North Carolina Newspapers

The news in this publica THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA V VP ■■ V MBI VBiV PM PVI .4ui/shed weekly by the tion is released for the press on TVE\X/S TjETTEIc University of North Carolina the date indicated below. Si W M Ufl A A iLJfX for its Bureau of Extension. APRIL 28, 1915 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. VOL. I, NO. 23 Editorial Hoardi E. C. Branson, .T. G. (leK. Hamilton, L. R. Wilson, K. V. .Turtil, S K. Winters, L. A. Williiinis. Kntt-rwi hs second-class November U, liil4, at the iv>st>tlice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under tlieact of Aui.'ust 24, Ulia. Wake County Day At The University \\ iiki' county day wan ubscrvcd Wcil- iK'sday, A]>ril 14, by the ('aniliiui t'luli of alii- 'l'iuv(M>ii(,y ol' North Carolina and fact.'i and iirobicnis i>l' this c(MX]ity were ipresciilcil and discussed by the I'dity-tlircc slnlei\ts cif Wake. The delieit in hcinu'- ,raised food and feed stuti's and the cnnse- |nent lucal market iirobleni I'enneil the })urden (»t ihe (.liseussien. Tiie taels as bri)Hi;lit mil and eniviliasized bytlie Wake county students at tlie I'niversily ar(> .tlnis snnunai'ized : Four Million Dollar Shortage Mr. .V. li. llarpei’ ‘xhibited tli(> bi^' bulk total of this |)roliletn, itscau.se.s, and sie'nili('anct'. We consumed iii W'ake in tin* census year, he. .‘said, pantry and farm sup]>lies mnounth^ ti nearly four million dollare more tlum the farms of the I'ounty pro- duct'(h I'his sum co\'ers staple bix'ad stuHs, not. dainties and In.Kuries; ;uid the ti^nre.s ai‘(* l)as‘d on the thirtiM'nth cen.sus and the avera^t's ol annual c.onsum}>tion uiven out by the I’ederal neparlmi'ut o! .\^ricultiire. It iM our yearly liill lor lood and Iced iinporte.d into' lialeigh for consumption by man and l»'ast in \\ ake comity alone: ainiost exactly half of it for 20.000 city ’onsuiLiers, and the other halt for 44,000 •cotuitrv dwellers in the tarm regions of Wake.' In detail, this sliirta”e co\crs lour and .a iiuarter million pounds of meat, two and .i|nart-‘r million poiintls of butter, near- :ly half a million fowls, three-i|Uarter.s ol i .;i milliou down eggs, wheat products rep- le.seiiling two hundred and tifty thousand Inishels; and corn and cirn products r“p- .rt'.^fenling one anvi a ipiarter million .bushels. "Why Our Farmers Fall Behind Our farmei'.s do not su|>ply the' lour ■ million dollar local mai'ket dcjnand. he went on to say, because of (ll excessive attention to c'>tton anl ti>baci*o, (2) cessive farm-tenancy under the cropdi(>n, riine-credit system, and ( 3 I the lack of a ready cash market in Kaleigh for home- raiseil pantry utid farm su|)i>lies. Too MucK Cotton and Tobacco Nearly seven-tenths ol the tiital crop wealth produced in Wake year by year is ]iroduced by cotton and tobacco alone, .anil this ratio stt'adily increases. Our last year’s cotton crop was 39 per cent greater than the crop of 1900. We give Raleigh’s Interest in the Problem The City lOnd of tin.' Local Maiket J'l'olilem wasdiscussed by Mr, 11. K. Woi.hI. lialeigh, like every other city, .said he. is interested in the local market problem, because, in the first ])lace, it concerns the incieasing high cost of living. The wliole world face.s this [)rimary [irobU^n today, becau.se i^ice more in the I'ound of history population jiresses upon food sup ply. Tlie cost of food-slidrs is every where >;ieater and the pni'chasing power of a ilollar everywhere less. One hun dred cenis today will buy of subsistence necessiiies barely more than 55 cents, woulil buy in 1900. And food alone calls for nearly half, around 45 per cent, of the thousand-dollar family income. Imported Bread Stuifs and Inflated Bills If lialeigh imist depend upon far away jiroducers of bread and meat to the amount of fotu' million ilollars a year, the overhead charges of vransiiortatioii and handling by a swarming nudtitude of uudtiidied middle men will, of cour.si\ add enormously to the cost of [lantry supplies. This is actually the case. Kaleigh is one of the half-dozen most ex|)ensive cities to live iji in the whole I'nite^l Slates—as i-eported some time ago by the Federal Deiiartinent of .\gricnltiire. In this particular we make a belter .showing than Charlotte and Atlanta; but our ex- trianity is sutticiinitly dire to deuiand far greater attention than the peo|de of Ra leigh have yet given to it. A Self-Defensive Interest It has now come to be critically neces sary, said he, for every growing city to be the center of a well-developed food- , producing region; ain.1 at [iresi.Mit lialeigh ; is no! such a center. It has also come to ; to be nece.ssary for every city in sheer self-defense to solve the market problems > of the Idc.'il food su]>ply. I'ixiiensive coni- inissions in New York and Chicago are : Wfirking at this ])robleui. So are the Mecklenbuig farmers and the Greater Charlotte Club, 'I'he lialeigli (^hamber' ; of Conuuerce and the farmers ol Wake also face the same necessity. j Jf our nearby farmers can all'ord to I miss their chance to su])[ily a four nullion ; dollar local demand for food and feed I stuft's, onr city ihvellers can ill all'ord to increasing attention to cotton and tol>accopenalty. Wl.en our bills an 1 t .„ paid and the year’s balance sheet is struck our left over cash is too small for inilivid- : ual thrift antl rapid conuuunity luogre.ss. APRIL 21st, 1915 It was an eventful, inspir ing day; a forward-moving, upward-looking day; a day of noble, worthy covenant ing on the Hill. What the State and the University of the State have in the past wrought out of hard, untoward circum stances and conditions chal lenges boundlessadmiration and gratitude. Not one of the names in the long story of distinguished achieve ment can ever be forgotten. What North Carolina and the University of North Car olina are to be in the future depends at last on the will of the people. The Univer sity is theirs. It struggles along toward direct, state wide helpfulness. Its strength to serve all the peo ple depends on the will of the people to equip it for service. President Graham’s inau gural day was inspiring mainly because from every nook and corner of the State it brought from the people overflowing assur ances of their interest and confidence in their Univer sity and in its chosen head and leader. LETTER SERIES NO. 25 Preventable Disease If the [)ublic school of thelhiited States stands for anything, it stamls for the training of the public in matters of civic welfare. There is no need in our civic life greater than good health. .Sonicforms of iliseases are unavoidable. A gn^at many of our most common diseases are entirely |>reveiitable It is th(> duty of ; the school to inform the public aboutpre- ventable dist'.ases. The Kulli^tin of our State Hoard of 1 le;dth ought to be in every schoolroom in .\orl h Carolina. The following rules on. How to Trevent Typhoid Fever, are taken from the bulletin of the T'. S. ]!u- reau of Kducation No. 4 for 191,"'. on the Health of School Children. For the Individual 1. K(“cp away from all known or sus pected casi's of typhoid. 2. Wash hands thoroughly before meals. l,)o not use "roller towels." 3. I'se drinking water only from sotir- ces known to be pure, or if this is not possible, use wati'r that has been purilied .\void batliing I'se jiastenri/.ed in polluted water, or boileil, inst«id ■ >. of raw, milk. 6. Select and clean with the greatest care vegetables and berries that are to 1h' eaten raw . 7. Avoid eating ‘'fat'' raw oy,st*^r,s and, in general, oysters and other shell- I tish who.se origin is not known. S. Be vaccinated against typhoid in all cases in which any special ex]>osure is known or feared. For the Community 1. Insist oji the hearty coopei-ation all persons with an ethcient health oflicer. 2. Keipiire notilicalion and a re.a.son- able degree of isolation of every known or .sus|K‘cted typhoid case. 3. Kxercise strict control over the dis infection of known typhoid excreta. 4. hisi'st on pure or jniritieil \valir supplies. 5. Rei|uirc pasten;izalion of im'lk sup- i plies. 6. Roirani all human oxcrela p«>8si- J l)y numicipal Hltration or by hy[)ochlorite j bly dangerous and control their ilLsposi- treatnient hold. or by boilitig it in the hou.se MECKLENBURG DAY AT THE UNIVERSITY .\pril 28th is Mecklenburg Day in thi' North Carolina (Uiib ('alendar. The club has elected Me.ssrs. h’. B. Mc Call. I.. H. liansoTi, O. ('larkson and I'aul 'McKane to discuss Mecklenburg’s four million, six hundred and sixty thou.saud dollar shortage in home-raised food and feed stuffs, and the consei|Uent Local .Market I’roblem. It is the |iroh)lem that is now engaging the al tent ion of the ireatei- CharlotteClul) and the Mecklenburg farmers. tion in such a way as to pievent contami nation of food or drink. ANOTHER CONVERT .News comes that I’itt county ha.s just chosen Hr. .M. T, Kilgerton as its whole time county health oflicer. The county has been considering the nuuter for some time and has moved cautiously in their desire to .secure the most ellicient ]>hysi- cian possible. This is certainly one of the times when il pays to nuike haste slowly. .May Dr. F.dgi'rton ju’ove the man for the [>lace is our very best wish. maud for bread-stutl's at high prices and the failure of nearby farmers to sup|)ly this demand is a perplexing jiroblem in every city center in America, said iVfr. Holloway. The law of uuirkets is greed for gain. It is the tooth-aiiihclaw struggle for price and protit. This primary law of human nature organizes a world-wide market for Orange County Sanitary Survey , Washington, -\iiril 17.—('onimissioned oflicers and sanitary exjierts will be sent by .Surgeon-(ieneral Blue of the jmblic health servici' ne.vt Monday to investi gate nu'al sanitation in Anne .Arundel cotmty, Maryland: Orangecouiity, North Carolina; ^^'alker comity, .\lahaina, and Wilson county. Kansas. They will in spect all premises in those counties wliich reptu’ted they wanted to become sanita tion models. Sewage disjio.sal. water sujiply tlies. cotton and tobacco; and at the same time and for the same reason it denies to pro- | juosquitoes and rats and prevalence of ty- ilucers and consumers of bread-.stutls, ' jihoid and malaria and other conimuni- llving.side by side in the same county, an j cable disea.ses will be given special atten and decrea.sing attention to the grain crops, hay and forage. In 1910 our coi'n crop w.-is smaller than in 1900; otu- oats crop 37 per ccnl less; our w heat cro]> 50 iier cent less. During the ten years we gained 31 per cent in •cattle, but we lost 11 ]ier cent in hogs. Ln 1910 we had only 24 cattle and 33 pigs to the 1,000 acres of area, and a need for four and a ijuarti'r million pounds of meat more than we produced. The population of the county increa.ses rajiidly. The sim]>le truth is, niouths multiply faster in Wake than the w here withal to till them. ,\nd ye.t last year 72 (_'orn Club boys in 'Wake county averaged 49 bushels to the acre at a cost of 40 cents a bii.shel. .\1 this raU'the grown-ups could have pro duced 2,500,000 bushels on the corn acreage of the county; (tv i*nough lor home ctinsumption, and half a million .bushels for market. this li; Our Industrial Development at StaKe . Fui-therniore, tlie'higli cost of living in Kak'igh hinders our develo|unent as an industrial center. Jl means increasing' necessity for higher wages, and our mill and factory owners must com|iete with . the wide world by holding production co.sts at the lowest possible level. It means' I’c.ir bread-winne^ lower standards of liv- ■ ing; and in free America this means in j the end labor imre.st and ujiheaval, labor i organizations and strikesforliigher wages. 1 .Vtlanta ha.S'already developed these in dustrial problems. Other mill and lac-1 tory cities in the South will (to well to . look well aheail. j .Neither lialeigh nor any other growing eUy can any longer all'ord to be like a ‘ standing army—destructive of the regioti SERVING THE STATE In illustration of the wish and willing ness of the rniversity to serve the State in direct studies of home-spun problems, we insert in this issue an account of the Wake Counly Local ^Market rroblem, as it appeari'd''last week in 'I'he Kaleigh Times. Live-at-hiiuie farming is just now the big economic problem of N'orth Carolina and the South. When solved it is a new declaration of independence in the cotton belt. tion. The party will give public lecture-s, illu.strated by slides from thejiublic health service stereoptican library. liaising corn at honii' at this iijjure -'^''“'""1-,.'' v beats in^orting one and a .,uarter mil-| ^.1^“ " Inch i sub.si.sts It must » ,• , 1-j , irvii.,v Vniviu.l iHnuors Its trade l{‘rritory sohe tlie hon bushels at a dollai pel bushel, ' local food sm,ply. lialeigh The Farm-Tenancy, Crop-Lien Evil In 1910 more than half. 54 per cent, of i of our farms wiu'c cultivatt*d by tenants, j And farm tenancy under the cro|)-lien : systiMu in the South means mori , and tobacco and less att(*ntion to grain. ; hay and forage, fruits, nuts and vegeta- i bles, poultry and dairy ]>roducts, and to | beef, nmtton and pork [iroduction. i In Wake thi^ annual consumption of of these jirdducts amounts to six million ilollars, but our farms produce less than two million dollars worth of them. And so we .send out of the counly every year a king's ransom for fooil and leed supplies that we might raise at home; and by just so much do we decrease our [lower .to accunuilat“ wealth year by yeai'. The Penalties We Pay .\s a re.stdt our per ca|>ita country wealth in Wake in the census year was only $272, against $322 for the State; $560. in Alleghany county; $994 in the United States; $2,665 in Olinois; and $3,386 in Iowa. Althongli Wake ranks third in North (Carolina in the production of total crop valnes from year to year, our rank in per •capita coiuitry wealth is only 49th. Alle ghany which raises no cotton and almost no tobacco heads the list. The coinity sufl'ers a steady lo.ss of ;ready cash amounting to some four mil lion dollars a year. This simple fact ex plains why the food-i>roducing farmers of tlie Middle West grow ricli and the cot ton and toliacco farmers of Wake and the .South remain poor. It also explains in large i>art the high 30st of living iu Kaleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta and other oitie.s in the cotton belt. And the high cost of living hinders in dustrial development, because it ('alls for higher wages, and higher wages add to the labor cost of factory production a fact that Raleigh can well afford to con sider. ])roblenis of local food supply. Raleigh ! needs to provide marki't arrangements, i conveniences and facilities suHicient lo I handk' a four million dollar tradi' in home-raised bread-stutl's. Wake county cotton ! larmers -umsl be tempted into raising the.se su(iplies atid amply rewarded foi- doing it. j Our farmers are not sluiiid. They will; ]iroduce food and feed in abundance when they can turn lliiMii into instant ready casii in Raleigh at a fair jirice and ]u-otit. Our new city mar'kel is a hand.sonie start toward the iar away end. bilt lull success is still a far cry distant. j The local market problem is lar bigger than a city market house. WaKe's Crop-Producing Power 'I'he I'^armers’ Fnd of the Docal Market Pi'obli'Ui was discussiHl by Mr. .\. \ . .\n- dersou. Our farms, said he, can easily proiluce all the standard food crops and all the animal products needed for consumption in Wake county. Our soils are equal to an average of fifty bushels of corn p(»r acre, and two and a half million btt.shels | a year. We can raise corn_ enough and to spare. Our 'Corn Club boys proved that last year. WaKe’s High Average 1 n the census year the average per ac,ix‘ crop-producing power of ake was $21.34. It was $5.OH per acre above the average of the country-at-large last year. Our average was high because seven-tenths of our crop values were produced by cotton and tobacco alone. i\.nd we raise ci,)tton and tobacco, in stead of food and feed crops, because the whole world is an organized market for them. For these crops, the Iarmer does not need to seek the markets. The mar kets seek him. He can .sell them for instant ready ca.sh without moving out of his tra(*ks. And he'can establish credit upon them even l>efore they are plantefl. Poor MarKet Facilities ^ .Not so with breail and meat pi-odiicts on the farm, lie must peddle his fruits, nuts, and vegetabk's. butter and eggs.' meat and |ioultry. from door to door, or stand in the market place all the day waiting. It is bothersome, wasteful of time, embarrassing, and unremunej ative. 'Phe 'producers and consumers of food products are as far apart as though they lived on ditlerenf planets. 'Phe farmers are shy of cultivating hou.sew ives at back doors: and housewives are too clo.se to telepliones to visit a market place, a Sab- . bath day's journey distant. Raleigh is not }’el' provided with grain and hay warehou.ses, cold storage plants for perish able |)rodiicts, or credit acconuiiodation U[)OU stored food [ii'oducts; with ample market spaces for free, open-air trading; with convenient camping sheds, hitching grounds and feeding stall: with rest-rooms for the country people, ])rovidi'd with lavatory and toilet facilities, chairs and lounges, books, new'spapei's. and maga zines to make the country jieople feel the w armth of city hospitality. Kaleigh is not ready to handle the big I four million trade in home-raised food i stuffs. Doubling Our Farm Wealth I J-iut leaving city consumers out of coh- .1 sideration, w'e c,an and we ought to raise j the sup](lies that we ourselves need to buy j from year to year to feed our families and j our farm animals. If only w'e could or ! would stop spending two milliou dollars a year for these things, the farm wealth in W'ake would be more than doubled in the next six'years. .. \Ve shall alway.s need to raise c.otton and tobacco, but while we do it, we will be wise to have our pantries, barns, cribs. I and .smoke-houses tilled with our own houte-raised supplies. As for the two millions more of such products that consumers in Raleigh need, we are never likely to raise them, until] city consumers and country dwellers, i bankers, boards of trade, and farmers get together to solve this market problem. The Acid Test of Success Ways and Means of Solving the Loi;al o|>portiinity for direct dealing with mutu al advantage. Kccji producers and con sumers as far apart as jiossible; pass eco nomic goods from the one to the other through as many hands as possible; pay producers as little as )iossiblc; cliarge consumer.-^ as much as jiossible—.so runs the story of niarkcts ihroughoul the ages. The Solution of the Problem (xreed .safely counts upon the dull un concern of both consumers and prodticeis. liiil at last con.suuiers wake up to the fact that the cost of living is a great national problem. I'armers discover that the prices of food proilucts are higher than ever; but also that they get no more, or little more, or less than they received tif- teen years ago. Consumers jiay too nnich ; producers get too little; constuners and )irodiicers are too far apart; and the cost of marketing is too great. Here in brief is the mai'ket problem, the principle of solution, and the acid test of success. The iirobleni is getting consumers and Jiroducers together, the principle of action lies in co-operation, and success is achieved - when farnuu-s get more for their products supply-mercliants to torci and consumers get more for their money, if farmers do not get more, and if at the same time consumers do not pay less, , then the jiroblem is not .solved; no mat- : ter how elaborate the attempt or ex pen sive the market house. fn the light of this principle, it is safe to say that city markets costly, sorry joke. Co-operation Necessary I’roducers aloin’can not solve the mark el problem. .Success calls co-operation of consumers; and hi big scale marketing, it invariably calls forand depends upon the. credit accommodation of the banks. I f consumers are uncon cerned and unorganized, or if banks and transportation companies are neglectful or hostile, the farmers' chance of success is reiluced to zero. Success lies in collu sion, not collision; in co-operation, not contest. Texas Leads Before the War ,\s a rule oiu' pantries and barns, corn cribs and .smokehouses were well tilled before the war with home-raised food and feed sup[)li(‘s. Usually our forefathers produced suliicient meat and bread for man and beast, and had surpluses foi- sale, 'riie farmer who had to buy meat or bread was in disgraci*. But in 1910, the South drew breath at home and rations from the middle West to the amount of 936 million dollars. Our entire cotton crop barely paid our bill for imported supplies of bread and meat, grain, hay and forage in the census year. Last year we fell far behind in the Cotton Belt. In North Carolina- our delieit in home-raised .su[)plies in 1910 anioHTrtT'd to some 119 million dollars. very miiiiiti.'. They an' doing this in ordertofoi-ce the the farmers to raise a snfllcieucy of UK'at and bread on every farm. It is sound sense and safe ^ business policy, they say, to keep in Tex- ' as the 155 million dollars that leave the I state every year to pay the bills for im- ! ported food sujjplies. ; It means a food-producing, self-feeding are commonly a ' li^rm civilization; which meansfann pros- i perity; which also means bigger, better, - safer business for supply-merchant.s ami bankers. A half dozen men in Kaleigh could do for the direct ; more in this way' to make Wake county a food-producing farm region than all the farmers of the county put together—and they could do it almost by lifting or low- oring their eyebrows. (3) Of course Raleigh must get ready \yith arrangements, conveniencies antl fa cilities for doing an immensely larger business in home-raised food snjiplies, as already suggested. The Farmer’s End of the Problem ! On the other hand the fanners must not 1 suggest, said Mr. Holloway, after j only produce food and feed sufiicient for looking about to see what various cities | fa™ c.onstimption, but some two millions are doing (1) a free telephone market in- { nioro tor the city consumers in Raleigh; formation exchange in charge of an offi-j evwi more tor consuniers m the cial whose stated business it is to give i*e-1 hirger radius ot Haleigh s trade territory, liable disinterested market news to far-! They must know more about market de- mers and city dwellers and to bring con- j mands. W hat they offer for sale in com- sumers and producers together in direct! petition with the big, wide world must dealings. At present neither knows deti- ! taste as good and look just as attractive nitely the wants, tastes, and standards of | as imported food products. They must the other. Texas boards of trade are un-; become exj.>ert in picking, handling, dertaking this free generous public ser-! grading, packing, and crating. They yjpg must produce meat, grain andJiay, but- wk Tk R b r n I ter and eggs in steady, reliable stifRcien- What The Banns Can Do i pjgg. ^nd stand ready to supply market (2) It may be beyond reason to ex-; demands just as western markets do upon pect commercial banks to make long-time 1 sudden telegraphic dispatches, loans at low rates to farmers upon the se- i The blame for the present sad and sor- curity they have to offer; but they can ry state of affairs must lie upon farmers . ^ refuse credit to supply-merchants who do Market Problem was discussed by Mr. J. I a crop-lien business protected by tobacco K.Jiolloway. | or cotton acreages alone. The Texas flje market problem created by the de- banks are doing this very thing at this as well as upon consumers, business men _ and bankers. But it is a four-million' dollar proposition in Wake and it is worth solving.