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 the University Ex
tension Division.
JANUARY 21, 1925
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XI, NO. 10
Editorial Boardt E. C. Braaaon, S. H. Hobbs, Jr.. L R Wllaan, B. W. Kcltsht, D. D. Carroll, 3, B.Ballltt, H. W. Odum,
matter J^ovombor 14,1914, at the Poatoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C.. under the act of Aag'uat 24, 1912
THE BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT
OUR STATE LAGS BEHIND
The Boy Scout movement is getting
under way in every civilized country
of the world. In America its develop
ment has been especially rapid; it has
grown to such proportions that the
general public is without a proper ap
preciation of its magnitude and scope.
With a total membership of approxi
mately 700,000, it is highly significant
that the organization involves a paid
leadership of only 827 men ai
executives and field workers.
The Value
You may send a boy to school but
his playmates will educate him, said
. Emerson. It is a matter of common
observation that the gang impulse is
at its highest in boys of the early teen
ages. A University of Chicago study
traces 90 percent of sentenced delin
quents in Chicago to these gangs
Left to themselves they may-turn to
stealing, vice, or disorderly conduct.
But when the ganging habit is taken
hold of and consciously directed by
capable, high-minded leadership, as
in the Scout Movement, it may be
turned into a means for developing
good citizenship, good habits, and a
proper regard for the rights of others
in these boys of today who are tomor
row’s citizens.
There is no movement having great
er possibilities for good. The do-a-
good-turn-daily idea is as catching as
the measles once it is started. When
Troop 1 of Kannapolis, North Carolina,
discovered that all the members of a
family were ill they adop'ted them dur
ing their illness, carried them wood
and water, cleaned up the yard, and
did the cooking, cleaning, and nursing.
Boy Facts
America has 26,000,000 boys under
21 years of age. North Carolina has
700,000 and each year 28,000 graduate
into citizenship. What influences
have shaped their lives?
That the American home is in an un
stable condition is indicated by the
fact that our divorce rate is six and
one-half times as much as the average of
the 17 leading civilized countries. We
have 72 per 100,000 of population—
Switzerland is next highest with 32,
and then France with 23.- Is the school
helping out toe home in its duty of
moulding character? The U. S. I^ureau
of Education finds that of every one
thousand pupils that enter the first
grade, only 111 finish high school. And
irregular attendance -results in a
school time waste of about 26 percent.
Then the church? Only one boy in
three goes to Sunday school and half
of these attend less than half the
time.
What Scouting Stands For
The tremendous expansion of the
Boy Scout movement indicates that it
is meeting an unfulfilled need—that of
supplying the idealism and the values
neglected by home, school, and church.
And this in a way that is play, not
work, for boys. Every boy becoming
a Scout pledges-himself as follows: On
ipy honor I will do my best—
1. To do my- duty to -God and my
country and to obey t^e Scout Law.
2. To help other people at all times.
3. To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally
straight.
And the Scout Law is positive; there
is nothing negative in scouting. It
says that a scout is trustworthy, loyal,
helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obe
dient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean,
and reverent. These principles incul
cated in boys are active forces for
good. The movement needs encour
agement in North Carolina.
Utah Leads
The table shows that Utah leads the
states in promoting the Boy Scout
Movement with 173.9 Boy Scouts per
10,000 population. The reason for her
high stand is to be found in the influ
ence of her churches which have set
themselves the task of applying at
first hand a social religion through all
available service agencies. Idaho fol
lows, and Wyoming, California, and
Gonnecuticut are next in order. Florida
leads the Southern states with 49.2
Scouts per 10,000 population.
North Carolina
North Carolina ranks forty-third
among the states with only 20.1 Boy-
Scouts per 10,000 population. Of our
6,420 Scouts, 3,043 are under a First
Class Council, 306 under a Second Class
Council, and 2,071 are under no Council
at all. We have 143 troops, 256 Scout
masters, and 76 Assistant Scoutmasters.
The twelve Scout Councils of the state
are as follows: Buncombe county, Ca-
scout I tawba River District, Charlotte, Chero
kee District, Gre^sboro, Raleigh, Tar
Heel District, Tuscorora District,
Uwharrie District, Winston-Salem,
Southern Pines, and Wilmington.
Relatively, Southern Pines seems to
be doing the,best work in promoting
scouting. Her two troops have a to
tal membership of 62 which is one
scout for every 19 inhabitants.
Uwharrie District, with one Scout for
every 98 inhabitants, is next highest
in this particular. Charlotte, with
$18.26 per scout, is spending most
money In behalf of the movement.
—Edgar T. Thompson.
BOY SCOUTS ARE DIFFERENT
W. A. Anderson, associate professor
of sociology, asks in North Carolina
Agriculture and Industry, State Col
lege of Agriculture and Engineering
publication, if you have noticed that a
new sign is beginning to replace the
“No Trespassing Allowed” sign of
which “practically every farm has
several on its premises, ” the new one
being the old with an addendum, “No
Trespassing Allowed. Boy Scouts in
Uniform Welcome.”
No, we had not; Professor Ander
son’s word is taken for it that we have
been overlooking something. Profes
sor Anderson writes about “The Social
Contributions of the Boy Scout Organi
zation, ” dressing the subject in ortho
dox terms of sociology and analyzing
it. That which he has (^served has a
powerful significance, and the state
ment of it is one of the most illuminat
ing things that has ever been said about
the Boy Scouts.
We like it best without explanation
or analysis. The farmer who has been
trying by sticking up warning signs to
protect his property and his feelings
from vandals, bidding all the world to
keep off, is beginning to draw a line,'to
make a reservation and an exception,
not for individuals but for an entire
organization; one that numbers, in
America, more than half a million
members. lie is proclaiming to ‘the
world not only that his order to the
public to keep off his land has been
limited in scope as a result of his ob
servation and experience; he goes
further and extends a hospitable invi
tation to all and sundry Boy Scouts in
uniform who may pass that way.
A fact of profound eloquence. The
general public becomes less regardful
of property rights, not more so. The
multitudes that are always rushing
around, penetrating every nook and
corner, will take anything that is
not nailed down. They rob the blos
soming fields and wreck the blos
soming trees, nor does this ignor
ing of meum and tuum stop with the
esthetic. Time is coming when the
only way to protect a farm along the
highway from utter spoliation will be
to have it guarded with a plenitude
of sawed-off shotguns.
The Boy Scouts are different.—
Greensboro Daily News.
PERMANENT PRINCIPLES
If we work upon marble.
It will perish;
If we work upon brass,
Time will efface it;
If we rear temples.
They will crumble into dust;
But if we work upon immortal souls.
If we imbue them with principles,
With the just fear of God
And the love of fellow man,
We engrave on those tablets
Something which will brighten all „
eternity.
—Daniel Webster.
Ice cream 3.00
Professors’ salaries 08
Diamonds 2.58
Books 1.10
Patent medicines 2.10
Tj’-pewriters
Firearms and shells 51
Fountain pens and steel pens... .19
—Edgar T. Thompson.
and not wealth gives standing to men,
where the power of character lifts men
to leadership; where interest in public
affairs is a test of citizenship and de
votion to the public weal is si badge of
honor; where government is always
honest and efficient and the principles
of deniocracy find their fullest and
truest expression; where the people of
all the earth can come and be blended
into one community life; and where
each generation will vie with the past
to transmit to the next a city greater,
better, and more beautiful than the
last.—Mayo Fesler, Bulletin of the
Baltimore City Club.
A CITY IDEAL
A city, sanitary, convenient, sub
stantial, where the houses of the rich
and the poor are alike comfortable and
beautiful; where the streets are clean
and the sky line clear as country air;
where the architectural excellence of
its buildings adds beauty and dignity
to its streets; where parks and play
grounds are within the reach of every
child; where living is pleasant, toil
honorable and recreation plentiful;
where capital is respected but not
worshiped; where commerce in goods
is great but not greater than the inter
change of ideas; where industry thrives
and brings prosperity alike to employer
and employed; where education and art
have a place in every home; where worth
WHERE OUR MONEY GOES
“Only one in ten people in the
United States brushes his teeth, but
we consume enough tobacco per year
*to pay off the interest on the National
debt” says Mrs. Christine Frederick
in the Sept;ember, 1924, issue of the
Annals of the American ■ Academy of
Political and Social Science. She goes
on to tell us that whereas America’s
new wealth created during the century
1800 to 1900 was 88 billion dollars, du
ring the decade 1910 to 1920 it was
135 billion dollars.
“We sold more goods to the world
(89 billions contrasted with 36) in this
decade than in the entire 19th century;
and we mined a billion tons more coal,
smelted twice as much copper, made
three and one-half times as much steel,
and spent one and one-half billion dol
lars more upon our schools. We match
a decade against a century and the de
cade wins!” ' '
What We Buy
“Every year the Nation spends 15.6
billion dollars for food, 33 percent of
which is for meat. , The clothing stores
get 7.7 billion dollars; automobiles take
another 3.5 billions, while candy and
soft drinks are getting 1.5 billions.
The 85,000 confectionery stores of the
country sell 18 pounds of candy per
person to the people of the United
States —a rise of 300 percent in a few
decades. Candy and soft drinks com
prise about 6 percent of our food bill.”
The Cost of High Living
Sometimes comparisons are odious
but they make us pause to consider,
nevertheless. The following table
taken from Mrs. Frederick’s article
shows what the average American
spends annually and what he buys.
Automobiles, candy, perfumery, and
ice cream rightly ought to have places
in any civilized country, but not to the
neglect of higher and more enduring
values.
Some Comparisons
Average annual expenditures per
inhabitant in the United States, as ex
hibited by Mrs. Christine Frederick in
the September, 1924, Annals of the
American Academy of Political and So
cial Science (Vol. CXV, No. 204).
Luxurious foods $45.00
Government expenses 30.73
Joy-riding, races, pleasure
resorts .... 27.00
Religious work 1.29
Automobiles and parts .. 21.QO
Public schools 10.00
Candy 11.00
Eggs 90
Advertising 11.00
Pianos, organs, phonographs.... 2.20
Perfumery and cosmetics 9.00
Health service 11
Jewelry 5.00
Professional and Scientific
Instruments
THECHURCHWOMEN HELP
At the request of Mrs. Le Grand Ev
erett, member of the board of public
welfare of Rockingham county and
editor of a paper published by the ■
Women’s Missionary Societies of the
Methodist Church, the Commissioner
of Public Welfare recently outlined a
program whereby the women of these
societies may cooperate with the State
Bo^rd of Charities and Public Welfare
in its work for North Carolina. This
is a program which can be carried out
by women belonging to societies of
any religious denomination and it is
printed below in the hope that it may
jirove suggestive to church women in
terested in public welfare.
“The women of the church societies
in their social service activities can
best cooperate with the State Board of
Charities and Public Welfare in its pro
gram by interesting themselves first
of all in public welfare work in their
own counties,” writes the Commis
sioner. “There is nothing that helps
and stimulates a county' superintendent
of public welfare more than active popu
lar interest in and support of his work;
and without it, the work can never be
all it should be. , I feel that the church
women can be depended upon to give
this. A brief outline of the ways in
which they can cooperate follows:
“1. inquire as to the program of
your county superintendent of public'
welfare with special reference to de
pendent, neglected and delinquent
under the supervision of women. If
there are any children in your county
home, call the fact to the attention of
your county superintendent of public
welfare officer or notify the State Board
so that they may be removed. Probably
•57 your society already holds religious
services and entertainments upon oc
casion at the county home and jail.
You can brighten the days of the in
mates by taking them some of your
old magazines. Though many of them
can’t read, they enjoy looking at the
pictures. —Public Welfare Progress.
A FAHM CREED FOR 1925
' A wise man profits from his own
experiences; a wiser man profits from
the experiences of others.
During the past years the farmers
of North Carolina have had much ex
perience in over-production, a poor
selection of crops, in inefficient mar
keting, in the payment of excessive
interest rates for production credits, in
the payment of exorbitant time prices
for supplies, in a lack of diversification of
crops and soil conservation; and in not
producing on his own farm those foods
which are so necessary for the health
and happiness of his own family. ■
Let’s begin in this good year of 1925
to remedy some of these defects
and start with the following as a creed:
1. I will produce enough vegetables,
fruits, corn, wheat, oats, cowpeas,
soybeans, cows, hogs, poultry, and cat
tle to amply supply the needs of my
own family and farm.
2. I will raise such money crops as
are best suited to my soil and environ
ment and as I can most profitably mar
ket in my home markets; and will com
bine with my fellow farmers in sucH
organizations as will enable me to enter
the larger markets of other states and
countries.
3. I will keep enough cattle and
plant sufficient legumes to enable me
to make my land richer at the end of
each year than at the beginning and
thus lay the foundation for a steadily
growing prosperity.
4. I will combine with my fellow
farmers in the organization of such
associations as will create efficient
children, and find out in what ways you 1 marketing facilities, insure reasonable
can help to carry it out and develop it. j to buy my sup-
Near-beer...
Dentifrices,
.62
4.16
.22
If the officer is efficient, he will welcome
such aid and will be glad to suggest
ways in which the church women can
help him. If there is no public welfare
officer in your county, set about get
ting one.
“2. Look into the juvenile court in
your County. See if the juvenile court
judge is a man who is really interested
in children and understands them, and
if the probation service is adequate.
Discover the weaknesses of your juve
nile court and try to remedy them.
“3. Visit your jail, county chain-
gang, and county home. Note their
cqndition, if they need improvement
and how. See that these institutions
are clean and free from vermin. Find
out whether women prisoners confined
in the jail are allowed proper privacy.
Work to have all women prisoners
plies at cash prices.
6. I will buy nothing which I can
raise on my farm and pay cash for
such supplies as I must have. To do
this, I will practice rigid economy.
When necessary, 1 will borrow money
at 6 percent in order to pay cash for
supplies rather than pay 30 to 90 per
cent excess prices for time purchases.
6. I will work with my neighbors in
every possible way to make my com
munity the best possible farm com
munity so that there will be induce
ments for my boys and girls to remain
at home and make agriculture their
profession.
If this program could be initiated on
every farm in North Carolma during
1926, it would be the beginning of a
solid and steadily growing prosperity
such as has been achieved b^y few peo
ple and it can be achieved only by
those who have the common-sense, the
grit and determination to’ conquer ad
verse circumstances. But what a
glorious achievement it would be I—
N. C. Market News.
BOY SCOUTING IN THE UNITED STATES
Nqmber of Boy Scouts per 10,000 of population, December 31, 1923. Based
(1) on House of Representatives Document No. 354, 68th Congress, 1st Ses
sion, the F«*irteenth Annual Report of the Boy Scouts of America, and (2)
the Bureau of the Census Estimates of Population of the United States' for
1923.
Forty-two states outrank North Carolina. Southern states ahead of us in
clude Florida, Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, and
even New Mexico. We are considerably below the average for the United
States which is 40.2 Boy Scouts per 10,000 of population.
Edgar T. Thompson
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina
Rank States Total Scouts Per
Number 10,000 Pop.
1 Utah 8,295 173.9
2 ^Idaho 6,612 119.4
3 Wyoming 1,765 83.2
4 California 24,700 64.9
5 Connecticut 8,708 68.9
6 Washington 8,416 68.7
7 New Jersey 18,687 55.2
8 Montana 3,365 65.0
9 Rhode Island 3,429 64.7
10 Oregon 4,471 64.3
11 Arizona 8,416 61.6
12 Nebraska 6,704 50.2
13 Florida 5,156 49.2
14 Colorado 4,843 48.9
15 Iowa 11,943 48.3
16 North Dakota 3,190 47.4
17 New York 50,284 46.3
18 Pennsylvania 41,737 45.8
19 Michigan 17,619 44.3
20 Massachusetts.... 17,661 43.6
21 Kansas 7,797 43.3
21 Oklahoma 9,374 43.3
23 Maine 3,157 40.7
24 Indiana 11,788 39.1
Rank States Total Scouts Per
Number 10,000 Pop.
25 Ohio 23,808 38.9
26 New Hampshire.... 1,723 38.6
27 Illinois- 24,572 36.1
28 Minnesota 8,870 35.8
29 Wisconsin^ 9,770 35.7'
30 Delaware 804 34.5
30 Nevada 266 34.6 ‘
32 Missouri 11,836 34.3
33 Vermont *1,200 34.1
34 West Virginia 4,736 30.6
35 Texas 14,948 30.2
36 ,South Dakota 1,926, 29.3
37 Maryland 4,203 27.9
38 Georgia - 8,099 27.1
39 Virginia 6,276 26.2
40 Louisiana.... 4,663 25.2
41 Alabama 6,487 22.2
42 New Mexico 801 21.6
43 North Carolina 5,420 20.1
144 Arkansas 3,061 16.8
I 44 Kentucky 4,127 16.8
] 46 South Carolina 2,791 16.0
! 47 Mississippi 2,769 15,4
[48 Tennessee 4,615 16.1