1939: Oklahoma

Area and Population.

The state got its nickname 'the Sooner State,' from the famous land rush of April 22, 1889, eighteen years before its admission to statehood on Nov. 16, 1907. Its area of 70,057 sq. mi. gives it 17th place in size among the states. Of this area, 70 per cent is farm land. Its population of 2,548,000 (Federal estimate July 1, 1937) ranks it 21st in that respect. Negroes number 170,000; and among the foreign-born, Germans are in the majority. The larger cities are Oklahoma City (the capital), 225,000; Tulsa, 170,000; Muskogee, 35,000; Enid, 35,000; Shawnee, 26,000.

Agriculture.

In spite of having gained fame chiefly as a petroleum state, Oklahoma is also an important agricultural state. Wheat is the main crop: cotton ranks second, with corn, oats, grain sorghums, and hay following in that order. Livestock and poultry (especially turkeys) are extensively raised.

Lumbering.

Timber is cut in large quantities in the mountainous eastern part; chiefly soft pine, with such hard woods as yellow pine, oak, red gum, and elm.

Mineral Products.

Among the mineral resources which give Oklahoma the rank of fourth highest in that regard in the United States (their total value in 1937 having been $367,444,222), petroleum is the leader. Petroleum and gas are found in more than half of the 77 counties of the state, mainly in the north central and southwestern sections. Oil production in 1938 fell decidedly below the high record for 1937, with 174,882,000 bbl., as against 228,839,000 bbl. (value, $283,500,000) in the previous year. The state still retained third place however, in oil production, being surpassed only by Texas and California. The output of natural gas, in which Oklahoma ranks fourth, was reduced by 25 per cent to an estimated total of 260,000,000 M. cu. ft. in 1938, compared with 296,260,000 M. cu. ft. in 1937 valued at $32,039,000. Zinc also, in which the state ranks first, showed the fall in production which was general in the mining industry in 1938, the amount for the year being 112,924 tons compared with 135,696 tons in 1937.

Industry.

The major industries of the state are petroleum refining, with an income greater than that of all other industries combined; flour and grain milling; cottonseed oil manufacture; zinc smelting and refining; meatpacking; and lumbering.

Education.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction reported that in 1937-38, of 707,328 persons of school age (6 to 21), 633,750 were enrolled in 5,184 schools. They included 585,114 whites and 48,636 Negroes. Of these, 500,471 were in elementary schools, 133,279 in secondary; 28,963 were enrolled in vocational courses. The teachers employed in 1936-37 numbered 20,459 (white 18,822, Negro 1,637). Current expenditures in that school year were $27,161,318. Total expenditures for colleges and universities in 1937-38 were $9,824,906.

Banking.

The 183 state banks reported on October 2, 1939 as follows: loans and discounts, $22,323,459 (an increase in three months of $432,037); total deposits, $56,044,671 (an increase of $2,157,173); total capital, $7,904,724 (an increase of $277,046). The cash reserves were 43.90 per cent of the total deposits. Assets in cash and sight exchange represented 38.43 per cent; in stocks and bonds, 24.66; in loans and discounts, 34.88; in other real estate and other assets, 1.06; liabilities in deposits, 87.48.

Finance.

The state treasury reported for the year ending June 30, 1939, receipts of $63,323,027; expenditures of $74,714,789. Major expense items were: education, $22,106,731; old age and other assistance grants, $17,628,883; direct relief, $1,681,807 (a decrease of $2,595,101); expenditures for unemployment insurance (since December, 1938), $2,820,995; cost of administration, $828,246. Federal aid funds expended during the period were $16,223,500 (an increase of $5,138,519).

Events of the Year.

Governor Leon C. Phillips secured from the 1939 Legislature the important power of control of appropriations, authorizing him to make quarterly reductions up to 25 per cent; and throughout the year he has been pursuing a vigorous economy program. He has reduced state employees by 2,000, wiped out a $5,000,000 highway deficit, cut school appropriations from $12,800,000 to $11,500,000, reduced the state building program, and allowed no new taxes to be set up. His program is so conservative that educational and welfare administrators are complaining of the pinch. (For dam construction, see RECLAMATION.)

In politics a lively contest is on between a 'Draft Roosevelt' movement headed by the junior United States Senator, Josh Lee, and the anti-Roosevelt state House, for control of the state delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 1940.

Economic Conditions.

Business and economic conditions during 1939 have improved somewhat. In January the business index was lower than at any time since June, 1935; by November it had risen to a point only 10 per cent below November 1938. The gains were chiefly in agricultural cash income, expansion of bank credit, building activity, and industrial employment and payrolls. Agricultural cash income rose because of higher prices, and some increased production, chiefly in livestock, which was larger in November than for any other November in twelve years past except the drouth year 1936. Building permits in fifteen principal cities in November, though down 15.5 per cent from the previous November, were also slightly up for the year.

Employment and payrolls, unchanged until September, improved slightly then; though employment fell off in the oil industry. Payrolls have risen proportionately more than employment. Retail sales, reported for November by 152 stores in nine kinds of trade, were slightly down from both the previous month and the previous November; though the seasonal decline was slightly less than usual. Registration of new passenger cars during the year was 16 per cent greater than in 1938.

Bank loans reported by the Kansas City Federal Reserve District were 15.1 per cent greater in November 1939 than a year before; the gain in deposits was 8.8 per cent. Business failures from January through November were 153, as against 140 for the same period in 1938. The average liabilities of the bankrupt concerns was $5,200 in November 1938, $3,900 in November 1939.

State Officers.

The chief state officers are: Governor, Leon C. Phillips; Lieutenant Governor, James E. Berry; Secretary of State, C. C. Childers; Auditor, Frank C. Carter; Attorney General, Mac Q. Williamson; Treasurer, Carl B. Sebring; Superintendent of Public Instruction, A. L. Crable.

United States Senators.

J. Elmer Thomas, Josh Lee.