Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/1157

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NEW MEXICO
1103

580,122; the selling value of goods was $2,990,939,855; total amount paid in wages $530,733,577. In the same year the average num- ber of persons employed was 499,279; of these 377,328 were men (16 years of age or over), 115,143 were women, and 6,508 were from 14 to 1 6 years old. The average earnings per employee were $1,063; average number of days at work 289-06; of hours worked per day 9-25; of hours per week, 52-24.

Education. The Russell Sage Foundation, after an exhaustive examination of the public school systems of the various states, ranked New Jersey in 1920 first among the states east of the Missis- sippi river, fourth in the whole country, and added that it was " the only state in the eastern division that has gained in relative rank during a period of 28 years, 1890-1918." An Act of the Legislature of 1911 made notable changes in school administration. The State Board of Education consisted in 1921 of eight members with in- creased powers of control. The Act replaced the superintendent of public schools with a commissioner of education, with enlarged powers. The report of this commissioner for 1920 gave the total enrolment of pupils as 623,284, an increase of 26,290 over 1919 and of 44,353 over 1916. The number of teachers was 18,873; of school buildings, 2,106. Over 600,000 children were furnished with books and supplies free of cost. Nearly 300,000 received manual or industrial training of some sort, and 13,000 some form of vocational training. There were 31,486 pupils in the evening schools, 40,282 in the kindergartens, 276,498 in the first four grades, 181,864 in the four higher grades, 55,243 in the high-schools as against 38,099 in 1914. The curreit expense for operating the schools during the year 1919-20 was $30,854,795.53, an increase over the previous year of $5,403,716.10. Of this total more than $20,000,000 was for salaries of teachers, superintendents and prin- cipals. The s:hool morie/s were derived as follows: state school fund, $250,000; appropriatians by Legislature for general pur- poses, $696,006 ; appropriations fro n state railroad tax, $4,564,879; state school tax, $235,046; surplus revenue fund, $28,480; lo:al appropriations, $24,155,265; other sources, $1,382,893. The school properties in 1911 were valued at $44,000,000; in 1920 at $102,000,000. The average salary paid to teachers in 1920 was $1,177.20. A third state normal school, that at Newark, was opened in 1916. Schools under private control are numerous throughout the state. The Catholic parochial schools numbered in 1919 189, with 83,524 pupils. A legislative Act of 1917 desig- nated the state college (Rutgers) as the " State University of New Jersey." This institution had on its rolls in Jan. 1921 : graduate students, 30; undergraduates, 678; college for women, 179; summer session, 559; short courses in agriculture, 149; extension courses, 585. A college for women affiliated with it was opened in Sept. 1918. Stevens Institute of Technology in 1921 had on its rolls 862 students; Princeton (see PRINCETON UNIVERSITY), 1920-1, 1,814 undergraduates, 149 graduates.

Legislation. The general spirit of the time was clearly evident in the legislation of Ne.v Jersey during the decade 1910-20. The influence of the " Progressive " movement, reinforced by the activities of Gov. Woodrow Wilson, 1911-3, secured the enact- ment of several radical measures. For more than two generations New Jersey had, beyond any other state, sedulously fostered the aggregation of capital in corporate form, but this policy was re- versed by the passage in 1913 of the series of Acts widely known as the " Seven Sisters," whose purpose was the elimination of the power of " trusts " to create restraint of trade, monopoly, limita- tion of production and price-fixing. Subsequent legislation repealed or greatly modified these laws.

The long-cherished policy of opposition to a state debt was changed in 1920, when the Legislature proposed and the people ratified an issue of bonds to the amount of $28,000,000 for the construction, as a part of the highway system, of a bridge across the Delaware and a tunnel under the Hudson river. At the same election the people approved a law to authorize an issue of bonds to the amount of $12,000,000 as a bonus to those who served in the World War. A budget system was introduced in 1916 and a central agency for the purchase of departmental supplies.

The laws governing elections were radically changed in 1911 and subsequently, by provisions extending the application of the direct primary law and providing the blanket ballot and safeguards against frauds. In 1911 also the conmission form of municipal government was introduced, and by 1920 had been adopted by about 40 munici- palities, including the largest cities. The Practice Act of 1912 is noteworthy as simplifying procedure in the courts. The legisla- tion of this period further embraced the following subjects: the regulation and control of public utilities; jury reform; employers' liability; workmen's compensation; conditions and hours of labour; labour of women and children; juvenile courts; women as police officers; sanitary safety conditions; motor vehicle control; a state system of highways; inheritance and bank stock taxation; regulation of insurance; water-supply; food laws and storage of food; civil service in state and municipalities; state administra- tion of municipal sinking funds.

The various war measures of the Legislature were in keeping with its Act of March 26 1917, n days before war was declared, directing the governor in aid of the nation's cause " to organize and employ any and all resources within the State." The number

of men from New Jersey serving in the World War was 138,691; army, 114,534; navy and marine corps, 23,951; coast and U.S. guards, 206. According to the most recently compiled casualty statistics, 119 officers and 2,311 enlisted men lost their lives on foreign soil, while 37 officers and 856 enlisted men died in the United States and its possessions; the wounded were 7,620 (officers 219, men 7,401); prisoners 188 (officers 20, men 168). The records of the Navy Department show a total loss of 227, of whom 168 died of disease, 24 in enemy action, and 35 by accidents. In the marine corps 80 men lost their lives while serving with the U.S. Marines in France, 1 6 while serving in the United States and foreign sta- tions other than the American Expeditionary Force. 1 he sub- scriptions in New Jersey to the Liberty and Victory Loans were: first, $82,519,450; second, $140,209,300; third, $139,858,500; fourth, $236,826,600; Victory, $173,645,050; total $773,058,900.

Political History. Woodrow Wilson was elected governor in 1910 as candidate of the Democratic party, receiving a plu- rality of 49,056. His success in the state campaign, and the character of his administration, attracted the attention of the whole country and led to his nomination and election to the pres- idency in 1912. In each of the seven presidential elections after 1892 the electoral vote of New Jersey was cast for the candidate of the Republican party except that of 1912, when Wilson, owing to the split in the Republican ranks, secured a plurality of 24,873. He lost the state to Hughes in 1916 by 57,707 plurality. In 1920 Harding, Republican, received 611,670 votes; Cox, Democrat, 258,229. In the elections for the state executive the Democratic party was successful in 1910, 1913 and 1919, the Republicans winning in 1916. The Legislature also varied in party affiliation during this period, but from 1914 the Republicans obtained the control of both Houses. In 1921, of the 21 Senators, 15 were Republicans, 6 Democrats; in the Assembly there was but one Democrat, the other 59 were Republicans, of whom two were women. In the sixty-seventh Congress of the United States both New Jersey's Senators were Peputlican, and of the state's 12 Representatives but one was a Democrat.

New Jersey's governors were: Woodrow Wilson 1911-3; James F. Fielder (acting), 1913; Leon R. Taylor (acting), 1914; James F. Fielder, 1914-7; Walter E. Edge, 1917-9; William H. Runyon (acting), 1919; Edward I. Edwards, 1920- .

(A. Sc.)

NEW MEXICO (see 19.520). The pop. in 1920 was 360,350 as against 327,301 in 1910, an increase of 33,049, or 10-1%, as against 67-6% in the preceding decade. The urban pop. (in places of 2,500 inhabitants or more) in 1920 was 18 % of the total, as compared with 14-2% in 1910. The average number of inhabitants per sq.m. in 1920 was 2-9; in 1910 it was 2-7. The following table shows the growth of the principal cities for the decade 1910-20:

1920

1910

Increase rer cent

15,157

1 1 ,020

37'5

Santa Fe

7.236 7,033

5,072 6,172

42-7 J3'9

Raton Clovis

5.544 4.904

4,539

3,255

22-1

50-7

Agriculture. During the decade 1910-20 the number of farms decreased from 35,676 to 29,844, or 16-3%; all land in farms increased from 11,270,021 ac. to 24,409,653 ac., or 116-6 / ; im- proved land increased from 1,467,191 ac. to 1,717,224 ac., or 17%. The value of all farm property rose from $159,447,990 in 1910 to $325,185,999 in 1920. The average acreage per farm in 1920 was 817-9 ac. ; in 1910 it was 315-9 ac. The average value of land per acre decreased from $8.77 in 1910 to $8.04 in 1920. Of the 29,844 farmers in 1920, 25,756 were owners, 433 tranagers, and 3,655 tenants. The increase in the chief agricultural products during 1909-19 is shown in the following table:


Acres

Production

Value

Corn . . . 1919

227,167

4,737,182 bus.

V,, 105,781

" . 1909

85.999

1,164,970

984,052

Oats . . . 1919

40,029

1,085,311

1,139,580

" . 1909

33.707

720,560

459,306

Wheat . . . 1919

135,185

2,437.213

4,874,426

" . . . 1909

32.341

499,799

508,726

Beans . . . 1919

112,419

850,334

2,976,176

- . 1909

20,766

85,795

232,023

Hay and forage . 1919

436,547

693,807 tons

12,852.751

" " . 1909

370,596

433,504 '

4,493,918