The news in this publi
cation is i'eleased for the
press on receipt.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published Weekly by thi
University of North CarO'
lina Press for the Univer
sity Extension Division.
JANUARY 3i, 1923
CHAPEL HHL, N. C.
VOL. IX, NO.il
SAi'tvriHl BoATiii B'O. Sran^n.d.H. Hobbs, Jr., L. B. Wilson, B. W. Knight, D. D. Oarroll, J. B. Bullitt, H. W. Odum. Bn?«red as second-class matter November 14,1914, at the Postofflce at Chapel HIU, N. C nn-i^r the at-t of 94. IWi
THE BONDED DEBT OF CAROLINA
OUR BONDED DEBT
The state bonds issued by North Ca
rolina up to January 1 are sixty-nine
million dollars all told, or nearly twenty-
seven dollars per inhabitant.
Tne state bonded debt is right around
half of what we have invested private
ly in aotomobiies alone. And the per
capita burden of bonded debt is jUSt a
little more than half the cost of a set of
Ford tires.
The interest on the bonded debt of
the state is $2,800,000 a year, which is
about a dollar per inhabitant, and a
dollar is just about the cost^ of five
gallons of gasoline.
We buy cars and tires and gasoline
and never think about bankruptcy, but
when we talk about state bonds we
think about nothing else but bank
ruptcy.
The state is far likelier to be bank
rupted by private automobiles than by
public bonds.
Investment Bends
Public bonds issued for proper pro
ductive purposes in commonwealth pro
gress and prosperity are one thing,
provided of course the proceeds be
honestly and efficiently administered.
Public bonds issued to cover indebt
edness are another. Bonds of this sort
are a sign of inefficiency, impropriety,
or reckless use of public funds, and
they ought to be anathema. When a
state, a county, or a municipality, a
state department or a state institution,
wantonly fails to live within its income
or budget allowance, the officials re
sponsible therefor ought to be haled
into court.
But bonds to promote public progress
and prosperity are investment bonds
and a state is well within reason if it
issues these to the full limit of safety,
the taxable wealth of the sfate con
sidered.
The sixty-nine millions already issued
fey North Carolina have been invested
in state-owned railroads, in public high
ways, in public education, and in slate
institutions of charities and correc
tions. They represent the will of the
people to base the future of the state
on the intelligence, the skill, the health,
and the character of her people. And
all told they represent an investment
less than half the amount we have tied-
up in automobiles alone.
The bonded debt of North Carolina is
$27 per inhabitant, it is $60 in the little
city of Los Angeles, and $177 in New
Zealand where the white inhabitants
are fewer than 1,800,000. But in all
these instances, the bonded debt repre
sents a productiye investment in public
progress and prosperity. Nobody in
Los Angeles or New Zealand is in doubt
about the wisdom of such bond issues—
literally nobody. And nobody in North
Carolina need be in doubt about the
wisdom and the necessity of investment
bonds—or at least not yet.
SinRing Funds
Nevertheless there ought to be (1) a
limit to the issuance of public bonds—a
limit fixed by a definite percent of
the taxable wealth of the state as it
appears on the county tax lists, (2) a
sinking fund created ten years ahead
of bond maturity dates and annually in
creased at compound interest rates to
amortize the bonds as they fall due, with
out oppressing the taxpayers, and (3) a
sinking fund so safeguarded by organic
and statute law as to put it entirely be
yond the power of state officials to divert
it to other purposes. There is no greater
state problem for our budget commis
sion and our legislature to solve, and not
to solve it satisfactorily is to fail in a
'matter that fundamentally concerns the
safety of the state in the years at
hand apd ahead.
TREASURE TREMENDOUS
North Carolinians are still applauding
the wonders that were laid before them
at the State Fair and the Made-In-The-
Carolinas Exposition. The two annual
exhibits of what Tarheelia owns and
what she produces, have impressed the
public mind as never before. That du
plex display of marvels is a living thing
in the people's consciousness, an inspir
ation to even greater things in the com
ing year.
Consider what tremendous treasure,
what variety of riches, was thus adver
tised to the world as Tarheelia’s pos
sessions!
There were over 8,000 kinds of manu
factured articles, fashioned from the
state’s 118 species of trees, from our
184 varieties of mineral wealth, from
her cotton, wool, and tobacco. There
were chairs lovelier than Sheraton’s
and Chippu' dale’s; violin parts sweet-
toned as the old woods treated with the
mysterioos varnish Stradivarius made;
cabmets costlier than those of the Flor
entines, inlaid with ivory and gold;
bedsteads, of iron and wood, to equal
the 418 royal couches made for Louis
the Fourteenth of France.
There were textiles, cottons, silks,
woolens; stockings spun thin as the
stuff of dreams; linens like the fine
linens in the palace of Ahasueros; dam
ask whiter thmi the sacred napkins
on which the priests of the Sun painted
all the fruits of the earth; curtains gor
geous as the hangings on which King
Chilperic’s 300 golden bees winged their
jeweled flight; heavy stuffs strong as
the purple, painted sails of Tyrian war
ships; gauzes light and delicate as the
fabrics made in the Far East and called
“woven air.”
There were, too, agates like those
the Assyrian warriors wore aS talismans
against death; garnets bigger than the
garnets in the earrings of the Merovin
gian women; lapialazuli; the stones
green by day and red by the light of
lamps; and fine veneers and unfading
dyes; backets lighter than the handi
work of the Arizona Indians, baskets
stronger than the osier shields the
Greeks of old carried into battle; medi
cines, 700 kinds; needles to be threaded
only under a magnifying glass; buggies;
boats; cradles for the living, caskets
for the dead—an astounding collection,
an amazing variety, fruits and products
on which North Carolina could live
without paying for a single import.
Tarheelia, the fifth state in the Union
in production of crop wealth; Tarheelia,
with manufactures w.orth a billion dol
lars a year! These annual displays of
whatsheisand what she does tell a
story that draws new people and new
money to her all the time.—Asheville
Citizen.
KNOW NORTH CAROLINA
Kind to Corporations
North Carolina is leading all other
states of the Union in the number
of new cotton mill spindles she is
installing and preparing to install.
For some time she has led in the
number of cotton mills and is now
ahead also in the quantity of cotton
consumed.
Of several causes which are con
tributing to the development of the
textile industry in North Carolina
and to the failure to expand it like
wise in South Carolina, none is more
potent than taxation. North Caro
lina has a tax system much more
attractive to the investment of capi
tal in cotton mills than most other
cotton manufacturing states.
In a recent statement, Hunter
Marshall, Jr., Secretary and Treas
urer of the Cotton Manufacturers’
Association of North Carolina, de
clared that a resident of that state
has two mills of about the same
size, equipment and value, one lo
cated in North Carolina, the other
in South Carolina. His state and
county taxes this year upon the
North Carolina mill were $4,1C0,
while his state and county taxes in
South Carolina amounted to $7,900.
Here is one illustration of the dif
ference in taxation in the two states:
In North Carolina, the cotton mill
pays a state income tax of nine and
seven-tenths percent of the amount
it pays the Federal Government as
income tax, while in South Carolina
the cotton mill pays thirty-three per
cent of the amount it pays the Fed
eral Government as income tax—a
difference ot twenty-three and three-
tenths percent in favor of North
Carolina.—The Greenville, S. C.,
Piedmont.
located near the center of the town
and so arranged as to avoid the present
congestion which exists.
Since New Bern started the Curb
Market, Chapel Hill, Gastonia, Lumber-
ton, Kinston, and Tarboro have also
established similar markets with equal
success. According to newspaper re
ports, several other towns are figuring
on following suit. These markets will
do more than anything else toward giv
ing an impetus to the raising of more
truck and diversification of crops. For
that reason, they should be given every
encouragement.
The tlungis no longer an experiment;
it has proved to be a success. How
ever, it is growing too bi-; for the pres
ent method to'be continued much long
er. A change is needed and needed
immediately.—New Bern Sun-JoumaL
A PRIZE WINNER
North Carolinians kick like moonshine
whisky when they have to pay taxes
for the support of their -government,
but during the last few years they have
been stung to the extent of more than
twenty-five millions of dollars, accord
ing to an estimate made by Insurance
Commissioner Wade, and he adds the
opinion that that estimate is too low.
If the state were to issue bonds for
that sum of money for some public
work, or for schools, there would go
up a howl that would reach to the high
est dome of the heavens, and the chief
howlers would be the people who have
been victimized by or are fit subjects
for fake stock sellers.
We complain at the cost of ad
ministering the affairs of the state,
when only three cents out of every dol
lar paid into the treasury goes to the
administrative side of the expense ac
count. Yet we pay out millions for
fake stock, and send out many more
millions for food and feedstaff that we
can and should produce right here at
home.
As economists we take the prize at
the ivory show.—Durham Herald,
A RIGHTEOUS TAX
William Rockefeller's will, disfwjsing
of an estate which would take a man
7,700 years to amass on a salary of
$100 a week, carefully abstains' from
handing any of it back to the public m
the form of a bequest to humanity.
The whole of his 200-million-dollar estate
is left in trust to his descendants.
The incident proves the justice of in
heritance taxes. The federal and state
governments will collect from the Rock
efeller estate sixty millions of dollars
to be used for public purposes. A fairer
law would take more.
It is a question whether any good
comes from wealth handed down to the
third generation. For what a million
aire does for the public he is well paid,
if not overpaid, during his life time. It
is a question how much further the ob
ligation extends.—Capper’s Weekly.
FABMERS PAYING OUT
It is very much to the credit of the
Southern farmers that despite the low
prices and the handicaps they have
worked under, they had, on December
16, liquidated 84.88 percent of the
debts incurred in the production x»f the
1922 crops. This indicates that the farm
ers had succeeded in almost paying
out. Unquestionably, if they had se
cured ti^e advantages of better prices
for their products, they would have
made a 100 percent cancellation of
their debts. But we doubt they have
ever left a season behind them with so
little unpaid. But they have not yet
got through; they will pay out before
they quit. The report on payment of
farm debts is made in the publication
issued by the Federal International
Banking Company, at New Orleans,
which sets forth that crop debts liqui
dation is much more nearly complete
than usual. Many bankers say it will
be paid off entirely when the remnants
of the crop are sold. Twenty-five
bankers report that part or all of the
debts carried over from preceding years
have been paid. -No doubt there are
many more such cases; the question
naire did not ask for information on
this point. Making a warrantable esti
mate based upon the general conditions
reflected it seems safe to say that the
crop returns of 1922, when all in, will
discharge all operating obligations for
1922 in fully 90 percent of the cotton
belt communities, in a clear majority
of communities will absorb some or all
of the losses of previous years and in
at least one-third will leave some sur
plus for investment or for operation in
1928.—Charlotte Observer.
speaking here today at the annual meet
ing of the American Sociological
Society.
“Rural life today presents a field al
most untouched so far as the possibili
ties of discovery of new truth are con
cerned,” he stated. “The teacher who
can settle a problem in his own mind
can hope to discover truths in this field
that will make a permanent contribu
tion to human welfare.
“In the study of sociology a 'student
will obtain greater ability to see the
factors in community organization, to
note the tendencies of the forces op
erating for the strength or weakness of
community life. It is an accepted ed
ucational principle that true growth in
knowledge proceeds from the known to
the unknown. This being true we have
a very important reason for the study
of rural sociology.
“The students in many of our col
leges and universities come mainly
from rural communities. By utilizing
and analyzing their own experiences
they present an opportunity for the
teacher in rural sociology, who can
bring to them a realization of the com
plexities of the life which he has been
leading.’’—Associated Press Dispatch.
FARM IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY
Per Farm in North Carolina in 1920
Based on the 1920 Census of Agriculture, covering (1) the total value of
farm implements and machinery in each county, (2) divided by the number of
farms.
The average for the United States was $567; in North Carolina it was
$202, and forty-three states made a better showing.
Our low rank is due to (1) the small average size of our farms, (2) the large
ratio of tenants, who grow hand-made cash crops mainly, (3) the maximum of
hand tools and one-horse implements, and (4) the minimum of labor saving
farm machinery.
S. H. Hobbs, Jr.
Department of Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina
MORE OF RURAL SOCIOLOGY
An expansion in the teaching of rural
sociology in American colleges is need
ed because of the influence rural ideals
have upon urban and national life, de
clared Paul L. "Vogt of Philadelphia,
CITY MARKETS NEEDED
The Curb Market, since being in
augurated in New Bern, has proved to
be a pronounced success. An increas
ing number of farmers have been
bringing their produce here on Tues
days and Saturdays and scores of local
housewives make purchases on each
occasion.
ties for displaying produce and selling
it. Furthermore, whenever the leath
er is inclement, the market has to be
called off.
'What New Bern needs now is a city
market; a place where produce may be
displayed to advantage and where the
farmers will be in a position to give
better service; a place conveniently
Rank
Counties
Value
Rank
Counties
Value
Per Farm
Per Farm
1
Si'nMnnd
$441
61
Dirplin
$19?
2
Fnrqyth . . A
828
61
Granville
3
Pnwnn
808
63
Pasquotank
18fi
I4
Lincoln
297
64
Pender
181
5
■Rnlrp
298
66
Perqnimsns
IKO
5
fJnilfnrd
293
66
Hertford
179
7
Johnston
291
67
Craven
378
8
Edgecombe
278
58
Chatham
... 176
9
Nash
272
69
Camden ...
174
10
Pitt
271
60
Bertie
178
10
Iredell
271
61
Jones
... 169
12
Greene
270
62
AHeghfiTiy.
16H
18
Cabarrus
267
63
Warren
166
14
Lenoir
266
63
Henderson
166
16
Beaufort.
267
65
Currituck
164
16
Wilson
264
66
Montgomery
164
17
Chowan
268
67
Gates
163
18
Catawba
262
68
Durham
169
19
Sampson
248
69
Northampton
163
20
Davidson
244
70
Bladen.
151
20
Wake
244
71
Alexander
147
22
Mecklenburg
. .. . 243
72 -
Columbus.......
146
22
Robeson
243
73
Buncombe
143
24
Martin
240
73
Hyde
143
26
Wayne
237
76
Caldwell
134
26
Rockingham
237
76
Onslow
13')
27
Cleveland
..... 236
76
28
Yadkin
235
76
Washington
130
29
Alamance
233
79
Rutherford
129
30
New Hanover....
230
80
Polk ..
127
30
Gaston
230
81
Haywood
126
32
Vance
229
82
Tyrrell.
. . . 121
33
Randolph
219
83
Transylvania
107
34
Orange
217
84
Rnrtp
36
Richmond
215
85
Watauga
93
35
Anson
215
86
Wilkes
92
37
Halifax
.... 214
87
Brunswick
S’;
38
Carteret
212
88
Ashe
... 79
38
Stanly
212
89
Mar*nri
7r.
40
Lee
211
90
Jackson
74
41
Caswell
208
91
McDowell . .
72
41
Person
..... 208
92
Clay
43
Harnett
207
93
Madison
84
43
Davie
207
94
Swain
61
46
Union
206
96
Avery
46
Franklin
204
96
Yancey
61
46
Stokes
204
97
Cherokee
47
48
Surry
202
98
Mitchell
45
48
Cumberland
202
99
Dare
44
60
Moore
199
100
Graham
38