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.
NOVEMBER 25, 1925
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 4
Editorial Board: E. C. Branaon, S. H. Hobbs. Jr., L. R. Wilson, E. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt. H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-class matter November 14. 1914. at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24. 1912
CITY AND FARM HOME OWNERS
URBAN HOME OWNERSHIP [ view of our loss in agricultural popula-
/'.CAL r .. •4.- • XT, ♦u ! tion and large gains in urban population
Of the fourteen cities in North Caro-[ u
- -.nor^ u j ♦. ^ 4.U would expect to hnd larger ratios
lina which in 1920 had ten thousand or ^ *
or farm and home ownership and
I smaller ratios of city home
But this is not the
•'■nore inhabitants, Salisbury made the |
c>est showing in the percent of owned
homes. Of all homes in Salisbury 43.7
percent were owned by the occupants.
In Gastonia, which ranked last of the
state’s fourteen cities, only 26.4 percent
of the homes were owned by the occupy
ing family. The home-ownership ratio
was nearly twice as high in Salisbury
as in Gastonia. High Point and Greens
boro also rank well in this respect. The
ifoUowing table shows the rank of the
fourteen cities of the state in the per
cent of homes owned by-the occupants:
Rank . Cities Percent
Owned
Homes
1 Salisbury 43.7
2 High Point 42.2
3 Greensboro 41.6
4 Asheville 37.2
o Wilson 33.6
6 Rocky Mount 33.5
7 New Bern 33.2
8 Wilmington 33.1
9 Goldsboro 32,6
10 Charlotte 31.0
11 Winston-Salem 29.8
12 Raleigh 28.1
13 Durham 27 3
14 Gastonia 26.4
Of the 68,946 homes in these fourteen
cities, 22,660, or 32.9 percent, are owned
by the occupants. A glance at the table
reveals the fact that home-ownership
ratios are not as high in the highly in
dustrial cities as in cities not so exclu
sively industrial.
Big Cities Improving
A study of the ownership of homes in
urban centers reveals some facts that
»jght be worth calling to the attention
North Carolina cities. It is gener
ally believed that the large cities of the
United States are inhabited by people
only a small percent of whom own their
bomes, and that the larger the city the
smaller the ratio of home owners.
There are many exceptions.
There are seventy cities in the United
States with more than 100,000 inhabi
tants each. Of the seventy great cities
39 have larger ratios of home owners
than the average for the fourteen cities
of North Carolina. In two of these big
cities more than half of the bomes are
owned by the occupants.
In Philadelphia, the third city in size,
nearly 40 percent of the homes, are
owned by the occupants. Of interest
in connection with Philadelphia is the
fact that the rate of home ownership
has increased from 26.6 percent in 1910
to 39.6 percent in 1920. Perhaps the :
tact that Philadelphia, the “City of j
Homes,” is the leading building-and-
loan-associaLiun city of America ,has
much to do with this marvelous increase
in the percent of owned homes.
Another Big Gain
In Baltimore, our seventh largest
city, 46-3 percent of all homes are
owned by the occupants. Baltimore
also has made a big gain in home owner
ship since 1910, at which time only 33.7
percent of the homes were owned by
the occupants. The writer has just
been advised by a well-informed Balti
morean that their home-ownership ratio
is now in the neighborhood of 55 per
cent. Other similar cases could be cited.
As a matter of fact, in more than
two-thirds of the seventy great cities
of the United States the percent of
homes owned by the occupants was
higher in 1920 than in 1910, in spite of
the enormous increase in population in
these great cities. Some of the most
notable gains were made in Ohio and
Pennsylvania, which it might be well
to remember are great building and loan
association states.
The size of North Carolina cities con
sidered, it seems that , our ratios of
home ownership are too low. It might
be well for us to inquire into the meth
ods employed to boost home ownership
in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other
cities.
/
city
lase.
From 1880 to 1920 there was a slight
decrease in the percent of all homes,
farm and city, owned by the occupants,
but a big increase in the percent of
farms operated by tenants. While com
plete urban tenancy facts are not avail
able, it is clear that there has been, an
increase in urban home-ownership
ratio's.
The following table gives the facts
in so far as they are available. The
first column shows the percent of all
homes, farm and urban, owned by the
occupants. The second column gives
the percent of farms operated by ten
ants, and shows the rapid increase in
farm tenancy.
For the United States
Year Percent Percent
All Homes Farm
Owned Tenants
1880.
1890
1900..
1910.
1920.
,.47.8
.46.1
..45.8
,.45.6
.... 26.6
28.4
.... 36.3
37.0
38.1
It is clearly evident that the slight
decrease in the percent of all homes
owned by the occupants is more than
accounted for by the large increase in
homes occupied by tenant farmers.
Urban home-ownership ratios are in
creasing because admirable plans have
been worked out to promote urban
home ownership, particularly the build
ing and loan association. Farm tenancy
increases, even in the face of a decreas
ing farm population, because there is
no suitable plan available in any state
by which the tenant farmer can rise
from tenancy into farm ownership.
Some suitable plan for promoting farm
ownership is sadly needed in the tobacco
and cotton belt counties of North Caro
lina, where all told nearly two-thirds of
the farmers are tenants, with the rate
steadily rising.
TREE TOWNS
Several seasons ago the people of
Statesville decided to make that city,
already one of the most beantiful of
North Carolina towns, still more at
tractive, and to that end an avenue
of dogwood trees was set out. Some
of these trees succumbed to the
drought of last summer, but a suf
ficient number survived to encourage
replanting and extension. The States
ville Daily says the executive com
mittee of the Citizens’ Association,
has determined on replacing the dead
trees and planting dogwoods in other'
sections of the city. This associa
tion was organized to “beautify
Statesville,” and its selection of the
dogwood gave guarantee of excel
lent results. The dogwood in spring
is a thing of beauty, and throughout
the year a good ornamentation for
the streets. Statesville may become
known as the dogwood town, and in
time we may hear of people motor-
ftig that way during the spring season
to see the dogwoods, just as they go
to the mountains to see the laurel
and the rhododendron.
This particular form of ornamenta
tion of North Carolina towns is a
movement to be encouraged. Several
towns are already distinguished in
that direction. Morganton is the
mimosa town; Gastonia, we believe,
runs to the crepe myrtle. In the
eastern towns the magnolia abounds.
In his early days as Congressman,
Judge Yates Webb made Shelby the
pear town, and the yards about
Shelby abound in beautiful shade
and abundant fruit of the best vari
ety. North Carolina should become
known as a state of “tree towns,”
and in that direction Statesville ap
pears to be leading the way.—Char
lotte Observer.
XlV. FINANCING OF LINES IN NORTH CAROLINA
The chief barrier to progress in bring-
I ing electricity to country districts, as
; was pointed out in the last article, is
! the fact that a long transmission line is
i needed to serve only a few customers,
i This means high fixed charges which
are sooner or later borne by the con
sumer, except where the state shares
the first cost, as is done in parts of
Canada and Europe, in which case the
burden goes to the general taxpayer.
In meeting this situation many dif
ferent plans have been worked out for
cooperation between farmers and public
utility companies in building electric
lines. The plans range all the way
from complete building and ownership
of the lines by the farmers, to complete
building by the electric companies with
the costs passed on to the farmer in
the form of higher rates for current,
and many varieties in between the two
extremes. Following are examples of
different plans as they are found in
North Carolina today.
Customers Finance Lines
In Cleveland county 90 miles of rural
lines have been built during the last
year on the plan of community financ
ing. Thirteen communities have organ
ized community stock companies to pay
for the erection of a power line from
the nearest power center to the com
munity in question. Four hundred and
seventy-three subscribers have been se
cured, and the cost to each farmer is
between $90 and $250, depending on the
length of line and the number of people
living on the line. When two more
lines are built there will be lines in
every section of the county. A similar
community company has been organized
by the farmers of the Providence Road
community near Charlotte.
The plan of customer financing of
FARM TENANCY
The farm population of America is
now actually decreasing, yet farm ten
ancy is on the increase. The city popu
lation is rapidly increasing, and yet
gains are being made in the percent of
all city homes occupied by owners. In
FARM HOME COMFORTS
North Carolina is one of the great
agricultural states of the Union, rank
ing second only to Texas in the number
of farms and holding high rank in the
annual productionof agricultural wealth.
In view of our great importance as an
agricultural state it is surprising to
note the almost universal lack of home
comforts and conveniences in the farm
homes of the state. In respect to farm
home comforts North Carolina does not
rank far from the bottom among the
states of the Union. It is in the inter
est of making farm homes more com
fortable and attractive places in which
to live that the News Letter from time
to time has carried series of articles! washing machines, nine
under the general head of Rural Elec-, ^ad running water, nine had bath tubs,
trie Power i indoor toilets, ten had kitchen
- In many states of the Union modern i
conveniences and labor-saving devices \ I" thousand would
have been introduced into a surprisingly 11”*™ washing machines, 460 running;
North Carolina
Convenience Percent
of all
Homes
Washing machines 0.6
Running water 0.9
Bath tubs 0.9
Indoor toilets 0.6
Electric and gas light 1.4
Heat other than fire places 3.1
Telephones 9.0
Vacuum cleaners 0.0
Kitchen sink 1,0
Refrigerator 1.88
Rugs 24.6
In other words, of the one thousand
farm homes surveyed in North Caro
lines is also in use in the vicinity of
New Bern. The city sells current to
tlie Neuse River Electric Company, which
in turn runs lines to Bridgeton, James
City, and Pollocksville, and is building
lines to Trenton and Jacksonville.
Where there is a group of farms along
the line they “chip in” and buy the
equipment, the Electric company mak
ing a charge of $160 to connect on to
their line.
Company Finances Line
A case where the power company
builds the line, and presumably gets its
return from the rates charged, is to be
found in the proposed line between
Wbitsett and Gibsonyille which the
Southern Power^ Company has under
consideration.
An intermediate plan is seen in the
72-mile line of the Tidewater Power Com
pany'running northeast from Wilming
ton to Mount Olive and serving a rich
agricultural territory. Here 20 percent
of the cost was effected by local financ
ing and the rest was borne by the com
pany.
What is known as the Wisconsin plan
has been taken up by another power
company. The customer pays the com
pany a deposit equal to the cost of
building the line to his house. The
ownership and maintenance of the line
rests with the company. A large yearly
charge covering the increased cost of
giving rural service is added to the
regular rate for current. In return for
his financing of the construction cost, a
26 percent rebate on the regular cur
rent rate is given the customer. This
plan has never been as successful in the
Carollnas as it has in other parts of the
country, while the other plans mem-
tioned above are said to be successful.
—A. T. Cutler.
and certification credit, is one by Pro
fessor Caldwell in the Teaching of His
tory in the High School. Professor
A. W. Hobbs offers a similar course
called The Teaching of Mathematics in
the High School.
Citizens interested in English courses
will be glad to know of the new course
in Shakespeare's Comedies, by Mr.
Johnson, and the Short Story course,!
by Professor Hibbard.
An ever-growing number of people
in the state are registering for the cor
respondence courses of the University
for purely cultural reasons. Members
of women’s clubs, lawyers, ministers,
housekeepers, and so on, are registered
for courses not for college credit
primarily,, but for their general cultural
value. Director C. D. Snell states that
a correspondence instruction catalogue
will be sent free of charge to citizens
who make a written request to the
University Extension Division, Chapel
Hill, N. C.
this discrepancy entirely to traditional
prejudice, but that prejudice was still
playing a part.
Since 1900 the whole nation has in
creased in both wealth and per capita
school expenditures. In each of these
increases the South has traveled a little
faster than the other thirty-two states.
Between 1900 and 1922 the Southern
states multiplied their per capita wealth
by 3.06, while the other states multi
plied theirs by 2.31. In the same period
the South multiplied her per capita ex
penditure for schools by 6.67, while the
others multiplied theirs by 4.73.
It may be that this slightly greater
ratio of expenditure to wealth has been
inspired by the South’s greater need of
progress, for in 1922 the South’s ex
penditure for schools was still only 0.44
percent of her wealth, while in the
other states it was 0.62 percent. The
South, therefore, had not quite reached
parity with the other states in this
particular. It should have increased
more rapidly.—World’s Work.
large number of farm homes. The find
ings of rural surveys in northern and
western states emphasize this fact.
But in North Carolina and throughout
the South such modern conveniences
are sadly lacking.
Contrasts
To give some idea of how North Caro
lina compares with the northern and
western states we are presenting the
following tables. The first table shows
the ^rcent of farm homes in a typical
area in Iowa that have home conveni
ences. The second table shows the re
sults disclosed from a survey of 1,014
farm homes in two townships in each
of three counties in North Carolina,
namely, Edgecombe, Chatham, and
Mitchell. The farm-tenant rate is about
the same in both states.
Iowa
Convenience Percent Percent
of of
Homes Homes
Owners Tenants
Power washing machines 76 49
Running water 46 *.29
Bath tubs 63 25
Indoor toilets.. 46 29
Gas and electric irons.... 66 ,29
Furnace heat 100 64
Telephones 100 92
water, 630 bath tubs, and so on. Con
trast the conveniences found in North i
Carolina farm homes with farm homes i
in Iowa. Contrast town and city homes i
in North Carolina with the farm homes ;
in the same community. Can the farm
ers of North Carolina afford more com
fortable homes? It is a good question
to think about.
NEW EXTENSION COURSES
The Extension Division of the State
University announces several new cor
respondence courses offered by mem
bers of the faculty which are now made
available to the people of the state.
For those engaged in business three
new courses are offered: Salesmanship,
by Professor Taylor; Business Law, by
Dr. Atkins; and Advertising, by Pro
fessor Taylor.
Several special courses for school
teachers who are working for either a
primary or a grammar grade certificate
have been added. Among the most
important are Child Study and Writing.
The course in Penmanship is made pos
sible through the cooperation df the
Zaner-Blosser College of Penmanship.
It gives credit toward teachers’ certifi
cates.
Another new course esjiecially for
teachers, and giving both college degree
THE SOUTH IN EDUCATION
The South is increasing its per capita
school expenditure a little more rapidly
than are the other states. This has not
always been true. On the contrary, the
Southern states have always been con
sidered backward educationally. From
the period prior to the Civil War, when
planters employed tutors and the
merchants of the cities sent their
children to private schools, the South
inherited a traditional attitude toward
universal free education very different
from that held by the other states. The
active generation in the South today
cannot remember when public schools
were scarce and unpopular, but the
passing generation can. Twenty-five
years ago the South had not wholly
shaken off the incubus of this traditional
attitude.
Aside from prejudices, however, there
is an inescapable relation between per
capita wealth and per capita expendi
ture for public schools, and prior to
1900 the sixteen Southern states were
poor compared with the others in the
Union. They have not yet caught up,
but they are gaining. In 1900 the per
capita wealth of the South was $628,
while the same figure for the others
was $1,468. In the same year the per
cafiita expenditure of the Southern
states for public schools was $1.25,
while that of the other states was $3.71.
It might not be accurate to attribute
THE NEWS THAT PAYS
“Florida,” said Col. Felker, “is sim
ply another tribute to advertising—the
use of advertising wisely and unstint
edly. ”
“More industrial news I believe is car
ried by the press of Florida than by the
newspapers of any other state at the
present time. This is one of the reasons
behind the present boom.
‘ ‘Florida editors consider development
news big news. While newspapers in
other sections were playing up crime,
divorce and scandal, we were giving
prominent display to stories of new
buildings and business progress. In
dustrial news is what Florida editors
instructed their reporters to get first.
Stories about some new bridge, new
school or college, or new office building,'
are considered the best and biggest
news of each day. A paving project is
given more play than a rum plot by the
press of Florida. And we do not sup
press crime news, either. We simply
put it in what we consider its right
place. In other words, we believe de
structive news is secondary to con
structive news. As a result of this edi
torial program the newspapers have
built up a community spirit, a solidarity
that has been tonic to the state and has
helped its growth enormously.
“In Florida for many years the news
papers have been teaching their readers
to like their home towns. What we
printed was not just Pollyanna talk,
either. Industrial progress speeded up
under this press treatment. ’’ — Manufac
turers Record.