»s=-
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.
march 10, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 17
Editorial Board, E. C. Branson. S. H
Hobbs. Jr.. L. R. Wilson, E. W. Kniuht. D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt, H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-class matter
Novembor 14. 1914. at the Postollioe at Chapel Hill, N. C.. under the act of August 24. 1912
CRIME IN NORTH CAROLINA
CRIME AND THE COURTS
The table on crime published else
where was prepared by two graduate
students in connection with a compre
hensive statistical survey of court re
cords of crime in North Carolina. The
main source of information in this
study consists of the reports turned m
by the clerks of the superior court of
the several counties. These reports
give the name of every person indicted
and prosecuted during a
term of the
superior court together with the of
fense for which he was prosecuted and
how his case was disposed of. The
clerk is also expected to give the age,
race, sex, and occupation of each de
fendant, although this is not strictly
complied with nor enforced. There
fore such information is incomplete and
unreliable.
Limitations
Statistics of crime are notoriously
misleading, especially in the handaof
one not used to their pitfalls. There
fore, in studying the accompanying ta
ble, please bear in mind the following
limitationa:
1 The figures represent superior
court convictions only. The proportion
of offenses tried in the lower courts
varies greatly by counties.
2 The figures are for one year
only. Cases continued to a later session
of court are not included. In.the same
way in some counties a large share of
cases may be carried from one year to
the next. Data will be more reliable
only when such a table covers convic
tions over a period of years.
3 A sudden shifffrom lax to vigor
ous enforcement of law in a given year
makes the crime rate high for that
year, and vice versa. Again records
should cover a period of years in order
to be strictly comparable.
4. New statutes are often vigorously
opposed in certain regions and in cer
tain circles. For example, in some of
the tidewater counties the majority of
the indictments were for failure to
comply with the tick eradication law,
which does not meet with the
of some citizens.
Some Conclusions
With these statistical pitfalls in mind
menters. In number of stills seized only
two states ranked ahead of North Caro
lina, namely Georgia and Illinois, both
with A larger population. On a popula
tion basis North Carolina ranks first in
stills seized. (Operations of state and
local officers are not included in these
statements.) In only three states were
more distilleries seized, namely Geor
gia, Virginia, and Tennessee, all neigh
boring states. These same states ranked
ahead of ours in still worms seized.
However, in fermenters seized North
Carolina was surpassed only by Geor
gia.
The federal agents seized more than a
million and a half gallons of malt liquor in
North Carolina (rank third 1, more than
three hundred thousand gallons of mash,
and 219 automobiles valued at $70,521.
The appraised value of property seized
and destroyed by. federal agents was
$768,861. In only one state, Georgia,
did federal agents destroy a larger
amount of property. However, there
were nineteen states in which the value
of property seized and not destroyed was
greater than in North Carolina!
It is interesting to note that North
Carolina is the center of the greatest
activity in moonshining in the United
States, doing a goodly share of the
business herself, and being surrounded
by states all of which rank right at the
top in stills and distilleries seized-
Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and South
Carolina, the last named doing a large
amount of moonshining her size and
population considered.
Either these five are the great moon
shining states of the Union, or federal
probihition agents are more active in
I these states, or possibly both. And of
rate high for that these five, population considered, North
Carolina leads.
RESORT RESOURCES
More money is being spent in re
sort development in the southern Ap
palachian mountains just now than m
any other district in America with the
exception of Florida. This section em
braces western North Carolina, for
many years a favorite resort for east
erners; eastern Tennessee particularly
between Knoxville and Chattanooga; and
northern Georgia, which has had
v verdraw some very interesting' added to its natural advantages a senes
rndusions The people of the central, of most attractive lakes both for power
western part of the state seem fully as production and for recreatio .
to commit crimes as those of the • ■ - - ■
approval
STUDYING COURT RECORDS
The University of North Carolina,
through its Institute for Research
in Social Science, and at the sug
gestion of the Governor of the State,
,is making a detailed study of supe
rior court convictions for the one
hundred counties covering a period
of three years. This is the first at
tempt ever made in the United States
to make a state-wide analysis of
court records and to compile compar
able statistical tables from such rec
ords. These studies will be of im
mense significance, (1) in revealing
such facts as ate now available from
inadequate and incomplete records,
and (2) through collaboration and
scientific study to construct a record
sheet which when filled out by the
clerks of court will afford a body of
statistics on crime that can be read
ily tabulated and of scientific and
constructive value,
We should like to point out that
the form now provided for clerks of
court to fill out is inadequate and of
little scientific or practical value,
that the form, crude as it is, is in
completely filled out by many su
perior court clerks, and that such
data as are available have never
been adequately tabulated.
A scientific and practical court re
cord sheet should be devised which
would reveal data that could be the
basis for constructive thinking and
legislation. The state should require
such record sheets to be filled out by
the responsible officials, and finally
the Attorney General’s office should
be staffed and charged with the res
ponsibility of assembling and thor
oughly tabulating such data each
year, making such recommendations
as seem advisable after careful
study.
by The Manufacturers Record, it in
cludes:
On the part of each one the realiza
tion that he is a citizen of a fine city, in
fine county and a fine state; that his
ambition for his community will be to
bring about the greatest possible suc
cess, having always in mind the high
est ideals of justice, tolerance and mor
ality; to support every worthy cause
morally and financially so far as he is
ganizations and the rest should follow,
for it is only by organized effort that
state, county, and city taxes will ever
be reduced.
The-reason that so many people kick
against taxes is because they don’t
know anything about that subject. In
the first place, they don’t know enough
to frame and regulate proper tax laws.
Then when somebody else attends to
that- job for them, they don’t know
able to do so; to cooperate with |
and county officials and help them as
as in his power lies; to think construe*
I
5 far ! and to hide their ignorance they com-
tively, to talk constructively, to play his
part as a good citizen in developing a lar
ger, better and greater city and county;
to lead, if called upon, or to follow the
leader if that is his place; to boost,
praise and speak kindly of his com
munity, its industry and business, its
recreation facilities and advantages, its
finance and commerce, its climate
and soil, its city and county officials,
and to learn more about his city
1 and county in order to convey to others
the many blessings, advanatges, andop-
i portunities with which the community
i in which he lives has Been favored.”
plain.
There should be an intelligent study
of city, county, and state tax systems.
Only by that can there come a fair dis
tribution of the tax burdens. Some day,
some man is going to present a proper
tax law f^r the state, and thereby get
his name written in the hall of fame.
It takes courage, but there’s hope that
the courageous person will come along
some of these days, kick the politicians
out and write an equitable tax law.—
Durham ?Ierald.
CAROLINA STATE HIGHWAYS
Our state highway system now in
cludes 4,448 miles of completed road,
on which there has been expended in
four years a total of $82,200,953. Dur
ing the year 1925 there was new road
STUDYING TAXES
Missouri business men have formed
an organization “to show the tax wast-
age and to formulate a plan 1 (.ongtryction of 1,554 miles at a cost,
the present methods of aiministration j $27,327,066. There is
may be improved so the taxpayers may , present construction an ad-
receive a larger return.” j ditional mileage of 816, to cost $14,-
They propose to examine the whole i
state administrative system and ^^e year 19.26 by the expenditure
that of the counties. Such an effort: million dollars loaned
should be welcomed by every public of-, various counties to the Highway
‘'te'ie’ilulat^^hlvSetsuch or- cLniission-Governor McLean.
SUPERIOR COURT CONVICTIONS
In North Carolina from July, 1923, to July, 1924
In the following table the counties are ranked accoriiing to the number of
persons convicted by the superior court of the county from July, 1923, to July,
?924 per one thousand inhabitants. The second column shows the percent of
ttos’e convicted serving prison terms or paying fines. Judgment was suspended
i^the remaining cases, most of which were light offenses or first offenses.
Washington county makes the best record for the year studied with .60 con
victions per 1 000 inhabitants. Mitchell ranks last with 9.43 convictions per
I'SoO inhabitaffis, and with only 23 percent of those convicted serving time or
paying fine.
Basfed on
superior court records and the U. S. census estimate of population
^^Effiel Crew, Northampton county, and F. S. Wilder, New Hampshire
prone
central eastern, even though the pro
portion of negroes is much smaller in
the west.
Counties with large urban and indns-
triai populations are more criminal than
rural counties. So the tidewater coun-
ake by far the best
ties as a group m
showing. Counties in
which the popula-
tion is shifting, or where new people
are moving in, seem more criminally
inclined. This shows that crime is part
ly a
At the present time there are at least
twenty corporations which are actively
at work in developing thousands of
acres each, spending millions of dollars
in the beautifying of immediate sec
tions, making them accessible to the
general public and building hotels, cot
tages and amusement housing for the
thousands who frequent the section dur-1
ing the spring, summer, and fall. j
Two booster associations in the Ozark
regions west of the Mississippi are en-
neu. luio — --- ,.u;,
result of the failure of some people j bringing the charms of this
’■ rugged and picturesque country to the
attention of the world at large. These
are the Ozark Playgrounds association,
and the Eastern Oklahoma Playgrounds
association. The building of modern
highways up to and through this district
is aiding materially in bringing this to
the public attention and a very greatly
increased tourist traffic is expected dur-
ing 1926.
The Sandhills
Not the least known of the South’s
playgrounds is the sandhill section of
the Carolinas and Georgia, extending
particularly from Pinehurst.(S Augusta
While this section is not in the throes of
an immediate expansion, having been
long developed and well known inuch
activity is current all along the bel'
to fit into their new surroundings and
find a recognized place in the commun
ity. Fast-growing communities would
do well to find a recognized place in the
community for the newcomers to give
them the feeling that they
the community. Newcomers will then
feel more responsible for the mainte
nance of law and order.
Other studies are to follow ™
ceeding weeks. Among them will be
one showing the extent of ^penor
court dealings with bootlegging. Another
will show the proportion-of white to
negro crime.
moonshining in NORTH
CAROLINA
North Carolina is a great industrial
state, and not the least of her indus^
tries is moonshining. Our rank among
the states in illicit
whiskey compares favorably w'
rank in textiles, tobacco, and furni
ture. Unfortunately we have no officia
data on the volume of output or value
of the finished product, but lodging
from the 1925 report of the federal
G, nmissioner of Revenue one gets the
..ression that North Carolina is s,^-
! to none in moonshining, our popula-
Ouring the fiscal year ending June 30,
.s, ffd.MDl prohibition agents seized
- 17 stills in North Carolina, -839 dis
3ries, 686 still worms, and 18,340 fer^
farm products, buying farm supplies,
operating creameries, cheese factories,
canning plants, grain elevators, stock-
yards, warehouses, or rendering some
one or more of the essential services
connected with the conduct of farmers’
enterprises. The figures do not include
farmers’ cooperative banks, credit as
sociations, nor insurance companies.
Fifty-four of the associations listed
are federations with local units, 49 are
sales agencies operating in central
markets, 36 are bargaining associa-
i tions, and 98 are large-scale organiza
tions of the centralized type. Of the.
total number of associations listed by
the department, 3,325 are primarily en
gaged in marketing grain, 2,197 handle
dairy products, 1,770 ship livestock,
1,260 market fruits and vegetables; 121
perform various functions in the mar
keting of cotton, 91 in marketing wool,
71 in marketing poultry or poultry prod-
i ucts, and 24 in marketing tobacco.
More than 70 percent of all the as
sociations are in the twelve North Central
States. Approximately 6 percent are in
the three Pacific Coast States, and less
than 3 percent in the six New England
States. The largest number of associa
tions reporting from any one state is
1,383 from Minnesota. Iowa is credited
with 1,094 associations, Wisconsin 1,092,
and Illinois 822. Missouri has 537 associa
tions; Nebraska, 488; Kansas, 466; Cali
fornia 350, and New York 286.
The grain marketing associations are
Convictions Percent
Rank County per 1,000 servingtime
inhabitants or paying
fine
Washington .60 71
Currituck 69 80
Jackson.. 74
Graham 81
Harnett 92
Brunswick 1-07
Beaufort 1-69
being particularly active^inffieAj^ata
region, w ere r ^ i ^he greater number of
active during I the livestock shipping as.sociations. The
number of years. —Miller Survey.
COOPERATIVE MARKETING
There are now more than 12,000 ac
tive farmers’ business organizations in
the United States, the United States
Department of Agriculture estimates
on the basis of a recent -77, ^
number is more than twice that m 1916
when the first nation-wide survey 7
cooperative associations was made by
the department.
The associations include those selling
organizations engaged in marketing
dairy products are scattered , through
the country with a fair percentage of
the total number in Minnesota and
Wisconsin.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
*24
24
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
34
36
37
38
38
Martin...
Iredell.
Stanly...
Nash
Hyde...
1.10..
...1.12
.. *1.16 .
.... 1.21,.
. .. L31-.
1.60 .
,1.58..
1.69
1.66
1.72
Davie 1-39
Johnston 1-48
Chowan..
Cleveland...
Warren
Rowan. . ..
Craven ....
Dare %1._73 ..
Bladen 1-77 -
Scotland 1-85 •
Gates 1-89. •
Union 1-92..
Yancey 1-92 •
Pitt 2.00 .
Hoke 2.03 .
Robeson 2.13 .
Wayne 2.23 .
Clay 2.24 ,
Rutherford 2.28..
Alleghany 2.29..
Northampton .. 2.34 .
Columbus 2.39
Rockingham.... 2.39 .
Franklin 2.41 .
Camden 2.42
Edgecombe 2.46.
Avery . ^ 2.46
Cumberland.. .• 2.61.
60
76
89 1
62
94
..71
. 66
. 67
..72
. 82
. .74
.45
.. 94
...74
...77
...73
.. 67
...22
.. 44
.. 86
...76
.. 52
.. 68
...69
. . 64
.. 63
. 80
,..,45
.. .73
.. .71
. . 66
...,75
....86
....36
... 23
...82
...69
63
THE GOOD CITIZEN’S CODE
George H. Hilty, of Palatka, Florida, in
a recent speech to the business men of
his town, laid down a code.of ethics for
the guidance of every man desirous of
serving his community. As described
40 Cumberland.. •• ^ no
40 Jones 2,61 54
42 Pasquotank 2.66
43 Polk 2.70.
44 Yadkin 2.76
46 Granville 2.85
46 Cabarrus 2.91
47 Davidson 2 92
mS Ashe . - 2.96
49 Guilford 8.08
60 Sampson 3.16
75
60
62
66
58
. ,72
. 61
. 90
..64
Convictions Percent
Rank County per 1,000 serving time
inhabitants or paying
fine
Pender 3.18 66
Greene 3.19 60
Macon 3.20 60
Vance 3.2(» 68
Hertford 3.26 55
Caldwell 3.27 72
Swain 3,30 74
Onslow 3.35 66
Cherokee 3.39 66
Bertie 3.45 61
Haywood 3.48 79
Madison 3.49 66
Wilkes 3.62 68
Surry 3.63 76
New Hanover.. .3.69 87
Moore 3.62 69
Stokes 3.67 70
Lenoir 3.87 76
Catawba 4.01 74
Caswell 4.17 79
Carteret 4.20 43
Halifax, 4 22. 61
Duplin 4.26 68
Pamlico ' 4.36 69
Wilson ....4.76 .81
Watauga 4.78 39
Buncombe 4.94 70
Chatham 4.95 63
Anson 6.01 67
Randolph 5.07 71
Durham 6.14 68
Forsyth 6.30 78
Person 6.32 81
Transy^lvania... .6.37 81
McDuwell 6.41 .........82
Mecklenburg... .6.82 71
Henderson 6^85 85
Alamance 5.94 61
Wake 6-96 79
Tyrrell.... 6.98 41
Montgomery... .6.08 60
Alexander 6,19 67
61
62
63
63
65
66
57
68
69
60
61
62
63
64
66
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
76
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
86
86
87
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
Orange 6.62,.
Ga'stun 7.03 .
Burke 7,13 .
Lincoln. .7^77
PerquimaTis 7.97 .
Richmond 8.59.
Lee. 3.85
Mitchell 9.43
.69
.63
.62
.79
.71
. 76
. 64
. ,23
*Data for Stanly incomplete. Conviction rate probably higher.