':W',
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.
OCOTBEK 12, 1921
CHAPEL HHX, N. C.
VOL. Vn, NO. 47
Editorial Board i E. C. Sranson, 8. 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 Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24,1912.
THE MAN THAT KNOWS
The man in North Carolina who best
knows the topsy-turvy condition of
county finances is Honorable Baxter
Durham. For two years he was a travel
ing auditor representing the State in
the examination of county accounts,
and last fall he was promoted to the
State Auditorship by popular vote. He
has had an Intimate first-hand look into
the way public money is handled or
mishandled in twenty-odd counties of
the state. He knows the slipshod book
keeping that is common in the county
offices of North Carolina.
His address before the Town and
County Cenference at Chapel Hill the
other day offered many details of busi
ness inefficiencies and delinquencies in
the court-houses of the state. They are
hardly less amazing than the disclosures
of Dr. E. C. Brooks, our state school
commissioner.
The instances he cited are almost un
believable, nevertheless they are facts
gathered by him in person in the field.
Durham’s Disclosures
“There are few counties in this
state that know their true fina«cial con
dition”, said Mr. Durham. “A great
many do not know their bonded indebt
edness, who holds the bonds, or when
they are due, when the interest is due,
or how it is to be paid.
‘ ‘Few counties know the number of
land acres within thek borders, or the
valuation of the same, neither do they
I know
the state had demanded, and yet he was
due the state ?2,000 and did not know
it. The register of deeds in this case
had failed to send us a charge against
the sheriff for this amount.
“In a great many counties the tax
levied to take care of bond issues is not
set aside into a sinkipg fund as the
law directs but is put into the general
fund and spent for any expenses of the
county.
“We found in another county that
for four years the county commissioners
had not had a settlement with the
sheriff. Oh, yes, he had paid, so far
as they could tell, all that he ' had col
lected, but the tax receipts were left
with him, and of course he could collect
as much as he wanted to and never ac
count for it. A tax receipt is a cash
charge against a tax collector, and
should be so regarded.
“From another county, I get this
statement: Taxes collected after books
were closed just about balance the er
rors and insolvents, so we make no rec
ord of these. ’ ’
News to the Folks
The chances are that not a half dozen
of the people who heard the dinner ad
dress of Mr. Durham at the Town and
County Conference at the University
knew that the last legislature had cre
ated a bureau of county accounts in the
state auditor’s office in Raleigh, and
that it is now the duty of the state
auditor to examine or cause to be ex
amined the accounts of all counties
know the namber of town lots, x ixnuv, | county officers receiving or disburs-
that this is true, for the reports com-1 funds.
The counties of North Carolina are
ing into my office every year vary, and
in some instances greatly, as to the
number of acres and town lots.
therefore no longer under the necessity
of employing public accountants to
“We made an audit of a certain coun-1 county books. It is now the duty
ty, being told when we went t ere at | state auditor to make such audits
I once a year or oftener as his judgment
the sheriff was short about $15,000.
The facte in this case were that the i dictate. Nor is it any longer wise
register of deeds had died, an | to have county accounts audited by lo-
was not a man in the county t at ew committees that are commonly em-
the finmicial condition of t e coun y. , ij^cjjgggd by personal or partisan obli-
The authorities were building a new
court-house, and the various county of
fices were meantime located at dif-
gations.
The county commissioners of North
Carolina ought to get into communica-
ferent places in the town. We ® tjon at once with the State Auditor and
box of county records in an old arn ^ ).[jg county auditing service
with vines growing through the ox. g|.gjj(-gj ]r,y j^g^; legislature.
We found a bonded indebtedness, and
a tax levy to take care of the
bonds, but as the tax was collected it
was put in the general county fund and
used to pay any expenses of the county.
We found that instead of the sheriff
being short, the various county funds
were short, and the money had never
come into the hands of the sheriff, nor
did he know that he was even charged
with certain items. That county today
has a good accounting system, and it is
being well kept.
‘ ‘ In another county we audited, we
had to make this statement to the board
of commissioners: The sheriff of your
county who prior to a certain date act
ed in the capacity of both sheriff and
treasurer was able to furnish us with
no records showing receipts and dis
bursements, except the recorded
sheriff’s settlements for the years 1917
and 1918, which purported to account
for the tax collections for these years
only. The receipts from other sources
and the disposition of the same for
county purposes had not been recorded
or if recorded the records were not
available. We found in this same county
that the commissioners had allowed the
sheriff commission on the gross charge
against him before any errors, in
solvents, or land sales were deducted,
and even before the state tax was de
ducted, and of course the state had al
lowed the sheriff commission on the
amount he paid the state.
“We found in another county that
the sheriff was behind $10,000 in the
1919 settlement, and an agreement
between the mayor of the county-seat
town and the county superintendent of
public instruction to divide the fines
collected between the school fund and
the town—an agreement that the state
legislature does not have the power to
make, because the constitution distinct
ly says that all such funds shall be
placed to the credit of the school fund.
‘ ‘In another county we found that the
sheriff had collected about $2,000 in
taxes, that was put on the books after
his report had been sent to the state
auditor’s office. He had paid all
CRUSADERS NEEDED
Clarence Poe
The greatest work to be done in
North Carolina is not of a political
nature; it is the upbuilding of our
agriculture and the development of
a greater rural civilization. More
than a long three-year gubernatorial
campaign we need a red-hot ten-
year campaign to bring up our aver
age farm earnings $500 a year to the
northern farm .average; to establish
a system of rural co-operation such
as has revolutionized Denmark and
Ireland; to lengthen our school term,
strengthen compulsory attendence,
and add what is now our most griev
ous educational lack—a practical
system of rural instruction with
text books and teachers adapted to
farm life; and then better roads,
social centers, farm women’s clubs,
more white farmers from the north
and west, and a wholesome and
satisfying social life for the farmer’s
wife and family. This is the work
in the state which needs crusaders
now.
‘ ‘I bring you no new doctrine, but the
plain and simple application of business
principles to governmental affairs. We
are just beginning the largest and most
beautiful program ever undertaken in
our history. Today dawns bright and
glorious, because of the toil and sacri
fice of those that have gv'Ae before. We
must not go into the new day without
summoning to our aid trained and effi-
cientmen, who will bring to this service
the constructive genius of devoted pat
riots, who will lead us out of the wilder
ness of uncertainty and ignorance, into
the perfect day of truth. ’ ’
What An Audit Is
“Is an audit necessary?” Mr. Dur
ham asked. ‘ ‘What is an audit anyhow?
The general idea is that an audit is
checking up a set of books and declar
ing the result, drawing up and present
ing an account. I like to think of an
audit as a general survey, that officially
takes into consideration every financial
element that enters into the book-keep
ing of the institution, the county, or
the state under review. This I believe
is the true meaning of an audit.
‘ ‘Why should the work be done by the
state? Well, the law says so, but the
law says so because the state can do the
work at less expense than the counties.
The state has at its command the men
to do this work. They are trained in the
science of accounting, also in the laws
governing the collection of county
funds, taxes and fees, fines, forfeitures,
escheats and the like. They can, there
fore, make a true and accurate audit.
“Furthermore, when the state makes
an audit of a county it places the offi
cial stamp of North Carolina on the
records of the county, and to that ex
tent protects the county and county
officers.
“The state can bring to every county
the accumulated knowledge gathered
from all other counties. The state can
reach out into all the states of the
Union, and gather from their expe
riences the best methods of their ac
counting.
“The state comes to the county as its
own, not as a detective to find fault and
prosecute, but as a big brother, con
scious of a duty, offering the strong
right arm of a superb and virile man
hood.
“Will an audit cure all of our trou
bles? Certainly not. It will simply diag
nose the case. Brave and patriotic men
and women all over the state must ap
ply remedial measures. Therefore, we
must come to this county-audit service
as constructive engineers, and clear away
the rubbish of uncertainty, and doubt,
and ignorance, that have held us in
bondage.
A NEW SOCIAL TEXT
state Reconstruction Studies is the
title of the new Year-Book of the
North Carolina Club at the University.
It is the work of thirty Club Com
mittee Chairmen and their cabinets
during the year 1919-20. The investi
gations cover the economic, social, and
civic problems of the state—the every
day, work-day problems that call for
urgent attention and instant action on
part of the builders of the common
wealth. The bulletin chapters are:
1. Public Education in Carolina.
2. Public Health in Carolina—Coun
ty Health Departments, Whole-Time
Health Officers and Public Health
Nurses, Rural Public Health Work,
County or County-Group Public Hospi
tals, Health and Sanitation as Required
Subjects in all State-Aided Schools,
and Recreation for Rural People.
3. Transportation and Communication
in Carolina—State Highway Policies,
Motor Truck Service, The Country
Parcels Post, Interurban Electric Rail
ways, Inland Waterways and Port
Facilities, Country Telephone System.
4. Home and Farm Ownership—The
Facts and their Significance, Our Land
less Multitudes, Remedial Measures,
Country Home Comforts and Conven
iences.
5. Race Relationships.
6. Public Welfare in North Carolina
—Child Welfare, Child Delinquency and
the Juvenile Court, Prison Policies and
Reforms, Child Labor and Compulsory
Education, Mill Village Problems.
7. Organized Business and Life—Cor
porate Organization, Cooperative
Organization, Cooperative Business and
Credit Unions, Civic Organization in
Towns and Cities.
8. Civic Reforms in Carolina—An
Executive Budget and a State Auditing
Bureau, Administration Consolidation,
The Short Ballot, The Secret Ballot,
Local Community Organization, Incor
poration and Local Self-Rule, Unified
County Government under Responsible
Headship.
9. A New Day in Carolina.
Each of these studies is accompanied
by bibliographies, for use by students
in the state-at-large.
Np competently informed citizen of
North Carolina can afford to know less
than this bulletin of 200 pages can teach
him. As a master of fact, he ought to
know very much more than is contained
in the brief chapters of this Year-
Book.
County officials, women’s clubs, pub
lic school teachers and high school sen
iors, preachers, bankers and farmers
can well afford to thumb this bulletin
through from lid to lid. It is the first
volume ever published in North Caro
lina that is altpgether devoted to an
organic study of the social problems of
the state.
A copy goes free of charge to any
body in North Carolina who wants it
and writes for it promptly. Address
Chester D. Snell, Director University
Extension Division, Chapel Hill, N. C.
CONFERENCE RESULTS
Some of the already apparent results
of the first National Regional Con
ference on Town and County Adminis
tration held at Chapel Hill September
19-20-21 may be indicated as follows:
1. The continuation of the State and
County Council begun at the Universi
ty two years ago for the consideration
of the most vital problems of public
administration in North Carolina.
2. Another milepost in the creation
of interest in and the development of
programs of study and constructive
work in public service, such as has
been in progress at the University for
the last few years.
3. The appointment of strong com
mittees to work out immediate and
practicable plans for the revision of
county government, the University and
the North Carolina Association of
County Commissioners cooperating.
4. The getting in motion of specific
plans to work out practical aids for
the small town and for general muni
cipal administration in North Caro
lina.
5. The determination to work for a
hundred per cent membership of coun
ties in the Association of County Com
missioners.
6. The determination to work for a
maximum membership of cities in the
North Carolina Municipal Association.
7. The creation of new interest and
enthusiasm in the subject of communi
ty planning and community administra
tion.
8. Emphasizing, perhaps for the
first time in a comprehensive way, the
social aspects of the administration of
local affairs.
9. Calling the attention of the nation
at large to the timely and critical prob
lems of active citizenship in local ad
ministration.
10. And finally, as pointed out by
the Greensboro News: If the Confer
ence at Chapel Hill can get our people
in the habit of taking thought about
their governments, so that the work
started by the conference can be kept
up, if it can inculcate in us some re
spect for knowledge and training in gov
ernment officials, it will have done a
wonderful thing; for the people are
necessarily with it. Its success means
much to all of us.
The Conference, of course, is only
just beginning its real services. The
experiments already made are but in
dicative of the tremendous possibili
ties ahead. They satisfy the eager
hopes of the people for new programs
of progress. The Conference empha
sized not only the technical matters of
government and finance, but the social
problems of democracy. It emphasized
not only budgets and plans for city and
county finances, but also the planning
of the physical development of town
and county. It emphasized attainable
standards.
What, for instance, can be more de
sired than the objective standards of
health work, as set forth by Dr. Ran
kin,'to take public health out of poll
tics and to give local counties more
choice in their own plans? Or the pro
gram of commissioner Johnson setting
forth the attainable standards of public
welfare, the great need of the people
to work together in this field, and the en
thusiasm with which the State is meet
ing its problems? Or of Dr. Brooks in
getting down to the plain necessity for
better county administration so that
the maximum value of schools, health,
public welfare may be realized? Or of
Dr. Poteat setting forth a six-fold stan
dard attainable for the average citizen
in public serice. — Ho ward W. Odum.
closing session of the conference on
town and county administration, here
under the auspices of the University
of North Carolina and the National
Municipal League.
The revelations of Dr. E. C. Brooks,
state superintendent of public instruc
tion, State Auditor Baxter Durham,
E. C. Branson, and others, about the de
plorable financial conditions in most
counties, have awakened a keen inter
est in this weak spot in local govern
ment; and there is to be a vigorous ef
fort during the next year to find the
right solution of the trouble.
As a means of ending the slipshod
and inexpert conduct of county busi
ness, Mr. Patton, of Asheville, presi
dent of the State Association of Coun
ty Commissioners, advocated today the
paid commissioner system. In coun
ties where the annual budget amounts
to $50,000 one commissioner would be
paid, where it amounts to $100,000 two
would be paid, and when it amounts to
$200,000 three would be paid.
Henry Dwire, of Winston-Salem, and
H. W. Dodds, secretary of the National
Municipal League, favored a county
manager plan, the man to do the job
being obtained wherever the best talent
could be found. But both Mr. Dwire
and Mr Dodds would have this system
only in counties that vote to accept it.
It would not be imposed by state law
against the will of the people.
Field Investigations
There is to be no. undue haste in
seeking to bring about reform. First
must come a thorough study of condi
tions and a full discussion of all dis
puted points, so that the public may
decide intelligently what it wants. For
that reason, the next year will be de
voted to the ground work of collect-'
mg facts and letting people know
them.
Only 39 counties are now members
of the Association of County Commis
sioners. The men who are most inter
ested in improving county government
are going to make a membership drive
to bring in every one of North Caro
lina’s counties. The decision has al
ready been made by the association to
hold its next meeting in August, 1922,
at the university. Preparations for
this gathering are already under way,
and it is planned to bring in, as they
have been brought into the present con
ference, local government experts of
national reputation. Dr. E. C. Bran
son, head of the department of rural
sociology in the university, is to be in
charge of field investigations of county
government in North Carolina for the
following Committee, B. A. Pattep,
president State Association of County
Commissioners, Chairman; W. C. Jones,
High Point; Lindsay C. Warren, Wash
ington; Lionel Weil, Goldsboro; Henry
C. Dwire, Winston-Salem.
Mr. Dodds, before his departure to
day, said that in his capacity as rep
resentative of the National Municipal
league he had attended meetings in
many states, but at none of them had
he found a liver interest, or a stronger
determination to improve local govern
ment, than at this meeting of North
Carolina state and county and city of
ficials.—Louis Graves, in the Greens
boro News.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Improvement in county government
dwarfed all other themes at today’s
UNIVERSITY DAY, OCT. 12
With the North Carolina Grand Lodge
of Masons in charge, the cornerstone of
the first of the new buildings provided
for the University by the last legisla
ture will be laid Wednesday, October
12.
It will be a celebration, in the best
masonic style, of the expansion pro
gram which will enable the Universit y
to take care of hundreds of North Caro
lina youths who are now kept out of
the institutions of the State because
there is no room for them there.
'The Grand Lodge members will come
from Raleigh, will be met at Durham
by automobiles for the cross-country
trip to Chapel Hill, and will march
through the campus in full regalia, pre
ceded by a band and followed by the
student body in procession. They will
be the guests at a luncheon after the
ceremony.
The building whose cornerstone will
be laid October 12 is one of four dor
mitories that will shelter, 120 students
each. These dormitories, together with
a classroom building and an addition to
the eating hall now so badly crowded,
will be finished in a year. The second
year will see the erection of another
classroom building, a building for the
Law School, and at least one more dor
mitory . At the recent rate of growth
the University will have 3,000 students
in five years if it can provide accomo
dations for them.—Louis Graves.
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