1942: Colorado

Area and Population.

Colorado lies in the central portion of the western half of the United States, at a mean altitude of 6,800 ft. above sea level, and is bisected from north to south by the main range of the Rocky Mountains. It has an area of 104,247 sq. mi., of which 280 sq. mi. consist of surface waters.

The population in 1940 was 1,123,296, the proportion being 52.6 per cent urban to 47.4 per cent rural. The native-born accounted for 1,051,732 or 93.6 per cent, compared with 90.4 per cent in 1930. The white population was 1,106,502, or 98.5 per cent. The foreign-born population decreased from 99,875 in 1930 to 71,564 in 1940, of whom 15.9 per cent were Russians, 11.9 per cent Italians, 10 per cent Germans, and 9 per cent Mexicans.

The principal cities according to rank are Denver, the capital and principal city, population 322,412; Pueblo, 52,162; Colorado Springs, 36,789; Greeley, 15,995; Trinidad, 13,223; and Boulder, 12,958.

Education.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction reported a school population in 1941, between 6 and 21 years, of 312,722. The number of elementary or common schools was 2,327, with an enrollment of 149,145; 140 junior high schools, enrollment 31,273; and 356 high schools, enrollment 23,979. Total expenditures aggregated 24,260,509. Average teachers' salaries were: elementary, $1,098; junior high, $1,554; high schools, $1,566.

Agriculture.

The indicated production of agricultural products in 1942 shows substantial increases over 1941 in all principal items except wheat, which had an indicated decrease of 1.1 per cent, and grain sorghums with a decrease of 18.2 per cent. Nineteen products listed go far ahead of the 10-year averages. Corn production in 1942 approximated 18,324,000 bu., a gain of 18 per cent over 1941; barley, 17,250,000 bu., increase 10.8 per cent; potatoes, 16,415,000 bu., increase 27.1 per cent; sugar beets, 2,424,000 tons, increase 19.9 per cent. Goals, not allotments, recommended for Colorado in 1943 by Claude R. Wickard, Secretary of Agriculture, on an acreage basis, range from 70 per cent of the 1942 crop for rye to 146 per cent for dry peas. Decreases were recommended for wheat, rye, barley and hay. Increases to 117 per cent are recommended for sugar beets and potatoes, and from 110 to 115 per cent for poultry.

Industry.

Denver building permits for eleven months of 1942 amounted to $6,360,387, a decrease of $8,076,660 or 55.9 per cent, compared with the same period in 1941. The permits do not include the construction of military establishments, which was extremely heavy, mostly outside the cities. To facilitate this work the government requisitioned for several months the entire output of all cement plants in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Manufacturing was to a large extent converted to war industries, including prefabrication, in a number of shops, of merchant ships for the British, which are assembled in California shipyards. The activities of the Federal Government through regional offices located in Denver were greatly expanded in 1942, there being more than 190 regional offices from which operations were conducted in western states.

Denver retail sales for the first nine months were 11 per cent ahead of the same period in 1941 and stocks on Sept. 30 were 34 per cent larger than on the same date in the preceding year. The retail sales tax (2 per cent) for the calendar year of 1941 amounted to $8,354,587, an increase of 13.3 per cent over 1940. The service tax (2 per cent) was $1,316,455 for 1941, an increase of 9.3 per cent. The state income tax amounted to $3,543,431, an increase of 5.1 per cent over the calendar year of 1940.

Political Matters.

No session of the Legislature was held in 1942, the thirty-fourth General Assembly being scheduled to convene in January 1943. The new Legislature will be predominantly Republican, with 22 Republicans, 11 Democrats and two vacancies in the Senate, and 55 Republicans and 10 Democrats in the House. The Republicans elected six of the seven executive officers in the 1942 election, the Superintendent of Public Instruction being the only Democrat elected. The Congressional delegation from Colorado will include one Democrat and one Republican in the Senate, as against two Democrats in the last Congress; and one Democrat and three Republicans in the House as compared with four Democratic representatives in 1939.

Finance.

State finances are in a most favorable condition. It is estimated that the surplus, as of June 30, 1943, will be approximately $1,930,000, after all bills are paid. The budget to be submitted to the next Legislature will be pared to meet anticipated decreases in revenues. A decrease of 50 per cent in gasoline taxes is anticipated, due to rationing. This will curtail highway funds, as part of the revenue from gasoline taxes is obligated for the payment of maturing principal and interest on highway anticipation warrants. The highway department will confine itself largely to maintenance work in 1943. State administrative costs are scheduled for some curtailment.

The state unemployment compensation fund at the end of 1941 amounted to $13,130,680, after payment of $2,223,051 in benefits during the year. Expenditures for all welfare purposes in 1941 were $22,654,046, of which $17,032,328 was for old-age pensions and burials, and the remainder, after the transfer of $566,519 to the general fund, was distributed for aid to dependent children, the blind, child welfare, direct relief, and miscellaneous activities.

State Officers.

Governor, John C. Vivian; Lieutenant Governor, William E. Higby; Secretary of State, Walter F. Morrison; Treasurer, Leon E. Lovington; Auditor, James L. Bradley; Attorney General, Gail L. Ireland; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Inez Johnson Lewis.

United States Senators:

Edwin Johnson, Eugene D. Millikin.