Newspapers / The University of North … / Sept. 3, 1924, edition 1 / Page 1
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The news in this publi cation is released for tlie press on receipt. the university of north CAROLINA NEWS LETTER Published Weekly by the University of North Caro lina for the University Ex tension Division. SEPTEMBER 3, 1924 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS VOL. X, NO. 42 Bdliorial Boardi B. C. Braoaon, 3. H. Hobba, Jr., L. S, Wilsou. B. W, Knight. D. D. Carrol!, J. B.Bollltt, H. W. Odom. Bntored aa BOCond-cJaaB matter November 14.1914, at thePeatefficeat Chase! Hill. N.C., nnder the actef Aagaat 24. lilt OUl BANK lESOUECES The table which appears in this issue of the University News Letter shows how the one hundred counties of the state rank in aggregate bank resour ces, both state and national banks com bined, for the year 1923, on a per in habitant basis. The table is derived by dividing the aggregate of bank re sources aa reported by the North Caro lina Corporation Commission and the Comptroller of the Currency of' the United States by the total population for 1923 as estimated by the Census Bureau. The state total of bank resources for the year 1923 was $474,117,609, or an average of $176,49 per inhabitant. Mecklenburg ranks first in total bank resources with $43,981,869. Forsyth ranks second with $41,943,317, while Guilford comes third with $36,127,911. Camden, Tyrrell, and Graham have no banks. Of the counties that have banks, Clay comes last with bank re sources totaling only $84,073. There are eleven counties that have less than $500,000 each in- bank resources. They are: Alleghany, $200,201; Avery, $479,- 270; Brunswick, $153,676; Caswell, $208,- 900; Clay, $84,073; Currituck, $148,- 851; Dare, $101,413; Hyde, $411,730;; Jones, $434,858; Pender, $432,349; and Yadkin, $453,074. There are only ten; counties in the state having total bank resources of over $10,000,000. Besides those mentioned above they are: New Hanover, $22,847,001; 'Wake, $22, 121,010; Durham, $21,430,449; Gaston, $16,692,014; ‘ Buncombe, $14,630,282; Edgecombe, $11,924,903; and Wilson, $11,119,449. These ten counties have a little more than one-half of the total bank resources of the entire state. The explanation for this lieh chiefly in the fact that these counties contain the largest cities of the state, and these cities are the leading manufac turing and trading centers of the state. New Hanover First New Hanover ranks first in North Carolina in bank resources per inhabit ant, with an average of $522.66, which is almost three times the average for the entire state. Mecklenburg comes second with $513.69 per inhabitant, while Durham comes third with $479.19. Only eighteen counties rank above the state average of $176.49 of bank resources per inhabitant. Of these counties, four are in the tide water country, thirteen in the central part of the state, and one west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Below the Average Camden and Graham have no banks in them, and none are reported from Tyrrell for 1923. Of the counties that do have banks in them, Brunswick comes last with only $10.21 of bank re sources per inhabitant. Of the eighty- two counties that rank below the state average of $176.49 of bank resources per inhabitant, fifty have less than $100.00 per inhabitant, and eighteen have less than $60.00 per inhabitant. The counties that rank below the state av erage in bank resources per inhabitant are scattered over the entire state. However, we find a greater proportion of them located in the Mountain and Tidewater regions. The reason for this is that these sections are not well de veloped industrially or agriculturally and consequently a few small banks supply the banking needs. The major ity of the counties ranking above the state average in bank resources per in habitant are located in the central part of the state, in the great industrial and urban counties and in the great cash- crop, cotton and tobacco, counties. Counties lacking industries, and in which the agriculture tends to be self- sufficing, make few calls on banks for loans and discounts and consequently the bank resources of such counties are extremely small. Rate of Growth During the last decade North Caro lina’s increase in bank resources has been rapid. In 1914 her total bank re sources were $163,114,436, or an aver age of $64.90 per inhabitant. In 1923 the total volume had reached $474,117,- 609, or an average of $175.49 pe? in habitant. During this decade the in crease in bank resources in this state was approximately 209 per cent, while the increase for the country as a whole was approximately 101 percent. This shows that we have increased at a rapid rate as compared with the nation as a whole. The increase has been fairly persistent during this decade, except for the year 1921, which was a year of uncertainty for the banking system of the entire United States. In 1920 the total bank resources were $465,685,- OOO, In 1921 they dropped to $406,- 983,000; but in 1922 they had jumped back to $444,308,000, and have been in creasing steadily since. This increase in bank resources has not been due in any large degree to an increase in the number of banks. During the decade from 1914 to 1924 national banks have increased from 76 to 87, while state banks have increased from 457 to 534. There has been a large growth in the volume of business of the average bank. Reason for Growth The bank resources of the state have developed as the credit needs of the state have expanded, it requires vast ly more banking capital to meet the demands upon banks today than it did in 1914. To illustrate the increased demand for operating capital it is only necessary to point out that in 1914 the aggregate value of all wealth produced by farms and factories in the state was a half billion dollars, while the aggre gate for 1923- was around one billion two hundred and fifty million dollars, or two and a half times as much. The aggregate of wealth created by agen cies other than farms and factories has increased in similar proportion. Still Ranks Low We do not mean to infer that North Carolina ranks well as a banking state. For some unaccountable reason we have always ranked lower in the banking world than the position of the state agriculturally and industrially would seem to justify. In proportion to her bank resources North Carolina pro duces more wealth each year than any other state in the Union. North Carolina has two and one-half percent of the population of the United States, but only eight-tenths of one percent of the bank resources. '.Only five states have smaller bank resources per inhabitant. They are South Caro lina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, all of which produce less wealth annually than North Carolina. Only 13 states have more people but 26 states have larger aggregate bank re sources. Or to state it in another way, the bank resources of all the states give an aver age of $483 per inhabitant, while the average for North Carolina is $176.69, or less than 35 percent of the average for all the states. Only two counties in the state have larger per inhabitant bank resources than the average for the United States. North Carolina has experienced a most rapid and wholesome growth in bank resources during the last decade. Yet considering the amount of gross and net wealth pr9duced in the state each year it is very clear that there is still room for great expansion in the bank ing field. North Carolina has become a great commercial state. The world of com merce is founded on credit, and banks are credit factories. The amazing thing is not that we have developed our banking resources so rapidly of late years, but that even today they are so small in proportion to the wealth created an nually within the state. It is safe to predict that the present rapid growth in bank resources will continue un abated for some time to come. We need to build up bank resources ade quate to supply the main credit needs of an important and rapidly developing agricultural and industrial state. S. H. H., Jr. THE FARMERS FEDERATION There was recently erected in the city of Asheville, N. C., a six-story fireproof warehouse with 24,000 square feet of floor space, as a warehouse, market and depot for twelve hundred farmers in Buncombe and Henderson counties who belong to an organization known A RICHEK RURAL CULTURE The Danish farmers, says Dr. E. C. Branson, live together, play to gether, work together. The conse quence is that their look on life is social and cooperative instead of in dividual and competitive.” That is the spirit that we must develop in America and in the South these next twenty-five years. The developpient of social units in the country, ce mented together by a spirit of com radeship, is a vital necessity. And there must also be on the farms a genuine rural culture, not a mere imitation or second-hand city culture. Poets, novelists, dramatists must write from the viewpoint of country people as well as from that of city people. Country boys and girls must learn and take pride in the things of the country—the wonders of plant and animal life, the beauties of na ture, the history of agricultural leaders and agricultural movements, the literature of nature and country life. Rural sports and rural recrea tion must be encouraged instead of having country people look to the town or city for such pleasures. The land must be tilled by men who love it and who make farming an art and a science. Farmsteads must be handed down from sire to son, each endeavoring to leave the place more beautiful and more fertile than he found it.—Clarence Poe. as the Farmers’ Federation, Inc. The Asheville warehouse is one of six ware houses controlled by the organization of farmers in these two counties. The Farmers’ Federation of Asheville did a business of more than a half million dollars last year and will greatly ex ceed that figure this year; and they have been organized only three and a half years. Instead of every farmer in Buncombe and Henderson Counties going it for himself on the old hit or miss system, and being forever at the mercy of the commission man, the Hebrew calf buyer, the fertilizer companies and the farm implement dealers, the farmers of these two North Carolina counties arfe united in a compact, business-like organization that handles their buying and selling in a business-like way. In stead of each farmer shipping his chick ens and eggs a coop or aerate at a time and taking any price he can get for them, his chickens and eggs are carried to the Federation warehouses. His eggs are sorted and graded and sold accord ing to grade. His chickens are condi tioned and sold in car lots. His pota toes are graded and sold the same way. Not only do the farmers of these two counties demand and receive higher prices for their farm pro duce, but they buy their fertilizer, farm implements and much other mer chandise at a considerable saving. They also command the respect of the rail roads and express companies by dealing collectively with these carriers. Another big thing has come out of this little Farmers’ Federation. The Federation has determined what pro ducts can be grown and marketed to the greatest advantage and the entire membership of the federation concen trates on these products. The result is a standardization of effort that in itself has made money for the entire member ship. Eastern North Carolina farmers who go to the mountains this month, shouldn’t put in all of their time look ing at the mountains; they will find it to their profit and to the social as well as the economic well-being of their families to look into the Farmers’ Fed eration at Asheville and Hendersonville. Elizabeth City Independent. LIGHT IN DARK PLACES Conditions are gradually making for more attractive rural life, says The Hendersonville News, commenting on the installation of electric lights in Year BANK RESOURCES IN NORTH CAROLINA 1914 TO Resources Resources Total Population 1923 Aggregate 1914 Nat. Banks $71,331,000 State Banks $81,783,436 $153,114,436 2,359,233 Bank Res. perinhab. $64.80 1916 68,567,000 92,384,895 160,915,895 2,395,577 67.17 1916 73,104,000 120,046,244 193,150,244 2,431,920 79.42 1917 93,496,000 156,480,401 249,975,401 2,468,264 101 27 1918 116,944,000 189,632,416 306,676,416 2,504,608 143.96 1919 151,626,000 298,540,408 450,066,408 2,640,952 177.12 1920 183,810,000 271,775,749 465,685,749 . 2,577,296 176.77 1921 163,937,000 243,046,269 406,983,259 2,613,639 165.71 1922 179,686,000 264,623,024 444,308,024 2,649,982 167.66 1923 175,122,000 •298,995,609 474,117,609 2,686,325 176.49 Horse Shoe and the community round about. Mills River is also in the near future expected to be lighted by hydro electric energy produced from nearby streams. The News has this to say of the gen eral subject: “The cost of electric.lines into rural communities has prevented the rapid spread of such conveniences as go with electr^al energy, which will serve to make rural life more attractive because of the labor and inconveniences it will save. As farm conditions improve and farmers become more prosperous, elec tricity will be widely employed for lighting and for small-power purposes in and around the home, such as driving the sewing machine and the churn, pumping water, sawing wood, grinding feed, and milking cows.” This is the sort of development of rural districts that the county farm agents have advocated for years, it is partial fulfillment of the ambitions of the Rural Social Science department of the University of North Carolina; it is the gradual realization of the prophe cies of the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey; it is the kind of rural advancement that Western North Carolina, Inc., is now helping to pro mote. And it means a rural life better organized on a material basis, which in turn means better equipment for the attainment of those things outside the realm of the material that men and women must have for a well rounded life.—Asheville Citizen. WHERE CHURCHES PROSPER It is futile to speak of better homes, better schools and better churches for the farmer, unless his economic posi tion is secure. The rural problem in its religious aspects cannot be considered apart from its economic aspects. The farmers living ethically, socially and religiously can be made worthwhile only so far as his farming has been made worthwhile. Profitable farming also means proper spiritual growth. The church does not thrive among classes of society that have becomg pauperized, just as seeds will not thrive in soil that has been depleted of its fertility.—Rev. A. J. Muench, Wisconsin. BANK RESOURCES PER INHABITANT In North Carolina in 1923 In the following table the counties are ranked according to aggregate bank resources, state and national banks, per inhabitant in 1923. Resources of branch banks are credited to the home county. Based on Report of the Comptroller of the Currency, Sept. 14, 1923, and Report of the State Corporation Commission, Dec. 31, 1923. Aggregate bank resources in North Carolina in 1914 amounted to $153,114,- 436 or $64.90 per inhabitant. Aggregate bank resources in 1923 were $474,117’- 609 or $176.49 per inhabitant. In 1923 the aggregate bank resources were more than three times the aggregate for 1914. The aggregate resources of national banks increased 147 percent while for the state banks the increase was 270 percent. State average of bank resources per inhabitant $176,40. A. G. Glenn, Watauga County Department of Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina Rank Ckiunty Aggregate Rank County Aggregate Bank Resources Bank Resources per Inhabitant. per Inhabitant. 1 New Hanover.. $622.66 51 Caldwell 198.68 2 Mecklenburg... 613.69 52 Transylvania. 98.48 3 Durham 479.19 63 Stokes 96.61 Fnr^yf.h 476.26 64 Lee 6 Guilford 408.27 66 Washington .. 94.06 6 Pasquotank.... 361.98 56 Orange 92.86 /7 Edgecombe 296.98 67 Pamlico 91.92 8 Moore 281.30 58 Franklin 90.76 9 Wilson 278.73 60 Haywood 88.13 10 Gaston 278.46 60 Duplin 83.08 11 Wake 278.42 61 Watauga .*:■ 80.44 Scotland 266.69 62 Chatham 13 Vnnpp .. 224.86 63 Burke........ I'l 'Rnnuomhe 211.05 64 Polk 15 Clpvpland 200.48 65 Green 16 Hertford 200.46 66 Onslow 72.95 17 Chowan 196.49 67 Columbus 71.26 18 Wayne 182.73 68 Davie 18 PrnvPTi 176.32 69 Cherokee 20 Union 173.90 70 Warren 68.29 21 Cabarrus 164.79 71 Sampson 65.88 22 Henderson 161.92 72 Perquimans... 63.80 9^ Pitt 160.60 73 Hoke 24 PTalifax 164.24 74 Alexander 63.01 26 Lenoir 152.53 75 Madison 61.03 26 Richmond 161.68 76 Stanly 60.65 27 Granville 144.67 77 Wilkes 28 Lincoln 140.60 78 Swain 69.60 29 Catawba 136,10 79 Yancey 67.12 30 Cumberland .... 135.83 80 Jackson 66.22 31 Ansnn 133.67 81 Ashe f,9 99. 32 Rutherford 133.59 82 Randolph 51.03 33 Gates 131.08 83 Macon 49.41 34 Robeson 130.82 84 Hyde 49.10 35 Beaufort 130.68 86 Nash 47.60 -36 Davidson 130.25 86 Mitchell' 45.93 37 Surry 130.06 87 Bladen 45.64 38 Iredell 128.36 88 Avery 46.28 39 Person 127.36 89 Jones 42.06 40 Martin 126.29 90 Pender . 29.24 '41 Bertie 122.43 91 Yadkin 27.07 32 Rockingham.... 121.22 92 Alleghany.... 27.04 43 Johnston., 114 26 93 Currituck 5>n 4« 44 Alamance 113.62 94 Dare 19.45 46 Montgomery.... 111.78 96 Clay 17.11 46 McDowell 110.73 96 Caswell 12.37 47 Rowan 109.01 97 Brunswick ... 10.21 48 Harnett 106.30 98 Camden 00.00 49 Northampton... 104.10 99 Graham 00.00 60 Carteret 103.73 ^100 Tyrrell *00.00 * No bank reported for 1928.
The University of North Carolina News Letter (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 3, 1924, edition 1
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