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.
JUNE 30, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROI.INA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 33
Editorial Boardr E. C. Branson. 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. 1918
III. COUKTY GOVERNMENT
‘The following is the third of a series
of three articles on County Govern
ment by Paul W. Wager, which
recently appeared in Southern Agricul
turist.’
Some maintain that any system of
government will work well if in the
hands of good men. Others think that
the form of government determines its
success or failure. There is only an
element of truth in either position.
Government is the people’s business;
the officials are only agents of the
people, and the main cause of ineffi
cient government in America is the
indifference, or political ignorance, of
the rank and file of the voters. Democ
racy assumes civic intelligence and
mental alertness; it can thrive in no
other atmosphere. One of the most
discouraging, even alarming, symptoms
in American politics, is the general
apathy of the people. Only twice a
year do they show any interest in pub
lic affairs~on election day and on the
day they pay their taxes—and even
then there is more display of passion
than of intelligence.
The form of government is important;
the type of men elected to office is im
portant; but an alert citizenship will
take care of both of these other fea
tures. On the other hand, no govern
ment is self-operative; any govern
ment will run amuck without the
proper control. Democratic government
depends upon popular control, and if it
is not supplied there are apt to be dis
astrous results.
This does not mean that improve
ment in government must wait upon
the political education of the masses.
The two may move forward together.
The one may contribute to the other.
The best type of political education is
political experience. A man may learn
more about county government by
spending a week on the grand jury
than he had learned in all his life be
fore. The citizens may become inter
ested and educated in public affairs
when they have the opportunity to ex
ercise effective control. They have
been fooled into believing that the
popular election of a multitude of in
dependent, uncoordinated officials is
popular control, that the popular elec
tion of clerks and administrators for
short terms is democracy. This is pure
bunkum. A long ballot defeats popular
control.
In a private corporation the stock
holders choose a small board of direc
tors; they, in turn, choose a superinten
dent or manager; he selects and controls
all subordinates. In a county the
voters choose a board of commissioners
corresponding to the board of directors,
but there the analogy stops. This board
does-not choose a ccunty manager to
act as its executive agent and to exer
cise authority over the clerks and de
partment heads. Neither does the
board itself appoint these subordinates
or have any control over them. They
are chosen by the voters and subject
to no control except what the voters as
a whole can exercise. This means no
more than the failure to re-elect those
who do not make a good impression,
three commissioners are full-time offi
cials in charge of particular depart
ments—finances, roads, institutions—
may the commission plan be said to be
in use.
In Alamance county the chairman of
the board is a full-time official and has
practically the powers of a county man
ager. But he is elected along with eight
or ten other officials and can never
exert any control over bis colleagues
except by courtesy. In Edgecombe, Pitt,
New Hanover, Craven, and a few other
counties, the commissioners appoint an
“auditor” who is also a tax supervisor,
a purchasing agent, and virtually a
county manager. These instances il
lustrate the growing sentiment in favor
of a county manager system. It is
quite likely that the true county man
ager plan will be adopted in several
counties as soon as there is general
enabling legislation. The counties that
have taken advanced steps have done so
through local acts. The North Carolina
Constitution is flexible enough to permit
quite sweeping changes without an
amendment.
There are many improvements that
can be made in county government with
out changing the structure of govern
ment. Every county ought to install
a modern system of bookkeeping. In
a small county where the bookkeeping |
work would not keep a person busy,
the bookkeeper could assist with record
ing or be given other clerical duties. A
system of double-entry bookkeeping,
with the proper control accounts, is of
inestimable value to the commissioners.
With a complete statement of the coun
ty's financial condition before them at
each meeting they are able to act-judi
ciously. Of course, the best system of
financial control is the budget. Before
final adoption of a budget, it should be
given full publicity and the people given
an opportunity to make suggestions or
criticisms. After final adoption, it
should be adhered to strictly. When the
people are given a larger voice in de
termining how their tax money shall
be spent, there will be less complaining
about high taxes.
In a previous article I have indicated
some of the abuses in assessing property
and in preparing the tax rolls. North
Carolina’s newest tax law provides for
the appointment by the commissioners
of a county tax supervisor to instruct
and assist the local tax listers. In many
counties this officer is only a figure
head, but in a few counties the office
has been raised to a level of real im
portance and usefulness. Nothing in
fthe statute prevents the commissioners
from employing such an official six,
eight, or even twelve months in a year
and entrusting him with the responsi
bility of discovering unlisted property
and getting it on the books, and equal
izing that which is on.
There is a general feeling that any
sensible person can fill a county office,
and therefore the offices should be given
as rewards for faithful party service.
There is no more reason to expect a
good blacksmith to make a good clerk
of court than to expect a good clerk of
court to make a good blacksmith. In
one county a clerk of court admitted to
Frequently the most inefficient official me that he did not know much about
is the moat popular. I have in mind a his office, but he had a deputy w o
county official Who has completely' knew it thoroughly. This was e
neglected the work of his office and has i truth. The taxpayers were supporting
' two men to do the work of one, and the
transferred thousands of dollars of
public funds to his personal account,
yet is tremendously popular with the
people. One farmer said to me, “He is
a splendid fellow; he can have this of
fice just as long as he wants it.” This
is an exceptional instance. Most county
officials are honest, even though lazy
and incompetent. Nevertheless the lack
of definite, immediate, and constant
CMitrol tempts an official to be careless,
if not dishonest.
The prime necessity in a county, as
in every other government, is a chief
executive. The experience of cities has
been that the city manager plan of
government is more satisfactory than
either the commission or the mayor and
council plan. The present system of
county government is not analogous to
any of the three types. The county
has never had a strong executive cor
responding to a mayor. In North Caro
lina, there are county commissioners,
but it is not the “commission plan.”
Only in Buncombe county, where the
official who had the title got twice as
much salary as the deputy who did the
work. This waate is even more evident
in a register of deeds’ office. A clumsy
farmer who holds the office laboriously
pecks away on his typewriter. The
girl whom he employs for $20 a week
can record more papers in an hour than
he can record in all day. There is no
logic at all in filling clerical positions
by popular election. Just so long as
they are filled in this way the over
head expense of county government will
be excessive. Still ‘politics’ may be
in evidence when positions are filled by
appointment. This is quite noticeable
when appointments are made by the
commissioners. But if the appointment
of subordinates is left to a chief ex
ecutive, who himself is an appointee of
the commissioners, there is likely to be
a minimum number of political appoint
ments. There will also be less patron
age of other kinds.
More important than the short ballot,
N. C. CLUB YEAR-BOOK
The Year-book of the North Caro
lina Club, containing the thirteen
papers prepared and delivered be
fore the Club during the college
year 1926-1926*, will be ready for
distribution within ten days. The
bulletin,bears the title, “Town and
Country Interdependences,” and
goes free to North Carolinians who
request copies from the Extension
Division of the University of North
Carolina.
The thirteen chapters are as fol
lows: The Small Town in History,
by E. J. Woodhouse; Planning a
County, by F. S. Wilder; The Com
munity in North Carolina Historiog
raphy, by C. W. Edwards; Leader
ship and the Reconciliation of Town
and Country Interests, by Edgar T.
Thompson; The Federation of
Agencies and Institutions for Local
Community Welfare, by A. M.
Moser; The Rural Mind: Is it a
Myth?, by L. M. Brooks; Race Co
operation for Town and Country
Advancement, by Arthur Raper;
The Local Market Problem, by C. G.
Grady; Should the Consolidated
School Be Located in the Country or
in the Town or Village?, by Bran
don Trussell; A Community Program
for the Schoi^l, by A. M. Moser;
A Community Program for the
Church, by F. S. Wilder; A
Community Program for the Bank,
by Miss Katie Lindsey; Town and
Countryside under One Local Gov
ernment, by J. J. Rhyne.
The annual prize of fifty dollars
for the best North Carolina Club
paper, offered by Hon. J. W. Bailey
of Raleigh, was won by Mr. Arthur
Raper, whose paper on Race Co-op
eration for Town and Country Ad
vancement was adjudged the best.
than we now use. We could not prof
itably do it, the nature of our present
agriculture considered. It is not incon
ceivable, however, that the nature of
our agriculture might be changed, with
profit.
The general explanation for our
modest number of farm tractors and
the lack of farm machinery generally
in North Carolina is: first, our small
area under cultivation per farm. The
tractor is not profitable on small farms
as a rule. In cultivated acres per farm
North Carolina ranks last in the United
States. Only a fourth of our land area
is under cultivation. Which does not
mean that only a fourth of our land is
capable of being cultivated. Second,
the nature of our agriculture. Cotton
and tobacco are our major crops. Both
are hand-made cash crops, requiring
only a few acres of land, but a large
amount of human labor. Little machin
ery is required to produce these crops.
A third factor is farm tenancy, which
is largely coterminous with cotton or
tobacco or both. A fourth factor is
our negro farm population. And a fifth
factor is the topography ftf the state,
but this is not as important as is gener
ally thought, for taken all in all North
Carolina is a fairly level state. There
is an abundance of land on which tractors
i and other machinery could be used. The
! explanation for the lack qf farm ma
chinery in North Carolina lies largely in
the nature of our agriculture, and not in
topography or the nature of our soils.
A TEACHER'S RESOLUTION
“I am resolved to like the community
in which my lot may be cast; to be a
part of the civic and social life of the
people; to be free from local, political
and other antagonisms; to meet the
parents and the patrons openly and
frankly; to give and take in my deal
ings with my fellow teachers; to live
free from professional jealousy; to be
too large to be self-important or an
autocrat or a martinet; to base school
management on sound principles, not
on policy, and to be firm and constant
therein; to prepare myself adequately
on the whole, and from day to day, to
the end of solid service; to cherish good
books and to seek companionship of
thoughtful and serious men and women;
to be alive as long as I live; to have
faith in children, in God, and in myself;
to teach from the great book of life as
well as from school books; to be a
helper and a leader, if possible, with
out as well as within the school room;
to touch the lives of my pupils and to
have no favorites; to talk about things,
not people; to think and talk ideas, not
gossip; to have worthy ideals in culture
and conduct, and to live up to them; to
have a larger purpose in teaching than
merely to teach for money or as a
makeshift to something better; for to
discover, to develop and to set free the
the soul’s latent powers is the greatest
work of all; so help me God, to take
this resolution to heart and thus be
worthy of my calling.”—John Meissner,
Supt. of Schools, Willow City,. North
Dakota.
a county manager, adherence to a bud
get, or non-partisan appointments, is an
alert, intelligent citizenship. There
should be local organizations studying
civic problems. Two North Carolina
counties (Polk and- Rutherford) have
county clubs. In Virginia a civic spirit
is being developed by means of com
munity leagues federated into a county
council. All such organizations are
commendable. No city or county ever
drifted into perfection. There must be
an aim and a program. A compara
tively new concept and effort is that of
city-planning. We must also have
county-planning. Would it not be fine
if every Southern county had a county
club or a county council to formulate
and promote a 10-, 20-, or even 30-year
program of achievement? Each county
would be competing with its neighbors
for superiority in physical attractive
ness, economic status, intellectual level
and general welfare. Government would
become purposeful, a means to. an end,
rather than an end in itself, which too
often is little more than public support
of a few politicians.
FEW FARM TRACTORS
North Carolina does not rank high in
the use of farm tractors. As a matter
of fact she ranks far down the list of
states, not only in the number of
tractors on farms but in the combined
value of all farm machinery per farm.
According to the 1926 census of agri
culture there were 283,482 farms in
North Carolina, of which 7,769 re
ported tractors. Only one state, Texas,
reported more farms, but 17 states
reported more farm tractors. Which
means that when reduced to a compar
able basis, per farm say, North Caro
lina ranks very low. North Carolina
has 4.4 percent of the nation’s farms,
but only 1.6 percent of the nation’s
farm tractors. Eight percent of the
farms of the nation reported tractors,
against only 1.6 percent for North
Carolina. In the value of all farm ma
chinery we rank about as we do in the
use of tractors. North Carolina pro
duces a large amount of farm wealth
each year, but she does it largely on
the basis of a vast expenditure of
human labor; Our per worker yield is
not very large, due mainly to the fact;; 44
that human labor on our farms is not j 46
reinforced with any fair amount of 46
labor-saving, profit-producing machin-
CURRENT EXPENDITURES FOR RURAL SCHOOLS 1924-25
Per Child Enrolled in Rural Schools
In the following table based on State School Facts, Vol. II. No. 18, the
counties are ranked according to the current expenditure for rural schools per
child enrolled in rural schools for the school year 1924-26. Current expenditures
include salaries of superintendents, principals, teachers, public welfare officers,
rural supervisors, per diem and expense of County Board of Education, clerical
and other administrative expense. Expenditures for outlay purposes are not
included.
Durham ranks-first in current rural school expenditures per child enrolled
in rural school with $40.42. Caswell is last with $14.63.
State average current expenditure per rural child $21.80; state average per
city child $38.91.
The two items that most largely determine the current cost of schools
are, (1) length of school term, and (2) training of teachers.
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina
ery.
We are not contending that we should 149
employ much more farm machinery, 50
Current
expenditure
per rural
child enrolled
Durham $40.42
New Hanover 39.89
Currituck 38.53
Buncombe 36.03
Craven 32.17
Guilford 31.39
Pamlico 30.63
Transylvania 30.41
Gaston 29.91
Dare 29.71
Polk 29.27
Moore 27.78
Wilson 27.40
Washington 27.10
Henderson 26.86
Graham 26.80
Jackson 26.77
Montgomery 26.51
Carteret 26.42
Vance 26.42
Granville 26.36
Forsyth 25.75
Rockingham 26.64
Pender 26.40
McDowell 26.08
Hyde 25.05
Alamance 24.88
Davie 24.77
Catawba 24.71
Cumberland 24.58
Mecklenburg 24.40
Swain 23.83
Alexander 23.77
Avery 23.13
Wayne 23.07
Orange 22.78
Bladen 22.76
Wake 22.73
Northampton 22.62
Lincoln 22.47
Rowan 22.33
Clay 22.04
Columbus 21.99
Burke 21.88
Pasquotank 21.86
Davidson 21.61
Caldwell 21.33
Rutherford 21.07
Beaufort 21.01
Nash 20.80
Rank County
Rank County Current
expenditure
per rural
child enrolled
61 Jones $20.78
62 Harnett 20.64
63 Martin 20.62
64 Person 20.66
65 Haywood 20.31
56 ’ Iredell 20.01*'
57 Chowan 19.95
68 Chatham 19.92
69 Tyrrell 19.91
60 Camden 19.78
61 Edgecombe 19.76
62 Gates 19.76
63 Johnston 19.68
63 Stanly 19.68
66 Pitt 19.64
66 Onslow 19.34
67 Macon 19.17
68 Stokes 18.83
69 Warren 18.81
70 Richmond 18.40
71 Randolph 18.38
72 Sampson ■ 18.33
73 Anson 18.19
74 Brunswick 18.16
76 Hertford 18.03
76 Wilkes 17.92
77 Halifax 17.73
78 Bertie 17.69
79 Cabarrus 17.64
80 Mitchell 17.21
81 Lee 17.07
82 Lenoir 16.78
83 Cleveland 16.77
34 Yadkin 16.76
85 Union 16.66
86 Yancey 16.61
87 Franklin 16.69
88 Madison 16.64
89 Duplin 16.63
89 Robeson 16.63
91 Ashe 16 41
92 Surry 16.27
93 Hoke 16.16
94 Greene 16.12
96 Scotland 16.93
96 Watauga 16.93
97 Alleghany 16.36
98 Cherokee 16.17
99 Perquimans 14.89
100 Caswell 14.63