The news m this publica
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
WS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension. ~
APRIL 7, 1915
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. I, NO. 20
Editorial Konrd: E- C- Brajisoii, .1. (i. deli. Hamlltoi), L. K. Wilson, Z. \ , .IikM, S K. Winters, L. A. Williams Kiitfvid as s *0!id-class matter November U. 19J4, at the postot!i«*e. fit Chapel Hill, N. G., uiidt-r the H*t of Aiiiiust 24, lOU.
NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL NEWS
Getting Ready
.Ml liver Ihc State pUiiiH, Ai'c rapidly
iiiaturiii;; I'or ttu' CouiUv ('oniiiieiu'e-
iiicnts. Ill a tew c’duiilies they liav(‘ al-
ri'aily licm licld. All lepoi'ls aai'i'e that
ill .spite, of the war and low price cil cut-
tdii the folios iiave never been .so interested
>11 educatiiiii as lliey are al priwenl.
.\i)rt.h ('Hriilina is tjctting ready tu care
ior the pni[>e.r and adecpiate ediieatiim o[
}ier children. She is .staitinji in the right
place,—with tiu' lolks.
High Schools: Attention
I’liiu-ipiils and teachers in the high
sclioolsaHd academies should take iinte.
The t,inie is now at hand to send to the
JTiiivei'sity at (’hapel Ifill lor the blank
♦■erUfieate.s which niusl b(' tilled out lor
thiKsc sUidents de.siriiiK to entei' this insti
tution ill September
Dll not delay this nuiU,ei until the
jilres.'f 1)1 ^raUiation and (roinni‘neenient
•iTuwda mit the thought. Send t« Dr. T.
-I. WiiKoii, Kegislrajii^OhaiMd ifill, -V. ('.,
and ask for the lilank certificate fonn for i
-‘olle(fM*iiri ance in 1915.
Progress in Forsyth
.-\ study of tJie public State-aiiieci high
;jiehoo!s in Korsyth county i.s being made
hy Mr. .!. Tucker Day at the TTniversity.
■ He in liiiding intere-sting things about
dhesc .schools .for the live-year period.
.1907-08 to 1»11-12.
For instance, in 1907-OS there were 3
■■one-tea(^her tiigh .schools in the counly
and 1 two-teaoher higli .school; hut in
1911-12 there were 3 with two teach(>rs
and 1 i>ne-teache.r high ,schi>ol. That is
gool.
Further Development
Whik- in 1907-08 the high .school year
-was only 20.7 weeks long, at the end of
five years it is 29 weeks long. This is a
40 per cent inci’ease in tive years (.i\-er
ugaiiiHt 19 per cent increa.st> in ttie Stale
-as a whole. That is gooil also.
The lirst year these sch(iols were es
tablished in For.syth there were no four-
year schools and only 1 three-year. In
1911-12 there wa« 1 four-year and2 thiw
year higli schools in the county. Con
gratulations lo Forsyth.
NORTH CAROLINA. A NATION
AL FEEDER
At a recent lianqiuit of the North Caro- !
lina Society of Washington. I). C.. .VIr.
P. D. Gold, ,fr., Iiroiight forth certiiin
very signiticaiit facts about the present
abode of native North Carolinians. Ife
referred t.o the (M)ntrihul;ion of .\orth(!ar-i
olina.to the [)olitical. busine.ss. religiuis, j
scientilic, anil educational lite of tlu' Uni i
ted States. To 21 states in the riiion we
h,nv(^ fiirnislu’d 79 (.'ongressinen and Sena-
i.ore. three' Presi(ients. two V'ioe-|)resi-
kients, five pre.siiients pro-teni of the Sen- ;
ate, eight me,mbei'i>. of the Cal)inet, tive |
secri^taries of the Navy, twii .secretaries of
the Interior, and one of Agriculture. i
In tlu^ religious world are bishops I’olk :
-^>f Louisana, Davis of South (Carolina, and '
Fitzgerald of Texas; Dr. Smitli of l.oiiis-
ville, Drs. Dixon and Itroughton of Loii-
. !oii, Hawke^i, C-rreene, and Paine of Miss-j
i.ssi|ipi; ami Beckw'ith fif Georgia. |
To the lulucatioiial world North Caro- ;
lina has contributed such men as Dr. H.
H. llorne fif New York Univensity; Dr. |
Klliott of ,fohns Hopkins; and Dr. I
•Charles Hughes Johnston of the I’liiver-■
sity of Illinois. i
Virginia’s Toll
"I'o tlie sister state of Virginia we have
• contributed. Dr. K. .\ldernian, Dr.
Paul Barringer, Dr. \V. W. Moore, Dr.
R, H. Whitehead, Dr. Henry L. StRitli, :
Dr. C. A. Smith, Mr. Herbert W. .lacli-
;eon, Mr. Henry P/. litchford, Mr. Ed-
rnimd Strudwick, Mr. T.^. Mulford, and
Mr. F. H- Royster. As Mr. Gold put it,
to be aiiytiody in Virginia you have to
belong to either the F. F. V'’s. or the N.
-C. O’s., whicli being interpreted means,
the First Families of Virginia, or the
North Carolina Oligarchy.
Nor does this record stop short of su(;h
names as those of the great national
ligure.s. Dr. Joseph Hohwes, Dr. P. P.
^3laxton, and Dr. Hannis Taylor.
In the light of such an array of mighty
names. North Carolina begins to feel her
oats and step high. She may well iH'l
lhal she has contrit.)iited nincli tothe wel
fare of the r.inion and of individual
states. She has seni from her borders
noble sons who have nobly lived and
mightily wrought.
A Matter for Thought
Is it entirely a mutter fiu-self-coiitrral u-
lation'.’ A\'hy have tlu>so great figures left
their home State to do their life's work?
lias North Carolina dom> all she could to
keep them «ithinh(>r borders? Has she:
jii.stly and am|>ly re\\arled the statesmen !
whfj have honestly, fearlessly, and con
sistently stood for the best in her ci\'il ;
life'.’ Has she and her citizenry stof>d ;
shoulder to shoulder anl [iri'sentetl a '
solid front in the war against evil and ;
wickedne.ss? Has she placed her abun
dant resources easily and freely at the'
disiwal of her workei'S in the educational
field? Ha.s she offered the fulle.st oppoi-
tunity lo the upbuilding of industrial en
terprises and centers, tliat her sons might
find outlet belt' al home for their abilities
a.s administrative and executive leaders?
.North Carolina hai not developed her ]
industrial, mineral, agricultural, educa- |
tional, moral, and religions re.sources in
rea.sonable measure. She has literally ,
.sent from hei' boniers many sons who |
have had ambition, energy, and ]>ro-|
gressivi' ideas, Slu> hiui been proud of
her cimservatisrn and she has been pay
ing a [lenalty for il f>y having otherstates
reaji the benefit of the vigor, vitality, and
abounding energy of her famous .sons.
t'aiition, deliberatiLin. watchfulness,
])rudence are all worthy and malilv vir-
tue>i; hut when these masterly trait.s of
life in an iiidivirlual or in a State become
predomiuiuitly the ruling order of things,
stagnation begins. If a state or an indi
vidual fails to reach out, experiment, ex
plore, then development ceases, growth
stops, dry rot .sets in, and our sons mfjve
into other states anl .sections.
Our Appalling Losses
In th(' census year, :180,372 native born
North ('arolinians W(>re living in other
■states of the I'nion.
Our net loss in inter-stati'migration
during th(' cen.sus period \vas271,,S07.
.-Vll told, in the history of the Nation,
says Mr. (xold. North Carolina has fur
nished to other .states more than a million
inhabitants; or ni'arly four millions, their
descendants c.onsiden'd.
Greater Publicity to North
Carolina
The \\oik over al Chap'l Hill by
ihe Bureau of Kxteiision is giving lh('
peojile of the Stale an entirely difl'er-
cnt conci'ptioii of ih('ir counlies and
of the w hole Slaie. and it has helped
wilh oilu'i Ihings to start the jiapers
in all .sectioiis to give greater publicity
to .North ('aroliiia.
— r.ion 11. Hutlc'r.
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 22
CAROLINA CLUB NOTES
The Inheritance Tax
111 1912 thirty-tive slates of the Union
had an lnheritanc(- Tax law in force,
and they collei Unl twenty-six million dol
lars of revenue from inheritances.
The rf'veniM'S rangi^d from ^316 in Wy
oming to .‘S12,153.1.H9 in New York. In
North ('aifilina. the a.moiint was-$5,265.
(Inly’ three of tiie thirty-tive state col-
leeU'd le.'ss. Wyoming. Oklahoma, and
Idaho.
In Virginia the amount was 143,392;
in Tex’as. i^7,574; in Kentucky, t'99.224:
in Li')uisana, $207,004.
In the 1914 Rf'port of the Stiite Tax
(’ommissioii the r('ceipts from the Inheri-
tanees in North Carolina were -121,485.
I'nder tfie ret-enl Supjeme i''urt decis
ion the amounts collected in the future
will donbtle.ss be grejitlv increaseil.
Poe and the Carolina Club
As the Univemty New,s Letter gm's to
pre.ss this «eek. Dr. ('Clarence Poe, edi
tor of the Progressive Farmer, arrives to
address the C-arolina Club.
(>ne day tu' addres-ses the plain people
at r^ikeville and Clinton; and another,
the students, dons, and dignitaries at
Chapel Hill and Charlottesville. Poe
thinks that all alike may play a noble
part in the hnildii:,; of a great state,
- And so think th(> TTniversity and the
(,’aroliiia Club.
Pulling and Pushing
We wer' invited, a lew days ago. to j;o
down to Holly Springs, Wake county,
and meet the folks there. We went and
heard ;i most woiilerful story of commu
nity achievement. -
Kight years ago the community felt Ihe
pre.ssing lU'i'd of a new school building.
The talk was, first, of a S2500. strncliiit'.
I’rged oil by the Betterment .Association,
ihi' counly authorities, and local pride,
tfie figure was made 1^5000, and the ma
terial was firicks. Before the building was
tinislK'.d ihe cost hail gone to *7500. but
was met chefn-fnlly.
The Women Did It
,\ year ago this l)iiilding be('aine too
.small. Then too the folks needt'd a place
where they cotild gel togetfier and social
ize. Again the Betterment .'V.smociation
to the rescue; 110,000 wa.s voK-d in bonds,
and morx' room,s addeif with a beautiful
and ample auditorium. Bni there were
no seat.sj'or this community hall, the
money was exhausted,—but not the eoTir-
age f>f the women in the community.
CToing personally responsible for them
the.s' women signed notes sufficient to
provide funds with whii'h auditorium
('hairs weiv piiix'haseil and which ai'e
now in use.
Present and Future
Now they have seven teachei's. an
eight months' year, classe.s in household
eeonomies. ample room for all their
classes, a hi'autiful building, and bc^sl of
all,—a wdiiderful, a truly ileal, commu
nity spirit. Through the stimulation
afl'orded liy the wouk'U in thi'in work for
tJie school, Ihe men have come together
in the Hoard of 7’rade and are deter
mined not to h(' outdone in zeal for the
-school and community.
1'he jieople of Holly .S]irings are proud
ol'their .school anil community life, and
they ha\e reason to bi'. They are train
ing the girls to be honu' maki'is. through
the work in hous‘hold economics, ani
that work is lieing w(',ll done. They are
.setting tiefore their children a living ex
ample of true community intere.si and
the I'hildnui are profiting by il. They
will soon us*i. their ten acres of si'hool
ground in training their boys to be good
farmer ('.itizens and demonstrate to the
present generation what a wealth of food
and feed can !«■ raised on a little pocket
handkerchief farm.
The Reason For It
There i.s just one rea inn for the marked
success of this community. The citizens
have come together ami pullefl together,
forgetting littk- differences, remembering
only that they had a piece of work to do.
With the common piirpos' in mind ot
doing that work and (loing it well they
have pushed forward over all oliistacUw
and have done well. Be.st of all, they
are planning to do still mor(> in the very
same spirit of unity and co-operation.
A DEBATE OUTLINE
FIFTY SCHOOLS QUALIFY
The triangular contests of the High
School Debating Cnion were held all fiver
North Carolina on Friday Man'll 26. The
schools which won ■ their triangular de
bates will send their teams to Chapel Hill
lo compi'te for the .Vyi'oi'k Memorial (’u])
on April 9.
.-Is the University News Letter goes lo
press, fifty schools have (inalilied as being j
eligible for the final contest on .\pril 9, I
and the list is not yet completi*, !
'Phese fifty schools are ; Raleigh, Hoi-|
ly .Springs, Derita. Winstoit-Salem, Rich 1
Square, Mason’s C^ross, Burlington, Bel- I
inont, Lowt'll, Liimberton, Tarboro, Hen-
liersouville, .State.sville, \Veldon. Pinnacle,
Lowe’s (ri'ove, .Angier, Huttin. ,Iames-
town, Louisbiirg, Battleboro, Waynes-
ville. Clinton, Keyuoldson, .\tkinson.
Clayton, Nebo, Elise. Webster, Cool
Spring, (iibson. Orrum. Unionville, Mt.
Pleasant. KIkin, Mapleville. Bessemer,
Hillsboro, Whiteville, Baldy Creek, Tay
lorsville, Christ School, Atlantic, Polk-
ton, Middk'sex, Franklin, Yadkin Col
lege, ,letf'ersin. and I. O. O. F. Orphan
age.
Bewildering
The report upon Church membership
in the United States in 1914 by Dr. Car
roll, the expert authority in this field,
shows twelve kinds of Presbyterians,
tifteen kinds of Baptists, sixteen kinds of
Methodists, twentj'-one kinds of I.uther-
ans, and so on.
The bewildering cross-lights-of Christ
endom .seem to confuse the heathen,
abroad and at home.
.Membt'i'shiii in ihe ditt'ereur religious
botlies ill our ('oiinlry last year totali;d
some 38,000,t)00. Which means that
around 34,000,000 people in the Unitwl
States, 10 years of age and older, were
not on the rolls of any of the 170difl'ereiit
religious .sects.
Does division in the household of faith
have anything to do with ibis disquiet
ing fact','
COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS
The jirofessors iti the University of
North Carolina have been busy delivering
commencement addresses in various part«
of the Stat(\ Their schedule has been ;
M. C. S. Noble, Trnionville, .March 25;
Sparta, March 30.
Z. \'. .Iiidd, (Ti’anville C-ounty ('om-
menceuient, Oxford, March 26; Calypso,
April 2
L, .4. Williams. Pender (>>nnty (\)m-
meucement, Burgaw, March 26.
H. W. Chase,. Marshville, March 29.
Our Home Community First
The (.Jarolina Clubs at the [University
tielieve whole-heartedly in their mother
■state and their home counties.
The Orange County (’lub believes in
the bonndlc'ss jiossibilities and opportuni
ties of Orange. On March 24th the Com
munity Clubs and the citizens of Chapel
Hill and Carrboro nii't with the Orange
County Club to plan the share of each in
the county campaign for progress.
On Saturday the 27th, the Farmers’
Union of the county met at Hillsboro.
The Hillsboro Bettc'rnient Club and the
Carrboro Community Cluli a.ssembled the
same day. They are all asking to know
what they can do for old Orange. The
Negro Community Club meets .April
first to con.sider the same question.
The .simple answer is. Find out what
the county needs most, and then go after
it hammer-and-tongs. Any community or
county can have what it wants, if it
wants il badly enough.
Fools and their Money
The March Bulletin of the North Caro
lina Healtii Board advertises 102 patent
remedies for getting well oi' getting pret
ty, sure and quick.
The prices range from 10 cents lo tive
dollars each. The ingredients in them
cost from half a cent to twenty-tive cents
—a very comfortable range of protits.
Read this bulletin and see what your
money pays for.
. The great question of Ihe punishment
and prevention of crime has never been
more alive than it is today. The old
theories and practices of punisliment and
correction are being questioned and ex
amined as to their effectiveness. The
modern test of efficiency, is being applied
to prison systems and practices.
“What are the results of a trial of your
methods for hundreds of years?’’ is being
asked, and thousands of people who have
been satisfied with old methods because
they were old an' beginning to ((uestion
them.
The following i)oints on the query. Re
solved, That Capital Punishment
should be abolished in North Carolina,
were furnished by the class in Public
Speaking TTl in the University of North
Carolina.
Affirmative Arguments
1. Capital pimishmeni is contrary lo
the will of God, for
A. The conmiand, "Thou shalt
not kill’’ is as mandatory on govern
ments as on individuals.
P>. t^od’s jnirpose. its declart'd by
Christ, is to heal the morally sick,—a
purpo.se that (tannot be carried out by
killing those most in nw'd of moral medi
cine.
H. It is contrary to the higher nature
of man, for
,\s man has developed a higher
civilization he has decreased tlie number
of capital crimes, for only a comparative
ly short time ago in the most highly civi
lized countries, there were as many as
fifty crimes puiiishable by death, while
now there are only two or thrw.
B. Man is more and mori' ojjpcjsed
to the destruction of anything that is
valuable, for
1. He is beginning to con
serve, not only natural re.sources, but hu
man resources in the establishment of
/
hospitals, sanitariums, pubhc parks, and
playgrounds, and
2. Capital punishment is de-
stru(!tive of life that may be of high value,
and hence is not conservation.
HI. It is unsound in principle, for
A. It doe-s not reform the criminal,
for regivt inflnced by fear of death is not
reform.
B. It does not det».',r others from
I'rirue, for those states that have capital
punishment have as large a proportion of-
capital crimes as those that have abolish
ed it,
C. It is not righteous, for though
absolute in its effect, it is inficted by fal
lible courts on the judgment of fallible
juries
IV. Life imprisonment is a l)etter
punishment, for
.\. It is more severe.
B. It offers hope ol pardon through
i real reform.
j C. It gives oppfirtunity for the cor
I re«'tion of error.
NogBtive Argumenta
1. C.'apital punishment is necessary to
I jirotect society, for
A. It is the only means strong
I enough to deter some men from crime
H. Capital punishment is just, for
A. It is only fair that he who in
1 tentionally takes life shoukl pay for it
I with his own life.
B. The argument that capital
! punishment is unjust because inistakeH
are made is invalid, for it is an argument
I against the machinery of the law and not
j against capital puni.siinient itself.
I C. The rights of the murderer
j should not be held above the rights of so-
I ciety.
HI. Life imprisonment is not a good
: substitute, for
I .\. It is not a sutficient deterrent,
' for
j 1. It is usually shortened,
! 2- Prison life is to-day being
' made easy and pleasant.
B. Imprisonment makes men
wor.se inste.ad of belter.
I\'. Tiie reason tliai capital punish
ment has not, decrea-seil crinu^ is not that
the princi])le is wrong; but that the ad
ministration of it has been lax.
North Carolina Leads
The average per acre value of the
i twelve standard crops in North Carolina
last year was ^>20.18, .says the Federal
Farmers Bulletin.
In this particular. North Carolina was
far in advance of the rich prairie states of
the middle West, every one of them with
out exception; and every Southern stat-e
excel>t Kentucky.
The average for the United Statvs in
1914 was |il6.34. Forty-one counties of
North Carolina excu'eded that averagi* in
the census year.
Notable WorK
Prof. Zebulon ,Iiidd, professor of rural
education at the University of North
Carolina, will deliver a course of lecturers
at the Emporia, Kansas, State Normal
school during t-he'omingsummer .session,
Prof. .ludd has rlone notable w'ork in
socializing ('oiint-y school education- He
has built up young people’s clubs of all
sort-s, and has centered a course of study,
upon agriculture and home economic
probleips, has organized parents' associa
tions in rural communities, and has so
rejuvenated education in the county that
the country people in W'ake are enthus
iastic —B\ston Journal of F-ducation,