The news in this publica
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
MAY 19, 1915
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. I, NO. 26
Editorial
iai Buardt E. C. BranHon, J. G. deK. Hamilton, L. R. Wiison, Z. V. Judd, .S, K. Winters, L. A. Williams. as si-co Kl-class
matter November 1-i, 1914, at the i.ostoffife at Ohapel Hill,' N. C., niid.T the act of AuKUst 24, lfll2
NORTH CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES
Inherited Pauperism
In ViiU'iaiRl, N, .1., il has been toiind
possible to link up by means ol faiuily
liistories, oiU‘-lhii-cl of the inmates of
New .lersey's criminal and |)an|>cr insvi-
:tutioiis with two notorious families.
A ^laiH'e at llie recovd book of tli'
Court of Wardens from 1832 to 1855.
shows that tlie [laiiiM'i-s wlio in lho.se
days cost Orange around a thousand dol
lars a year are still laying somethinjr like
the same burden on the county to-day
for the support of their descendants.
Worthful Young Citizens
Nine of t.li(^ 44 (Jorn Club boys in
Oraiifie fiad reports for the 1914 season
as folli.iws:
.lack II. Ilof'aii, 97.23 bu. per aci'e.
cost I’S cent.s per bu.; ]>. Me. (.’rabtn'e.
82 bu.. cost 45 cejits [ler bu.,
•Johnston, 76.66 bu., cost 34 cents;
Tbouias (Canada. 72 bu.. cost 17 cents;
Frank \\^ilker, 65 liu. co.st 47 cents;
Frank Maddry, 57 bu., co.st 37 cents;
Walter r. b’erry, 5:ibn.. cost 53 cents;
..lohn Sartin, 45 bu., cost 35 cents; ami
Willie Ilofran, 32 bn., cost 35 cents.
THE CROP-LIEN AND ITS
SISTER-EVILS
()n(‘i)f the Carolina Club studies this
year is the Cro|i l.ien and its related
subjects (1) Dt'usitiesof Ne^ro }>opulation
(2) Xegro farm ownership (3) Farm ten
ancy, white and black (4) Sinjr|(> cash-
crop systems, and (5) the time-credit
bnsine.ss of the supjily-mei'chanls.
- While hunting down the orif;in of the
Crop Lien, and mapping tlie extent anl
intcnsilie.9 ol it Uie Lbii\ersity students
have run into uuiny surprises; into many
things new lo them although familiar
enough to [heir forefathers.
Slavery in I860
I'or instam-e, in the 1S60 census il aj>-
pears that the .slave-iioiders iti Nortli
Carolina at that time mmd)ered 34,700.
They owned 331,000 sla\es. Nine-tentlis
\llen of the white ])opiilation, 21 year.s of age
and older, and nearly three-fourths of
the white farm owners held no slaves.
Altogether 13,500 slave-holders had from
one to three .slaves eacli; mainly as house
hold servants, cooks, maids, butlers,
dri-vei-s, gardenei-s, and t:he like. Onlv
('le\en owned from 200 to 300 each ; and
The average yield [ler acre was.64.44 only four owned from 300 to 500 each.
bu. and .the
.36 1-2 ceut.s.
average cost
The First Community Building
()ne of the lirst coimnunity buildings
in this country was opened by the Boanl
• of Trade at Washington C^mnty. I’a.. on
October 24, 1914. purpose of the
building is to furnish a general meeting
place for town and country peo|ile and to'
bring them in closer touch.
In the gen(“ral m«'eting room on the
first lloor are telephoiu’ facilities, maga
zine and writing tal>les. .sets of all avail
able I'^trmers’ Bulletins, The F.xpc'rinient
|H'r liu. \\as ^ The.se four largest slaye-holdings were in
I Kladen, Chowan, Orange, and Stokes.
= I Nobody in North Carolina owned more
than 500 slaves. Only one planter in the
entire South owned a thousand or lufire
I slaves.
1 Tln're were si.ime slave-holders in every
I one of the .S6 counties; fewest in Wataii-
I ga. :’)Li and mo.st in Wake. 10,195.
Nearly one-half of the .slave.s in ^\'ake
were owned or held in Kaleigh.
THE TWENTIETH CENTU
RY UNIVERSITY
President E. K. Graham
The .American state univei'sity of th(>
twentieth century is an organism of
the productive state, striving to ex
press in tangible realities the a.spii’a-
tions of present democracy, as it ad
justs itself to the liherations of a now
humanism.
A Center of Democracy
The incarnalioii of'the gri'at anti-
leudal power of conjinerce was in(>\ i-
tabje, not oidy tc- lircak the bonds oi
ancient ol>sessions. but to open
ihrongh its niat‘rial might railways,
steamslii]! lines, canals, telegraph and
telc{)hone .systt’nis. good roads, .school
houses and libraries, as avenues to
liberation, in its d(‘\'ek>pment it cr(‘-
ated its own abnormal standards and
tyrannies, aial b(‘came so obst'sst^l
with material lre('dom that ei(nality
.seemed a contradiction and coo]K'ration
the vision of a dreamer. fts life was
inilividualislic. coinpartinental, and
freely competitive. Its ideal was
etiiciency ; it,s criterion, dividends; but
present democracy, if it has not yet
focn.sed the light of the new center
toward which it moves, is steadily il-
luniiuau'il by il.
A Unifying, Uplifting Agency
Democracy has come to mean more
than an aggregate of vocations, gronp-
chI for the pur])ost^ ol nuiterial exploi
tation. The whole 41brt c*f th(' pi‘o-
ductive state is to tmify its life, not
casting out material goinl, but inter
preting the using of it in it.s .symmetri
cal upbuilding.
LETTER SERIES NO. 28
The largest number of planters owning
slaves lived in (iranville county. 1,006.
Largest Slave Populations
The 21,000 slave holding plantei's and
Stiitiou Bulletins of the .State, and blanks ' fai» largest munbers in the
upon which ap])lication may be made for j tobacco growing counties from .Stokes
those desired by individuals. Another | *"''^^"^■’(1 along the \ irginia line, and in
large room on the first Hoor is suitable i cotton growing region of eastern
for lunciieons, illustrated lectures, and ^'^orth Carolina; all told in some 41
apple shows, demon-
local corn sIk.iws
stration meetings, etc.
On the second Uoor arj
two lar-ge I'est
roonis for wx>nien. Those in charge of I cotton and l^bacco by large slave gangs
the enterprise hoiie to be able to ein.i>loj' ' under ov(>rseers most profitable,
a Woman attemiaut and provide her with | . J'l the.se 41 counties, when the war was
facilities for caring foi-small children of
counties in the areas nanu'd. Here the
lands were gently rolling or level, the
plantations large. ani the cultivation of
visiting shop|iers. Tlii' building also
'•contains ollic(>s for the board and agri
cultural liureau.
Hack of. the building is a lutchhig
irronnd. witli ami>le space for 50 teams,
'willi a good brick walk lo the building.
Oomitry jieoi)le can hitch their teams,
leave their wrai>s, arrange aj>pointments
by tele|)hjne. etc., and then go about
■their duties in town.
—The Fedi'ral News LetliT.
The Rowan Community Build
ing
The handsome buikliug in Salisbury,
■devoted ejKiUiaively to community uses
and purposes, bouses the County Dem
onstration .Vgent, the Public Library,
the Agricultural Fair Association, the
-Sali.sbury Merchants' Association, the
Rowan Historical Association, the Salis
bury Indu.strial Chib, the Salisbury Civic
dub, the Daughters of the Confederacy,
the Daughters of the American Kevohi-
tion.
ft contains rest rooins with conven
iences for the women and children of the
•county. The auditorium is ta.stefully
■*>utlitted for ;>ublic meetings and enter
tainments, and is to be u.sed V>y the town
.-and country citizens alike.
Stanley to the Fore
A two-story building is being erected
'in Alteniarle, Stanley county, for county-
wide use and service.
11 is the second structure of this sort in
the South, the Rowan Community Build
ing being the first. It is the third in tire
United States, the firet being in Pennsyl
vania.
I'he gigantic water power plant on the
■^'adkin, the mills and facitories of Albe
marle, the Industrial Institute and the
ammal County Fair have given Stanley a
large place in the pjiblic eye of late years.
Dismissing the County Farm Demon
strator the other day looks as though
"Stanley had slipped a cog somehow.
over were landless black laboiVrs and
moneylc.ss white landlords. It was a
situation of lau(^ poverty and labor penu
ry. Pinching ]ieccssily cjflled for capital.
The supply-rncrchants furnished it, pro
tected by lien and growing cro[is, gools,
and chattels. 'I’hcrc was literally no other
way of escape in many or nxist of these
41 counties.
The Crop Lien and Its Results
Tlie 13 counties of the State having
negro majoritio's in 1910 are in this re
gion. Ill 19 of these counties farm ten
ants. white and black, outnumber the
owners who cultivate their own farms; in
8 counties nearly two to one ; in Edge-
contbe nearly three to one.
In 7 of these counties, 3,746 negroes
own 237,000 acres of farm land. Their
farms average about 63 acres apiece. In
1910 negro farm owners were more than
two-tifths, 42 jier cent, of all the farm
owners of these seven counties; in Hali
fax county tliey were 49 per cent and in
Warren 52 per cent of them all.
Where the Evil is Least
In brief, wliere slave populations were
densest in 1860, the problein of the crop
lien is now greatest. In 46 counties be
fore the war, mainly in middle and W'est-
ern North Carolina, three-fourths or
more of the farmers owned no slaves.
The passing of slavery left scarcely a
shadow upon the business life of these
counties. They^were largely self-tinaii-
cing farmers before and are largely so
now.
But in the cotton and tobacco counties
then and now lieavy negro populations
linger. For instance in Bertie, Halifax,
and AVarren, negro populations today
range from 59 per cent to 65 per cent of
the totals, as in 1860. Farm-tenancy,
absentee-landlordism, and the crop -lien
became established institutions in eastern
Carolina, and tliey tend toward indefinite
increase in most of tliese 41 counties.
Favors Negro Farm Ownership
It is a state of |things favorable to the
negroes. They can acquire property up-
HEADSA NEW EPOCH
Dr. Fdward Kiiider (iraham. iuaugii-
rated as tenth [ircsidenl of the University
of North Carolina. alr(>ady has taken up
the work so well begun by his predeces
sors. His tiguie is flung across the pages
of .\oith Carolina as no figure has Ix'en
silhouctcd in recent years; he comes upon
the stage at a time when the state is call
ing for leaders not only in the college
world, which has .served its day and gen
eration well, but is calling for leadership
and direction in govermeul, for men to
teach who are niiabh' tn pursue
scholarshi|i in the class-room—when a
whole peo|>le ari' auakeued to their possi
bilities in agricuUm-c, in citizen.ship and
community service. This is the age that
I'residcnt (Ti'aluun will have the pi-ivilege
of serving.
Thai he will make the University re-
sjiousive to the tinci' im|)uls('s and dc'sires
of the p('ople of North {.larolina there is
not the slighle.st iloubt. His administra
tion already has attracted national atten
tion; best of all. it has drawn the peo|)le
of the state nearer U) the Uuivei'sity,
North Car(jlina has just begun to ftnil
itself. Its wTindcrfnl ojiportuuitie.s'- in
ediu'ation, in agiiciilture and manufac
tures have but starred. The next great
development, as the new pi'esideut says,
will be in the South. The University
along with the other iu.stitutions of North
Carolina, botii denominational aiul state,
will have a large jiart in shaping the des
tinies of this .section-—a nmch larger part
than they could possibly have had in the
past—-and their eflbrls will be appreciat
ed. In this service President Graham
wdll take a man’s |)art.—The lialeigh
Times.
THE COUNTY SCHOOL FAIR
fjast fall a umnber of comities held
school fairs. In tlie s|)ring forty- odd
counties held county commenci'inents, th(“
signiti‘anl ti'aturx' of which, was the
: .school exhibit. The worth of these coun-
ty school fairs and the exhibits at the
comity school commeucemeiitiS lies largely
J in j)ointing out and emphasizing the ty]>e
of activities which should be undertaken
• by these schools.
'I'he pi-izes otf'ei'ed should, ihei'cfore. be
for such things as have educational value
as well as mility. The following are
some of the prizes oH'ered for exhibits at
(he .school fair in l.ake County. I'llorida.
under the direi’tioii of Miss Flora l>.
Hi'own at Tavares.
The list will be suggesli\ e lo Noi-th Car-
I oliiia teachers for which reason il is here
]irinted.
Prize List for Schools
Besi lejiort of a School Betternieut
.\ssociation for year.
Best pei'centage of attendance from
tlie opening of the school until the
fair.
IV'sl e.Khibit of regular school work
taken from the daily work,
(ireatest iniproveme.nt in .school pro-
[leriy l>eginning with the s.'hool year.
Highest percentage of contestanls in
fail'.
Highest iK'rcenlage in .school parade.
Best aj)[iearance in the [larade.
!. Mo.st succe.ssful co-operative I’lmltry
and I’.gg Socii'ty.
List Open to Boys and Girls
Best one-half broilers, produced at
smallest cost, shown by the l«'st
statement of-ex|>enses. supporU'd by
atUdavits.
Best trio of Rhode Island lieds.
1. Best ten rea.sous for living in Florida.
:. Best words for county song.
1.
2.
3.
5.
6.
7.
5.
6.
1(1.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
1.
2.
4.
.5.
6.
9.
!0.
11.
12.
Best picturi' ol school hou.se and
grounds,
Best picture ol school room decorat«
ed for a special occasion.
liest singk' Lake County .scene.
Best relief ma|i ol l.ake County.
Best eolk'ction of jiine-alj'aw work.
Best collection of necklaces made
from natise setN'ls. Beads may be
used in connection.
B(‘sl na|>kin I'ing made from native
wofnl.
Best collection of frei'-haiid drawings
by pupils in first four graik's.
Best collection of free-hand pa|H^r
cutting by piijiils in first grades.
Best collection of free-hand drawing
by pupil in 5lh to 8tli grades inclu
sive.
Best collection of free-hand lrawijig
by high .school pupil. ^
Bi'St (‘xhibit of daily work in spelling
by pupil in first four grades. S(>ell-
iiig, writing and neatness to be
considered.
Best jiair ol pictures showing the
Ix’st ;uid j>o(.)rest stretch of n>ad in
the vicinity of the confe.sfant.
List for Girls
B('st pint of tig )ireserv('s.
Best collection fif canned goods made
from the common guava.
Best scliool hmcli (‘outaining not
over live articles.
P>est loaf of bread.
Best pound of butter.
B(‘si chocolate layer cake, not using
more than three eggs.
Best pair ol henistitcheil pillow castes.
Best darning on pair of ho.se.
Best patching on garment of con
testant.
Best palmetto hut. girl over IwelvCt
Best composition on Lake County.
Best ipiilt top made entirely by con
testant.
on the lowest levels of existence; and in
seven of these counties they own and
cultivate from 30 to 52 percent of all the
owmxi farms; in Northampton 30 per
cent, Robeson 35 per cent, Richmond
and Vance 36 per cent, Hertford 40 per
cent, Halifax 49 per cent, ami AN'arren
52 per cent.
Tlie crop lien iiad its origin in economic
necessity. It tends to disappear as pov
erty disappears. As a business system it
first aided poverty and now it perpetuates
it. Its disappearance can be hastened by
legislation that is wise, temperate, and
considerate of economic conditions. Ill
considered laws on this subject can easily
make bad matters worse in 41 counties of
the State. In the rest, tlie law or its re
peal is of small consequence.
Repealing the Crop Lien Law
The crop lien system sprang out of dire
poverty. It flourishes upon the dire
poverty of its victims and sinks them into
hopeless economic .serfdom.
It lends to decrcast' and disapi>ear
whenever and Wherever the cause for it
decreases aud disappears. Farm tenancy
and crop liens are tlu' foundation .stones
ol business in the cotton and tobacco belt
counties of the South. Tlu'rc is scarcely
a trace of them left in our grain grow ing,
hay aud forage, livi“ .stock counties. That
is to say, diversified farming aud live
stock industries free farmers from the
curse of the crop lien by removing the
cause for it.
TlM're are tifty-uine counlies^in North
Carolina that would .scarcely know the
law had been repealed. They are the
iiiany-ci'0|i, live-stock, -nwner.ship-farm-
ing counties.
The repeal of the law would^radically
alter the economic structui'e of business
in our cotton aud lobacco,regious.
It would certainly forci' ab.seutee-laud-
lords to lake personal charge of their
farms and linaiu’C their tenants directly;
or sell out. The effect upon laiul values
would he swift and certain.
But also it would force tenants to rai.se
bread and meat abundantly in order to
lessen the burden upon the landlord. It
would tend to the diversification that
spells freedom.
j suit be increa.seii vajjie in our human
j product? Business firms conclude that
these elements in administration are
[ worth whik-. AVhy not try them in our
j bu.siness?
WORTHY REPRESENTATIVE
; \ copy of The Training School ( Juartt'r-
' ly, the student and faculty organ of the
; Fast t'arolina Teachers Training School,
has just been received by the .School of
Ivlucalion eilitors of the I'niversity News
Letter.
The make-u[)-is excellent, the mat(>rial
interesting and apjiropriate. One gains
th(> impression that the s[iirit of the insti
tution. as typified by this publication, is
one of hearty and sympathetic co-opera
tion between faculty and student bixly.
Lack of space forbids a detailed review
of the \’arions contributions. \\'i‘ wish
the University .School of Edu'ation had
money enough to put forth a similar |>ub-
lication.
A BUSINESS PROPOSITION
A prominent clothing concern adver
tised in a recent issue of the Saturday
Fvening Post as follows;
“Ibicle .Sam’s investigators were much
intere.sted in the way ’s Clothes are
made.
‘ ‘Especially when they found so few of
the workers in those shops were changed
from year to year.
“Careful training, good surroundings,
the most advancexi machines, testing, in
spection, and sanitary provisions—all
these have heli>ed to put more real value
into ’s all-wool clothes for men and
young men.”
Application
Note the factors necessary aud etiicient
in producing real value in clothes; con
tinuous service, careful training, pleasant
aud sanitary surroundings, proper equip
ment, examination, inspectional sui)er-
vision.
If these same factors were provided in
our business of education, would the re-
HOW ABOUT IT?
I’rom a very careful study of illiteracy
in South Carolina, made by the State
Su])erinteudeut of Kducation there, it ap-
(leai's that more than 18 per cent of the
enrolled while voters 21 to 29 years of
age, in the 1914 election, made their
mark!
No such data is available for North
Oarolina, but we wonder,—aud with fear
in our heart.s,—if the Old NorthStatecan
.show any bettiT record. We Wonder!
(rod hasten the day when no citizen, in
this State or any other, will be obliged to
cast a vote, n'ad the Bible, or write a
Irt'ter. by proxy.
TEACHER’S BUREAU
The Bureau of Exteiwion of the Uni
versity of North Carolina maintains a
Teachers’ Bureau, which recommends
; men for positions in school work in re-
8})onse to injuiries from school officials.
The Bureau would be glad to register the
names of teaching Alumni of the Univer
sity. WHiether such men desire a change
of position or not, the Bureau would i>e
glaI to have their names and records on
tile, [t hopes to build up a fairly com
plete list Alumni of the University who
are in school work. Such a list will be
of service to it, and will enable it to be
of service to Alumni. Mr. Teaching
Alumnus, send us yourname and record!