XXV

FRED B. BALZAR, GOVERNOR, 1927-1934

In 1926 Nevada chose for governor a Republican, Hon. Fred B. Balzar, and the Republicans also had the control of the legislatures and most of the state offices. In the election of November 2, 1926, the highest total vote was 31,246. Senator Oddie was reelected by a plurality of about 4,000 over Ray T. Baker, his Democratic opponent. The contest for congressman was between Samuel S. Arentz and Maurice J. Sullivan, Mr. Arentz retaining his seat by a majority of 4,688. The vote for governor was: Fred B. Balzar, 16,374; J. G. Scrugham, 14,521. Other state officials elected at that time were : Morley Griswold, Republican, lieutenant governor ; W. G. Greathouse, Democrat, secretary of state ; Ed. Malley, Democrat, state treasurer; Edward C. Peterson, Republican, state controller ; George Watt, Republican, surveyor general; M. A. Diskin, Democrat, attorney general; Joe Farnsworth, Democrat, superintendent of state printing; Mrs. Eva Hatton, Republican, clerk of Supreme Court; Andy J. Stinson, Republican, inspector of mines; Ben W. Coleman, justice of Supreme Court; Walter W. Anderson, superintendent of public instruction ; and George S. Brown, university regent.

Election of 1928

In the presidential election of 1928 Nevada's vote for the rival nominees, Herbert Hoover, Republican, and Al Smith, Democrat, was divided as follows : Hoover, 18,327; Smith, 14,090. At the same time Senator Key Pittman, Democrat, was reelected to the Senate by a majority of 6,101 over his Republican opponent, Samuel Platt. Samuel S. Arentz was reelected to Congress, John A. Sanders was returned for another term on the Supreme bench. George Wingfield was elected university regent, and two state offices were filled at this time : George B. Russell being elected state treasurer, and Thomas A. Lotz surveyor general. In this election Nevada cast the highest total vote in its history, 32,929.

A still larger vote was cast in 1930, 34,634. During the decade 1920-30 Nevada's population increased by 17.6 per cent, from 77,407 to 91,058. The decade was marked by conspicuous shifting of population. Esmeralda County lost approximately 55 per cent of its population of 1920, Storey County, also 55 per cent, and Nye County 38 per cent. To offset these losses, Clark County's gain was 75 per cent, Lincoln County's 57 per cent, and Washoe County's 45 per cent. Important gains were also made in Elko and White Pine counties. The City of Reno's population increased by 54 per cent, from 12,016 in 1920 to 18,529 in 1930. During the decade Las Vegas became the second city in size in the state, increasing from a population of 2,314 to 5,165. The only other incorporated places to show material gains were Elko, Ely and Sparks.

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Election of 1930

The vote for governor in 1930 was : Fred B. Balzar, Republican, 18,442; Charles L. Richards, Democrat, 16,192. S. S. Arentz was reelected to Congress, and other state officials chosen at that time were : Lieutenant governor, Morley Griswold, Republican ; secretary of state, W. G. Greathouse, Democrat; state treasurer, George B. Russell, Republican; state controller, Ed C. Peterson, Republican; surveyor general, Thomas A. Lotz, Republican; attorney general, Gray Mashburn, Democrat ; superintendent of state printing, Joe Farnsworth, Democrat; clerk of Supreme Court, Eva Hatton, Republican; inspector of mines, Andy J. Stinson, Republican; justice of Supreme Court, Edward A. Ducker; superintendent of public instruction, Walter W. Anderson ; university regent, A. C. Olmsted.

Governor Balzar was a native son of Nevada. He began his career as a fireman on the old Carson & Colorado Railroad. Later he turned to mining, and was identified with a number of new mining communities in what are now Esmeralda and Mineral counties. He represented Esmeralda County in the Assembly and Senate, later was sheriff and assessor of Mineral County, and had been state chairman of the Republican Central Committee in 1924. Governor Balzar was the fourth governor of Nevada to be reelected for two terms, and was the sixth Republican to hold that office.

To a later historian must be permitted the task of analyzing the events of the recent years and placing them in the proper historical perspective. Among the outstanding plans and projects involving Nevada's prosperity which have been materially advanced during this period, the most important relates to the development of the Colorado River, a project also known as the "Hoover Dam."

Hoover Dam

The year 1927 was one of continued conferences endeavoring to bring the interested states into harmony. From the attempt to yoke the states into cooperation, efforts were concentrated upon pending legislation in Congress which would give the initiative to the Federal Government, subject to the approval and cooperation of the individual states. The pending Swing-Johnson Bill, proposing to construct the Boulder Dam on the Colorado River, in its original form did not provide any revenue for the states of Arizona and Nevada, nor power from the project to develop those states, but provided that the All-American Canal in Imperial Valley, costing $38,500,000, should be paid for by power by the project in addition to the dam and power plant.

The "Boulder Canyon Project Act," of December, 1928, made available $250,000 for investigation and preliminary work under the direction of the secretary of the interior. The appropriation was not available until June, 1929. In June, 1930, Congress appropriated $10,600,000 for initial construction work, and on July 5th of that year the first contract was let. The first unit of the construction work was the building of a branch railroad from the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Line, a distance of 22.6 miles in length from a point approximately seven miles west of Las Vegas to the top of the canyon at Boulder Dam site. A celebration at Las Vegas, September 17, 1930, marked the official beginning of

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this construction, and early in the following year the railroad was completed.

The contract for the construction of the Hoover Dam was let March 4, 1931, to Six Companies Incorporated, at $48,890,999. Elwood Mead, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, recommended the awarding of the bid, and the award was signed March 11 and the contract April 20, by Dr. Ray L. Wilbur, secretary of the interior. Under the terms of the contract the dam was to be completed within six and a half years. Elwood Mead's statement

as to the size, engineering problems and other facts about the project was:

The dam will be 730 feet high, nearly twice the height of any dam yet built. It will be 600 feet thick at the base. If it should be overturned it would still be the highest dam in the world. The All-American canal, which will carry the stored water to irrigators in Imperial Valley, will be 200 feet wide, 22 feet deep, and carry 15,000 cubic feet of water per second. The aqueduct that is to carry water to Los Angeles and surrounding cities will be over 200 miles long, and will carry 1,500 cubic feet of water per second, which will have to be lifted 1,200 feet in order to cross the Sierra divide. It will cost over $200,000,000.

The lake above the dam will be 115 miles long, 582 feet deep and will hold 30,500,000 acre feet of water, enough to cover the State of New York to the depth of one foot. It will be the largest artificial reservoir in the world, more than eleven times the capacity of the Elephant Butte reservoir in New Mexico and twelve times that of Assuan in Egypt.

The canyon walls at the water level of the river are only 300 feet apart. The velocity of the river's flow through this bottle neck is about twenty feet a second. Power for construction will be brought 225 miles.

The bureau will spend $2,000,000 to build a town near the dam site to provide comfortable living conditions for workers.

            The specifications require contractors to house 80 per cent of their workers in the town.

The power plant will generate 660,000 firm horsepower. The price of firm power is 1.63 mills a kilowatt hour, and .05 of a mill for each kilowatt hour of seasonal power. The power and water income from the contracts already signed will possibly in forty years bring an income of $373,500,000.

"Irredeemable Bond" Redeemed

In 1928 Congress also appropriated three and a half million dollars for the erection of a Naval Munitions Storage Depot in the vicinity of Hawthorne. As the result of another Federal appropriation one of Nevada's oldest claims, under which were assembled many pages of statistics in early volumes of state reports, was satisfied, and the proceeds were used in part to eliminate from the financial statements the historic "irredeemable bond," that played such an important part in the early financial records. To quote Governor Balzar's message of 1931:

During the year 1929, as a result of earnest labors by our present congressional representatives and their predecessors, there was received by the state the sum of $595,076.53

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in full and final settlement of our claim against the Federal Government for repayment to the state, with interest, of moneys advanced by Nevada Territory to aid the General Government during the Civil war.

This claim has been pressed for passage during the past sixty years, and under authority of an act of the Nevada Legislature the State Board of Examiners entered into a contract with interested attorneys providing for a fee of 25 per cent of all moneys which might be finally collected, with the result that the net amount received by the state treasurer was $446,307.40.

Of this sum, $380,000 was used to redeem and finally extinguish a so-called "Irredeemable Bond" held by the State Permanent School Fund, thereby saving to the people of Nevada annual interest charge of $19,000 which had been paid for more than fifty years, aggregating over $950,000 in interest.

The remainder of $66,307.40 was applied to making necessary repairs and changes in the several state buildings located at the seat of government and for completely refurnishing the executive mansion.

Upon the redemption of the "Irredeemable Bond" for $380,000 this sum was reinvested by the State Board of Finance for the benefit of the State Permanent School Fund.

Highway System

By 1931 the highway system, designated in the early part of the road-building era, was practically completed, including all of the original primary routes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. With the exception of a few miles around Reno, these roads are surfaced with gravel, and early in the Balzar administration the practice of treating these roads with oil was started. During the first two years of the Balzar administration approximately 492 miles of highway were completed, and the record for the two following years included 273 miles of new construction, 360 miles of reconstruction, and 391 miles of oil-treated gravel surfaced roads. By the close of 1930, 1,193 miles of the state highway system had been completed or was under contract. Building of roads was only the first cost, and the problem of the high cost of maintenance has constituted a heavy burden upon Nevada's road funds. For the year 1930 approximately $440,000 were expended in maintenance charges, at a cost per mile of $235.

In 1925 the gasoline tax in Nevada had been increased to four cents a gallon, the revenues to be divided equally between the State Highway Fund and the County-State Highway Fund, but in 1929 the law was amended so as to place all the revenues derived from gasoline tax in the State Highway Fund. Through the gasoline tax, the license tax, and the annual state levy of five cents, the state had a revenue of approximately a million dollars annually for road building and maintenance purposes. The Federal allotment to the Nevada highway program from 1917 to 1932 inclusive, aggregated nearly fifteen million dollars. Partly for the purpose of matching these Federal appropriations and also as a means to relieve the unemployment situation, the Legislature of 1931 authorized a $600,000 bond issue for the purpose of constructing certain portions in designated state highways. "I am in sympa-

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thy," said the governor, "with all reasonable efforts of this state to do its full share in providing opportunities for the employment of labor, and so want to emphasize the importance of carrying on an intensive highway program during the ensuing year in order to relieve the present depression and unemployment situation."

The Depression Era

When Governor Balzar was inaugurated in 1927, the nation was at the climax of an era of headlong and reckless prosperity which all but the most conservative believed would continue indefinitely. The old economic principles, the theory of cyclical alternations of prosperity and adversity, "saturated" markets and over-production, it was thought, were obsolete. The world had been

[picture]

LAHONTAN DAM AND SPILLWAYS

raised to a new economic level. The optimists were confounded by the stock crash in the fall of 1929, and in spite of the reiterated predictions that "prosperity was just around the corner" the depression spread with resulting stagnation and paralysis until every individual, every business interest and every institution had been adversely affected.

The fullest extent of the depression was not yet apparent when Governor Balzar read his message to the Legislature in January, 1931. But already there was a sharp contrast between conditions of that date and two years earlier. Without seeking to interpret the full significance of the times and conditions, it will be proper to note here two pictures of economic and industrial conditions, the one presented by the governor in 1929 and the other in 1931.

"I am pleased to report that a general spirit of optimism prevails throughout our state as to its economic future." The governor believed that the expenditure of huge sums for the erection of the Munitions Depot and the Boulder Dam could not fail to be of the utmost benefit to the state and insure an era of prosperity for a number of years. He also noted the prevailing high prices for beef and stock cattle and for sheep and wool products,

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and the increasing area of lands brought under cultivation during 1928. As to the mining industry he said :

In pleasing contrast with other recent years the mining industry seems now to have entered upon a new era of activity and production. The output of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc for the year 1928 was nearly $8,000,000 in excess of the previous year, and greater than for any year since 1918. The 1919 production dropped to approximately $23,400,000, less than half of the $48,500,000 produced in 1918. In 1921 a further drop to $12,100,000 occurred. Thereafter, metal output gradually increased in value to $23,322,000 in 1927. The Department of Commerce estimates production in 1928 to have been about $31,180,000. While this was mostly due to greater copper production and the rise in the market price of that metal, the output of gold and silver also was substantially larger in 1928 than in 1927.

Copper to the amount of 120,259,000 pounds was produced in Nevada in 1927, while the 1928 output expanded to about 158,577,000 pounds valued at about $23,152,000, an increase of over $7,000,000. The gold output of $3,570,000 in 1928 represents an increase of about $460,000 over the previous year. Silver production increased moderately from 5,397,000 ounces in 1927 to about 5,401,000 ounces in 1928. While the output of lead and zinc decreased slightly, a substantially larger production of quicksilver and tungsten is reported. In addition, clay, gypsum and other nonmetallic products were mined extensively throughout the State.

The prosperity of the industry is directly reflected in the net proceeds tax collected by the State and counties. The assessed valuation of the net proceeds of mines thus far reported for 1928 is more than double that of 1927, or any previous recent year. The operation of the net proceeds tax law enacted by the 1927 Legislature has proved satisfactory and, in addition to clarifying the law, has resulted in greatly increased revenue. The law has met with general satisfaction and has greatly simplified the rendering of returns and collection of taxes.

A feeling of optimism prevails throughout the industry. Many new operations are under way and continued favorable conditions with increased productions may be anticipated from older mines.

Capital is needed for the further development of our mineral resources, and this capital, which must be sought from without, should be encouraged in every way to enter the State.

Cheap and adequate power such as will eventually be available from the construction of the dam authorized by the terms of the Boulder Dam project Act will be an important factor in the further wide development in the mining industry.

Greater prosperity, not alone to the community concerned but to the State as a whole, should finally result.

Conditions in 1931

Before quoting the governor's message of 1931 it is proper to observe that the note of optimism was not altogether unjustified, since Nevada was not pulled into the slough of the depression until

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somewhat later. "Most fortunately the existing nation-wide condition of financial distress is but lightly felt within our own borders when comparisons are made with conditions prevailing in other states, and this is partly due to our solid financial standing and partly to the large Federal expenditures which have heretofore been made in the State, or those authorized to be made." The most direct contrast with the preceding two years is found in that portion of the governor's message devoted to mines and mining.

The year just closed has witnessed the most serious reverses the mining industry has suffered in the entire history of its operations in the State. Metal prices have so declined as to offer little inducement for further production. As a result, general suspension and curtailment of mining operations have occurred throughout the State. The industry is in a critical situation with problems facing it which appear almost insurmountable.

Such low values for our principal metals are directly reflected in production figures. In 1929 the reported output of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc in Nevada amounted to more than $33,000,000. The Department of Commerce estimates production of these five principal metals in 1930 to have been approximately $17,500,000. This represents a decline in production of approximately $37,000,000 since the $54,424,000 reported in 1917.

The Department of Commerce reports a decrease in production of gold from $3,384,000 in 1929 to about $2,729,000 in 1930. During the same period the production of silver declined from 4,923,000 ounces valued at about $2,624,000 to 4,174,000 ounces valued at $1,607,000. While the copper output decreased from 140,000,000 to about 85,000,000 pounds, the value of the product dropped from $24,664,000 in 1929 to about $10,563,000 in 1930. Due to larger operations in two districts within the State, the production of lead and zinc in 1930 increased somewhat over 1929. Lead rose from a pro-

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duction of 19,692,000 pounds to 23,507,000 pounds, but the value decreased from $1,240,000 to about $1,222,000. The production of zinc increased from 16,920,000 pounds in 1929 to about 30,000,000 pounds in 1930. Unlike other metals, the value likewise increased from $1,116,000 to about $1,410,000. However, during the latter part of the year zinc and lead operations were curtailed and it is now reported that the principal producers will store their zinc awaiting a better market.

Agriculture

Largely due to the fact that throughout the decade of the '20s agriculture was relatively at a disadvantage as compared with other industries and business in general, the governor's picture of the farmer and stock man was less gloomy.

Our farming and live stock industries have suffered severely during the past year due to the world-wide depression which has greatly lessened consumer demand for our principal products. In the face of this reduced demand our own and European markets have been flooded with increased supplies of beef, lamb, wool, dairy and poultry products from countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Under such conditions, prices for our principal agricultural products were greatly lowered and would have undoubtedly dropped to levels which would have bankrupted our farmers and stockmen had they not had the protection of the American tariff.

While our Nevada farmers have been able to maintain their crop acreage and crop production during the past year at practically the 1929 level, the drastic decline in prices has forced some liquidations upon the part of both our cattle and sheep men. Uncertainty of range tenure and range rights on the part of our stockmen has also been a factor in forcing the marketing of more than the normal turn-off of cattle and sheep.

While Nevada sheep have been increasing in number since 1928, statistics indicate a large expansion in flocks in other parts of the country as well as other livestock producing countries of the world. It is therefore evident that there must be considerable liquidation where the industry has been over-expanded, both in this country and abroad, before marked increases in lamb and wool prices occur. Campaigns now under way to increase the consumption of lamb in this country will undoubtedly prove beneficial and bring better prices for that product, while the development of a national cooperative marketing plan to handle wool will increase the returns of the producer of that important commodity.

While our dairy and poultry industries have also felt the price drop, these two important agricultural enterprises continue to grow in our State, due to our low cost of production and excellent Pacific Coast and home market for dairy and poultry products. Turkey production in particular has undergone a rapid expansion during the past two years and this industry now brings a very substantial cash income to many of our southern and western Nevada ranchers.

Nevada potatoes are well and favorably known on the coast markets and the opportunity of expanding this industry.

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appears most favorable. In southern Nevada climatic conditions and transportation facilities have made possible the development of an early vegetable industry to supply the intermountain and eastern markets. With the organization during the past year of an effective cooperative marketing association to handle the products, the success of this industry seems assured and should, within a few years, be the means of materially increasing the agricultural income of our State.

Extensions to University Functions

Among measures which Governor Balzar believed would have an important bearing upon the future development of the state, one was the Act of the Legislature of 1929 providing for an investigation of the mineral resources of the state, to be carried on in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey. The same Legislature established a State Bureau of Mines, to be under the direction of the Mackay School of Mines. Thus another extension was made of the broad range of activities centered in the university.

Even in this unprecedented era when the thoughts of men are largely directed to the fundamentals of existence, there is a justifiable pride among Nevadans in their great university. Besides the great resources placed at its disposal by the Federal Government and state taxation, it has had for many years a steadfast friend in the person of Clarence H. Mackay, whose series of gifts in its behalf total over one and a half million dollars. In 1925 Mr. Mackay had made tentative proposals for the erection of a building to house the departments of chemistry, mathematics and physics. After four years of study the final specifications for the building were approved, and the actual work of construction begun in July, 1929. On October 24, 1930, was dedicated the Mackay Science Hall, a structure which cost complete over $400,000.

Public Land Policies

In recent years there has been a notable movement in Congress and in western states toward a thorough revision of the public land policies. A Federal commission headed by Secretary Wilbur made an extended report dealing with a wide range of subjects affecting the western states, including the status of reclamation projects, water conservation, forestry, and complicated relations of farmers and stock men to the public domain. The Nevada Legislature in 1929 created a State Range Commission "to conduct a study and investigation to determine the principles, laws or policies that should apply to the grazing use of the natural range forage resources of the publicly owned lands within Nevada." While the fruits of this movement had not yet matured, Governor Balzar's discussion of the subject should be preserved as a matter of historical record :

For many years in Idaho there has been regulation of the Public Domain lands with a view to preventing the encroachment of sheep herds onto cattle ranges, and this has been held by the United States Supreme Court in the above case to be a valid exercise of the State's police powers for the purpose of keeping the peace and promoting the orderly conduct of both the cattle and the sheep industries.

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In keeping with the regulation provided for by statute in Idaho, in 1925 the Legislature of Nevada enacted the Stock Watering Act, providing that springs, water holes and streams located on the Public Domain adjacent to ranches may be appropriated and declared to be a beneficial use for the reasons stated in the preamble of said Act. That "The existence in separate owners of two or more rights for watering range live stock in the same vicinity, tends to produce controversies covering the use of the public range that often result in breaches of the peace, etc."

The effect of this regulation has been to allocate to a considerable extent the range lands adjacent to the ranches that have used and depended upon them in the past, and to afford considerable protection to the established ranch units. It is, therefore, working to the advantage of all concerned and points the way to such other reasonable regulatory statutory control as may be necessary to properly police and put to a more productive use the Public Domain lands in Nevada. . . .

During the summer of 1929 President Hoover made a tentative offer to the far western States that they take over the surface rights of the Public Domain lands (mineral, oil, etc., to be reserved to the Federal Government) , and suggested that the States are better equipped to administer them than the distant Federal Bureau at Washington.

Among other proposals considered by this Federal committee one was that the government should transfer its public lands to the state in which they were located. This and other alternative proposals were fully discussed in a conference held by the State Range Commission attended by livestock growers and other interested persons.

It was their unanimous opinion that the public lands in Nevada can be put to their most productive immediate use only when devoted to a more intensive development of minerals and growth of forage for live stock; that effective regulation of the latter will not interfere with the former, nor with fishing and the hunting of game; that because of the labor that it employs, the communities it nourishes and the business it furnishes to our railroad and other enterprises, as well as the market it furnished for the hay and grain farmers of our State, the livestock industry is of outstanding importance. . . .

Further, that in the light of the present-day depression and low prices that now obtain for both cattle and sheep, the livestock growers are in no condition to assume additional burdens at this time, either for purchase of range lands or the lease thereof, or the payment of grazing fees therefor. That such surplus capital as can be raised, plus the cooperative labor of the ranchers, should go into development of water and increased forage production on the range lands in the various improvement districts and into retirement of debt and the building up of their herds ; and by this cooperative plan of procedure it is estimated that the range can be so protected that the forage can be so increased as to enable the cattle and sheep growers to produce from 50% to 100% more in livestock crops than are now being turned off. . . .

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Investigation discloses that, generally speaking, the people of our State are opposed to taking over these public lands, believing their acceptance might eventually lead to the loss of Federal aid for highways and Federal reclamation work; that it would take from our congressional representatives their main argument for this Federal aid and leave them helpless against opposition of eastern members ; that in addition to the general highway aid that has been received since our highway construction program was put under way several years ago, a new highway law just passed authorized Congress to make special appropriations for highway construction and maintenance over the public lands ; and that if these lands are conveyed to the State and the Government retains for itself the title to their mineral deposits, wherein their greatest value lies in Nevada, the effect upon our future highway construction program might, and probably would, be serious.

Nevada Faces the Future

"Our people," declared Governor Balzar, "largely descendants of hardy pioneers, are not dismayed in these times of national stress, feeling that they can and will work out their own salvation and carry on until prosperity again reigns throughout the nation." The governor's words regarding the spirit of the people and the prospects for the future are in strict keeping with the historical development of Nevada which has been outlined in these pages.

We cannot progress without effort of preparation, for competition between States at the present time is possibly even more keen than between rival industrial enterprises. It is imperative that we visualize the Nevada of the future years and marshal our resources to that end, looking beyond the mere material gains of today so that our sons and daughters will not face an exhausted patrimony. We want economic progress, new industries and desirable new residents. We want to develop our material but dormant resources and renew our various mining activities. We want tourists to share with us our admiration of Nevada's scenic landscapes and rugged desert beauty. We want our farmers to raise products ample for the needs of Nevada and help feed the people of our neighboring States.

Our wants, however, in a material sense should not blind us to our spiritual needs, for no people can progress without vision, and progress consists, not merely in creating wealth or reducing taxes, but in doing those things which inure to the benefit of all our people and make for the general welfare.

No State can be worth while as a place of residence that neglects the health of its citizens, the education of its children, the care of its unfortunates, or which tolerates disrespect for or disregard of its laws.

As one of the great States of our Union, even though the smallest in point of population, Nevada has a heritage of which its citizens are justly proud, and this serves to measure its character just as an individual is rated by his conduct and record, and character is neither made nor measured by wealth alone.

The motto of our State "All for Our Country," truly depicts the standard of our character, as a State, and our mate-

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rial and spiritual progress in the last analysis depends upon the optimistic spirit and developed patriotism of all our people.

The Depression at Its Worst.

The ability of the people to take hardships with equanimity, as affirmed by the governor at the beginning of 1931, was put to a most rigorous test during the months that followed. Nature herself seemed to cooperate with economic stress in making the lot of individuals and all classes of people exceptionally hard.

The spring, summer and fall of 1931 were exceedingly dry throughout the entire state. Due to shortage of forage and water, range cattle and sheep were in generally poor condition when winter came on. The winter of 1931-32 was unusually severe, with sub-normal temperatures and heavy snowfall throughout the winter range. These were additional handicaps upon an already declining agriculture and livestock industry. It was estimated that the returns for the crops and livestock of the state for 1932 did not exceed $7,500,000, representing a loss of nearly $12,000,000 in gross annual income to the livestock producers and farmers within the space of three years. Poultry and dairying were in somewhat better state, and many farmers went through these difficult years dependent upon the checks received from eggs, turkeys, milk and cream.

Department of Commerce statistics estimated the output of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc for the year 1932 at $5,146,390, or almost exactly one-fourth that of 1930. The only metal that could be produced at a profit was gold. While larger companies, owning properties with gold-bearing ore, were doing little more than mark time, in Nevada as elsewhere there occurred a revival in individual prospecting and working of placer deposits. Engineers from the State Bureau of Mines estimated that in 1932 between 600 and 700 men were working in the placer areas of the state, not counting a large number of itinerant individuals, with no expert knowledge, who attempted placer mining for a few days until discouraged by the meager results obtained. It was the opinion of the Bureau of Mines engineers that "there is more activity in placer mining in the state at present (1932) than there has been at any time during the last 30 years."

Of the total population of 91,058 in 1930, the census enumerated approximately 43,000 in the "breadwinner" class, and of these nearly three thousand listed themselves as unemployed. There are no reliable statistics of unemployment at any stage of the depression. Hundreds who continued to work at their professions and regular callings did so from force of habit, but scarcely making ends meet. There were mitigating conditions in Nevada not found in populous states with large cities and congested industrial districts. On the ranches and farms and even in many of the urban communities, casual employment would procure the bare essentials of subsistence.

            The unemployment situation as it affected the actual citizens of Nevada was complicated with migrating throngs of unemployed. It was estimated in 1932 that from 300 to 400 persons were daily crossing the state, most of them bound for California. Many of them in passing would register at the local employment offices. The contractors at the Boulder Dam had something over three

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thousand workers during the summer of that year, and the Las Vegas employment agencies were besieged with applicants, mostly from other states.

Election of 1932.

Against the background of this uncertain economic situation was staged the political campaign of 1932. Perhaps never before had the judgment of American voters been so swayed by economic factors. At the national conventions in Chicago in June and July, the Republicans had nominated President Hoover for a second term, while the Democrats named as their standard-bearer the popular New York governor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In a 6,000-word platform the Republicans stood by the record of the administration and declared that adherence to that program and to the doctrines and traditions of the party would "insure the orderly recovery of the country and that return to prosperous days which every American so ardently desires." The Democratic platform—shortest in the annals of the party—placed the blame for the economic and social distress upon the policies pursued by the national administrations since the close of the World War, and declared that the only hope for improving conditions lay "in a drastic change in economic and governmental policies." Both parties recognized that the prohibition question must be referred to the supreme court of popular opinion, the Democrats unequivocally demanding outright repeal of the eighteenth amendment.

By his veto in July of an unemployment relief measure President Hoover showed a stubborn adherence to his previous stand that the burden of relief must be carried by the states and their subdivisions and by private charity. Nevertheless the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, set up in February, had been pouring out loans to banks, railroads, insurance companies, and was preparing to advance great sums for the construction of self-liquidating projects and also to make loans to individual states for unemployment relief. In the late summer came a measure of promise in the setting up of the Federal Home Loan Bank system and district agricultural credit corporations to assist farmers in the marketing of their crops.

Without seeking to measure their proper significance, some other phenomena presented to the electorate should be recalled. "The share-the-work movement" was one, and the farmers' "holiday" or strike, centering in northwestern Iowa, was another. While Congress was still in session in June the Bonus Expeditionary Force had marched on Washington to secure the passage of legislation favorable to the ex-soldiers. The subsequent forcible expulsion of the bonus marchers from the capital environs—however well justified—was another irritant thrown into an atmosphere already surcharged with discontent.

In August, 1931, Governor Balzar had appointed a State Agricultural Relief Committee to work with state and county agricultural agencies in assisting farmers and stockmen to meet the problems arising from the drought of that season. As a result reductions were granted by the railroad companies on rates applying to the shipment of stock feeds and on livestock that had to be moved to distant feeding ranges. The committee continued to function during the hard winter that followed, and from the

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surplus controlled by the Federal Farm Board secured a supply of wheat, estimated at a value of $200,000, which was shipped into fifteen counties and used to carry the stock on the farms and ranches until range feed and pastures would become available.

On August 11, 1932, by the addition of two other members, the governor reconstituted this committee as the State Emergency Relief and Construction Committee, charged with the relief of destitution caused by unemployment. Congress in authorizing the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to loan three hundred million dollars to the states for the relief of destitution required that the administration of the sums granted should be in the hands of some official state agency. Nevada was one of the three states in the Union that did not have some type of state organization for supervising necessary public welfare and humanitarian activities, and in consequence the governor had to create the committee named above for that purpose. For the last three months of the year a grant of approximately $55,000-was obtained, allocated to five counties, most of it to Clark, Washoe and White Pine.

Before the voters went to the polls in November the depression struck another blow. The state bank examiner in his report as of June 30, 1932, had noted the failure since January, 1931, of five state banks, and the merger of two others. Besides the national banks, there remained eighteen state banks and trust companies. Of these, ten were in the group of state and national banks known as the Wingfield banks. During October the thirteen Wingfield banks were subjected to heavy runs on the part of the depositors, in spite of the loan of four million dollars obtained from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Governor Balzar made a trip by airplane to Washington to secure additional assistance. During his absence the situation increased in gravity, and on November 1, with his approval, the lieutenant-governor issued a proclamation declaring a banking holiday for two weeks. This moratorium was extended to December 18, prior to which time the state bank examiner took official possession of all the closed state banks, while the comptroller of currency took similar steps with regard to the two closed national banks.

One notable result in the 1932 political campaign in Nevada was the complete cleavage of the voters into two and only two parties. In Utah and Idaho as in all other states the minor parties won a fraction of the vote. In Nevada every vote counted was either Republican or Democratic. In the primary of September 6 there were few contests, and most of those in the Democratic party. Samuel S. Arentz was unopposed candidate on the Republican ticket for a second term in Congress. Two Democrats sought the nomination for congressman, former Governor James G. Scrugham and Maurice J. Sullivan, the primary vote being, Scrugham 7,333, Sullivan, 4,080. Patrick A. McCarran, a former justice of the Nevada Supreme Court, assumed what at the time seemed the very formidable task of opposing the aspirations of T. L. Oddie for another term in the United States senate.

On November 8 Roosevelt was swept into the White House by an overwhelming electoral vote, and received approximately 55 per cent of the popular vote. Nevada gave him nearly 70 per cent of her total vote, or a majority of nearly 16,000. It has been noted that in 1928 Nevada cast a record vote, nearly 33,000, but in 1932 that was greatly surpassed, the highest total being 41,112.

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In the closing weeks of the campaign it had become evident to impartial observers that the Roosevelt tide was running stronger every day. President Hoover, doubly beset by the harassments of his office and a strenuous speaking tour, returned to his home in California to cast his vote and take a well earned rest before the assembling of Congress. Late in the evening of November 7th his train reached Elko. While the train waited at the station, a microphone was set up in his private car, and through it he gave his parting words as a candidate. They were the words of a wearied man, and their tone rather than their content foretold the results that came from the polling places the following day.

The closest contest in Nevada was for the senatorial toga, McCarran getting 21,398 to Oddie's 19,706. The vote for congressman was: Scrugham, 24,979, Arentz, 16,133. Benjamin W. Coleman was reelected without opposition to the supreme court.

Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment.

While the election of 1932 turned on economic issues, there was no doubt that a majority of the people favored an end of the "noble experiment" of prohibition. The 72d Congress, about ten days before adjournment, voted to submit repeal of the eighteenth amendment to state conventions. On February 21, 1933, the secretary of state forwarded copies of the joint resolution to submit the twenty-first amendment to the governors of the different states. Michigan was the first state to act, electing delegates on April 3, the delegates assembling and ratifying the resolution on April 10. Nevada was the twenty-second state to act. The legislature provided that on May 27 each county should elect delegates to a county convention. These county conventions should in turn choose delegates to a state convention, which should meet on September 5. At that date the twenty-first amendment was ratified. There was no popular vote recorded, but of the 40 delegates chosen for the state convention 39 voted for repeal. Utah was the thirty-sixth state to ratify, and on the same day, December 5, 1933, President Roosevelt proclaimed the repeal of national prohibition. In the meantime, on March 22, the President had signed the bill legalizing the manufacture and sale of 3.2 beer, and on April 7 following beer of that alcoholic content was a legal beverage so far as national restrictions were concerned,

When the thirty-sixth legislature assembled in January, 1933, every condition pointed to and demanded retrenchment and economy. A total of nearly $572,000 of state funds was tied up in the closed banks, while cities, counties, school districts and other municipal corporations had approximately a million dollars similarly unavailable for an indefinite period. Perhaps the most important legislation of the session was the revision of the statutes on banking. After the national bank holiday in March, a few of the state and national banks reopened.

Throughout 1933-34 the banking, agricultural, industrial situation, as well as the state administration itself, were closely integrated with the policies and acts of the national administration. During the World War people were regimented toward one objective through the State and National Councils of Defense, the Selective Service Law, the Liberty Loan campaigns, food and fuel conservation, and other organizations that disciplined a nation to the ideal of war service. So likewise in this War for National Re-

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covery, every economic unit and every individual learned to keep step with some phase of the recovery program, through the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), the National Recovery Administration (NRA), the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), which was supplemented in November, 1933, by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) , for more direct relief during the following winter, by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) for the purpose of supplying an outlet to unemployed youth. Highway work was speeded up by anticipation of the Federal aid funds from future years, and in this and in other ways the credit of the nation was made available to the state and some of its units to tide over the critical present.

Throughout 1933 Nevada's mineral production continued at low levels, aggregating in value about $5,720,000. It was significant that of this total, gold approximated $2,170,543, or nearly 40 per cent of the total. Silver production for the year was estimated at a value of only $385,000. At the close of the preceding year silver had reached a record low of 24½ cents an ounce at New York. With the President's announcement of the gold embargo on April 19, 1933, the price of silver advanced fluctuatingly and held at about 40 cents during the last half of the year. On December 21 the silver proclamation fixed the price of newly mined silver at 64 ½ cents.

Death of Governor Balzar.

The people of Nevada had entrusted the duties of chief executive to Fred B. Balzar for eight years. The latter half of his administration covered one of the most strenuous and trying eras in the history of the state. Ill health also supervened, and in December, 1933, had caused him to turn over most of his duties to the lieutenant governor. Death came to him at the governor's mansion on March 21, 1934.

The remaining nine months of the term was filled out by Acting Governor Morley Griswold, who had been Governor Balzar's running mate as lieutenant governor both in 1926 and 1930. Governor Griswold was born in Elko, where he first practiced law. He was a Republican. Governor Griswold, whose career is sketched in more detail on other pages, proved a very able executive in these trying times.

Election of 1934.

The election of November 6, 1934, in Nevada was chiefly significant, as in other states, in registering approval of the national administration. All the important state offices for the succeeding four years were to be filled by Democrats. Senator Key Pittman was reelected to the United States senate, his Republican opponent being the former state engineer, George W. Malone, and James G. Scrugham was returned to the House of Representatives for his second term. The new governor was Richard Kirman, Sr.

The vote in detail for the principal offices was as follows :

United States Senator--

Malone, Geo. W. --------------14,273

Pittman, Key--------------------27,581

Reynolds, John P. -----------------901

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Representative in Congress--

Russell, George B. -------------11,992

Scrugham, J. G. ----------------29,691

Governor--

Branson, L. C. -------------------4,940

Griswold, Morley --------------14,778

Kirman, Richard, Sr. ----------23,088

Lieutenant Governor--

Alward, Fred S. ----------------26,426

Henderson, A. S. -------------- 14,494

Justice of the Supreme Court--

Edwards, H. W. ----------------18,096

Taber, E. J. L. ------------------ 21,391

Secretary of State--

Greathouse, W. G. -------------28,077

Riordan, Francis A. ------------13,062

State Treasurer--

Arentz, Harriet K. -------------17,858

Franks, Dan W. ----------------23,232

State Controller--

Peterson, Ed. C. ---------------18,844

Schmidt, Henry C. ------------21,351

Surveyor-General--

Lotz, Thomas A. --------------16,229

Staley, Ray G. -----------------23,163

Attorney-General--

Mashburn, Gray ---------------28,552

Whiteley, George A. --------- 12,350

Superintendent of State Printing--

Farnsworth, Joe ---------------33,161

Superintendent of Public Instruction--

Anderson, Walter W. -------- 17,286

Smith, Chauncey W. --------- 22,285

Clerk of the Supreme Court--

Brodigan, George -------------23,451

Hatton, Mrs. Eva --------------16,980

Inspector of Mines--

Murphy, Matt -----------------26,849

Stinson, Andy J. --------------14,185

Regent of State University--

Ross, Silas E. -----------------30,020

The problems of relief were uppermost in the mind of Governor Kirman when he addressed the Thirty-seventh Legislature on January 22, 1935. "Nearly 11,000 of our people," he said, "are beneficiaries of Federal relief." During 1933 the Federal treasury had

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supplied nearly eighty per cent of the funds expended through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in Nevada. Nevertheless, during the early months of 1935 it was estimated that approximately $30,000 per month would be required "from state and local funds to cover their share of unemployment relief as a condition of the continuation of Federal relief work."

The previous Legislature had authorized an issue of $100,000 of bonds to carry on the relief measures under the supervision of the Charities and Public Welfare Board. Eleven counties had participated in the borrowing of funds under this issue. The total amount of bonds issued was $93,000, and by the close of 1934 $26,000 had been repaid. The same act had also authorized a tax levy on the property valuations of 1933 and 1934 for relief purposes.

Apart from the new levies for relief purposes, the normal tax rates had been producing declining revenues because of the steadily decreasing property values throughout the state during the years of the depression. In such a condition the governor thought new sources of revenue might become necessary.

The chief source of employment from public works, aside from the Boulder Dam, was the road program. During the preceding biennium approximately $9,555,000 had been expended on the Nevada highways. More than 82 per cent of this sum went for highway construction, and over 11 per cent for maintenance. To the total sum the Federal Government contributed nearly 76 per cent, 16 per cent came from the gasoline tax and about 4.5 per cent from license fees. The only direct contribution by the state as a whole was a $100,000 bond issue.

The factual character of the message, and the new governor's frank presentment of actual conditions to the Legislature and the people, may well be considered an augury of a new attitude toward governmental responsibilities. Realistic facing of facts, and plans for action rather than futile voicing of hopes, may well indicate the final phase of Nevada's struggle from the depths of the depression.