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.
MAKCH 15, 1922
CHAPEL HELL, N. C.
VOL, vni, 17
Editorial Board i B. C. Branson, 8. H. Hobbs, Jr., L. B, Wilson, B. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt, H* W. Odum. Entered as second-class matter November 11,1914, at the Postofflce at Chapel Hill, N, C , under the act of August 24, 1918.
OUR HOUSING SHORTAGE
The homeless in North Carolina—'
white and black, town and country- i
number 275 thousand families. All told !
they represent 1,380,000 people of all
ages and both races, or more than half
the total population of the state. These
are the people who do not' own the
houses they live in or the land they cul
tivate, and this in a state with 100
thousand vacant town lots and 22 mil
lion idle wilderness acres.
The houseless in North Carolina num
ber 18 thousand families of 91 thousand
souls. They are the homeless who not
only do not own the dwellings they oc
cupy but' who do not have even a chance
to rent dwellings in which they may live
apart as family groups in any proper
privacy. And mind you, a dwelling in
the census count is “a place in which
one or more persons regularly sleep”.
It may be a room in a factory, store,
or office building, a loft over a shop, a
boat, a tent, or a box-car, a shack, a
shanty, a tenement, or an appartment
house. There are 18 thousand families
in this state more than there are dwell
ings, even in this primitive sense. They
are not out in the weather under the
open sky, to be sure, they have some
kind of roof over their heads while they
sleep; but they are herded together
more or less indiscriminately, too many
persons in a single room or too many
families in a single house, and they are
unavoidably exposed in undue measure
to insanitary, indecent, or immoral con
ditions.
It Limits City Growth
The shortage of dwellings exists in
every county of the state. It is least
in the remote rural counties and great
est in the city centers. It naturally
runs into the largest totals in the larg
est cities and it is the one thing that
fatally limits city growth, that punishes
the people who must pay cruel rack-
rents—if perchance they can find shan
ties of any sort to rent, and that gives
the rent-shark his chance and at the
same time his pious excuse.
The city in North Carolina that set
tles this problem first will have a long
running start of all the rest during the
next ten years. A building corporation
did something with it in 'Wilmington
during the war period. High Point is
talking about it seriously. In fact,
everybody in every city is talking about
it daily, but no city at present is really
girding up its loins to do anything about
it except Durham. And Durham, with
its signed promises to build a hundred
dwellings, is solving only a bare frac
tion of its housing problem.
If city chambers of commerce want
a real problem to hammer at and to
hammer out with prompt advantage to
the city it is supposed to serve, here it
is. The campaign ought to be aimed
(1) at an increase of owned-homes and
in devising practicable plans to encour
age the most capable people to get un
der their own roof-trees; and (2) at an
increased number of dwellings for rent
ers, in order to choke off the rent and
loan sharks who remorselessly grind
the faces of the poor and helpless. The
shortage of dwellings in the fifty-five
census-size cities of North Carolina ap
pears in detail elsewhere in this issue.
The 1920 census makes the problem
fairly definite in every city.
Building Capital
Reckoning a dwelling at$4,000 (which
is right around the average cost in
North Carolina cities, lots and construc
tion prices considered) the capital in
vestment called for in the state-at-large
is 76 million dollars. Which means that
the resources of our building and loan
associations need to be almost exactly
doubled at once. The demand is for
40 millions at once in our 55 census-size
cities; six millions in Winston-Salem,
where the problem is most acute; four
millions in Charlotte, two and one-half
millions in Durham, and so on down the
line. Every city chamber of commerce
can figure it out, as per the table we
print in this issue.
But it is mockery to start an Own-
Your-Own-Home campaign anywhere,
without organizing to release an ade
quate amount of building capital to be
loaned to worthy people at reasonable
rates of interest, repayable in install
ments in a long series of years. It can
not be wholly a cold-blooded business
proposition; it must be largely a phil
anthropic enterprise, based on commu
nity pride, the common good, and.
Christian concern for houseless fami
lies.
Philanthropy is a familiar Greek com
pound and it means brotherly love, but
it is not yet a common -Christian vir
tue.
Where are the Leaders?
What city will lead in this essential
matter in North Carolina? What city
contains the largest number of clear
headed, right-thinking, Christian phil
anthropists—men of a sort with Pea
body in London and Mills in New York?
These men led the way long years ago,
the first with an outright gift of two
and a half million dollars toward set
tling the tenement problem in England,
and the second with an investment in
working-men hotels in lower Eastside
New York calculated on a net two per
cent return—which, by the way, proved
in the end to be better business than
government bonds. Their followers
have been fewer than a baker’s dozen
all told the world around.
A good deed like a little candle shines
afar in a naughty world; but alas, a
good deed is not contagious like whoop
ing cough and measles.
And Glasgow attacked the problem of
tenement housing with municipal capital
as a municipal problem, but Glasgow
has had no followers.
Quite aside from private philanthropy
of the clear-headed business sort, the
shortage of dwellings is a deadly men
ace to city growth, and cities every
where must get busy with it in sheer
self-defense, not with idle sentiment
but with practical energy.—E. C. B.
(Released week beginning March 13)
KNOW NORTH CAROLINA
Need More WhitejSettlers
Clarence Poe
North Carolina is toa sparsely set
tled. "We are tryipg to get better
roads and better schools, and Heaven
knows we need both! But a county
with 50,000 people can support good
roads much more easily than a county
where there are only 10,000 or 20,000
people to carry the whole burden.
Not only do we need more white
settlers, but we have abundant room
for them. North Carolina is about
the same size as Iowa and Illinois.
Yet the 1920 census shows that Iowa
has 28,000,000 acres of improved or
cultivated land and Illinois 27,000,000,
whereas North Carolina has only
8,000,000. North Carolina’s 8,000,000
acres of cultivated land vs. Iowa’s
28,000,000-there is the contrast!
Nor is the uncultivated land of
North Carolina to be found chiefly
on our mountain slopes. Most of it
is level, productive, easily cultivated
eastern North Carolina soil. The
state should redouble its emphasis
on drainage and encourage the com
ing of.good settlers. This will mean
better roads, better schools, and
lightened tax burdens. Think, for
example, how much one Ohio farm
er, A. L. French, was worth to North
Carolina!
Snell, Director Extension Division, Uni
versity of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill.
THE NEW YEAR-BOOK
The North Carolina Club Year-Book
for 1920-21 has gone through the final
stages of editing and is now in the
hands of the printers. This year-book
will be one of the most elaborate and
comprehensive productions the club-lias
ever undertaken. It contains well-pre
pared dissertations on various phases of
city life and problems, all of which are
based on thorough research studies.
North Carolina, Industrial and Urban,
is the title of the year-book, and, as
the name implies, it is devoted entirely
to studies of all phases of city life
and management. It is a grand compi
lation of facts pertaining to existing
problems and their solution. But it is
far from being a dry collection of facts
and figures, for these are used only as
a working basis for presenting the so
lutions of problems and methods of con
ducting city affairs.'^ The scope of the
book includes evprythino’ from, facts
concerning the cityward drift to an ex
planation of the best methods of mu
nicipal accounting and the advantages
of these.
Copies can be secured by writing to
the editor, E. C. Rranson, or to C. D.
Snell, Director of University Extension
Division, Chapel Hill, N. C.—University
Press Item.
THE CAROLINA INN
Mr. John Sprunt Hill, class of '89, at
the recent meeting of the trustees, of
fered to give the Graves property and
$10,000 toward the erection of a first-
class College Inn at the University. The
proposal made to the trustees was tak
en under advisement and a committee,
consisting of Josephus Daniels, John
Sprunt Hill, George Stephens, Clem
Wright, and Lindsay Warren, was ap
pointed to investigate and report at the
June meeting of the trustees. In speak
ing to The Review of the purpose which
he had in mind in making the offer,
Mr. Hill outlined the following plan:
Location
The Graves property fronts 200 feet
on Cameron Avenue at the west gate of
the campus of the University and has a
depth of about 500 feet on the west side
of the new Pittsboro road now under
construction by the State Highway
Commission. Across the rear of the
Graves property runs the new railroad
track, and plans are being drawn for
the construction of a local passenger
and freight depot. At present, the
Graves residence, containing ten rooms,
stands in the center of the lot, and it is
proposed to move this residence some
what to the rear, remodel the building
so as to make it a first-class students’
boarding house capable of feeding, com
fortably, one hundred students and
rooming from fifteen to twenty people.
It is then proposed to erect a first-class
College Inn of fire-proof construction,
consisting of about fifty rooms on sec
ond, third, and fourth floors, with am
ple room on the ground floor for a large
and spacious alumni room, a ladies' par
lor, large and comfortable dining room,
lobby, and wide verandas, the pantry
and kitchen also to be of fire-proof con
struction, to be used in connection with
the Graves Annex so as to concentrate
all cooking and service at one point.
A Social Center
It is not proposed to erect a large
hotel in the ordinary commercial sense,
or to cater particularly to the general
public, but to provide for the special
wants and ^omforts of the University
alumni, friends of the University and
their families, friends of the students
of the University, and University visi
tors. It is also proposed to provide
quarters for the use of the faculty of
the University so that alumni, visitors,
and members of the faculty may meet
in a social way.
Financial Plan
The financial side of the proposal In
volves an expenditure of $100,000 of
which Mr. Hill has promised $10,000.
To provide the remaining $90,000 a
campaign will be organized among the
alumni. It has been suggested that a
club, to be called the University Club,
be organized and that 200 life member
ships at $200 each be sought. Also that
annual membership in the club be pro
vided for at $10 per year, with an in
itiation fee of $20, the latter, to be ap
plied to the building fund. Mr. Hill
believes that 500 alumni will join the
club on this basis, leaving $40,000 to be
secured in other ways.
Under University Management
Further plans as outlined by Mr. Hill
include the utilization of the Inn as
headquarters of the alumni secretary
and as the meeting place for such con
ventions as the University may wish to
hold from time to time of state or na
tional organizations. It will be under
University management and will be run
primarily and always for the benefit of
the University, the alumni, and friends
and visitors of the University. It is not
intended that it shall in any way con
flict with the Graham Memorial build
ing, which will serve as the student ac
tivities building, but on the contrary
that it shall supplement it.— Alumni
Review.
SAWI^JG V/OOD
Among the more hopeful of the signs
of the times is the manner in which the
farmer is looking after his own affairs.
He is rapidly welding together his small,
scattered, local cooperative associations
into close-knit, federated groups. He
is marketing his livestock, his cheese,
his butter, his perishables through these
cooperative channels, and is undertak
ing the marketing of his grain in a sim
ilar way. He is looking for leadership
within his own ranks—and is finding it.
What interests us is the fact that the
great aggregated industry of farming,
often as it has been accused of inca
pacity for united action, is not only
uniting for action, but that it is already
well on t'ne way toward action that is
both socially and economically progres
sive and constructive. While a lot of
folks are still sitting around listening
for the crash of more empires, the
farmer has taken a hitch in his trousers,
moistened his palms in the usual way
and is sawing wood. Which fact has
more than passing national significance.
—The Country Gentleman.
while in the city called in to see us, and
told us of a project which he, together
with Mr. George Y. Ragsdale, also a
student at the University, is planning
as part of their spring work in the
course on sociology. They propose get
ting out a 75-page booklet to be entitled
Johnston County: Economic and So
cial.
During last year the department of
Rural Social-Economics at the Univer
sity made thirty-two special county
studies, and we are glad to know that
Johnston county is to be included in the
studies for this year. The pamphlet as
outlined by Mr. Sanders will certainly
be a valuable publication and one which
every citizen of Johnston county would
be proud to possess. The subject mat
ter will include historical background,
natural resources, industries and oppor
tunities, facts about the folks, facts
about rural schools, farm conditions
and practices, and other phases of our
countylife. Cuts of various institutions
in our county of which we are justly
proud will add to the attractiveness of
the booklet.
It is the pui*pose of these young men
to make it possible to issue 3000 copies
of the book which the University will
mail free to as many families in John
ston county. In order to finance the
publication, advertisements will be soli
cited from the various business concerns
of the county. It is hoped to have the
book ready to mail out by the first of
July. ^ '
This is a worthy undertaking, and
such a compilation of facts about John
ston county should meet with approval
and encouragement on all sides. We
wish Messrs. Sanders and Ragsdale a
rich measure of success in this work.—
Smithfield Herald.
A JOHNSTON COUNTY BOOK
Mr. William M. Sanders, Jr., who is
a student at the State University spent
the week-end at his home here and
IN NEW YORK STATE
Of th6 more than eight thousand one-
room schoolhouses in New York State,
nearly half have an attendance of ten
pupils or less. The following table pre
sents the picture of these lonesome little
buildings that were once the centres of
neighborhood life. When Chancellor
Lord presented them at a meeting of the
Chamber of Commerce of the State of
New York a few days ago, the members
showed amazement that such a condi
tion could exist and persist in this State:
15 schools—av. attendance.... 1
167 schools—av. attendance.... 8 .
897 schools—av. attendance..'. 5
3,600 schools—av. attendance.... 10 or
less.
When it is realized that many of the
teachers ip these miniature institutions
have had very meagre preliminary train
ing and little, if any, experience in teach
ing, that some have difficulty in finding
places to live in the district, and so are
outsiders, and that there is constant
shift of teachers, it will be realized that
these schools are no longer community
centres of influence.—N. Y. Times.
MUNICIPAL STANDARDS
Tne report of the First National Re
gional Conference of Town and County
Administration has just come from the
University of North Carolina press is
sued through the University Extension
Division with the title Attainable Stand
ards In Municipal Programs, and edited
by Dr. Howard W. Odum, Director of
the School of Public Welfare. The re
port is divided into six chapters with an
introduction, and contains some forty-
five units of contribution. The chapters
include: Attainable Standards of Active
Citizenship and Study; Attainable Stand
ards of Municipal Social Services;
Forms of Municipal Government; At
tainable Standards in Finance; Attain
able Standards in General Social Ser
vices; County and Municipality. The
emphasis of this report is largely on the
town and city, leaving the larger em
phasis on county administration to the
1922 meeting of County Commissioners.
The purpose of the conference last
fall was stated *‘to make concrete, defi
nite and substantial contributions to
present-day critical problems in the de
velopment of American democracy and
.±0 make usable to the people the im
portant facts of local government”.
The report of the conference makes a
definite step in the direction of carrying
out this stated purpose.
Copies can be -had by writing to C. D.
HOUSING SHORTAGE IN N. C. CITIES
In January 1920
As indicated by the Numerical Excess of Families over Dwellings. Based
on the 1920 Census Bulletin on the Composition and Characteristics of Popula
tion in North Carolina.
Total shortage for the state 18,108 dwellings; more than half of which (9,877)
existed in our 55 census-size cifies; nearly a full fourth of it in our four largest
cities (4,169).
S. H. Hobbs, Jr.
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina
City No. dwellings
short
Asheville 902
Charlotte 1,079
Wilmington 835
Winston-Salem 1,353
Durham 645
Gastonia 162
Goldsboro 257
Greensboro 404
High Point 114
New Bern 126
Raleigh 634
Rocky Mount 373
Salisbury 285
Wilson 272
Albemarle 24
Ashboro 6
Beaufort 20
Belmont 15
Burlington 41
Canton 53
Concord 101-
Dunn 31
Edenton 43
Elizabeth City 113
Fayetteville 130
Greenville 164
Hamlet .. 97
Henderson 73
City No. dwellings
short
Hendersonville 67
Hickory 142
Kings Mountain 27
Kinston 190
Laurinburg 30
Lenoir 109
Lexington 49
Lincolnton 28
Lumberton 30
Monroe 48
Mooresville 22
Morehead City 94
Morganton 28
Mount Airy 32
Newton 12
Oxford 63
Reidsville 96
Roanoke Rapids 73
Rockingham 14
Sanford 27
Shelby’ 68
Spencer ’ 74
Statesville 46
Tarboro 50
Thomasville 72
Wadesboro 9
Washington *. 25
City dwellings short . 9,877