1942: Kansas

Area and Population.

The 'Sunflower State' is 13th in area among the states, with 82,158 sq. mi. It includes the official geographical center of the United States, near Lebanon, Smith Co., in the north central part. In population Kansas is 29th, with 1,801,028 (1940), of whom 60 per cent live on farms; 93.5 per cent are whites, with Germans predominating among the foreign-born. Kansas leads the nation in per capita wealth. The largest cities are Kansas City, 121,458; Wichita, 114,966 (1940 census; now actually over 200,000); Topeka, the capital, 67,833; and Hutchinson, 30,013.

Agriculture.

Kansas, throughout its history predominantly agricultural, is still largely so in area, as 84 per cent of its area is in farms; it is first among the states in wheat production; high in its percentage of rich arable land intensively cultivated; has great areas of cattle country in the western part of the state, and the finest grazing land in the nation, in the Flint Hills in the southeast central section.

The State Department of Agriculture reported that although 1941 was the best crop year in two generations, 1942 was even better; conditions for growth and yield were phenomenally good. All crops were 21 per cent above 1941, and 74 per cent above the 1936-40 average. The hay crop was the best in 14 years, flax production the best in 51 years, and the soybean crop more than four times that of the best previous season. The two major crops of wheat and corn were far above the ten-year average in both quantity and yield. In wheat the average yield of 19.5 bu. an acre was surpassed only in 1882 and 1914, with 20 bu. to the acre. The average yield in corn was 28.5 bu. to the acre, the highest in 17 years. The total agricultural income in 1942 was 68 per cent greater than in 1941.

Wheat production in 1942 was 206,775,000 bu., the second largest crop in the history of the state, and almost one-fifth of the national crop; corn totaled 84,847,000 bu.; oats, 43,936,000 bu.; grain sorghums, 21,021,000 bu., second in the Union.

All crops and livestock produce an annual income of about half a billion dollars. In 1942 about 62 per cent came from livestock, and 38 per cent from crops.

The State Department also reported that the former 'dust-bowl area,' comprising nearly 9,000,000 acres of powder-dry land suffering from wind erosion as recently as 1937, produced in 1942 nearly half of the year's second largest wheat crop in Kansas history. This was in addition to a tremendous feed crop.

The farm picture in Kansas has, however, one very dark side — the shortage of farm labor. The draft and the high pay in defense plants have combined to take so much needed help from the farms that the making of silage, harvesting of corn, grain sorghums, sugar beets, and orchard fruits, the planting of winter wheat, and the milking of dairy herds, became difficult or impossible for many operators of farms throughout the state. The Federal agricultural statistician for Kansas reported as early as September 1942 a prospect of 10,400 farms being useless for 1943 crop production — nearly a 7 per cent reduction in the number of farms. Women and school children are being employed on the farms, Japanese labor asked for, and neighborhood crews pooled, in a desperate attempt to stem the rising tide of auctions of farm equipment, stock, and land.

Minerals.

In mineral production Kansas ranks seventh in the Union. It is the only state that has the three natural heat sources — coal, oil, and gas — in quantity. Petroleum products now constitute a major industry in Kansas, next to agriculture and its meat-packing industry; in this regard the state ranks fourth in the nation. Here are two of the largest natural gas fields in the world; the Hugoton field has a daily flow of 2,000,000,000 cu. ft. Oil fields cover the state from the northeastern corner to the Colorado line, with the oil capital at Wichita. War needs have developed a daily run worth $300,000. One of the richest potential fields of helium gas in the country is here. Zinc is abundant, the state ranking third in the nation. Salt is present in quantity sufficient, it is estimated, to supply all the needs of the country for half a million years. Lead is abundant. Coal is important, as more than 3,000,000 tons a year are mined in 'strip-mines,' from layers near the surface. In this connection Kansas has in operation the world's largest electric shovel. Chalk is being mined in large quantities. The state has large deposits of fine pottery clays. Mineral products total more than $165,000,000 yearly.

Education.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction reports for 1940-41 a school population (ages 5 to 21) of 471,760, and a total enrollment of 357,544, of whom 246,837 were in grades 1 to 8, and 110,707 in high schools; in 7,241 districts. The superintendents, principals, and teachers employed numbered 18,730, as follows: In grade schools, 12,111, with an average salary of $793 (5,893 one-teacher schools, average salary $540); in high schools, 6,299 (in junior high schools 1,139, average salary $1,311; in senior high schools, 5,160, average salary $1,365).

Enrollment in 179 private and parochial schools was 15,314 (grade 11,986, high schools 3,328).

Total school expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1941, were $29,802,037; including teachers' salaries, $19,585,199; and transportation of pupils $865,176. Public School libraries contain 3,163,557 volumes.

One important change in public education throughout the state was reported in December by the legislative research bureau, which found that 1,611 elementary schools, about one-fifth of the rural school districts of the state, were not closed in 1942, to reduce costs through consolidation, and to improve educational advantages for rural children.

Finance.

The state auditor reported a highly solvent condition in the financial affairs of the state. His report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1942, included these items in a general revenue; receipts, $10,709,735; warrants issued, $9,046,805; cash balance June 30, 1942, $3,989,774; appropriations for 1941-42, $10,734,807. Receipts from the cigarette tax amounted to $450,362; from the retail sales tax, $6,779,051. Unemployment compensation benefits totaled $2,420,000. The grand totals for all special funds were: receipts, $53,402,517; available for the fiscal year, $80,724,323; warrants issued, $48,005,605; unexpended cash balance, $32,705,304.

The total state government indebtedness as of July 1, 1942, was $12,360,000. This was being liquidated at the rate of a million dollars a year.

Public assistance in August, 1942, was given to 48,915 families (7.2 per cent fewer than in August 1941), in the amount of $1,225,926, averaging $25.06 per family (an increase of 15.5 per cent). Of these families, 30,970 were given old-age assistance, in the sum of $718,026; and 6,497 families received aid to dependent children.

Banks and Banking.

The state bank commissioner reported a generally excellent condition throughout the state, with no bank failures in the two years ending Sept. 1, 1942. There were 10 voluntary liquidations, 7 mergers, and 2 new charters issued. The state has 277 insured state banks, 188 non-insured, 1 private bank, 5 trust companies, and 106 credit unions. The resources reported by the state banks Aug. 31, 1942, included loans and discounts of $100,570,737, United States Government obligations, $51,500,293, and cash balances with other banks, $113,308,450; amounting to total resources of $285,167,610. The liabilities of the state banks included: deposits, $256,835,718; capital stock, $13,427,000; surplus $9,799,839; undivided profits, $4,506,257; and reserves $383,722.

Industry.

Manufacturing in Kansas now equals agriculture in importance, with an annual output worth approximately half a billion dollars. The state leads in flour-milling, producing nearly one-sixth of the national output, worth approximately $75,000,000. It has the largest grain elevator in the world. It ranks sixth in meat packing, the leading industry, with an output worth approximately $150,000,000. Dairy products are processed to the value of some $30,000,000. In 1940 wages paid totaled $57,141,621. In 1941 Kansas was fourth in the nation in its percentage increase of income over 1940 — 34.6 per cent.

Defense.

National defense produced in 1942 a huge increase and a striking change in the industrial picture. Kansas became the center of the vast midland activity in defense industries. During the fiscal year ending June 30, two and a half billion dollars were spent in the state on war supply and facility contracts. The state is third in the Union in aircraft contracts. Fourteen air bases are under construction, including 2 for the Navy, and 12 for the Army. The base at Salina is one of the three largest in the country. The largest cavalry replacement training center in the world is at Fort Riley. Three huge ordnance plants are in full operation: a $21,000,000 ammonium nitrate plant at Pittsburg; a $100,000,000 powder and TNT plant at Eudora; and a $35,000,000 shell-loading plant at Parsons. At Pittsburg is the Federal ammonium nitrate plant, the largest in the country, reclaiming mine refuse to produce sulphuric acid from iron pyrites.

Several hundred small private plants are working on war contracts aggregating $50,000,000. No accurate labor census is available; but estimates indicate 60,000 to 75,000 workers in war industries alone.

Events of the Year.

The event of the year in Kansas was the transformation of most of the activity in the state to all-out organization to win the war. This conversion involved a transformation in the economic life of the entire commonwealth, and this radical change came in one of the state's greatest crop years, with no diminution in agricultural activity.

The national drive for metal scrap was so enthusiastically participated in throughout the state that Kansas led the nation with 142,814 tons, or 163.82 lb. per capita.

The November election was generously Republican in its outcome. In a total vote of 507,929 (slightly more than half the vote of two years before), the Republican candidate for governor, Andrew Schoeppel, was elected by 75,824 plurality. All the other Republican candidates for state offices were elected by large majorities. United States Senator Arthur Capper was reelected by 83,622; and all six of the Republican candidates for Congress were elected.

State Officers.

Governor, Andrew Schoeppel; Lieutenant Governor, J. C. Denious; Secretary of State, Frank J. Ryan; Auditor, George Robb; Treasurer, Walter E. Wilson; Attorney General, A. Baldwin Mitchell; Superintendent of Public Instruction, George L. McClenny.

United States Senators:

Arthur Capper, Clyde M. Reed.