1942: West Virginia

Area and Population.

West Virginia, originally a part of Virginia, was conditionally admitted to the Union on Dec. 31, 1862, and began to function as the thirty-fifth state on June 20, 1863. With the inclusion in 1866 of Jefferson and Berkeley counties, the boundary remains as thus established. A geological survey, completed about twelve years ago, finally fixed the aggregate area of the 55 counties at 24,282 sq. mi. of which 148 were water surface.

On April 1, 1940, the population of West Virginia was 1,901,974, which represented an increase of 172,769, or 10 per cent, as compared with 1930. The 1940 density was 79 to the square mile, and the total population included representatives of all races.

Huntington, with 78,836, is the largest city, and Charleston, the capital city, with 67,914, is second. Wheeling and Fairmont, among the larger cities, with 61,099 and 23,105 respectively, had less population in 1940 than in 1930. Other important cities in the order of their size (1940) are Clarksburg, 30,579; Parkersburg, 30,103; and Bluefield, 20,641.

Education.

The total pupil enrollment in the 4,744 public primary and elementary schools for 1941-42 was 302,230, or 4,712 less than for the preceding school year. Of this total 18,366 were Negroes, which was 496 less than for 1940-41. The total enrollment of 370 high schools (271 senior and 99 junior) was 141,107, of whom 33,645 were on the junior level. The total for all high schools was 3,014 less than that of the preceding year. There were in addition, 39 private and parochial elementary and high schools. Teachers numbered 16,119, of whom 10,717 were elementary (10,073 white and 644 Negro). Of the 5,028 high-school teachers, 374 were Negroes.

The total cost of public elementary and high-school education in 1941-42 was approximately $31,000,000, of which the state contributed $15,437,285. State funds aggregating $150,000 annually were available for textbooks for children of indigent parents, and a teacher retirement system first became effective for the year 1941-42.

Public Welfare.

In 1941 a more extensive program of public assistance and relief was begun. In response thereto the number of old-age, blind, and dependent children cases rose from about 18,000 in July, 1940, to about 29,500 in July, 1941, and to 37,191 in July, 1942. The general relief loads grew from 12,775 to 14,347 and to 17,470 in February, 1942. For the year 1941-42 $4,150,000 was appropriated for old-age assistance and aid to the blind and to dependent children, and for the same year $3,100,000 was appropriated for general relief under the general welfare act of 1936. General relief was reduced to $2,800,000 for the year 1942-43.

Agriculture.

According to the 1940 census, West Virginia contained 99,282 farms, with total acreage of 8,908,803, or 57.8 per cent of the total area. The average value of farm lands was $30.29 per acre, and they represented a total value of $268,847,642.87. Tenants operated 22.7 per cent of all farm lands, 17.8 per cent of which were used for crops and 22.8 per cent for grazing. Corn was easily the leading product, with a value of $11,076,000. Hay was second, amounting to $9,645,000. The apple crop of 5,024,000 bu. was worth $4,019,000.

Industry.

In 1940 the state reported 3,188 industrial establishments, which employed 230,726 persons and paid $396,884,876.99 in wages. These plants had a total production value of about $898,722,285.80. For the fiscal year 1941-42 chemicals and allied products, among the newer industries, employed 13,932 persons and had a total annual payroll of $34,039,000. Nylon and liveglas, synthetic products, were first made in West Virginia about 1940. Mining excepted, iron, steel, and metal manufacturing, with 43,591 employees and a total annual payroll of $78,570,000, was the state's largest industry. Glass making although one of the oldest industries, was still one of the most important. For the year 1941-42 it employed 15,328 workers, and had a total payroll aggregating $26,924,000.

Other important industries, together with their respective number of employees and total annual payrolls for the fiscal year 1941-42, were lumber and wood products, 15,678 and $16,124,000; clay, stone, sand, and allied products, 13,518 and $20,312,000; and automobiles and trucks, 13,326 and $19,659,000. Total employees, including miners and coke makers, numbered 456,721, and the annual payroll aggregated $727,592,000.

Mining.

Bituminous coal mining is the most important West Virginia extractive industry. Total production for the state in 1941 amounted to 140,944,744 tons. There were 126,214 miners employed and the annual payroll aggregated $230,151,000. Recoverable coal reserves, as of 1941, were 53,312,909,731 tons.

Since 1863, and including 1941, West Virginia has produced 418,345,016 bbl. of crude oil. Reversing the trend of a decade or more, towards lowered production, the amount for 1941 was 3,480,000 bbls., or 53,694 more than for 1940. Boosted by new Oriskany sand developments, natural gas production for 1941 amounted to 170,000,000,000 cu. ft.

Banking and Finance.

For the year ending June 30, 1942, there were 103 state and 77 national banks in West Virginia, with deposits aggregating $176,258,917.46 and $217,197,747.92, respectively. Resources of 22 Federal savings and loans associations were $20,345,193.19. Resources of 38 state building and loan associations were $11,467,338.84. State revenues, from all sources, totalled $61,011,349, of which $19,335,822.26 came from gross sales tax; $10,930,247.25 from consumer's sales tax; $9,459,661.30 from gasoline tax; $4,250,000 from liquor sales; and $2,473,742.26 from the state income tax. Total state revenue disbursements were $62,816,734.49, but a balance from the previous years in addition to transfers left a total net balance, as of June 30, 1942, of $24,027,131.80.

The state road system embraced 4,667.965 miles of improved primary and 11,996.5 miles of improved secondary roads. The total assessed value of public utilities was $661,343,500; personal property $436,074,317; and real estate, $865,480,813. The grand total was $1,962,898,630.

Political Events.

The most important political incident of the year was the November election. Governor Neely, having resigned from the United States Senate to become governor, sought re-election to the Senate, and was defeated by approximately 50,000 votes. At the same time a solid Democratic representation in Congress was divided equally between Republicans and Democrats. Kay Thomas, Democrat, was elected attorney general, to fill a vacancy caused by the earlier resignation of Clarence W. Meadows to become judge of the Tenth judicial circuit. Thomas took the oath but has not taken office. His right to do so is being contested on the score that he is in the Federal armed service and is therefore ineligible. W. S. Wysong, appointed to succeed Meadows, is thus the acting attorney general.

State Officers.

Governor, M. Mansfield Neely; Secretary of State, William S. O'Brien; Superintendent of Schools, William W. Trent; Treasurer, Richard E. Talbott; Auditor, Edgar B. Sims; Attorney General (acting), W. S. Wysong.

United States Senators:

Harley M. Kilgore, Chapman J. Revercomb.

1941: West Virginia

Area and Population.

Originally a part of Virginia, West Virginia was conditionally admitted to the Union on Dec. 31, 1862, and began to function as the thirty-fifth state on June 20, 1863. With the inclusion in 1866 of two Virginia counties (Berkeley and Jefferson) the boundary remained as thus established, although Maryland has unsuccessfully questioned it in three suits. The total area is 24,181 sq. mi., including 91 sq. mi. of inland water surface, according to remeasurements of the United States undertaken for the 16th census in 1940.

On April 1, 1940, the population of West Virginia was 1,901,974, which represented an increase of 172,769, or 10 per cent, as compared with the population for 1930. The average increase for the 1940 density was 79 to the square mile, and the population included, besides the predominant whites, representatives of the black, red and yellow races. Huntington, with 78,836, is the largest city, and Charleston, the capital city, with 67,914, is second. With 61,099 and 23,105 respectively, Wheeling and Fairmont, among the larger cities, had a lower population in 1940 than in 1930. Other important cities are Clarksburg, 30,579; and Parkersburg, 30,103.

Education.

The total pupil enrollment for 1940-41, in the 5,026 primary and elementary schools, was 306,942, or 5,698 less than for the preceding year. Of this total 18,862 were Negroes. For the 270 high schools the total enrollment was 109,009, a loss of 31,172, but this loss was more than covered by the enrollment in the 119 junior high schools, which totaled 35,102 and included a part of the enrollment lost in the elementary schools. The state had 5,026 elementary schools and 389 high schools (junior and senior), with 10,799 and 5,380 teachers, respectively.

The state appropriation for elementary and secondary education, for 1941-42, was $15,075,000, but state aid from all sources amounted to $15,427,285. The total expenditure including transportation, amounted to $26,400,898, of which $11,926,831 was paid by local tax units. This total did not, however, include the $150,000 for textbooks for primary and elementary schools, nor the $600,000 for the teachers' retirement fund.

Agriculture.

According to the 1940 census, West Virginia contained 99,282 farms, with a total acreage of 8,908,803, or 57.8 per cent of the whole area. The average value of farm lands was $30.29 per acre, and they represented a total value of $268,847,642.87. Of all farm lands, 17.8 per cent were used for crops and 22.8 per cent for grazing.

Industry.

The estimated value of the industrial products of West Virginia for 1940 was $624,000,000, an increase of 16 per cent over the 1929 production of $538,000,000. Among these, the newest were the products of the chemical industry, with a total value of about $90,000,000. In 1940 West Virginia began to produce synthetic materials, such as nylon and live-glas, which promise to revolutionize certain phases of the industrial world. One of the oldest industries in the present West Virginia, glass-making is still one of the most profitable. The total value of this product in 1940 was in excess of $52,000,000.

Minerals.

Coal is the most important natural resource of West Virginia. The total production for 1940 was 126,619,825 tons. In all, 108,000 miners were employed, and usable coal reserves were estimated at almost 64,000,000,000 tons. For years the production of crude oil in West Virginia has tended to decline, the amount for 1940 being 3,426,306 bbl., representing a value of about $6,250,000. Natural gas production which was boosted by the Oriskany sand developments, reached 160,000,000 M. cu. ft. for 1940. There were then 18,000 producing oil wells, and 13,860 producing gas wells in the state. One of the state's greatest industrial developments is the production of electrical power, which in 1938 totaled 2,500,000,000 kilowatts, 82 per cent of which was produced in coal-burning plants.

Banking and Finance.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941, there were 104 State and 77 National Banks in West Virginia, with deposits aggregating $161,259,278.21 and $189,781,824.34, respectively. Total state revenue receipts for the year ending June 30, 1941, were $54,621,838.60, and disbursements aggregated $51,454,644.73. The balance (all funds) in the state treasury at that time was $22,186,893.45. The Federal income tax collections for 1941 amounted to $15,481,215.44, and individual state income taxes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941 aggregated $1,753,048.06. For the same period the state consumers' sales tax, gasoline, gross sales, motor vehicle and liquor taxes were: $9,464,317.81, $8,848,517.82, $16,065,898.70, $5,737,982.30, and $3,050,000 (net), respectively. The total state appropriation (1941-42) for public assistance was $7,251,800.

Legislative and Political.

The Legislature was in session in 1941 for sixty days, the regular session. Among its outstanding enactments were a teachers' retirement law; the establishment of a state court of claims; state aid to municipalities to the extent of $600,000; state public welfare in conformity with the more liberal provisions of the Federal Security Act; liberalization of state unemployment compensation; and exemption of basic foodstuffs, including flour, butter, eggs, milk, and bread, from the consumers' sales tax.

The most important political event of the year was the contest over the United States senatorship, made vacant by the resignation of Senator Matthew Neely to become governor. Immediately upon taking the oath of office he appointed as his successor in the Senate Dr. Joseph Rosier, for years an outstanding educator. Meanwhile, the retiring Governor, Homer A. Holt, appointed to the Senate Clarence E. Martin of Berkeley County, a distinguished lawyer and former president of the American Bar Association. The unprecedented contest was determined by the United States Senate. After much debate Dr. Rosier was seated.

State Officers.

Governor, Matthew M. Neely; Secretary of State, William S. O'Brien; Superintendent of Schools, William W. Trent; Treasurer, Richard E. Talbott; Auditor, Edgar B. Sims; Attorney General, Clarence W. Meadows.

United States Senators:

Harley M. Kilgore, Dr. Joseph Rosier.

1940: West Virginia

Area and Population.

West Virginia is composed of 55 counties with an aggregate area of 24,282 sq. mi. The population (1940) was 1,901,974, as compared with 1,729,205 for 1930. The increase was 10 per cent, whereas the average increase for the United States was 8 per cent.

Huntington, with 78,836 (1940) is the largest city, and Charleston, the capital, with 67,914, is second. With 61,099 and 23,105, respectively, Wheeling and Fairmont, among the larger cities, had a lower population in 1940 than in 1930. Other important cities, in the order of size, are Clarksburg, 30,579; Parkersburg, 30,103; and Bluefield, 20,641. Weirton, with a population of about 30,000, is one of the largest unincorporated cities in the United States. Urban residents made up 28.1 per cent of the 1940 population of the state.

Education.

Enrollment for 1939-40 in the 5,026 state elementary schools was 312,640, or 5,646 less than for the preceding year. For the 386 state high schools it was 140,181, a gain of 7,723 over the preceding year. Elementary and high-school teachers numbered 11,061 and 5,117, respectively. The total state appropriation for elementary and secondary education for 1939-40 was $14,073,765, of which amount $773,785 came from the general school fund. These funds were supplemented by approximately $12,000,000 from local taxes on general property and public utilities, which made a total expenditure for elementary and secondary education of about $26,000,000.

In 1939-40 the seven state-maintained teacher-training colleges had a total student enrollment of 3,464 and a total instructional membership of 323. They received a total of $935,808 in state appropriations.

Agriculture.

By the census of 1934-35 the total number of farms in West Virginia was 104,747, with a total acreage of 9,424,655, valued at $237,643,860.

During recent years the number of farms and full-time owners has increased, but farm values have declined.

Industry.

Excluding plants with production values of less than $5,000, West Virginia in 1937 had 1,057 industrial establishments. They employed a total of 83,464 wage earners who were paid approximately $102,500,000. One of the greatest industrial advances is the production of electrical power, which in 1938 amounted to 2,500,000,000 kilowatts, 82 per cent of which was produced in coal-burning plants. Phenomenal strides are being made in chemical industries, which were extended to the northern part of the state with the opening of a Du Pont-operated plant at Morgantown.

Mineral Products.

Bituminous coal production for West Virginia, the leading state in the Union for that commodity, was 126,500,000 short tons in 1940. During recent years the production of oil has tended to decline, that for 1939 being 3,587,000 bbl., whereas that for 1935 was 3,959,000 bbl. Because of Oriskany sand developments in the Kanawha Valley, the production of natural gas increased for a time. It rose from 147,000,000 M. cu. ft. in 1930 to 149,084,000 M. cu. ft. in 1937, with a value of $58,639,000. The amount declined in 1938 to 134,342,000 M. cu. ft. valued at $55,910,000.

Banking and Finance.

On July 1, 1939, deposits of 103 State Banks and trust companies aggregated $132,063,704,11, and the total for 78 National Banks was $157,603,000. The balance in the state treasury, July 1, 1940, was $16,470,897,80. The total state funded indebtedness for the same date was $77,232,000, of which $73,982,000 was for state bonds. The total assessed value of all property in the state in 1940 was $1,838,783,059 (real estate, $850,357,039; personal property, $397,668,520; public utilities, $590,757,500). The Federal income tax for the fiscal year 1939-40 aggregated $10,965,842.88, of which $6,882,889.24 was paid by corporations and $4,082,943.64 by individuals.

A notable item of state finance in West Virginia is the expenditure for public welfare, which was fixed for the 1939-41 biennium at $6,250,000 and $5,950,000, respectively. Of these amounts, $3,150,000 was used annually for public assistance, and $3,100,000 and $2,800,000 in the respective years for general relief. It was primarily for the administration of these funds that a State Department of Public Welfare was created. Courses in welfare administration are now offered at the State University.

Legislative and Political.

The Legislature was not in session in 1940, but the year was a hectic one politically. In the May primary a well entrenched Statehouse organization was defeated by United States Senator Matthew M. Neely who, with the aid of a strong labor following, was nominated for Governor. In the ensuing election Neely won over his Republican opponent, D. Boone Dawson, by a major party majority of 112,330 in a total vote of 879,726. At the same time President Franklin D. Roosevelt won the vote of the West Virginia electors by a plurality of 123,868; and control of the state Legislature was retained by the Democrats, in the Senate by 26 to 6, in the House 74 to 20. As a result of the election the state Supreme Court of Appeals is for the first time in more than forty years composed entirely of Democrats. Neely's place in the United States Senate will be filled by appointment until the next general election, and Judge Harley M. Kilgore of Beckley, Raleigh County, will succeed Rush D. Holt, who failed of renomination to succeed himself in the United States Senate.

Events of the Year.

Among events of interest was the death on February 21, of William McKell, coal operator of Glen Jean, Fayette County, who left an estate appraised at more than $12,000,000. The state inheritance tax amounted to $1,138,833.53, the largest ever paid in West Virginia.

In August and September the state suffered an epidemic of infantile paralysis of such severity as to necessitate a delay of several weeks in opening the public schools of a number of counties.

Mining was marred by two disasters, that at Bartley, where on January 10, 91 men were killed, and that at Beckley, where on December 17, 9 were killed. The total mine fatalities for the year were 376, as against 266 for 1939.

State Officers.

Governor, Matthew M. Neely; Secretary of State, William S. O'Brien; Treasurer, Richard E. Talbott; Auditor, Edgar B. Sims; Attorney General, Clarence W. Meadows; Superintendent of Schools, William W. Trent.

United States Senators:

Harley M. Kilgore, (second Senator undecided).

1939: West Virginia

Area and Population.

Known locally as the 'Mountain State,' and elsewhere as the 'Panhandle State,' West Virginia was admitted conditionally to statehood on December 31, 1862, and began to function as a separate state on June 20, 1863. Its area is 24,282 sq. mi. The population according to the 1930 census was 1,729,205, of which 1,613,934, including 51,520 foreign-born, were whites. The urban population then included 491,500. As of July 1, 1937, the estimated population of the state was 1,865,000.

Charleston, the capital, had a population in 1930 of 60,408. Other urban centers in the order of their size are Huntington (75,572), Wheeling (61,650), Parkersburg (29,623), Clarksburg (28,866), Fairmont (23,159) and Bluefield (19,339). Weirton, with a population of approximately 25,000, is one of the largest unincorporated cities in the United States.

Education.

Attendance in the free public schools of West Virginia is compulsory for all children between seven and sixteen, who do not attend parochial or other approved schools. The attendance in the public elementary schools for 1938-39 was 318,286, and for 378 high schools it was 132,458. The number of teachers was 11,334 and 4,838, respectively. For their training the state maintains seven teachers' colleges which for 1938-39 had a total enrollment of 3,307 and a total faculty personnel of 351. Teachers are trained also at State University at Morgantown, State College for Negroes at Institute, and at private and denominational institutions. For 1938-39 the total appropriation for state teachers' colleges was $910,250, and the income for the university and the state college was $2,428,488 and $231,229.38 respectively. The budgetary appropriation for elementary and high schools for 1939-40 was $13,300,000, which, together with the general school funds, brought the estimated state expenditures on education to approximately $14,075,000. The total expenditure for free public schools was estimated at $27,825,000.

Agriculture.

In the five-year period, 1930-1935, the number of farms increased from 82,641 to 104,747 and the number of full-time owners from 60,581 to 68,981, but farm values declined approximately $82,000,000. There was also a noticeable increase in the number of farm tenants and share croppers, but the total farm acreage increased only 620,000 A., which indicated a trend to intensive culture. The most promising development was in gross farm income which in 1935 was $10,500,000 greater than for the preceding year. Milk was the chief source of income, being 29.5 per cent of the whole. Crops, other than apples (6.6 per cent) and farm gardens (8 per cent), made up 15.8 per cent, and the remainder was credited to livestock: poultry and eggs, 14 per cent; cattle and calves, 12 per cent; hogs, 8.5 per cent; and other livestock, 5.6 per cent.

Mineral Products.

Due to the industrial recession of 1938, production of bituminous coal, the product in which West Virginia leads the states, was decreased by 21 per cent from the 1937 total of 118,646,343 tons (value, $223,055,000), or to about 92,922,000 tons. The manufacture of coke also dropped from 2,097,380 tons in 1937 to 1,513,888 tons in 1938. The flow of natural gas in 1938 was estimated at 132,000,000 M. cu. ft., and of petroleum at 3,684,000 bbl., the latter comparing fairly well with the amount for 1937, which was 3,845,000 bbl. (value, $8,800,000).

Industry.

Excluding plants with production values of less than $5,000, West Virginia in 1937 had 1,057 industrial establishments. They employed a total of 83,464 wage earners, paid approximately $102,511,473 in wages, and produced a total product valued at $480,526,030, which was $113,951,973 greater than for 1935. The leading manufacturing industries in the order of their importance, together with approximate product values, were: steel, $73,000,000; glass, $40,500,000; and chemicals, $37,000,000. In 1938, 2,500,000,000 kilowatts of electric power were produced, 82 per cent of it from coal-burning plants. The chemical industry too made phenomenal strides in the Kanawha Valley.

Banking and Finance.

On July 1, 1939, deposits in 103 state banks and trust companies aggregated $132,063,704.11, whereas the total for 78 national banks was $157,603,000. The balance in the state treasury, July 1, 1939, was $11,640,331.91, the residue from receipts totaling $154,928,593.25, including a balance of $15,957,889.10 for July 1, 1938. The total state funded indebtedness, as of July 1, 1939, was $78,612,000, of which $75,112,000 was for state road bonds. Final payment on the Virginia Debt was made in 1939, and on March 5 the Legislature in joint session was officially informed that $439,000 of Virginia debt bonds, held in escrow, had been cancelled. For 1939 the total assessed valuation of all property was approximately $1,813,979,630 (real estate, $837,104,169; personal property, $382,419,461; public utilities, $584,456,000). For 1938-39 the total Federal income tax was $13,585,757, of which $7,230,301 was from corporations and $4,406,583 from individuals.

Important Events.

An outstanding event of the year was the meeting of the forty-third Legislature in an 'economy session.' The president of the Senate was William Lafon, of Monroe County, serving his first term. James Kay Thomas, of Kanawha County, succeeded himself as speaker of the House of Delegates. An important act created a Board of School Finance composed of the state superintendent of schools, the state budget director, and the state tax commissioner, with general control over all public school expenditures. General property taxes allocated for the payment of local bonded debts were reallocated so that only twenty instead of thirty per cent was used for that purpose. Teacher tenure and retirement laws were enacted; the office of the state budget director was made permanent; and three Constitutional amendments were passed to the referendum stage. They provided for an executive budget, a short ballot, and changes in the state judiciary. The work of this session was planned by an interim committee, acting under direction of the Governor, and was unprecedented for the smoothness and the facility of its functionings.

The most far-reaching event of the year was perhaps the seven weeks' shutdown, starting March 31, of approximately 100,000 bituminous miners, which entailed a total estimated loss of $5,000,000. It was featured by efforts to obtain unemployment compensation for idle miners, but the state compensation commissioner ruled that they were 'voluntarily unemployed' and therefore not entitled to relief. With the signing of new wage scales on May 13, most of the miners returned to work and other groups here and there expressed their desire to return without such an agreement. Where the returning miners met with resistance, they were protected by the Governor who was consequently assailed as a 'strike breaker.' Toward the end of the year he answered his critics, largely CIO and UMWA leaders, in a seventy-nine page pamphlet in which he attacked their alleged autocratic methods and selfish purposes. As the year ended, indications were that this controversy would feature in the forthcoming party primaries in May.

In both March and November of 1939, forest fires were unusually destructive. The death on November 7 of ex-Senator William E. Chilton, long a popular and effective leader, was generally lamented. The year ended in a business comeback.

State Officers.

State elective officers are: Governor, Homer A. Holt; Secretary of State, William S. O'Brien; Treasurer, Richard E. Talbott; Auditor, Edgar B. Sims; Attorney General, Clarence W. Meadows; Superintendent of Schools, William W. Trent.

United States Senators.

Matthew M. Neely, Rush D. Holt.

1938: West Virginia

Area and Population.

The thirty-fifth state of the Union, West Virginia was admitted to statehood June 30, 1863. It is popularly known as the 'Mountain State' and also as the 'Panhandle State.' With an area of 24,170 sq. mi., it ranks 40th in size among the states. In population it ranks 27th, numbering 1,729,205 according to the census of 1930; 1,805,000 on July 1, 1937, according to a Federal estimate. The largest cities are Huntington, 75,572 (1939 census); Wheeling, 61,659; Charleston, the capital, 60,408; Parkersburg, 29,623; Clarksburg, 28,866. Weirton, with a population of approximately 25,000, is one of the largest unincorporated cities of the world.

Of West Virginia's population in 1930, whites numbered 1,613,934, including 51,520 foreign-born. The total urban population was 491,504.

Agriculture.

In 1937 West Virginia's 104,747 farms, comprising 9,424,655 acres, produced crops with an aggregate value of $237,643,860.

Industry.

Industry as well as agriculture held its own in 1938. Production of natural gas was greatly increased by the opening of new fields, and toward the end of the year the coal output reached a new high. In the mines about 120,000 persons were employed. In 1937 there were 2,654 industrial and business concerns which produced goods valued at $983,352,477, and employed 243,257 persons with a total wage of $320,760,285.

Mineral Products.

West Virginia, ranking fifth in the Union in the value of her mineral products, showed an increase in 1937 over the total of $285,138,297 in 1936. The largest item was furnished by coal, in which West Virginia ranks next to Pennsylvania. In 1937, the state produced 118,050,000 tons, a slight increase over 1936. Production of natural gas rose by 11 per cent in 1937, amounting to about 153,000,000 M cu. ft., compared with 138,076,000 M cu. ft. in 1936 (value, $54,788,000). The increase was chiefly from the Oriskany sand fields in Kanawha Co. Production of petroleum remained fairly stationary, at 3,845,000 bbl. The manufacture of coke for the year rose to 2,095,796 tons as against 1,933,441 in 1936.

Education.

Pupil enrollment for the state elementary schools for 1937-38 was 320,344. In 400 high schools it was 123,425. There were 11,455 elementary and 4,674 high school teachers. The state appropriated $13,250,000 for elementary and secondary education, which was supplemented by $12,069,298 from local taxes. The state maintains eight teacher-training colleges, which in 1937-38 had a total enrollment of 4,678 students and 275 instructors, and received state appropriations aggregating $1,253,950. The state university at Morgantown had an enrollment in November, 1938, of 2,973 and a faculty of 245. Its total income for the year was $2,296,671.

Because of shortages of funds a number of counties, all operating under the county unit plan, were forced to shorten school terms and reduce salaries. To meet the emergency a number of counties increased local tax rates and obtained aid for building purposes through Federal grants. As the year ended the school situation was the most urgent matter before the state budget officers.

Banking and Finance.

As of July 1, 1938, the total deposits in 105 state banks and trust companies was $129,881,922, while the total for 79 national banks was $149,806,000. The total state receipts from all sources, including a balance from the previous year, and transfers, was $155,356,720.56. The state balance as of July 30, 1938, was $15,428,523.60. The total state bonded indebtedness, excluding $76,377,000 State Road Bonds, was $4,749,700. Real estate values aggregated $845,695,222; personal property values, $399,561,860; and public utility values, $584,333,850.

Review of the Year.

Among important events of the year was the visit of President and Mrs. Roosevelt in May to Arthurdale, seat of a nationally sponsored rehabilitation settlement. There the President on May 27 broadcast objections to the Federal Tax Bill of 1938. Throughout the year the Weirton Steel Company and its employees reviewed their differences before commissioners of the NLRB, without final decision.

The national election showed, in parts of the state, a trend toward the Republicans. As a result, the state's representatives in Congress will be divided (5 to 1) for the first time in six years. The state Legislature elected at the same time will be made up of 27 Democrats and 5 Republicans in the Senate, and 70 Democrats and 24 Republicans in the house, a gain of one senator for the Democrats and one for the Republicans, and twelve delegates for the Republicans.

Among other events of the year were a number of historical and other celebrations, outstanding among them being that of the 160th anniversary of the formation of Greenbrier County. The open season for deer resulted in 864 killed, the legal allotment. The legal kill for wild turkeys in the same season was 480. October forest fires were unusually destructive. The collapse of the West Virginia University football team was one of the athletic surprises of the year, as was also the resignation of H. A. Stansbury, Director of Athletics at West Virginia University since 1917.

State Officers.

Governor, Homer A. Holt; Secretary of State, William S. O'Brien; Treasurer, Richard E. Talbott; Auditor, Edgar B. Sims; Attorney-General, Clarence W. Meadows; Commissioner of Agriculture, J. Blaine McLaughlin; Superintendent of Schools, William W. Trent.

Judiciary.

The state Supreme Court of Appeals consists of five judges: President, Fred L. Fox; Associate Judges, John H. Hatcher, Haymond Maxwell, Jo N. Kenna, and James B. Riley.

United States Senators:

Matthew M. Neely and Rush D. Holt.