Area and Population.
California extends for about 900 mi. along the Pacific Ocean, and includes approximately three-fifths of the western coast line. The width ranges from 150 to 350 mi. The state's 156,803 sq. mi. of surface present great topographical variety. About one-fourth is level land, found mostly in the Central Valley, drained by the two largest rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, and in the southern part of the state below Tehachapi Pass. California boasts the lowest depression in the country, Death Valley, nearly 300 ft. below sea level, and the highest peak, Mount Whitney, 14,496 ft. above the Pacific, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. About 50 per cent of the total area is publicly owned, and nearly half of this is made up of 18 national forests and 7 national parks and monuments. Most of the remaining public land is arid, much of it being desert.
The latitudinal range and topographical variations produce unusual diversity of climate and products. Most of the state has a distinct wet season and dry season; in the northwestern part, however, rain falls in summer as well as during the rest of the year; and in the southeastern corner rainfall is practically unknown. In the tillable valleys the precipitation must be supplemented by irrigation to produce crops.
According to the Federal census of April 1, 1940, the population was 6,907,387, and the largest three cities were Los Angeles, 1,496,792 (fifth in size in the country); San Francisco, 629,553, and Oakland, 304,909. Other large cities are San Diego, 203,341; Long Beach, 164,271, and Sacramento, the capital, 105,958. On Jan. 1, 1942, the California Taxpayers' Association estimated that the resident population had reached 7,350,000. The shifts of population within the state, caused largely by defense and war-production industries, resulted in rural loss and urban gain. In the San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco Bay areas the estimated increases in two years ranged as high as 100 per cent. The census of 1940 reported the population as 95.5 per cent white. The other 5 per cent comprised 124,306 Negroes; 93,717 Japanese; 39,556 Chinese; and 34,370 members of other races, including American Indians.
Education.
Education in the state was profoundly affected by the country's entrance into the war. The school registration for the fall term, 1942, was as follows: elementary grades, 797,748; high schools, 1,262,895; junior colleges, 108,448. This represented a marked decline in the upper school years over the preceding twelve months. By early October enrollment in most of the 25 or more junior colleges was from 10 to 50 per cent less than for 1941-42. Many of the senior colleges and the universities showed corresponding losses. The causes for the decline were to be found in the draft laws and in the lure of well-paying positions, especially in war industries.
Revolutionary changes likewise took place in the tempo and character of the education offered. Many special schools were set up for training in war industries and emergency service such as Red Gross activities. In some of the schools vacations were shortened and study courses condensed, to enable students to secure diplomas in shorter time. Special stress was given to American history, mathematics, science, mechanics, aviation, nutrition, physical training, industrial arts, and the Spanish, Portuguese, German and Japanese languages.
Agriculture.
Owing to the war, the state economy likewise underwent striking changes. Agriculture suffered from a succession of acute labor shortages, owing to the segregation of the Japanese, the draft, and industrial high wages. To supplement the crops, and to help save existing ones, great numbers of city dwellers planted 'victory' gardens, and also offered their services to the farmers. In many cases schools began their fall terms later than usual, and brief additional vacations were subsequently declared by school officers, to enable the students and teachers to help with the harvest.
The state's agricultural products range from the subtropical, such as cotton and citrus fruits, to the fruits, vegetables, and cereals common to the temperate zone. The Federal authorities counted much upon California to help supply additional food for the military forces. They looked also to the state for an important new agricultural product, rubber-producing guayule. The war caused guayule planting to expand rapidly beyond the experimental stage, and extensive acreages of it were set out in the coastal region near Watsonville, and in the San Joaquin Valley. Furthermore, there was marked gain in livestock and associated products, the cash value reported for 1941 being $390,373,000, with continued expansion in 1942.
Industry.
Industry experienced a transformation, through being largely converted into facilities for production of airplanes and ships and for processing basic metals vital to war. The most important shipyards were in the San Francisco Bay area, and the leading plane factories were in the southern part of the state, in or near San Diego and Los Angeles. From June 1, 1940, to July 1, 1942, California received Federal Government contracts for the building of ships and aircraft, totaling $1,509,094,000 and $3,590,826,000, respectively. It stood first among the states in this regard. In September 1942, manufacturing industries were employing 955,000 persons, as compared with 661,000 twelve months before. A large proportion of the new employees were women.
Defense.
After the country entered the war a State Council of Defense was appointed to cooperate with the national government. The State Guard was now needed for full-time duty, and Governor Culbert L. Olson called a special session of the Legislature to consider its reorganization and to provide funds for its needs. He asked that the Guard be increased to 25,000 and that $17,500,000 be appropriated for its support. The Legislature approved the increase in numbers, but voted less than $8,000,000 for pay and upkeep; and stipulated that the Guard should be more restricted in its functions than the Governor desired.
In the fall of 1942 nightly dimouts were required in most parts of the state. Some Japanese submarine attacks on American vessels took place close to California's shore line, and a few points on the southern and northern parts of the coast were bombed, but without much damage.
The outstanding event of the year, connected with the war, was the removal from their homes of 110,599 persons of Japanese ancestry, most of them residents of California. This was done as a military precaution, by orders from Lieutenant General J. L. DeWitt, under authority of President Roosevelt. Most of the people affected were nisei, or American citizens by birth (under Federal law foreign-born Orientals are banned from naturalization). Many socially-minded white Californians deplored the wholesale removal as not only unjust, but unnecessary to security, for they believed that nearly all of the evacuees were loyal to the United States.
Early in the spring the Japanese and Japanese-Americans were gathered in various centers, the largest being at the Santa Anita Race Track, near Arcadia in southern California. In these they were kept under military guard for several months, after which they were removed to relocation points farther east. Two of the permanent centers are in California — at Tule Lake, in the extreme northern part of the state, and Manzanar, near Mount Whitney, in the east central part. Here the evacuees were given more liberties than were permitted them at the assembly camps.
Finance.
The war brought a sharp change in the financial condition of the state, which had shown a deficit for some time. The income for the fiscal year ending June 1942, was the largest in California's history, and totaled $327,354,840, an increase of nearly $44,000,000 over the preceding twelve months. By the close of August the treasury had a general cash surplus of over $42,000,000. The chief cause of this unusual condition was increased private spending, made possible by high pay in the defense industries. The retail sales tax alone brought in $132,576,353. The large treasury surplus led to considerable demand for reduction of state taxes, but in the general election of November 3 the measure against the state income tax failed to pass.
Election.
In the election the outstanding development was the fact that California, following the national trend, swung back into the Republican column. That party gained control of both houses of the Legislature and of most of the state constitutional offices. In the gubernatorial campaign tax-reduction was perhaps the chief issue, and was promised by Earl Warren, Republican State Attorney General, who ran on both major tickets against the New Deal incumbent, Governor Olsen. Governor Warren's victory was almost a landslide.
State Officers.
Governor, Earl Warren; Lieutenant Governor, Frederick F. Houser; Secretary of State, Frank M. Jordan; Controller, Harry B. Wiley; Treasurer, Charles G. Johnson; Attorney General, Warren W. Kenny; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Walter F. Dexter.
United States Senators:
Hiram Johnson, Sheridan Downey.
