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.
NOVEMBER 7, 1928
CHAPEL HILL. N. C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XIV, No. 50
BdUorial Board. E. C. Branson. S. H. Hobbs, Jr.. P. W. Wager. L. R. Wilson. E. W. Knight. D. D. Carroll. H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-class matter November 14. 1914, at tb; Postoffice at Chapel Hill. N. C.. under the act of August 24, 1
TELLS OF NORTH CAROLINA
The human element has played a far
greater part in North Carolina’s recent
development than its material re
sources, great though they are. We
have not built roads, schools, factories
and other monuments to our substantial
prosperity simply for the sake of seeing
what could be accomplished with con
crete, steel and stone, when backed by
dollars. Our growth though necessarily
the result of money available, indicates
something deeper than material pros
perity. We regard this remarkable
growth as an effect rather than a
cause, for the real cause is hidden in
the hearts of our citizenry, which, I
firmly believe, places spiritual values
above material success.
North Carolina has had the foresight
to properly coordinate its resources
and direct its activities. Our advance
ment has not been along haphazard
lines, bat with definite purposes in
view, chief among which has-been ser
vice to humanity. Oar program has
been a balanced program. We have
built roads, to be'sure, but we did not
neglect education to do this. At the
same time, there was no, cessation in
our activities in behalf of the weak
and unfortunate.
Education, in its broadest sense, has
done more than any other factor to
bring our state to the forefront, and
the external evidences of education are
based upon something deeper than that
which appears on the surface. True
enlightenment goes further than the
erection of school houses and the em
ployment of competent teachers. It
inspires a'will to serve humanity as a
whole.
North Carolina’s chief aim has not
been to outdo any neighbor states, but
to improve its own opportunities and,
therefore, to help others. Our inter
ests are diversified. Not only do we
believe ia and strive to encourage
diversified farming, but diversified
industry as well, and diversified educa
tion.
Agriculture
In agriculture we are no longer de
pendent on any one crop. In 1927, our
agricultural products, including live
stock, were worth $441,168,000, and we
ranked seventh in the valufe of all
crops and sixth in the value of^22 lead
ing crops. Between 1920 and 1926,
when there was a terrific slump in the
number of farms throughout the United
States, North Carolina showed a net
gain in the number of its farms of
something like 13,000 and was elevated
to the rank of second state in the
Union, with only Texas leading. From
corn last year our farmers realized
$46,871,000; from wheat, $7,344,000;
from peanuts, $4,872,000; from Irish
potatoes, $4,747,000, from sweet pota
toes, $9,944,000; and so on. Dur
ing the last five years our farmers
have shipped, in cooperation^’with the
State Department of Agriculture and
the county agents, 10,000,000 pounds^!
of live poutry, at good prices, in car-
lots, while we are looking! toward a
material increase in the dairy cow
industry. ^
Aside from educational advancement.
North Carolina’s greatest progress has
been marked by the building of de
pendable highways, for which $116,-
000,000 has been authorized by the
state since 1921. Through this and
federal aid, our state system'now ex
tends between 7,000 and 8,000 miles,
and the financing system calls for no
tax on real estate or personal property.
Besides the state system, there^are ap
proximately 66,000 miles ofj ..county
roadways.
Industry
We have in North Carolina more
cotton mills than any other state in the
Union, and the output from them ranks
second in value. They consume about
1,600,000 bales of cotton annually,
which is considerably more than we
produce. A-. compared with $68,000,-
000 in 1900, the manufacturing estab
lishments of North Carolina now rep
resent a total investment of con
siderably morethan$l,000,000,000, com
pared with $669,000,000 in 1920. The
aggregate annual output from these
factories equals the amount invested.
These factories employ approximately
186,000 workers, whose income is, iu
round figures, $136,000,000 yearly.
There are more debt-free homes in
North Carolina than in any other state
in the Union.
Another distinction enjoyed by North
Carolina is in value added to raw
materials by manufactures, which runs
to $499,727,125. Ten leading industries
show outputs for 1927 as follows:
Textiles and their products, other than
knit goods, $426,233,696; tobacco, $413,-
274,114; lumber, including planing
mills, $64,062,615; furniture, $63,561,-.
221; fertilizer, $18,293,687; flour and
meal, $18,201,642; cottonseed oil, cake-
and meal, $17,612,879: leather, tanned
and cured, $16,406,364; car construction
and repairs, $14,447,443; printing and
publishing, $12,269,226. '
North Carolina’s rank in water
power development among -the states
of the Union is fourth. The output of
its power plants is 1,730,861,690 kilo
watt hours and its output by water
power is 1,625,278,670 kilowatt hours, j
The state ranks first in the number ;
of native minerals, with 289, and in the ;
value and quantity of scrap mica, 43
percent of the United States, and i
feldspar 44 percent of the United i
States, produced in residual kaolin clay. |
While the entire South produces 60 i
percent of the nation’s lumber. North I
Carolina’s forest products amount an
nually in value to $100,000,000. This
is well in keeping with the total
amount received for its cotton or
tobacco, the’ two major crops. West
ern North Carolina’s hardwood and
Eastern North Carolina's pine and gum
are among the state’s richest assets.
Wealth Gains
Tremendous increase in per capita
wealth has been noted in the state dur
ing the last two decades. Taking the
1912-1922 period as an example, this
A COUNTY LIBRARY
What is a county library? It is a
free lending library, maintained by
the county, with books and mag
azines for everybody in the county.
How is the library supported?
Tne county library is usually sup
ported by a small tax, sometimes by
an appropriation from the general
funds.
How is it managed? It is managed
by experienced librarians, whose
knowledge of books is at the service
of all who care to use it. Also by a
county library board, serving with
out pay, or directly by the county
commissioners.
How is it established? In most
states, by the county commission
ers, or other governing bodies, in
some states by popular vote, as pro
vided by the state law.
How does it work? Headquarters
and central library are usually main
tained at the county seat, or in some
other large town. Branch libraries,
which are equipped to meet the
needs of readers and students, ar-e
maintained in all important towns
and villages.
How does it distribute books? By
mail service on all rural routes, book
collections in all rural schools, pos
sibly a book truck, branch libraries
on wheels for the smallest com
munities.
What kind of books? All kinds
of books, stories, biographies, plays
and magazines, books that help with
school or farm work.—The Enter
prise.
great industrial development is based 1 nomination, that 2,760,000 more do not
on water power, and it is important | go to any Sunday school, and that the
that our rivers have a fairly constant i trend is not improving but is going
from bad to worse.
The above and additional facts prove Here is a handful of sound facts on
that North Carolina is favorably lo- ^he same situation: Only ohe-fiflh of
cated in a geographic area that is hard-! the rural population goes to church,
ly surpassed on earth when all the Two-fifths of the rural churches of the
climatic factors combined are con
sidered in terms of their economic
values.
Availability
Within a six-hundred-mile radius
from the center of North Carolina lie
nearly all of the chief cities of eastern
United States. A study recently made
: by the Life Insurance Sales Research
Bureau shows that a circle with a
radius of six hundred miles from
central Carolina contains 66.8 per
cent of the nation’s purchasing power,
while a similar area centered on New
York City contains only 44.6 percent
of ihe nation’s purchasing power.
country are st^inding still or losing
ground.
A quarter of all rural churches have
no Sunday school. One-fifth of all
rural churches are kept alive by home-
mission aid. Of these subsidized
churches, a large number are in active
competition with churches of very
similar doctrines.
Seven out of every ten rural churches
have wnly a fraction of a pastor
apiece.
One-third of all rural pastors receive
so low a*galary that they can live only
by working at some other occupation.
One-half ol the rural churches of the
country make an annual gain in mem-
In other words, any part of North | U^/bamRuraf^ ii’uch
Carolina is less than one day’s railroad i international.
as 10 percent.—
others, will appear in the Club Y^ear-
Book. The following are a few of the
points developed.
Geographic Divisions
The -State is about evenly divided
into two great regions, the western
increase was 238 percent, as compared j half being of igneous origin, the east-
with 61 percent for the nation as a
whole. The state’s property value is
placed- in excess of $6,000,000,000, as
compared with $681,000,000 in 1900 and
$4,600,000,000 in 1926, while federal
ern half being of sedimentary origin.
These two geologic regions in turn are
each divided into two geographic areas:
the tidewater, and western coastal
plains of the east, and the piedmont
tax collections for the year ending I ai^d Carolina highlands of the west.
June 30, 1928, totaled $226,316,303. ■ As a result of ouf wide range in
Bank resources increased from $160,- elevation from below sea level to 6,711
000,000 in 1914 to over $600,000,000 in, feet above, tlie wide range of geologic
1927, a gain of 230 percent in about a ( formations, and the great variety of
dozen years, while the banking re- [ soils, the state has a varied economic
sources of the United States increased j foundation, a great variety of plant
slightly more than 100 percent in the j life, and a great variety of minerals,
last 20 ye'ars. | It is said that only Florida has a larger
North Carolina has the oldest state variety of plants, and perhaps no state
university in America, located at Chapel
Hill and founded in 1789, while other
institutions for higher learning
eluded five colleges for white students
and six for colored; also there are 32
privately operated colleges for white
and seven for colored students.
North Carolina is more than 99,^
percent pure American stock, these
people having as their background
some of the finest sections of Anglo-
Saxon Europe. The foreign influx
has been slow and at no time has it
proved threatening to home industries.
Such"foreigners as we have are orderly
and industrious and have not given any
cause for concern.
Briefly, I have endeavored to point
out several outstanding facts, which
I believe are easily substantiated:
First, that-North Carolina has been
impelled by proper motives; second,
that it has utilized its natural resources
to the best advantage with a view to
spiritual as well as material values; and,
third, that the spirit which pervades
North Carolina is not one of selfish
ness. So long as these conditions pre
vail, we shall continue our forward
march.-Gov. A. W. McLean, in Manu
facturers Record.
GEOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGES
The Geographic Advantages of
North Carolina were discussed by Prof.
S. H. Hobbs, Jr., at the first meeting
of the North Carolina Club. The Club,
composed of faculty members and
students at the University who are
interested in the economic and social
conditions of the state, is beginning its
fifteenth year^of bi-weekly meetings.
This year the Club is devoting its at
tention to the rural end of North Caro
lina's civilization. The initial paper
was designed to . show the physical
background of our state s civilization.
The paper in full, along with thirteen
a larger variety of minerals. North
Carolina is a state of variety. The
claim is often made that she could be
as self-contained as any state in the
Union,
Temperature and Rainfall
The mean average temperature of
the state varies from sixty-three de
grees in the southeastern part to fifty
degrees in the northwestern corner.
The bulk of the state has a mean aver
age annual temperature of from fifty-
seven to sixty degrees, and no part
suffers from extreme heat or cold
Our average temperature is about
fifteen degrees above that of the Penn-
sylvania-Massachusetts section. Our
July normal is about the same as the
July normal for New York, while our
January normal is around fifteen to
twenty degrees above the New York
nomal. Our warmer winters give us
great economic advantages, among
which are cheaper living costs and un
hampered transportation.
Sunshine and Rainfall
In the number of fair days North
Carolina compares very favorably with
any other state. Our winter resorts
are the produces of Carolina sunshine.
An. unfamiliar advantage of North
Carolina is that in the winter our days
are about'"fifty minute^ longer than in
the Pennsylvania-Massachusetts sec
tion, while in the summer when the
sun’s rays are enervating, and too
much sunshine is a liability, the sun
shines about fihy minutes less in North
Carolina than in the section referred to
above.
In the volume and distribution of
rainfall. North Carolina is particularly
favored. Our average annual pre
cipitation is about fifty inches a year,
and is fairly evenly distributed both by
geographic areas and by seasons.
This is'highly important, not only agri
culturally, but industrially, since our
travel from the nation’s chief centers
of population and industry—a con
sideration which according to the Duke
Power Company counts heavily in the
distribution and marketing of manu
factured goods.
The Duke Power Company further
says that this section possesses an
enormous advantage in freight rates.
Raw materials can bq made up into
finished pioducts in central Carolina
close to the source of supply and shipped
from this section to all parts of the na
tional market far more cheaply than
when the raw materials are first hauled
to New York and vicinity, and the_n,
after manufacture, reshipped to the
original areas.
The above contention appears to be
amply substantiated by what is now
happening in the textile industry. The
South is rapidly pulling away from the
North in textile leadership. Seventy-
one percent of the nation’s active
spindle hours are now contributed by
the South. North and South Carolina
both lead Massachusetts, while Georgia
now ranks alongside Massachusetts in
active spindle hours. Ninety-six '>per-
cent of U^orth Carolina’s spindles are
in operation, while only half of the
spindles in place in Massachusetts are
actually in operation, and Massa
chusetts has lost two million spindles
during the last four or five years.
The same principle largely explains
why North Carolina has a big monopoly
in the manufacture of pipe and cigar
ette smoking tobacco, and 'stands high i
in the manufacture of furniture, and
also why the new rayon industry, al
ready grown to giant proportions, is
concentrating in this geographically
fa'vored region.
North Carolina suffers a severe
handicap in the realm of availability,
due to the lack of a deep-sea port and
an east-west trunk-line railroad. Fortu
nately, however, this is a handicap
that can be remedied by our state
whenever it sees fit to act.
THE RURAL CHURCH
RELIGIOUS BODIES PROSPER
The church people of the state should
feel encouraged over the facisrevealed
by the 1926 census of religious bodies
just released by the Census Bureau.
The more important statistics for the
year 1926 are reported below, along with
the corresponding data for 1916.
There are now sixty-seven religious
bodies in the state, compared with fifty-
seven reported in 1916. Eight de
nominations reporting ten years ago
are not reported in the recent census.
Some of these have joined other de-
nominatjjins, while others are out of
existence. There are eighteen new de
nominations not reported in 1926. Some
of these denominations were created
by divisions in denominations shown as
units a decade ago.
There has been a marked gain in
church membership, the increase being
three hundred and twenty-six thousand
or thirty percent, which is twice the
percent gain in population for the same
period.
The females outnumber the males in
church membership by more than two
hundred thousand. There are three
female members for every two male
members.
Churches, unlike schools, are not
consolidating. There were three hun
dred and forty-eight more church build
ings' in 1926 than ten years earlier.
The value of church property showed
a remarkable increase. Counting
church buildings and parsonages the
church property in the state is now
valued at more than ninety million dol
lars. We have a larger investment in
churches than we have in public
schools—larger by six million dollars in
1926. Our annual investment in church
buildings has just about kept pace with
our annual investment in public schools.
The church debt is reifferkably small
compared with the total investment in
church property.
Church expenditures for the year
1926 were nearly eighteen million dol
lars. Our church expenditures were
eight-tenths as much as the cost of
operating the public schools of the
state, notwithstanding the fact that
much church work is done gratuitously
while nearly all public school work is
paid for.
It is interesting to note that the en
rollment in Sunday schools outnum
bers the enrollment in public schools
by more than a hundred thousand.
Another noteworthy fact is that there
are four-and-a-half times bs many
Sunday school teachers and officers in
North Carolina as there are public
school teachers, principals, and super
intendents. Counting preachers, there
are five times as many official church
A survey of. 179 counties in the
United States mai^ by the Social and
Religious Institute of New York City . .
led the Institute to make the state-, P™
4. 4.U 4. 1 enn nnn # u-u i- ple on the public school payroll,
ment that 1,600,000 farm children live it. . v j i- •
.... ... - Churches may be declining or stag-
in comrauntities where there is no; nant in other states, but not so in
church or Sunday school of any de- j North Carolina.
RELIGIOUS STATISTICS FOR NORTH CAROLINA
Item 1926 1916
Churches (local organizations).. 10,297 9,713
Members 1,406,883..
Male.
Female
Sex not reported
Church edifices:
Number
Value: J
Churches reporting .
1,080,723
666,821 424,674
767,366..
93,707..
699,606
66,644
9,692..
9,244
9,397..
9,046
Debt:
Amount reported..... $80,471,664 $26,623,323
Churches reporting 1,626..
Amount reported $7,714,936..
1,382
$1,806,437
Parsonages:
Value:
Churches reporting 1,860..: 1,322
Amount reported $9,738,630 $3,077,203
Expenditures during year:
Churches reporting 9,610,
Amount reported $17,904,444
Sunday schools:
Churches reporting...
Officers and teachers
Scholars
9,118
6,126,046
8,829..
91,369..
8,625
69,699
963,163 739,216