North Carolina Newspapers

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA The news in this publi- ep ^ ^ ^ cation is released for the press on receipt. APRIL 30,1924 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. THE UNIVERSITY OP NORTH CAROLINA PRESS Published Weekly by the University of North Caro lina for the University Ex tension Division. VOL. X, NO. 24 Biitorlal Boardt B}. G. Braosoo. S. H. Hobba, Jr., L. B. Wilaon, B. 97. Knisht, D. D. Carroll, J, B.Bollitt, R. W. Odai Entered aa second-elaaa matter November 14,1914, at the PostoSee at Chapel Hill, N. C., nnder the act of Auguat S4, ISSil BONDED DEBT IN NOSTIi CAROLINA OUR BONDED DEBT The net total bonded debt of the State of North Carolina and all sub divisions of the state for every purpose whatsoever, at the present time, is a- round 240 million dollars. Elsewhere in this issue of the News Letter ap pears a table which shows how the net total bonded debt exclusive of the state government debt, on June 30, 1923, is distributed by counties on a per inhab itant basis. The state debt is excluded from the table because it lays no di rect burden on property. Tne bonded debt of all other divisions of govern ment within our state rests directly on property listed for taxation within the local governmental units which issue the bonds. The county debt lays a tax on all property listed for taxation with- iji the county. The town and city debt is borne by town and city property. The state debt lays no direct burden on property. The County Debt The bonded indebtedness of counties is made up of bonds issued for the erec tion of schools that come under the juris diction of the county board of educa tion, bond issues for the construction of county roads and bridges, court houses, county homes, jails and other county purposes, railroads in a few counties, and the funding debt. Special drainage and other district bonds are also classed as county debt. The net total indebtedness of our counties for all county purposes on June 30, 1023, as reported to the State Auditor, was $68,370,616. The debt is distributed as follows: roads and bridg es $44,222,653.67, schools $9,184,287.88, county homes, jails, court houses and other similar county purposes $4,726,- 269.50, railroads $765,800; and funding debt $4,471,500. Buncombe has the largest net total county debt, the amount being $3,884,- 000. Lenoir has the second largest total county debt, $2,390,000, and the largest county debt per inhabitant, amounting to $74.70. The accompany ing column in the table shows the dis tribution of the county debt on a per inhabitant basis. Northampton is the only county in the state that reports no bonded debt, county or town. In the vast majority of the counties the balk of the county debt has been incurred for the construction of roads and bridges, mainly before the state highway program was adopted. Only 200 thousand dollars of the countyTdebt of Lenoir county is charged to schools. The rest of it is charged to roads and bridges. More than 90 percent of the Buncombe county debt is charged to roads and bridges, and funding debt which most likely belongs to the same account. In very few counties does the debt incurred for tbe erection of schools amount to more than 25 or 30 percent of the total debt. More than three-fourths of the total county debt is chargeable to roads, bridges, and the funding of bonds issued for these purposes. The total county debt is distributed as follows: roads and bridges 69,8 per cent; schools 14.5 percent; court houses, jails, and county homes, 7.6 percent; and railroads, 1.2 percent. Town and City Debt The net total bonded debt of the 174 towns in North Carolina that had bonds outstanding on June 30, 1923, was $71,- 072,600. It was nearly eight million dollars more than the total county debt, and the municipal debt is increas ing much faster than the county debt. Winston-Salem had the largest total debt of any North Carolina city, the amount being $7,760,000. Next in order came Charlotte with $5,906,700, Ashe ville $3,800,000, Durham$3,791,000, and Greensboro $3,001,000. The cities and towns closely parallel the counties in the purposes for which bonds have been issued. The great bulk of the city and town debt has been incurred for the construction of streets and sidewalks, sewer systems, fire departments, and lighting plants, all of which represent long-time invest ments in permanent improvements. The funding debt again is chargeable largely to this account. The net debt of these 174 cities and towns is distributed as follows: streets, sewers, lights, water, and fire depart ments $48,500,904 or 68.3 percent; schools $10,343,650 or 14.6 percent; funding debt $7,260,946, or 10.2 per cent; public improvements $4,793,000 or 6.8 percent; and railroads $174,000 or less than three-tenths of one per cent. Gastonia is the only city of fair size where a considerable part of the debt has been incurred in the erection of schools. Of her net debt of $2,229,- 000, $840,000 is for school purposes. In a few small towns the entire debt is for schools. County and City Debt The net total debt of the 99 counties and the 174 cities and towns reporting bonds outstanding on June 30, 1923, was $134,443,016, which is less than the value of property listed for taxation in either one of three counties in the- state. The total bonded debt of North Carolina which rests on property lacks 21 million dollars of being as much as the value of property listed for taxa tion in one county alone. The total debt of our counties, cities, towns and all other subdivisions capable of in curring debt, exclusive- of the state government debt which does not fall on property, is 5 percent of the amount of property listed for taxation, «nd it is less than 3 percent of the true value of the principal forms of wealth of the state as estimated by the federal De partment of Commerce. Forsyth rank.s first in total bonded debt for all purposes within the bordei;s of the county, the amount being $9,- 198,000. Buncombe rank.s first in total bonded debt per inhabitant for all pur poses within the county, the amount be ing $114.15. The table which appears elsewhere shows the distribution of the total bonded debt within each coun ty, on a per inhabitant basis, while the accompanying column shows the per inhabitant debt for county “purposes only. The net total bonded debt of the counties, cities, towns, and all other divisions exclusive of the state govern ment, is distributed as follows: For roads, bridges, streets, sewers, lights, water works, and fire departments $92,- 723,662, or 69 percent of the total debt; for schools $19,627,938, or 16'6 percent; for refunding old debts $11,732,446, or 8.7 percent; for court houses, county homes, jails, municipal buildings and the like $9,619,269, or 7 percent, and for railroads $939,800, or 7 percent. The State Debt The debt of the state government is treated separately from the local debt because the local debt, unlike the state debt, is borne exclusively by taxes on property listed for taxation within the issuing governmental unit. The state debt may be divided into two classes, roads and other. The road debt is carried exclu sively by license taxes on motor cars and the three-cent gasoline tax, and all other state bonded debt is carried by the general state fund derived from taxes on incomes, inheritances, corpor ations, licenses, and earnings of the state departments. The bonded debt of the state govern ment on March 1, 1924, amounted to $68,937,600. The state government debt, the bulk of which has been in curred since 1921, is distributed as fol lows: highways $34,552,600 or 60.2 per cent; schools, charitable and eleemosy nary institutions, and, school building loan fund to countiesA$24,012,500 or 34.9 percent; funding debt $8,480,000 or 12.2 percent; and public buildings and ' improvements $1,892,600 or 2.7 percent. It will be noted that slightly more than half of the state debt is for high way construction and it is important to remember that the entire burden of carrying this debt falls on owners of motor cars. The bonded debt of the: state which is paid out of the general fund of state governmental receipts a- mounts to $34,386,000. The cost of carrying this burden falls almost ex clusively on urban people and urban in dustries. Unless a farmer pays an in come tax he contributes nothing direct ly to the general state treasury fund. For all practical purposes the only state tax paid by farmers is the motor IDEALS FOK THE STATE I would have all our people to be lieve in the possibilities of North Carolina: in the strength of her men, the purity of her women, and their power to accomplish as much as can be done anywhere on earth by any people. I would have them to become dis satisfied with small things; to be anxious for higher and better things; to yearn after real greatness; to seek after knowledge; to do the right thing in order -that they may be what they ought. I would have the strong to bear the burdens of the weak and to lift up the weak and make them strong, teaching men everywhere that real strength consists not in serving our selves, but in doing for others.— Quotations from the speeches of Charles B. Aycock. car license and gasoline tax, which is used exclusively for highway purposes. The outstanding bonded debt of the state government at the present time amounts to 2.6 percent of the aggre gate of property listed for taxation in the state. It amounts to only 1.6 per cent of the value of the principal forms of wealth as estimated by the federal government. When all state bonds that have been authorized by the legis lature have been sold the state debt will be 93 million dollars, or 3.6 per cent of the aggregate of property now listed for taxation, and just 2 percent of the true value of the state’s wealth as estimated by the federal govern ment. One county has on her tax books almost twice as much property as the state debt v/ill total when all authorized bonds have been sold. It might be of interest to note that the average interest rate on the entire state debt is 4.5 percent. No state bond issue has sold for more than 5 nor less than 4 percent. The Total Debt As stated at the beginning, the pres- ent bonded debt of the'state and all subdivisions of the state is around 240 million dollars. The bonded debt of the state government to date is $68,- 937,600. The bonded debt of counties and municipalities on June 30, 1923, was $134,443,016, while the present debt is around 170 million dollars. The bonded debt of the state at the present time, and of counties and municipali ties as of June 30, 1923, totals $203,- 380,616. The total bonded debt of North Caro lina and all subdivisions of the state has been incurred for the following purposes: for roads, streets, water and sewers, lights, and fire departments $127,276,162 or 62.6 percent of the total; for education and charitable in stitutions $43,540,438 or 21.4 percent; for refunding old debt $20,212,446 or 10 percent; and for court houses, jails, county homes, municipal buildings and other public improvements, including county and urban railroads, $12,351,569 or 6.1 percent. The total bonded debt of $203,380,616 amounts to 7.7 percent of the aggre gate of property listed for taxation, and to 4.4 percent of the estimated true value of tbe principal forms of wealth of the state. Or to put it on another basis it amounts to $76 per in habitant, or to $360 per family. The cost of carrying the present debt of 240 million dollars, for both interest and sinking fund payments, s amounts to about $5.36 per inhabitant per year, or to $25.72 per family per year. The cost of carrying that portion of the debt which falls on property amounts to $3.82 per inhabitant per year. The present total bonded debt of the state and all its subdivisions, for every purpose whatsoever, is only 53 percent larger than the aggregate of property listed for taxation in one single county in the state, and it about equals the real wealth of this same county. Seventy percent of the present bond ed debt is supported by direct levies on property, while 30 percent of it is sup ported by license taxes and taxes on in comes, inheritances, corporations, and earnings of the state departments. A study of the foregoing facts shows that practically every dollar of bonded indebtedness of the state, counties, cities, towns and other units represents long-time investments in permanent improvements. The money has been spent for roads, bridges, water works, sewerage systems, streets, side-walks, government buildings, school buildings, and buildings for charitable and elee mosynary institutions. It is not the volume of the debt that should concern us, but the purposes for which the bonds were issued, and the terms on which they were sold. The most eco nomic way to secure desirable perma nent-improvements is through the sale of bonds at fair interest charges, and the retirement of the bonds distributed over the period of usefulness of the improvement. Assuming that we need and want improved roads, streets, school buildings and the like, there is no other way to get them, for to at tempt to erect permanent improve ments on the pay-as-you-go basis would not only reduce our investment capital but v/ould put into force a tax burden that would be unbearable. —S. H. Hobbs, Jr. - TWO DISTINCTIVE BOOKS Robert E. Lee: An Interpretation, by the late President Woodrow Wilson, and Religious Certitude in an Age of Science, by Professor Charles Allen Dinsmore, of the Yale Divinity School, have recently been published by the University of North Carolina Press and were placed on sale throughout the state and nation on April 8. Rarely do two more distinctive books come from any publishing house in any one week or month. The volume on Lee presents not only a remarkable in terpretation of the great Confederate chieftain, but a most vivid self-revela tion of Wilson himself. It strikingly portrays the nobility of Lee and sets forth the creed by which Wilson lived and through which he fortified himself in his self-sacrificing effort to secure for humanity a new covenant of under standing and goodwill. Dr. Dinsmore, in Religious Certitude in an Age of Science, discusses illumi- natingly the relations between science j and religion. He maintains that the ' word knowledge belongs to religion as ' well as science. Religious truth can be ascertained as definitely and con vincingly as scientific truth. Both books are splendid examples of book making, and add to the growing distinction of the Press, which began publication in 1922. Copies of the vol umes can be secured from bookstores or direct from The University Press, Chapel Hill. The prices are: Lee $1.00; Religious Certitude $1.50. NET BONDED DEBT BY COUNTIES In North Carolina Jane 30, 1923 In the following table the counties are ranked according to the per inhabit ant net bonded debt for all purposes—counties, cities, towns, school districts, drainage districts, and all other divisions capable of incurring debt in North Carolina. The accompanying column shows the per inhabitant net debt of counties for county purposes only, as county roads and bridges, schools, court houses, jails, county homes and the like. The total net bonded debt of counties, cities, towns and all other divis ions, exclusive of the,state government debt, on June 30, 1923, was $134,443,016. or an average of $50.00 per inhabitant. Buncombe ranks first with $114.15 while Northampton reports no bonded debt within her borders. Total bonded debt of counties for all county purposes $63,370,516, or an average of $23.52 per inhabitant. Lenoir is first with $74.70. The bonded debt of all cities and towns on June 30, 1923, was $71,072,500. The bonded debt of the state government to date is $68,937,600, or an aver age of $25.65 per inhabitant. It is not included in this study since the . state deb.t lays no direct burden on property. The total bonded debt of the state and all subdivisions of the state for every purpose whatsoever at the present time is around 240 million dollars, or an average debt of $90.00 per inhabitant. Based on reports in the office of the State Auditor. S. H. Hobbs, Jr. Department of Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina Rank County County Total Rank County County Total Debt per Bonded Debt per Bonded Inhab. Debt per Inhab. Debt per Inhab. Inhab. 1 Buncombe .... ...$56.07 $114.16 51 Brunswick . ...$30.87 $36.25 2 Lenoir . 74.70 112.26 52 Avery 35.76 36.76 3 Durham .... 24.63 109.45 53 Swain 31.25 34.13 4 Forsyth .... 15.18 104.25 64 Surry 21.56 33.80 6 Beaufort ... 64.60 89.70 65 Mitchell 32.65 32.66 6 New Hanover.. .... 26.65 87.07 66 Rutherford... .... 19.35 32.60 7 Mecklenburg .. .. 14.37 86.90 67 Polk 22.24 32.05 8 Guilford ... 18.68 77.90 58 Moore 17.60 31.90 9 Craven ... 62.72 77.00 69 Caswell .. .. 30.35 31.52 10 Lincoln .. 42.74 74.08 60 Duplin .... 27.07 30.44 11 Montgomery .. .... 60.68 73.30 61 Tyrrell ... 29.65 29.65 12 Henderson .... 6.01 71.18 62 Wilkes 17.83 29.66 13 McDowell .... 66.30 70.08 63 Lee 20.87 28.66 14 Pasquotank.... ... 45.20 69.07 64 Burke 20.80 28.61 16 Edgecombe.... ... 7.18 68.00 65 Jackson 18.91 28.44 16 Cumberland.... .... 40.77 66.30 66 Yadkin 27.30 27.30 17 Transylvania .. ... 55.33 63.21 67 Granville 19.10 27.05 18 Rockingham ... .... 46.46 62.32 68 Martin 24.63 26.83 19 Wake .... 26.84 62.27 69 Sampson 17.82 26.46 20 Wilson ... 24.20 61.53 70 Stokes 19.94 24.80 21 Greene ... 55.00 60.85 71 Caldwell ... , 13.96 24.64 22 Pitt ... 46.04 60.33 72 Pamlico 24.18 24.18 23 Gaston ... 11.02 69.43 73 Yancey 24.08 24.08 24 Rowan ... 15.23 69.36 74 Harnett 13.73 23.74 26 Washington ... ... 44.12 67.97 75 Randolph .... 17.47 23.00 26 Haywood 23.15 57.67 76 Columbus 14.46 22.89 27 Vance ... 29.66 57.00 77 Anson 17.45 22.75 28 Iredell ... 14.84 56.10 78 Chowan 8.74 22.40 29 Wayne ... 14.74 53.86 79 Cabarrus 33 22.16 30 Cherokee ... 28.90 53.30 80 Watauga 19.93 21.96 31 Carteret ... 44.80 51.57 81 Scotland 9.61 21.05 32 Davidson ... 14.64 48.96 82 Hoke .... 16.42 19.50 33 Person ... 31.13 48.81 83 Pender 18.58 19.38 34 Perquimans,... ... 26.86 46.96 84 Franklin 4.20 18.76 36 Stanly . . 26.24 46.37 85 Alleghany . i.. 17.09 17.09 36 Ashe ... 44.60 44.60 86 Nash 6.31 13.78 37 Union ... 26.63 43.60 87 Hyde 12.16 12.74 38 Davie .... 19.82 41.36 88 Camden 12.22 12.22 39 Catawba 8.65 40.96 89 Alexander .,.. 12.08 12.08 40 Madison .... 38.06 40.95 90 Onslow .... 7.65 11.58 41 Cleveland ... 18.21 40.76 91 Currituck 9.11 9.11 - 42 Hertford ... 31.84 40.67 92 Graham 8.16 8.16 43 Halifax ... 20.10 40.08 93 Chatham 7.10 8.00 44 Alamance ... 22.40 39.81 94 Macon 6.17 7.86 46 Richmond ... 16.92 39.40 95 Warren 1.26 6.96 46 Johnston ... 29.70 39.25 96 Bertie 5.69 5.59 47 Clay ... 39.00 39.00 97 Gates 2.45 2.45 48 Bladen .... 38.30 38.56 98 Jones 1.46 1.79 49 Orange ... 27.70 37.82 99 Dare 72 .72 60 Robeson ... 16.32 37.76 100 Northampton. .... None None