the south-western ranges, but their killing is prohibited by law. There are some 813 miles of trout streams and about seventy-five lakes stocked with bass, crappie, blue gills and other varieties of fish. Four state hatcheries supply fingerlings.

Tourist Attractions.

Vacational, recreational and health-giving advantages also constitute an important source of income to Arizona, largely because of the favorable climate. The inspiring scenery of mountain and canyon, desert and forest, the natural wonders, prehistoric ruins, and picturesque western cattle ranches, with their guest resorts and 'dude ranches,' attract the vacationer and sightseer. Of natural scenic wonders the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Canyon de Chelly, Montezuma's Well, Chiricahua National Monument, and Walnut Canyon are outstanding, while recently uncovered prehistoric communal towns of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries — Tuzigoot, Beshbagowah, Kinishba, Keetseel, Pueblo Grande — and cliff dwellings and homes of similar periods command the interest both of sightseers and scientists. During 1939 out-of-state visitors exceeded those of all previous seasons.

An excellent modern highway system, embracing 3,624 miles and supplemented by many county roads, lends accessibility to all portions of the state. The highway system is maintained and enlarged with funds derived from a motor-vehicle fuel tax, motor-vehicle imposts and Federal aid. Since 1912 resources available for state highway construction and maintenance have totaled $90,800,123. The revenue for such purposes in 1938 amounted to $7,231,858, and for the first half of 1939, to $6,659,734. Automobile licenses issued during 1938 numbered 136,538, and during the first ten months of 1939, 132,000.

Education.

Arizona's educational system is maintained at a high standard. The public school system embraces grade and high schools and junior colleges. In secondary education much emphasis is placed on vocational education, including courses in agriculture, homemaking, and trades and industries. There is supervised correspondence study for the benefit of pupils in isolated sections or unable to attend because of physical disability. In 1938 education was provided for 86,798 pupils in grade schools, 20,348 in high schools, and 835 in junior colleges. Total expenditures for the maintenance of elementary schools, during the school year 1938-39, were $6,308,832.85, and for secondary schools $2,920,838; the per capita expenditure, based on average daily attendance, being approximately $92 and $154 respectively. In the elementary schools 2,464 teachers were employed at salaries ranging from $700 to $2,800, and in secondary schools 705 at salaries from $900 to $2,857. There are three institutions for higher education, the University of Arizona, at Tucson, and State Colleges at Tempe and Flagstaff. Registration for the regular session, 1938-39, at the University was 2,783; and at the State Colleges 1,393, and 490 respectively. Summer school enrollment at Flagstaff was 569.

Business and Finance.

Business conditions, although hampered by unsatisfactory prices for farm products and live stock, were generally favorable during 1939. Based on banking standards, business continued to improve. There were no bank suspensions and no new charters issued. Deposits increased by $3,230,358.59, to a total of $86,513,673.35; loans by $4,126,817.05 to a total of $31,001,572.02, and resources by $3,780,324.10 to a total of $94,767,844.91. Arizona has seven state banks with five branches, and five national banks with twenty-one branches.

As shown by such indexes as receipts from sales and luxury taxes, gains by the former of 5.8 per cent brought a total of $3,765.48 for the year, and gains by the latter of 8.6 per cent equaled a total of $1,381,445.42. Sales tax receipts, however, showed a recession of 1.6 per cent during the period from January through May, and luxury tax receipts a recession of 9 per cent during the months of January and February. A less favorable showing for the year was made by gasoline tax receipts. These totaled $5,000,981.32 during the whole year of 1938, and only $4,331,637.14 during the first eleven months of 1939. The latter figure, as against $4,552,282.89 for the same period of 1938, shows a loss of 4.8 per cent. A still greater loss of 10.3 per cent is shown for the period from July through November.

Legislative Matters.

The outstanding political event of the year was the regular session, from January 9 to March 13, of the Fourteenth Legislature. The body was composed of nineteen Senators, all Democrats, and fifty-two Representatives, of whom fifty-one were Democrats and one a Republican. The President of the Senate was Paul C. Keefe of Clarksdale; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, J. Melvin Goodson of Phoenix.

Outstanding measures enacted related to the following: creation of a Department of Liquor Licenses and Control; creation of a Department of Mineral Resources; correction of unfair trade practices; recompilation of laws; reorganization of the State Highway Commission; foreclosure of mortgages; old-age assistance; rules regulating pleadings, practice and procedure in judicial proceedings; imposition of a license tax on automobiles. Bills providing for the reorganization of the State Board of Health and of the administrative authority of the State Hospital for the Insane at Phoenix were vetoed by the Governor.

State Officers.

The chief state officers are as follows: Governor, Robert T. Jones; Secretary of State, Harry W. Moore; Attorney-General, Joe Conway; Auditor, Ana Frohmiller; Treasurer, William Peterson; Superintendent of Public Instruction, H. E. Hendrix.

United States Senators.

Carl Hayden, Henry F. Ashurst.