1941: New Mexico

Area and Population.

New Mexico, with a total area of 122,503 sq. mi. (land area, 121,511 sq. mi.), has a population, according to the 1940 census, of 531,818. The rate of population increase between 1930 and 1940 was 25.6 per cent, nearly one and one-half times as great as that for the previous decade. Part of this increase is explained by immigration from other states, part by a smaller emigration from the state, and part (the most important factor) by an increased birth rate. The urban population was 176,401 an increase of 65.1 per cent, the highest percentage of urban population increase in the country. The population of the leading cities was as follows: Albuquerque, 35,449; Santa Fe. the capital, 20,325; Roswell, 13,482; Las Vegas. 12,362; Hobbs, 10,619; Clovis, 10,065; Las Cruces, 8,385.

About one half of the population is native Spanish American, 37 per cent is Anglo-American, while the remainder consists of Indians, Mexicans, Negroes, Orientals, and others.

Education.

The 1941 school census revealed that there are 88,976 children of school age in urban school areas of the state, and 84,426 in areas served by rural-school districts. A concerted effort to reduce the number of small rural-school districts, by consolidation with urban or other consolidated districts, is under way. The present number of elementary schools is 892; junior high schools, 34; and senior high schools, 130. Enrollment figures include 109,257 in elementary schools, and 23,332 in high schools. The state's expenditure for public schools for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941, was $7,734,010.40.

Mining.

Mineral mines of the state produced $33,231,130 worth of metals, potash, and pumice during the year ending October 30, 1941, compared with $28,691,214 in the previous year. The product of coal mines totalled 1,190,280 tons, compared with 1,069,000 tons the year before. Despite increased production there was a decrease of 246 employees in the coal mines, the total being 1746 workers. Mineral mines, on the other hand, reported 4,597 employees, an increase of 1332.

Legislative Matters.

The fifteenth state Legislature met on January 14, 1941, and adjourned April 12. This was the first session under a constitutional amendment providing for a division of the regular session into two thirty-day terms with a thirty-day interim. The cost of the session was $55,685.83. Altogether 620 measures were introduced, of which 250 were passed, 364 were killed or withdrawn, and six were vetoed.

Measures of major importance enacted were a law establishing a public-service commission to regulate public utilities throughout the state, a law authorizing construction of an annex to the Capitol, later declared invalid by the State Supreme Court, a Basic Sciences Act regulating the various healing professions, and a number of measures in aid of national defense.

Several constitutional amendments were proposed to be voted on at the general election in November, 1942. These include one prohibiting employment of members of the Legislature in other positions compensated from public funds, and at the same time increasing the compensation of members of the Legislature. A second seeks to stagger the terms of boards of educational institutions; another, to re-divide the regular sessions of the Legislature into terms of 20 days and 40 days respectively; and another to create an Educational Institutions Board.

Political and Other Events.

New Mexico held a statewide blackout on the night of September 12, 1941, in connection with the national defense program, this being the nation's first large-scale experiment in mobilizing civilian defenses against air attack. Thousands of guardsmen and volunteer defense workers cooperated in more than seventy villages, towns and cities, as army bombers endeavored to locate the darkened communities from overhead.

Finance.

The state's expenditures, for the fiscal year which closed June 30, 1941, totalled $30,018,531.93, whereas total receipts amounted to $28,923,630.91, representing an excess of disbursements over revenues collected for the year of $1,094,901.02. The state's bonded debt on June 30, 1941, was $2,581,500, and outstanding highway debentures totalled $21,750,000. Invested and uninvested permanent funds, belonging for the most part to state educational institutions, amounted to $15,463,148.20.

The total value of property assessed for purposes of taxation for 1941 was $329,034,240. A compilation from records of the State Tax Commission shows that 85 per cent of the 1940 taxes were paid in during the fiscal period ending June 30, 1941. Disbursements for unemployment insurance benefits totalled $1,135,457.10. Total appropriations for all state agencies for which appropriations are made amounted to $3,509,769.80.

Banking.

Resources of banks in New Mexico increased from $71,616,274.28 at the close of 1939, to $75,361,200.80 on December 31, 1940. Resources of the 22 national banks totalled $58,822,255.25, and of the 19 state-chartered banks, $16,538,945.55. In addition 7 Federal savings and loan associations reported resources of $2,448,889.90, and 12 state-chartered building and loan associations reported assets of $4,166,208.38. On the closing day of 1940, 54 small loan agencies were in operation and reported outstanding loans amounting to $853,469.11.

State Officers.

Governor, John E. Miles; Lieutenant Governor, Ceferino Quintana; Secretary of State. Jessie M. Gonzales; Comptroller, Caesar R. Sebastian; Treasurer, Rex French; Auditor, E. D. Trujillo; Attorney General, Edward P. Chase; and Superintendent of Public Instruction, Grace J. Corrigan.

United States Senators:

Dennis Chavez, Carl A. Hatch.