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.
MARCH 16, 1927
CHAPEL HILL. N. C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XIII. No. 18
Editorial Board: K. 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 Kovember 14, 1911, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill. N. C., under the act of August 24, 1912.
CORPORATION TAX BURDENS
DEATHS IN 1925
The recent annual report of the
Bureau of Vital Statistics of the North
Carolina State Board of Health cover
ing the year 1925 carries some very
interesting data, among which is a
table listing the number of deaths ex
clusive of stillbirths, occurring in the
state, by causes. Total deaths occur
ring in the state during the year- 1925,
exclusive of stillbirths, numbered 32,-
524. They were distributed by races as
follows: white 19,681, colored 12,656,
Indian 188.
The greatest toll was of infants
under one year of age. All told, 6,591
infants failed to survive the first year.
The rate was 78.7 infant deaths per
one thousand live births. Stillbirths
are not included in the total or rate.
Our high rate of infant mortality is
nothing short of disgraceful. Numbers
o.i. countcfea of the world have infant
mortality rates so low as to put us to
shame. Ignorance of the care of infants
is the chief cause of death in North Caro
lina and throughout the entire nation.
Six hundred and ninety mothers in the
state gave up their lives attempt
ing to bring babies into the world. The
maternal mortality rate was 8.2 per one
thousand live births. Proper attention at
childbirth would have prevented near
ly all the deaths of young mothers.
The following speaks for itself. Births
attended by doctors 57,196; births at
tended by mid wives 25,988!
The following table lists the number
of deaths from leading causes for the
year 1926. by races. Whites com
prise about 71 percent of our popula
tion, negroes 29 percent.
Cause White Colored
Disease of heart and
arteries 2.00U 1,036
Nephritis, acute and
chronic 1,974 1,152
Tuberculosii?, all kinds..1,334 1,415
Premature birth; in
jury at birth 1,300 605
Apoplexy 1,281 738
Cancer, all kinds 987 302
Pneumonia 913 626
Diarrhea under two
years 860 684
Diarrhea, over two
years.. 198
Influenza 690 388
Bronchitis, broncho
pneumonia 609 387
Accidental deaths as
falls, poisoning,
mines and quar
ries, conflagra
tions, machines,
suffocation 648 406
Paralysis "373. 264
Childbirth 372 312
Senility 313 292
Automobile accidents... 293 74
Pellagra - 260 147
Sudden death 273 141
Diphtheria 245 63
Appendicitis, typhlitis.... 213 94
Homicides and other ex
ternal violence 181 228
Typhoid 130 146
Dysentery 127 65
Suicide H*! 1"^
Railroad and street car
accidents 67 34
Automobile accidents
at railroad cross
ings 21 12
Deaths from causes not specified, or
ill-defined, numbered 1,121 for whites,
and 1,418 for negroes. Were these
properly classified the number of deaths
due to causes listed above would be in
creased probably in every case.
We have an idea that the reader who
studies the above table will find it nec
essary to revise some of his ideas about
causes of death. There is one very
interesting fact, namely that very few
people die of senility, or old age. Most
deaths are due to causes that are
largely preventable. Ignorance, care
lessness, stupidity, lack of proper
medical attention, absence of hospital
facilities, these are mainly the causes
of death.
Negroes are less than one-third of our
population, yet more than half of all
•deaths fropi tuberculosisof all kinds were
among negroes. Other causes of death
to which the negroes seem more suscep
tible than whites are pneumonia, bron
chitis, influenza, accidents, and seaUity.
More than half of deaths from homi
cides and other external violence were
among negroes.
Whites appear to be more susceptible
to cancer, and diphtheria. Also the
death rates from automobile accidents,
as would be expected, and from suicide,
are much higher for the white popu
lation.
REVIEWING THE LEVIES
The people of Indiana have operated
on a tax plan that has saved them
more than $26,000,000 in the last five
years. So successful has their system
proved that it is generally recognized as
a model method by which to put a brake
upon the extravagant ambitions of
tax spenders and to prevent the piling
up of taxation.
This plan provides that a state board
of tax commissioners shall be vested
with the authority to review all pro
posed tax levies in any taxing unit of
the state, provided, however, that a
petition is filed by ten or more property
taxpayers against the proposed levy.
This petition must set forth that the
budget is excessive, or that the pro
posed bonds should not be issued, or
that, although the purpose is entirely
proper, the amount of the issue is ex
cessive.
Public hearings are then held in the
taxing unit by the state board. Ample
time is provided in the law for notifi
cation of all property taxpayers af
fected. If the state board of tax com
missioners finds the proposed bond issue
excessive or unwarranted, it can reduce
the amount or veto it entirely.
What has been the effect? It has
required both the taxing officials of the
city, county or local district and the
taxpayers themselves to prove the
wisdom or unwisdom of any proposed
levy. Each side must come armed with
facts. Nothing is taken for granted.
The very knowledge that any proposed
levies may be taken to the state board
has had a sobering effect upon those
who might be disposed to indulge in un
necessary or unwarranted expenditures.
Since the hearings are held in the
localities concerned and since the state
board can intervene only upon the
petition of the people themselves who
pay the bills, it is an application of the
principle of home rule. The matter is
settled by a board that can decide with
out prejudice or favor and all the
localisms and the small, petty things
that so often arise in any taxing unit
do not warp or color their judgment.
It is to be noted, too, that under the
operations of this plan, no really impor
tant or indispensable public improvement
has ever been denied in any of the
cases appealed.
Several states are adopting the
measure. The question is now being
raised by the taxpayers in Utah: Why
cannot this same plan be made opera
tive in Utah, placing this responsibility
as a final board of review upon the
Board of Equalization?—Utah Tax
payer.
BOND SALES IN SOUTH
The par value of 1164 issues of public
improvement bonds sold last year in the
16 Soutb^jrn states, as reported weekly in
the financial news columns of the Manu
facturers Record, amounted to $394,-
681,000. This compares with $392,834,-
OCO, the'par value of 1342 issues mar
keted in the preceding year.
Miscellaneous public improvements ^
hold first place in value, the total for :
the year being $187,489,000, represent- ‘
ing 34^ issues. This total includes!
bonds sold for a wide variety of con- i
struction projects that cannot be classi-'
fied under the other three divisions in
the tables herewith. Roads, paving
and bridge bonds totaled $118,552,000 j
for 376 issues for the twelvemonth;
perioa. School bond issues marketed;
in 1926 had an aggregate par value of |
$61,282,000, representing 298 issues. ;
Bond issues sold for drainage, dredg-;
ing and irrigation projects, sewer and
waterworks number 141, the par value ^
amounting to $27,268,000.
Florida heads the list of Southern
States in the value of securities sold,
the total being 306 issues, amounting
to $133,598,000. North Carolina is
second with more than $42,670,000,
representing 129 issues. Missouri is
SERVE HUMANITY
“Secondly, it (civilization) must
be true to itself. Life passes like
a dream, and near the end of it a
man tarns to survey what he pos
sesses, what he must soon leave,
what he has enjoyed or failed to
enjoy—the achievements of science,
religion, philosophy, music, art, the
interpretation of nature; the un
speakable beauty of human relations
and affections, and the treasures of
unrecorded heroism and sacrifice
that have often gone to the building
of things that we take for granted
as commonplace. Above all, perhaps,
the living storehouse of the greatest
moments of past human life kept
open for us m the pages of literature.
“This is the true message of our
Hellenic and European tradition.
Serve Humanity: Glorify (jod; go
forth, not so much to convert, but
to contribute. Live in the service
of something higher and more endur
ing, so that when the tragic tran
sience of life at last breaks in upon
you, you can feel that the thing for
which you have lived does not die *
* * Our civilization will last if only
it does not drive men mad.’’—Prof.
Gilbert Murray, Oxford. “The Next
Set of Problems But One,” The-
Hibbert Journal (London), January.
third with the sale of 43 issues, having
a par value of $31,706,000, Texas
marketed 114 issues with a total par
value of .$31,691,000.
Florida i? also first in the sale of
bonds for miscellaneous purposes, with
112 issues, having a value of $68,318,-
000. Maryland is second, with $20,994,-
000 as the par value of 6 issues. North
Carolina stands next with sales amount
ing to $19,042,000, representing 36
issues.
In the construction of roads, paving
and bridges Florida again holds first
place, 98 issues totaling over $40,000,
000 having been sold for that purpose
in 1926. Missouri is next with sales
aggregating $16,166,000 for 6 issues,
and North Carolina is a close third with
a total of $14,268,000, representing 42
issues.
Florida is first in the sale of school
bonds, 79 issues with a par yalue of
$20,771,000 having been sold last year.
North Carolina is second with the sale
of 27 issues, having a par value of
$7,847,000, and next is Texas, with 44
issues, amounting to $7,022,000.
Tennessee is first in*the sale of bonds
for sewers, water-works and allied im
provements, the total being $4,916,000
for 7 issues. Florida is second with
$4,377,000, representing 17 issues,
Next is Missouri with the sale of 6
issues, aggregating $3,073,000.
In December 106 bond issues were
marketed in the 16 Southern states,
with a total par value of $60,370,000.
This is the highest monthly total re
corded in 1926 and indicates that many
important public improvements will be
undertaken in 1927.
The following table gives the amount
of public improvement bonds sold in
each Southern state as reported by the
Manufacturers Record:
State
Number
issues
Amount
Florida
.... 306
$133,698,700
North Carolina.
.... 129
. 42,672,000
Missouri
.... 43
. 31,706,000
Texas
.... 114
. 31.691,300
Maryland
. 24,266,000
Virginia
.... 33
. 20,316,000
Tennessee
.... 78
. 20,206,000
Alabama.
... 68
16,485,600
Louisiana
.... 64
. 13,603,400
South Carolina...
.... 62
. 13,183,600
Georgia
... 52
9,208,600
West Virginia
.... 41
8,897,000
Kentucky
.... 32
8,778,600
Arkansas
.... 40
6,146,700
Oklahoma
.... 29
4,983,000
Total
...,1164
$394,681,600
MAKING FARMING PAY
Any business man or manufacturer
who let his plant stand idle for three or
four months in the year would certainly
come out at the short end of the horn
at the end of the year.
Yet there are farmers who do noth
ing for two or three months of the
year. At least, a great part of their
equipment and stock stands^idle for a
good part of the time, and no manufac
turer would permit part of his equip
ment to be non-productive.
In one sense of the word a farmer is
a manufacturer. He is producing. It
might be, said that he represents the
greatest manufacturing establishment
on earth. Farmers’ land and equip
ment constitute the machinery with
which they work, and if they grew or
made aometbing'’to sell every day the
revenue woqld soon be greatly increased.
The Manufacturers Record a few days
ago bad this article, relating to this
subject:
“A student of economic conditions
throughout the country, in the course of
a letter to the Manufacturers Record,
said:
“T was talking the other day with a
newpaper man from Janesville, Wis.,
and he spoke of the marvelous pros
perity of his country. I asked him how
the farmers happened to get by so well,
and he said that every farmer in his
county was a manufacturer and had
something to sell every day of the year.
On this last trip I took South I was
much impressed by the fact that no
farmer in the community I visited was
a manufacturer. They throw away
every year almost as much truck as
they ship, whereas every bit of this
waste ought to be put into permanent
form for future sale.’’’—Gastonia
Gazette.
OUR DUTY TO BOYS
If one visits our criminal courts he is
brought face to face with the alarming
fact that a large number of those on
trial for criminal offenses are boysunder
21 years of age. This is a condition
that should claim our most serious con
sideration.
What can we do to help these boys
and save them for themselves and for
society? We should first make a care
ful study of the situation and determine
the factors that cause boys to start on
lives of crime. Is it heredity? Is it
environment? In some cases it will be
found that both of these factors are
responsible. In either case it will be
found that both heredity with criminal
tendencies and bad environment may
often be overcome by right methods
of treatment.
Surround the boys with proper in
fluences and help them to get started
right in life. Once a boy gets started
on the road of crime it is a most diffi
cult problem to change him to the way
of right living. It seems that once a
person starts committing criminal acts
he regards his line of crime as a sort
of fascinating game and in time it be
comes a fixed habit with him. He
eventually becomes a hardened criminal
and is not fitted for the occupations of
law-abiding citizens.
One of the greatest services that a
community can render to its boys is to
provide some means of keeping them
away from the bad influences and to
focus' their minds on the worth-while
things of life. The way a boy gets
started nearly always determines his
future.
The lioy Scouts, boys’ clubs, and
other organizations, under the right
leadership can do a great deal toward
starting boys on the right road. Citizens
interested in the boy problem can help
a very great deal by personal contacts
and by supporting organizations that
are helping boys to find the way of
right living.
It is the duty of every citizen,
whether a parent or not, to give serious
thought to this great problem and to
lend support in every effort to help boys
that they may be law-abiding and use
ful citizens of the future.—The Arrow.
FOR HIGH . SCHOOL USE
A Handbook of Extra-Curricular Ac
tivities in the High School is the title
of a book by Prof. Harold D. Meyer of
ithe Sociology department of the Uni
versity and Chief of the Bureau of Re
creation and Community Development.
Here is a book that ought to be in every
high school library, at least. It is a
ready reference volume of suggestions,
programs, bibliographies and the like on
all ex tra-curricular high school activities.
The high school principals and teachers
must have felt the need of such a book.
It will be found to be highly practical
and of great help to all who are in any
way connected with the many extra
curricular activities in the modern high
school. The book is published by A. S.
Barnes and Company, New York. (
CORPORATION TAX BURDENS
Federal, State, and Local in 1924
Based on a study of the National Industrial Conference Board, reproduced
in The Manufacturers Record, February 24, 1927. States ranked according to
the ratios of total taxes to total net incomes.
The United States over, federal, state and local taxes in 1924 consumed 86
cents of every net income dollar, as against 27,7 cents in 1923.
In North Carolina in 1924 our corporations on an average paid in taxes,
federal, state and local, 31.44 cents of every net income dollar.
Combined taxes on corporations were less in only four states—Michigan
26,26 cents, Kentucky 28.89 cents, Florida 29.86 cents, and New Jersey 31.10
cents.
In 43 states, combined taxes consumed larger ratios of net incomes, in rates
ranging from 32.67 cents per dollar of net income in Alabama to 483.68 cents
per dollar of net income in Wyoming.
In Nevada and Oregon corporations, on the whole, had no net incomes in
1924, but these two states had to pay taxes—all told over 13 million dollars.
In five states at the bottom of the list the corporations did have total net
incomes but the taxes they paid ranged from more than one to nearly five times
their net incomes. These five unfortunate states were Mississippi, Montana,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
Department of Rurel Social-Economics.
Percent
of net
Rank State income
paid as
tax
1 Michighah 26.25
2 Kentucky 28.89
3 Florida 29.86
4 New Jersey 31.10
North Carolina 31.44
6 Alabama 32.67
7 Illinois 32.71
8 Missouri / 33.33
9 Pennsylvania 33.87
10 Delaware - 34.03
11 New York 34.51
12 Kansas 35.85
13 Ohio : 36.40
14 Arkansas 36.82
16 California 36.91
16 Wisconsin 37.39
17 Indiana 37.46
18 Texas 37.46
19 Maryland 38.61
20 Tennessee 39.60
21 Virginia 39.89
22 Connecticut 41.04
23 Vermont ■ 41.43
Percent
of net
Rank State income
paid as
. tax
24 Georgia 42.96
26 Colorado 44.78
26 Nebraska 46.60
27 Maine 47.30
28 Minnesota 47.72
29 Louisiana 47.98
30 Utah 48.05
31 Iowa 48.77
32 Massachusetts 49.78
33 New Hampshire 61.66
34 West Virginia 54.70
36 Washington 69.34
36 Arizona 74.11
37 South Dakota 84.04
38 North Dakota 84.19
39 Rhode Island 87.10
40 Idaho 91.26
41 South Carolina 95.23
42 Mississippi 104.63
43 Montana ll7.i8
44 Oklahoma 211.08
46 New Mexico 268.61
46 Wyoming 483.68
Nevada and Oregon omitted because in 1924 there were no total net in
comes, but deficits instead;*and therefore no base for calculating percents.