North Carolina Newspapers

"[■.•s^y^-_ 'ymi^'^ 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 its University Ex tension Division. SEPTEMBER 2^, 1921 CHAPEL HHX, N. C. VOL. VII, NO. 45 Editorial Board j E. C. Transon, S. H. Hobbs?, Jr., L. R. Wilson, E. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt, H. W. Odum. Entered as second-class matter November 14,1914, at the Postolfice at Chapel Hill, N, C., under the act of August 24, 1912. IMPROVING COUNTY GOVERNMENT ;WHAT WILL CAMOUNA DO?. gLast;,week’s tissue of^the .University News Letter, carried,a^yllabus of county government studies in the Rural Social Science Department of the University in 1920-21. In this issue we present a cursory actfount of county government in the state and the country-at-large, by E. C. Branson in the September num ber of the Municipal Quarterly Review; and also the notes on county govern- would be automatically separated n ii. - i ji consoli- ment legislation prepared by Dr. H. W. Dodds for the legislature of Louisiana at the approaching session this fall. Louisiana, be it remembered, has a new constitution which commands the legislature to provide optional forms of local government to be adopted in each parish or county by a majority vote of the citizens thereof. Dr. Dodds is chairman of the com mittee oh county, government of the National Municipal League, and these notes were prepared by him at the re- que-t, of Mr. Hardtner, the co»vention member who secured the constitutional The Urban-Hural County Most counties contain a mixed urban 4 and rural population, and they perhaps offer the most difficult problem of all. The need is for a type of government which will protect and further the in terests of both the urban and agricul tural interests. The problem is to give proper representation to each factor and to keep the governing body small enough to secure all the advantages of the short ballot, A plan has been pro- orovision on reTiTed county "government 1 by which municipalities within t T • • 1 the county could be represented on the in Louisiana. . , j t. • It seems to us that the time is at governing board by their mayor or must also i chief executive officer, and the rural boundaries are coterminous. Where a large city exists within but not coter minous with a county it should be sep arated from the county and made a city- county, as in the case of Denver. Only in this way can duplication of machin ery and political sabotage be avoided. Provisions should be placed in the constitution whereby a city on reach ing a certain size, say 50,000 as in Eng- from the county and become i dated city-county. LOCAL DEHOCRACIES The great America for which we long is unattainable unless the indi viduality of communities is far more highly developed and becomes a com mon American phenomeiion. For a century our growth has come through national expansion and the in crease of the functions of the feder al government. The growth of the future—at least the immediate future—must be in quality and spir itual value. And that can come only through the concentrated, intensi fied strivings of smaller groups. The field for the special effort should now be the state, the city, the village. If ideals are developed locally the national ones will come pretty near taking care of them selves.—Justice Louis D. Brandeis, of the Federal Supreme Court. portions of the county repre_sented by that hand when North Carolina move to secure more efficient eountjv • , government. There is hardly any moreT^f ele‘=ted supervisors chosen ei- importapt concern of the state at pres-1 thei- at large or by districts. This does ent. not mean city-county consolidation such I as is being proposed in Alameda county, ' ’ California, at the present time. There LOUISIANA MOVES FORWARD ; the situation is different. The case we County government is in the same de-. have in mind is the typical county, plorable condition today that city g?w-' largely rural, but containing municipal ernment was in a generation ago, and, corporations too small for separation as indicated ■ in the report of this com- from it. , mittee in 1917, its reorganization will, jt seems that any complete law con- doubtless proceed alofig the same gen-, taining optional county charters must eral lines that municipal government! provide for this type 6f government, has followed. This means particularly | rmintv the introduction of the short ballot and I 1 he Horal Lounty the reorganization of county admin-1 The purely rural county submits to istration in the direction of simplifica- easier treatment. Here the solution tion and consolidati^ of power and res-1 seems to be a small legislative body ponsibility. The reorganization move- elected at large with power to appoint ment now so active in state administra- the chief administrator, the county tion seems to point the way for the re-1 manager. Township lines should be organization of county administration, j erased and surviving township officers, Two-Fold Relationship 1 appoint minor county officials. A county civil service or commission to be ap pointed by the governing body in coun ties large enough to Justify it. (3) Administrative organization to be departmentalized as in the manager- charter above. The above is, of course, but a broad outline of county organization and one that would have to be modified somewhat . to meet constitutional res- strietions in every state which now has county home-rule. —H. W. Dodds, Secretary Committee ■ on County Gov ernment of ^ the -National Municipal League. such as road supervisor or school direc tors or township assessors, should be The problem is complicate by the ^ abolished. The work now done by townships, in the maintenance of roads or education, could better bg done by the county. dual position of the county. The conn ty 'is both a unit of state administra tion and of local self-government. This is not always obvious because the local administration of state affairs is often in the hands of men elected locally and not in the hands of men appointed and removed by the central power as in Prance. It seems important, in con sidering the reorganization of the coun ty, to bear in mind the distinction be tween purely local affairs and affairs of state concern such as the administra tion of Justice, which can probably be best handled directly by the state. Administering Justice The administration of Justice is a Suggested Plans The CountyrManager Charter. (1) An elective board of five to nine mem bers of supervisors or commissioners in which all legislative powers of the county are vested. Incorporated areas above villages to'be represented on the board by their mayor or similar officer with votifig power, to be worked out on a basis proportionate to population. (2) The county-manager to be chosen by the supervisors or commissioners for an indefinite term, subject to removal The county-man- matter of state concern and should be ; by majority vote. • x 4. entirely divorced from other county | ager to have the power of appointment affairs. On the other hand, the courts and removal of subordinate administra^ should not be burdened with any share in the administration'of the county con sidered as a unit for the satisfaction of local needs. The courts should not be called upon to appoint local administra tive officers. Ofttimes in the past ad ministrative duties have been unloaded on the courts in a seeming effort to get them out of politics. tive officers. A county civil service commissioner or commission for coun ties large enough to Justify it, to be ap pointed by the governing body. (3) The administrative organization of the county to be departmentalized as follows, the head of each department to be under the direct supervision of the county-manager, the county-manager Whether or not the county judge' himself to be head of one or more of should be elected locally or appointed by the governor does not have to be decided here. The courts should have full administrative power over court officers and employees. For example, the clerk of court, the register of deeds, the recorder of wills, sheriff, etc,, are administrative agents of the court and should be responsible to it. They should not be elected by the peo ple and therefore left responsible to no one. The district or prosecuting attor ney is likewise a state officer who, as in the case of United States attorneys, should be responsible to the central power. In drafting an organization plan for county government we do not need to include the courts. They are quite outside the range of a county charter. The Urban County The . law should provide for the com plete consolidation of existing county and city governments where their the departments as the supervisors or commissioners may determine. A. The department of finance, under which will be grouped the county treas ury, county purchasing for all county needs, county tax assessor, and tax col lector. B; The department of public works, highways, bridges, drainage, county buildings, etc. C. The department of public welfare and safety—poor relief, Jail, health, police. (4) A county auditor selected by the governing board. The^Supervisor or commissioner-at- large charter. (I) A governing body similar in structure to the county-man ager charter with full legislative power. (2) A supervisor-at-large or county mayor who-shall be the executive head of the county, with limited veto on county legislation and with power to ity COUNTY AFFAIRS County government is a big affair in the United States. The year before the World War , began it amounted to §386,000,000, or about a third as much as the total expenses of the federal government. And yet the average citizen knows little nothing about county finances, about the tax list and the amazing'in equities and delinquencies it discloses everywhere; about what county reve nues are spent for, and whether they are spent wisely or unwisely, effectively or wastefully. The annual county balance sheets re quired by law and given to the public in the county papers year by year in North Carolina are commonly unbusi nesslike and meaningless. i Frequently, the county financial exhibits are not published at all, as in some twenty counties of the state in 1916. Annual Balance Sheets Nobody knows how the county stands —not even the county commissioners, in many instances. Usually there is no exhibit under classified headings, and so nobody can tell exactly how much is spent for this or that purpose—say on paupers, the total number or the per capita cost; or on roads, the miles built, the average cost per mile of the differ ent kinds of roads, the per capita daily cost of convicts, work animals and the like, and the share of the various town ships in the expenditure for roads and bridges during the year. The newspaper reports of accounts audited by the commissioners from time to time are full of typographical errors. Besides, they are a meaning less Jumble of dates, names, and amounts that defy classification. We know, because for six years we have been trying to ascertain from these data how the tax moneys of one county are applied to the various departments of county welfare. And, by the way, during these six years the commissioners of this county have given to the taxpayers no com plete and detailed statement of county finances. In another county only one annual county exhibit has been given to the public in twenty years. In other counties the taxpayers have had to get special audits by applying to the courts. And so on and on. Undirected Demecracy North Carolina hiis no manual of in struction for county officers, as in a half dozen other states; no standard ized forms of statement to indicate how county reports should be prepared and what they should contain; no uniform accounting, and no state-wide audit system, as in Indiana and Ohio, and less effectively in twenty other states. / Government of the people, by the people, for the people in the counties of the United States is now a half- billion-dollar-affair—in North Carolina something like an eight-million-dollar matter, and it needs intelligent over sight and direction in order to avoid huge waste. Honest and Inefficient Our county officers are good men and true. As a rule they are -honest beyond all question; but are they also trained men of affairs, competent to manage the biggest single business in most of the counties of the country at large? Wherever the business end of county affairs has come* under strict review and pitiless publicity, amazing inefficiencies are disclosed. For instance, Alameda County, California, saved $810,000 in; one department in four years by a i searching /investigation of county busi- j ness. In Indiana, .since 1909, county i officers have, ^•eturj^ed to the county treasuries the greater part of $1,600,000 improperly paid them. In Lee County, North Carolina,".says the Sanford Express, the sheriffs from 1912 to 1916 received nearly $1,600 more than the law allowed for the col lection of taxes—doubtless quite in nocently. Orange County, for a half year or so, supported two sheriffs—one on salary account and the other on a; fee basis as tax collector. In Bruns-' wick, the county farrri in 1915 supported thh. county home and produced a small balance for the county treasurer. In 1914 the average acreage of the county homes in North Carolina was 150 acres, but an average of only 40 acres was in use, and the average net cost to the counties was around a thousand dollars each—some $95,000 all told. CoTnmon County Exhibits Thq law in North Carolina calls for an exhibit of county finances in every county each year. In eighty counties last year these exhibits were given to the public in the county papers, in a few instances in pamphlet form. Frequently, the newspapers carried these statements piecemeal. Instead of giving the entire exhibit in one issue of the paper, a half dozen issues or so carried the story of county finances. To get the whole report it was necessary to clip -froin week to week, file away carefully, and finally to assemble all parts for study—a tax upon attention that the average citizen is not equal to. That kind of thing makes the most alert taxpayer throw up his hands and quit- It is a capital way of befuddling the public mind. Commonly the typeset ting and proofreading, or lack of proof reading, sprinkle the columns so thick with all sorts of errors as to make the whole thing useless for any purpose whatsoever. In fewer than a dozen counties was there any proper assembling of county assets, county indebtedness, county receipts, and county expenditures for the various purposes of, public welfare. The report of the county superintendent of schools is the only exhibit that ap proaches the necessary form, and some times the report on roads and bridges. Otherwise, the exhibit is usually unbusi nesslike, and it passes understanding. No wonder a country editor was moved to say the other day, “The annual county statement in my county is so absurd that I always feel like I’qi robbing the county when I render a bill for printing it.” But the money of the taxpayers will be wasted in this way for many years to come unless intelli gent citizenship demands a business like annual statement of county finances. A Worth-While Exhibit We happen to have at hand a hun dred copies or so of what strikes us as being a really worth-while kind, of Financial Exhibit by a board of county commissioners. It is in booklet form, 3 1-2 by 6 inches, and it is mailed out yearly to every taxpayer in the county. The reader can stick it in his coat pocket and chew on it at his leisure in any odd moment. It is so compact and simple that a wayfaring man can read it as he runs and gets some sense out of it about the money affairs, of his county. He can see the receipts in detail and in toto. Under proper headings he finds Just how much was spent for vaiti- ous purposes, to whom money waa paid and what for down to the last cent— the total expenses of courts. Juries, paupers, care and feed, of prisoners, bridges, road building repairs by townships, equipments and materials, interest, treasurer’s commissions and so on and on. ^ It shows the miles of highway built, the average cost per mile, and the per capita daily cost of work-animal^ con vict labor, and hired lalior. It shows at a glance what the bonded and float ing indebtedness of the county is, and ' what the various expenditures have been, all under classified Ijeadings. Uniform Accounting In an exhibit of this sort the tax payer has a chance to see where his county stands in its finances. And since the same forms of accounting are used year by year, he knows whether the commissioners are doing better or worse than former commissioners. It is easy to see that if every county in ’ a state were using the same form of annual exhibit, this or some ether,/ the taxpayers would soon begin to know what counties were using public money to the best advantage, and what counties were wasting public funds. As itis, there is no,basis for compari- - son. In one county convicts engaged in road work cost $1.13 a day, in an other 96 cents, in another $1.73. But we Just stumble on these differences here and there; no published state re port enables us to^e^pare any county with everyother in the details of county expense. County bOokkeeeping ought to be uni form, and then the people might know in every county whether or riot their commissioners were getting results or getting left. But in North Carolina at present nobody is in any position to say whether or not the people are getting proper results from the millions the counties are spending on roads, or from the expen ditures for any other county purpose. We will send this little county book let to anybody that wants it. Drop us a card. It is worth looking at closely. Lack of Unified Headship County government in North Caro lina, such as it is, demonstrates the’ consequences of the lack of unity and responsible headship in county affairs. The various county officials are elected by the same constitflencies in each county. They stand upon a parity; each official, therefore, feels quite independent of all the other county officers; each department is separate and distinct; each conducts its business according to immemorial cus tom, quite regardless of law, each keeps a cash book account or not. Just as it pleases. As a consequence, there ig no county government in North Carolina that coheres as in an organic whole. As a matter of fact, the most appar ent thing is incoherency and lack of unity. The state, properly enough, defines county officerships, rights, duties, priv ileges, and so on; but the state exer cises no supervision over county affairs, except over state taxes collected and transmitted by county authorities to the state treasury. The result is a minimum of state oversight in county affairs. We have, therefore, confusion worse confounded in county matters in North Carolina, which being translated means confounded confusion. We are never likely to have unified county government unless we can have ' responsible headship in county affairs. A city has a mayor, but no county in North Carolina has any official to serve the county as a mayor serves a city. In some way county government must be unified under directive execu- i tive headship—under the county com- ; missioners acting- through a chairman I as the designated head of county affairs, ; or under the county-manager plan, i which works in city government and doubtless can be made to -work in county government. The Editor Adds North Carolina is famous for its ! pioneer work in the improvement of I county life and government, but the ' county is still a big problem. And it’s i the same elsewhere.—Municipal Quar- ' terly Review, September 1921. :1 i ■t 1