1942: Georgia

Area and Population.

One of the thirteen original states, Georgia is now popularly called 'The Empire State of the South.' The area is 58,876 sq. mi., including 358 sq. mi. of inland water surface. Of the population of 3,123,723, native whites number 2,026,362, or 64.9 per cent; Negroes 1,084,927, or 34.7 per cent. Foreign-born whites total only 11,916.

The largest city is Atlanta, the capital, with a population of 302,288. The next largest cities in order are: Savannah, 95,996; Augusta, 65,919; and Macon, 57,865.

Education.

There are in Georgia 1,277,113 persons of school age (5-24 years). In 1941-42 there were 769,835 pupils enrolled in the 2,258 white and 3,296 Negro public schools of Georgia. Of these, 626,053 were in elementary schools and 141,880 in secondary schools. Of the white public schools, 964 include high-school grades; of the 3,296 Negro schools, 520 have high-school grades. The latest available figures show 16,822 elementary teachers employed (10,912 white; 5,910 Negro); and 5,957 high-school teachers (5,067 white; 890 Negro). In 1940 the average annual salary for white teachers was $886.81; Negro, $398.26. In 1941-42 the annual average salary for all was stated to be $839.89 by the State School Superintendent. On Sept. 10, 1942, Governor Eugene Talmadge issued a blanket order increasing the salaries of Georgia public school teachers 25 per cent, amounting to a total cost to the state of approximately $3,500,000. Total budget appropriations for the State Department of Education for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1942, amounted to $16,490,984.42.

Agriculture.

The total number of farms in Georgia in 1940 amounted to 216,033, a decrease of 15.5 per cent since 1930. The total value of farms (land and buildings) was $480,344,531; average value per farm, $2,223; and average value per acre, $20.28. Georgia claims to have been the first state in the Union to establish an agricultural experiment station.

In 1942 Georgia had the best crop year since 1919. The total value of crops amounted to $268,475,000, compared with $185,093,000 in 1941. The increase was due to higher prices, and larger production of cotton (860,000 bales), peanuts (675,000,000 lb.), tobacco (59,860,000 lb.), corn (39,160,000 bu.), and some minor crops. The peach crop was valued at $10,810,000.

Industry.

The census of manufactures for 1939 estimated the total value of Georgia's manufactures at $677,402,657, compared with $708,652,841 for 1937. The value added by manufacture for 1939 was $283,616,138. The total number of establishments had increased from 2,875 in 1937 to 3,150 in 1939. Leading manufactures for the state are, in the following order: cotton goods, cotton yarn and thread; food and kindred products; paper and allied products; meat packing products; fertilizers; sawmill products.

Political Events.

The state Legislature was not in session during 1942. The chief political event of the year was the Democratic gubernatorial primary of Sept. 9, when Attorney General Ellis G. Arnall ran against Governor Eugene Talmadge, who was seeking renomination for the new four-year term (term of office had previously been two years). Mr. Arnall defeated Governor Talmadge by a popular vote of 174,198 to 127,488; in primaries, however, candidates are nominated not by popular vote but by county unit votes, and Arnall polled 261 unit votes to 149 for Talmadge. In the November general election Arnall was elected over minor opposition. The principal campaign issue was loss of the accredited rating of Georgia's University System due to alleged political interference by Governor Talmadge, in connection with the question of co-education for Negroes and whites in colleges. Arnall pledged the restoration of the accredited status. In December he appeared before the accrediting body, the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, and presented his plan to remedy the difficulties of the University System. The Association immediately empowered its executive committee to restore the suspended units of the University System to their full accredited standing, retroactive to Sept. 1, 1941—the date of suspension—upon the recommendation of a special committee, and when the Legislature corrects by statute the conditions leading to the suspension of the units.

Finance.

Total state treasury receipts from taxes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1942, amounted to $56,453,937.21. Receipts from departmental regulatory fees and sales amounted to $1,869,189.20, and miscellaneous receipts to $570,441.68. Total receipts were $58,893,568.09, an increase of $6,462,377.28 over the preceding year. The chief sources of tax receipts were, in order: motor fuel tax, $25,389,918.22; income tax, $11,286,169.32; general property tax, $3,719,158.77; cigar and cigarette tax, $3,576,393.48; alcoholic beverage tax, $2,969,636.14. Total budget appropriations for the year amounted to $48,754,341.26 for operations, and $8,321,890.93 for debt payments. Large appropriations in addition to those for education include: Department of Highways, $18,501,261.95; public health, $600,000; public welfare benefits, $3,150,000; state institutions, $2,171,304.31.

Relief expenditures in Georgia for the period from January to December, 1941, amounted to $488,189.11; from January to June, 1941, $241,260.02. WPA expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1942, totalled $16,879,000 plus $655,000 for administrative purposes. In June, 1942, 66,195 old-age assistance awards were made, amounting to $585,952. In the three years from June 30, 1939, to June 30, 1942, 237,000 persons received $15,026,744 in unemployment insurance benefits.

On June 30, 1942, there were 240 state banks in Georgia, with deposits amounting to $219,383,000; loans, $109,205,000; investments, $49,358,000. On the same date there were 50 national banks with deposits of $351,044,000; loans, $159,333,000; investments, $140,613,000.

State Officials.

Governor, Ellis G. Arnall; Secretary of State, John B. Wilson; Comptroller General, Homer C. Parker; Treasurer, George B. Hamilton; Auditor, B. E. Thrasher; Attorney General, T. Grady Head; Superintendent of Schools, M. D. Collins.

United States Senators;

Walter F. George, Richard B. Russell, Jr.