1941: Pennsylvania

Area and Population.

The southernmost of the group of North Atlantic States, Pennsylvania has an area of 45,126 sq. mi., which ranks it 32nd in size in the Union. According to the census of 1940, the population numbers 9,900,180, an increase of 268,830 during the last decade. Of the present number of inhabitants, 472,708 are non-whites. An increase in the proportion of persons 65 years of age or over and a decline in the proportion of persons under 20 years of age is observed, thus showing that the population of Pennsylvania aged considerably between 1930 and 1940.

The state capital is Harrisburg (pop. 83,893); and the largest cities are: Philadelphia, with a population of 1,931,334, the third largest city in the nation; Pittsburgh, 671,659; Scranton, 140,404; and Reading, 110,568. While the largest cities showed a decrease in population during the last decade, 51 towns of 10,000 or more showed an increase. Mount Lebanon, with 19,571, made the greatest gain, amounting to 44.8 per cent.

Education.

There were 1,863,315 children enrolled in the public schools of Pennsylvania during 1940-1941. Of these, 34,755 were in kindergarten, 1,129,927 were enrolled in the elementary grades, and 698,633 in secondary grades. There were 58,480 full-time students in the state's 58 liberal arts colleges and universities, in 1939-1940, an increase of about 600 over the previous school year. There were approximately 11,400 public schools in the state, of which number 1,277 were approved secondary schools.

During 1941 the city council of Philadelphia appropriated $100,000 for the free feeding of undernourished school children.

Agriculture.

The farm land of Pennsylvania, slightly more than one half of the total area of the state, is adapted to the cultivation of a great variety of crops, since the elevation ranges from near sea level to 3,000 ft., and the crop-growing season is from 80 to 207 days. This range makes possible the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, cereals, and grasses. In 1940 Pennsylvania ranked first in the production of cigar-leaf tobacco, second in buckwheat, third in peaches, fourth in clover and timothy hay, potatoes, sour cherries, commercial apples, and maple sugar and syrup, fifth in grapes and sweet cherries. Production was large also in pears, tobacco, timothy seed, rye, hay, winter wheat, and corn.

According to the 1940 Census of Agriculture, there were in Pennsylvania, as of April 1940, 169,027 farms comprising 14,594,134 A., with land and buildings valued at $864.199,795. Although the average size of these farms was 86.3 A., 127 of them extended to 1,000 A. or more.

The effect of the war on agriculture, may be seen already in Pennsylvania in a shortage of farm labor, the supply of which was only 56 per cent of the demand for the current year, whereas last year the supply was 93 per cent of the demand. The shortage was met partly by the employment of boys and elderly men, and the women of farm families.

The state ranks tenth in the Union for the number of milk cows, estimated at 923,000; sixth in the value of its milk cows ($73,840,000), and seventh in milk production (4,778,000,000 pounds).

Mineral Products.

Pennsylvania, despite occasional declines in production, ranks normally next to Texas, the leading state, in the value of her mineral wealth. The total value for 1939 was $532,355,651, an increase of $59,582,314 over the figure for 1938. Her rank is due largely to vast resources in both bituminous and anthracite coal. The war has already increased the output of these mineral products. The total production of bituminous coal in Pennsylvania for 1940 was 112,907,000 net tons, ranking Pennsylvania second among the states. Production of anthracite was 51,484,640 net tons, valued at $205,490,000, a decrease of only 2,737 tons compared with the 51,487,377 tons produced in 1939, valued at $187,175,000. The production of anthracite for the first ten months of 1941 (46,434,000 tons) showed an increase of 9 per cent above the same period in 1940. It is estimated that total production for 1941 will approximate 56,000,000 tons, the largest since 1934.

The anthracite industry was benefited by several important developments in 1940. The first of these was the voluntary anthracite production control, or allocation plan, approved by the Governor in January. Next a scheme was devised to end illicit, or 'bootleg,' coal. Finally a more stable price situation developed, which enabled producers to realize higher prices in 1940 than in 1939.

Increased production of steel, for which Pennsylvania ranks first, reflected defense needs in 1940, with 18,469,170 tons of open-hearth and 1,366,017 tons of Bessemer. Coke production, and cement, for each of which the state also takes first place, increased in 1940 to 14,861,700 tons for the former, and 27,499,786 bbl. for the latter. Petroleum was close to the 1939 figure, at 17,353,000 bbl. Although figures for 1940 are not yet available, natural gas continues to be a Pennsylvania product of approximately equal value with petroleum, each having added in 1939 about $35,000,000 to the state's mineral resources.

Industry.

According to the Bureau of the census in 1939, there were in Pennsylvania 13,801 plants (with an annual production of more than $5,000) engaged in manufacturing. They employed 858,296 wage earners, who received $1,003,349,392; and 105,977 salaried employees who received $253,221,190. The total products were valued at $5,475,925,482.

Among the leading industries in 1939, with the value of their products, were the following: electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies, $178,262,200; newspapers, periodicals, and job printing, $171,259,700; ingots — iron and steel — $152,278,400; bread and other bakery products, $132,326,200; slaughtering and meat packing, $114,271,600; clothing — men's, $88,067,100; women's and children's, $78,332,000.

Statistics for manufacturing in the city of Philadelphia show a decrease of 117 in the number of plants, from 1939 to 1940, but increases of 12,095 in the average number of employees, $28,936,600 in payrolls and $165,978,900 in the value of products.

Legislative Matters.

The 134th regular session of the Pennsylvania Legislature, which convened on Jan. 7 and adjourned on July 18, 1941, was unusually long. Of the 2,460 bills introduced, 497 were approved by both Houses and 428 were signed by the Governor. Among the laws passed by the Legislature may be mentioned the creation of a State Council of Defense and of a Pennsylvania Reserve Defense Board, to meet the needs arising from the war. Subversive groups were banned from the Pennsylvania election ballot and from the public payrolls and relief lists. Laws were also made to legalize the tonnage quota plan aimed to eliminate free-lance mining of anthracite coal; and to prevent price wars, laws were passed which allow the large oil companies to fix the price of gasoline. (See also INTERNATIONAL LAW)

Finance.

The 1941 Legislature passed appropriations which totaled $408,101,590.27; of this sum Governor James vetoed $50,989,723.87, leaving $357,111,866.40 for approved expenditures. The state's fiscal program aroused considerable controversy which ended, after five months debate, in a compromise. This included the enactment of the Administration's $542,000,000 budget, plus $16,500,000 requested by the Democrats for state operation of 12 county hospitals. The Earle emergency taxes, estimated to yield $188,075,000 during the 1941-'43 period, were re-enacted. The sum of $106,023,000 for relief was appropriated. This is to be supplemented by $15,000,000 more in 1942, if tax receipts show such as increase over the estimated returns.

On June 30, 1941, there were in Pennsylvania 687 national banks, with total assets of $3,877,073,000; 399 financial institutions under state supervision, with resources of $3,391,168,556; 166 banks with resources of $278,079,155; 8 savings banks, resources, $680,682,796; and 16 private banks, resources, $24,899,694. Banking business showed a definite improvement, as may be seen by comparing the figures of last year.

Events of Interest.

On Feb. 25, 1941, Efrem Zimbalist was chosen to succeed Randall Thompson as director of the Curtis Institute of Music. On March 17 Marian Anderson, Negro contralto, was given the annual Bok Philadelphia Award of $10,000.

The Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered the first 28-ton tank to the Army on April 24. On the 15th of May the U.S.S. Washington, 35,000 tons, was commissioned at the Navy Yard. On June 6 the U.S.S. Terror, a mine layer, was launched 16 months ahead of schedule. The formal opening of the Cramps Shipyard was held on Sept. 6. During the first four days after war started 13,000 applied for military service from Pennsylvania.

On June 14th Robert L. Johnson, N. Y. publisher, was chosen president of Temple University to succeed Dr. Chas. E. Beury. On July 22 Mayor Lamberton of Philadelphia died suddenly, and the next day Bernard Samuel was sworn in as acting mayor. On Nov. 28. Dr. Katharine McBride was appointed President of Bryn Mawr College, as successor to Dr. Marion Edwards Park.

State Officers.

Governor, Arthur Horace James; Lieutenant Governor, Samuel S. Lewis; Secretary of the Commonwealth, Sophia M. R. O'Hara; Treasurer, G. Harold Wagner; Auditor General, F. Clair Ross; Attorney General, Claude T. Reno; Secretary of Revenue, Walter J. Kress; Secretary of Agriculture, John H. Light; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Francis B. Haas.

United States Senators:

James J. Davis, Joseph F. Guffey.