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 the University Ex
tension Division.
JANUARY 27, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 11
Editorial Boards E. C. Bransotij S. H. Hobbs, Jr., L. R. Wilson. E. W. Knight. D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt, H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-class matter November 14, 1914, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C.. under the act of August 24 1912
OUR BONDED DEBT
The bonded and current debt of our
state government, and bonded debt of
our one hundred counties and the 219
cities and towns which have sold bonds,
totalled around 360 million dollars on
June 30, 1926. Elsewhere is presented
a table which shows how this bonded
debt, exclusive of the state debt, is dis-
iributed by counties on a per inhabitant
basis. The counties are ranked accord
ing to the aggregate per inhabitant of
all debt within the county borders for
all purposes whatsoever—the debt of
the county, its municipalities, school
districts, drainage districts, and all
other divisions capable of incurring debt.
The parallel column shows the amount
of the county debt for county govern
ment purposes only. This column in
cludes nut only the purely county debt,
but local school district debt, drainage
district debt, and others, as county
officers keep the accounts for the minor
rural districts. The state debt lays no
burden on listed property, and is there
fore not included in the table. The
county debt is carried by all property
listed for taxation within the county;
the municipal debt by all property listed
within the incorporated area. The
municipal debt cannot be shown accu
rately on a per inhabitant basis per
town, as it is impossible to arrive at
the population with any degree of ac
curacy.
The County Debt
The bonded indebtedness of counties
is made up of bonds issued for the con
struction of county roads and bridges,
courthouses, jails, county homes, issues
of minor rural divisions where the
finances are handled by county officers,
and bonds for the erection of schools
that come under the jurisdiction of the
county board of education.
The bonded debt of our 100 counties
for ail county purposes on June 30, 1926,
was $102,181,874. On June 30, 1923, it
was $63,370,616. The debt is distributed
as follows: Roads and bridges $66,086,-
700, schools $19,174,646, coprtbouses,
jails, county homes and other county
purposes $8,296,387, funding debt |
622,342, and railroads $1,002,800.
On a per inhabitant basis Swain county
has the largest county debt of any
county in the state, the amount being
$100.00. Buncombe has the largest total
county debt, the amount being $6,286,
000. Gates has the smallest per in
habitant county debt, the amount being
only $2.12, and also the smallest total
debt, $22,600.
The county debt is distributed as fol
lows: For roads and bridges 64.7 per
cent; for schools 18.8 percent; for court
houses, jails, county homes and other
county purposes 8.1 percent; for fund
ing debt 7.46 percent; and for railroads
1.0 percent.
Municipal Debt
On June 30, 1926, there were 219 in
corporated places in the state which
had floated bonds. The total debt of
these cities and towns amounted to
$121,489,646. On June 30, 1923, there
were 174 municipalities with bonded
debt totalling $71,072,600. Thus during
the last two years the municipal debt
has increased approximately fifty mil
lion dollars, while the county debt in
creased less than forty million dollars.
Winston-Salem has the largest total
city debt of any city in the state, the
amount being $11,716,577, which is
nearly ten percent of the total munici
pal debt of the state. Next in order
comes Greensboro with a total bonded
debt of $9,866,000, Asheville $8,163,700,
and Durham with $6,059,000.
The municipal debt dosely parallels
the county debt in the purposes for
which bonds have been issued. The
bulk of the municipal debt-has been in
curred for the construction of streets
and sidewalks, sewer systems, for fire
departments, and for lights and water,
all of which are long-time investments
in permanent improvements.
The bonded debt of these 219 cities
and towns is distributed as follows:
For streets, sidewalks, lights, water,
sewer, and fire departments 70.6 per
cent; schools 14.6 percent; public im
provements 8.6 percent; funding debt
6.3 percent; and for railroads two-tenths
percent.
County and Municipal Debt
The total bonded debt of the 100
counties of the state and of the 219 in
corporated places which have incurred
debt amounted to $223,681,519 on June
30', 1925. This is the amount of the
debt within the state which is borne by
property listed for taxation. The state
debt levies no tax on .property. The
aggregate of all bonded debt within the
state which is carried by listed property
is 8.4 percent of the assessed value of
all property, and 6 percent of the true
wealth of the state as estimated by the
Bureau of the Census.
Buncombe county leads in total bonded
debt per inhabitant. The debt of the
county plus the seven municipalities
within the county which have voted
bonds averages $215.40 per inhabitant.
Gates, with no incorporated town and
therefore no municipal debt, ranks last
with an average debt of $2.12 per in
habitant. There are ten counties in the
state in which there is no municipal
debt.
It should be pointed out that the
fairest basis of comparing counties and
municipalities in the matter of debt
would be on the basis of the ratio of the
debt to the true wealth of the area.
Unfortunately, there are no such data,
except for states. The ratio of the debt
to wealth listed for taxation is of little
meaning since the percent of wealth
listed for taxation varies greatly among
the one hundred counties and their in
corporated areas. Bonded debt per in
habitant, while not affording a perfect
basis for comparison, is the best one
available. Which is merely another
argument for the uniform listing of
property throughout the state, a prin
ciple that everybody believes in but
which few seem willing to fight for.
For a detailed account of bonded debt
by counties and municipalities secure a
copy of the report on Bonded Indebted
ness of Counties, Cities and Towns as
of June 30,1925, from the State Auditor.
-S. H. H., Jr. •
TOWN ITS OWN DAIRYMAN
Tarboro, N. C., a town with 4,600 in
habitants, has been in the retail milk
business since 1917. The city has bought
the milk from the farmers, pasteurized
it, bottled it, and distributed it. In fact,
it is in the milk business much as mo^t
cities and towns are in the water busi
ness. This is how Tarboro became a
milkman.
In 1917 the public health service made
a health survey of Tarboro and Edge
combe county. The general in charge
of the health campaign that grew out
of this survey was Dr. K. E. Miller.
Dr. Miller decided the most necessary
job was to get rid of yard privies.
Presently the milk supply of Tarboro
came in for attention. At the time it
was produced by a number of dairymen,
each supplying a list of customers to
whom he delivered. The milk was dan
gerous and of poor quality. The people
had little, confidence in it, and the total
daily consumption was 100 quarts. Dr.
Miilei; considered the advisability of a
laboratory and a milk inspector. The
cost to the community was prohibitive.
Furthermore, the production of a safe
milk to be sold raw would have necessi
tated expenditures which were prohibi
tive to the dairymen and would have
forced the price of milk to a prohibitive
price for the consumer.
It was decided to buy a pasteurizing
plant and install it in one corner of the
waterworks. Also to buy a wagon to
deliver. The milk is bought from the
farmers at 12 cents a quart. It is sold
to the people at 17 cents a quart. There
are two deliveries a day. The total
cost of the equipment, exclusive of the
horse and wagon, was $1,800, and here
are the results of the seven years’
operation:
“Not a single case of disease reason
ably attributable to milk-borne infection
had occurred, and the evidence of sum
mer diarrhoea among infants has been
reduced to insignificance.”
The daily consumption of milk has
risen from 100 quarts to 600 quarts.
The nealth of the community must be
indirectly bettered as a result of this
more extensive use of milk. ,
A NEWSPAPER IDEAL
I propose an ideal, and if it is un
attainable that is merely another
way of saying that it is very high.
It is this: eternal resistance to any
sort of restriction of freedom of the
press that is, or may be, imposed
from without; and, from within, the
most ruthless censorship that the
press can^ devise for itself.—Gerald
W. Johnson.
I OUR STATE DEBT
I The bonded and current debt (short term notes that will ultimately be
I funded) of our state government at the present time is $126,6^7,531. The fol-
I lowing table, from the State Auditor’s office, analyzes our state government
: debt, showing the amount of the current debt, which will in time be converted
. into bonded debt, and purposes of debt; the funded debt, and purposes for which
' bonds were sold; the authorized issues and purposes for which authorized. The
I table shows that the state debt, when all authorized issues are sold, will total
‘$157,402,531. Of this amount 15 million dollars has been or will be loaned to
counties for erecting schools, and can be classed as county debt since the counties
must repay the borrowed money, with interest.
Current Debt:
Highway Notes (Anticipating Bond Sales) $15,036,000
Special School Building Notes “ “ 5,000,000
Permanent Improvement Notes “ “ 3,000,000
The prevailing price of milk in a near
by community is 20 cents a quart. The
retail price of milk in Tarboro has never
gone over 18 cents, and it is now 16
cents. The farmer gets 12 cents.
The records of the town show that the
milk business has paid operating ex
penses and returned the original cost of
installation. The milk plant is now oc
cupying a part of a new steel building.
The milk plant has paid its share of the
cost of the building.
One or two competitors who tried to
make the experiment a failure have
gone out of business.
Further plans contemplate an ice
cream business as a means of taking
care of the surplus in the' periods of
flush. It is hoped that the addition of
this plan to the original scheme will
convert Edgecombe county into a dairy
district, supplying several of the near
by towns with safe pasteurized milk
and providing ice cream for even a larger
territory. —Dr. W. A. Evans, in Salt
Lake Tribune.
THEY SHOW US HOW
About six miles from Morganton,
N. C., is Valdese, an industrial colony of
Waldensians, who emigrated from
Northern Italy to North Carolina thirty
years ago. Coming from a rugged
mountain district of the Italian Alps,
they knew how to utilize every foot of
ground to the best possible advantage,
and soon they had vineyards around
their homes and well-kept farms under
cultivation close at band.
Realizing that cities are built upon
industrial enterprise, they established
the Waldensian Hosiery Mill, with only
$240 as an initial investment. From
this meagre beginning the Waldensian
Hosiery Mill has grown in 24 years into
a large and profitable industry. In the
meantime the Martinet Hosiery Mills,
the Pauline Hosiery Mill, the Valdese
Manufacturing Company, the Valdese
Shoe Corporation, the Waldensian Swiss
Embroidery Company, the Waldensian
Bakery and other successfully operated
industrial plants have been established.
The Waldensians are a thrifty, law-
abiding people and have been a great
asset to the county and the state. In
30 years there has never been one of
their number indicted in Superior Court;
they pay their taxes promptly and un
complainingly, and never call on the
county for poor relief.
The Waldensians are expert stone
cutters and have built for their com
munity a beautiful stone church and a
beautiful stone high school. Realizing
ihat the available appropriation would
not allow them to build the kind of
school they desired, the residents of the
community pooled their resources and
by building the plant themselves, doing
much of the actual construction without
charge, they managed through true co
operation and united effort to erect one
of the finest school buildings in the
state at a minimum cost. Every man,
woman and child in Valdese aided and
assisted in some way in the building of
the school. They built their church—
they are Protestants—in the same co
operative way. About ten years ago
they established a cooperative store,
which carries a complete line of gro
ceries, clothing, hardware, furniture and
general merchandise. It, too, is housed
in a stone building built by Waldensian
masons. —P. W. Wager, Research As
sistant in County Government, Uni
versity of North Carolina.
Total Current Debt
Funded Debt:
General Fund Bonds $29,203,000
Highway Bonds . 60,000,000
Special School Building Bonds 5,000,000
General Fund Notes 9,438 531
Total Funded Debt
Total State Debt, Current and Funded
Authorized Issues: Acts of 1925:
Highway Serial Bonds $20,000,000
Institutional Building Bonds 5,125,000
Special School Building Bonds 5,000,000
Bridge Bonds, Chowan County ' 600,000
State Debt when all authorized issues are sold
$ 23,036,000
103,641,531
$126,677,531
30,725,000
$157,402,531
BONDED DEBT BY COUNTIES
In North Carolina June 30, 1925
In the following table, based on the 1926 Report of the State Auditor, the
counties are ranked according to the per inhabitant bonded debt for all purposes
and for all divisions within the county borders—county debt, and debt of cities
towns, school districts, drainage districts, and all other divisions capable of in
curring debt. The accompanying (first) column shows the per inhabitant debt
of each county for county purposes only, as county roads and bridges, county
schools, court houses, jails, county homes and the like. The first column covers
county debt only, the second column includes all debt within the county borders.
The total bonded debt of counties, cities, towns and all other divisions, ex
clusive of the state government debt, on June 30, 1926, was $223,671,619, or
$83.24 per inhabitant. On June 30, 1923, it was $134,443,016, or $60,00 per'in
habitant. (See University News Letter, Vol. X, No. 24, for details for that
year.) The county debt on June 30, 1926, totalled $102,181,874, and the munici-
pal debt totalled $121,489,646.
The bonded debt of the state government to date (including current debt to
be funded) amounts to $126,677,631. The state debt, when all authorized issues
are sold, will aggregate $167,402,531.
The total current and bonded debt of the state and the bonded debt for all
subdivisions of the state, for all purposes whatsoever, on June 30, 1926 was
around 350 million dollars, or $130.00 per inhabitant.
S. H. Hobbs, Jr.
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina
Rank
County
County
debt per
[nhab. for
Total
debt per
Inhab.
Rank
County
County
Debt per
Inhab. for
Total
Debt per
Inhab.
1
Buncombe ..
Co. Gov’t
purposes
..$ 90.75
(Co. and
Mun’pal)
$216.40
61
Jackson...
Co. Gov’t
purposes
.. $47.06
(Co. and
Mun’pal
$68.92
2
Guilford
.. 49.65
190.60
62
Granville ...
30.68
66.30
3
Durham
... 38.10
190.70
53
Cabarrus ...
.. 13.36
54.95
4
Forsyth
.. 15.72
149.75
64
Harnett
.. 17.70
54.58
6
Henderson,.
. 81.65
143.80
66
Robeson....
.. 12.96
54.60
6
Mecklenburg
... 32.64
139.76
56
Person
.. 30.00
63.04
7
Carteret....
.. 61.00
129.70
67
Johnston ...
.. 42,70
63.00
8
Alam'ance ..
.. 48.40
121.90
68
Moore
. 21.68
62.38
9
Cherokee ..,
.. 61.13
116.20
69
Martin
. - 29.66
51.70
10
Swain
.. 100.00
116.66
60
Randolph...
.. 40.15
61.28
11
Beaufort ..
.. 71.00
110.12
61
Stokes
.. 38.71
51.08
12
Davidson ...
21.94
107.45
62
Wilkes
34.30
50.86
13
Gaston
. 35.80
106.30
63
Davie
. , '34.96
50.26
14
Wilson
.. 42.26
104.57
64
Polk
.. 32.90
60.08
16
Craven
.. 69.82
104.00
66
Bladen
.. 49.87
49.90
16
New Hanover.. 36.85
103.60
66
Hertford....
.. 34.26
48.66
17
Rowan
.. 18.34
103.40
67
Columbus ..
.. 37.80
47.66
18
Cumberland..
... 62.67
103.26
68
Alexander ..
.. 2L76
46.70
19
Lenoir
.. 71.68
102.20
69
Halifax
, 17.98
46.10
20
Iredell
61.36
102.00
70
Madison ....
.. 43.19
46 96
21
Rockingham.
... 73.26
100.60
71
Union.. ...
.. 28.97
44.77
22
Transylvania
... 72.30
94.75
72
Wayne
.. 39.65
42.56
23
Montgomery.
... 90.20
94.70
73
Avery
.. 41.34
41.34
24
Wake
36.76
94.45
74
Orange
29.41
39.26
25
Washington.
.. 58.50
92.25
75
Watauga ...
. 36.21
38.04
26
Pitt
.. 66.81
89.27
76
Onslow
.. 32.80
37.32
27
Pasquotank.
.. 67.96
87.78
77
Yancey
., 27.95
36.75
28
Edgecombe .
... 15.82
86.68
78
Brunswick..
.. 29.18
36.40
29
Lee
.. 34.60
86.20
79
Duplin
... 34.95
36.27
30
Haywood ...
.. 47.10
■84.76
80
Sampson....
.. 23.14
- 33.76
31
Catawba....
.. 29.08
80.12
81
Hyde
.. 32.03
32.62
32
Perquimans.
.. 67.02
80.10
82
Caswell
.. 31.52
31.62
33
Lincoln
.. 46.10
79.15
83
Tyrrell
.. 31.42
31.42
34
Chowan
.. 61.26
77.93
84
Hoke
.. 9.20
29.85
35
Mitchell.. ..
.. 68.82
77.26
85
Yadkin
.. 26.42
• 28.17
36
McDowell...
.. 53.12
76.60
86
Anson
.. 8.13
27.70
37
Caldwell. ..
.. 40.60
74.62
87
Franklin....
.. 6.84
27.61
38
Macon
.. 44.00
74.44
88
Pender
.. 24.50
25.45
39
Vance
.. 42.35
74.17
89
Alle^hanv...
.. 23.66
23.66
40
Rutherford .
.. 47.68
71.90
90
Nash
.. 14.92
22.89
41
Greene ....
.. 63.69
71.63
91
Bertie
.. 12.46
20.52
42
Surry
.. 42.29
69.09
92
Warren
.. 13.70
19.06
43
Ashe
.. 66.60
67.82
93
Chatham ...
.. 12.50
18.64
44
Clay
.. 67.80
67.80
94
Currituck...
.. 17.40
17.40
46
Burke
.. 35.48
64.18
96
Camden
.. 14.08
14.08
46
Richmond....
.. 22.09
63.10
96
Graham
.. 13.00
13.00
47
Stanly
.. 29.81
62.75
97
Dare
.. 12.60
12.50
48
Cleveland...
.. 27.61
• 61.77
98
Jones f
.. 6.22
9.90
49
Pamlico.. ..
.. 60.60
60.60
99
Northampton
3.32
3.87
50
Scotland. ..
.. 16.93
■ 59.20
100
Gates
.. 2.12
2.12