The news in this publi
cation is released for the
press on receipt. '
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published Weekly by the
University of North Caro
lina for its Bureau of Ex
tension.
MAY 4, 1921
CHAPEL HHX, N. C.
VOL. Vn, NO. 24
Editorial Boa^d » B. 0. Brauson, L. R. Wilson, E. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt.
Entered as second-class matter November 14, 1914, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24,1912.
LITTLE CAROLINA TOWNS
The bare facts about the little coun
try towns of North Carolina are:
They are little places with fewer
than 2500 inhabitants, which is the cen
sus bureau definition of a city.
They are 413 in number, averaging
six hundred inhabitants, and with a to
tal population of 241,000. Which is to
say, our small-town population is a little
less than a tenth of the total population
of the state.
We now have fifty-five cities ranging
from 2600 to 60,000 inhabitants, with a
total population of 490,000. Which is to
say, our small-town population is around
one-tenth of the state total, our city
dwellers two-tenths, and our open
country population seven-tenths.
These classes of population increased
during the last ten years as follows;
(1) country dwellers 180,000 or only
nine percent, (2) city dwellers, 181,000
or fifty-seven percent, and (3) small
town dwellers, 21,000 or only nine per
cent.
The Odds Against Them
Our small-towns increased at an aver
age rate of only five inhabitants apiece
per year during the last census period,
which indicates that they are not grow
ing vigorously.
But worse than that, ninety-three of
them actually decreased in population.
Like Sambo’s catfish they swunk in size
during the last census period.
But still worse, forty more of these
little places decreased so decidedly that
they surrendered their town charters
and faded from the map.
In other words, 133 or almost exactly
a third of our little towns suffered pop
ulation losses—which means smaller
business for stores and banks, smaller
chances to sell town lots at a profit,
more empty houses and smaller rent
revenues. In the United States as a
whole nearly one of every two small
towns decreases in population and dis
appears every ten years.
In North Carolina a little country-
town has two chances in its favor and
one against; in the United States, the
odds are almost exactly even. The
small town everywhere has a dwindling
chance to survive and develop.
The explanation lies in the fact that
in the increasing cityward drift of
country populations migrating country
dwellers go over the little country towns
like sheep over a low gap in a fence.
All of which spells the doom of drowsy
little towns during the next ten years;
of the dull little places that are half-
awake, half-asleep, half-alive, half-dead.
Small-Town Defenses
They must either bestir themselves
to become choice residence centers or
lively industrial centers; or small town
dwellers will be wise to move at once
into more progressive places. No man
can afford to do business and to rear a
family in a dead town.
But the only place he can afford to
move into, small or large, is a choice
residence center. Trade, banking, and
manufacture can easily make a city
big, but they are no guarantee of its
being great,
A city is really great when it is the
best possible place to live in and to rear
children in—which means, the best
schools and churches, the best libraries,
the best attention to sanitation and
health, the wholesomest recreation and
the highest morality, the most neigh
borly and the freest from gossip, feuds
and factions, the keenest sense of civic
and social responsibility and the best
conditions of law and order, the best
market facilities and the most generous
concern about progress and prosperity
in the surrounding trade area.
Our little towns are doomed-one out
of every three in every decade—unless
they can learn to function properly in
democratic fashion. And they must
learn this lesson in sheer self-defense.
to find the underlying causes,
pression and of prosperity.
He said; “A period of depression is
the result of unrighteousness, dishones
ty, extravagance, and inefficiency which
develop in the latter half of a period of
prosperity; and secondly, a period
of prosperity is a reaction from the
righteousness, industry, integrity and
thrift which develop in the latter half
of a period of depression.”
He further said: “It is not railroads,
steamships, or factories which bring
prosperity; it is not bank clearings, for
eign trade, or commodity prices which
give us good business. All these things
are mere thermometers that register
the temperature of the nation. Pros
perity is based on those fundamental
qualities of faith, temperance, service,
and thrift, which are the products of
religion. The fundamentals of prosper
ity are the Ten Commandments. —Ex
change.
TEN TESTS OF A TOWN
Questions that people ask about your |
town before they decide to make it their
town:
1. Attractiveness: Shall I like the |
town—its atmosphere? Does it have the I
beauty of shaded streets and other beau- j
tiful features? Is it a quiet, roomy, airy, |
well lighted town? Does it have attrac
tive public buildings and homes? Is it
well paved? Is it clean in every sense?
2. Healthfulness; Will my family and
I have a reasonable chance to keep well
in that town? How about its water
supply? Its sanitary system? Its meth
ods of milk inspection? Its health de
partment? Its hospitals? Is it without
any congested district?
3. Education: Can I educate my fam
ily and myself in that town? How about
its public schools—present and future?
i Its institutions of higher education or
of business training? Its libraries? Its
lecture and concert courses? Its news
papers? Its postal facilities?
4. People: Shall I like the people of
the town? Are they “home folks” with
out false exclusiveness? Are they neigh
borly and friendly? Is the town free
from factionalism?
5. Recreation: Can I have a good
time in that town—I and my family?
How about the theaters, museums, gym
nasiums, parks, etc.? Are inviting op
portunities for pleasure drives afforded
by well paved streets?
6. Living: Can we live reasonably and
well in that town? Are the best of
modern conveniences available for its
residents—electricity, gas, telephone,
etc.? Are the housing and shopping
conditions favorable? Rents, taxes,
and prices fair? Hotels good? Home
and truck gardens and dairy products
plentiful?
7. Accessibility: Can we go and come
easily? Does the town have adequate
railroad connections and train service?
Street car lines? Interurban lines? Well
marked automobile routes and hard sur
face roads?
' 8. Business; Can I make good use of
capital in that town? Are there bank
ing facilities? Manufacturing interests?
Up-to-date stores? Good shipping fa
cilities? Favorable labor conditions?
A prosperous farming territory? Active
cooperation among business interests?
9. Employment: Can I get a job in
that town at fair pay and with good
prospects for the future? Can I count
on cooperation from organizations mak
ing it their business to help introduce
and establish new commercial interests
and to welcome new citizens?
10. Progressiveness: Shall I find that
T am in a town having a progressive
city government, active civic organiza
tion, modern fire protection, and a pull-
together spirit in everything—a town
with future? — L. N. Flint, Depart
ment of Journalism,- University of Kan-
DROWSY LITTLE TOWNS
The cityward drift spells the doom
of drowsy little towns lacking civic
pride and enterprise sufficient to de
velop superior residential advanta
ges. When country people move
they go with a hop-skip-and-jump
over dull little towns into cenSus-size
cities—in this and every other state.
As a result ninety-three of our lit
tle towns dwindled in 'population
during the last ten years, and forty
more faded from the map. The les
son the 1920 census reads to small
town capitalists who own building
lots, enjoy rent revenues, sell mer
chandise, and operate banks is:
Make your home town the best place
on earth to live in, develop local
manufactures set in garden cities,
or move in self-defense into progres
sive centers, or reconcile yourselves
to stagnant community life with all
its menaces to family integrity and
business opportunity.
If the 413 little country towns of
North Carolina can be brought into
right relationships with the sur
rounding trade areas—as for instance
in Garnett, Kansas—they will not
only save themselves, but also the
country regions round about. The
small-town approach to country life
problems is a hopeful approach, if
only country bankers', country mer
chants and country ministers can be
brought to realize it.—E. C. Bran-
COUNTRY HOME CONVENIENCES
LETTER SERIES No. 51
SOME LEGAL FACTS
We have had several inquiries of late
in regard to the general question of
rights. The following from the Farm
er’s Business Handbook by Roberts
gives a general idea of the subject.
Water Rights
In many localities the value of water
is such that special laws have been
framed and passed regulating water
rights. In general, however, it is the
law that the riparian owner—that is,
the one whose lands are bounded or
crossed by
to the use
stream for all domestic or farm
purposes, or other reasonable purposes,
as turning a mill, and the like, and that
no man may so divert the water from
the stream as to interfere with that
right.
It is impracticable here to go into the
matter of the rights of mill-owners.
For our purpose it is sufficient to say
that, beginning at the source of the
stream, each riparian owner, in his
turn, has the right to the use of the
water for domestic purposes. He must
not divert it or pollute it or interfere
with it in any way except to take what
is necessary for his reasonable needs,
nor may he materially interfere with
the natural flow. No person has a right
to divert any water by sluice, ditch or
otherwise from its natural channel to
the damage of another; and, if he does.
he is liable for all damage caused by
such diversion, except that one may
change the channel of a stream upon
his own land if he returns it again to its
channel so as not to affect the flow on
another’s land; and one may withhold
a reasonable amount of water from a
stream permanently, but must not with
hold so much as to materially reduce
the flow below, though it has been held,
and rightly so, that one may use all the
water of a stream or spring necessary
a stream-has the right | for his ordinary wants, such as drink-
of the water of that I ing. cooking, washing, and for stock,
even though it leave none for the lower
organizations, are promoting local pros
perity by inducing the farmers to se
lect some specialty to be worked up in
that neighborhood, like poultry, fruit
raising or some special breed of live
stock.
They will unite in sending some bright
fellow away to an agricultural school,
where he will learn everything they
can teach him on that specialty. Then
he is engaged to return and spend a
large part of his time going around
among the farmers coaching them on
that line. In a few years the town will
be turning out a superior product of
that specialty, and develjoping it on a
very profitable basis.
A bank man in an Arkansas town
tells how his institution helped the boys
of the town get into pig raising. One
boy to whom the bank lent $50.00, in
three years had $2500.00 worth of hogs.
You can easily see how a town would
go ahead, if its enterprises were being
pushed in this way.
Any country town can have enter
tainments and social life if it wants
them. Its people can see the same
movie films that they have in big cities.
Every country town should have its or
chestra, its dramatic club, its well
chaperoned dances. These activities
will keep a lot of restless young folks
contented. Lecturers and musicians
can be secured from nearby cities.
All it takes is a little pep and iniatia-
tive to push these things along. With
some of these advantages, a country
town is an ideal place to live in. It is
in touch with the wide world, yet has
all the beauty and the neighborliness of
rural life.—Exchange.
pledge themselves to promote by their
example, influence and service, the pur
pose of this League.
The officers shall be a President, a
'Vice-President, and a Secretary-Treas
urer, to be elected at the first meeting
of each year.
These officers together with the chair
men of all permanent committees, shall
constitute an Executive Committee,
with full power, between the meetings
of the League, to act in carrying out
the purposes of the organization; and
a majority of the committee shall be a
quorum.
Permanent Committees on Law En- j
forcement. Health and Sanitation, Town i
Improvement, Industrial Development,
proprietor.
Drainage
In case a person has wet lands in his
farm, it is very generally provided that
he may bring a proceeding to authorize
the construction of a ditch across any
adjoining lands, for the purpose of
draining the wet plhces. The proceed
ings in such a case are quite technical,
and a lawyer should be consulted before
any steps whatever are taken. It has
been held, in some states, that this pro
ceeding constitutes a taking of private
property for private use, and is there
fore unconstitutional; but as a general
rule some way can be found to force a
ditch or drain across the adjoining
lands, and the benefit is often so great
that the matter is well worth investi
gating.
tions and games; community picnics;
town or school library; public park and
playgrounds; community house or hall
and public rest-room; Boy Scouts, and
Camp Fire Girls.
Local Relief: cooperate with the
Churches and Red Cross in relief of pov
erty, sickness and distress.
Community Organizations: to organ
ize a Central Council of all civic and so
cial organizations, and to coordinate
their activities.
Cooperation with Negroes: to pro
mote organizations among negroes for
community welfare, and to cooperate
with them.
Nominations: to nominate all officers
and committees at times for regular
Recreation, Local Relief, Community ^ elections or whenever vacancies occur.
Organization, Co-operation with Ne-
HOW PROSPERITY COMES
Prosperity in business depends upon
the good faith and righteousness of the
man, in the estimation of Roger W.
Babson, head of the Babson Statistical
Bureau of New York. In a recent ad
dress he told how, in examining the
statistics of business changes, he tried
BUILDING A COUNTRY TOWN
The complaints most commonly made
against country towns are these: (1)
Lack of business opportunity; (2) lack
of social life, educational advantages
and pleasant entertainments.
The way to win business success m
any line, is to render superior service.
Many boards of trade, banks, and other
THE ST. PAULS LEAGUE
The churches and ministers of St.
Pauls are working together in comfort
able comradeship to make their little
home town the best place on earth to
live in—a kind of cooperative effort
that ought to be made in all our 413
little towns in North Carolina.
The organization details of this en
terprise follow:
The name of this organization shall
be The Community Service League of
St. Pauls, N. C.
Its purpose shall be to promote the
observance and enforcement of law and
order, health and sanitation, social life,
industrial development, and all forms
of civic and social welfare.
• The membership shall consist of all
persons, male and female, who shall
groes. Nominations, and others as need
ed, shall be elected, their terms to ex
pire with the first meeting of each year.
The regular meetings of the League
shall be held on the first Wednesday
after the first Sunday evening of each
year.
Twenty members of the League shall
constitute a quorum.
The Constitution or By-Laws may be
amended by a two-thirds vote of those
present at any regular meeting.
All money needed to carry on the
work shall be raised by collections or
voluntary contributions.
The duties of the Permanent Commit
tees shall be to promote the purposes of
the League in the various departments
of civic and social welfare, and to co
operate with all other organizations
working along the same lines.
Law Enforcement; to create public
sentiment for civic righteousness, or
ganize community forces, and cooper
ate with county and town officials in
discovering and prosecuting violation of
law.
Health and Sanitation: to cooperate
with state and county Boards of Health
and local organizations, to inspect
schools, stores, streets and all premises;
to report unsanitary conditions, and en
courage improvements.
Town Improvements; to study and re
commend to the League and Town Coun
cil methods for beautifying the streets
and all premises; and to cooperate with
other organizations in whatever may
make for the improvement of the busi
ness and residential sections and mill
villages.
Industrial Development; to promote
a newspaper and other mediums of pub
licity: and to cooperate with all business
organizations in whatever may advance
the material interests of the commu
nity.
Recreation; to promote a Chautauqua
and entertainments by local musical
and literary talent; athletic organiza-
THE ATTRACTIVE TOWN
Economy is a good thing in municipal
affairs, but you can carry it too far.
Many public officials say that beauty is
a luxury and it can’t be afforded. Yet
people who go on that theory in hand
ling their own places are not apt to see
their real estate advance in value much.
It is the same in developing a city.
It has become a settled policy in many
advancing towns, to try to persuade
every householder to plant shrubs and
trees and give each home a restful set
ting of foliage. Trees are planted when
streets are laid out so that whSn houses
are built the neighborhood seems home
like.
"Vacant land in the outskirts is taken
for parks. If taxes can’t be afforded
to improve it, community work days
are held and the people take hold and
make it a scene of beauty. Unused
corners at street intersections are made
into little nests of greenery. When
buildings are put up, good standards of
taste are consulted.
If a town will carry out such a policy
for a number of years, it will acquire a
charm far more attractive than. a cost
ly edifice. It would gain a reputation
as a home of progressive and refined
people, who have travelled enough to
know what a fine modern town looks
like. Almost anyone would pay a prem
ium to live in a place like that.—Hills
boro Enterprise.
LEADERSHIP IN SERVICE
The University of North Carolina has
won an enviable leadership in state-wide
service to all classes of citizens. The
community studies begun by the Uni
versity have been developed by various
State departments; and the State Board
of Public Welfare has worked out apian
of State organization which cannot be
excelled in'America. A system as close
ly woven as that of the public schools
will- eventually cover the State, promot
ing the welfare of all classes of both
races. The State Conference on Public
Welfare calls for the same provision
for delinquent negro boys and girls as
for white; for vocational training for
both races; and for increased care and
training for unadjusted white and negro
children, that no child of either race
may lack the chance to make good as
a member of society.—Christian Re
corder.
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