1942: New Mexico

Area and Population.

New Mexico, forty-seventh state to join the Union, has a total area of 122,503 sq. mi., including thousands of square miles in Indian reservations, national forests and bombing ranges. The average density is approximately 4.37 persons per sq. mi. The state had a total population of 531,818, according to the 1940 census. There are five cities with populations exceeding 10,000, namely: Albuquerque, 35,449; Santa Fe (capital), 20,325; Roswell, 13,482; Hobbs, 10,619; and Clovis, 10,065. English and Spanish-speaking whites constitute nearly nine tenths of the total population, the remainder consisting mostly of American and Mexican Indians. There are a few scattered Negroes, and some Asiatic and European aliens.

Education.

Greater concentration of population in the cities, due to war activities and transportation difficulties, together with a decreased teacher personnel, caused considerable dislocation in the state's educational program during 1942. Decreased income from sources of school revenues has likewise become a pressing problem. With an average school term of 175 days, New Mexico has an average salary for principals, teachers, and school supervisors of $1,144. Receipts of the current school fund for the year ending June 30, 1942, amounted to $1,513,652.82.

The 1942 school census reports 79,065 inhabitants of elementary school age in municipal areas, and 67,523 in rural school districts. Actual enrollment figures include 73,089 in municipal public schools, 58,253 in rural schools, and 9,879 in private and parochial schools. Total expenditures for the municipal schools for the year ended June 30, 1942, amounted to $5,737,214.28, and for the rural schools, $4,118,476.33. Curricula revisions to meet wartime problems were the principal matter of special interest in the educational field.

Agriculture and Industry.

Labor shortages developed during 1942 in the cotton and peanut-growing sections of the state. In some cases schools were temporarily closed during the autumn to permit children to help with the harvest. Several hundred Mexican laborers were brought in to assist with cotton picking in southern parts of the state. The state reported 554,039 acres of land under irrigation during the year.

The value of minerals produced in the state during the thirty-first fiscal year (1942) totalled $38,811,331, an increase of $5,590,201 over the preceding year. The total number of persons employed in the mines was 4,686, a decrease of 111. Coal mines produced 1,578,718 tons, an increase over 1941 of 388,438 tons. The total number of mine employees increased from 1,662 to 1,746 during the year. Of a total value of $43,913,937 in minerals produced in the state, $24,885,621 was reported from Grant County.

Political and Other Events.

A hair-splitting Democratic primary race between Robert Valdez, state corporation commissioner, and Antonio Fernandez, state public service commissioner, for New Mexico's newly apportioned second seat as representative in Congress, spotlighted the political scene for weeks following the primaries in August. The doubt was finally resolved in favor of Fernandez by the State Canvassing Board, which issued certificate of nomination to him by 45 votes, after rejecting 68 votes cast for Valdez in one contested precinct. Substantial Republican gains were noted in some counties during the November general election, and the G.O.P. won many local, county and district offices previously held by Democrats. The state as a whole, however, went strongly Democratic and a complete slate of Democratic officials was returned to state offices. There were no regular or special sessions of the Legislature during 1942.

Finances.

New Mexico began to feel the effect of sharply reduced income from its gas and oil industries, and from reduced tourist business, during the closing months of the year. The state ended its thirtieth fiscal year, June 30, 1942, with a total indebtedness of $24,915,500. This figure includes $22,225,000 in outstanding highway debentures, payable from gasoline-tax receipts and motor-vehicle license fees, and $625,000 in public defense certificates of indebtedness payable from property taxes. The state's expenditures totalled $32,868,697.47 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1942. Receipts for the year were $32,230,374.91.

State Officers.

Governor, John J. Dempsey; Lieutenant Governor, J. B. Jones; Secretary of State, Cecelia T. Cleveland; Treasurer, Guy Shepard; Auditor, J. D. Hannah; Attorney General, Edward P. Chace; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Georgia L. Lusk.

United States Senators:

Dennis Chavez, Carl A. Hatch.