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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)",
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    "chunk_id": "1926:california:026f09e92cc5",
    "title": "CALIFORNIA",
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    "verified_text": "in 1920 the population was 3,426,- 861 as against 2,377,549 in 1910, an increase of 1,049,312, or 44-°1%. the population in 1925, as estimated by the u.s. census bureau, was 4,021,320. the urban population (in places of 2,500 or more) in 1920 was 2,331,720, an increase dur- ing the decade from 61-8% to 68% of the total population. of the cities, three had more than 200,000 inhabitants in 1920: los angeles (576,673), san francisco (506,676) and oakland (216,261). the total land area is 155,652 square miles. political history.—between 1910 and 1925 many changes were made in the constitution and government of the state. in response to a popular movement, the legislature, elected in 1908, passed a law giving the voters more direct control of the political parties at the primary elections. this led in 1910 to the election of hiram w. johnson as governor on a platform opposing the ‘‘ special interests.”” the new administration car- ried through legislative changes which were both numerous and far-reaching. in addition to legislative enactments, 78 constitu- tional amendments were approved during the period 1910-25. among the more important were those of 1911 providing for the initaitive and referendum, the recall (including the recall of judges), increased powers to the state railway commission and the adoption of the short ballot; provision for the free distribu- tion of text-books in elementary schools, in 1912; the authorisa- tion of a minimum wage law for women, in 1914; the enlarging of the operations and support of the public schools, in 1920; and a budget law, in 1922. important legislation included a working men’s compensa- tion act; limitation of the working hours for women to 48 a week; a teachers’ pension act; provision for the cure of drug addicts; a mothers’ pension act; a blue sky law, designed to pro- tect investors from unscrupulous promoters; the webb alien land holding act, to prevent japanese from holding real estate; provisions for absent voters; regulation of stages and automo- biles as common carriers; a compulsory part-time education law raising the compulsory school age limit from 15 to 16 years; and provision for the vocational re-education of disabled men. while these acts were generally recognised as having high social value, many of them added materially to the rapidly in- creasing cost of government. in 1910 the cost of state govern- ment was $14,866,850; in 1920 it was $36,125,456; and in 1924 $57,044,154. by a constitutional amendment in 1rg1o the system of taxation was so changed that state expense was to be borne by taxes on corporations, which were, on the other hand, re- lieved of county and local taxation. in rorg the problem of governmental cost was made an object of special study and leg- islation, and in 1921 a remedy was sought by the consolidation of many state boards and commissions into a few state depart- ments and also by raising the rate of the tax on corporations. this action brought forward the problem of state expense as an acute political issue, and resulted in the adoption of a consti- tutional amendment providing for an executive budget, and in the election of friend w. richardson as governor on a platform of strict economy. the prosecution of this programme divided the state into two political camps, one urging the full discharge of the social and educational responsibility of government, the other demanding relief from the burdens of heavy taxation. education.—the number of pupils enrolled in the public ele- mentary and high schools rose from 513,319 1n 1914 to 1,019,739 in 1924. in the latter year there were 977 kindergarten, 18,861 elementary and 9,29: high school teachers in the public school system. expenditures for public education have increased enor- mously, rising from about $6,000,000 in 1910 to $75,576,031 in 1924. much of the increase was due to the introduction of the free textbook system and to the construction of buildings. agriculture—in 1920 there were 29,365,667 ac. in farms, of which 11,878,339 ac. were improved land. the total acreage had fallen to 27,565,440 in 1925. the average acreage per farm decreased from 316-7 in 1910 to 249°6 in 1920 and to 202 in california—california, university of 1925, but the value per acre increased from $47.16 in 1910 to $04.77 in 1920 and to $114 in 1925. in rg20 the total value of all farm property was $3,431,021,861: this value had fallen to $3,161,818,824 in 1925. there were 4,219,040 ac. under irri- gation in 1920. in 1925 the total value of all farm crops was $458,469,000: the following table shows the production and value of certain crops in that year:— production farm value $77,556,000 12,980,000 16,728,000 24,180,000 8,055,000 16,956,000 13,020,000 3,517,000 5,621,000 tons 60,372,000 |b. 4,080,000 bu. 32,240,000 bu. 4,738,000 bu. 11,475,000 bu. 6,510,000 bu. 3,026,000 bu. hay. . cotton lint beans barley rice wheat potatoes . corn fruit growing is by far the most important branch of agri- culture, the chief crops are oranges, apples, lemons, grapes, prunes and peaches. in 1925 the total value of the fruit crop was $216,164,000. pastoral industry —the value of dairy products for the fiscal year 1923-4 was $118,647,544, distributed as follows:— ice cream . . $12,247,904 «butter . $37,513,481 ‘ milk and cream 66,790,024 cheese. 2,096,135 the following table shows the number of live stock slaughtered and the principal products of the same for the calendar year 1923:— slaughtered products beeves 549,155 | fresh beef 293,443,739 calves 175,419 | fresh veal 24,703,322 sheep 1,607,538 fresh mutton . 60,682,334 hogs 1,187,767 | fresh pork 105,894,358 cured and salt- pork 44,077,673 during 1925 the wool clip was 17,150,000 jb., walued at approximately $5,800,000, minerals.—the total value of the mineral production in cali- fornia in 1924 was $374,620,789. the production of gold de- creased from $17,398,200 in ro19 to $13,150,175 in 1924, which was approximately 30% of the gold output of the united states. the silver output was 3,555,153 fine oz., valued at $2,381,952; copper, 52,089,349 lb., valued at $6,823,704. the value of the non-metallic minerals was practically three-fourths of the total value: the chief item was petroleum, which, in 1924, produced 228,933,471 bar., valued at $274,652,874. cement pro- duction reached 11,655,131 bar., valued at $23,225,850. industry.—the total value of manufactured products in 1923 was $2,215,281,250, in producing which there were employed 246,154 workers, who received $353,183,000 in wages. the prin- cipal industries were petroleum refining, $267,382,871; canning and preserving, $170,620,075; slaughtering and meat packing, $102,568,576; lumber and timber products, $82,228,916; planing mill products, $82,228,916; printing and publishing, $72,012,079; motor vehicles, $67,160,192; bread and bakery products, $60,- 401,871; and motion-picture production, $54,332,060. communications —the total railway mileage operated in the state on june 30 1924 was 16,439, of which 3,155 m. were electric railways. the chief lines are the southern pacific; the atchison, topeka and santa fe; the san pedro and salt lake; and the western pacific. after 1g10 there was a rapid improve- ment in highways. the state highway system in 1924 had a total mileage of 6,400. the use of motor vehicles expanded rapidly between 1910 and 192s, and on aug. 1 1925 there were 1,382,821 automobiles and motor vehicles in the state. 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