1941: Vermont

Area and Population.

Vermont ranks 42nd in size among the states, with an area of 9,609 sq. mi., including 331 sq. mi. of inland water surface, according to remeasurements of the United States undertaken for the 16th census in 1940. In population it ranks 45th, numbering 359,231 according to the 1940 census. The principal cities are Burlington, 27,686; Rutland, 17,082; Barre, 10,909. Montpelier, the capital, has a population of 8,006.

Vermont was admitted into the Union March 3, 1791, becoming the fourteenth state, or the first after the original thirteen. The sesquicentennial of this event was celebrated in 1941 in nearly every town throughout the state by appropriate exercises.

Education.

Public elementary schools during 1940-1941 numbered 1,182, with 44,524 pupils and 1,954 teachers. Public secondary schools numbered 92, with 606 teachers and 16,637 pupils. The number of children of school age (5-17 yrs.) was 75,900. State expenditures for public schools by the State Department of Education amounted to $935,397. Local school expenditures were $5,245,499. The average teacher's salary was $991.

Special matters of educational interest during 1941 included the appointment of an arts and crafts commission; an increase in all types of vocational education; a sharp increase in defense education, resulting in placing over 600 men and boys in defense jobs; a shortage of teachers in vocational, special and rural elementary fields; and a decline in elementary school enrollment for the fourth successive year. High school enrollment declined slightly for the first time in the last few decades.

The financial status of the University of Vermont required a special session of the Legislature in September 1941, at which a special appropriation of $260,000 for each of the ensuing two years was made to the University under certain conditions.

Mineral Products.

Although production of granite, the state's leading mineral, in 1940, was slightly below that of 1939, at 601,190 cu. ft., it was at the same time somewhat higher in value, at $2,039,960. Marble, for which Vermont ranks first in the Union, amounted in 1940 to 308,750 cu. ft., worth $1,331,024. Slate added the sum of $1,555,230 to the total value of the state's mineral resources.

Legislative Matters.

A special session of the 1941 Legislature was held in September, in addition to the regular session in January. Acts of especial interest related to the organization of a State Guard, erection of a new state office building, a referendum on the eligibility of women to serve as jurors, amendment of the divorce laws, construction of airports, serological tests of expectant mothers and marriage applicants, eradication of Bang's Disease, financial responsibility of automobile drivers, and uniform laws relating to the flag, to partnership and limited partnership, to sabotage, and simultaneous deaths.

State pay was voted for persons in military service by reason of the United States having become involved in 'armed conflict with the armed forces of another nation.'

Finance.

The net state debt on June 30, 1941, was $6,941,161.64. The total expenditures during the fiscal year amounted to $16,491,947, of which $6,531,229 was for highways and $2,893,468 for charities and relief. Payments for unemployment insurance amounted to about $2,000,000 during the year, paid to about 5,000 applicants.

Banking.

The total deposits in the forty-one State banks, 1940-41, amounted to $116,837,463 and showed an increase during the year of over $4,000,000.

State Officers.

Governor, William H. Wills; Lieutenant Governor, Mortimer R. Proctor; Secretary of State, Rawson C. Myrick; Treasurer, Thomas H. Cave; Auditor, David V. Anderson; Attorney General, Alban J. Parker; Commissioner of Education, Ralph E. Noble.

United States Senators:

Warren R. Austin, George D. Aiken.