The news in this publica
tion is released for the press on
receipt.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
JANUARY 14, 1920
CHAPEL N. C.
VOL. VI, NO. 8
Bdltorlal Bonrd i B. C. Branson, L. K. Wilson, E. W. Knight, D. 0. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt.
Entered as second-class matter November 14, 1914, at the Postofflce at Chapel Hill, N* G., under the act of Augu.st 24, 1913
TEXTS ON RURAL SOCIOLOGY
Various einiuiries aiv coming to us of
lato for a brief list of text-books on coun
try-life problems, or rural sociology, for
higli-scliool pupils in our farm-life and
country high schools.
(Yiuntry boys and girls and country
lioines everywhere can ali'ord to thumb
tlioronghly the books we name in the
next paragraph. They are arranged in
the order of difliculty. As for liural
Mauliood, we should like'to see it in a
hundred thousand homes in North Caro
lina.
Our Neighborhood; Good Citizenship
in Rural Communities, by .lohii F.
Smith, pp 262.—,Tohn 0. AVinston Co.,
Chicago.
The Challenge of the Country, by Wal
ter G. Fiske, pp 282.—Association I’ress,
124 K. 28th St., New T'ork.
Rural Life, by Charles .1. (ialpin, pp
386.—Century Company., New York.
evolution of the Country t'ommunity,
by Warren II. AVilson, pp 221.—Pilgrim
Press, Boston.
Rural Manhood. 347 Madison Ave.,
New A'ork. An indispensable magazine.
Tea issues 311.50
; standpoint, it means the provision of well
’ surfa;ed roads of easy grade; it means
, creating open spaces for common use and
! recreation in community centers; it
; means a consideration of the desirability
and practicability of a water-supply and
a sewage disp(^sal system; it means an
i appropriate design and setting for homes,
i public and semi-public buildings, includ-
; ing the town hall, schools, and churches.
'—The fAurvey.
A COMMUNITY KINGDOM
The most complete democracy will ex
ist where practically all of the people liv
ing together in a given area recognize
' common interests, and common needs,
and acquire a tlioroughgoing union be
cause of common participation in these
SCOTLAND LEADS
The Scotland County Community Life
Association is the name of the new or
ganization which has received definite
character and which embarks ilpon a high
enterprise with the purpose of promoting
all things high and holy in the life of the
county. A meeting at the court house
I Tue.sday afternoon, which was attended
by a numher of inliuential citizens, for-
! mally passed upon and adopted a report
of the committee on bylaws and constitu-
I tion, which creates not only an organized
I body with authority to act in all matters
pertaining to the actual business side of
the proposition, but also an executive
committee and board of control in which
shall be vested property rights and au
thority to direct the activities of the or
ganization.
This board of control is to he made up
of members of the white prote-stant
churrhn.'^ of Scotland county, each church
electing its representatives on this board
on a basis of one representative per hun
dred members or fraction thereof. For
mutual interests; where the laiople meet, purposes of this organization the sta-
together, talk toget er, uy an se j
gether, and in general act together for
mutual protection and advancement.
Suppose we say that community ideals
are, for example, making one's daily
work primarily'a service to mankind, be
cause the laborer in any field of work is a
worker together with God in carrying out
G id's plan. Suppose we assume that the
development of the indvidiial personality
of a white protestant church shall be the
same as that of a church member, and
the sovereign authority and court of final
resort in all matters shall be the ipember-
ship of these several churches.
A committee to be selected for this
purpose will carry the proposition before
every white protestant congregation in
fullest .scope is the principal thing i ®ach church will be
to its
to keep in mind in the community and
must be applied to every individual.
Suppose we recognize that friendliness or
neighhorliness of spirit, wliicii is iierhaps
the highest test of the religions life, is
the foundation stone upon which to build
any jiermanent human activities. Sup
pose we believe that in all these activities
we art- kM by God, the Invisible King,
and are seeking to learn llis will, to con
form to His methods, desiring tliat all
j>eop1e stiall recognize his leadership.
We have then, it seems to me, a pretty
full ixiHipli'ment of ideals with reference
both to coimiiunity building and King-
d-m building, ajid we may then intor-
ch.-uiqe our phraseology with perfect im-
puuity according to■ our mode of think
ing. Th(*e who seek cominunity build-
ty grasp hands warmly with tliose
who seek the Kingdom of (iod, both
recognizing that this common end is not
.attain:\hlo at ail unless it is attained in
tho.se priijiary a.ssociations involving the
ino.st irequent contacts of men with one
.aiiolhei', namely, the local group.-^Ken-
yui)« r.ufte.’’iield.
RyBALCaMMUHITY BUILDING
Riira, community building means mak-
iug nirat surroimdings more healthy,
comt.irtahie, convenient, and agreeable.
- It Micaiis couuteraetiug the drift from tlie
fans to thq town by ujaking farm work
aa-.l farm life more attractive on the one
hail and on tne other by so improving
farming .metliOtis that the siime results
can tm oecimid vi'ith less labor, or a much
better result with the same labor.
f'd-oin the standpoint of health it means
the careful consideration of wkter supply
and sewage disjKisal, also of tlie problems
of bringing adequate air and light into
the. home and the farm building. It
fcueatw sanitary surface clo.sets, adequate
protcctiou against Hies and mosquitoes,
and the proi>er care of milk, meats, etc.
rom the standpoint of comfort, agree-
ahlenea.s, and convenience, apjiropriate
icouiimmity imilding means farm build
ings phuiiied for simplified and economi
cal fmu,sekeepiug, including the making
of butter, ciieese, etc.; more comfortable
amt agtcaahie rooms and outlook, more
attractive farm surroundings in general,
^heUer opp.irtiinities for education and
i'recreation, the creation of cominunity
1 centers to provide attractions to take the
!| Rl rce of degrading distractions.
From a general community iilanuing
peeted to act upon the articles of incor
poration, either ratifying or rejecting
them, as it sees fit.
A Community House
The object of this movement, which is
in its very conception too great for one
to comprehend- its full meaning without
diligent study, is primarily to build at
some central point in tlie county--the
location to be determined by vote of the
church members — a great community
hou.se, including an auditorium, library
and reading rooms, and possibly other
parts, which shall be used as a public
gathering place for the people of the
county., To make sure that nothing but
the liighest class of entertainment shall
ever he offered at this place its destinies
are placed in the hands of the protestant
churches of the county.
The whole idea is so novel, so broad
and far-reaching, that in the end it will
probably evolve into an institution of
tremendous importance, alTe.iting the
lives and happiness of all the people of
the county. Those who are promoting it
are striving after an ideal and desiri- to
bring great good to all the people.
Machinery has been created for giving
the idea publicity and deadly setting it
before the people so that they may com
prehend its meaning and lend it their
support and co-operation.
Dr. F. 0. Hellier was made chairman
of the meeting Tuesday afternoon, and
Mr. E. F. Murray was its secretary. \V.
11. ATeatherspoon and Rev. Carl B. Craig
pre.?ented the report of the committee on
constitulion and hylaw.s—I.aurinburg Ex
change.
NEIGHBORING
In these days when women are feeling
responsibilitie.s in citizenship, the old art
of “neighboring” i.s important.
The word comes from Anglo Saxon,
the near-boor or farmer nigh you, so it
is a true rural term. City people are
comparatively independent hut the coun
try is the place where neighboring is need
ed.
An old woman was asked, “Have you
planted your garden?” She replied,
“Nobody’s ploughed it yet: no one takes
any intenrst in us lately.” “Taking an
interest”—there is the key to neighbor
liness. The community is critical of that
wretched woman and fails to put them
selves in her hard place. The Golden
YOUR COMMUNITY
Josiah Royce.
AV’hat is practically necessary, there
fore, is this: Let your Christology be
the practical acknowledgment of tlie
Spirit of tlie universal and beloved
cominunity. This is the sufficient and
practical faith. Love this faith, teach
thi.s faith, preach this faith, in what
ever words, through wiiatever symbol,■
by means of whatever forms of creeds,-
in accordance with whatever practices
you find best to enable you with sin
cere intent and a whole heart to sym
bolize and to realize the Spirit in the
community.
.fudge every social device, every
proposed reform and every local en
terprise by the one test: Does this help
towards the coming of the universal
community? If you have a church,
judge your own church by this stand
ard ; and if your own church does not
yet fully meet this standard, aid in re
forming your church accordingly. If
you hold the true church to be invisi
ble, require all whom you can in
fluence to help render it visible.
districts and the school teachers should
handle the business w’hereotlier facilities
are not available.
Alunicipal or governmental ownership
of the electric railw-ays was the only way
out of the desperate conditiem into which
traction companies have fallen all over
tlie United .States, Mr. Abelkop said. He
quoted figures showing the loss in valu
ation of properties and loss in operation
ail over the country.
On the subject of rural telephones the
committee, ‘through B. E. AA^eathers,
recommended an extension of the work
now being done by the State Highway
Oommi,ssion in this direction and urged
further appropriation.^ for the auditing
and inspecting of-rural systems.—Lenoir
Ciiamhers.
Rule is the measure to be used in neigh
boring.
The same woman from her poverty
brought me a gift of carefully picked
huckleberries, wliich suggests that in the
country there is much to give and to
share at comparatively little cost—fruit,
flowers, seeds, vegetables, honey, nuts,
meat at butchering time, rides in your
automobile or carriage, books, papers,
and magazines. Thoughtfulness and
generosity are country virtues. The pros
perous must feel responsibility for the
less fortunate. The experienced should
be ready to guide the ignorant, especially
in matters of health. The best neighbor
I ever had died because a family near
her failed to exercise precaution in con
tagious diseases.
The happy should desire to see the
whole community united in simple pleas
ures, such as picnics, field days or ex
hibitions. \
Every night a busy farmer calls up
two old lad^s living alone a mile from
him to see that all§ia well with them.
The telephone is a real help in neighbor
ing.
In some communities “neighborhood
insurance” is practical AA’hen a poor
man loses a hosse or cow, every one gives
a small amount to e.xpress synipatliy and
replace the loss.
Times of illness and trouble, and also
of joy, are real opportunities for serving
our neighbors, which leads me to a real
country text. “But to do good and to
communicate (share with) forget not, for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
—Airs. ‘AA’afreu H. AA’ilson, in Rural
Life.
TRANSPORTATION REPORT
Attacking the problems-of transporta
tion and communication raisetl in the
State by war-time conditions, a commit
tee of the North Carolina Club of the
University of North Carolina with Phillip
Ilettlemau, of Goldsboro,' as chairman,
in its report here tonight on the campus
p'an of state reconstruction in which the
club is following- the lead of Governor
Bickett’s state reconstruction commission,
recommended many changes in state pol
icy on railroads, highways, rural tele
phone and motorized parcel post system.
Associated with Mr. Hettleman on the
committee were B. E. AA^eathers, of Shel
by, S. 0. AVorthington, of Pitt County,
and I. AI. Abelkop, of Durham,
To improve railway transportation the
chairman strongly recommended that
cities have their own traffic managers and
chat manufacturiug concerns pool their
interests wherever possible and hire their
own rate experts. Freight yard conges
tion ought to be handled by local trade
bodies, the chairman urged, and he point
ed out the important progress made by
the Durham Chamber of Commerce in
chat work.
In advocating a motorized parcel post
system, I. M. Abelkop quoted at length
the experience of other states, show-ing
greater cheapness and quicker delivery
by trucks. County school houses should
be the parcel post stations in country
MOVING THE UNIVERSITY
It might be a trifle difficult for a wom
an’s club, or a Y. AI. C. A., or a cham-
lier of commerce, to go to the University
of North Carolina to be instructed, so the
j unirersity lias arranged to pick up and
I come to them. It lias been the dream of
the university for years to serve, not
merely the students at Chapel Flill, but
all the people who desire its services; and
every year it is elaborating its arrange
ments to do that.
The program for this year has just been
published, and may be had” from the bu
reau of extension for the asking. The
university stands ready to send the best
man it has in any given subject to de
liver a lecture at any place in the state if
the people who wish to hear the lecture
will pay the speaker’s expenses. No
charge whatever is made for his services.
The leaflet just out gives a long list of
subjects and lecturers that are at the
people’s disposal. Any community can
secure one man for one lecture, if itlikes;
or it can arrange for one man to deliver
several lectures; or it can secure a series
of lectures covering the same general sub
ject, delivered by two or three men who
are experts in that line.
Teaching Citizenship
For example, there is a course in Citi
zenship that has been arranged with an
eye to the intere.sts of women who may be
considering the question of suffrage, and
perhaps wondering just what is going to
be demanded of them if they find them
selves suddenly endowed with full politi -
cal privileges. It comprises eight lectures,
on such subjects as Suft'rage; Its Oppor
tunities and Obligations; The Origin and
General Nature of Our Government; The
Origin and Development of Government
in Nonh Carolina; Contemporary Re-
fortns in Government and Politics; In
ternational Government or the League of
Nations; AVomen in Industry: Their
Achievements tyid Problems, and the
like. As stated above, the course was
designed with an eye to the needs of
women, but nine-tenths of our present
voters could follow it wdth profit.
There is another series on Americani
zation, and a tremendous one ou Prob
lems of Democracy and Reconstruction,
besides a long list of miscellaneous lec
tures. In fact, a-lecture may be had on
almost any subject from Lord Dunsany’s
Plays or Life and AA’orks of Composers of
Alusic, to a Study of the Cause and the
Prevention of the Toxic Effect of the
General Anesthetics in Acute and Chronic
Kidney Disease.
No one in North Carolina wljo has in
cliarge tlie, arrangement of a program of
study for the winter can afl'ord to act
without giving this bulletin at least
glance. It may contain the very thing
you were looking for.—Greensboro
News.
THE WAY AT YALE
The Yale Corporation has recently
jacked up the level of university salaries.
Full-time professors are now paid from
$5,000 to $8,000, and in exceptional cases
$10,000. The salaries of deans range from
$6,000 to $8,000; while associate and as
sistant professors receive from $2,500 to
$4,500. Teachers of all grades have re
ceived salary increases of 25 j>ercent .or
so, but what is worth noting is the fact
that the new salaries are graded upon (1)
the teacher’s usefulness as a teacher, (2)
his productivity and standing in the
world of letters, science, or art, (3) his
service to the public, including the uni
versity, and (4) his executive responsi
bility and efficiency.
This sort of thing must be discourag
ing to college teachers who lack insti’uc-
tional skill or inspirational force; to
dawdlers who lack productive vitality and
virility in scholarship, research, or en
gineering fields, physical or social; to
teachers who can think neither in terms
of the university as a whole nor of the
public the university is set up to serve;
and to deans who lack initiative and vis
ion, and constructive, directive skill in
developing their scliools or in command
ing their fields of responsibility.
A'ale has faculty members of this sort.
Every school has them in numbers large
or small, and nowhere is it easy to get rid
of them. Blit A'ale is trying to do it.
And the plan is to eh^ke them down to
the bottom of tlie salary list, with the hope
that they will choose to fall out and drop
into other jobs. And the time is oppor
tune, because wages are now high in the
trades and occupations.
PLIGHT OF THE COLLEGES
More than 100 colleges and universities
are conductiiig campaigns for endowment
funds to increase the pay of professors,
according to a report made public yester
day by^ the HarcartJ^ Endowment Fund.
The Harvard Committee is seeking $15,-
250,000 to increase salaries and expand
facilities. It/is estimated that the total
number of ^^udents in these colleges is
250,000, and that every state university
is demanding increased budgets from the
state funds.
“The list of the needy colleges, which
runs from Harvard, with 38,000 living
alumni, to Reed College, Portland, Ore.,
with 138, includes institutions in all parts
of the country,” said .the report. “The
amounts they seek vary from $400,000 to
$15,250,000, but their plights are all
alike. The high cost of living, with the
increased cost of operating, has obliged
all endowed colleges, in fairness to their
I acuities and to their standards of in
struction, to go out for more money.
THE NEW QUARTER
The fall quarter of the University of
North Carolina ended December 20, and
the Christmas holiday began on that day.
Examinations started Tuesday, Decem
ber 16. They lasted therefore only four
days. This is much shorter than in
former years, partly due to the change
in the curriculum this year whereby the
collegiate year was divided into three
terms instead of two. The fall term W’as
shorter than it had ever'been before.
The great majority of the thirteen hun
dred students left for their homes imme
diately after completing their examina
tions. Many members of the faculty also
departed to attend scientific meetings,
scholarly and educational associations,
and other professional engagements.
Chapel Hill during the Christmas holi
days is a quieter village than at any other
time of the year,
The new quarter began again ou Jan
uary 5. Alany new students entered the
University at that time. It is pointed
out by university authorities that under
the new quarter system, it is much easier
and more convenient for students to be
gin work after Chri.stmas than in former
years. Alany courses are repeated each
quarter, and students entering at the be
ginning of the third quarter can adjust
their courses so that utilizing the fourth
quarter of the year, wliich comes in the
summer school, they can make up easily
for not being able to enter the university
at the beginning of the collegiate year.
High School Debates
Alore than two hundred high schools
have already joined the high school de
bating union for 1920, according to E.
R. Rankin, secretary of the committee
on arrangements. This is more than the
total number of schools in the union last
year. During the seven years in which
the state-wide debates have been held the
average number of schools participating
has been 231, with the high-water mark
of 331 schools in 1917. Unsettled condi
tions cut into the list last year.
Restricted immigration is the debate
subject for 1920. A hundred-page bulle
tin has been prepared by the university
committee and is being distributed co all
schools in the union. It contains out
lines and arguments on both sides of the
query and references to sources from
which further material can be obtained.
The committee estimates that an average
of 80,000 persons in the state has listened
to the debates each year.
The triangular debates throughout tiie
state will be held in Alarch, and the final
contest at the university will be held in
April, tue exact dates to be announced
later,—I^enoir Chambers.