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.
APRIL 7, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OP NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 21
Editorial Boards E. C. Branson, S. H. Hobbs, Jr., L. R. Wilson. E. W. Knight. D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt. H. W. Odum.
f Entered 'as second-class matter November 14. 1914. at the PostofRce at Chapel Hill. N. C., under the act of August 24. 1912
CAROLINA RESEARCH
The increasing emphasis placed upon
the social sciences within recent years
and the evident need for scientific re
search in this field have given rise to a
number of movements and organiza
tions for promoting research in the
social sciences. Among these are such
organizations as The Social Science Re
search Council and several of the na
tional foundations which have set aside
major portions of their funds for this
purpose. In history, government, eco
nomics, sociology, jurisprudence, anthro
pology, statistics, social psychology,
and other related fields there is urgent
need, not only for new standards of re
search, but also for coordinating and
correlating the several disciplines into
a larger program of research and study.
With a view to furthering this larger
movement, the Laura Spelman Rocke
feller Memorial sought a number of
university centers with which to co
operate. In general, the conditions de
sired in such centers were strong social
science departments, research programs
already under way, and concrete prob
lems centering around definite areas or
fields. Among others the Memorial has
selected the University of Chicago, Yale,
Columbia, Harvard, London School of
Economic%The Robert Brookings Grad
uate School of Economics and Govern
ment, and the University of North
Carolina.
Since research and teaching are co
ordinated functions of a university, the
members of a university faculty are al
ways engaged in active research, either
directly, or indirectly through the work
of students. The chief difficulty is
through lack of time because of heavy
teaching schedules and committee work,
or lack of assistance due to limited ap
propriations for research purposes. At
the University of North Carolina there
was special need for assistance if the
many investigations in the social
sciences, already under way or those
which professors were eager to begin,
were to be carried out. In addition, the
University had established a policy of
studying problems of state-wide signifi
cance and offered a number of special
advantages in organization and per
sonnel.
The Research Board
The Memorial, therefore, made a first
grant of $97,500 to the University of
North Carolina, to be used over a period
of three years, for the study of prob
lems in the social sciences arising out
of state and regional conditions. Some
subsequent special grants for the study
of concrete southern problems have
been added. For the administration
and expenditure of these funds. Presi
dent Chase set up an Institute for Re
search in Social Science, the main pur
pose of which was to assist faculty-
members in the prosecution of their
research by means of research assis
tants, field expenses and clerical help.
In order that the Institute might func
tion most effectively, a governing body
was appointed, consisting of members
of the faculty in the various schools and
departments of the social sciences with
special emphasis upon research and
problems rather than departmental in
terests.
The personnel of the Board is as fol
lows:
H. W. Chase, President, Chairman of
the Board.
E. C. Branson, Kenan Professor of
Rural Social-Economics.
D. D. Carroll, Professor of Economics
and Dean of the School of Commerce.
R. D. W. Connor, Kenan Professor of
History and Government.
M. L. Person, Professor of Law and
Dean of the School of Law.
J. G. deR. Hamilton, Kenan Professor
of History and Government.
Gerald W. Johnson, Professor of
Journalism.
A. M. Jordan, Professor of Educa
tional Psychology.
J. F. Royster, Kenan Professor of
English Philology and Acting Dean of
the Graduate School.
M. R. Trabue, Professor of Educa
tional Administration.
L. R. Wilson, Kenan Professor of
Library Administration and Librarian.
Howard W. Odum, Kenan Professor
of Sociology and Director of the School
of Public Welfare, Secretary of the
Board.
Assistants and Problems
Research assistants are the chief
agents for carrying on the work of the
Institute. Each appointment is made
with the definite purpose in mind of
assisting with a specific piece of re
search. Only those applicants whose
interest and training are in one of the
specific fields as outlined in the Insti
tute’s research program are appointed.
A graduate degree or a year’s graduate
work with research experience is a pre
requisite for appointment to an assis-
tantship, While assistants may become
candidates for the doctor’s degree under
certain conditions, research is the pri
mary emphasis always. Practically
every member of the Board and mem
bers of his departments are directing or
cooperating in the direction of one or
more pieces of research. Among the
problems already studied are:
North Carolina Crime Studies, includ
ing special studies of white and negro
offenders, the nature and scope of
crime committed, the cost of crime,
and the mental status of prisoners in
North Carolina.
County Government, covering a detailed
examination of county government
and county affairs in twenty North
Carolina counties.
Municipal Problems in North Carolina,
with particular reference to the legal
and social aspects of city and town
government.
Studies in Social Attitudes, including s
social history of North Carolina, folk
ways in central North Carolina, read
ing habits of North Carolina and the
South, political theories of the slave
holding South, and constitutional de
velopment in the South prior to 1860.
Transportation Problems with special
emphasis on needs and policies in
North Carolina and state aid in rail
road building in North Carolina.
Social-Industrial Relationships in North
Carolina, with a study ofomill village
population, the story of industrial
social work, and wotkmen’s com
pensation.
Negro Studies, including two volumes
on The Negro and His Songs and
Negro Workaday Songs, investiga
tions of negro population in the larger
cities of the United States and in ex
clusively negro towns, compilation of
source materials for the study of the
negro in America, studies in negrj
business problems, and photophono-
graphic studies.
Child Welfare, with special reference
to the mental and physical growth of
school children, with comparison of
certain varying groups in rural, vil
lage, and industrial communities.
A general idea of the advanced study
and research experience of research
assistants who have cooperated to date
may be gained from the-following list:
Lee M. Brooks, Boston University.
Cecil/lC. Browp, Davidson and North
Carolina.
Roy E. Brown, North Carolina.
Cordelia Cox, William and Mary,
White Williams Foundation, and North
Carolina.
Roland B. Eutsler, North Carolina.
W. Dr Glenn, Jr., North Carolina.
Elizabeth Lay Green, North Carolina.
Fletcher M. Green, Embiry, and North
Carolina.
Harriet L. Herring, Meredith, Rad-
cliffe, add Bryn Mawr.
Thomas W. Holland, Michigan and
Harvard.
William S. Jenkins, North Carolina.
Guion Griffis Johnson, Baylor College,
Missouri, and North Carolina.
Guy B. Johnson, Baylor University,
Chicago, and North Carolina.
Robert A. McPheeters, Westminster
and Missouri.
Artus M.' Moser, North Carolina.
Arthur F. Raper, North Carolina and
Vanderbilt.
Jennings J. Rhyne, North Carolina.
Orlando Stone, Vijiginia and North
Carolina.
Brandon Trussell, Texas and North
Carolina.
Paul W. Wager, ^obart, Haverford,
and North Carolina.
Edward J. Woodhouse, Randolph-
Macon, Virginia, and Yale.
In addition to the direction of^search
problems by faculty members and the
carrying on of research by assistants,
the work of the Institute is facilitated
TRAINSPORUNG CHILDREN
The National Automobile Chamber
of Commerce reports that there are
1,909 motor buses in North Carolina
transporting children to 796 schools.
In motor bus transportation of school
children North Carolina makes a
splendid showing among the states.
Only two states operate a larger
numbef of school buses than North
Carolina. They are Ohio with 2,395
and Mississippi with 1,959. In miles
of route covered by school buses
North Carolina stands first, which
means that our school buses cover
more territory than buses of the
states that rank ahead of us in num
ber of buses. In only one state,
Wyoming, which has only 196 buses,
does the average school bus coyer
more territory than in North Caro
lina. The inference is that in the
consolidation process North Carolina
consolidates in a more extensive way
than do other states. The 1,909
school buses in North Carolina cover
a daily route of 40,089 miles, or ap
proximately 21 miles per bus. Good
highways make possible larger and
better schools.
house, a garden, a few chickens, and
perhaps a berry patch.
They are not primarily farmers, but
city workers. The automobile enables
them to get to and from their employ
ment and still have time enough of even
ings for work on their places. Hence
the name “twilight farmers.”
Something beyond the common desire
^to own a bit of ground has led these
families to quit the city. They have
learned that the clean air, the quiet and
the chance to work With growing things
provide a more wholesome and satisfy
ing life than the congestion, the noise,
and the artificiality of the crowded
urban places. And, perhaps more im
portant, -they realize that living in the
country enables them to find a worth
while use for what, in the city, would
be a liability—the spare time of their
children.
The concentration of people in the
cities has been very rapid in the last
generation. A movement in the other
direction may now have set in.—Country
Gentleman.
through the central office with execu
tive secretary and stenographers, and
central work room with desks and equip
ment, statistical helps and library as
sistance, Institute seminars for the joint
consideration of problems and projects,
and conferences and discussions by visit
ing experts in the several fields in the
I social sciences.
LIQUOR LAW VIOLATIONS
Elsewhere in this issue is a table rank
ing the counties of North Carolina ac
cording to the ratios of liquor law cases
to the total of criminal cases in the
superior courts in 1924, as per the re
ports of the clerks of court to the At
torney General. By liquor cases is
meant violations of the Turlington Act
and public drunkenness, the Turlington
Act being the North Carolina law for
the enforcement of the 18tb amendment
to the Federal Constitution. In inter
preting these figures the warnings given
in previous issues still hold good. Briefly,
they are (1) differences or indifferences
in law enforcement, (2) differences in
the proportion of liquor law cases tried
in the lower courts and the federal
courts, and (3) differences in the re
ports to the Attorney General. For
instance, the figures on some report
sheets refer to convictions only.
Taking the figures as they stand, we
find that the mountain counties have
the largest proportion of liquor law
violations. Especially is this true of
rural counties that have easy means of
communication with large urban centers
that serve as markets. Carteret smug
gles a great deal in by boat. On the
whole, rural counties make a worse [IS
showing than urban counties, possibly j 16
because it is easier to apprehend liquor ; 17
law offenders in the country. On the | IV
other hand the temptation to the, IV
cropper with spare time on his hands | 20
to turn a bushel of meal into $16 worth j 20
of bootleg liquor is much greater than | 20
it is to the steadily employed and more j 23
prosperous city dweller.
VALUE OF TRAINING
“Every time you make a boy a trained
worker, ” a promioent banker remarked,
“take him out of the unskilled class and
put him into the skilled class, you more
than double his earning and producing
power. For that reason, ” he said, “the
money we put into education is the best
investment on earth.”
We are spending more money on our
penal institutions than we are spending
on education. We are faced, too, with
the appalling fact that nearly three-
fourths of those confined in the penal
institutions of our country are under
twenty-one years of age, young people
who should just be starting out op. their
life careers; and we must not forget
that “the finest prison conceivable is
only a monument to neglected youth.”
— Selected.
cows MEAN PROFITS
An added income of $64,800 a year is
enjoyed by Lincoln county farmers in
directly as a result of keeping cows,
according to the Larrowe Institute of
Animal Economics. This income is in
the form of a more fertile soil due to
the manure of the dairy cows in this
county. On the basis of practically a
$20.00 fertilizer valuation per animal
per year, this means a total of $64,800
added to the richness of the soil in this
county every twelve months.
Manure is a source of the most valu
able plant food obtainable, says the
Institute, but, to preserve it at its high
est value or efficiency, it should either
be put directly to the fields each day or
conserved until such a time as the op
portunity offers itself to spread it. Feed
ing trials have proven that an ordinary
cow, while putting from 16 to 18 per
cent of the total energy of the feed she
consumes into milk, actually returns to
the soil 80 percent of the elements of
soil fertility in her feed in the form of
manure. This had led many dairymen
to discover that the purchase of good
concentrate feeds for their cows not
only more than pays for^itself in in
creased milk production but tITat it also
supplies necessary foods to farm crops
that are expensive when bought in the
form of commercial fertilizer.—Lincoln
County News.
LIQUOR LAW VIOLATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA
For the Year Ending June 30, 1924
In the following table, based on reports made to the Attorney General by
clerks of the Superior Court, the counties are ranked according to the percent
the cases involving liquor law violations were of all cases tried in the superior
courts for the year ending June 30, 1924. The second column gives the total of
all cases on the superior court docket for the year.
Camden, Currituck, and Hyde reported no state cases involving liquor law
violations. Rutherford county reported 100 cases on the superior court docket, 76 of
which were for the violation of state statutes governing prohibition enforcement.
Ethel Crew, Northampton county; and F. S. Wilder, New Hampshire
Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina
Liquor cases, Total
Rank County percent of cases on
all cases docket
24
While the table does not show the'24
racial differences in liquor law viola-; 24
tions, yet it is worth mentioning here
that the whites have more liquor law
violations per thousand than do the
negroes. The only exception to this is
in the Tidewater counties, where the
writer has reason to believe that the
law is enforced more strictly against
negroes than against whites.
TWILIGHT FARMERS
“Twilight farmers” help to explain . 33
the surprising showing made Jiy some' 33
of the Eastern states in the recent agri-; 33
cultural census. These states showed ; 33
a gain in the number of farm owners, a 33
decrease in tenants and a marked rise 43
in the value of farm buildings within 43
the past five years—all this contrary to 43
the general tendency, besides occurring 43
in a section that was supposedly deca-1 47
dent agriculturally. i 47
The joker in the figures was the fact | 47
that the 1926 census used a $250 income 50
or three acres of land as a basis for
classifying a property as a farm. And
outside the limits of various Eastern
cities are many families who have pur
chased small acreages, once included in
farms, and cleared enough land for a
Camden* 0
Currituck * 0
Hyde 0
Chowan 4
Stanly 6
Bertie 6
Union 6
Warren 6
Greene 7—
Dare 8—
Gates 8....
Hertford 10....
Duplin ll...
Wilkes 11. ..
Cumberland 12...
Nash 12..-.
Jones 13....
Northampton 13...,
Rowan 13....
Cabarrus 16....
Lenoir 15....
Vance 16....
Iredell 16....
Columbus ;....18....
Davie 18....
New Hanover 18....
Perquimans 18....
Ashe 19....
Beaufort 19....
Bladen* 19...
Edgecombe 19....
Robeson 19...
Pitt 20...
Wayne 20...
Brunswick 21...
Durham 21...
Onslow* 21...
Davidson 22...
Franklin. 22...
Guilford 22...
Pamlico 22...
Richmond 22...
Harnett 23...
Montgomery 23 112
Pasquotank 23 69
Sampson 23 170
Alexander ....24 83
Craven .^. 24 79
Hoke ^ 24 37
Forsyth 26 606
*Convictions only.
. 13
6
26
, 26
.. 44
..126
..102
.. 47
.. 61
.. 27
.. 40
..103
..296
..235
..]64
..112
.. 39
.. 82
..121
..138
..206
..136
... 68
..166
... 40
...192
...153
... 70
... 67
... 37
...164
...222
...171
...106
... 24
...361
... 57
...173
... 93
...379
... 69
...302
... 81
Liquor cases, Total
Rank County percent of cases on
all cases docket
Scotland 26 44
Buncombe 26 658
Macon 26 96
Mecklenburg 26 769
Pender 26 85
Randolph 26 260
Martin* 27 29
Cleveland 28 83
Graham 28 18
Halifax* 29 194
Alleghany 30 30
Burke 30 173
baswell 30 81
Granville 30 109
Jackson 30 30
Johnston 30 92
Orange 30 189
Wake 30 697
Wilson 31 389
Alamance 32 260
Anson 32 203
Caldwell* 32 80
Gaston 32 648
Rockingham* 32 124
Avery 33 61
Polk 33 62
Surry 33 165
Cherokee 34 88
Lee 34 165 .
Henderson 35 145
Clay 36 20
Catawba 36 160
Watauga 36 106
Yadkin 36 47
Lincoln 37 202
60
62
62
52
52
62
67
58
58
60
61
61
6i
61
61
61
61
61
69
70
70
70
70
70
75
76
76
78
78
80
80
82
82
82
85
86
86
85
89
90
91
92
93
93
95
96
97
98
I 99
Madison* 37..
Person 37..
Washington 37..
Swain 38..
McDowell 39..
Mitchell 40..
Transylvania 41..
Moore 42..
Stokes 42..
Tyrrell 49..
Chatham .^...52..
Carteret* 53..
Yancey 66..
Haywood 57..
100 Rutherford 76..
.. 81
..111
.. 19
.. 72
..134
..174
.. 70
..145
..106
.. 36
..166
.. 70
.. 62
..338
..100
CORRECTION
The table on Superior Court Indictments appearing in the March 24 issue of
the News Letter related to the year ending July 1924, instead of 1926,