1941: Minnesota

Area and Population.

At the geographical center of North America is Minnesota, the 'Gopher State,' 11th in size among the states, with 84,682 sq. mi. It is the great 'lake state,' containing several thousand, which cover 3,824 sq. mi. Its population of 2,792,300 gives it 18th place in that regard. Twenty per cent of its inhabitants are foreign-born; among these, Swedes predominate, with Norwegians, Germans, Canadians. Finns, and British following, in that order. About 4 per cent are Indians, and another 4 per cent Negroes. The population is about half rural and half urban. The chief cities are Minneapolis, 492,370; St. Paul, the capital, 287,736; Duluth, 100,065; Rochester, world-famed for the Mayo Clinic, 26,312; St. Cloud, 24,173; Winona, 22,490.

Education.

The State Department of Education reported as follows for the year ending June 30, 1941: Inhabitants of compulsory school age (8 to 16), 390,575. Including kindergarten pupils, 18,183, elementary 169,152, secondary 192,433, adult education 11,157, and junior colleges, 2,940, the total net enrollment was 508,861. There were 561 kindergartens, 8,339 elementary schools, and 661 secondary schools including 157 junior high schools, 135 senior high schools, 260 six-year high schools, 95 four-year high schools. The average daily attendance was 449,947, or 93 per cent of the total enrollment.

Teachers numbered 22,040 (4,726 men, 17,314 women), grouped as follows: kindergarten 321, elementary 5,784, secondary, 8,488, adult education 237, junior colleges 174. The average monthly wage of teachers, outside the three cities of the first class, was $137 (men $164, women $125); in Duluth $209 (men $218, women $207); in Minneapolis $216 (men $211, women $217); in St. Paul $205 (men $231, women $200).

The 7,685 school districts represented a taxable valuation in 1940 of $1,303,991,121, and reported 8,713 schoolhouses valued, with their sites, at $178,765,270; the bonded indebtedness was $54,903,384. The total school expenditures (1939-40) were $58,420,911; the maintenance cost per pupil based on enrollment was $88; based on average daily attendance $99.

Agriculture.

The major activity in Minnesota is agriculture; 56 per cent of its area is farm land; and 33 per cent of its people are farm-dwellers. It ranks fifth among the states in the value of its crops. Corn is preponderantly the main crop; oats, wheat, hay, flax, and barley follow, in that order. The chief orchard crop is apples. The state ranks sixth in the Union in production of livestock.

The State Board of Agriculture reported for 1940, 30,479,638 acres of farmland, comprised in 178,196 farms, operated by 121,063 owners and 57,133 renters. Of the total acreage, 14,379,000 A. (47 per cent) were given over to the nine major grain crops, and potatoes which amounted to 489,314,000 bu., valued at $215,132,000.

Minnesota livestock on Jan. 1, 1941, numbered 9,044,000 head of horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and hogs, valued at $256,369,000; and 19,691,000 chickens and turkeys, with a farm value of $11,035,000.

The chief agricultural income of the state is from dairy production; the state leads the nation in the production and consumption of butter. The 1940 production was 311,153,332 lbs., an all-time record; and the first six months of 1941 were 8 per cent above the same period in 1940. The 1940 product was worth $87,406,116 wholesale, 20 per cent above 1939. The per capita consumption of butter in 1940 was 31.17 lbs., as compared with the national consumption of 17.5 lbs. The production of dried and condensed milk products and of cheese is also becoming increasingly important. The wholesale value of all dairy products for 1940 was $157,672,289; second to butter were milk and cream, estimated at $30,359,790 wholesale.

Industry.

The state ranks another 'first' in flour and food milling, and the processing of cereals. The capacity of its grain elevators exceeds that in any comparable area in the world.

Water-borne shipping is also an industry of very great importance. Through the three largest cities — Minneapolis and St. Paul at the head of navigation on the Mississippi, and Duluth at the western terminus of navigation on the Great Lakes — flows a vast stream of lumber and iron ore, and other natural and manufactured products, not only from the state but from the whole Northwest. Duluth, in fact, ranks as the greatest inland seaport in the world.

Since the main occupation of the state is agriculture, the chief industries are those that use agricultural products, such as flour and feed milling, meat-packing, dairying, bakery products, and malt liquors. The meat-packing products are annually worth almost twice those of the great milling industry.

Still other important industries are metal manufacture, printing and publishing, and the manufacture of paper, lumber, and wood products.

Mineral Products.

The mineral resources of the state are notable. Iron-ore production is another Minnesota 'first.' At Virginia is the world's largest iron-ore mine, and at Hibbing is the world's largest open-pit iron-ore mine, a vast man-made canyon 2 miles long by  of a mile wide, and 400 feet deep. The state production of iron ore in 1940 showed a notable advance, at 47,736,810 tons, over the amount for 1939, which was 32,370,241 tons with a value of $97,113,591, or nearly double the amount for 1938. Sand and gravel again contributed in 1940 more than $8,500,000 to the state's resources. Granite and limestone quarrying are also important.

Finance.

The state budget for the bienuium 1941-43 is $74,000,000; the legislative appropriations for that period amount to $87,597,176, including relief expenditures of $9,000,000. The latest report of unemployment compensation funds, by the State Division of Employment and Security, showed total expenditures for the calendar year 1939 of $1,425,612; total amount of contributions collected as of Dec. 31, 1939, $38,108,249; total amount paid in benefits, $15,758,776; total amount in the Unemployment Compensation Fund, $23,136,558; earmarked for transfer to the Railroad Retirement Board, $2,524,210; balance available for benefit payments, $20,612,347.

Banking.

The Commissioner of Banks reported as of Sept. 24, 1941, 487 state banks, 1 savings bank, and 4 trust companies. These had loans and discounts amounting to $149,726,692; U. S. bonds, $56,526,891 (an increase of $618,751); other bonds and securities, $58,139,266; due from banks and cash on hand, $74,665,263. The capital stock totaled $13,857,100 (an increase of $50,500); the surplus fund, $11,751,750; deposits subject to check, $107,178,658; savings deposits, $139,751,583. The total deposits were $312,740,205, with a net increase of $6,493,192. The reserve on hand in banks and trust companies was $70,508,457 (required by law, $20,437,608).

The Commissioner reported as of Dec. 30, 1939, 324 credit unions, with 62,486 members, 7,357 depositors, 34,918 borrowers, and 54,810 loans made during the year amounting to $6,187,305 (an increase over 1938 of $708,510).

Defense Activities.

The state has organized an active Home Guard to take the place of the National Guard now in national service. A $28,000,000 plant for the manufacture of small arms is being built in the Twin Cities area. The Minneapolis airport is being greatly enlarged.

Legislation.

The more important measures passed by the 1941 Legislature included the following. The one-mill road and bridge tax, in effect since 1921, was repealed. The tax limitation on general property of 10 mills was lowered to 9 mills. The royalty tax on iron ore was increased from 9 per cent to 10 per cent for the calendar years, 1941-42 to be 9 per cent thereafter. The occupational tax on iron ore was similarly changed.

State Officers.

Governor, Harold E. Stassen; Lieutenant Governor, C. Elmer Anderson; Secretary of State, Mike Holm; Treasurer, Julius A. Schmahl; Auditor, Stafford King; Attorney General, J. A. A. Burnquist; Commissioner of Education, H. E. Flynn.

United States Senators:

Henrik Shipstead, Joseph H. Ball.