1941: Colorado

Area and Population.

Colorado, which lies in the west central part of the United States, 1500 miles west of the Atlantic seaboard and 800 miles east of the Pacific, ranks 7th among the states in size, and 33rd in population. The area of the state, as shown by the basic remeasurement for the 1940 Census, the first made since 1880, is 104,247 sq. mi. This includes 103,967 sq. mi. of land, and 280 sq. mi. of surface waters.

The population of the state in 1940 was 1,123,296, an increase of 8.4 per cent over 1930, and comprising 52.6 per cent urban residents and 47.4 per cent rural. The growth in population was most pronounced in urban areas, the increase being 13.6 per cent, as compared with 3.2 per cent in the rural. There are 250 incorporated places in the state, of which eight have a population of 10,000 or more. These include Denver, the capital and principal city, with a population of 322,412 and a metropolitan area embracing a population of 384,372; Pueblo, the second largest city, with a population of 52,162; and Colorado Springs, third largest, with a total of 36,789. Next in size are Boulder, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Greeley, and Trinidad.

Education.

The state is divided into 2,013 public school districts, and the total school population between the ages of 6 and 21, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940, was 312,722. Illiterates, who cannot read and write the English language, numbered 247 between 8 and 21 years of age. The state system included 2,327 elementary schools, 140 junior high schools and 356 senior high schools. Enrollment in the elementary schools, 1939-40, was 149,145, and in the junior and senior high schools 55,564. Total enrollment including special and night schools, aggregated 229,022, an increase of 2,380 over 1939. School expenditures during the fiscal year amounted to $24,260,669, of which $18,324,576 was for current expenses, $4,302,044 for debt service, and $1,634,049 capital outlay. The value of all school property at the close of the fiscal year was $67,412,031. The average salary of teachers in the elementary schools was $1,098.89; junior high, $1,554; senior high, $1,565.94; superintendents, principals and supervisors, $2,791.82.

Agriculture.

Farm conditions in 1941 were favorable in nearly all areas. Of 18 principal crops, 10 indicated increased yields over 1940, and 12 out of the 18 will exceed the ten-year average. The gain over 1940 was principally in grains and hay. Potatoes, sugar beets, apples, peaches, and pears showed decreases. Prospects for 1942 are encouraging, with irrigation reservoirs for the most part full of water and an ample supply assured if precipitation is fairly normal.

Industry.

Business and industrial conditions improved steadily throughout the year in response to increased construction, and work on military and defense projects. A small-arms ammunition plant in Jefferson county west of Denver, on which construction began in January, was dedicated and put in operation on Oct. 25. It was built by the government and is operated by the Remington Arms Co. The cost of contract was $87,000,000. Immediately following completion, construction was authorized on an additional unit to cost $4,000,000 for building and equipment. Workmen will average 10,000 daily. This project represents Colorado's largest single industry.

Enlargement of Lowry Field, the Air Corps technical school southeast of Denver, has been continuous, with personnel outrunning facilities. Present facilities provide for the housing of 13,000 men. The school took over Fort Logan early in the year and immediately began expanding facilities to take care of 1300 men, including personnel and students in clerical duties. A new unit of the Fitzsimmons General Hospital, east of Denver, the largest building in Colorado and the largest single unit hospital of the Army, erected and equipped at a cost in excess of $4,000,000, was dedicated December 3. Contracts were being made in December for Denver manufacturers to fabricate the steel for the hulls of 24 escort vessels for the Navy, to be constructed at the Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco. The cost of the vessels will be approximately $144,000,000, of which $48,000,000 will go to Colorado firms who do the fabricating.

Building permits in Denver, in the first ten months of 1941, increased 20 per cent over last year in value. Pueblo showed an increase of 29 per cent. Tourist travel established a new high, the state highway department estimating that 630,000 out-of-state cars entered Colorado. Visitors in the Rocky Mountain National Park numbered 685,393, of whom 437,712 were from other states.

Minerals.

Ranking third among the states in the mining of gold and silver, Colorado in 1940 produced 367,336 oz. of the former, valued at $12,856,760, and of the latter 9,710,709 oz. worth $6,905,393. The state also produced 24,304,000 pounds of copper; 22,952,000 pounds of lead; and 10,120,000 pounds of zinc. Of tungsten the state produced 849 tons of ferberite concentrates. Leading again in production of molybdenum, a Colorado company, the largest in the world, was responsible for 22,782,608 pounds of that metal. Mining in the Cripple Creek district was revived with the completion of a drainage tunnel 32,927 feet long to unwater the principal mines and enable the exploration of deeper ore bodies. It was constructed as a private enterprise by the Golden Cycle Corporation at a cost of $1,150,000. (See also MOLYBDENUM.)

Legislative Matters.

There was no session of the State Legislature in 1941. A new law directed toward centralization of authority in the Governor, and the placing of tax collection agencies under a single head, enacted by the 1939 session, went into effect, however, on July 1. A Department of Revenue was created and took over the administrative and collection functions of the boards previously administering income, sales, service, motor fuel and store-licensing taxes, as well as the motor-vehicle licensing department. The Governor's authority was increased by the abolition of the executive council which had exercised some duties superior to those of the chief executive.

Finance and Banking.

The financial condition of the state at the close of the fiscal year, on June 30, 1941, was in excellent shape. Appropriations for the biennial period for the general fund were $12,214,241, and receipts for the two years were $12,975,500, leaving a surplus of $761,258. The present administration had faced a deficit upon entering office.

An abstract of reports of 59 state and savings banks, and 7 trust companies, at the close of business on Sept. 24, 1941, showed total resources of $75,203,465, an increase of $3,078,780 as compared with a statement as of June 30, 1941. The total average reserves were 51.4 per cent. Total expenditures of the Department of Public Welfare for the first nine months of 1941, including Federal, state and county funds, amounted to $15,405,969. Old-age pensions, including burials, accounted for $12,591,909 of that total, a decrease of $515,402 as compared with the same period in 1940, the remainder being allotted to dependent children, aid to the blind, general relief and tuberculosis aid.

Defense.

The state was well organized for defense activities when war was declared, and steps were immediately taken to enlarge their scope. The State Vocational Education Board conducts centers of training for workers in vital industries, and on Dec. 15 these were put on a 7-day 24-hour basis. The sugar manufacturing companies placed the machine shops of 16 mills at the Board's disposal, the latter paying the costs of power, instruction, and lighting. The Denver School Board took similar steps at the Opportunity School, where instruction for industrial workers was already in progress. The Governor stepped up the work of the Council of Defense in the organization of all muncipalities and counties. The Home Guard, organized with 200 members, following the induction of the National Guard into the Federal Army, has been expanded to include 2000 members. The Colorado State Employment service is training men for the United States Merchant Marine. In July the Civil Aeronautics Authority established in Denver one of the two converging centers in the country for teletype communications wires.

Deaths during 1941 resulted in several changes in the state's official family. The deceased included Alva B. Adams, senior United States Senator, Francis E. Bouck, chief justice of the State Supreme Court, and Edward T. Taylor, Congressman from the Fourth Colorado district. All three were Democrats. The appointment of successors to Adams and Bouck for their unexpired terms will be made by Governor Carr, a Republican. On Dec. 9, Robert F. Rockwell, a state senator and a Republican was elected to Congress to succeed Taylor.

State Officers.

Governor, Ralph L. Carr, Lieutenant-Governor, John C. Vivian; Secretary of State, Walter F. Morrison; Treasurer, Homer F. Bedford; Auditor, Charles M. Armstrong; Attorney General, Gail L. Ireland; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Inez Johnson Lewis.

United States Senators:

Edwin Johnson. Second Senator, office vacant.