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.
august 17, 1927
• CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XIII, No. 40
Editorial Boards E. C. Branson, S. H. Hobbs. Jr.. L. R. Wilson. E. W. Knig'ht. D. D. Carroll. J. B. Sullitl. H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-class matter November 14. 1914. at the Post'office at Chapel Hill. N. C.. under the act of August 24. 1912.
ADMINISTRATIVE COST OF CHIME
A question of perennial importance
to laymen and specialists alike the
•country over js that of the so-called
crime wave. On account of its im
portance, any study of crime should be
of value not only for the interest such
a study may engender, but also for the
possible light it may shed on the actual
situation as it exists at any particular j
time or in any particular locality. |
Lee M. Brooks of the Institute for;
Research in Social Science has made j
a penetrating study of the Administra- *
tive Cost of Crime. The first part j
deals with the cost of crime for the |
United States as a whole, while the '
second part is in the form of a case
study of a particular county and city
in North Carolina. The following is a
brief review of his findings. j
Cost in the United States j
Although definite figures relating to ^
the total cost of crime in the United
States are unobtainable, 'recent esti-;
mates place the figure at ten billion i
dollars a year. Studies which have;
attempted to investigate the ultimate
cost of crime indicate that the country
is losing through criminality each year
a sum sufficient to replace all the public
school and college property now stand-1
ing, together with eight hundred mil
lion dollars in college endowments. ■
How accurate these estimates are
there is no way of determining since
only fifteen states make any effort
toward centralized record keeping and
statistics in connection with crime.
Whether or not ten billion dollars a
year includes every imaginable cost of
crime, it is certain that the administra
tive cost forms only a relatively small
percentage of such a vast total. It is
possible that by spending more on
police and in building adequate in
stitutions a great ultimate saving would
be achieved.
The Police
Although a part of the expenditures
for police goes to maintaining traffic
regulations, still the traffic policemen
as a rule are also engaged in detecting
crime so that the entire cost of police
supervision may be directly chargeable
to crime. On this basis the cost of
police for the urban population in the
United States is in the neighborhood of
$160,000,000 annually. The number of
policemen and policewomen in the
United States according to the 1920
census was 81,884 and 236 respectively.
During the last census period there
WAS an increase of Si percent in the
police force of the'country as compared
to an increase of only 16 percent in the
total population. There are now ap
proximately 100,000 policemen in the
United States.
The Courts
Costs for police can be determined
with relative accuracy but for the
courts estimates must suffice. The
belief is prevalent that criminal pro
cedure is not only expensive, but waste
ful, slow, and ineflicient Chief Justice
Taft made the statement more than
fifteen years ago that “the administra
tion of' criminal law’ in the United
States is a disgrace to civilization.
The trial of a criminal seems like a
game of chance with all the chances
in favor of the criminal, and if he
escapes he seems to have the sympathy
of a sporting public. ’’ Waste of time and
money occurs through antiquated court
organization and procedure, and in the
selection of juries, all of which means
slow trials. Certain steps looking to
the improvement of criminal courts and
procedure have recently been under
taken in several cities. In 1920 Detroit,
by unifying its criminal courts, saved
the taxpayers of that city more than
■one and one-half million dollars.
Another innovation which has reduced
expense in many cities by speeding up
trials, is the office of Public Defender.
Penal Institutions
According to Sutherland, the number
of detentive, punitive, and correctional
institutions in the United States is
about five thousand. Of these from
three thousand to four thousand are
■coifnty jails, while there are about o'ne
hundred and sixty Federal and State
prisons, reformatories, and penitentia
ries. According to the Department of
Commerce the estimated number of
prisoners in the United States on July
1, 1922, was 163,889. From one and a
half to two and a half percent of the
total population of the country are to
be reckoned as regularly or occasion
ally delinquent. In other words ■ the
anti-social element among our popula
tion is somewhere between 1,600,0^0
and 2,750,000, For the reasons already
mentioned it is obvious that any\ esti
mated cost figure for penal institutions
would be as far from satisfying as it
would be from accurate.
In Durham County
The second part of Mr. Brooks’s study
is concerned with an analysis of the
administrative cost of crime in Durham
County, North Carolinsj for the years
1923, 1924^ and 1925. The items covered
in the study include the police, court,
and pen^l departments. No attempt
was made to reckon the social costs.
The review will serve to show how
similar studies can be made in other
counties.
Durham County, located in the north
central portion of the state, had a
population in 1926 of 49,719 according
to Health Department figures. In the
city of Durham are to be found
eighty-five percent of the popula
tion of the county. The different
offices, courts, police headquarters,
and jails for both the city and the
county are located in the county court
house. Just outside the city of Durham
are the new buildings of the convict
department, the county home and work-
house.
The Police Department
For the years 1923-1926 and including
the budget for 1926, the annual net
average outlay for crime was $49,078
or $1.14 per capita for the population
of the city of Durham. Similar ex
penditures for the Sheriff's depart
ment, which includes supervision of
the rest of the county, were $9,966, this
latter figure being largely an estimate.
In other words, the total cost for police
'supervision in Durham County amount
ed to $69,043 annually or a per capita
cost of $1.23 a year for the three-year
period studied.
While the cost of maintaining the
police is greater than the other ad
ministrative functions, police officers
in Durham, as elsewhere, were not re
ceiving salaries sufficient to attract the
more capable men into the service.
Salary increases came only with pro
motion and were not contingent upon
length of service as is the case in a
considerable number of other cities.
The Recorder’s Court
The cases tried in this court are
those common to the municipal courts
where the Judge does not have power to
sentence offenders above the scale of
misdemeanors. In 1925 the court tried
4,751 cases as compared with 2,701
in ]921. Although the increase in the
population for the county in the five-
year period was only twenty percent,
the number of cases apbearing before
the court increased seventy-five per
cent in the same period. The running
expense of the Recorder’s Court is ap
proximately nine thousand dollars a
year. However, this is more than
offset by receipts from fines and costs.
The Superior Court
The Superior Criminal Court holds six
sessions of one- week each during the
calendar year, while the Superior Civil
Court meets for a total of nine weeks
composing five or six sessions. No
separation is made of civil and crimi
nal costs and fees, and therefore the
figures given are only estimates. The
criminal cases were estimated to com
prise about forty percent of the court’s
expenditures. The estimated average
annual cost of superior court crime for
the three-year period was $11,180. Of
this expense the jury made up the
largest single item with approximately
sixty-three percent going for this pur
pose. The average number of criminal
cases in the three-year period was 466
making the average cost about $24.60
for each criminal case.
The Penal Department
The penal department of the city and
county of Durham is composed of the
city and county jails, the workhouse
connected with the county home, and
the county convict camp. The upkeep
KNOW NORTH CAROLINA
Facts About Illiteracy
According to the last Census
there where 241,603 people in North
Carolina ten years of age and over
who could neither read nor write
in any language. The illiterates
were 13.1 percent of all people ten
years of age and over. The il
literates were distributed as follows:
Native white of native parentage
104,637; native white of foreign
parentage 171; foreign-born white
474; negro 133,674. There were only
190 white people in the state unable
to speak English.
Of all native white people ten
years of age and over 8.2 percent
were illiterates. Only two states,
New Mexico and Louisiana, had a
higher percent of native white il
literates ten years of age and over.
Only one state, Kentucky, had a
larger total number of native white
illiterates.
Only six states had a larger total
number of illiterates, both races
considered, than North Carolina.
Their excessive illiterate negro
population explains why four of
these states rank'^ ahead of North
Carolina.
Negro Illiteracy
Five states have more illiterate
negroes than North Carolina with
a total of 133,674. According to
the 1920 Census 24.5 percent of all
negrijes in North Carolina ten years
of age and over are illiterate. The
rate is higher in only tive states. The
negro ratio of population is much lar
ger than ours in each of the states
whose illiterate rate is above ours.
Nine southern states have lower
negro illiteracy rates than North
Caijolina. These are usually states
wjth small negro population ratios.
The negro illiteracy rates are large
ly in proportion to population ratios,
—high in states with large negro
ratios and low in states with few
negroes-
The above facts concern the sheer
illiterates. The near illiterates far
outnumber the sheer illiterates, and
near, illiteracy is a far greater
problem in North Carolina than
sheer illiteracy.
NOTES ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
3. STATE BOARDS OF EDUCATION
I Modern educational development is
toward provision for a State’Board of
: Education as the administrative head
'of the State’s educational system.
: Forty-two states have such boards
: with functions relating to the common
schools. Two states have no such
' boards.
; in 33 states some or all of the mem-
' bers of the state board are appointed or
elected. In twenty-eight of these
the power of appointment is vested in
: the governor, subject in some cases to
approval by the state senate. In three
the state legislature makes the selec-
j tion, in one state the board is elected by
j popular vote, and in one appointment is
. left to the state chief school officer. In
' the other states appointment is made in
part by the governor, in part by certain
: educational boards, and in one state in
! part by the senate.
i The tendency in the selection of
I members of state boards of education
seems to be toward appointment by the
governor. Two methods of selection,
[ (1) appointment by the governor and
^ (2) election by the people, receive the
approval of authorities on school ad
ministration. The first method, ap
pointment by the governor, has these
merits: (1) It centralizes full respon-
■ sibility for all the departments of
; public service, including the manage-
I ment of schools, in the executive head
! of the state. This tends to unity and
economy in administration. (2) It is
I believed that this method protects the
, board from undue political influence.
Selection is often restricted to an eli
gible list or limited in ‘ some other
, manner. The advisability of the govern
or’s being a member of the board he
appoints is doubtful.
' Election by the people is favored by
many authorities on school administra
tion because: (1) It centers responsi-
! bility definitely on a group of persons
elected specifically for one purpose,
namely, that of having general charge
of schools. (2) It represents more
nearly a direct expression by the people
of their wishes in the management of
school affairs than does appointment.
(3) It follows our custom of making-
those intrusted with legislative func
tions directly responsible to the
people. Administrative authorities are
generally agreed toat the chief func
tions of a state board of education are
legislative rather than executive.
Size of Boards
The present tendency is toward a
state board of education composed of
from five to nine members, each of
whom holds office for a term of from
five to seven years. The time of re
tirement is so arranged that a majority
of the board remains constant; that is,
one member retires each year, or two
or three each alternate year. The
smallest boards, as now constituted,
are those which are composed of ex-
officio members. The term of office of
members of ex-officio boards is fixed by
law and ranges from two to four years.
The members usually retire simulta'q-
eously. This may be regarded as repre
senting a passing type. In twenty-five
of the forty-two states having slate
boards of education the number con
stituting a board ranges from seven to
thirteen members. Boards of this
size, with continuity of service provid
ed, are generally considered as satis- .
factory in size for working efficiency.
Neither too large nor too small a board
is desirable—U.S. Bureau of Education.
NORTH CAROLINA’S BONDED DEBT
As of February 7, 1927 ’
The following table based on data supplied by the State Treasurer as
reported by the Bank of America shows the bonded debt of our state govern
ment as of February 7, 1927. The table gives the date of issue, amount,
purpose, interest rate, and date of maturity of each issue.
Total bonded debt $144,168,531. Amount retired $766,932.
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina.
Date of issue Amount
of the city and county jails averaged
about $200 and $3,042 respectively per
year for the three-year period. The
county convict camp was erected in
1926 at a cost of $96,000. This is a
brick building, well-arranged, and one
of the finest in the state. The convicts
are used primarily for road work and
rock quarrying. With the number of
convicts in the county camp ranging
from 75 to 350 in the period studied,
there is reason to believe that tbe
camp produces a favorable yearly
balance: For Durham county the ad
ministrative functions in connection
with crime cost the county approxi
mately $76,000 annually.
The main points in connection with
the, findings in the study are: The
police department forms the bulk of
the administrative cost of crime, con
stituting as it does from seventy-five
to eighty percent of the total adminis
trative cost (as was found to be true
in the recent Missouri Crime Survey).
The immediate suppression and control
of crime depend upon a reformed court
procedure as well as upon a liberal out
lay of money for the police and penal
departments, an expenditure sufficient
to produce in those departments the
maximum of efficiency which in due
time shall result in a lower figure than
now stands for the cost of crime.—A
review of the Administrative Cost of
Crime with special Reference to Dur
ham County by Lee M. Brooks.
I July, 1909
' July, 1910
July, 1911
1 July, 1911
: Jan., 1913
, July, 1913
I July, 1917-
I 1920
: July, 1917
July, 1917
i
: Jan., 1921-
! 1923
' July, 1921
$600,000.00
3,430,000.00
250,000.00
60,000.00
650,000.00
1,142,600.00
1,368,600.00
75,000.00
26,000.00
26,000,000.00
4,652,600.00
Interest
Purpose rate
percent
State Hospitals 4
Refunding 4
State Building 4
School for Feeble-Minded.... 4
Refunding 4
Improvement 4
Educational and C^haritable
Institutions 4
Caswell Training School .... 4
Training School for Girls and
Women 4
Highway Construction
Highway Construction 6
Jan. 1, 1923 1,250,000.00 Highway Construction
Jan. 1,1923 3,750,000.00 Highway (^Construction ....
Jan. 1,'1924- 40,000,000.00 Highway Construction 4;^
1927
Jan., 1925 447,400.00 Highway Construction 4/G
Dec. 15, 1926 10,300,000.00* Highway Construction 4‘4
July, 1921 3,372,000.00 Educational and Charitable
Institutions • 6
Jan. 1, 1922 3,373,000.00 Educational and Charitable
Institutions
Oct. 1, 1923 3,049,000.00 Educational and Charitable
Institutions 4j^
Oct. 1, 1923 7,100,000.00 Educational and Charitable
Institutions 4H
Jan, 1, 1926 5,125,000.00 Educational and Charitable
Institutions
Oct. 1, 1923 500,000.00 Public Improvement (Fish
eries) . 4^
Jan., 1922-23, 10,000,000.00 Special School Building Serial 43^ ‘
1926
Feb. 15, 1922 4,600,000.00 State Funding Serial * 5
July 1, 1926 9,438,531.61 General Funds A\i
Jan. 1, 1927 5,000,000.00 Public School Buildings 4>^
*Notes given in anticipation of sale of bonds and will be
bonds are sold.
Maturity
July 1, 1949
July 1, 1960
July I, 1961
July 1, 1961
Jan., 1963
July, 1963
July, 1924-
1938
July, 1927
July, 1927
Jan., July,
1932-19^2
July, 1931.
1941, 1961
and 1961
Jan., 1933-
1937
Jan., 1938-
1962
Jan., 1930-
1964
July, 1951
July 1, 1927
July, 1961
Jan., 1962
Oct. 1, 1963
Oct. 1, 1963
Jan., 1966
Oct. 1, 1963
Jan., 1927-
1960'
Feb., 1937,
1942, 1947
and 1952
July 1, 1927-
1936
Jan. 1, 1932-
1961
retired when