Page:EB1922 - Volume 30.djvu/770

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724
COLORADO


were estimated at $763,722,716; buildings at $102,290,944; im- plements and machinery at $49,804,509; and live stock at $160,976,- 580. The farm crops in 1919 were:

Crop

All crops . Cereals, total .

Corn .

Oats .

Wheat . Hay and forage Vegetables Misc. crops, total Fruits and nuts Orchard fruits

Acreage

2,640,664

752,637

174,189

1,328,616

2,215,730

176,494

Production

38,436,55 bus. 10,105,627 "

4.535,527 " 18,260,663 " 3,580,123 tons

4,627,825 bus.

Value $181,065,239 63,380,214 14,147,875

4,308,752 37,616,960 60,769,080 24,804,225 17,673,726

8,751,678

8,226,734

ac. in 1909, 3,348,385 ac. in

The irrigated area was 2,792,032 , , _ _

1919, while acreage under all irrigation enterprises, whether com- pleted or not, had decreased from 5,917,457 to 5,220,588 acres. Organized drainage enterprises, most of them having been rendered necessary by faulty irrigation, had affected 171,656 ac. at a cost of $1,081,875. I n J 9 2 there were in the state 420,704 horses, 31,125 mules, 3,099 asses and burros, 1,434,423 beef cattle, 322,193 dairy cattle, 1,813,255 sheep, 28,688 goats, and 449,866 swine. In the same year the number of poultry was 2,994,347, and there were 63,- 253 hives of bees.

Mining. Colorado's rank among the states in the production of the principal metals in 1918 was as follows: Radium, first, with an output of $7,500,000; tungsten, first, with an output of $1,833,- 600; gold, second, with an output of $12,944,600; lead, second, with an output of 64,282,841 Ib. ; zinc, fifth, with an output of 88,141,748 Ib. ; silver, fifth, with an output of 7,071,768 oz.; copper, tenth, with an output of 6,423,919 pounds. Production of coal reached a total of 12,511,481 short tons in 1917. Petroleum production in 1917 fell off to 204,000 barrels. There has been great interest in the deposits of oil shale in the Green river formation in the western parts of the state. Processes for exploitation on a commercial scale have not yet been put in operation.

Manufactures. From 1900 to 1920 the number of manufacturing establishments in Colorado nearly doubled, the number of persons engaged more than doubled, and the capital invested increased 225 %. In 1919 there were 2,631 manufacturing establishments, employing 44,731 persons, using capital to the amount of $243,827,000, and the value of the products was $275,622,000. Higher prices rather than increased production caused most of the increase. In 1914 the state ranked thirty-second in value of manufactured products, which represented only 0-6 % of the value for the United States. Beet-sugar manufacture became the leading factory industry in 1914. There were 14 operating plants in 1919, which manufactured sugar valued at more than $37,000,000. Slaughtering and meatpacking products amounted to more than $41,000,000. Flour and gristmill products ranked third in 1914, with a value of $7,535,633; a moderate in- crease in output in 1919 was accompanied by high prices, giving that year an unusual value of $20,000,000. Butter, cheese, and condensed-milk industries became important, their products being estimated at $12,000,000 in 1919.

Education. In 1919 the illiterates, 10 years of age or over, were 3'7% of the pop. of the state, although the foreign-born whites of those ages were 11-3%. There were 1,880 school districts in the state in 1919, maintaining 3,125 schools and employing about 7,500 teachers. The school pop. for the year ending June 30 1918 was 257,884, and the enrolment in public schools 191,199. Public school expenditures for the year were $9,892,699. The total amount in- vested in school property was $15,212,000, an average of $79.08 per pupil enrolled. The state's permanent school fund, derived from Federal land grants, amounted to $4,948,492 in 1918. The income of the permanent school fund (about $600,000) is apportioned among the school districts, giving about $2.35 per capita of the school popu- lation. Sales and leases of school lands, and royalties on minerals, have increased the state school funds, and the unsold lands, to- gether with coal and other mineral reserves, are estimated at $125,000,000. County and district tax levies, the main source of school revenues, produced $11,572,155 in 1918. There was a pro- nounced movement for the consolidation of rural schools, and for joint support of centralized schools in which two or more counties are interested. The Legislature of 1921 passed a law providing a mini- mum salary for teachers graded for the several classes of districts. Several districts in cities (notably in Denver, Colorado Springs, and Sterling) in 1920 adopted salary schedules which fixed higher standards for teachers with advanced professional training. Public high schools and institutions of higher education developed from 1910 to 1920 even more rapidly than elementary schools. Enrolment of students taxed the capacity of secondary schools and colleges, requiring increased taxation for current expenditures and bond issues for buildings. The enrolment in the secondary schools in 1920 was 24,404; in 1910, 11,495.

finances. The total bonded indebtedness of the state Nov. 20 1920 was $4,187,300. The general assessment valuation of taxable property in 1919 was $1,498,661,128, in 1920 $1,591,307,396, on which there was a state levy of 3-47 mills, producing $5,200,355 in 1919 and $5,521,836 in 1920.

History. A special session of the Legislature in 1910 sub- mitted to the voters a constitutional amendment adopting in- itiative and referendum, which was ratified in Nov. of that year. The same special session adopted a primary election law, pro- viding for direct nominations by the people of candidates for the U.S. Senate, Representatives in Congress, and all elective state, district, county, ward and precinct officers, as well as members of the state Legislature. This Act provided for party assemblies, at which party candidates might be designated to seek nomina- tions in the primaries, every candidate receiving 10% or more of the votes of the delegates to the assembly being certified by the assembly as a candidate to enter the primaries. It was also provided that persons not entering the assembly might become candidates for any of the offices above mentioned by petition, the number of signers required being 300 for any official who is to serve any political district in the state greater than a county and 100 for other officials. The expense of can- didates in such primaries was limited by the Act and severe penalties were provided for violations. In 1911 an Act was passed providing for registration of voters for all elections to be held in the state except school elections, and providing severe penalties for false registration and other violations of the Act. In Nov. 1912 the people approved amendments to the state constitution providing for recall of elective officials and, in certain cases, for the recall of judicial decisions. An Act pro- posed by initiative was passed at the same time, providing for a ballot without party headings.

The voters adopted in Nov. 1914 an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting the sale and manufacture of intoxicating liquor, which became effective Jan. i 1916. The Legislature at its regular session in 1917 petitioned Congress to adopt an amendment to the Federal Constitution to prohibit the manufac- ture and sale of intoxicating liquors in the United States, and the prohibition amendment to the Federal Constitution was ratified by the Colorado Legislature in regular session Jan. 15 1919.

The Legislature in 1919 passed an Act providing for a budget system in making appropriations and creating a state budget and efficiency commissioner. The first budget prepared under this Act was presented to the Legislature in 1921. The Legis- lature in 1921 passed amendments to the constitution, for sub- mission to the voters, proposing the extension of the tenure of state and county officers from two to four years. A proposal was submitted to the voters for a convention to revise the state constitution, this action being simultaneous with the failure of a series of Acts urged by the governor for the reform and consolida- tion of executive offices and boards. Persistent advocacy by the governor secured the passage of laws for reestablishment and encouragement of a national guard, for a department of safety with a force of rangers as a state police force, and for a substantial appropriation to be available to suppress riots.

There were a number of serious labour disturbances between 1910 and 1920, some of them marked by violence and virtual insurrection which had to be put down by the military forces. A notable contribution to better relations between capital and "labour was the industrial representation plan put into effect by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the properties of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. in 1916. Employees, by districts and classified groups, elect representatives who have the right to confer with executives on all questions affecting wages, conditions of employ- ment and operation, and general welfare. The success of the system in Colorado has had marked influence on similar large industrial organizations elsewhere.

In 1910 the state administration was in the hands of the Democratic party, with Joseph H. Shafroth as governor. The Democrats again elected a governor in 1912, Elias M. Ammons, a result largely due to the split in the Republican party throughout the nation. In 1914 George A. Carlson, Republican, was chosen governor. He was succeeded by Julius C. Gunter, Democrat, elected in 1916 when the leadership of President Wilson on inter- national issues made his party dominant in the states, largely through women's votes. A reunited Republican party, profiting by popular reaction on war issues, elected Oliver H. Shoup as