North Carolina Newspapers

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 University Ex tension Division. OCTOBER 18, 1922 CHAPEI. HILL, N. C. VOL. Vm, NO 48 Biit***"**^ Board I B. 0. Branson, 8. H. Hobbs, Jr., L. R, Wilson, B. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bnllltt, H. W, Odum, Bntered as second-class matter No\ ember 14.1914, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24,1912. WHAT NEXT IN CAROLINA Four greatsteps forward have already been taken in commonwealth progress -dehnitely and courageously. They are public education, public highways, public health, and public welfare. No other state in the South is any where near North Carolina in generous public expenditures upon these founda tional means of commonwealth build ing. The mass mind is made up on these matters. They are no longer debata ble in North Carolina. What is the next step forward? What is the answer of this center of college culture? Is it an essential step? Is the state ready for it? It may be ideally desirable, but is it actually possible in North Carolina at present? What is your proposition and what are your arguments? The North Carolina Club The North Carolina Club will hear you on fifteen fortnightly Monday nights, in one-hour sessions—any stu dent in any class, in any school. A creditable answer receives college credit for class promotion, graduation, or graduate degrees, provided the stu dent registers promptly with the proper University officials for Club credit. The best answer of the present col lege year is worth $50 in gold—the uni versity prize established by Hon. J. W. Bailey, of Raleigh. All answers that reach the high level of University standards will be given to the reading public in the 1922-23 Year-Book of the Club under the title What Next in North Carolina. Suggested Answers The best thinking of the university student body, the faculty, the editors of the state, the legislators, and the men of affairs in North Carolina, is indi cated in the following list of state needs, as they have been urged upon public attention during the last six months. Not all of these steps forward can be taken at once. Which one of them is next in order? Choose your answer, meet with the North Carolina Club on Monday night, Oct. 16, in the Lecture room of Phillips Hall at 7:30 o’clock, select your Club date in the year’s schedule and your faculty advisers, and ask the seminar librarian in the department of Rural Social Economics to assemble your material. Get ready to use your spare time to the best advantage during the college year. Examine the suggested subjects and make your selection at dnce. Or pre sent your own subject. ' North Carolina Needs 1. The Equalizing of Taxes. 2. The Corporations and the Com monwealth. 3. Private Wealth and Public Wel fare. 4. Capital, Labor, and the Public in North Carolina. 6. The Social Gospel of Jesus. 6. Home and Farm Ownership. 7. State-Aid to Home Ownership. 8. Improved Citizenship. 9. Improved County Government. 10. Improved Municipal Government. 11. Reform of the State Primary Laws. 12. Prison Reform. 13. The Retention and Accumulation of Wealth by Farmers. 14. The Boll Weevil and a Re-organ- ized Agriculture. 16. Country Community Life and Co operative Farm Enterprise. 16. More Middle-Western Farmers in North Carolina. 17. Home Markets for Home Pro ducts, Farm and Factory. 18. County-Wide School Systems and Consolidated Schools. 19. County-Wide Library Service. 20. County or County-Group Hospi tals. 21. A Four-Year Medical School and a Teaching Hospital. 22. Physical Education for All vs. Commercialized School Athletics for the Few. 23. Wholesome Recreation, Town and Country. GETTING ALMIGHTY TIRED We are tired of being hewers of wood and drawers of water for the New England states and the rest of the world. For many years we have done it and we are tired of it. We are going to quit. We are going-to build roads, educate our people, develop our resources, and go in business for ourselves. But we are not going to do it by taxing the poor farmer and the widow. They are now paying all the taxes they can stand. We are go ing to get our money for state pur poses in the same way the federal gov ernment gets its money—by an income tax. Last year North Carolina business paid more taxes to the federal govern ment than any three states in the South. As for state taxes the corpora tions alone paid more taxes for state purposes than all the people of the state put together. That’s the way we are going to run our state. And, what do these big corporations care a- bout it? They haven’t kicked about paying this tax. They are making their profits. —Governer Cameron Mor rison. OWNING A HOME The most stable population of Ameri- k has always been made up of the small home or land owner. As the English colonists secured the right to hold property, they became established. Ownership brought a higher form of civilization, a desire to live happily as a community of individuals, each respecting the other and the rights of others. It brought greater content ment. It encouraged the people to work and develop their holdings, since the impiovement and betterment of these would result in reward to the owners. Today a man who owns his home or his farm is, in a measure, owned by his home or bis farm. There are so many elements of respectability that come to him who finds permanent shelter for his loved ones. He probably worked hard to possess it, and when he has it he tries to make it attractive and to hold on to it. It is a force for law, since a home owner desires protection by law. He acquires respect for the property of others. He wants good, sound govern ment and desires to become an advo cate of law and order. Ownership makes him vigilant. I think it was Gladstone who said. Property always has one eye open. But Thrift is Necessary But a man can seldom become a home owner or a farm owner or the owner of any of the stabilizers of life until he has been or is the owner of a savings account. Do you know that out of every 1,000 people in Switzerland 664 are savings depositors? There are in Denmark 442, in Belgium 387, in France 346, in Eng land 802, and in Italy 200 out of every 1,000 and yet in the United States we have but 99 savings depositors out of every 1,000 inhabitants. Almost 600 percent mote in Switzerland! Does that signify anything as to the task the American banker has before him? You know, too, that tenancy instead of ownership is growing among our farmers. In 1880 the farms which were operated by tenants constituted 25.6 percent of the total number of farms in this country. By 1920, 38 per cent, or practically four out of every ten farms, were operated in this way. We cannot become stabilized unless we become a nation of owners. We can not become a nation of owners until we are a nation of savers. How are we to become savers? In the first place, we must know how to work. We must know how to save. We must know how to take care of our savings. We must know how to send those savings back into circulation. We must have a goal and a confidence that that goal can be reached because we understand the workings of economic law which governs KNOW NORTH CAROLINA A Baltimore Verdict Rhode Island with 69 percent leads the nation in foreign stock. North Carolina leads the nation at the oth er end of the line with only seven- tenths of one percent of foreign stock. North Carolina is one of the most prosperous states of the Union. It is developing, industrially, com mercially and agriculturally, with a- mazing rapidity. It is probably one of the most law- abiding states in the Union, and its courts enforce the laws, without fear or favor. It 13 carrying foward a campaign of college and university extension involving the expenditure of six or seven million dollars at present for new buildings andhaving $20,000,000 as the ultimate plan of this cam paign. Some $42,000,000 was expended and voted for public education in the single year June 30, 1921, to July 1, 1922, in that state. It is putting $60,000,000 or more into highway improvements. It is enormously expanding its hydro-electric developments and its cotton mill interests, and yet it is doing this with less than 1 per cent of foreign stock, an unanswerable proof of the fact that this nation can carry foward its material devel opment and expand every interest which makes for the betterment of humanity without any great influx of foreigners. —Manufacturers Rec ord. tiveness is an injury to the country. Our population cannot all be maintained in the city. The farms must be main tained and people must live on them. And these people are entitled to the very best there is for their physical and intellectual welfare. But they should realize that they need not leave the farm to have it. The hope of the rural district is in bringing to it the things which draw its population to the cities.—Religious Telescope. THE TARBORO MILK PLANT Tarboro, a typical North Carolina town, has a municipally owned pasteuri zation plant. In*view of the lack in Gas ton county of a co-operative creamery, a description of the Tarboro plant as given in the American City will be of interest: direct service at the county seat, or through sub-stations located in all sec tions of the counties served either by parcels post or automobiles. The characteristics of the county li brary have become well defined: 1. It serves the citizenship of an en tire county rather than of a town or city. 2. It is supported by a direct tax, usually not less than one and one-fourth cents nor more than five cents on the $100, on the total assessed property of the county, or an appropriation is made by the county commissioners to a libra ry already established by a town with in it, in return for which books are made available to town and county citi zens alike. 3. It is administered by a special library board similar to the county board of education, which may receive lands, buildings, gifts, books, etc., for the use of the library, choose the libra- and assistants, determine the our living and working and trading.— John H. Puelicher, in the Banker- Farmer. “For three and one half years this small city has had a municipal plant | rian which handles all the milk used in town, Inumber and location of branch libraries about 1,000 quarts daily. No milk, cream \ or loan stations throughout the county, or skimmed milk can be sold in town' or contract with the library already in unless pasteurized. This seems like a ^ the county for services to the entire temporary municipal monopoly, but the citizenship, decrease in the death rate of babies and j Distinctive Advantages the increase in general health since the ! , , . . I Again, by reason of its centraliza tion, its distinctive advantages have , . ^ been classified: The plant itself was installed by Dr j sufficient K. E. Miller of the State Board of [ ^ Health and the U.S.Government Health ; quantity to meet Service. It handles about ?30,000 ^-equirements of all classes of citi- worth of milk yearly, pays expenses, ' and furnishes the highest quality of i g. ' It can establish a unified system milk, delivered at the homes of the peo- settlements, pie, for 18 cents a quart. j gui,ools, and villages, thereby reaching The daily report of the city manager ^ at regular intervals every section of shows in detail information that may be the county. installation of the plant have justified it.” THE HOPE OF THE COUNTRY If the rural districts are to hold their population, as it is desired they should, they must offer advantages such as are the chief factors in luring people to the cities. The boy or girl on the farm has the same right to whatever is de sirable and helpful as the young people of the cities have. And if the rural community does not meet their needs, we scarcely can blame them if they seek their fortunes in the centers of population. In a certain section of a state in the Middle West, a record was made of the families leaving the country for the city during a certain period. ' In each case the reasons for the removal were ascertained. In a vast majority of cases it was found that the impelling motive was to secure better school ad vantages for the children. It also was noted that the boys and girls did not return to the farm after they had gone away to school. Som6 assigned as the reason for removal a lack of social ad vantages, the absence of a community center of community interests. With others the chief complaint was bad roads, and inconveniences of a similar character. The one thing that impresses one, as these various complaints are considered, is that there is not a single cause for complaint but could be removed. The consolidated school and rural high school are solving the educational prob lem in many a rural district. Social centers can be provided and a commun ity spirit developed, if the proper steps are taken. There is no excuse for bad roads, and if they exist it is because the people are unwilling to pay the price for good ones. The truth is that in many progressive rural districts the roads are far better than the streets in the cities. It is true that all these things cost money, as well as time and effort, but they cost anywhere. The person who lives in the city finds that he must pay his part of the cost of the conveniences he enjoys. Why not pay the price and enjoy them in the rural district as well as in the city? The farm still is the basis of our national prosperity and whatever de tracts from its prosperity and attrac- desired for the office of the City Clerk and Treasurer, including the figures of profit and loss each day. Milk tickets are sold to the public,' for two reasons: first, milk has to be paid for in cash; and, second, the milk tickets are des troyed daily at the office of the City Clerk, so that no tickets can be Used a second time, thereby eliminating the chance of transmitting germs. In the pasteurization plant the record ing thermometer gives an accurate rec ord of the treatment of the milk, and, exhibited at the office of the City Clerk each day, assures the public that the safeguard of pasteurization for which they are paying has actually been ap plied to the milk they drink. The plant occupies a steel building costing $5,500, with concrete floors, and is painted on the inside with white e- namel. It is fitted with electric fans and is completely fly-proof. The manager and his assistants are required to wear white suits. The milk after being bot tled is placed in the pasteurizer, car ried to 150 degrees Fahrenheit at the rate of 6 degrees per minute, until the 160 degrees is reached. There it is held for 5 minutes and then brought down to 145 degrees and held there for 30 minutes, and then cooled at the rate of 5 degrees per minute down to 60 de- Gastonia Gazette. COUNTY LIBRARY SERVICE Massachusetts, with a library in every town but one within its borders, has long been cited as furnishing the best example of library service for the entire population of a state. Recently, however, Massachussets has ceased to be considered as furnish ing the most appropriate example of library service for country dwellers in sparsely settled agricultural areas such as North Carolina, where the county rather than the town is the unit of gov ernment. California, with its county library located at the county seat or prominent town, and organized and administered on a county-wide basis, with numerous county sub-stations, has taken the place of Massachusetts as model for rural states such as North Carolina. County Libraries Begun Although no library in North Caro lina has been organized on strictly coun ty library lines, a beginning in success ful county library work has been made. In Guilford, Durham, and Forsyth counties, the county commissioners or the county boards of education, singly or jointly, have supplemented the ap propriations made by the cities for li brary purposes. In return the libra ries have been thrown open to the resi dents of the counties either through 3. It can employ an efficient libra rian and assistants in sufficient number to administer the work effectively. 4. It lends itself to the uses of oth er county organizations, such as the board of health and the board of education. 6. It promotes unity of interests and cooperation in all undertakings having as their object the betterment of the county. 6. Its support lays no special burden upon any particular group, but distrib utes it over the whole county. Minimum Requirements In promoting county library work in the average North Carolina county, whether on a strict county basis or in cooperation with a municipal library, the following minimum requirements are necessary to insure efficient, ade quate setvice: 1. A minimum annual income of at least $7,500, preferably $10,000, should be provided. 2. A head librarian, two assistant librarians, and janitor should be em ployed. 3. From $2,000 to $4,000 should be set aside annually as a book and magazine fund. 4. A definitely planned system of delivery, either through parcels post or by passing automobiles, reaching all the schools ar.d other special local groups, should be organized.—L. R. Wilson. CULTURE AND AGRICULTURE Our difficulties are largely psycholog ical, that is, it is not so much actual material circumstances as fixed ideas, antiquated notions and prejudices we have to counter. Farmers have had the idea that other professions require education but agri culture does not, whereas in reality no industry requires more education than agriculture, and there are few where a real knowledge pays the holder of it so well. We do not believe one farmer in a thousand in Ireland sends his son to an agricultural college. He lets him pick up his knowledge on the farm and does not realize, as in Denmark and Germany, that a special agricultural education is regarded as necessary. Farming is an intellectual profession, far more so than clerking or shopkeep ing, or indeed than most professions, and in that sense it is level with medi cine, surgery, engineering, where the man who practices receives a severe technical training. Agriculture to be really successful requires a special education, and it pays if the education is of the right kind and the man who receives it is compe tent.—George W. Russell.