1939: 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; Sacramento, the capital, 93,750; Berkeley, 82,109; and Pasadena, 76,080. 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.

Climate.

Temperature in the state ranges from the extreme summer heat of Death Valley to the year-round snows of the high Sierra Nevada Mountains; coastal temperatures are mild, varying from cool in the north to warm in the south; variation in the agricultural valleys is from high summer temperatures to occasional winter frosts. Annual rainfall in the coastal region is as follows: San Francisco, 22.5 inches; Los Angeles, 15.6 inches; San Diego, 9.6 inches. In the valleys: Red Bluff, 24.9 inches; Fresno, 9.8 inches; Bakersfield, 5.7 inches. In the mountains: Susanville, 20.7 inches; Sonora, 35 inches. The rainy season is normally from November to June.

Parks.

California includes within its boundaries seventy state parks with an area of 300,000 acres and four National Parks — General Grant, Lassen Volcanic, Sequoia and Yosemite — with a total area of 1,947,44 sq. mi.

Tourists.

During the first eight months of 1939, tourists to the number of 1,600,000 spent $103,000,000 in southern California; and 1,250,000 tourists spent $66,430,124 in northern and central California during the time that the Golden Gate International Exposition was open. The total estimated tourist expenditures during the calendar year were $280,000,000.

The state's registration of motor vehicles in 1938 totaled 2,510,867. Those entering California in the same year numbered 913,995, of which 433,361 were out-of-state cars. From January to October 1939 motor vehicles entering the state numbered 817,151 carrying 2,202,627 passengers inspected at state quarantine stations.

Agriculture.

California's farms number 150,360; farm acreage amounts to 30,437,995 A. The estimated income from all crops (field, fruit, nut and truck), in 1938, was $362,966,000; estimated gross income from livestock, $184,388,000.

Mineral Products.

Ranking third among the states in the value of its mineral products. California's total for 1937 amounted to $470,074,025. Of such totals petroleum regularly furnishes about one half, California being the second largest producer in the United States. In 1938 the yield amounted to 249,749,000 bbl., a rise appreciably above the figure of 238,521,000 bbl. (value, $242,100,000) for 1937. An increase in natural gasoline amounted to an estimated 663,992,000 gal, in 1938, compared with 623,864,000 in the previous year. Production of natural gas was slightly reduced in 1938 to about 315,000,000 M. cu. ft.

The total value of California's leading metals, gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc, amounted to $47,767,894 in 1938, compared with $44,757,593 in 1937. The estimate for 1939 is $51,904,786. Among these gold, in which California ranks first in the Union, increased its lead with 1,311,129 oz., the largest amount since 1802, and valued at $45,889,515. Silver produced amounted to 2,590,804 oz. (value, $1,674,863). Preliminary figures for 1939 are: gold, 1,406,100 oz.; silver, 2,612,000 oz.

Shipments of tungsten continued to increase in 1938 as the state, which ranks second in this field, reported 770 tons, compared with 511 in 1937. Shipments of Portland cement in 1938 totaled 10,539,000 bbl.

Education.

California's universities, colleges, junior colleges, and professional schools number 89, with a total faculty membership of 6,898 and a student enrollment of 75,671 (1936); the 42,070 teachers employed in elementary and secondary schools received an average annual salary of $1,766 (1936); there were 1,140,427 pupils enrolled in these schools. The average days of attendance per pupil per year were 156 (1936). Total public school expenditures in 1936 were $152,856,000. The budgets of public schools for 1939 amounted to $160,760,797.

Legislature.

At the biennial meeting of the Legislature in 1939, held at a cost of $526,859, there were 1,397 bills passed, of which 1,077 were signed by the Governor. In spite of the large number of measures adopted, a major part of the Governor's legislative program was defeated. His $557,000,000 budget was cut to $468,000,000. He was denied unconditioned control of relief expenditures. His requests for new taxes and for a 'Little Wagner' labor relations act for the state were also refused. Other measures that failed of enactment included administration reorganization; a measure designed to enable municipalities to issue revenue bonds for the purchase or construction of publicly-owned power distribution facilities: a pension proposal; a compulsory health insurance bill; a measure regulating lobbying, a measure to liberalize the anti-gambling laws; and a proposed repeal of the Criminal Syndicalism Act and of the Indeterminate Sentence Law.

Among the more important measures passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor were an oil-control bill (later defeated on referendum); appropriations for flood control and power development; a measure requiring an examination for syphilis prior to marriage and for expectant mothers; a farm mortgage moratorium bill; a revision of the Agricultural Pro-rate Act; a labor conciliation bill; and legislation to prohibit 'heart balm' suits. Failure of the Legislature to cope adequately with the relief problem makes inevitable the summoning of the Legislature in special session early in 1940. By that time the funds appropriated by the Legislature may have been expended.

At a state-wide special election, called in November 1939, five measures were voted on. Of these, two were initiative measures; three were referendum. Two of these measures, both designed to curb the depredations of rapacious money lenders or 'loan sharks,' were carried by a vote of more than two to one. Of the three proposals that were defeated, one was designed to extend the right of chiropractors to practice their profession; another, supported by President Roosevelt, former President Hoover, the Navy Department, Secretary Ickes, and Governor Olson, was concerned with oil conservation; and the third was a revival in a revised form of the pension measure defeated a year earlier. This so-called 'Thirty Dollars Every Thursday,' or 'Ham and Eggs' measure, was opposed by both conservative and liberal elements of the population and was defeated by a two-to-one vote. (See also SOCIAL SERVICE, PUBLIC; UNITED STATES: Politics.)

Unemployment and Relief.

The total unemployment relief load as of June 30, 1939, divided between S.R.A. and W.P.A., amounted to 174,930 cases and included the care of approximately 575,000 individuals. County relief in October 1938 provided for 75,177 indigents and 164,760 aged, blind, and orphans. The cost of relief during 1938-39 amounted to $129,905,000 divided among the counties, the state, and the Federal Government.

Statistics as to employment in 1937 showed the number of establishments to have been 10,681 and the number of wage earners, 302,189. Total wages in that year amounted to $380,132,008.

Banking.

California has 230 banks, of which 117 are members of the Federal Reserve System. There are 852 branches, or additional offices, as branch banking has developed to a greater extent in California than in any other state in the Union. The total assets of all banks in 1938 were $4,475,173,000. Total deposits as of March 1939 equaled $3,912,235,000.

Labor Disputes.

In the Madera Cotton Strike, the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (C.I.O.) demanded $1.25 per 100 pounds of cotton picked; the growers offered a rate of from 80 to 90 cents. The San Francisco Ship Clerks' Strike was a contest between the 600 members of the Ship Clerks' Association of the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union (C.I.O.) and the Waterfront Employers' Association; complete paralysis of the port resulted; state and Federal mediation were employed. In the San Francisco Western Union Dispute, the National Labor Relations Board found the Western Union guilty of violating the National Labor Relations Act in maintaining a company union. The American Federation of Studio Workers, affiliated with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, demanded a 10 per cent wage increase; the Hollywood Producers Association granted the increase, but provided for later arbitration if it should be found that curtailment of the moving-picture market because of the European war makes such an increase impractical.

Golden Gate International Exposition.

Held on Treasure Island, an artificial island constructed in San Francisco Bay, the Exposition was visited during 1939 by 10,496,203 persons. After much discussion it was decided in December to reopen the Exposition in the summer of 1940, with additional buildings and entertainment features.

State Officers.

The chief officers of the state are: Governor, Culbert L. Olson; 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.