1942: Texas

Area and Population.

The area of Texas, the largest state in the Union, includes 263,644 sq. mi. of land, and 3,695 sq. mi. of inland water surface, a total of 267,399 sq. mi., according to the revised measurements undertaken for the 1940 census. The population was 6,414,824 in 1940, an increase of 10.1 per cent over the population of 1930. In this respect Texas ranks sixth among the states. The urban population included 2,911,389, or 45.4 per cent; rural, 3,503,435, or 54.6 per cent. While the state is still primarily rural, the growth of urban population has been an outstanding development. The native population in 1940 numbered 6,179,296, and the foreign-born, 235,528. Of the latter 159,266 were Mexicans. The Negro population in 1940 was 924,391. Other non-white races, largely American Indians, Chinese, and Japanese, numbered only 2,888.

The principal cities of Texas, in order of rank by the census of 1940, are Houston, 384,514; Dallas, 294,734; San Antonio, 253,854; Fort Worth, 177,622; El Paso, 96,810; Austin, 87,930; Galveston, 60,862; Beaumont, 59,061; and Corpus Christi, 57,301.

Education.

The scholastic population (ages, 6 to 17) for the school year 1941-42, numbered 1,314,634 whites and 245,700 Negroes; total, 1,560,334. Enrollment during the year included 1,311,809, of whom 968,171 were in elementary grades and 343,638 in high schools. Of the total enrollment, 1,095,050 were white; 216,759 were Negroes. Schools, as classified by the State Department of Education for the year 1941-42, were as follows: elementary schools, 7,208; elementary with junior high school, 531; separate junior high schools, 144; other high schools of various types, 2,728. The total number of white teachers was 38,274; teachers for Negro schools were 6,419. The average annual salary of the white teachers was $1,170; Negroes, $732. White elementary school principals averaged $1,970; white high-school principals, $2,020. Negro elementary school principals averaged $1,384; Negro senior high school principals, $1,222.

During the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 1942, the state spent $63,340,718.92 on its public schools and its institutions of higher learning. The state contributes more than half of the public-school costs, and local support has declined in recent years.

Agriculture.

The value of all crops produced in Texas in 1942, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, was $665,239,000. The harvested acreage of cultivated crops was 26,821,000. Cotton is the principal crop, though it has declined in relative importance in recent years. Nevertheless, the value of the 1942 crop of 3,113,000 bales was worth $275,500,000. Next in value were: corn, $69,919,000; grain sorghums, $67,429,000; wheat, $50,759,000; and peanuts, $23,970,000. The grapefruit crop was worth $14,940,000.

With 137,683,372 acres in farms and ranches, only about 27,000,000 acres of which are in cultivation, there are more than 100,000,000 acres of prairie and woodland that are the basis of the state's large livestock industry. Because of the abundance of native plant life for stock feed, Texas has always been predominantly a producer of range animals. In recent years there has been developed an appreciable feeding and finishing industry, but large numbers of Texas beef cattle still go to Iowa and other corn-belt states to be fattened for market. As of Jan. 1, 1942, the total value of all Texas livestock was placed by the United States Department of Agriculture in excess of $500,000,000. There were included: 7,444,000 cattle, of which 1,473,000 were milk cattle; 10,349,000 sheep, 3,500,000 Angora goats, 2,042,000 hogs, 660,000 horses, 620,000 mules, 31,681,000 chickens, and 983,000 turkeys. Texas is the leading state in beef cattle, also in number of sheep and production of wool. It has more than four-fifths of the nation's Angora goats and produces a like proportion of mohair.

Manufacturing Industry.

The year 1942 was noteworthy in Texas because of the rapid expansion of war industries. Several hundred million dollars were spent during the eighteen months ended Dec. 31, 1942, in the construction of plants for the manufacture of aircraft, munitions, ships and chemicals. Nearly all of the state's established industry was of basic character — petroleum refining, lumber milling, flour and grist milling, cottonseed crushing, and the textile industries. In most of these, production was speeded up by wartime demands, though in the instance of petroleum refining there was a noteworthy shift from ordinary gasoline to the higher grades needed in military operations. The United States Census of Manufactures of 1940, for production during 1939 gave the following data for Texas: 5,376 plants, $1,530,220,676 value of products. It has been unofficially estimated that the value of products in 1942 was more than twice that in 1939.

Defense.

Because of its warm, semiarid climate and great prairie spaces of well-drained terrain, Texas has been selected as the site of many of the nation's most important military camps. Approximately twenty major army training fields were in operation there at the end of 1942, and Texas was reported to have had a larger number of men in military training within its bounds than any other state. The Third Army headquarters are at San Antonio. The Eighth Service Command headquarters were moved in the latter part of 1942 from San Antonio to Dallas. The army's largest aviation training ground, Randolph Field, is at San Antonio, and at the close of 1942 there were more than thirty training and other flying fields in operation in the state. The navy's principal aviation training station is at Corpus Christi.

Legislative and Political Matters.

There was no legislative session in 1942. The forty-eighth Legislature began its biennial session in January, 1943. In the 1942 election the principal interest was in the race between three former governors of the state for the United States Senate. W. Lee O'Daniel, incumbent senator who had resigned the governorship in 1941 to fill the unexpired term of the late Senator Morris Sheppard, was opposed by James V. Allred and Dan Moody. O'Daniel and Allred led in the first primary and, in accordance with Texas primary election laws, opposed each other in the runoff, O'Daniel winning.

Finance.

The total cost of the state government operations in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 1942, was $205,741,882.21, of which $63,446,791.54 was for education, $63.340,718.92 for highways, and $51,492,350.63 for pensions and other public welfare. Total revenue receipts were $229,069,079.44. While this indicated a surplus of receipts over expenditures, most of the accrual was to highway, educational, and other special funds, and the general fund showed a deficit of more than $20,000,000 at the end of the fiscal year. The principal items of Texas state revenue for the year were: motor fuel tax, $50,059,310.13; county, federal and other aid, $40,441,921.34; gross receipts and production taxes, primarily from petroleum, $34,937,069.66; ad valorem tax on real and personal property, $18,084,537.95; and employers' contributions to unemployment insurance, $17,921,451.35.

State Officers.

Governor, Coke R. Stevenson; Lieutenant Governor, J. L. Smith; Secretary of State, William J. Lawson; Comptroller of Public Accounts, George H. Sheppard; Treasurer, Jesse James; Auditor, C. H. Cavness; Attorney General, Gerald C. Mann; Superintendent of Public Instruction, L. A. Woods.

United States Senators:

Tom Connally, W. Lee O'Daniel.

1941: Texas

Area and Population.

The total area of Texas is 267,339 sq. mi., of which 263,644 sq. mi. constitute land area, according to revised measurements by the U. S. Bureau of the Census in 1940. The population of Texas in 1940 was 6,414,824, an increase of 590,109, or 10.1 per cent over the population of 1930. Texas thus ranks first in the United States in area and sixth in population. Its rate of growth from 1930 to 1940 was higher than the rate of growth of national population, but it yielded fifth place, which it had held on the basis of the 1930 census, to California, which recorded a still higher rate of increase.

Austin is the capital, with a population of 87,930, ranking it sixth among the state's cities. Larger cities, on the basis of the 1940 census, were Houston, 384,514; Dallas, 294,734; San Antonio, 253,854; Fort Worth, 177,662, El Paso, 96,810. Of these leading cities, Austin had the best record of growth, 1930 to 1940, with an increase of 65.5 per cent; Houston was second with 31.5 per cent; and Dallas third with 13.2 per cent.

The total urban population of Texas in 1940 was 2,911,389, or 45.4 per cent of the whole; rural population, 3,503,435, or 54.6 per cent. During the 1930-1940 census interval, the rural population of Texas increased 2 per cent; urban population, 21.8 per cent. Of the rural population, the actual farm population decreased 8 per cent during the census interval, while the small-town rural population increased 23.4 per cent. This was due primarily to the drift of renters and share-croppers to the small towns as the cotton acreage was reduced under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration program, and farms were increasingly mechanized.

Racial characteristics of Texas population in 1930 were as follows: Total population, 5,824,715; white, 4,283,491; Negro, 854,964; Mexican, 683,681; other races, 2,579.

Education.

The school population of Texas (ages 6-17, inclusive), for the school year 1941-42, is 1,536,910. There are 998 independent and 5,581 common-school districts. In the common-school districts there were (during the year 1939-40) 5,178 white and 1,499 Negro schools. In the same districts there were 422,839 white children, and 89,899 Negro children. In the independent districts were 882,737 white, and 154,525 Negro children. Total enrollment in elementary and secondary grades was 873,948; in junior and senior high school grades, 471,738.

The state contributes to public-school education on a per capita basis, which was $22,50 per pupil, or a total of $34,580,475 for the current year. In addition there is an annual appropriation, $6,000,000 for the current year, for 'equalization,' that is, for grants to the poorer school districts. Local support for the current year, 1941-42, was approximately $46,000,000. The total value of Texas public-school property in 1939-40 was $288,869,539. There were 11,509 school buildings, of which all but 338 were owned. The average teacher's salary (1939-40) in common-school districts was $876, in independent districts $1,236; combined, $1,120.

The principal developments of educational significance during the year 1941 were the levying of taxes by the state to match the teachers' contribution to the retirement fund set up several years previously, and the beginning of the change in the public-school system from, an eleven-year to a twelve-year curriculum.

Agriculture.

The total value of Texas crops produced during 1940 was $367,108,000, as against $318,629,000 in 1939. Figures include the value of home-consumed crops. Cash value of crops in 1940 was $262,653,000. Value of crops in 1941, $455,000,000, according to preliminary estimate.

Texas is also a producer of sugar-cane syrup, barley, rye, vegetables, and miscellaneous other fruit and truck crops. A noteworthy farm industry is the rose-growing of East Texas, from which are marketed from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 rose plants annually, valued at from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000.

Livestock.

The total income of Texas farmers and ranchers during 1940, from livestock and allied products, was $230,000,000. On Jan. 1, 1941, there were on Texas farms and ranches: 665,000 horses, 633,000 mules, 6,944,000 cattle, 10,620,000 sheep, 3,498,000 goats, and 1,926,000 swine. In 1940 there was a production of 80,352,000 pounds of wool valued at $23,302,000, and 18,250,000 pounds of mohair valued at $9,308,000. Texas is the leading state in beef cattle, sheep and wool production, and goats and mohair production.

The poultry and dairy industries have expanded rapidly in recent years. Texas is a leading turkey-raising state. There are many large ranches, ranging from 10,000 acres to 900,000 acres along the Mexican border, in the Trans-Pecos area and in the rough parts of Middle West and Northwest Texas. In other sections large-scale ranching has given way to stock-farming and crop growing. During 1941 frequent rains produced excellent range condition and the livestock industries prospered. Markets were good and improved throughout the year.

Minerals.

Texas produces annually from $700,000,000 to $800,000,000 in mineral values, and usually ranks first among the states, Pennsylvania being her closest rival. More than half of this value comes from petroleum, 1941 production of which was 491,000,000 bbl. (preliminary), valued at $595,000,000. Production of petroleum in 1940 was 493,126,000 bbl. valued at $488,194,000. Natural gas advanced in amount to 1,566,000,000 M cu. ft.; and natural gasoline to 920,700,000 gals. Sulphur production was increased substantially, at 2,212,834 tons, beyond that of 1939, when Texas was responsible for eighty per cent of the United States total. Helium gas, too, which is of increasing importance in medical, scientific, and industrial application, made great gains in 1940, at 9,450,855 cu. ft., produced as before at the Amarillo plant. Of this amount, the U. S. Navy purchased 3,531,410 cu. ft., for use in lighter-than-air craft, meteorological balloons, and in diving operations.

Manufacturing Industries.

In 1939 there were 5,376 manufacturing enterprises credited to Texas by the U. S. Bureau of the Census. These employed 126,992 wage earners and paid $128,138,703 in wages. The value of products was $1,530,220,676, of which $453,105,423 was 'added by manufacture.' During 1940 and 1941 great impetus was given manufacturing in Texas by the national defense program. Among new industries completed during 1941 were a plant at Freeport producing magnesium and other minerals from sea water, large chemical explosive and munitions plants and a steel mill at Houston, a tin smelter at Texas City, large shipbuilding plants at Orange and Houston, airplane factories at Dallas and Fort Worth, and a shell-loading plant at Texarkana. In addition there was general expansion of the petroleum refining industry, especially for the production of aviation gasoline. About $200,000,000 was invested in manufacturing during the year.

Legislative Matters.

State fiscal difficulties were primarily the concern of the 47th Legislature, which was in session during the first half of the year 1941. Appropriations were the largest in the history of the state. To match this increase, tax laws to raise an estimated $25,000,000 in new revenues were enacted. New legislation was concerned with the payment of all social security claims and increasing old-age pensions, meeting the state's obligations to the teacher retirement account, organizing methods to aid in national defense and particularly to encourage airport development, providing more money for the rural schools of Texas than ever before, and, for the first time, for maintenance aid to the junior colleges.

Political Events.

The outstanding political event of the year 1941 was the election on June 28, to fill the unexpired term of U. S. Senator Morris Sheppard, who died April 9, 1941. Governor W. Lee O'Daniel won the office by a narrow margin, with 175,590 votes.

Finance.

At the close of the state's fiscal year, Aug. 31, 1941, the deficit in the general revenue fund was $28,665,845. However, there was a combined net surplus of $73,336,323 in the remaining state funds. Under the fiscal system of Texas, most administrative, legislative and judicial expenditures, and miscellaneous other outlays, come from the general revenue fund; but there are approximately one hundred other funds, large and small, from which expenditures are made for specific purposes, including highways, schools, game conservation, and pensions for ex-confederate soldiers and their widows. This system is generally conceded to be a patchwork. During 1942, a study looking to simplification and coordination will be made.

The total expenditures for all state purposes during the fiscal year ended August 31, 1940, was $165,717,612.22. As compared with this, expenditures for 1930 were $103,672,473.30, and in 1920 they were $33,498,724,83. The total assessed value of Texas personal and real property as of 1940 was $4,273,321,619, which was estimated at 40 per cent of true value of all taxable property; ad valorem taxes against this property raised $22,275,576.92 for state purposes. Most of the remaining revenue comes from a gross receipts tax on oil, gasoline tax, liquor and cigarette taxes, and miscellaneous occupation, sales and franchise taxes. Unemployment insurance in Texas is administered by the State Unemployment Insurance Commission. The administration is on the merit-rating basis, and a surplus of approximately $60,000,000 has been accumulated.

Banking and Insurance.

There were 839 chartered banks in Texas, as of Dec. 31, 1940, of which 446 were national banks and 393 state banks. National banks had $1,695,662,000 in resources, and state banks had $236,806,794. The total of life insurance in force in Texas, as of Dec. 31, 1939, was $3,392,423,192 in legal reserve companies and $286,492,778 in fraternal and benefit societies.

State Officers.

Governor, Coke Stevenson (who as Lieutenant Governor succeeded Governor W. Lee O'Daniel when the latter was elected to the United States Senate); Lieutenant Governor (office vacant); Secretary of State, William J. Lawson; Comptroller, George H. Sheppard; Treasurer, Jesse James; Auditor, C. H. Cavness; Attorney General, Gerald C. Mann; Superintendent of Public Instruction, L. A. Woods.

United States Senators:

Tom Connally, W. Lee O'Daniel.

1940: Texas

Area and Population.

With a total land area of 265,896 sq. mi., Texas is the largest state in the nation. Its irregular shape aids in giving it the imposing dimensions of 773 mi. for the greatest distance from east to west, and 801 mi. for the greatest from north to south. Extending through slightly more than ten degrees of latitude, the range in climatic conditions is increased by the fact that the southernmost part is at sea level while the northern part lies on a plain which reaches more than 4,000 ft. in altitude. The extreme south is sub-tropical; the north, middle temperate. From east to west there is an equally striking range in precipitation; it is more than 60 in. annually along the Louisiana border and less than 10 in. in the extreme western part. Physiographically, the area of the state is a tilted plain rising from the Gulf coast to the Panhandle Plains and the Trans-Pecos Plateau, with mountains rising in the west to a maximum of more than 8,000 ft.

The population, according to the 1940 census, was 6,414,824, an increase of 10.1 per cent over the population of 5,824,715 in 1930. Nevertheless, Texas dropped from fifth to sixth in rank among the states in this regard. The principal cities, with their populations according to the 1940 census, are: Houston, 384,514; Dallas, 294,734; San Antonio, 253,854; Fort Worth, 177,662; El Paso, 96,810; and Austin, the capital, 87,930. Of the total population of 5,824,715 in 1930 the principal classifications were as follows: whites, 4,283,291, or 73.5 per cent; Negroes, 854,964, or 14.7 per cent: Mexicans, 683,681, or 11.7 per cent. Of the white population only 98,396, or 1.7 per cent, were foreign-born.

Education.

The state system of public education receives its support in the proportion of approximately two-thirds from the state and one-third from local sources. During the 1938-39 school year, there were 6,735 school districts of which 5,715 were common-school districts and 1,020 independent districts. The system is headed by a nine-member State Board of Education, appointed by the Governor, and serving without salary. The actual administrative work is headed by a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is elected by popular vote to a two-year term. There is a movement to make this office appointive by the State Board of Education.

The scholastic population of Texas was 1,579,841 for the school year 1938-39. The total number of public schools was 11,540, of which approximately 1,300 were high schools. Of the 1,291,911 children actually enrolled at date of the last available school census, 307,652 were in high school, and 983,259 in the lower grades. The state contributes about $42,000,000 annually to the support of the public schools, revenues coming largely from sales tax on gasoline and gross receipts tax on petroleum, but with some contributions from ad valorem, cigarette sales, and poll taxes, miscellaneous fees paid by corporations, and by supplementary appropriations from the general fund. The available school fund is apportioned annually on the basis of about $22 per capita for each pupil. In addition, about $6,500,000 annually is distributed to the poorer districts from a special equalization fund. White teachers' salaries, exclusive of administrative positions, average about $1,200 annually; Negro teachers' salaries about $750.

The principal public issues relating to the public schools during 1940 were: (1) reorganization of the entire system for the purpose of more unified administration; and (2) maintenance of the teachers' retirement fund recently set up, into which the teachers have paid $6,500,000, whereas the state has defaulted in paying an equal amount as provided by statute.

Agriculture.

The value of crops produced in Texas during 1940 amounted to approximately $335,500,000, while income from livestock amounted to approximately $300,000,000, figures in both instances including both cash sales and the value of products consumed on farms. Increased yields of nearly all crops and livestock products, and somewhat higher prices in most instances, gave the farmers a larger income in 1940 than in the previous year.

The principal crops in 1940, with the production and farm value, were: Cotton, 3,285,000 bales, $147,825,000; cottonseed, 1,463,000 tons, $31,747,000; corn, 90,324,000 bu., $46,968,000; grain sorghums, 46,397,000 bu., $24,126,000; wheat, 29,355,000 bu., $18,787,000; oats, 37,125,000 bu., $10,395,000; rice, 16,005,000 bu., $11,684,000. Other crops included citrus fruits, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, peaches, pecans, and tomatoes.

Leading livestock products were beef, milk, and butter, wool and mohair, poultry products, including a large turkey crop, and pork. Agricultural developments were characterized during the year by a continued increase of feed crops and livestock development, to utilize land taken from cotton cultivation under the Federal agricultural program. The cotton acreage in Texas in 1940 was 8,721,000 A., as compared with an average of 16,200,000 A. for the 1927-29 period. Reduction in farm tenantry and the mechanization of farms were characteristic of 1940 and the immediately preceding years.

Mineral Products.

The total value of mineral production in Texas in 1940, according to preliminary estimate, was about $800,000,000, of which approximately 70 per cent was from petroleum. Severe proration of petroleum production, under orders of the Railroad Commission of Texas, maintained a steady crude market despite the increased production of oil in Illinois and some other states, and the increased national stocks of surplus gasoline.

It is chiefly her oil resources which make Texas the leading state in the Union for total mineral wealth. In 1939 the amount of petroleum produced from the Texas oil fields was 484,527,000 bbl. In addition, the state showed an 18 per cent increase in the output of natural gas, totaling 1,298,000,000 M. cu. ft. While sulphur production was below that of 1938, at 1,665,785 tons, the state still furnished 80 per cent of the total for the United States. Production of helium gas, in which Texas stands alone, was again increased in 1939, to 6,281,811 cu. ft.

Industry.

There is a developing iron, steel, and machinery manufacturing industry, especially in the coast cities, and an increasing production of chemicals. The most significant individual development of the year probably, was the beginning of erection of a plant of the Dow Chemical Company at Freeport for the extraction of magnesium from sea water, chiefly for use in aircraft manufacturing. Several airplane factories, shipbuilding plants, and other industries were begun late in 1940 as part of the national defense program. Industrial activity, somewhat dull in the early part of the year, was greatly quickened in the last months. The composite index of Texas business activity during 1940, as compiled by the Bureau of Business Research of the University of Texas, exceeded all post-depression levels.

Finance.

Total expenditures of the state government during the fiscal year ended August 31, 1940, were $165,717,612. The general fund continued to accumulate a deficit which amounted to $28,000,000 by the end of the fiscal year. Reform and simplification of the complicated administrative and fiscal systems of Texas has been an issue in recent years. The Texas constitutional provision for old-age pensions sets a maximum of $15 monthly from state funds, but state payments during 1940 averaged less than $10 due to failure of the legislative session of 1939 to find additional sources of revenue. During 1940 some headway toward integrating social security efforts was made by the State Board of Public Welfare, set up by the last Legislature to take the place of the Old-Age Assistance Commission and some other social agencies.

Political and Legislative Matters.

In state affairs, political interest during the year centered in the race of Governor W. Lee O'Daniel for re-election to a second term of two years, in opposition to seven opponents, including State Railroad Commissioner Ernest O. Thompson, and Mrs. M. A. Ferguson, a former Governor. The chief issue was old-age pensions. Governor O'Daniel won, with a majority in the first primary election. There was no session of the Legislature during 1940. The principal issues before the regular session which began in January, 1941, are again social security and state finance, as during the prolonged session of 1939.

State Officers.

Governor, W. Lee O'Daniel; Lieutenant Governor, Coke R. Stevenson; Secretary of State, M. O. Flowers; Comptroller of Public Accounts, George H. Sheppard; Treasurer, Charlie Lockhart; Auditor and Efficiency Expert, Tom C. King; Attorney General, Gerald C. Mann; Superintendent of Public Instruction, L. A. Woods.

United States Senators:

Tom Connally, Morris Sheppard.

1939: Texas

Area and Population.

With a total area of 265,896 sq. mi., Texas is the largest of the states. The greatest breadth (east-west) is 773 miles, and greatest length (north-south) is 801 miles. The temperature is subtropical in the extreme south, permitting citrus and winter vegetable industries. The extreme north extends beyond the cotton belt and is devoted primarily to hard wheat. The wide range in climatic, plant-life and living conditions through 12 degrees of longitude is accentuated by the upward slope of surface from sea level to cultivable plateaus of more than 4,000 feet elevation. The eastern third of the state is coastal flatlands, largely timbered with pine and hardwood; the central and middle western portions are largely prairies, the southern extension of the Great Plains; the extreme west is in the Rocky Mountain area, with numerous ranges, some of more than 8,000 feet elevation.

The population was 5,824,715 in 1930 (U. S. Census); the latest Federal estimate, July 1, 1937, was 6,172,000. Population per square mile in 1930 was 22.2, slightly more than half the average density of the United States. However, density ranged widely from 379.2 population per square mile in Dallas County, to 0.3 in Culberson and Loving Counties. The principal cities are Houston, 292,352 (344,000 unofficial estimate in 1939); Dallas, 260,475 (293,000); San Antonio, 231,542 (262,000); Fort Worth, 163,447 (187,000); El Paso, 102,421 (108,000). The capital is Austin, 53,120 (63,000). In 1930 whites numbered 4,283,491, or 73.5 per cent of the total population; Negroes, 854,964, or 14.7 per cent; Mexicans, 683,681, or 11.7 per cent. The Negro population is largely in the eastern half of the state, and the Mexican largely along the southwest border and in the south central portion. Of European foreign stock, Germans predominate, largely in south central Texas.

Education.

The state's school population (ages 6-17, inclusive) is 1,579,841. There are 6,735 local school administrative and taxing units, of which 1,020 are independent districts and 5,715 are common school districts. The total number of public schools of all classifications is 11,514. There are 1,361 (1937-38) high schools, having a total enrollment of 307,652. The total elementary enrollment is 983,259. Expenditure of state funds for public schools (1938-39) was $40,500,000, raised largely from taxes on petroleum production, general property, cigarette sales and from interest on permanent funds. The state's public school permanent fund, derived from original public domain, amounts to $72,000,000.

The average salaries are, for high school teachers (white) $1,271, not including administrators and principals; Negro, $900; for elementary teachers (white) $964; Negro, $587. Schools receive two-thirds of their support from the state and one-third from local sources. The principal educational problems have arisen because of sparse population in most sections of the state. Consolidation of districts, with motor bus transportation, has been an outstanding development in recent years. There are more than one hundred junior and senior colleges, of which seventeen are supported by the state.

Agriculture.

Of the total land area of Texas, amounting to 167,934,720 acres, 137,597,389 acres, or 82 per cent, is in farms and ranches. A preliminary estimate put the 1939 crop land at 26,500,000 acres harvested. The total value of all crops harvested during the year was approximately $321,000,000; of livestock products, $305,000,000. These figures include the value of products sold on the market and consumed on the farms. The total farm cash income from all sources during 1939 was $481,420,000, based on figures for the first ten months, according to the Bureau of Business Research, University of Texas. Government benefit payments during the year approximated $97,000,000. A severe drouth during the latter part of the year cut down production, but average prices rose somewhat as a result of the war in Europe, so that the farm income in 1939 was approximately on a parity with that of 1938.

Minerals.

The total value of minerals produced in Texas in 1939 was $785,000,000, according to a preliminary estimate, a slight decline below the preceding year, due to stricter proration of oil production and the temporary break in the price in August. Petroleum accounts for approximately 74 per cent of the annual value of minerals produced: there is also a large production of natural gas and natural gasoline, sulphur, stone, cement, clay products, and a smaller production of asphalt, coal and lignite, fullers earth, gypsum, helium, lime, mercury, silver, sodium sulphate and lead. Oil production in 1939 amounted to 455,632,000 barrels, based on figures for the first ten months. Texas produces 39 per cent of the oil in the United States, and is the leading state in the annual value of all minerals produced.

Natural gas, a product in which Texas also ranks first, amounted in 1938 to an estimated 845,000,000 M. cu. ft. as against 854,561,000 (value $132,166,000) in the previous year. Sulphur, another outstanding product, slightly exceeded the amount produced in 1937 (which had a value of $36,545,670) with a 1938 total of 2,058,940 tons. This represented 86 per cent of the whole amount produced in the United States. Shipments of cement also rose in 1938 above the figure for the previous year, as they totaled 7,116,545 bbl. valued at $11,488,866. The production of helium at the Amarillo plant of the Bureau of Mines was increased by 37 per cent above the figure for 1937, to 6,099,960 cu. ft.

Industry.

The principal manufacturing development in Texas in 1939 centered about the chemical industries. The most noteworthy individual enterprise was the newsprint paper mill being constructed at Lufkin, the first mill in the United States to make newsprint from Southern pine. This $6,000,000 plant will be in operation in 1940. The total value of products manufactured in Texas in 1937 (latest census) was $1,581,422,401, of which $439,854,447 was 'value added by manufacture.' There were 4,422 manufacturing establishments, employing 129,501 wage earners who received $132,505,115 wages.

Manufacturing production in 1939 was estimated as approximately on a parity with 1937, after a recession in 1938. Several iron, steel and heavy chemical industries were established on the coast during the year, while clothing manufacturing and food processing plants which constitute the principal development for consumer goods, were situated largely in the upper part of the state. There is much interest in the development of new synthetic products as a result of the farm chemurgic movement; and the laboratories of universities and colleges, as well as private industrial institutions, are experimenting with the production of plastics and various synthetic products from the state's abundant raw materials. A company was organized during 1939 for the production of iron from deposits in East Texas, but there was no actual development.

The trend of general business conditions was upward during the year, according to the index of the Bureau of Business Research of the University of Texas. The level of activity in November 1939, was 8 per cent above the corresponding period of the preceding year, but still slightly below the post-depression peak reached in 1937.

Finance.

The revenues of the state government for the fiscal year ending August 31, 1939, were $175,216,238, while total expenditures were $164,323,499. However, the excess of receipts over expenditures was reflected largely in balances in the highway and other special funds, while the state's general revenue fund had accumulated an all-time record deficit of $28,812,583 by the end of November 1939. Deficits were also shown in the Confederate pension fund and social security funds. The old-age pension fund closed the fiscal year with a deficit of $2,100,000, although the number of beneficiaries was decreased during the year and the amount of payments was cut. At the close of the year the state was paying an average of about $8 monthly out of the maximum of $15. The bonded debt of the state, always severely limited by the Constitution, was approximately $12,000,000 at the close of the fiscal year. The bonded debt of all civil subdivisions was approximately $632,000,000, having declined during the year because retirement of the outstanding debt was considerably in excess of new issues voted.

Legislative Matters.

Political interest centered largely in the effort of a four-months' session of the Legislature early in the year to provide greater revenues for social security. After bitter controversy the Legislature adjourned without acting on Governor O'Daniel's proposal of a compromise bill based on a sales tax and increased taxes on natural resources. Public demand for a special session of the Legislature to resume consideration of social security revenues caused the Governor to poll the members of the Legislature in September and October, but his decision as a result of the poll was against a special session. Besides the social security issue, the legislative session was directed primarily at educational, judicial and public health reforms. Four Constitutional amendments were submitted to be voted on during 1940. A total of 1,641 bills was introduced during the session and upwards of 700 were passed, including special laws. Issues before the electorate in the 1940 elections will be social security, tax reform, educational reform, and possibly the overhauling of prison and eleemosynary institutions. The state supports schools for both white and Negro blind, deaf and dumb, a tuberculosis sanatorium, a hospital for epileptics, eight hospitals for the insane, an orphan's home, and junior training schools for boys and girls.

State Officers.

The principal administrative officials of the state are: Governor, W. Lee O'Daniel; Lieutenant Governor, Coke R. Stevenson; Secretary of State, M. O. Flowers; Treasurer, Charlie Lockhart; Comptroller, George H. Sheppard; Auditor and Efficiency Expert, Tom C. King; Attorney General, Gerald C. Mann; Superintendent of Public Instruction, L. A. Woods.

United States Senators.

Tom Connally, Morris Shephard.

1938: Texas

Area and Population.

The largest state in the Union, Texas has an area of 262,398 square miles of land surface and 3,498 square miles of water surface, a total of 265,896 square miles. Texas was admitted to statehood Dec. 29, 1845. The population, according to the 1930 census, was 5,824,715, ranking it 5th in the Union. The latest official estimate of the Census Bureau, as of July 1, 1937, was 6,172,000.

The largest cities are Houston, 292,352 (est. 322,000); Dallas, 260,475 (est. 293,000); San Antonio, 231,542 (est. 262,000); Fort Worth, 163,447; El Paso, 102,421. The capital is Austin, 53,120. Of the total population of Texas in 1930, 4,283,491 or 73.5 per cent were whites, 854,964 or 14.7 per cent were Negroes, and 683,681 or 11.7 per cent Mexicans. With respect to birth, 4,185,095 or 71.9 per cent of the population were native whites and 98,396 or 1.17 per cent were foreign-born whites, practically all naturalized citizens. The rural population of the state in 1930 was 3,435,367 or 58.9 per cent.

Agriculture.

The value of all crops produced in the state during 1938 amounted to $317,317,000. Farm income from livestock and livestock products amounted to $285,000,000, and Government benefit payments to farmers totaled about $100,000,000, bringing the total farm income to $702,317,000. Though decreased yield and lower prices cut down the income from production, increased benefit payments more than offset the decline, bringing farmers slightly more income than in 1937.

Mineral Products.

Texas ranks first in the Union in the value of its mineral products, which amounted in 1937 to about $787,000,000 compared with $638,732,530 in 1936. This leading position is primarily due to the state's outstanding rank as an oil-producer. Its average production of petroleum is about one-third that of the entire United States. In 1937, production amounted to 510,732,000 bbl. as against 427,411,000 bbl. in 1936, valued at $449,400,000. The estimate for 1938 is 475,614,000 bbl. Another product in which Texas outranks the other states is natural gas, of which it produced 860,000,000 M cu. ft. in 1937, compared with 734,561,000 M cu. ft. (value, $113,929,000) in the preceding year. Texas also showed an astonishing increase in the production of sulphur during 1937, the amount, 2,339,525 tons, representing 87 per cent of the total for the United States. In 1936, the amount was 1,630,719 tons (value, $29,352,944). The production of helium from natural gas, at the Amarillo plant of the Bureau of Mines, amounted to 4,809,230 cu. ft., a slight increase over 1936.

The total value of the state's mineral products for 1938 is estimated at $710,000,000.

Industry.

Material progress was made in industrial advancement during 1938, several heavy chemical industries entering the field. In December financing was completed for the construction early in 1939 of the first paper mill to manufacture newsprint from southern pine, the mill to be located at Lufkin, Texas. It was financed by southern newspaper publishers, together with a $3,250,000 loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. It will be the first paper mill to utilize the new chemical process for manufacturing newsprint from southern pine, as evolved by the late Dr. Charles H. Herty.

General business in Texas held up exceptionally well during the year, according to indexes of industrial production, employment, rail carloadings and other factors reported by the Bureau of Business Research, of the University of Texas. The level at the end of the year 1938 was only about 6 per cent under that at the end of 1937, a less serious decline than that registered by the country as a whole.

Education.

School apportionment by the state for local school support was maintained at $22 per capita for the 1,566,544 Texas school children enrolled in 1937-38. This was the record high per capita figure set in the preceding year. Expenditures on public school education totaled more than $67,000,000. High school and college enrollments reached new high levels, the University of Texas registering for the first time more than 10,000 students in its regular session.

Finance.

The state fiscal year closed with the general revenue fund showing an approximate $20,000,000 deficit, and the Confederate pension fund showing a deficit of $4,195,475; but the large available public school and highway funds showed surpluses. Inasmuch as the bonded debt of Texas is only approximately $14,000,000, the $20,000,000 deficit in the general revenue fund does not leave the state heavily burdened. The total indebtedness of all civil subdivisions in the state at the close of the last fiscal year was approximately $650,000,000, which is approximately $100,000,000 under the peak reached in the early years of the depression.

The state's principal relief effort is through its old-age pension, limited to $15 monthly as the state's part. Payments last year, including state and Federal funds, amounted to approximately $13.76 monthly, as compared with the national average of $19.23. The state stood relatively high on basis of eligibility, with 284,000 on the pension rolls. There will undoubtedly be an insistent campaign for liberalization of the pension provisions during the present administration.

Politics.

The outstanding political event of the year 1938 was the campaign for governor, from which W. Lee O'Daniel, Fort Worth flour salesman, and an unknown political quantity, emerged with a clear majority in the first primary election, in competition with a number of well-known figures in Texas public life. The successful candidate conducted his campaign largely by radio and, accompanied by his famous Hillbilly Band, ran on a platform consisting of the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. He also advocated specifically 'throwing out the politicians' at Austin, liberalized old-age pensions, and a program of industrialization for Texas. In the general election, which is seldom of moment in Texas because of the large Democratic majority, O'Daniel was elected over the Republican opponent, Alexander Boynton, by a wide majority.

State Officers.

As the result of the 1938 election, the chief state officers are: Governor, W. Lee O'Daniel; Lieutenant Governor, Coke R. Stevenson; Attorney General, Gerald C. Mann; Railroad Commissioner, G. A. Jerry Sadler; Comptroller of Public Accounts, George H. Sheppard; Commissioner of General Land Office, Bascom Giles; Superintendent of Public Instruction, L. A. Woods.

United States Senators:

Tom Connally and Morris Sheppard.