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 Press for the Univer
sity Extension Division.
MAY 9, 1923
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. K, NO. 25
Editorial Board* E. C. Branson, S. H. Hobbs, Jr.. L. R. Wilson. B. W. Knight, D» D. Carrol!. J. B. Bnllitt, H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-clasd matter November 14,1914, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24, 1912
PERSONAL PROPERTY
The reader will find in this issue of
the News Letter a table which is likely
to provoke an endless amount of com'
ment. It is on the value of personal
property per person listed for taxation
by individuals in North Carolina in
1921. The table does not include the
three hundred dollar exemption allowed
each tax lister, nor does it include the
personal property listed by corporations
and banks. We are presenting a table
showing what the average person con
fesses he owns, aside from land and
buildings, when he faces the tax asses
sor. .
In Durham county the personal prop
erty listed for taxation amounts to
$1,480 per inhabitant. The average for
Durham is nearly six times the average
for North Carolina, which is $262. In
Macon county the average is $93 per
person, or about one-third the average
for the state. ‘ Does the average per
son in Durham county actually possess
six times as much personal property as
the average person in the state? It is ser
iously to be doubted. The fact that it is
on the tax books in Durham is probably
the result of scrupulosity and supervi
sion. The personal property listed by
corporations and banks is omitted from
the figures, so Durham’s high rank
cannot be attributed to her corpora
tions, or not entirely so. In Forsyth
the banks and corporations are worth
more than in Durham, yet the average
value of personal property per person
in Forsyth is only one-half the average
for Durham.
Endless Comparisons
The reader is left to locate his own
d’ounty and explain its position. But a
few contrasts are in order.
The counties that rank highest as a
group lie in the eastern half of the state
— agricultural counties in the cotton
and tobacco belt. Here personal prop
erty is a Very visible thing, livestock,
machinery, crops and the like. Many
counties in the great industrial area
rank below the state average of $262
per person. To explain the discrepan
cies would be a marvelous achievement.
Two adjoining counties with exactly
similar conditions will be far apart in
personal property on the tax books.
Note Sampson county ahead of -Cumber
land with a big town and adequate rail
roads. Note Scotland ahead of Rich
mond, almost three to ohe. Note Gas
ton, the leading textile county of the
South, the third textile county in the
Union, below Cleveland. Im Gaston the
personal property is on the tax books
for $147 per person; $261 in Cleveland.
In Gaston it is $106 below the State
average. Guilford is the only county
in the state with two cities, is the lead
ing agricultural county in its vicinity,
is a great manufacturing county, has a
large white population ratio and the
best transportation facilities in th%
state; in short represents an ideal conv
bination of factors for high rank in per
sonal property. Yet Guilford is below
the state average and the average per
son in Forsyth has three times as
much listed as personal property. It
must be remembered, we are not con
sidering the personal property of banks
and corporations.
Often a county ranks very low and is
surrounded by counties that rank high,
and conditions will be essentially the
same in them all. Again a county will
rank high and will be surrounded by
seemingly pauper counties. The ex
planation cannot lie in actual differ
ences in personal property. The differ
ences are often attributable to willing
ness or lack of willingness, to honesty
or lack of honesty, to strict supervision
on the part of officials, or the wink of
an eye. One fact is certain. Wealth
and willingness are not synonymous
terms when it comes to listing personal
property for taxation in North Caro
lina. Take Wake county for instance.
Who can explain why the tax books
show personal property per person of
only $197 in Wake, $204 in Harnett,
$269 in Johnston, $203 in Franklin, and
$1,480 in Durham? Even Chatham is
dowafor almost as much as Wake! A
certain firm in Wake has just sent the
editor a circular stating that since May
1st is tax listing date in North Carolina
this firm would be pleased to inquire
into the editor’s assets to see what can
be converted into non-taxable securities,
presumably for the purpose of evading
just taxes. The state has a specific
law which covers this very point. There
may be legitimate reasons why Wake
ranks below Harnett and just above
Chatham.
A New Policy Needed
Then there is another real reason.
Is there any prevailing opinion any
where that all personal property should
pay the same tax rate paid by land
and other forms of investment? Much
personalty is non-productive—furni
ture, clothing, household and kitchen
utensils, firearms, musical instruments,
libraries and some scientific instru
ments, and numerous other things. The
public conscience is averse to paying
equally on land and furniture, or on
cash and private libraries.' Since the
rate is the same on all property, the
individual, when listing his personalty,
registers his protest against afti unfair
tax policy by listing certain kinds of
personalty at that price Which multi
plied by the rate seems to him a fair
tax. The practice is countenanced be
cause people are agreed on the justice
of the principle that all property should
not pay at the same rate. Many au
thorities claim that on certain kinds of
personal property a lower rate would
result in listing them at their true
value, with no loss in revenue. It is
certain that such a policy would bring
about a greater willingness to confess
wealth. Take yourself, for instance. —
S. H. H., Jr. -
EVADING TAXES
Certain brokerage houses in the
larger cities of the state are now cir
cularizing the state, offering to assist
in converting taxable securities into
those which are exempt from taxation,
so as to enable the owner to evade , the
necessity for listing his stocks and
bonds for taxation op May 1. In
this connection it should be noted that
Ch. 38, Public Laws, 1921,. provides
follows: “Any person who, to evade
the payment of taxes, surrenders or
exchanges certificates of deposit in any
bank in this state or elsewhere for noB-
taxpaying securities or property, or
surrenders any taxable property for
nontaxable property, and after the
date of listing property has passed,
takes said certificate or other taxable
property back and gives up said non
taxpaying securities or property,
executes any fictitious note or other
evidence of debt for deduction from his
solvent credits, shall be guilty of mis
demeanor, and upon conviction shall be
fined not less than fifty nor more than
two hundred dollars (one-half of which
shall go to the informer), or imprisoned
not less than one month nor more than
six months, or both.” While the stat
ute does not literally cover the case of
the broker who advises this method of
evading taxes, and while the offense
mentioned is so defined as to cover only
the most obvious attempt at tax eva
sion, it is clear that such propaganda is
against the spirit of the law and the
public policy of the state in favor of
the collection of all taxes due. Any
business house in North Carolina that
openly engages in the encouragement
of the evasion of taxation is an enemy
of the state,! and should be blocked, if
not by the criminal law, at least by an
awakened public opinion.
NORTH CAROLINA
The Greatest State in Dixie
Consumes more cotton than any
other state in the Union.
Has more cotton mills than any
other state.
Pays 29 million dollars more in
come tax to the Federal Govern
ment than all the other South At
lantic States combined.
The textile industry is the largest
industry in this state.
Has a greater combination of
natural advantages than any other
equal area on earth.
North Carolina is in the midst of
a period of great industrial and com
mercial expansion.
Her fine yarns and the product of
her hosiery and weave mills are
sought after in all quarters of the
world.
» North Carolina installed more
spindles in 1922 than all the other
Southern States combined. — Gas
tonia Gazette.
COMMENCEMENT PROGRAM
Just off the press comes a timely
bulletin of the University Extension
Division written by Professor Harold
D. Meyer of the School of Public Wel
fare. The subject is The Commence
ment Program, but in popular terms it
might be called How to get your school
commencement out of the rut and
make it vitally interesting to the pub
lic.
Professor Meyer statesj in the in
troduction of his • publication that its
purpose is as follows:
As a custom, it has become the duty
of the school officials to arrange, direct,
and carry out the commencement pro
gram. These leaders are usually busy
toward the closing of school;;there are
so many duties crowding in at the end.
It is with this thought in mind that The
Commencement Program is written. It
desires to offer suggestions, plans, or
ganization helps, sample programs,
materials, and bibliographies to aid*
school authorities in working out the
commencement program. Aids in the
matter of decoration, publicity, music,
plays, pageants, games, drills, folk
dances, exhibits, and novelty ideas are
given. Some sample programs are
outlined. They do not cover all the
types that may be used but are sugges
tive of forms and types. A county
commencement program is explained in
detail and the events listed.
COMMUNITY DRAMA
Miss Elizabeth Taylor, field agent
for the Bureau of Community Drama
of the University Extension Division,
has just returned to Chapel Hill from
Concord where, under the auspices of
Last of the Lowries and Off Nag'i
Head.
Miss Taylor, besides producing playi
at the request of schools, women’s
clubs, etc., throughout the state, finds
time to accompany the Carolina Play-
makers on their state tours occasion-
I been made in this state? Mr. Business
Man, when you get out circular post
cards to your customers, do you realize
that you may be using a “Made-in-Ca-
rolina” product? The United States
Postal Department has the paper for
its postal cards made in the Old North
State. The vast forest reserves of
North Carolina have' been a mighty
stimulus to the growth • and develop
ment of the paper and wood-pulp in
dustry.
Wood pulp and paper are made by
mechanically or chemically treating
wood to break it down into short fibres
which will matte together under proper
treatment in a paper-making machine.
Wood pulp is made by squeezing the
raw material, untreated, through roll
ers to remove the moisture. This raw
material is either used in that same
plant or else shipped to the paper man
ufacturer. Wood is prepared by treat
ment with chemicals such as sulfates
and sulfites which produce a long and
strong fibre. The wood chips in the
latter case require digesting in-the
chemicals for a long period of time to
dissolve th*e ligneous matter and to
properly disintegrate the fibres.' When
the pulp is produced mechanically, the
wood is ground down by pressure a-
gainst a sandstone wheel to a pulp.
To produce a paper from the pulp,
the latter is subjected in “beaters” to
treatment with the various clays,
bleaches, sizing, and coloring matters
which the chemist has found to be most
suitable for the required results. A
series of revolving and stationary
knives thoroughly disintegrate the
stock and soften and spread the fibres.
The resulting mixture is then ground
through the Jordan engine and into a box
where it is thinned into a liquid over 90
percent water. From the flow box it is
fed in a thin stream onto moving.
endless copper screen, constantly being
agitated to interlace the fibres firmly
and uniformly.
From here it goes over the suction
roll to remove the water and a dandy
roll to print in the water mark and
thence onto the dryingrolls, thus mak
ing paper.
In both the chemical and mechanical
pulp and paper plants, the demand for
the analysis of raw materials, the in
vestigation of new processes of manu
facture, and the location of trouble in
the processes, call for men trained and
educated along these lines. The de
velopment of these two industries is
due primarily to the investigation and
research of chemists.
There are two plants in North Caro
lina for the making of paper, one locat
ed at Roanoke Rapids, the other at Ef-
land in Orange county. Excelsior for
packing purposes is also produced by
the latter. They have a combined
capital of over $860, (X)0 with an addi
tional plant value of over $200,000. They
consume over 3,000 horsepower of
steam, water, and electricity in the
yearly output of $650,000 in products,
with the employment of about 200 men
and an annual payroll of $130,000.
The wood-pulp plant, the largest in
the South and incorporated in 1906, is
situated near Canton, North Carolina,
in Haywood county. . It is capitalized
at $6,000,000 and possesses an additional
$4,000,000 investment in plant and
equipment. Over 1,200 people are em
ployed at a yearly payroll of $1,250,000
with the consumption of 18,000 horse
power of electricity and steam in the
production of $6,000, OOOiof finished pro
ducts. Besides the manufacture of
wood pulp, jute board and tannic acid,
this plant is at present working on a
large contract for the United States
Government in the production of post
cards for the Postal Dejiartment.—Con
tribution from the Division of Indus
trial Chemistry, Department of Chem
istry, University of North Carolina, by
George M. Murphy.
that organization. She will accompany
the Flaymakers on the next tour which
begins April 16th and ends on the 27tb,
playing in the following towns: Hills
boro 16th, Reidsville 17th, Winston-Sa
lem 18th, Salisbury 19th, Charlotte,20th,
Hendersonville 21st, Asheville 23rd,
Morganton 24th, Lenoir 25th, High
Point 26th, and Greensboro 27th.
While in these cities as field agent
for the Bureau of Community Drama,
Miss Taylor will be available by re
quests for talks and other service to
the High school, woipen’s clubs, or any
organization interested in community
drama. ,
Other productions which the Bureau
will direct through Miss Taylor’s work
in the near future are as follows: three
one-act plays for the Fayetteville High
Schbol; an historical pageant of Chowan
county at Edenton; My Husband’s
Wife for the community club of Snow
Hill; the Treasure Chest, a fairy
pageant, for the third ward school in
Charlotte; and a children’s pageant for
Hillsboro.
A great many calls for commence
ment plays have been received by the
Bureau during the last month and these
have been chosen upon recommendation
of Miss Taylor. All service is free ex
cept the travel and subsistence of the
field agent when she is called to take
charge of the production of« a play or
pageant out in the state.
OUR CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES
III—Paper and Pulp Plants
When you read your morning paper
do you ever stop to think that the
paper on which it is printed might have
VALUE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY
Per Inhabitant In North Carolina in 1921
-vPased on the 1921 Report of the Stateh Department of Revenue, and the
1920 Census of Population', covering (1) the value of all persopaT property listed
for taxation by individuals in each county, (2) divided by the population. Does
not include the $300 exemption, nor the personal property listed by corporations
and banks. Personal property includes all items listed for taxation except land
and buildings.^
Personal property per inhabitant listed for taxation in Durham county
$1,480; in Macon county $93. State^verage per inhabitant $262.
W. L. Whedbee, Pitt County
Department of Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina
Rank Counties
Prop, per
Rank Counties
Prop, per
Person
Person
1
Durham........
... $1480
60
Polk
.... $194
2
Forsyth
... ’ 745
52
Granville
191
S
Wilson
488
53
Perquimans ...
190
4
Scotland.. .
409
53
Surry
190
5
Lenoir
878
55
Washington...
189
6
Pitt.t
.. 867
Cabarrusl
188
7
Greene
348
67
Ashe
186
8
Wayne
816
58
Caswell
186
9
Buncombe
269
59
Iredell
183
9
Johnston
269
60
Person*
178
11
Rockingham...
263
61
Yadkin
176
11
Nash
263
62
Columbus.....
178
13
Pasquotank ...
262
62
Tyrrell \.
173
13
Chowan
262
64
Chatham
172
13
Edgecombe....
262
64
Stanly
172
16
Clevel^d
261
66
Randolph
171
17
Mecklenburg..
266
67
Alexander
170
17
Duplin
266
68
Cumberland ..
166
19
Union
264
68
Davie.........
166
20
Guilford
260
70
Richmond
164 ■
21
Hyde
243
71
Efowan
.... 163
22
McDowell
239
71
Orange
.... ' 163
23
New Hanover..
237
73
Burke
16J
23
Onslow
237
’iS'
Carteret
161
23
Vance
287
■76
Alamance
169
26
Lincoln
232
76
Camden
167
27
Robeson
230
76
Gates
157
28
Sampson
226
78
Watauga
156
29
Beaufort
223
79
Pamlico
155
30
Martin
219
80
Clay
149
31
Bertie
216
81
Bladen
146
32
Warren
214
82
Gaston
147
33
Hertford
211
83
Brunswick
-146
33
Montgomery ..
211
84 -
Henderson
142
36
Anson
%
207 -
86
Y ancey
141
36
Jones
206
86
Currituck
138
36
Stokes
206
87
Rutherford....
... ' 137
38
Lee
204
87
Davidson......
137-
38
Harnett
204
89
Catawba
133
40
Franklin
203
90
Caldwell
131
41
Northarnpton..,
201
91
Graham
128
41
Jackson
201
92
Cherokee
127
43
Craven
199
93
Wilkes
122
44
Moore
198
94
Pender
121
44
Alleghany
... 198
95
Dare
46
Wake
197
96
Transylvania ..
104
47
Swain
196
97
Madison
103
48
Hoke
196
98
Mitchell
101
48
Haywood
196
99
Avery
96
60
Halifax
. 194
100
Macon
...i 93