The news in this publica
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below. No
credit need be given.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
Bureau of Elxtension of the Uni
versity of North Carolina.
DECEMBER 9, 1914
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. I, NO. 4
ISditorial Boards E. C. Braiisoli, *T. G. doli.
Hamilton, L. R. Wilson, Z. V. Jiidd, W. R.
WinttTs.
Enterkl as second'-c-la-s luatter November 14,
19U, at the postoffice at Chapel Hill, N.C.,
under the a(‘t of August 24.1912.
CAROLINA CLUB NOTES
The Carolina Club Scout
The Carolina Club Si'out l)Pen alield
.somewhat of lat(>—t'roni I’ilt (’i)iuily east-
waivl ai'idss-state to Stanly ami Mont
gomery Counties in the Yadkin N'alley
'f)iintry; 35 miles of the way in an open
^)Uggy in a lwo-«laj' .storm.
He has been mingling with the fanners,
tlie eoumy otiieials, the county fair
crowiis, anil tin' fourteen huiich'eil teaeh-
#rs at the Assembly in (Uiarlotte.
And he has been learning a lot of things
worth knowing and worth thinkingabout,
}iarl and long.
Early Risers
Kleven travelling men boarded the
train with 'him at t;reen\ille'the other
morning at 3:30 o’elock, and 14 othere
were astir with him at S o’eloek a week
later iu Charlotte.
The drummers have a hard job. The
men working on commissions in Southern
t'rritfiry are on short ration.? this fall.
But when tliey get together they are as
full of brave, cheerful chatter as a trw'-
full of Engli.sh magpies. 'I'he nuxleni
•drunuiier i.s a lineal descendant of the
•Oherryble brothers whom Dickens celtv
rated.
The Elect and the Elite
Overheard on the train coming out of
•Oreenville last week;
“That Farmers’ Union binichdoes not
represent the farmers of \orth (Vtrolina.
It i.s a corporal’s gnard anyway. These
fellows lack both common sense and busi
ness sense. They are Tieither ('lect nor
■elite."
We could not tell from tlie cut i.)f his
jib what hi.s craft was; but like a Hash, a
stranger butted in with—
“Maybe not, but neither was Gideon’s
Iband of three hundred; nor any of the (.)ld
Testament propliets, who were all kickers
and noisy disturbers of the public peace.
Blit such men were sorely needed then
and now. ’ ’
Result; silence for a sea.soii, while the
little group of business men wondered
whaC his kidney] was. W'hen he swung
ofi'w'ith his sanijile case at Wilson along
with most of tlie others at .six iu the morn
ing, somebrxly said;
“One of thos( (Jideon-Band chaps,
.maybe. ’'
Cover-Crops and Mortgages
There are more green cover crpi)s this
winter along the road from Guilford to
Mecklenburg than we have seen in this
section these twenty years or more.
We noted the same hopeful sign this
winter in Stanly County; but, alas and
alack, less ol it eastward from Kaleigh"
through the cottoji and tobacc^o counties!
Wint?r cov('r-crops and mortgages can
not lx‘ fashioni'd to fit the same fields.
Our Nine Lean Months
If along with incri'asing wheat anl oats,
-our winter fields could (everywhere bi“
green with rape and other-Toot cro])s.
■crimson and red-top clover, rye and vetcii.
we might hope for i>ermanent and not
merely seasonal prosperity in tin* cittou
belt.
TVien we might .safely toj)-otl'our crop
sy.stems with ham, bacon and Ix'ef, j>onl-
try, egg and butter iudustrie.s—at least,
to the extent of producing enough of
thesi* for home consuihption.
Then we ct>uld kwp at home the him--
•dred and twenty million dollars a year
that North Carolina now sends to aliens
and strangers in other states and .sn-tions
for food and feiKl stutf's that we do not
jaise at present.
Then our three fat months woukl not
"be followetl by the long, lean credit
imonths that w(‘ face year by year in the
>!C0tt0n and tobacco counti(“s of the South.
Sponging the Slate Clean
Fourteen hundrecl North Carolina
(teachers in Charlotte at the Assembly
Thanksgiving week, ln'ard our l'\xleral
,jmV)nnni.ssioner of Kducation, Dr. P. I’.
,'Claxton, tell about Kentucky’s Moonlight
Scliools, and how they have wi])wl adnlt
llittiracy off’ the map in Rowan County
in the Kentucky mountains.
He begged .\orth Carolina to organize
and go at the same problem, in the same
way, hanmier-and-tongsl
Superintendent E/,zel has already be
gun with one .'Moonlight School. His
teachers have promised him twenty-six
more'schools of this sort in Harnett.
There is mor> white . illiteracy in.forty-
three other counties of the State; fifty per
cent more in twelve othei- counties.
There may be such schools in some of
the.se other counti('s. If so. write us
about them. THE NK\\'S l.ETTKH
wants tf) celebrate them |iro|)erly and
proui[itly.
The Tip of the Tap-Root
Frc.an the kindergarten down to the
university, the devoted teachers assembkHl
in Charlotte last wet'k have been finger
ing tht' very tip of the tapTi'oot of reme-
i.lial agencies—education. They are bat-
tlmg with ignorance—the most defenseless
thing in tlie universe; and with indiffer
ence—the iuost appalling thhig!
The illiteracy of the ignorant is a far
easier thijig to cure than the undisturbed
complacency of the lettered classes in any
state.
It is hard to hel]> peoi>le who do not
know; but it is still haixl('r tJ> help peojile
who cannot or will not think.
Isaiah had both these elaswes in miml
when h(e cried out, "Israel doth not know ,
Israel doth not consider!”
And Jettersf>n was also keenly aware
tliat there is a lettered as well as an un
lettered variety of ignorance, when he
said, “if any nation ex])ects to be igno
rant and free, in a stah' of ci vili/.ation, it
expects wliat never was and never will be.
Illiteracy and Lettered Igno
rance
AVhatever it*? source, the education that
really educates begins, accompanies and
stipports every kind of .siK'ial prognws.
For a man and his family, or his com
munity and state, it means or ought to
mean a |uickening of .sense and intelli
gence, a wide-awakeness of mind, a
provident foresight. It means or ought
to mean a gain in understanding, hori
zon, and vision.
It means or ought to mean a j>ower to
think out things to safe conclusions, to
look ahead and see the ine\ itable rt'sult
of can.ses and conditions, to adjust ways
and means to ends, and to look about and
abroad sensibly for the forces and agen
cies that are ci.'eating tipportunities and
advantages on the one hand, or that, on
the other, are preying upon the health
and life^if the social grou]i.
It means oi- ought to mean a lc“s.sening
of ignorance, superstition and nai'rowness.
It means or ought to mean that i)eople
are less and less aftect«l by cant and
sham, foolishness and fraud.
It means all this—and nuu-h more.
But if it meajis anything less than this,
it is the expensive, sui>erficial, letti'rixi ig
norance that is little Ix'tter, or far worse
perhaps, than ignorance of the iudetterel
sort.
WHAT THEIR FATHERS ARE
According to tlu‘ [>rofe.ssion tir oci‘n]>a-
tion of their lathers, the students of the
L niversity of North ('arolina this year
are divided as follows;—l'’armers 289,
Jlerchants 132, Lawyers 68. Doctors 60.
Manufacturers 50, J’ublic officers ;-!0.
Minist(>rs 26, Real estate tlealers 23. In
surance agents 22. hmnber dealers IS,
Teachers 17, Railroad men 17, Hankers
17, Contractors 17, Tra\(‘lling salesmen
15. Druggists 12. Tobacco dealers 11,
Livery men 9, .Mei-hanics 7, Brokers 7,
Editors 5, Book-keeper's 4, l’rin(-rs 3,
Fishermens, Civil Kngincvrs 3. Car[.e.n-
ters 3, i.aliorers 3, Butchers 2. Nursery
men 2, .lewclers 2, I lotel kee]>ers 2. I^ngi-
neers 2, Chemi.st 1. I’hologra^'her 1, Pro
moter 1, Ma,son 1. Librarian 1. Black
smith 1, fndertaker 1. (*|)tician 1,
Ranchman 1. Roardiug-house ke*‘fier 1,
and Purchasing agent 1.
COUNTY LIBRARY SERVICE
The idea of extension sei vice is as ap
plicable to a city libi-arj- as to a >S(ate I’ni-
\'crsity so far as loaning books to coiujty
patrons is concernel. Mecklenburg coun
ty has lc.l iu tliis direction in North t'ai -
olina by giving, through its Board of
E(iucation, }i400 annu.-illy to thcChai lotte
t'arnegie Library, in return forwhicli the
)>rivileges of the libiary an* e.x.tended to
the citizens of the county.
THE SPIRITOF COMMUNITY
SERVICE WEEK
Joseph P. Caldwell
Nov, 6, 1902
It is a golden - opportunity for the
leaders of thfiught, for fireachers.
teachers, and statesmen; and they
will deserve well of their people and
of future genei'ations who end)rac(‘ it
and |ireach most ell'ectively the go.spel
of ciA'ic as well as peisonal virtue ami
lead men to the conti'uiplation of high
er things.
There could be nd nobler and)ition
in the br‘asl of a North Carolinian
than to do .sometbiug for North (*iiro-
lina.'aiid there was ncvi'r a lime when
more mitrht be done..
If those wlio love their State would
but unite theii' ettbrls now, when tlx'
public mind is undisturbed ami recep
tive, when safe political conditions are
establi.shed aud no danger threatens,
there woulii be inaugurated an era
like that in Home, of which was writ
ten ;
“Then none was for a party—
Then all were for the State:
Then the great man helped th‘ jioor.
And the poor man lovel the great.
Then lands were fairly [Xirtioned;
Then spoils were fairly sold;
Then the Romans were like brothers
In the brave days of old."
CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES
Tobacco Growing in North
Carolina
Our tobacco crop is produced by 24
8tate.s. Kentucky leads in total )iroduc-
tion in 1913. with 281.000,000 lbs. North
Carolina followed next with 167,000,000
lbs.
I!iU in ])cr-acre yielil. it is another
story. In this particular our i-ank is
20th in 1914.
'I'he ten-year aveiage yu'lds per acre in
the South (Federal Farmers’ .liulletin,
Nov. 23. 1914) are as follows;
Rank ]>er acre
1. Morida 83S pounds
2. Kentucky 830
3. (Ji'orgia 780
4. South (.laiolina 757 “
5. Tennes.sfv 756 “
6. Virginia 73S “
7. North (Carolina 6-‘!7 “
S. Texas 635 “
9. .^rkan.sas 629 “
10. .Uabania 549 “
11. Louisiana 491
In Pennsylvania. .\'t»w York, aU(^ W'i.s-
consin tin- average yield ]ier acre is
around 1.200 lbs; and in C'onnecticut,
Massachuselts, New Hampshire, and
N’ermont, aroimd 1,600 lbs. per acn'.
Tobacco is the most expensive of our
standard crojis. It ra(iidly exhausts our
soils. It eails for time, attention, and
concentratwl fertilizers in abundance.
It is pi-ofitable only where labor is cheap
01’the yield pei' acre is large.
For the.se reasons it is hard for farmers
to accumulate wealth in a tobacco grow
ing region. They handle money in
abundance in the fall; but it disappears
rapidly out of tiu' connnunity and leaves
•scarcely^a trace bi'hind.
The per capita wealth of the country
people in our nine leading tobacco comi
ties ranged from $191 to it^3S8. In Okla
homa, which grows no tf>bac(^o, the aver
age is S8S0 for the entire stattv
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 6
Ho’w North Carolina Ranks in
Corn Production
The 1914 crop is 56.700,000 bushels, or
nearly nine million bushels more than
the five-year_avei-ag(' since 1909.
In total pidduction our rank is sixth
among the 13 Southern States.
Our average per aere yield was 20 busli-
els, or 3 bushels more tlian in'1913, and
our rank was fourth.
The average per acre yieki for the Uui-
te(.l States in 1914 was 25.8 bn.
Rank Per acre
1. Kentucky 26 bushels
3. Tennessee 23.5 “
3, Virginia "'21 “
4. North Carolina 20 “
4. Texas '20 “
6. Louisiana 19.5 “
7. .South ('arolina IS.5 “
7. Mi.s.sisaippi 18.5 “
9. Arkan.sas 17.5 “
10. Alabama 17 “
11. Florida 16 “
12. (ieorgia 14.5 “
13 (Oklahoma 13.2 “
—From The Fe.ileralF^irmers'' Bulletin,
Nov. 23, 1814.
Back Home
Everyone who attended the Tc'achers’
Assembly at Chark)tte this [>ast week
feels amj)ly repaid for the e’xjienditnre of
time and money. The ever-present spirit
of |)eace and harmony, the beautiful
weather and the hospitality e.xten,led by
th(“ peo])le of that city all comliined to
aniu.se and maintain the spirit and inti'r-
e.st of the entire bod3\
What We Did
The high school pi-incipals and county
suiK'rintendents met first and for two
days considertnl theii' immediate prob
lems with the guidance of their respective
chiefs. By W'edne.sday night the vast
numbers of teachers had begun to a.sseni-
ble aud iiy Thursday we were in full
swing.
Coiumi.ssioner Claxtou rou.sed us all by
his inspiring add.resses at general sessions
as well as in the depaitmental meetings.
From far and near we received nnich
that will b(> of iuunc'diate value in our
.school work.
In various i>laces were exhibits and the
advocates - of Farm Life Schools and
w'ork in Domestic Scic'nee found much of
interest and jirotit in theirdemou.strations.
The various higher institutions got to-
gethe^'their sons and daughters for pur-
po.ses of eatiitg and fraternizing. The
ladies of Charlotte found time to entertain
us all most delightfully by nieans of the
r(>c>ption. Vai-ions aud smidry private
and semi-jirivate teas and luncheons
helped bning us all into closer unity.
H e met many of our fi-iends and we
formed new a«piaintance*s many of whom
we hope will Ix'come oiu- friends. We
had an opportunity to talk over our
liroblenis with otlan-s and we received
much dii’ect a.ssistance as well as inspi
ration for our daily task.
Prospect
.'VII in all w'e ha.l a I'oyal good time.
cadvi.se strongly that if anyone neg
lected hi go this year that they plan to go
next year. f »ver 1400 were present and
nearly a thousand of tla'm paid theii'dues
—after a special ami eloquent plea. To
neglect attending this annual iiKH^ing is
lik-e refusing to acc('pt the bounty of a
great haivest. Let’s all begin right no\T
to plan to go in 1915.
Let Us Know
The .School of P>lucation is anxious to
know what the schools of the State did
during Comnumity .-^erxice \Veek. What
was your i>rogress ? What community
8‘rvice did your .school render? How
many were pre.s(‘nt at your exercises ?
\\ as the effort your .school exerted worth
while ?
Tlie only way we can find out the value
of this sort of work is by hearing directly
from the t*achers. e wish you would
VI rite us a letter and tell us all you can
about the work in your scluxii. Next
.veai we can us** these rejiort^s in helping-
other schools to do as well as yours did
this year.
A DEBATE FOR SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC
DISCUSSION CLUBS
Immigration
Resolvei.1, That North t'arolina shoulil
adopt a vigorous policy f>f .securing, under
existing legal restrictions, Fjuropean iiu-
niigrantm.
Int«'est in the subject of immigration
in North (larolina has never been greater
than jusf at present. The State along
with the South in general is awaking to
the fact that it needs more workers to de
velop it\s vast undeveloi>ed resources and
to turn a great jiart of its agricultural
lands into the garden spot of .America.
Inh'rest, on rhe other band, is al.so cen-
teix'd oil the i|iu\stion of the political and
social etl'ects which the introduction of a
larg(» immigrant po|nilation wnuUI ha\e
uptJii the State. North Carolina has es
caped rhe turmoil which has frequently
followed the incoming of a large number
of uneducated foreigners and it boasts of
possc.s.sing the ]>urest strain of .\nglo-Sax-
on blood mm existant in America. For
literature on this question write to the
Bureau of lOxtension at C'lia]>el Hill, or
the North Carolina Library (^oninii.ssion
al Raleigh.
Affirmative Arguments
1. Immigration has generally been
beneficial to iIk^ UnitedStates politically.
Immigrants have exerted a salutary in-
tiuence on public affairs in that they have
furni.sluxl many wi.se political leailers and
have made virtuous and ]>atriotic citi
zens.
2. Imniigration in the past haslx-en
helpful .Socially. It has settled the West,
and has given vitality and energy to the
nation. It has contributed to American
life as a whole—and would contribute to
North Carolina life in |)articular—the best
(|ualities of the Kuropean races. Only
those likely to become good citizens are
admitt.ed under present laws.
3. Immigration has proven itself eco
nomically helpful. [t has enabled vast
enteiprises, such as riiilroads, canals, and
highways, to be carried out. It has per
mitted the rapid development of luitural
resources. A million Belgians in North
Carolina would add immensely to wealth
values in this State.
Negative Arguments
1. Immigi’ation has been politically
harmful in the United States. It has in
juriously afi'ected State and National poli
tics, and has supported factional and
racial interests. Most hnmigrants have
had no training in self-government. They
are ignorant and illitt'rate, fre|uently
l>osse.ssing anarchistic and socialistic ten
dencies.
2. Immigration has been harmful
socially. It has preveutc,l the homo
geneous development of the nation. For
eigners have lornied separate communi
ties and hav(' retained their language,
customs, and manners. JIany iniml-
grants at prc.sent come from undesirable
countri('s, .such as lOastern and .'Southern
F’urope. Many belong to the criminal,
pauper and viciouselas,scs.
3. lmmigrati(Mi liasproveoi itself harm
ful economically. It has injured ,\merl-
can labor by lowering the .standard of
living and causing an over-sujiply of labor.
Immigrants of the present time are chief
ly unskilled laborers for whom th(‘re is no
need. Cheap, unskilled labor is not
net'ded in North Carolina, since the pio
neer work has already Ix'cii done in this
State. Cheap labor afiects only rhe dis
tribution ami not th* |>roduction ‘ of
Wealth.
NORTH CAROLINA SHOWS UP
WELL
Illinois has 31.000 public school teai-li-
ers. Fifty-five per cent of them have had
neither high .school nor normal training.
In lhis]>articular. NorthCarolina makes
a far better .showing than Illinois. W'e
have 9,000 whit(‘ teachers in thi* jiublic
schools of the State; 3,500 of them have
had uoi'mal .school training and nearly
2,000 of tlnMii hold whi>le collcue dijik'-
mas. ^
\A e have less than 40 per cent to pul
again.st Illinop’ 55 |)or cent of untrained
twachers.
And yet Illinois spends over Ji30,000,-
000 a year upon her public schools, and
can afiord to pay far lai'ger salaries than
Noi'tli ('arolina. Illinois ought to com-
maiul a lar higer level of training for her
public school t'acliers.
I he jioint is this; the devotion and con
secration of North Carolina teachers show
well against the greatcn-' wealth and lar
ger salaries of Illinois.
STUDY AT HOME
A j'ostal card addie.s.sed ti> the Bureau
ol Kxtension will bring yi.ai complete in
formation as to how you may imrsue at
home corre.spondeni'c courses given Ijff
the I'niversity. Thirty-six of the.s»> in
high .school and college branches are of-
ferei.