Ohio

Climate.

The mean annual temperature of Ohio is about 51° F; in the north, and in the south, 53-5°. But except where influenced by Lake Erie the temperature is subject to great extremes; at Coalton, Jackson county, in the south-east part of the State, the highest recorded range of extremes is from to —38° or 142° ; at Wauseon, Fulton county, near the north west corner, it is from 104° to —32° or 136° ; while at Toledo, on the lake shore, the range is only from 99° to —16° or 115°. July is the warmest month, and in most parts of the State January is the coldest; in a few valleys, however, February has a colder record than January. The normal annual precipitation for the entire State is about 39 inches. It is greatest in the south-east and least in the north-west. At Marietta, for example, it is 42.1 in., but at Toledo it is only 30.8 inches. The prevailing winds in most parts are westerly, but sudden changes, as well as the extremes of temperature, are caused mainly by the frequent shifting of the wind between north-west and south-west.

Soil.

In the driftless area, the south-east part of the State, the soil is largely a decomposition of the underlying rocks, and its fertility varies according to their composition; there is con siderable limestone in the east central portion, and this renders the soil very productive. In the valleys also are strips covered with a fertile alluvial deposit. In the other parts of the State the soil is composed mainly of glacial drift, and is generally deep and fertile. It is deeper and more fertile, however, in the basins of the Great Miami and Little Miami rivers, where there is a liberal mixture of decomposed limestone and where extensive areas with a clay subsoil are covered with alluvial deposits.

Population.

The population of Ohio on April 1, 193o was 6,646,697, an increase of 887,303, 15.4 per cent for the decade.

The population of the State at certain of the decennial censuses was: 45,365 in 1800; 581,434 in 182o; 1,519,467 in 1840; 5" in 186o, 3,198,062 in 188o; 3,672,329 in 189o; in 19oo; 4,767,121 in 191o; and 5,759,394 in 1920—an increase of 20.8% during the decade. Since 190o Ohio has ranked fourth in population among the States. Of the total population in 1930 6,331,136 or 95.3% were whites and 315,561 were coloured (3o9, 304 negroes, 1,425 Chinese, 435 Indians and 187 Japanese). Dur ing the decade 1920-30 there was a marked increase in the negro population of the cities owing to immigration from the South; the percentage increased from 3.2 to 4.7 of the total. Of the total white population, 5,686,985 were native-born and 644,151 or 10.2% were foreign-born. Chief among the foreign-born na tionalities were: 95,697 native of Germany, 47,026 of Hungary, 64,493 of Poland, 71,496 of Italy, 20,547 of Austria, 32,627 of Russia, 40,665 of England, 68,738 of Czechoslovakia, 38,884 of Yugoslavia, 22,907 of Ireland and 26,847 of Canada. The density of population rose from 141.4 per square mile in 1920, to 163.1 in 1930 ; a density of population exceeding that of any State west of the Appalachian mountains. The urban popula

tion (in places of 2,500 inhabitants c- more) formed 63.8% of the total in 1920 and 67.8% in 1930. There were, in 1930, 55 cities with a population exceeding io,000. In 193o the eight cities listed below had 4 population in excess of ioo,000.

tion and public welfare—in which the former departments are known as divisions. Each department has at the head a director who is appointed by the governor and serves during his pleasure; each departmental director receives an annual salary of $6,500. In 1927 the division of public works was separated from the department of highways and made the ninth department with a Government.—Ohio is governed under the Constitution of 1851 as revised by a constitutional convention in 1912 and sub sequently amended. An amendment may be proposed at any time by either branch of the general assembly, and if after being ap proved by s of the members of both branches it is also approved at a general election by a majority of those voting on the question, it is declared adopted. Under the Constitutions of 1802 and 1851 the suffrage was limited to "white male" citizens of the United States, but by an amendment approved in 1923 these words were stricken out and the Constitution was made to con form with the 15th and 19th amendments to the Federal Constitu tion. The fight of suffrage is bestowed on every United States citizen 21 years of age or over (with certain restrictions), pro vided he or she has resided within the State one year, in the county 3o days and in the ward or precinct for 20 days previous to the election. All voters living in cities with a population between 11,80o and i oo,000 are required to register once in every four years ; in the larger cities they must register annually. The Con stitution requires that all elec tions be by ballot. Constitutional amendments, approved in 1912, provide for the use of the initia tive and referendum in legislation. The executive department con sists of a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of State, aud itor, treasurer and attorney gen eral. All are elected in November of even-numbered years for a term of two years ; an exception is the auditor, who serves for four years. The right of veto was not given the governor until the adoption of a constitutional amendment in 1903. Bills must be vetoed in their entirety, except that in appropriation bills specific, individual items may be vetoed; a -t vote of all the members of each house is required for re-passage. The governor has full power to grant pardons and reprieves except for treason or con viction after impeachment by the general assembly. If he die in office, resign or be impeached and removed from office, the officers standing next in succession are the lieutenant governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of repre sentatives in the order named. By an administrative reorganiza tion act, passed in 1921, 37 departments, commissions, etc., were combined into eight departments—finance, commerce, highways and public works, agriculture, health, industrial relations, educa