PAGE FOUR THE CONCORD TIMES PUBLISHED MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS Entered ae second class mail matter at th« post office at Concord, N. C., under the Act of Marc 8, 1879. . J B. SHERRILL. Editor and Publisher W. M. SHERRILL, Associate Editor Special Representative: • FROST. LANDIS & KOHN New York. Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City. San Francisco, Los An*elee and Seattle OUR GAIN IN HIGH SCHOOL PU PILS. High schools in North Carolina sine* 1910 have experienced a remarkable growth. This development is evidenced very clearly in a comparison between enroll ments in 1910 and 1925-26. In the former yea i there were only 12.470 pupils enroll ed In all North Carolina high schools whatsoever, whereas the enrollment for the year 1925-26 was 89,469, including white and colored, urban and rural, pub lic and private. An increase of 79999 pupils, or 018 per cent, in 15 years! In 1910-11 only 2.3 per cent, of the total school enrollment was in high school; in 1925-26 11 per cent, was found in the four upper grades. These figures we found in a recent is sue of School Facts, which shows fur ther that the number of graduates during this decade and a half soared from 510 to 11,352. It is gratifying to note that of this number graduating year before last, only 392 finished non-standard high schools. The indications are that dur ing the next session the non-standard group will be reduced considerably. At the close of the session 1925-26 there were, in all, 543 accredited high schools, an average of over five for every county in the State! When Shiloh in Camden County was added to the accred ited list during that year each of the 100 counties had at least one standard high school, the number ranging from one in Camden to fourteen in Buncombe. Os the 543 accredited high schools, 479 were public and 64 were private. Os the 479 public high schools there were 453 white and 26 colored. These 26 colored high schools together with 23 colored pri vate high schools made a total of 49 ac credited high schools for the Negro race in North Carolina —exactly one-third as many as there were for the whites in 1920, three times as many as in any other Southern State, and about one-fourth as many as all Southern States combined. There are two significant features in connection with the figures showing the distribution of enrollment bv grades in 1924-25 and 1925-26. During 1925-26, there were 6,282 more pupils enrolled in public high schools than during the preceding year, an in crease of 9.35 per cent. Os this number there was an increase of 6,367 in the rural high schools and a decrease of 85 in the city systems. This divergence can be ex plained partially by the fact that about a dozen of the smaller city systems, on ac count of administrative advantages, have surrendered their charters and have been included in the rural group. But, even now, only 10.3 per cent, of pupils enroll . ed in rural schools are in high school, whereas in the cities the percentage is 21. An examination will show further that the percentage of pupils enrolled in the various high school grades for the years 1924-25 and 1925-26 is almost identical, the ratio of pupils in the 9th and 10th grades being precisely the same. Dur ing 1925-26 there were .2 of one per cent, less pupils enrolled in the eighth grade than during the preceding school year, but this inequality is leveled up in the eleventh year. In comparison with national averages for 1923-24, the latest available figures, this distribution of pupils in the public high schools for white children appears quite favorable. According to the reports of the U. S. Bureau of Education for that year, there was in North Carolina a high er percentage of pupils in the third and fourth y ears of high school than the nat ional average. In 1915-16 only about one pupil out of six entering high school in North Caro lina graduated four years later. In 1925- 26 approximately one-half of those enter ing finished. Approximately three times as many pupils proportionately graduat ing from high school in 1925-26 than was . the case a decade before! There are thirty (30) high schools in the State with one teacher each, and the enrollment in these 30 schools is 738. This is almost precisely one per cent, of the total enrollment in public high schools. There are 70 schools with two teachers each with an enrollment of 3,012 or 3.1 per cent, of the total enrollment in high school. There are 117 high schools with three teachers each with an enrollment of 7- 262 pupils and 138 schools with four teachers each with an enrollment 'of 11,- 602. In these 255 schools with three and four teachers 18,864 pupils are enrolled. They constitute about 25 per cent, of the total enrollment. There are 94 schools with five teach ers each, having an enrollment of 10 2] 1 students; 69 schools with six teachers each, having an enrollment of 8,052; 28 schools with seven teachers each, having an enrollment of 4,125; 19 schools with eight teachers each, having an enrollment of 3,195; 18 schools with nine teachers having an enrollment of 3 556 'W UP IN THE AIR ABOUT A SUCCES SOR. Prominent Republicans, representing various elements in theXparty organiza tion, have been out to see the President and after the conference expressed the belief and hope that he will accept the nomination if he sees the people of his party want him more than any one else. These men, some of the biggest in the Republican party, do not say the Presi dent wants to run. They do not say he wants the nomination but they do say he will make the race if he sees his party wants him badly enough to place him above all others. We believe these leaders are trying to persuade Mr. Coolidge to run again be cause they can’t agree on anybody else. In other words they are afraid he is the only man they can elect. Take the situation in North Carolina for example. Three of the leading Re publicans of the State have discussed the matter of finding a successor to the Pres ident and they are nowhere alike in their predictions. Neither are they agreed as to the kind of man to be chosen. The situation no doubt is the same in other States, leading to an uncertainty that makes the leaders desperate in their ef forts to make Mr. Coolidge run at least once more. William G. Bramham, recognized as one of the leaders of the G. O. P. in Tar heelia, can see nothing but former Gov ernor Lowden. He predicts that the Re publican party in this State is “over whelmingly for Gov. Frank Lowden for President.” * And there’s Hon. David H. Blair, com missioner of internal revenue and with more power perhaps than any other man in the party in North Carolina, who does not mention Lowden in his summary of what is going to happen now that Mr. Coolidge has indicated that he might not enter the race. “The Republicans of North Carolina are for Mr. Coolidge to day with the same degree of enthusiasm and loyalty as they have manifested in the past.” Here’s another proof that the leaders in Washington are doing every thing possible to keep the President at the head of the party. And then we turn to another leader, Hon Brownlow Jackson, chairman of the State Republican executive committee, and find him not so certain about the President entering the race but certain that a man of the Coolidge type is the one needed. “If Calvin Coolidge is definitely and finally out of the Presidential race the Republican party is going to seek as a presidential nominee that man who will most closely follow President Coolidge’s policies.” That is rather indefinite for no one knows now who that man may be. The President has his party in the air, and we still hold to the belief that he wasn’t certain about not entering the race when he used the unfortunate word “choose” in discussing his future action. GOVERNMENT BY THREAT. Dollars to doughnuts Sacco and Van zetti never die in the electric chair for the murder of which they were convict ed. For seven years this case has dragged through the courts of the United States and the example thus set is certain to in fluence criminals throughout the United States. Americans should hang their heads in shame at this spectacle of court movement. We don’t know enough of the cast to determine the guilt or innocence of the men. That matter was left with a jury, and the jury found them guilty. Then started the technical proceedings that have kept the case and men alive for seven years, proceedings that are cal culated to breed contempt for the courts and our system of government. Government by threat is what the rad icals want and they have given in this case a clear demonstration of their atti tude toward constituted authority. They would brow beat our officials into sub mission. They would cow the American government. We do not argue that Sacco and Van zetti should be electrocuted simply be cause of their radical tendencies and ut terances, but certainly they have said things that rob them of the right of any consideration. They have preached an archy in every utterance issued since their conviction. They have supported mob rule in their utterances. They have denounced the government, its officials and its courts. They talk about being crucified simply because a jury, several judges and a committee of three, compos ed of two college presidents and a former judge, decided they were guilty. Is the American government to follow the same proceedure in all future cases in which anarchists are at the bar? Are we going to submit to the threats of these aliens? Are we going to trem ble at the sight of bombs and marching protestators? If this is to be our course of action we might as well turn over affairs anarchists. We can’t have good govern ment by intimidation. We can’t have justice in the courts if we are to quake and tremble every time bomb outrages and other threats of violence are held up before our eyes. Sacco and Vanzetti have been given every due consideration. They have been treated far better than the average prison er at the bar. They have done everything possible to defeat the court sentence and they should pay the penalty. We can’t afford to compromise with radicalism. Better to let crime run ram pant than to have court farces such as this. We not only should see that the court sentence in this case is carried out but we should see to it that those persons who have resorted to violence As a means of gaining an end should likewise be ar rested and tried. Just think of allowing* several hundred persons to march through an American street shouting, “mob the police!” Just think of showing any undue considera tion to men who having been convicted of murdering another man, are allowed to denounce our officials as murderers, to censure our government and preach from our jails the dangerous creeds of an archy. If we give an inch of ground in this case we will pay for it in further mur ders, in more serious rioting, in more dev astating demonstrations against consti tuted authority. THE DARK SIDE TO THE PIC TURE. Again North Carolina leads the nation in births. Babies were born in North Carolina during the .year 1926 at the rate of 28.8 per 1,000 inhabitants, a rate higher than that of any other State, and a survey of the records show that this is the seventh consecutive year North Carolina has led in births. - North Carolina not only produced more babies per inhabitant than any- other State during 1926, but it produced more native born children than any other State. Based upon the birth rate for 1926, the foreign born population of the State is only two-tenths of one per cent., this being a figure that cannot be ap proached by any other State in the Union. We have a right to be proud of this record, but our pride should not make it impossible for us to see the dark side of this birthrate picture—a darkness brought about by illegitimate births. Concerning the illegitimate births The Charlotte Observer says: “During the year 1926, the State gave to 4,>529 illegitimate children, or a little more than six per cent, of the total of 82,459 births. Inasmuch as there were eight counties which registered no ille gitimate births whatever, these figures mean that there was an average of 50 children born out of wedlock in the re maining 92 counties of the State. One of the most striking facts connected with the issuance of these figures is that all the eight counties which contained no illegitimate births were in the eastern sec tions of North Carolina. The counties referred to are Dare, Gates, Hyde, Jones, Northampton, Pamlico, Perquimans and Warren. If there are those who would believe that illegitimacy is confined to the negro race, let him be reminded that the counties above mentioned contain large negro populations. “ These* are not pleasant facts. Os all the editorials patting ourselves on the back for our wonderful showing, The Observer has not seen one which dared speak of the one ugly feature of the re port. Statistics are not available but if they were would North Carolina rank high in this respect? Tfie probable an swer is not pleasant to think of. An av erage of 50 children born out of wedlock annually in every county! This, North Carolinians, is a problem, which is suffic ient to challenge the best that is in us I” The figures carried in The Observer do not give the total illegitimate births by counties, but enough has been said to show that illegitimate births have been reported in 92 counties in the State. The total for Cabarrus, as reported, is about 15 to 20 a year, and all of these are not among the colored race, although the number among the negroes is larger than among the whites. No doubt many of the illegitimate berths are aever reported and the total no doubt is much higher than that given in the official figures. Especially among negroes many illegitimate births are not reported, since many of the mothers are not attended by physicians or midwives. Too many of our babies die before they are a year old, too. In this matter we are lacking, as we are in saving the lives of many mothers at childbirth. There is a bright side to the picture, to be sure, but there is a dark side also, and to rem edy this we should give special attention. SETTING HISTORY STRAIGHT. Friends of General Leonard Wood, who entered the Army service as a med ical officer and rose to the highest ranks th iJ 7,' ne ’” often char s ed during the World War that President Woodrow Wilson refused to send General Wood to France. During the training period General Wood had charge of the 80th Division, but when the division was ordered to was removed as its- command ing officer and was detained for work in the United States. Immediately there were charges that for political reasons President Wilson had kept General Wood at home. These THE CONCORD TIMES i charges were heard again during the ~ presidential campaign just after the war ’ when General Wood sought the Republi [ can nomination. Now the truth has come to light and i according to General Wod himself Pres - ident Wilsqn had nothing to do with i where he was detailed to serve. Friends of Mr. Wilson declared all along that the : President did not detail the officers, this : being a matter for General Pershing and i his staff to decide, but the rumor would i not die, and many there were who cen • sured Mr. Wilson. A letter written by General Wood in [ 1918 just after he had learned that he i would not go to France, sets the matter : right. General Pershing and not Presi • dent Wilson ordered General Wood to r remain in the United States, and we do » not doubt that General Pershing thought i General Wood would be of greater value in the training camps in America than on • the battle front in France. The letter written by General Wood , to Thompson R. Shipp, a personal friend . and held until after the General’s death, ■ reads: “My relief from the command of mj division was, of course, a very bitter dis appointment to me.' The Secretary of War informed me that it was made at General Pershing’s request that I be not sent to Europe. “The battle front in Europe is large enough for all the well trained soldiers of foreign armies, and it should be large enough for the few trained and experi enced officers we have, i “Everybody must subordinate his am bition to one single purpose, and that is the winning of the war. We need the . best that is in us to win.” The charges that President Wilson : was unfriendly to General Wood were ■ like many other charges made by his po ■ litical enemies—without foundation. THE NEWTON ROAD. The Newton paper, The Catawba News-Enterprise, speaking of the road situation in Catawba county, says : “But let nobody fear that a pick or shovel or a plow will ever be struck in any other route in Catawba county be tween the Catawba river and Newton or Conover until No. 10 is hard-surfaced. The day has not come, nor is it near, er big they may be, can set at defiance the Supreme Court of North Carolina.” This protest from the Newton paper no doubt results from reports that the State Highway Commission, despite a | decision of the Supreme Court ordering the road through Newton accepted as a State highway, plans to formally accept this road without paving it. Instead of paving this stretch on No. 10, the com mission it is said, will go head and pave the upper route where it wanted to build the road in the first place. The Supreme Court has laid down the law, but if these reports are to be accept ed the highway commission is going to violate the spirit of the law without vio lating the law. The law as interpreted bv the Supreme Court in this case, does not say two parallel roads cannot be tak en over as State projects. So, the com mission will take over for maintenance the road specified in the court decree and then pave the road that it favors. It should not be allowed to do this. The Supreme Court meant in its decision that Route 10 had been specified in the origi nal highway bill as a State project and that as such it must be accepted whether it suits the commission to do so or not. Acceptance of the route as a State high way implies that it is to be paved, since all other stretches of Route 10 are paved. The commission could pave the stretch in No. 10 and its pet upper road, too, but that would be a waste of mon -1 ey. There should be no parallel hard surfaced roads in this State until all of the important roads in every section have been paved. People all over the State pay the money that maintains the : highway department and one section is entitled to as much consideration as an other. We had an idea that the Supreme Court was the highest tribunal in the State, but since the highway commis sion has been in operation we almost have had to change this view. If the commission paves the upper route and leaves No. 10 as it now is, it should be cited for contempt of court. The public is entitled at once to this paved road but since the commission seems unwijling to accept any ruling not favorable to it, we would like to see a showdown now with the Supreme Court, and this stretch of No. 10 offers a fine op portunity for such a showdown. GREATEST CONSTRUCTION PE RIOD IN HJSTORY. The volume of construction operations now being carried on has never before been equalled. This is the indication drawn from statistics compiled by the Associated General Contractors of Am erica showing the total volume for the first seven months of this year to be ap preciably greater than the volume estab lished during the corresponding period of 1926 whefi all previous records were broken. The month of July developed a volume of construction four per cent, greater j than the vol.um* registered for June. The j July figure has been exceeded by only two other months, September, 1925, and July, 1926. Despite the fact that last month’s fig ure is below the total set for July, 1926, j the volume for the first seven months of this year is more than two per cent, greater than the volume registered for the same period in 1926. This condition 1 has been brought about by steady main tenance of a speedy pace since early in the year. These statistics cover all types of construction. A strong factor entering Into predic tions that 1927 will set a new record is found in the volume of contracts already awarded for operations to be undertaken in the near future. The June volume cf awards is the greatest ever registered for a single month, exceeding by four per i cent, the previous record, set in August, 1926. The total volume of contracts awarded during the first six months of 1927 is seven per cent, greater than the figures for the first six months of last ! year. A scale which places the 1913 average at 100 as its basis shows the index figure for the July volume of construction oper ations to be 221. WEALTH AND ILLITERACY. Julian Harris in his recent address to the North Carolina Press Association made a plea for the editors to fight illit eracy, prejudice and ignorance in the South. Quoting Walter Hines Page that a “South, illiterate, unhealthy, poverty stricken was a national peril,” the editor declared that “to that statement I would add that it is equally true that a South illiterate and intolerant, but wealthy, is a national menace.” “If you are tempted to reply that as soon as the South is wealthy, illiteracy and ignorance, which breed intolerance, will be wiped out, mv reply is that the South, even now, is rolling in wealth.” • Reciting a list of figures showing the great increase in recept years of wealth in the South, Mr. Harris said the South is nO longer poverty-stricken and unheal thy, “yet, illiteracy thrives, and preju dice and intolerance, often masked and hooded, usurps the law and administers justice with the lash.” KLUCKERIZING AGAIN. High Point Enterprise. An effort to revive and strengthen the Ku Klux Klan is being made in this state. Solicitation of i members is forward in High Point now. Klucker workers say they want 2,ooo_new members here. The old organization formed in the state dis integrated. Two well known North Carolinians who undertook grand dragonship came out in open antagonism after experience on the inside. First Major Bruce Craven, of Trinity, stepped out with his declaration of loss of faith; and then Judge Henry A. Grady broke with the klan. These defections of higher-ups have had some thing to do with reducing the ranks of the klan in,North Carolina but the gumption of the people who enlisted, we would like to believe, has had a greater influence. At any rate, the most gullible Tar Heel would not believe today the statement which emanated from Klan circles a few years ago to the effect that the kluckers could "elect or defeat any man for office" they chose to line up against or for in this state. With a national election coming on next year, we may assume that the $lO per recruit v hioh is lured from the pockets of the credulous is but one of the major purposes of the present membership drive. The national klucker chieftains doubtless waut some substance back of their politi cal meddling, as well as more money. The estate of the klucker leaders in the material sense is enviable, but that of the rank and file klucker is pitiable. He pays his $lO, gets his night-shirt and mask and his bromidic dosage of lofty and near-illiterate principles, and then senses anti-climax. Next, if he is an active sort of fellow, he begius to look about for somebody to klux, for to be a klucker without kluxing is, as he readily understands, a vanity. The natural result of this primitive cerebration is a flood of anonymous, threatening letters and possibly a few cowardly physical attacks ou men and women whose shoddy living makes them natural targets. Other eventual results are the arousement of the intelligent majority, a few’ jail sentences and another period of klucker desuetude. HEFLIN AGAIN BARRED. Durham Herald. A DeKalb. 111., Methodist church refused the use of its pulpit by Senator Heflin who wanted to deliver one of his well known speeches. That has given the Honorable Tom another text for delivery of some more attacks. He has lambasted the steward and pastor of that church for denying him the privilege of using the pulpit to deliver his usual tirade of political propaganda, just as when he was denied the use of the Asheville broadcasting station he ridiculously charged that the station was owned by the Catholics. If the Asheville broadcasting station was right in denying Heflin the use of its facilities for spreading his propaganda, and it was, how much more proper was the DeKalb church in denying him the use of its pulpit. The church did only what was proper, and should be commended for it. Os course, Heflin will rave about it, but that only adds to the justification of the church’s attitude. If the Alabama voters will only follow the good example that has been set and retire him from the senate so he cannot use that as a means for getting in the limelight, it won’t be long until Heflin will have dropped. out of the light per manently. / HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. r iV Charlotte News. It is not surprising here to find the facts in re gard to the growth of the high schools of the State ms just reported by the State Superintendent. If this development has been taking place over the State as rapidly as in this county, the statis tics furnished strike one as reasonable and con servative and to be expected as applying to the whole of North Carolina. A far more refreshing finding, however, is that more high school students are finishing their courses once they have entered these classes than formerly. That means a great deal, showing that the masses are getting more and a better kind of educa tion than formerly. Whereas they used to drop out when the ele mentary grades had been finished, they are seeing the high school grades through now and when a student completes this course in the schools of the State today, he is possessed with a fairly creditable amount of learning, provided,of course, he has applied himself. “A certain South American insect,” says one of the scientific magizines, “has a white light at its head and a red light at its tail.” And we had thought all along they came from Detroit.—New Pom*. ‘ L.., ’ . ' > ** Mon^. A J Gastonia | bneouragniß ■ cx .. tilP 9p ay>„ for cottons, ’ ' Xpe( -' tils s The head of thp *® reports that the ? has received c„tr ons tion that the v are'e^ attention to styling his opinion wfli fashion posit,,,., of *" W® Reports from other ® I fl npw k dpw >»*a® j somp respects the J^S® i WOm T realize the | new fine notions e ijj® In R05t,,,,. OIIP of ; editorially j„ „ po Thp Warning Paris to is> » V® j°ut that -the spa rks of^ I *® 1 »re flying prertv f a ’ art «t«M | Present.-and the hrrrJ^M mills has become Z ! wo ® an , of instead7?*9 , «nds of miles of a part r counters. < >ne Boston store t(mlr ■ fully styM wttenu tk >J mill as an experimentTo 'l cotton prints, lii n j te(l fully sold. Thev *re * . simplp crimen, I England cottons." th „ editorJT*'® ,s . pver . v good reason fa?*® enjoy wearing cotton best reason. For manT a symbol of good taste \il ® wear gold leaf wear eotton see women ,n cotton f or lite it themselves—fn r j ts beauty. The variety of attX® was never so great as it is England cottons make fashion textiles have done in succeed in capturing the L),M They are making and will intelligent effort..'’ pleasesmr^l Winston-Salem Sentinel. I . Mr - Citizen feels that the StatedM lina is taking a step in the rIM eliminating "joy riding" by Stoß the expense of the State. He cq® an intimation of conscientious policy of economy, and his belief J in the administration is State employees, with no mots J make trips for personal benefit it|J than any other citizen, have beesii® getting into their care,-keeping eJ traveling hither and yon. and toS when they get back. Last year, tea® dispatches, the State paid out&iljfl expenses to department headsandeajl of this money was spent on trips d business and some of it for personifl -the employees. 1 If North Carolina's administrate* J to effect a program of economy, ,the right, tack in watching ripen I own household. Just because Inr J the State gives him no license to «| money for his own uses. No monk president has the right Jo mak-pai the money intrusted to his iistititzl rons. Whoever is responsible for the» checking up on “joy riding” is to And the citizenship throughout tkk State will receive with deepest pz news that North Carolina's hire! as considered as other individuals rtai their personal pleasure. HORSE AVD BIGOI New York World. Up Sixth Avenue the other strange to behold. It was a te*l Moreover, it was a real old-fui®* buggy. The horse was a skituah dl unaccustomed to the city. Hf wj automobiles and appeared nerves* foot on the planking which covered*' for the new subway. Even wa< size, color and build as the gentlemen used to drive up the > 1 afternoon, the runty, goatish-lookag heads were always checked too small that every time he was breeching tightened the shafts r* ears and he looked as though * bodily from the ground. The box-bottom affair, with top. , socket all complete, maroon strapped over the bott. / And when the boys of Silt queer apparition did tbeystan « * they were looking at Rip * a:i . not. They seemed to k lo * ” about it. About a dozen ra • them managed to perch f° r * the boot-cover. About fifty .- , | and yelled lustily,. “Hey, the same time pointing e ® r of the outfit. And when the 1 J' „ out to* see what was *•' triumphant chorus, Thank God. the young H one fine old 1 TOURISTS tA Hickory Record. Mr. Adolph gathers th« “ *4 average tourist spends v takes his vacation, a- -a fair num r would leave the neat sub The subject is brou?b ,. nart3 Chamber of Commerce W terday m The Bail. speculation in regar Hickory . resort «J« rJ “Lake Hickory.’ **£***»< Hickory in sp lte ob p j eousies.) wicn i* That a tourist pop^j 1 has never been Q uestlP cents derived from ’j, vacationists there*is- who live in a communi. Pl There should be pjljijj attitude of the South £ Wi gard to pleasurable for water will be thrown there is no reason . 1 ls * first rate tourists hotels most immediately. There’s no use would descend upon stirring ourselves. c TO PITCH AND vfc Salisbury Post. Fr Prohibition f pen , coD fi«ca tei seized three mod s • a Bible, two entitled "Lost or W of poker chips and « n dv f o r leaat. the men There’s nothing . -pcni?to be .' u( <