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.
JANUARY 25, 1922
CHAPEL HIIL, N. G.
VOL. VIII, NO. 10
Editorial Board . 1!. 0. Branson, S. H. Hobbs, Jr., L. R. V7ilson, B. W. Knieht, D. D. Carrolb'J. B. BuUltl, H. W. Odum. Entered as second-class matter November 14,191-1, at tbe Postofflee at Chapel Hill, N. 0., under the act of Angnst 24, 1912.
IMPaOVEB COUNTY GOVEEKMENT
COUNTY GOVEMMENT
One of the subjects for discussion at
the morning session of the Press Asso
ciation at Winston-Salem the other day
was better business methods in county
government. The newspaper men can
well afford to devote ^ome time to this
topic. The county is the unit of gov
ernment in North Carolina. There are
exactly one hundred such units. The
whole is no better than its parts. The
government of North Carolina will
never be much superior to the govern
ment of these one hundred units.
Those who have dug into the matter
find th|.t conditions in most of the coun
ties are far from encouraging. Some
time ago Dr. E. C. Brooks brought
forcefully to the attention of the peo
ple of the state the weakness of our
present system of county government.
The conditions he brought to light, es
pecially in regard to county finances,
have set thoughtful citizens to thinking.
That this is true is shown by the fact
that the Press Association has- taken
up the subject as one of the few which
it will have time to consider at its busi
ness session in Winston-Salem.
What are conditions?' We have them
best stated by the State Auditor, who
is in better position than anybody else
in North Carolina to know just what
sort of shape the average county gov
2. The Legislature of 1921, regular
session, passed a bill that is far-reach
ing in its scope and should prove highly
beneficial in its operation. This bill
does two things that never before have
been done in North Carolina. It re
quires that every county in the state
shall be audited and a proper system of
accounting installed. And it provides
for this work to be done by a central
agency—the State Auditor. The bill
in its entirety may be found in Chapter
236, Public Laws of 1921. Section 1
reads as follows:
“That it shall be the duty of the State
Auditor to cause to be examined at least
once a year! and oftener if in the judg
ment of the State Auditor conditions
require, all counties and county officers
receiving or disbursing public funds,
and that such State Auditor be and he |
is hereby given full power to examine
all accounts and ail oflicial affairs of
every county office and officer receiving
or disbursing public funds.”
A Press Program
Now, what can the newspapers of
the State do to help apply the remedies
which the General Assembly has here
provided? There arc, vee think, three
big things that can be dene:
1. They can build a fire, and a hot
one if necessary, under couiily auLhor-
ernment is in today. After examining ities that do not comply promptly and i
the records of many counties State Au- efficiently with the provision of the ,
ditor Durham is moved to ask the ques- Sams Bill requiring them to furnish the ,
tion: “Are there private corporations State Auditor accurate information as,
whose business is conducted as is the to bonded indebtedness and finances of
public business?” “Yes, indeed,” he their county.
answers, “but their names are carved, 2. The newspapers can and should
deep in the records of the bankruptcy back the State Auditor to tfie utter-
courts and some of their directors and most limit in his efforts to examine at
officers are doing time.” | least once a year the books of all coun-
The Auditor frankly states that there 1 ties and should support him in every
are few counties in this state that' possible manner in this gigantic under
know their true financial condition.taking.
There are a great many, he declares, | 3. And last and most important of all,
that do not know their bonded indebt-; newspapers should use all the in-
edness, who holds the bonds, nor when ' fluence at their command to have com- j
they are due, when the interest is due, ' petent and efficient men drafted, if ne-'
when they are to be paid, or how. | cessary, to serve on Boards of County
Moreover, he says that few counties Commissioners. No county can get far
know the number of acres of land with- without men of ability and integrity as
in their borders, nor the valuation of - commissioners, especially in this new
each, neither do they know the number ^j^y in the state's history when the
of town lots. He proves this statement counties are called upon to spend so
by the fact that the reports coming in-1 j^uch money on roads and schools and
to his office every year vary, and in hospitals and other public improve-
some instances greatly, as to the num-1 ments.
ber of acres and the number of town] There is in all'the Commonwealth to-
lots. Few counties, he tells us, have a I jj^portant office than that
control set of books tnrough which all ■ County Commissioner. Upon the effii-
financial items pass. Few know what ^jg^cy and integrity of these County
it costs them to conduct their business, goards depends, in large part, the suc-
or whether the price is high or low. ! government in North Caro-
And few know whether they buy at iina._Santford Martin, in the Winston-
KNOW NOSTH CASOLINA
Under this heading last week was
given the concluding words of Gov
ernor Bickett’s inaugural address
five years ago. Before taking up
messages from living North Carolin
ians, we turn this week to the con
cluding words of Governor Aycock’s
last-prepared speech ten years ago.
AYCOCK’S DREAM
We have indeed gone far in North
Carolina. A recent writer has de
clared that the progress of a state
may be determined by the things
which are now done as a matter of
course which used to be the subject
of debate. Tested by this standard
North Carolina has advanced rapidly.
The right of every child to a pub
lic school education is no longer a
subject of controversy, but is ac
knowledged by everyone.
Tne duty a.ud wisdom of adequate,
excellent public roads is not only
acknnwlpdiTpd everybody but has
recently been emphasized by the
mud Ihroagh which we have slowly
dragged ourselves to the markets of
tliC £>iuuO.
Tne right of children to be safe
guarded in the time of their growth
and development against overwork
in factories, is a right which^no one
now disputes.
The duty of caring’for the afflict
ed, whether due to age or infirmity,
has been translated into so beautiful
an application and has been per
formed with such steadiness as to
render one who would now deny it
contemptible in the sight of all the
people.
And no more does anyone, what
ever may be his view about the effi
cacy of prohibition, ever expect to
see again the dominance of the bar
room and whiskey still in the civic
and political life of this great State
of ours.
We are entering upon a new day—
the day of equality of opportunity.
EQUAL! That is the word! On
that word I plant myself and my
party—the equal right of every child
born on earth to have the opportu
nity ‘to burgeon out all there is with
in him.'
kind of illiteracy that keeps the
thinking on childish levels about public
finance—local, state, and national, about
public taxation and tax principles, about
debt and interest rates, about banks
and banking, bank machinery, bank
'Methods, bank services to the public,
bank charges, and so on and on.
! We are quoting from memory, but
j these are substantially the things Mr.
! Vanderlip said several years ago to a
j popular audience in the West.
I We are recalling these things just
; now because we want to give wide-
i spread publicity to a little volume on
I Banking and Business Ethics, by Wal-
I ter E. Borden, former cashier andvice-
I president of the Wayne National Bank,
i Goldsboro—a little volume of 224 pages,
: published by the Rand McNally Com-
1 pany, Chicago.
It ought to be a text in every high
work out such a program it seems clear
that no service on behalf of the public
good in North Carolina at the present
time can be more fundamental or con
crete than the state and county pro
grams of Public Welfare. Social Ser
vice and the Public Good are the goals
which the State Department of Public
Welfare seeks to attain through effec
tive organization and service. It is
therefore fitting that the Social Ser
vice department of the Women’s Clubs
should set itself to this large and defi
nite task, a task to which the State
Federation has already pledged itself
in its platform endorsing Mrs. Clarence
A. Johnson as Commissioner of Public
Welfare. The selection, therefore, of
a limited number of topics to which
special efforts will be given during the
j^ear, ought to prove of great interest
■ school in the state. The freshman class | and value to the many members of wo
of every college the country over ought' men's clubs everywhere in the state.
' to have a chance at it. But more than j xhe subjects chosen are: The Meaning
' this, the average man in the mass* in ; of Social Service and Social Work, The
America ought to know at least as ■ Meaning of Public Welfare, The North
much about banking and business ethics ' Carolina Plan of Public Welfare, The
as this little volume can teach him. County Superintendent of Public Wel-
' It attempts to do nothing but give ' fare,'Social Treatment of Crime, Con-
the abe’s of banking in the very sim-! structive Help of the Poor, Care of
plest language, but it is knowledge Neglected and Dependent Children,
that the average man—farmer, teach-, Community Organization, The North
er, preacher, wage-earner, what not—
needs almost as certainly as high school
seniors.
The charm of the book lies in its sim
plicity, competency, and rare literary
craftsmanship. Not many business men
are equal to book-making of this high
order. The schools would be better if
more business men could find time to
write business texts on the practical
matters of every-day life. What the
business men are slow to do in text
book writing of this kind, teachers and
college professors are obliged to under
take. They often succeed, but they
more often fail.
Business men will have a smaller
chance to criticise the schools when
they write more of the books the
schools ought to use.
PUBLIC WELFARE BULLETIN
right prices when they purchase.
Compulsory Auditing
This is a brief statement of the pres
ent state of affairs in most of our coun
ties. This does not apply, however, to
counties like Forsyth which have whole-
Salem Journal.
SHABBY cmZENSHIP
The failures of democracy are the
failures of citizens to *play their part,
timreounty auditors whose duty it is to | The governing departments belong to
keep a control set of books and to tabu-i us. Their successes are ours; their
late and maintain up to date at all times mistakes disgrace us.
the information which the State Audi
tor says is lacking in most counties.
But a vast majority of the counties of
North Carolina do not have whole-time
auditors. Many of the smaller county
units never will have. Some other way
must be found to get them out of the
woods.
We believe the way has been found.
As a result of recent acts of the Legis
lature we expect vast improvement in
the financial affairs of most of the coun
ties of North Carolina within the next
two or four years. What are the rem
edies that are to be applied? Specifi
cally there are two:
1. The Sams Bill—that was intro
duced by Senator Sams of Forsyth in
the late special session of the General
Assembly- It requires all counties to
file with the State Auditor at regular
intervals the exact information which
Auditor Durham says is now lacking.
When the provisions of this bill shall
have been complied with the auditor
will have at his fingers’ tips at all times
the data on the financial condition of
every county in North Carolina, includ
ing bonded indebtedness and date when
Think what a board of health might
accomplish if the citizens made an ef
fort to work wholeheartedly with it.
Think what a street-cleaning depart
ment might be in a city where every
inhabitant felt as responsible for the
sidewalk and street in front of his
property as for his parlor floor!
Think of the quality a community
might acquire with a school system
which was the pride and anxious con
cern of every parent in the city!
Where are the members of the com
munity who might have leisure and
money to band their fellows together
and work unresistingly with the public
officials to build the City Beautiful?
In most of our cities the government,
though often inefficient and unenlight
ened, is not corrupt, or beyond the in
fluence of the citizens who have no pri
vate axe to grind. The worst failures
are due to the fact that, as soon as the
officials are elected, the public forgets
all about them and leaves them to the
companionship of the few who come to
abuse and the many who come to get
some favor for themselves or their
friends. Citizens have no one except
NEW HANOVER LEADS
The city of Wilmington and the coun
ty of New Hanover more than ten years
ago realized the tremendous importance
of local hospitals for local victims of
tuberculosis. The local Red Cross chap
ter placed this matter before the two
! governments. A very commodious hos-
I pital was provided largely as a result
' of the work of the local Red Cross.
Both the city and county readily agreed
to make appropriations for the support
of the institution. This custom has
been continued on an annual basis ever
since and the money appropriated has
been well invested. Both white and
colored patients have been cared for in
the local tuberculosis hospital for the
last ten or twelve years and a splendid
work for the relief of suffering human
ity has been accomplished.
Our present county government
headed by Mr. Addison Hewlett and
our board of city commissioners of
which Major Jas. H. Cowan is head are
displaying keen interest in the mainte
nance and up-keep of the hospital.
We thought you would be interested
to know that our locality more than a
decade ago took the step suggested in
the News Letter of Dec. 7, 1921, as a
j necessary humanitarian movement in
every county of the state.—Louis T.
Moore, Secretary, Wilmington Chamber
of Commerce.
The University of North Carolina
through its School of Public Welfare
and Bureau of Public Discussion has
just issued a little bulletin on Social
Service and Public Welfare. In coop
eration with Mrs. S. C. Sitterson, chair
man of the department of Social Ser
vice, State Federation of Women’s
Clubs, the bulletin has been sent to va
rious workers throughout the state.
State and Connty Studies
Concerning the Federation program,
the bulletin says: The plan of the So
cial Service department of the State
Federation of Women’s Clubs for 1921
to provide a program which will empha
size the fundamental aspects of social
service, and at the same time give ex
pression to concrete activities, is a most
commendable one. In the effort to' wards.
interest is due and what provision has I themselves to thank if an official, left
been made for paying off bonds when j mercies of the self-seeking, be-
they mature. Moreover, the bill re- j ^^j^es careless in self-defense or cor-
quires that every county issuing bonds, throurt evil associations.-C. J.
must make provision for their retire- tniougn c
nient. 1 Cannon, in the Atlantic Monthly.
ECONOMIC ILLITERACY
The most alarming illiteracy in Amer-
I ica, said Mr. Vanderlip, the former
I president of the National City Bank of
* New York, is economic illiteracy
Carolina State Conference for Social
Service, together with Practical Aids.
The Social Hind
With reference to Social Service, the
Bulletin says: Perhaps there is no tend-
I ency in modern times more clearly de
fined or making more substantial pro
gress than that of social service. This
means, simply, that in the fields of re
ligion, education, social science, poli
tics, and perhaps in all the social rela
tionships, the fact is being recognized
that the highest good and the"greatest
service may be attained through the de
velopment of the individual in service
to society and his fellowman. In terms
of moral sanction it means that they
who live unto themselves live in vain;
in terms of social welfare it means that
the individual who neglects the develop
ment of his social nature, or who grows
rich upon society to its hurt, or who
uses the public moneys for personal
gain, is the greatest of social offenders.
The growth of social consciousness is
in evidence on every hand; in the ideals
of government and civic righteousness;
in the increased activities of women in
constructive social work; in the crea
tion of a national welfare conscience;
in the broadening instruction of schools,
colleges and universities; in the crea
tion of special schools and departments
of social service administration within
universities, as the School of Social Ser
vice Administration in the University
of Chicago or the School of Public Wel
fare at Carolina, or the Pennsylvania
School for Social Service. It is very '
clear, therefore, that the promotion of
social service and the training for com-
' munity leadership constitute an impor-
; tant undertaking rich in substantial re-
FARMS USING GAS OR ELECTSIC LIGHT IN U. S.
States ranked according to ratio of farms reporting gas or electric light to
all farms in the several states. Based on reports of the 1920 Census, as pub
lished in the Federal Monthly Crop Reporter Nov. 1921.
N In the United States at large 452,809 farms or 7 percent of all farms re
ported use of gas or electric light. In North Carolina 8,005 or 3 percent of the
farms were thus equipped, and 38 states made a better showing.
Department of Rural Social Science, University of North Carolina
Rank Stafe Pet. of
all farms
No. using
gas or elec
tric light
Rank State Pet. of
all farms
No. using
gas or elec
tric light
1
Utah
.43.4
11,125
26
Michigan
8.0
15,695
2
Massachusetts..
.28.3
9,062
26
Minnesota
7.6
13,539
3
California
.25.9
30,519
27
Maryland
7.0
3,330
4
Connecticut
.17.6
3,963
28
Colorado
6.5
3,926
5
Rhode Island ...
.17.1
700
29
Arizona
.6.0
592
6
Iowa
.15.3
32,552
30
North Dakota ....
.6.8
4,618
6
-New Jersey
.15.3
4,551
31
Missouri
.5.6
14,341
8
Pennsylvania ...
.15.2
30,669
32
Wyoming
4.,6
717
9
West Virginia...
.14.8
12,900
33
Virginia
4.2
7,874
10
Ohio
.14.7
37,746
34
Delaware
.3.9
397
11
Idaho
.14.2
5,982
35
Florida
3.8
2,042
12
Washington ....
.13.8
9,178
36
Oklahoma
3.7
7,010
13
New York
.12.9
24,882
37
Montana
3.6
2,013
14
15
.12.2
385
38
Alabama
3.3
8,345
Vermont
.11.4
3,328
39
North Carolina
3.0
8,005
16
New Hampshire
.11.3
2,322
40
South Carolina ...
.2.7
5,170
17
Oregon
.10.9
6,463
41
Kentucky
.2.2
5,925
18
Indiana
.10.0
20,584
42
Texas
.1.9
8,228
19
Illinois
. 9.8
23,273
42
Georgia
1.9
5,826
20
Nebraska
. 9.7
12,062
44
Tennessee
1.8
4,554
21
Maine
. 9.6
4,625
45
New Mexico
1.4
422
22
Wisconsin
. 8.8
16,574
46
Louisiana
.1.1
1,471
23
Kansas
. 8.7
14,380
46
Mississippi
1.1
2,896
24
South Dakota..
. 8.6
.6,445
43
Arkansas
.1.1
2(643