Civilian Emergency Administration to co-ordinate work connected with the civilian defense of the Philippines with Teofilo Sison, Secretary of National Defense, as chairman. The Civilian Emergency Planning Board recommended the action after surveys conducted by committees of supply. transportation, medicine, communications, welfare, and personnel and labor. The C. E. P. B. suggested that Commonwealth authorities develop effective plans to increase prodution of essential foodstuffs and the supply of all imported essentials, such as fuel. Recommendations were made for the control of transportation to save gas, oil and mechanical parts and suggestions were made for the establishment of medical supplies of all kinds, the control of telegraph, telephone and radio, and the establishment and co-ordination of civilian aid organiza tions. High Commissioner Sayre said that he and President Quezon were in complete accord on the plan. At President Quezon's request President Roosevelt detailed Gen. Douglas MacArthur, retiring Chief of Staff of the United States Army, as military adviser to the Government. He made public (June 19, 1936) an army defense plan "to give pause to the most ruthless and powerful"; calling for a fleet of 50 to 100 small, fast torpedo boats for coast defense, a 250-plane air force, a regular army of about 930 officers and 6.500 men with a reserve corps raised under universal military service and trained in schools and out at the rate of 40,000 a year. The total registration of 20-year-old Filipinos then exceeded 148,000. The cost he placed at $8,000,000 a year. The National Assembly (Aug. 8, 1936) appropriated $1,400,000 to build training centers. The Philippine Constabulary, 659 officers, 7,504 enlisted men (1937) divided into 127 companies and occupying 186 strategic stations, is the nucleus of the new army. Approximately 40,000 20-year-old Filipinos are selected by lot for military service each year and, trained for 52 months. The Philippine army (1939) had 120,000 reservists. It is planned to have a citizen army of 400,000. The military forces of the Philippines (land and sea) were placed under United States command for the duration of the emergency (July 26, 1941) by order of President Roosevelt. Gen. McArthur was named by the War Department in Washington to command the forces. Among the special Government institutions are the Normal School, the School of Arts and Trades, the Nautical School, and the Central Luzon Agricultural School. There are provincial trade schools. Higher learning is provided by the State supported University of the Philippines, Manila, and the Dominican University of Santo Tomas (founded 1611), the oldest university under the American flag. The chief agricultural products are unhusked rice ("palay"), Manila hemp ("abaca"), copra, sugar cane, corn, tobacco and maguey. The principal fruit is the banana, but there are also mangoes, papaya, lanzones, pilinut, chico, mandarins and oranges. Forests provide cabinet and construction timber in large quantities; also gums and resins, vegetable oils, rattan and bamboo, tan and dye barks and dye woods. Rubber is being cultivated as well as the Chinchona tree for quinine. Baguio, in the hills, 100 miles north of Manila, is the center of the gold mining district. Silver, lead, zinc, copper, iron, coal, petroleum, chromite, asbestos and manganese are mined, as well as clay, marble, salt, etc. The islands are rich in mineral resources. It is estimated that there are 75 square miles of coal fields containing lignite and bituminous. The Government showed a deficit of 10,000,000 pesos (nominal value 50 cents) in the 1940 fiscal year. The 1941-1942 budget calls for expenditures of 11,675,000 pesos and receipts of 112,982,000. The Canal Zone The Canal Zone is a strip of land extending five miles on either side of the axis of the Panama Canal but not including the cities of Panama or Colon, which remain in the Republic of Panama, but are under U. S. jurisdiction in the matter of sanitation and quarantine. The port at the Caribbean entrance, formerly a part of Colon, is Cristobal; and that the Pacific entrance Balboa, while to the east of Panama is the residential town of Ancon, with hotel and hospital. The strip of land was granted to the United States by Panama by treaty (Feb. 26, 1904) the compensation being $10,000,000, with annual payments of $250,000 in addition. No private individuals are allowed to acquire land. The Canal Zone, including land and water, but excluding the water within the 3-mile limits from the Atlantic and Pacific ends, has an area of 549 square miles. Gatun Lake, with the water at its normal level of 85 feet above sea level, has an area of 163.4 square miles. The water area of the zone is 190.94 square miles. The zone has a population (1940 census) of 51,827, an increase of 31.3% in ten years. The Canal Zone is a Government reservation administered by the organization known as The Panama Canal. This is an independent organization in the Government service whose head is the Governor, directly under the President. As a matter of executive arrangement, the Secretary of War represents the President in the administration of Canal Affairs. The Zone is fortified and occupied by a garrison in addition to the civilian employees of the Canal and railroad. The Governor is Brig. Gen. Glen E. Edgerton. The Army maintains air ports at France Field on the Atlantic side and Albrook Field on Balboa Heights on the Pacific side. American occupation of the Canal Zone began (May 4, 1904) and the Canal was opened to traffic (Aug. 15, 1914). Puerto Rico Capital, San Juan Puerto Rico is the fourth largest of the Greater Antilles, with the Atlantic Ocean on the north and the Caribbean Sea on the south. Santo Domingo is about 45 miles to the west, and St. Thomas 40 miles to the east with an area, including adjacent islands, of 3,435 square miles. The island of Culebra, and Vieques, to the east, form part of the territory. It is 95 miles long (from east to west) and 35 miles wide, with a coast line of about 345 miles. The best harbors are at San Juan and Ponce. Through the middle of the island, from east to west, runs a range of mountains with an altitude of 1,500 to 3,750 ft., cultivable to the summits. The soil is extremely fertile and largely under cultivation. The lower lands to the north are well watered, but irrigation is needed in the south; an extensive system has been constructed by the Government. Sugar, pineapples, oranges, grapefruit, tobacco and coffee are the chief exports. Cotton, linen and silk manufactures and embroideries are exported to the United States. Distilling of alcohol and the canning of fruits and vegetables are important industries. Puerto Rico purchased from the United States in the 1939-1940 fiscal year $100,517,184 worth of goods. The chief export was sugar with a value of $57,328.790 for the same period. The Puerto Rican Land Authority law (1941) limits land holdings by corporations to no more than 500 acres. Large holdings are to be taken over by the Government and redistributed in small parcels under the supervision of the Authority. The law is aimed to break up large sugar estates on the Island and to mitigate poverty. The law also places sugar mills under the authority of the Public Service Commission. Puerto Rico was discovered and named by Columbus (1493). Ponce de Leon conquered it for Spain (1509-1511). It was seized by Major Gen. Miles in the Spanish-American War and ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris (Dec. 10, 1898). It is administered under the Organic Act of Puerto Rico, (March 2, 1917 and amended March 4, 1927), which also granted American citizenship to Puerto Ricans, and granted manhood suffrage. The Governor is appointed by the President. The Legislature-a Senate of 19 members and a House of Representatives of 39-is elected for four years by direct vote. There are seven executive departments: Justice, Finance, Interior, Education, Agriculture and Commerce. Labor, and Health. The President appoints, upon confirmation by the Senate, the Attorney General, Commissioner of Education and the Auditor. The Governor, subject to confirmation by the Insular Senate, appoints the four remaining department heads. Five Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President. The seven heads of departments form the Executive Council. The island elects a Resident Commissioner at Washington with a voice but no vote in the House of Representatives, for a term of four years. The governor is Rexford Guy Tugwell. The Island makes its own tax laws and derives further revenue by converting customs levies, income tax receipts and internal revenue collections into the Insular Treasury. Although Spanish is the popular language the Insular Government fosters intensive instruction in English in the public schools, credited with being the most efficient and up-to-date school system in Latin America. The American influence reaches into every phase of Puerto Rican life and the island is the sixth largest offshore consumer of American produced merchandise, returning in profits to manufacturers and agriculture vastly more money than is absorbed in normal times by federal grants. The leading problem confronting Puerto Rico is an economic one arising out of steady population increase in an overcrowded island. To meet the over-population menace the Insular Legislature (1937) passed a birth control bill. A mild climate, cool in summer and warm in winter, gives Puerto Rico with its old world atmosphere a playground drawing power that is being fully exploited. The average range of temperature is from 90 to 50 with an average of 76. The United States Weather Bureau reported that in 2192 days of the six year period ending in 1940 Puerto Rico had only 17 days without sunshine. Mineral production in Puerto Rico is insignificant, consisting of quarry products and high grade manganese ore. Recently a Bureau of Mines was started by the Insular Government, and prospection and development to date have proved deposits of manganese, copper, gold, and glass sand, which will become productive as soon as capital is available. The population (1940) is 1,869,255. Education is free and compulsory (since 1899). There are 2,295 schools on the island with an enrollment of 281,359 pupils. There are 44 accredited private schools. The University of Puerto Rico is in Rio Piedras, seven miles from San Juan. The Roman Catholic religion is dominant. English and Spanish are spoken. Virgin Islands of the U. S. The Governor has limited veto powers. The Islands Capital, Charlotte Amalie, formerly St. Thomas The Virgin Islands of the United States, formerly the Danish West Indies, were bought for $25,000,000 by the United States from Denmark, in a treaty (proclaimed Jan. 25, 1917). The group consists of three islands, St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John, with about 50 smaller ones, mostly uninhabited. The area of the three main islands is 133 square miles. The population (1940) is 24,889. St. Thomas Island has the principal harbor of the group and it is here that the town of Charlotte Amalie is situated. It is about 40 miles east of Fajardo, the nearest port on the Island of Puerto Rico, and 70 miles from San Juan, the principal city and port of Puerto Rico. St. Thomas lies south, 20° east and 1,442 miles distant from New York City. St. Croix is 40 miles south of St. Thomas. The language is English. Congress (1927), conferred citizenship on the natives, and under the organic act (June 22. 1936) there is universal suffrage for all who can read and write English. The Islands comprise two municipalities, that of St. Thomas and St. John, with a legislative council called the Municipal Council, of seven members, and that of St. Croix, with a membership of nine. The two councils form a Colonial Legislature, which must meet yearly. Elections are biennial. Raw sugar output averages more than 5,000 tons a year, or about an amount equal to the quota of raw sugar from the Virgin Islands that may be admitted to the United States under the JonesCostigan Act. The Island of St. John is famous for its bay oil, extracted from the leaves of the bay tree, and St. Thomas for the finished product of bay rum. Education is compulsory. Illiteracy, though hign, is being reduced. Only 2% of the population cannot speak English. After the repeal of Prohibition in the United States production of rum was resumed on a large scale. The government established a rum distillery backed by 5,000 acres of sugar cane and two sugar mills. Tax collections on the commerce have reduced the annual appropriations from Congress to assist the local Legislature in paying for schools, hospitals, fire, police and public works. Bi-weekly passenger and freight service is maintained from New York City to St. Thomas, St. Croix and the lower islands. There is also semiweekly air mail service. American Samoa Capital, Pago Pago, American Samoa, composed of the islands of Tutulla, Aunuu, Ofu, Olosega and Tau, and the uninhabited coral atoll of Rose Island, became a possession of the United States by virtue of the tripartite treaty with Great Britain and Germany (Nov. 1899), accepted by the United States (Feb. 13. 1900). It is under control of the Navy Department as a naval station. Construction of a naval air base was started (1940). The islands have an area of 76 square miles and a population (1940) of 12,908. Pago Pago, a valuable harbor in the South Pacific, was ceded (1872) by the native King to the United States for a naval and coaling station. American Samoa is 4,160 miles from San Francisco, 2,263 miles from Hawaii, 1,580 miles from Auckland, 2,354 miles from Sydney and 4,200 miles Island of Tutuila from Manila. The natives read and write and are Christians of different denominations. They are a high type of the Polynesian race and are on the increase because the laws prohibit foreigners from buying their land. All of the land on the islands is privately owned. Under the American Commandant-Governor there is a native Governor in each of the three political divisions. The native Governors appoint the County Chiefs, who appoint the Village Chiefs. There are public schools with more than 2,000 pupils, and several private schools. The chief product is copra, of which about 1,100 tons are exported annually. Taro, breadfruit, yams, coconuts, pineapples, oranges and bananas are also produced commercially. The Government handles the crop for the natives. Other fruits are grown but not exported. About 70% of the land is forest. Guam Capital, Agana The Island of Guam, the largest of the Marianas, was ceded to the United States by Spain by Article Two of the Treaty of Paris (Dec. 10, 1898). It lies between latitudes 13° 13' and 13° 39′ north and longitudes 144° 37' and 144° 58' east. It is 30 miles long and four to eight and one-half miles wide with an area of 206 square miles and a population (1940) of 22,290. Distance from Manila, 1,506 miles from San Francisco, 5,053 miles. The inhabitants call themselves Chamorros, but the present Canton and Enderbury Islands The United States and Great Britain agreed (April 6, 1939) on a system of joint control and administration of Canton and Enderbury Islands of the Phoenix group in the Central Pacific, about half way between Hawaii and Australia. The formula applies for fifty years and thereafter indefinitely unless modified or terminated. Each government is represented by an administrative official and the islands are "available for communications and for use as airports for inter national aviation, but only civil aviation companies, incorporated in the United States of America or in any part of the British Commonwealth of Nations for the purpose of scheduled air services." The United States is permitted to build and operate an airport on Canton that will be open to use by British aircraft and civil aviation companies on equal terms. The agreement was arranged after it was discovered that the islands had great potential value as air communication bases. States' Entry Into Union, Capitals, Governors' Salaries, Terms (a) As the State of Ohio; (b) as the State of Tennessee; (c) as the State of Louisiana; (d) the organic act for Missouri Territory of June 4, 1812, became effective the first Monday in December (7th), 1812. Certain western tracts of land, acquired at various times and in various ways by the United States, as indicated in the table, were governed by Congress and the National Executive as colonies or territories. During the period 1787-1912 Congress created out of these lands some 28 organized territories which, after an average existence of nearly 20 years in the territorial form, have entered the Union as States. Date of act.. Feb. 14, 1912 422221 49 16 27 12 25 17 Land and Inland Water Area of U. S., by States, 1940 States United States.. 97,914 97,506 3,022,387 2,977,128 land water surface, such as lakes, reservoirs and ponds having 40 acres or more of area; streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals one-eighth of a statute mile or more in width; deeply indented embayments and sounds, and other coastal waters behind or sheltered by headlands or islands separated by less than one nautical mile of water; and islands having less than 40 acres of area. Land and Water Area of U. S. by States, 1930 Source: United States Bureau of the Census Land Water Total States Land Water Total Surface Surface Area Miles Miles Miles Miles Alabama. 51.279 719 51,998 Nevada..... 109,821 Arizona.. 310 9,341 53,335 New Jersey 8,224 158,297 New Mexico. 4,965 North Carolina 48,740 3,686 52,426 Delaware. 1,965 405 Dist. of Columbia. 62 3,805 59,265 Oregon Idaho 83.354 534 83,888 Pennsylvania. 44,832 The area (square miles) of U. S. Possessions, 1930, was then stated by the Bureau of the Census as follows: Alaska, 586,400; Guam, 206; Hawaii, 6,407; Canal Zone, 549; Philippines, 114,000; Puerto Rico, including adjacent islands, 3,435; American Samoa, 76; Virgin Islands, 133; total Possessions711,606. The States named below were reckoned in 1930 by the Bureau of the Census to contain approximately additional square miles, as follows: Illinois, 1,674 of Lake Michigan. Indiana, 230 of Lake Michigan. Michigan, 16,653 of Lake Superior, 12,922 of Lake Michigan, 9,925 of Lake Huron, and 460 of Lakes St. Claire and Erie. Minnesota, 2,514 of Lake Superior. New York, 3,140 of Lakes Ontario and Erie. Ohio, 3,443 of Lake Erie. Washington, 1,765 of Strait Juan de Fuca and Strait of Georgia. Wisconsin, 2,378 of Lake Superior and 7,500 of Lake Michigan. The Supreme Court of the United States (Feb. 5, 1934) redefined the boundary between New Jersey and Delaware. In the circular area within 12 miles of Newcastle, the whole width of the Delaware River belongs to Delaware. South of that, the boundary follows the ship channel. The Supreme Court (March 17, 1930) established the true location of that part of the 100th Meridian of Longitude west from Greenwich which is a portion of the boundary between Oklahoma and Texas, transferring 44.6 square miles of land area from Oklahoma to Texas. Postal Information Source: As of June 27, 1941, the office of the Postmaster General First-Class (limit 70 pounds); Letters and writ- and Second-Class: Newspapers, magazines, other periodicals containing notice of second-class entry. When sent by others than the publishers or news agent, 1 cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof, or the 4th class rate, whichever is lower. Third-Class (limit, 8 ounces): Circulars and other miscellaneous printed matter, also merchandise, 112 cents for each 2 ounces. Special delivery rates on other than first-class matter-15 cents up to 2 lbs; 25 cents, 2 lbs. to 10 lbs.; 35 cents on all matter weighing over 10 lbs. Books (including catalogs) of 24 pages or more. seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, scions, and plants, 1 cent for each 2 ounces. Bulk lots of identical pieces may be mailed in quantities of not less than 20 pounds or 200 pieces at pound rates with a minimum charge of one cent a piece, such rates being eight cents a pound or fraction thereof for books and catalogs having 24 pages or more, seeds and plants, and twelve cents a pound or fraction thereof for all other thirdclass matter. Fourth-Class (Parcel Post) (over eight ounces): Merchandise, books, printed matter, and all other mailable matter not in first or second class The parcel post zones are local; (1) up to 50 miles; (2) 50 to 150 miles; (3) 150 to 300 miles; (4) 300 to 600 miles; (5) 600 to 1,000 miles: (6) 1,000 to 1,400 miles; (7) 1,400 to 1,800 miles; (8) over 1,800 miles. The parcel post rates are: Local zone, 7 cents for the first pound or fraction, and 1 cent for each additional 2 pounds or fraction. First and second zones, 8 cents for the first pound or fraction and 1.1 cents for each additional pound or fraction. Third zone, 9 cents for the first pound or fraction and 2 cents for each additional pound or fraction. Fourth zone, 10 cents for the first pound or fraction and 3.5 cents for each additional pound or fraction. Fifth zone, 11 cents for the first pound or fraction and 5.3 cents for each additional pound or fraction. Sixth zone, 12 cents for the first pound or fraction and 7 cents for each additional pound or fraction. Seventh zone, 14 cents for the first pound or fraction and 9 cents for each additional pound or fraction. Eighth zone, 15 cents for the first pound or fraction and 11 cents for each additional pound or fraction. A fraction of a cent in the total amount of postage on any parcel shall be counted as a full cent. On parcels collected on rural routes, the postage is 2 cents less per parcel than at the rates shown above, when addressed for local delivery, and 3 cents less per parcel when for other than local delivery. In the first or second zone, where the distance by the shortest regular practicable mail route is 300 miles or more, the rate is 9 cents for the first pound and 2 cents for each additional pound. Parcels weighing less than 10 pounds measuring over 84 inches, but not more than 100 inches in length and girth combined, are subject to a minimum charge equal to that for a 10-pound parcel for the zone to which addressed. The rate on fourth-class matter between any point in the United States and any point in the Hawaiian Islands, and any point in Alaska, and between any two points in Alaska, is 15 cents for the first pound and 11 cents for each additional pound or fraction thereof. These rates also apply to parcels mailed in the United States for delivery in the Canal Zone, and to parcels between the Philippine Islands and the United States or its possessions. Catalogs and similar printed advertising matter in bound form consisting of 24 or more pages and not exceeding 10 pounds in weight, individually addressed: Local 1-2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rates 1st lb. 4c 4c 5c 6с 7c 8c 9c 10c Each add. Ib...40 le 2c 3c 4c Бе 6с 7c Books of 24 or more pages consisting wholly of reading matter and containing no advertising matter other than incidental announcements of books, in cloth, leather or paper binding, with memoranda purposes, 112c a pound. no ruled or blank pages intended for records or The limit of size is 100 inches in girth and length combined. A special rate of postage is provided for library books. consisting wholly of reading inatter and containing no advertising matter other than incidental announcements of books, mailed to readers by public libraries, organizations or associations not organized for profit and when returned by the readers, such rate being 3 cents for the first pound and 1 cent for each additional pound to any point within the first, second, or third zones, or within the State in which mailed. The special handling postage charge on fourthclass matter is graduated according to the weights of the parcels, namely, 10 cents for parcels weighweighing more than two pounds but not exceeding ing not more than two pounds, 15 cents for parcels ten pounds, and 20 cents for parcels weighing more than ten pounds. Payment of the special handling postage charge entitles the parcel to receive the most practicable expeditious handling, transportation and delivery, but does not include special delivery at the office of address. Airplane (air mail) rates United States, from one post office to another on mainland, including Alaska, and also from one post office to another in Hawaiian Islands (but not between mainland and those islands) Per ounce (cents) 6 Per half ounce The foregoing air-mail rates include all transportation by air mail available in the United States, including Hawaii; also in the Philippine Islands. Special airplane stamps issued for the payment of postage on air mail or ordinary postage |