1942: Indiana

Area and Population.

Indiana, which is one of the North Central group of states, has an area of 36,555 sq. mi., of which 510 sq. mi. are inland water surface. The four Indiana ports on Lake Michigan: Gary, Buffington, East Chicago and Michigan City, handle an immense tonnage from the Great Lakes, and occasionally harbor an oceangoing vessel. Cities on the Ohio River, especially Evansville, New Albany and Jeffersonville, which are building boats for the armed forces, have heavy river freight business, but the former passenger service has been discontinued.

The population, 3,427,796 in 1940, increased in 1941 and 1942 in spite of losses in rural districts and to the armed services of the country. The census of 1940 listed 99 urban places containing 55.1 per cent of the population. Indianapolis, the capital and leading industrial and commercial city, in 1940 had a population of 386,972; the population of its metropolitan area as of May 1, 1942, was estimated as 492,000; the same figures for Fort Wayne were 118,410 and 165,000 respectively, for South Bend 101,268 and 167,000. Gary, the third city in 1940, with a population of 111,719, is included in the Chicago metropolitan area. Among other important cities are Evansville, 97,062; Hammond, 70,184; and Terre Haute, 62,693.

The 1940 census reported 3,305,323 white persons in the state as 96.4 per cent of the whole; and 121,916 Negroes as 3.6 per cent.

Education.

The number of inhabitants of school age, 6 to 19 inclusive, was 813,534 in 1940, a decrease of 19,336 from 1930. The decrease continued through 1942, one of the results of a declining birthrate. There are 2,793 elementary schools, and 866 high schools in the state, with 461,968 enrolled in the former and 192,147 in the latter. The total enrollment in 1942 was 669,148, in comparison with the estimated total number of school age of a little over 800,000.

The state government distributed to the public schools in the year ending June 30, 1942, the sum of $19,961,191. The gross expenditures of both state and local units for public schools was $67,971,457. The average annual salary of teachers in elementary and high schools was $1,373.

Among the principal educational developments in 1942 were these: a Division of Guidance was established in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction; a system of tests for aptitudes was established for all high school juniors and seniors, leading to reports on their special abilities and advice on their future course, whether in armed forces, agriculture, industry, trade or continued education; and special provision was made, in accordance with a law of 1941, for 'character education.'

Agriculture.

On the whole, climatic conditions were favorable to agriculture throughout the year. There were no disastrous floods nor destructive storms. Production in nearly all crops was well above the average of preceding years. In 1940, of an approximate land area of 23,153,920 acres, 85 per cent (19,800,778 acres) was in farms. Through abandonment of submarginal lands, the use of approximately 210,000 acres for armed services, munition making and storage, and through labor shortage, the amount of land under cultivation was appreciably decreased in 1942. Agriculture is extremely diversified in Indiana; the state produces nearly all the grains, vegetables and fruits which grow in temperate climates. Among the most distinctive crops, are tomatoes and peppermint. Truck farming has attained a high degree of productivity in the muck lands of northern Indiana. Central Indiana, north of Indianapolis, specializes in heavy draft horses. Throughout the state the increase of acreage devoted to soy beans was continued in 1942.

Industry.

The Census Bureau's 'Industrial Classification' for 1940, released June 25, 1942, showed 1,151,703 persons over 14 engaged in Indiana in all industries, including 205,318 in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 13,470 in mining, 50,206 in construction, 345,585 in manufacturing, 80,181 in transportation, communication and other public utilities, 188,178 in wholesale and retail trade, 80,551 in professional and related services, and 32,779 in government. The year 1942 was marked by the expansion of plants established in 1941 for the manufacture and storage of ammunitions, such as the naval ordnance works at Kingsbury, the powder plant at Charlestown; the establishment of new plants, such as the ordnance works in Vermillion County and the tank armor casting factory at East Chicago; and the tremendous increase of war work in older industrial plants now largely converted to such uses.

The number of persons engaged in 1942 in public emergency work and war production was greater than that in any other field, and manufacturing, which had outstripped agriculture more than twenty years ago, greatly increased its lead. Production of oil in the Indiana section of the Eastern Interior Basin centering in Evansville was between 16,000 and 17,000 bbl. per day by the end of the year.

Defense.

Camp Atterbury, between Franklin and Columbus, the largest military training camp in the state, with an airfield attached, was completed in 1942. A large naval reserve flying school at Peru is nearing completion.

Finance.

Among the most significant figures for the year ending June 30, 1942, were these: gross income tax collections, $33,739,323 ($32,171,826 for the calendar year 1942, an increase of $3,275,111 over 1941); total receipts of state treasury, $170,253,883; disbursements, $160,702,091; balance, $55,657,803. The state itself has no debt, though there are bonds outstanding against the state universities and some other state institutions. General relief expenditures in the fiscal year ending June 30 were $40,398,642; unemployment compensation paid $10,590,036.

On June 30, 1942, there were 379 state banks in operation with a total capital of $60,750,000 and deposits of $576,008,000; and 121 national banks with deposits of $707,608,855. State chartered building and loan associations numbering 184 had assets of $92,095,211 at the close of 1941; Federal savings and loan associations, $105,321,000.

Political Events.

There was no session of the General Assembly in 1942. The result of the election of members for the 83rd Session of the State Legislature was an increased Republican majority in both the House of Representatives (Republicans 82, Democrats 18) and the Senate (Republicans 38, Democrats 12). The four-year terms of Governor Henry F. Schricker, Democrat, and Lieutenant Governor Charles M. Dawson, Republican, run until January, 1945. The other elective executive and administrative officers have two-year terms. The vote for Secretary of State is by law taken as the party vote; Ruel J. Alexander, Republican was elected by a vote of 699,061 to 578,970 cast for the Democratic candidate.

State Officers.

Governor, Henry F. Schricker; Lieutenant Governor, Charles M. Dawson; Secretary of State, Maurice G. Robinson; State Treasurer, James M. Givens; Auditor, Richard T. James; Attorney General, James A. Emmert; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Clement C. Malan.

United States Senators:

Frederick Van Nuys, Raymond E. Willis.

1941: Indiana

Area and Population.

Admitted to statehood Dec. 11, 1816, Indiana ranks 37th in size among the states, with an area of 36,291 sq. mi., including 86 sq. mi. of inland water surface, according to remeasurements of the United States undertaken for the 16th census in 1940. In population it ranks 12th, numbering 3,427,796 according to the 1940 census. Indianapolis, the capital, is the largest city, with a population in 1940 of 386,972, and estimated at the end of 1941 to be more than 400,000. Other important cities — all manufacturing centers — with their populations in 1940 are: Fort Wayne, 118,410; Gary, 111,719; South Bend, 101,268; Evansville (whose city limits exclude a considerable metropolitan area), 97,062; Hammond, 70,184; Terre Haute, 62,693; East Chicago, 54,637; and Muncie, 49,720. The census of 1940 placed the center of population of the United States for the sixth time in Indiana — in Sullivan County, two miles southeast of Carlisle.

Education.

In the school year 1940-41 there were in Indiana 2,102 elementary schools, 674 combined elementary and high schools, and 165 senior, junior-senior, and junior high schools. The enrollment in elementary grades was 459,434; in secondary school grades 196,795. A college degree is now required for a license to teach in the elementary, as well as in the secondary grades. The state contributes $700 per teaching unit to the salary of elementary and high school teachers. The average salary of all teachers in 1940-41 was $1,321.15. The expenditure for public schools was $52,932,410; the tuition fund support for schools from the proceeds of the gross income tax was $13,677,300, and the total distributed to the schools by the state was $19,956,198.

Agriculture.

The marked shortage of precipitation noted in recent years continued in 1941. On Dec. 30 the Indianapolis office of the weather bureau reported an accumulated deficiency since Jan. 1 of 10.67 inches. The drought is being combatted by means of dams in the creeks and runs — the Indianapolis Water Company is building a ten-mile reservoir in Fall Creek, above the city — but in many parts of the state surface wells were dry for a considerable period during 1941, and farmers had to haul water. The extensive and growing use of hybrid corn for seed, has, among other results, largely offset the effect of the lack of moisture upon that crop.

Mineral Products.

National increases in industrial production during 1940, due to defense needs, were reflected in Indiana's figures for two special items in which the state ranks third in the Union: pig-iron and open-hearth steel. The latter rose to a total of 8,421,956 tons, compared with 6,486,502 in 1939; and shipments of the former advanced to 5,333,915 tons with a value of $97,407,800, compared with 3,780,364 tons valued at $68,164,618 in the previous year. Coal too was mined in greater quantities, totaling 18,565,000 tons; and production of coke, for which the state ranks also third, advanced to 6,412,700 tons, from 4,878,033 tons in 1939.

Legislation.

The biennial session of the General Assembly, January-March, was marked by the attempt of the Republican majority in both Houses to abolish the centralization of authority in the hands of the Governor, especially of appointive power, as effected in the McNutt administration. The present Governor is a Democrat. Bills were passed, over the Governor's veto, placing this power in three-men boards consisting of the Governor and two other elected officials (all of whom were Republicans). This, however, was declared unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court on June 26, and the appointive power remained with the Governor and the heads of the various departments and offices. The so-called 'reorganization act' of 1933, however, was repealed, and the highly centralized system it established was broken up. Prohibited also was the levying of contributions of a percentage of the salaries of state employees, by political organizations such as the 'two per cent club.'

A State Personnel Act established a merit system of appointment and tenure of office in the Department of Public Welfare (where such a system had already been effected to comply with Federal requirements), in the State Board of Health, the State penal, correctional and charitable institutions, the Library and Historical Department, and several other agencies.

The acquisition by the Federal Government largely through private subscriptions, of the Cox woods in Orange county, one of the few tracts of virgin timber left in Indiana, and the addition of 39,000 A. to Federal forests in 1940 and 1941, making a total of 72,465 A. approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission, were significant of the growth of the conservation movement. The year 1941 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the first state parks: Turkey Run, Centennial and McCormick Creek parks. The state now has more than 14,000 A. in state parks; well over 100,000 A. in state forests; and more than 110,000 A. in private ownership, in supervised forest land classification.

Defense.

Munition plants and other national defense works put into operation during the year were the powder plant at Charlestown, the largest in the world, the ordnance proving ground at Madison, the Kingsbury ordnance plant in La Porte County, and the Burns City powder storage plant. Construction of a naval ordnance plant near Indianapolis was begun in 1941, and other defense plants were projected. Contracts for military, naval, and aeronautic equipment were distributed among most of the manufacturing cities of the state, the largest aggregate being in Indianapolis.

Finances.

The total receipts of the state treasury, during the year July 1, 1940, to June 30, 1941, were $147,043,855; disbursements were $143,175,941. The state, as such, has no standing debt, but four state institutions had debts of $7,421,000 at the end of the fiscal year. The total debt of counties, cities and towns, townships and school units was $149,039,138, and the local special assessment debt of counties, cities and towns was $16,061,906.

The State Department of Public Welfare, in the year ending June 30, 1941, recorded payments for relief of $6,672,186; and for unemployment compensation, $6,717,499.

Banking.

On June 30 there were 382 state and 124 national banks in Indiana. The capital resources of the two groups amounted respectively to $59,517,849 and $51,840,441; deposits, $504,974,209, and $592,845,963; cash and balances with banks $180,798,422 and $233,082,918; U. S. government securities $116,959,487 and $173,243,067; state, county, and municipal bonds $21,731,582 and $35,879,860; general market bonds $27,461,467 and $30,567,039; loans and discounts $202,843,201 and $165,196,656.

State Officers.

Governor, Henry F. Schricker; Lieutenant-Governor, Charles M. Dawson; Secretary of State, James M. Tucker; Auditor, Richard T. James; Treasurer, James M. Givens; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Clement T. Malan; Attorney General, George N. Beamer.

United States Senators:

Frederick Van Nuys, Raymond E. Willis.

1940: Indiana

Area and Population.

Indiana Territory was formed in 1800, from the western portion of the Northwest Territory. From the large area originally included, Michigan was cut off in 1805 and Illinois in 1809. The state of Indiana was admitted into the Union on December 11, 1816. The land surface of the state is 36,045 sq. mi.; rivers and lakes (including the southeast corner of Lake Michigan) cover 510 sq. mi., making a total area of 36,555 sq. mi.

The 1940 census showed a population of 3,427,796, compared with 3,238,503 in the 1930 census, a gain of 3.5 per cent. Apparently the population center of the United States is still within Indiana, as it has been for fifty years. The principal cities, with the 1940 census figures are: Indianapolis, 386,972; Fort Wayne, 118,410; Gary, 111,719; South Bend, 101,268; Evansville, 97,002; Hammond, 70,184; Terre Haute, 62,693. Indications are that there have been larger increases in the number living outside of cities than within city limits, with a larger number both of farms and of suburban residences. The shrinking in the size of families is shown by the statistics of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis; there has been an increase of 13.8 per cent in the number of private households in the decade 1930-1940, while the population has increased only 5.5 per cent.

Education.

Through state aid to public schools, providing minimum salaries for teachers, opportunities for schooling have been afforded all children. The number of children in public schools from the kindergarten through high school, for the school year 1939-40, was 671,364, compared with 678,858 in 1938-39; of these, Negroes numbered 24,023 in 1939-40, and 23,924 in 1938-39. An additional 55,153 pupils were enrolled in parochial and private schools in 1939-40. The decline in the number of white children in public schools was greatest in the lower grades.

Current expenditures on public schools during 1939-40 were $52,419,960. The capital outlay of $6,438,825 was more than two million dollars less than the previous year. The consolidation of schools decreased the number in operation from 3,027 in the school year 1939-40, to 2,941 at the beginning of the school year 1940-41.

Industry and National Defense.

Our program of preparedness has involved, among many other developments, a phenomenal expansion of the Allison Engineering Company, a division of General Motors in Indianapolis, for the manufacture of liquid-cooled airplane engines: the construction of a fifty-million-dollar powder plant by the Du Pont Company, north of the Ohio River near Charlestown in Clark County; a thirteen-hundred acre shell-loading plant (known as the Kinsbury Ordnance Plant) at Union Center in La Porte County; an ordnance proving-ground seventeen miles long and between three and six miles wide in Jefferson, Jennings, and Ripley counties north of Madison; and a naval ammunition depot in Martin County, covering 48 sq. mi., for the service of the Atlantic fleet. At the close of the year 1940, other defense projects were approaching definite allocation.

Mineral Products.

During 1939 there was a general rise in production of Indiana's most important industrial mineral items. Coke, for which Indiana ranked second among the states in that year, amounted to 4,878,033 tons with a value of $28,532.944; of pigiron, for which the state ranks third, 3,375,325 tons valued at $68,164,618 were shipped, compared with 1,807,808 tons in 1938 valued at $37,025,980; and production of open-hearth steel totalled 5,791,520 tons, leaving Indiana still third in rank for that product. Bituminous coal was mined in the amount of 16,650,000 tons, compared with 14,758,484 tons in the preceding year.

Finance.

The Gross Income Tax returns afford a measure of the financial situation during the year. Returns from the Gross Income Tax for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940, were $23,538,225, compared with $19,981,968 in the year ending June 30, 1939. The most marked tendency of the financial policy in the state is the increase of subsidies by the state and Federal governments to local units. State funds distributed during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940, were $19,811,317 to the schools, and to other units $52,301,303.

Political and Legislative Matters.

The election of November 5 brought out the largest vote in the history of the state. Wendell L. Willkie, the Republican candidate for the presidency, a native son, born at Elwood, Indiana, received 99,466 votes; President Roosevelt, 874,063. Henry E. Schricker, Lieutenant-Governor and Democratic candidate for Governor, was the only Democrat to carry the state. He received 89,620 votes to 85,657 cast for Glen R. Hillis, his Republican opponent. The Republican majority in the presidential race was 25,403; the Democratic majority in the gubernatorial race, 3,963. The Communist party was refused a place on the ballots and on the voting machines.

Three constitutional amendments were passed in the election: (1) removing the constitutional requirement of double liability of stockholders in state banks; (2) the twenty-year limit of bank charters; (3) giving the General Assembly authority to prescribe individual liability of stockholders of corporations.

The movement to establish the city-manager type of local administration resulted in the creation by the General Assembly in 1939 of a commission to study the question and to draft legislation to be presented to the General Assembly of 1941. The report of the commission, published in October, 1940, proposes a constitutional amendment giving wide and detailed powers to cities and towns to form charters which permit the establishment of city-manager administration. (See also MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.)

State Officers.

Governor, Henry F. Schricker; Lieutenant Governor, Charles M. Dawson; Secretary of State, James M. Tucker; Auditor, Richard T. James; Treasurer, James M. Givens; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Clement T. Malan.

United States Senators:

Frederick Van Nuys, Raymond E. Willis.

1939: Indiana

Area and Population.

Admitted to statehood Nov. 7, 1816, Indiana ranks 37th in size among the states, with an area of 36,354 sq. mi. In population it ranks 11th, numbering 3,238,503 according to the Census of 1930; 3,500,000 on July 1, 1938, according to an estimate. The largest cities are Indianapolis, the capital, 364,161 (1938 est., 410,279): Fort Wayne, 114,946; South Bend, 104,193: Evansville, 102,249; Gary, 100,426; Hammond, 64,560; and Terre Haute, 62,810.

Mineral Products.

Indiana's leading mineral product, bituminous coal, accounts annually for about half of the total mineral wealth of the state (valued in 1937 at $54,886,736). Because of the general recession, production of coal in 1938 was reduced from 17,764,774 tons in the preceding year to an estimated 14,050,000 tons. There was a corresponding decrease in the state's industrial products, coke, pig iron, and steel, in each of which Indiana ranks third in the Union. Production of coke in 1938 amounted to about 2,894,548 tons as against 5,467,061 tons (value, $32,655,355) in 1937; pig iron was down to 1,807,808 tons valued at $37,925,989 in contrast with 3,694,360 tons valued at $77,990,597 in 1937; production of open-hearth steel amounted to 3,435,360 tons compared with 5,947,368 in the previous year. The flow of petroleum increased from 844,000 bbl. in 1937, to 969,000 bbl. in 1938.

Education.

The number of inhabitants of school age for the year 1938-39, including high school, which is not compulsory, was 743,746. There were enrolled in kindergartens, 9,510; in grades 1-8, 473,665; in high schools, 190,612; miscellaneous 5,071; a total of 678,858. Practically all others of elementary school age were enrolled in parochial or other private schools. The total number of public elementary and high schools in the state at the beginning of the school year 1939-40 was 3,027. The lower limit of salaries of instructors in all schools was $800, the median salary was $1,260.71.

Legislative Matters.

In the eighty-first session of the General Assembly in 1939 (Jan. 5-Mar. 6) the Senate had a large Democratic majority, and the House of Representatives a Republican majority of one; both remained intact during the entire session. The Acts of 1939 were only about half the size of the Acts of 1937, or of 1935, and of far less significance. The principal changes were revision of alcoholic beverage regulations (by abolishment of port-of-entry permits and expenses), of traffic regulations, of unemployment compensation, and of cooperative marketing; requirement of tests of pregnant women for syphilis; creation of the Indiana State Toll Bridge Commission for the purchase of toll bridges by the issue of bonds; extension to high schools of provision for free textbooks; and change of general two-year contracts for state printing to bids and contracts for individual jobs. New boards established were the State Board of Examiners in Watch-making, and the State Egg Board for establishing and enforcing standards in the marketing of eggs.

Welfare and Relief.

The State Department of Public Welfare, created by act of the General Assembly in March 1939, to cooperate with the Federal Government under its Social Security Act and to coordinate welfare activities throughout the state, represented in many respects the most significant of the newer activities of the state government. Its Division of Public Assistance supervises the administration of old-age assistance, aid to the blind and to dependent children. About 65,000 needy citizens over the age of sixty-five receive monthly awards averaging about $17,25 a month; some 35,000 dependent children are maintained through cash payments to widows or other close relatives; monthly grants of an average of $24 are paid to 2,500 needy blind persons. The Children's Division is charged with the development of child welfare under the guidance of the United States Children's Bureau. There is also a Division of Services to Crippled Children, a Division of Inspection and Investigation, a Division of Medical Care, as well as Divisions of General Administration and of Information and Public Relations. The Division of Correction supervises all penal, reformatory and correctional institutions in the state.

General poor relief is administered by the township trustee. A large number of needy and unemployed, a smaller number however than in 1938, were given employment in various WPA projects. During the latter part of the year, complaints of irregularities, especially in Marion and Lake counties, led to investigation and to prosecution of a few responsible persons. At the end of the year the extent of such irregularities was still a matter of dispute.

The building program of the state PWA resulted in the addition of numerous structures for the four state universities and colleges, as well as an Indiana University Extension Department building for the Calumet region at Gary, a Coliseum at the state fair grounds, and new buildings on the cottage plan for the State Women's Prison at Indianapolis to replace a large, antiquated structure. Work was begun by a New Harmony Memorial Commission, created in 1939 through a tax levy, on the restoration of historic buildings at New Harmony, where Robert Owen established in 1825 his short-lived idealistic community.

Events of the Year.

The long-delayed topographical survey of the state was carried on during the year. Exploration of the prehistoric 'Angel Mounds' near Evansville was carried on by the Indiana Historical Society.

By the end of the year, thirty-three rural electrification projects had been completed; an R.E.A. allocation of $17,000,000 resulted in bringing electricity to 30,000 rural customers — a larger program in proportion to area and population than in any other state. The year was marked by further suspension of electric interurban lines, only the lines from Indianapolis to Seymour and to Fort Wayne now remaining. Lines discontinued were in every instance replaced by automobile bus service, which was also generally extended.

Many oil wells were drilled, chiefly in 'The Pocket' between the Ohio and Wabash rivers, with an increase in production which reached the proportions of a boom. The year was also marked by some industrial pick-up. Among notable gains was the enlargement of the Allison Engineering Company of Indianapolis, as the result of a large United States order for the fastest airplane motors yet made.

State Officers.

Governor, M. Clifford Townsend; Lieutenant Governor, Henry E. Schricker; Secretary of State, James M. Tucker; Treasurer, Joseph M. Robertson; Auditor, Frank G. Thompson; Attorney General, Omer Stokes Jackson; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Floyd I. McMurray.

United States Senators.

Frederick Van Nuys, Sherman Minton.

1938: Indiana

Area and Population.

Admitted to statehood Nov. 7, 1816, Indiana ranks 37th in size among the states, with an area of 36,354 sq. mi. In population it ranks 11th, numbering 3,238,503 according to the census of 1930; 3,474,000 on July 1, 1937, according to the latest Federal estimate. From 1920 to 1930 the white population increased by 9.4 per cent, from 2,849,071 to 3,116,136; Negroes increased by 36.6 per cent, from 80,810 to 111,982. In the same period native whites of foreign parentage decreased from 227,066 to 225,153, and foreign-born whites fell from 150,868 to 135,134. The rural population likewise fell off, from 1,447,535 to 1,442,611 (44.5 per cent).

The principal cities of Indiana, with populations according to the census of 1930, are: Indianapolis, the capital, 364,161 (city directory estimate in 1938, 410,279); Fort Wayne, 114,946; South Bend, 104,193; Evansville, 102,249; Gary, 100,426; Hammond, 64,560; Terre Haute, 62,810.

Mineral Products.

Again, bituminous coal accounted for nearly half of the total value of Indiana's native minerals, production being 17,270,000 tons, a slight decrease from 1936, when the value of that product was $26,932,000.

Indiana's greatest mineral riches may be said to lie in the following manufactured products: pig iron, coke and steel, in each of which the state ranks third in the Union. There was a slight decrease in the production of coke, from 5,449,755 tons in 1936, to 5,467,061 tons in 1937, valued at $32,655,355. Open-hearth steel also fell below the 1936 record, amounting to 5,947,368 tons as against 5,963,501 the previous year. The production of pig iron rose from 3,256,677 tons with a value of $59,067,654 in 1936, to 3,694,360 tons valued at $77,990,597 in 1937.

There has recently been extensive drilling of oil wells in the Pocket (southwestern Indiana), and the production of crude oil, which for some years had been declining, has taken an upward turn. Production for 1938 is estimated at 969,000 bbl.

Education.

During 1938 the consolidation of small schools into larger units continued in Indiana, the number of public schools being decreased, in the year ending June 30, by 159. The state now contributes $700 towards the salary of public school teachers per specified unit. Effective in 1940 a four-year college course will be required for teaching licenses in elementary schools.

Legislative and Political Matters.

The regular sessions of the Indiana General Assembly are held biennially, from January to March, in odd-numbered years. A special session, called in July 1938, appropriated $5,329,750 for a contingent fund to be used, with approximately the same amount from the Federal Government, for the erection of buildings for the state universities, schools and colleges; for penal and correctional institutions, hospitals, and the state board of health, and for other institutions.

The election of November 1938 resulted in a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, 51 out of 100; seven of the twelve representatives elected were Republicans. The campaign of former Governor Paul V. McNutt for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 1940 was formally opened in the fall.

Events of the Year.

During the year discrimination against Indiana beer by Michigan and Ohio, in retaliation for charges by Indiana official 'importers' against beer from those states, was removed by reciprocal grant of entry; the 'importer' system and other features of liquor control seem headed toward change.

Labor troubles were less marked than in 1937. One of the largest single industrial developments was the completion of a large plant of the International Harvester Company southeast of Indianapolis.

During 1938 the Federal housing project for Negroes in Indianapolis, called Lockefield Gardens, was opened and the 748 apartments fully occupied. A Federal farm community in Knox County was established, as well as forests in Brown, Martin and other southern counties, and a state forest along the Mississinewa River. The town of Leavenworth, in Crawford County, almost destroyed by the Ohio River Flood of January 1937, was rebuilt in a better location, and dedicated December 15, 1938.

Banking.

On June 30, 1938, state banks (including savings and private banks, and trust companies) numbered 394 (405 in 1937), with total deposits of $393,163,028 and total assets of $450,852,185, both slightly less than in 1937. National banks numbered 127, with total deposits of $449,377,522.

State Officers.

Governor, M. Clifford Townsend; Lieutenant Governor, Henry F. Schricker; Secretary of State, James M. Tucker; Auditor, Frank G. Thompson; Treasurer, Joseph M. Robertson; Attorney General, Omer Jackson; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Floyd I. McMurray — 1938 incumbents.

United States Senators.

Frederick Van Nuys and Sherman Minton.