The news in this publica-
1 is released for the press on
sipt.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
JE 9, 1920
CHAPEL HHI^ N. C.
VOL VI, NO. 29
.rial Board . K. C. Branson. L. B. Wilson, B. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B,
. B. Bullitt.
Entered as seoond-olass matter November 14, 1914, at the Postoffloe at Chapel Hill, N, C., under,the act of August 24 1912
OUR DEPENDENT COUNTIES
THE COUNTRY WEEKLY
«n the Country Weekly,
am the friend of the family, the
ger of tidings from other friends; f
k to the home in the evening light of
tner’s vine-clad porch or the glow of
cer’s lamp.
help to make this evening hour; I
ird the great and the small, the varied
of the days and weeks that go to
;e up life.
am for and of the home; I follow
se who leave hum hie beginnings;
(ther they go to greatness or to the
ter, I take to them the thrill of old
s, with wholesome messages,
speak the language of the common
n; my words are fitted to his uuder-
iding. My congregation is larger tlian
t of any chureli in my town; my
ders are more than those in the school,
jng and old alike find in me stimu-
on, instruction, entertainment, inspi-
ion, solace, comfort. I am tlie ciironi-
r of birth, and love and deatli—the
ee great facts of men’s existence,
bring together buyer and seller, to
; benefit of botli; I am part of the
rket-place of the world. Into the liome
arry word of the goods which feed and
the, and shelter, and wdiich minister
jomfort, ease, health and happiness,
am the word of the week, the history
bhe year, the record of my community
tne archives of state and nation,
am the exponent of the lives of my
ders.
am the Country Weekly.—Adams.
The baby of the back street may send
to the baby of the front street every germ
he i)ears—and he does send them. That
is his retaliation for the lack of plenteous
fresh clean water, for lack of safely cov
ered drains, for lack of clean and decent
living conditions of every sort and kind.
Almost as many front street babies die
as back street babies, and they will con
tinue to die, one out of every seven born,
until every Ctiapel Hill in our land de-
(Ides once and for all that there is a
better method and a more humane meth
od than either that of ancient hard-heart
ed Sparta, or modern hit-or-miss Amer
ica—a method of clean and wholesome
living conditions for everybody, black
and white, front street and hack street
and negro slums, constantly, persist
ently and permanently.—E. N.
A MARKET CENTER
PARTA AND CHAPEL HILL
Yesterday at the Community Club f
wing tribute was paid to Chapel Hill
Miss Oaks, the public healtli nurse,
ver, she said, had she seen more lovely
wers, more majestic trees, niorecharm-
; vistas, greener grass
id birds, kindlier folk, happier little
ildren.
But, she continued, the time comes
en a community must face disagreeable
ts, when it must look away from its
nt street to its baiik streets and its
eys, when it must take stock of its
lole situation or perish civically for-
iT. And then slie went on and these
j the things she told the tliirty-five
The unit of neigliborhood in America
is the public-seliool district, and that is
tlie logical basis for marketing organiza
tion. The public-school building is locat
ed within convenient reach of children of
the neighborliood, and therefore of all
the people as well.
This building belongs to all the people,
not to a group. Whether all the children
go to school in it or not, the fact remains
that the building is built with public
funds, to wliicli all contribute. Every
citizen shares with all the other citizens
in the community of its ownership.
Every one of these buildings in Amer
ica i.s capable of being used as the head
quarters of the people of the neiglibor-
liood. They stand ready to hand to be
used as stations of collection and distri
bution in the great movement to bring
the consumers and producers together, ^
through the agency of the Post Office De- '
paitment, operated for public service.—
M. Clyde Kelly.
THE GREAT PROBLEM
H. G. AVells
Tte great problem of mankind is
indeed nothing other than a magnifica
tion of the little problem of myself, is
a problem in escape from grooves,
from preoccupations and suspicions,
precautions and ancient angers, a
problem of escape from those spirit
ual beasts that prowl and claw, to a
new generosity and a new breadth of
view.
For all of us, as for each of us, sal
vation is that. We have to get away
from ourselves to a greater thing, to a
giant’s desire and an unending life,
ours and yet not our own.
COUNTRY HOME CONVENIENCES
LETTER SERIES No. 13
ELECTRIC MOTORS FOR FARM WORK—I
DEPENDENT COUNTIES
Tliirty-three dependent counties in
brighter plum- , Korth Carolina!
Counties that get more money out of
the state treasury in Confederate pension
and public school money than they pay
into it for state support!
Counties tliat contributed not a single
cent in 1918 to support the legislative,
judicial and executive departments of the
state—not a cent to tlie state institutions
of technical training and liberal arts—
not a cent to tlie state- departments of
‘mbers gathered to liear tlie annual education, health, highways and public
lb reports before disbanding for the welfare, to the schools for the deaf, the
Qjjjjgj.; 1 feebleminded, the crippled, and tlie way-
In Orange county, out of every seven ward cliildren of the state, or to any
hies that are born one baby dies. That other state purpose whatsoever!
counting live babies only. If the-still- j Counties that not only left these bnr-
rn were counted the ratio would be far dens to fall on their sister counties but
ore deadly than it is. In very many were tlieniselves an additional burden
stances the dead baby might liave lived | upon the state treasury! All told, to the
in amounts
it had been properly fed. And if the ' tune of $143,000 in 1918,
others only knew liow to^ feed tliose ranging from $124 in Transylvania to
.hies properly of course they would be $10,000 in Catawba, nearly $11,000 in
ved. To answer these and many other ^ Wilkes, and nearly $13,000 in Ashe!
I is the special province of the public! There were only 12 such counties in
■alth nurse. Hers is tlie work of pre- j 1915, but three years later there were 33.
■ntion and of instruction chiefly. These 33 dependent counties appear at
In ancient Sparta wlien a baby was the fag end of the table in another column
jrn malformed or sickly it was exposed ' of this issue.
1 a mountain top and left to die at the They lie in three groups, (1) twenty-
.ercy of the elements or tlie wild beasts, j four in the mountains and immediate
1 modern America when babies are born ^ foot-hill country, Cherokee Graham,
ley are too often exposed to the unsci-1 Swain, Haywood, and Henderson ex-
itific feeding of untaught young mothers, cepted, (2) five ,n the Albemarle and
Pamlico region, and (3) four in the lower
Cape Fear.
r to the deadly fangs of the disease
irrying house fly, or to the dangers of
le open sewers wliere mosquitoes breed,
r to the noxious influences of tlie pig
ty or the cow stall in the back street,
r to the infection brought in on the
■ashing that has been done in impure
fell water carried into disease laden
abins.
Bach Street Dangers
The baby of the front street lies in a
anitary^assinet His liath is drawn out
if clean pipes iiiio a porcelain tub. His
ood is measured and weighed. His clothes
,re changed and washed with meticulous
requency.
The baby of the back street lies on a
led that is slept in by many nnbathed
lodies. His food is any old tiling that
lappens to be on the table. His water
8 drawn from one of the seven wells that
ire the sole supply of 200 families. His
ittle face and body may be covered witli
sores of an eruptive disease. The
he
vashings of nine front street families lie on
the bed and all around the room. His big
lister may be nurse to the front street
t>ahy. His mother may be cook in tlie
rent street house.
It fairly takes one’s breath away to find
Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, and Catawba
in this list of dependent counties. In
1910 tliey ranked among tlie first twenty
counties of the state in per capita country
wealth!
Or such counties as Wilkes, Caldwell,
Burke, McDowell, and Kutherford—pros
perous counties all.
And even more surprising, Lincoln and
Gaston!
And Gaston—the county that far and
away leads the South in textile develop
ment—think, if you can, of Gaston in the
list of dependent counties in North Caro
lina! But so she appears in Mr. Poin
dexter’s table.
Why Dependent
A county falls into dependency in
North Carolina in one or more or all of
five ways: .
First, when it is really poverty-strick
en . Which is true or relatively true of three
of these 33 rearward counties. However,
tliree other counties with little wealth,—
Graliain, Cherokee, and Swain—have a
prideful place among the supporting, con
tributing counties of the state; wliile Ashe,
Alleghany, Watauga, Catawba, and Gas
ton—rich counties all—receive state boun
ties ranging from $3,983 to $12,964 a year.
Second, when properties are listed for
taxes at little or nothing as compared
with the values in other counties. Thus
in Cleveland county real estate is worth
$13.30 an acre on the tax list of 1918;
but only $4.33 in McDowell, $7.92 in
Rutherford, $7.35 in Polk, and $9.50 in
Catawba. Cleveland helps to support the
state, while all her neighbors received
state bounties ranging from $1,305 in
Polk to $10,466 in Catawba. And what
is true of farm taxables applies to mill
properties. Think of Orange county with
her three mills contributing a surplus of
nearly $6,000 to state support, and Gas
ton with lier 94 mills drawing a state
bounty of more than $6,000! It seems
almost unbelievable. Cabarrus and
Stanly are also in conspicuous contrast
with Gaston.
Third, when a county lags behind in
willingness to levy local taxes for better
schools. In this event, under the old
order of things, even a rich county like
Astie falls into dependency. Only seven
of her Imndred white school districts
.levied a local school tax in 1917-18; the
total scliool fund thus raised w’as only
$1,875 and the amount drawn out of the
state treasury to bring up lier school
term to an average of four months was
nearly $11,500. This county, for an in
stance. There are others—AVilkes, AA’a-
tauga, Yadkin, Yancey, and a dozen
more.
Fourth, when birth rates are phenom
enally high, families large, and school
children multitudinous. The birth rate
of the state in 1917 was 31.8 per 1000 of
population, and we lead the Union in
birth rate, baby carriages, and cradles.
But in A'ancey the the birth rate ran up
to 44.4, which is probably the highest in
the civilized world, while in Graham it
ran down to 20.7. In 1918 Graham drew
from tlie state per capita education fund
$443 and Yancey $1,395. Graham was
a supporting county contributing a sur
plus of $2,167 to the state treasury
while Yancey was a dependent county
drawing $9,397 out of the state treasury.
Fifth, when Confederate pensioners
are numerous. Thus in 1915 Confederate
pensioners—old soldiers and tlleir widows
—were 64 per 10,000 of population avera-
age the state over. In 25 of the 33 de
pendent counties, the rates ran from 71
per 10,000 inliabitants in Caldwell to 166
in Clay. Twenty-one of tliese counties
witli Confederate pensioners beyond the
state average were mountain and foot
hill counties. In proportion to popula
tion the state pensioners in Madison,
Macon, Burke, Alleghany, Jackson, Mc
Dowell, Catawba, and Ashe were from
six to ten times as many as in Bertie,
Pasquotank, and Perquimans.
On the face of the figures, the differ
ence between the patriotism of the Hill
country and the Tidewater in tlie sixties
is startling.
Any one of tliese causes will edge a
county toward dependency; two or more
of them in combination throw the county
upon the charity of the state; all of them
together mean large state bounties. And
the results are amazirtg.
Mr. Poindexter’s table is a vital contri
bution to the pressing urgency of tax re
forms and courthouse efficiencies in North
Carolina. It is a timely side light on the
re-valuation of taxable properties and the
equalization of tax burdens.
Supporting Counties
On the other hand, 67 counties of
North Carolina in 1918 put into the state
treasury $857,776 more than they drew
out in Confederate pensions and public
school funds, in amounts ranging from
$237 in Haywood to $66,590 in Durham
Below is a table showing
the size of
Refrigeration
1-2
3
25
electric motor reonired to
run different
farm macliines. The first column gives
Medium Sized Jobs
the horsepower of the smallest size motor
Dairy Machines
that can be used, the second ttie size
Cream Separators
1-10
1-8
1-4
generally used, and the last column shows
Butter Churns
1-8
14
3
the largest motor required.
In coming
Miiking Machines
3
5
5
issues we shall discuss the most import-
Bottle AVashers
1-8
1-2
3-4
ant of these machines giving approxi-
A’acuum System
2
3
3
mately what they cost and what they will
Shop Machines
(10.
Grindstones
1-8
1-4
1-4
Big Jobs
Emery AA’heels
1-4
1-4
1
Machine Electric Moter Horsepower
Lathes
1-4
1-2
1-2
Smallest
Most Largest
Forge Bloweis
1-15
1-10
1-8
Used
General Farm Power
Feed Grinders (large) 10
15 30
FeedGrinders (small)
3
5
10
Ensilage Cutters 10
15 25
Corn Shellers, one hole 3-4
1 1 1-2
Shredders and Huskers 10
15 20
Groomers (vacuum sys.) 1
2
3
Threshers, 19 in. Oyl. 12
15 18
Root Cutters
1
2
5
Threshers, 32 in. Cyl. 30
40 50
AVood Splitters
1
2
4
Power Shellers 10
15 15
Clover Cutters
1-4
1-2
1-2
Concrete Mixers 2
5 10
AA^ater Pumps
1-2
3
5
Hay Hoists 3
5 15
The meaning of the figures in this table
Cord AVopd Saws 3
5 10
will be explained in comine issues.
Save
Hay Balers %
7 1-2 25
the table for future use.—P.
H. D.
county. It went, of course, to support
the state government, legislative, judicial,
and executive, and the state institutions
of learning and benevolence—and also to
pay $143,000 of bounties into the treas
uries of 33 weak or unwilling counties,
most of them not poverty-stricken in
purse, but poverty-stricken in spirit.
It is a surprise to find Durham, Meck
lenburg, and Buncombe standing ahead
ot Forsyth in state support.
And AVake ahead of Guilford.
And Halifax ahead of AA’ilson and Pitt.
And 25 counties standing ahead of
Robeson.
And little old Orange standing ahead
of 60 counties in the support of the state
and her institutions.
And so on and on.
Thoughtful people in every county will
be interested in seeing where the home
county stan.ds in the column of state sup
port or dependency.
AVe dare to say that the people in
these 33 dependent counties will be sur
prised. They did not deliberately con
trive to get into the list of bounty coun
ties. They never consciously maneuvered
to get into a position that must be galling
to county pride. But finding themselves
there, they will undoubtedly gird up their
loins and pull out of dependency, if it is
humanly possible—as it certainly ?&,
three counties alone excepted.
SURPLUS AND DEFICIT COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA 1918
A Revaluation Study
Based on report of the State Auditor, 1918, and the State Superintendent of Pub
lic Instruction, 1917-18.
Counties ranked from high to low according to the difference between the total
taxes paid into the state treasury by each county and the total received from the
state treasury by each county for public schools and confederate pensions.
The deficit counties in 1918 numbered 33 ; they were only 12 in 1915.
AA^. N. Poindexter, Forsyth County,
University of North Carolina, 1919-20
Surplus Counties—
-67 in All
51.
Henderson
$2,941
1.
Durham
$66,590
52.
Randolph
2.
Mecklenburg
62,151
53.
Graham
3.
Buncombe
62,140
54.
Lee
4.
Forsyth
60,037
55.
Tyrrell
1,817
5.
New Hanover
54,131
56.
AA’ashington
1,519
6.
AA’ake
42,571
57.
Caswell
7.
Guilford
38,016
58.
Jones
8.
Edgecombe
27,262
59.
Swain
9.
Halifax
26,895
60.
Montgomery
.... 911
10.
AVayne
24,065
61.
Camden
11.
AA’ilson
23,595
62.
Cherokee
874
12.
Nash
23,028
63.
Sampson t.
13.
Pitt
20,606
64.
Davidson
14.
Craven
19,646
65.
Davie
15.
Pasquotank
14,664
66.
Chatham
16.
Lenoir
14,589
67.
Haywood
17.
Rockingham
12,683
Deficit Counties-
-33 in All
18.
Vance
11,687
68.
Transylvania
19.
Beaufort
11,460
69.
Gates
20.
Rowan ..
11,262
70.
Columbus
21.
Martin
10,473
71.
Brunswick
... — 966
22.
Nortliampton
10,402
72.
Currituck
23,
Jolmston
10,196
73.
Pender
... —1,051
24.
Franklin
10,144
74.
Lincoln
25.
Greene
9,828
75.
Polk
... —1,305
26.
Robeson
9,766
76.
Clay
... —1,339
27.
AA^arreji
9,492
77.
Surry
28.
Moore
9,419
78.
Bladen
... —1,754
29.
Bertie
9,132
79.
Pamlico
... —2,371
30.
Richmond ..
8,761
80.
Dare
... —2,377
31.
Iredell 1.
8,565
81.
Rutherford
... —2,544
32.
Hertford
8,244
82.
Caldwell
33.
Alamance
7,603
83.
Madison
... —2,932
34.
Carteret
'.. 7,482
84.
Hyde
... —3,471
35.
Scotland
7,471
85.
Macon
36.
Cumberland
7,053
86.
AVatauga
... —3,983
37.
Cabarrus
6,546
87.
Burke
38.
Anson
6,290
88.
Alleghany
39.
Perquimans
6,193
89.
Yadkin
40.
Granville
5,973
90.
Avery
41.
Orange
5,889
91.
Mitchell
42.
Chowan
5,537
92.
Stokes
43.
Onslow
4,921
93.
Gaston
44.
Union
4,569
94.
Jackson
45.
Stanly
4,554
95.
McDowell
46.
Duplin
3,550
96.
Alexander
47.
Hoke
3,403
97.
Yancey
—9,397
48.
Cleveland
3,278
98.
Catawba
49.
Harnett
3,166
99.
Wilkes
50.
Person
100
Ashe
!|i
ill
'h
■i: i
ii, ill!
ij: 111
11 m
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