1941: Nebraska

Area and Population.

The 77,520 sq. mi. of Nebraska, the 'Cornhusker State,' make it 15th in size among the states. Its richest farm land is in the northeastern river country. The north-central section is lake and cattle-ranch country. The northwest is the butte country — great table-lands, canyons, and mountain ranges. The southwest is rolling prairie. More than a third of the state is fully cultivated; more than half is pasture and cattle ranges.

The state is 32nd in population, with 1,315,834, according to the 1940 census, living mostly in the eastern part of the state, as in Iowa and Kansas. More than a third of the population is urban. The foreign-born constitute about 11 per cent, and are chiefly Germans, Swedes, Irish, and Czechs. The chief cities are: Omaha, 223,844; Lincoln. the capital, 61,984; Grand Island, 19,130; and Hastings, 15,145.

Education.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction reported for 1939-40 as follows: Number of children of school age (5 to 21), 369,154; total enrollment, 276,188; average daily attendance, 242,602; elementary pupils in cities and villages, 123,677; rural-school pupils, 68,233; high-school pupils, 84,278; teachers in rural schools, 5,929; teachers in graded schools, 7,830; teachers in high schools, 3,759.

The number of rural schools was 5,764 (one-teacher schools, 5,675); graded schools, 836; high schools, 744 (not accredited, 221). The average salary of teachers was, for men, $1,123,33; for women, $981.04.

State expenditures for schools, 1939-40, amounted to $20,427,683. This included the following items: Teachers' salaries, $10,900,554; textbooks, supplies, and other expenses, $9,877,183; capital outlay, $906,516; debt service, $1,584,254.

During the past ten years city and village elementary pupils have decreased in number 19 per cent, rural elementary pupils 33 per cent, whereas high-school pupils have increased 20 per cent. Elementary teachers have decreased 5 per cent, high-school teachers 11 per cent; expenditures for public education have decreased 27 per cent. The average total yearly cost per pupil in 1938-39 was $72.03, or $22.55 less than the national average.

Nebraska is 5th among the states in the number of high-school graduates per 1000 of population; it is 46th in state support of public education.

Agriculture.

Corn is king in Nebraska. The State Department of Agriculture estimated for 1941 a corn crop of 152,280,000 bu., 42 per cent above 1940, and the best crop since 1933; oats were second with 54,074,000 bu., 54 per cent above 1940; barley third with 49,954,000 bu., 121 per cent increase; and winter wheat fourth, with 33,666,000 bu., a decrease of 30,000 bu. from 1940.

Livestock and dairy products are close in importance to the grains; the state is 4th in the Union in livestock. Omaha, with its 240 A. of stockyards, is the second largest livestock market in the country. Mutton and wool are important products. In the dry west, irrigation and dry-farming prevail.

Pasture conditions during 1941, rated 80 per cent, as compared with 45 per cent a year before; milk production was almost 9 per cent better. Cattle were more numerous than in 1940; hogs, sheep, and poultry were fewer; but all were worth more per head.

Industry.

The important industries of Nebraska result directly from its absorbing preoccupation with agriculture. They are chiefly meat-packing and the processing of poultry products, together with the manufacture of the farm machinery required by the large-scale, mechanized farm operations.

Finance.

Total appropriations for the 1939-41 biennium were $51,029,721 (9 per cent less than in 1937-39); major items were state support of the University, $7,530,270; state board of control, $4,637,860; public works, $16,694,175; state welfare assistance, $15,249,400.

Budget appropriations voted in 1941 by the Legislature for the next biennium, 1941-43, were $57,545,652, a rise of 12 per cent from the preceding biennium. Of this amount, $19,450,833 was for welfare assistance. The cumulative figure for unemployment compensation for the ten months ending October 31 was $1,153,336.

State Officers.

Governor, Dwight Griswold; Lieutenant Governor, William E. Johnson; Secretary of State, Frank Marsh; Auditor of Public Accounts, Ray C. Johnson; Treasurer, L. B. Johnson; Attorney General, Walter R. Johnson; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Charles W. Taylor.

United States Senators:

George W. Norris, Hugh A. Butler.