1939: Arkansas

Area and Population.

Arkansas has a total area of 53,335 sq. mi., including 810 sq. mi. of water, mostly fresh-water lakes. The public lands unappropriated on January 1, 1940, amounted to 1,300,000 acres. The National Forest reserve embraces a total of 2,047,874 acres; the State Parks system, 15,761 acres.

The 1930 census gave Arkansas a total population of 1,854,482. The present population is estimated to be 2,100,000. The 1930 census classified the population as follows; whites, 1,344,906; Negroes, 478,463; Mexicans, 409; Indians, 408; Asiatics, 296. Included in the 1930 population were 10,173 foreign-born persons, representing 0.5 per cent of the total. The population was almost 80 per cent rural. Little Rock (capital and largest city) had 81,640 inhabitants (1939 estimate, 100,000): Fort Smith, 31,429: Pine Bluff, 20,769: Hot Springs, 20,238.

History and Government.

Arkansas Territory, originally a part of the Louisiana purchase, was formed into a separate territorial unit by the United States Congress in 1819. It was admitted to the Union as a state in 1836 (June 15), but seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861 and joined the Confederate States on May 18, 1861. The state was formally readmitted to the Union by Act of Congress June 22, 1868; a new Constitution was adopted October 13, 1874, and that Constitution, including 29 later amendments, is still in force. Little Rock was made the capital (of Arkansas Territory) in 1821, and such it has remained, except for a period of two years (September, 1863-April, 1865), when the Confederate State Government was moved to Washington, Arkansas.

The Legislature, called the General Assembly, consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. Senators, 35 in all, are elected by districts for terms of four years each, with the terms arranged so as to have 17 or 18 new Senators elected every two years. The House has in it 100 Representatives, elected from the counties on a basis of population. Regular sessions of the Legislature are held every two years, convening the second Monday in January of odd years. Regular sessions are limited to 60 days.

Agriculture.

The people of Arkansas, for the most part, rely on agriculture as their source of income. The total farm area is approximately 17,000,000 acres, about half of which is crop lands, with some 250,000 separate farms, valued at $550,000,000. The northwestern half of the state, a hill country, is best adapted to corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, fruits (apples, peaches, grapes, strawberries), hay and forage crops. The eastern and southern half of the state is well suited to the growth of cotton, rice, and tobacco. The normal annual yield of cotton, on an average planting of 3,000,000 acres, is from one and a half to two million bales. The average yield of rice is about 10,000,000 bushels. The raising of livestock, well suited to the state generally, is decidedly on the increase, as shown by the recent organization of the annual Arkansas Livestock Show.

Mineral Products.

Production of petroleum, which ranks first among the mineral resources of Arkansas, showed an extraordinary rise in 1938, through increased activity in the Schuler and Rodessa fields. The result was estimated at 18,077,000 bbl., compared with 11,764,000 in 1937 valued at $11,400,000. Natural gas continued its recent expansion with a rise from 9,690,000 M cu. ft. in 1937 to 20,557,000 in 1938. Production of bauxite, in which Arkansas leads the Union, amounted to 203,280 tons, valued at $1,679,663, a reduction of 25 per cent from 1937. This still represented, however, 95 per cent of the reduced total for that product in the United States. The mining of bituminous coal, second in value among the state's mineral products, showed a slightly lower figure in 1938, at about 1,192,000 tons.

There are also large deposits of lead, copper, manganese, and zinc, which are profitably worked. The oil fields of south Arkansas produce a high grade of natural oil from which are distilled some 10,000,000 gallons of gasoline annually. The state has an abundance of building stone, such as granite, sandstone, limestone, marble and slate. The average annual value of the mineral output is estimated at $20,000,000.

Industry.

The manufacture of lumber, and its many products, is the state's largest industrial enterprise. This and other manufacturing industries, such as cotton mills, paper mills, the gas and oil industries, and glass works employ about 30,000 wage earners, who earn annually nearly $20,000,000. The normal yearly output of all these industries is valued at $125,000,000. The state has more than 4,000 miles of railroads, 120 miles of electric railway, and nearly 10,000 miles of improved highways.

Education.

In 1938 the state had a total of approximately 400,000 children enrolled in 4,682 elementary schools, with 10,267 teachers; 65,508 pupils attended the 904 high schools, with 2,471 teachers. Collegiate education is provided by the state at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; State Teachers College, Conway, and Henderson Teachers College, Arkadelphia; and at four Junior Agricultural Colleges, situated at Monticello, Magnolia, Russellville, and Jonesboro respectively. The State provides separate schools in all the grades of education for white and Negro pupils. The Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College, at Pine Bluff, is for Negro students. The total expenditure for education in 1937-38 was $14,040,000.

Banks and Banking.

On June 30, 1938, Arkansas had 50 licensed national banks with deposits of $80,947,000, loans of $33,913,000 and investments of $33,230,000. The 171 licensed state banks and trust companies had deposits of $62,851,000, loans of $29,158,000, and investments of $20,181,000.

Finance.

The total receipts and expenditures of the state for the biennial period ending June 30, 1938 were as follows: receipts from all sources equalled $44,033,586,34; expenditures for all purposes were $36,439,570.81; leaving a balance on June 30, 1938 of $7,594,015.53.

The state debt of approximately $145,000,000 in road bonds, as of June 30, 1938, has since been substantially reduced by purchase and retirement. The valuation of real and personal property for taxation in 1938 was $447,671,896, which yielded the state a total of $3,193,605. The rest of the state's income is derived from its tax on gasoline, the sales tax, and other special taxes.

Public Welfare.

The state had in 1939 approximately 20,000 persons drawing old-age assistance, at an average rate of $9.00 per month. The state maintains a Confederate Home and provides pensions for its Confederate veterans. It also contributes to the maintenance of the Arkansas Children's Home.

Public health is effectively supervised by the State Health Department. The Tuberculosis Sanatorium at Booneville, with its branches, is supported by appropriations of more than half a million dollars annually.

State Officers.

During the year 1939 the chief officers of the state were as follows: Governor, Carl E. Bailey; Lieutenant Governor, Bob Bailey; Secretary of State, C. G. Hall; Auditor, J. Oscar Humphrey; Treasurer, Earl Page; Attorney-General, Jack Holt.

United States Senators.

Hattie W. Caraway, John E. Miller.