;jThe 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 24, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 19
Editorial Bo
rdt E. C. Branson. 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
WHITE AND BLACK CRIME
Elsewhere in this issue is a table
showing the number of indictments re-
'turned in the superior courts against
whites and negroes in proportion to the
population of each race in the county.
These figures were compiled from the
reports turned in to the attorney general
by the clerk of the superior court of
each county. The number of indict
ments against members of each race
divided by the number of inhabitants of
that race in the county (in terms of
thousands) gives the prosecution rate
per 1,000 inhabitants for each race.
In studying the table the following
facts ought to be kept in mind:
1. In some counties only convictions
were reported. Others included “prayer
for judgment continued” with convic
tions. However, the proportion of con
victions was so large as not to greatly
affect the rank of the county. (See
footnote to the table.)
2. In some counties the proportion of
negroes is too small to draw reliable
conclusions from. The population of the
following counties is dess than ten per
cent negro: Dare, Alexander, Alle
ghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Cherokee,
Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson,
Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Surry, Swain,
Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yad
kin, and Yancey, a total of twenty-one.
3. Figures are for superior court in
dictments only. Several counties have
county courts. Cases finally disposed
of in such courts are not included in the
table. The data’ offer no way of de
ter-mining how many cases were dis
posed of in the lower courts, and thus
no way of comparing white and negro
indictments in the lower courts.
Some Conclusions
Taking the figures as they stand we
get some rather surprising comparisons
and conclusions. In general the counties
with the largest proportion of negroes
are the ones with the lowest indictment
ratios for both white and colored races.
The counties with large white popula
tion ratios generally have high prosecu
tion rates for both whites and negroes
In other words both whites and blacks
seem to be generally well-behaved in
areas having large negro ratios.
In eleven counties in which at least
one negro was indicted, the negro in
dictment rate was lower than the rate
for the whites. Those counties were
generally the ones in which the whites
were the chief offenders against lujuor
laws And the cattle-tick eradication
statute. In nine of these eleven counties
the negro population ratio is fairly
large.
The negro indictment rate was dis
proportionately higher in counties con
taining large cities. This would indi
cate that the negro has more difficulty
adjusting himself to urban life than the
white.
The negro rate is disproportionately
higher in counties in which negroes
form a small proportion of the total
population. This would indicate that
the negro finds compensation in crime
for lack of social life with his fellows,
and hence the closer pressure of the
color line.
The indictment rate is enough higher
in the central and western parts of the
state to indicate that a larger pro
portion of crime is committed in the
western parts of the state.
In general the older and more settled
parts of the state have less crime.
Communities that are less settled and
are rapidly developing commercially and
industrially have a high crime rate.
This fits in with the theory that crime
is the result of the maladjustment of
the individual to the life of the com
munity.
The table raises many questions that
future studies may help to explain.
The next study will show what propor
tion of the indictments are for violation
of the liquor laws.
LOCATING THE SCHOOL
The following is a brief of a paper
recently presented before the North
Carolina Club by Mr. Brandon Trussell,
a graduate student, on the question of
the location of the consolidated school:
whether in country, town, or village.
The tendency in North Carolina has
been to abolish the small schools and
place a consolidated school at some point,
often not the community center. The
consolidated school should not only be
located at the center of population, but
some thought should be given to locat
ing the consolidated school at the social
center. The social center may be in the
open country or it may be in the town
or village. Usually the logical place
for the consolidated school is in town.
However, there are certain community
centers, far from towns, in the open
country, where the consolidated school
should be located. The location of the
consolidated school should be determined
by an expert social engineer.
In each state the consolidated school
is defined differently, but we should
think of the consolidated school not only
as an educational center for the y('Ung
but as a powerful agent in administer
ing to the economic and social needs of
the people where it is located. The con
solidated school should contribute to
the welfare of the entire community.
There are certain sections in this state
where consolidation in a large way will
hardly be feasible because of mountains
and other natural obstructions. In such
cases the community, with the help of
the state, may standardize a small school
so that the best type of work may be
done in that community.
School Offers Hope
One of the great problems in this
state at present is how to maintain a
satisfactory state of civilization on the
farm. The rural social institutions have
become greatly weakened. The con
solidated school^ seems to offer largest
hope for improving present conditions.
The consolidated school will doubtless
restore country life to its former virility
if it is properly placed and is made to
function in the farm community.
The school problem is a social problem
as well as an educational problem.
Consolidation at present is more in
need of direction than of promotion.
While its primary purpose is that of
equalization of educational opportunity,
it is, in many cases, promoted in such a
way as to emphasize inequalities instead
of equalizing opportunities. Intelligent
planning of consolidation is essential to
the future success of the whole move
ment.
The Social Center
The consolidated school should be
placed at the social center. It is a mis
take to place the consolidated school at
the geographic center regardless of
where the community center may be.
Social groups should never be broken
up. District or county lines should not
separate a natural community. T.he
consolidated school should be placed
where it will render the greatest good
to the community. It must be placed
at a point where the people will support
the school. Antagonistic groups should
never be combined. Only those who
have a community consciousness should
be included in the district. Then if
there be a community consciousness it
may easily be directed to a recognition
of the educational needs of the com
munity and to the support of the school
policies. Without such a community
consciousness there will be a lack of co
operation, and much trouble will arise
because of a lack of cooperation on the
part of the contending groups.
The Open Country School
At times, it is better for all concerned
that the consolidated school be placed
in the open country. Such a school de
velops democratic expression and serves
a great purpose in making country life
efficient, satisfying, and wholesome.
The consolidated school, at the com
munity center, becomes a vitalizing
force in uniting the community on a
basis of common interest and common
good. An example of the great work
of a good school, in the open country,
may be seen at Sunbury, Gates county,
from which community have come a
United States Senator, generals, con
gressmen, university professors, judges,
leaders in the church and leaders in
business. On the other hand, there are
barren communities where the school
has not functioned properly and where
not one single notable person has been
produced.
Where a natural consolidation takes
CALL FOR LEADERSHIP
Rural America calls for a states
man who will help us, not only to
solve the economic problems of pro
duction and sale, but to create a
finer and fairer social order through
out rural America. The specialist
has served the farm well. The
chemist, the bacteriologist, and the
mechanical engineer have effected a
revolution in the methods and ma
chinery of farming. The economist
has turned his attention to the dis
tribution of the products that the
chemist, the bacteriologist, and the
mechanical engineer have helped the
farmer to create in greater and
greater abundance. His work is far
from completed. It will not be com
pleted, in my judgment, until the
farmers of America, by the grace of
intelligent cooperative organization,
have met and matched the grand-
scale organization of business and
industry with a grand-scale organiza
tion of agriculture, until farmers as
producers of marketable products no
longer anywhere buy at retail and
sell at wholesale, but stand on a par
with other manufacturers in the con
duct of their business. -Unless the
economist helps the farmer to put
agriculture on a par with other manu
facturing enterprises, the day will
come when the individual farmer
will have to give way before a gen
eration of great land-owners who will
bring a vast'organizing genius to bear
upon agriculture and Fordize the
farming of America.
But, after all, agriculture is more
than a business; it is a life; and we
have as ya.t hardly nibbled at the
edges of the problem of creating
throughout rural America a social
order that will enable the sons and
daughters of our farms to satisfy to
the full their economic, social, intel
lectual, and spiritual needs without
emigrating to towns and cities. For
leadership in this we await.—Glenn
Frank.
been carried furthest. In many cases ! sus of 1920 which shows 2.9 percent of
the figures are only estimates on ac- ; North Carolina farms with either gas or
count of the difficulty of determining | electric service. Allowing for the indi-
when a rural line is serving suburban ' vidual home lighting plants and the few
residents who work in town and when j farms with gas service, this figure of 2.9
it is serving a farming population.
County Total No.
Connecte
farms
farms
Avery
1,472 .
... 26
Bertie
3,444 .
15
Buncombe
, 3,798...
. 77
Burke
. 2,474 ,
.... 29
Caldwell
,.2,179...
.... 34
Catawba
3,086 ..
90
Chowan
,.1,261...
29
Cleveland
. 4,670...
475
Craven
. 2,124 .
70
Davidson
.4,022...
184
Duplin
. 4,496...
66
Edgecombe...
..3,963 .
77
Gaston i
..2,493..
26
Guilford
. .4,067...
161
Halifax.
. 4,868 .
67
Haywood
. 2,176..
.... 39
Iredell
..4,136 .
.... 46
Martin
. 2,763 .
.,.. 77
Mecklenburg.
..4,013.
.... 100
Moore
..2,]35 .
.... 17
Nash
6,007-.
.... 21
New Hanover.
.. 368..
46
Pasquotank...
..1,630 .
... . 14
Polk
1,226..
12
Robeson
..7,048 .
29
Rutherford.
3,510..
27
Surry
. 4,663
16
Transylvania.,
,..1,023..
76
Union
. 4,991 .
... 21
Watauga
. 2,133.
., . 6
Wilson.. .. .
4,616
30
Total 100,622 1,975
This estimate of one percent of the
farms in North Carolina with electric
service from central stations may be
compared with the United States Cen-
percent would probably come down to
about one percent of farms with central
station service. According to the census,
North Carolina ranks 40th among
the states in percent of farms with gas
or electric service. The nation’s aver
age is seven percent,^ and some states
go as high as 26 percent.
Why so Few Electrified?
One reason for the low figure of farms
with central station service is found in
the low density of farms per mile of
electric line. Our figures show an aver
age of 3.6 farms per mile of rural dis
tribution line in North Carolina. With
the cost of building a line amounting to
about $700, it appears that about $200
investment is needed to serve every
farm. In most cases the farmer him
self pays this sum before electric ser
vice begins. This is especially true
when the central station is a municipal
power plant, since there is a state law
prohibiting cities from spending any
money for lines and developments out
side the city limits.
But there must be other reasons, also,
for 3.6 farms per mile of line is above
tbe country-wide average. Other rea
sons are to be found in the unwillingness
of many private power companies to
cooperate in making rural extensions,
and the meagre use of electricity on the
farm, resulting in a high cost per unit.
In most cases the current is used for
lights and flat-irons only, and the use of
electricity in agricultural operations is
rare. Other reasons are the low cash
incomes of many farmers, and ignorance
of the possibilities of electricity on the
farm. —A. T. Cutler.
place its district lines should not be re
stricted to the county lines. The school
districts should be allowed to develop
naturally. The idea is to retain the
already established social group and to
stimulate its further development.
It is a fine thing to establish good
human relationships, for by nature and
environment man is destined to live in
cooperation with his fellow man. The
whole purpose of social organization is
to bring about amicable relationships
between men and groups of men. Any
agency which can do this will be of great
value. If the consolidated school, in its
place, can insure better living condi
tions, it truly becomes a source of great
value to human society. The consoli
dated school, properly located, not only
serves as a great educational center,
but develops leadership, and promotes
economic, civic, and social cooperation
in the community.
SUPERIOR COURT INDICTMENTS
In North Carolina from July, 1924, to July, 1925
In the following table the counties are ranked according to the superior
court indictment rate per 1,000 white population for the year ending July 1,1926.
The second column shows the indictment rate for negroes per 1,000 negroes.
In six counties no negroes were indicted. In eleven other counties, nine of
which have from fair to high negro ratios, the white indictment rate exceeded
the negro rate.
The table is based on records from the office of the Attorney General as re
ported by the clerks of the superior court.
Ethel Crew, Northampton county, and F. S. Wilder, New Hampshire
Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina
RURAL ELECTRIC POWER
XVIII. From Central Stations
Less than one percent of the farms
in North Carolina have electric service
from central stations. If we add the
number of farms equipped with indi
vidual lighting plants, like Delco and
other fuel plants and individual water
power plants, the proportion of farms
using electricity might run up to two or
three percent. This is an estimate based
on the returns from a questionnaire
sent out in cooperation with the State
Department of Conservation and De
velopment to the private and municipal
power plants and the county farm agents
of the state.
Thirty-one counties, having a total of
100,622 farms within their borders, re
port rural electric lines serving approxi
mately 1,976 farms. This is a propor
tion of 1.9 percent. But considering
the 28 counties which have no rural
electric lines and the 41 counties for
which information is incomplete or lack
ing, it would seem that not one farm in
a hundred throughout the state as
whole uses electricity from central
stations.
Counties for which the returns are
reasonably complete are given below,
with the total number of farms and the
number of farms enjoying central sta
tion service. These are probably the
counties where rural electrification has
Prosecu-
Prosecu-
Prosecu-
Prosecu-
tions
tions
Ranh
County
tions
tions
per 1,000
per 1,000
per 1,000
per 1,000
whites
negroes
whites
negroes
1
Stanly*
.. .7
... 4.6
61
Davidson ....
. 4.1...
....11.3
2
Currituck*...
. .9 . ...
... .4
61
Madison*
. 4.1...
0
3
Brunswick...
. 1.2
. 2.4
61
Pamlico
. 4.1...
.. .10.9
4
Washington .
1.2
... 2.2
61
Stokes
. 4.1...
....14.0
6
Martin*-..
1.4
... 1.6
61
Yancey
4.1 .
.... 3.7
6
Iredell
, 1.6
... 3.1
66
Alleghany....
4.2 ..
0
6
Johnston. ..
.1.5 . '...
... 3.1
66
Catawba
. 4.2 ..
6.2
6
Wayne
. 1.6
... 3.6
68
Montgomery.
. 4.4 ,
.... 17.3 -
9
Hoke . .
. 1.6
. 4.3
68
Scotland
. 4.4 .,
.... 1.8
10
Beaufort. ...
. 1.7
... 2.9
60
Anson
4.6 ..
9.6
10
Bladen*^..
. 1.7 ... .
... 3.7
61
New Hanover
. 4.7 ..
4.7
10
Craven
. 1.7
... 3.7
62
Swain
4.8, ..
43.4
10
Warren
..1.7
... 2.6
63
Caswell
.. 4.9...
6.3
14
Nash ....
. 1.9
... 3.8
63
Polk
4.9...
.... 10.7
15
Cleveland ...
. 2.0
. . 4.6
66
Avery
.. 6.0...
0
..2.0
... 6.0
66
Columbus ...
. 6.1...
6.1
15
Hyde
.2.0
... 4.6
66
Hertford....
.. 6.1...
7.1
18
Northampton
..2.1
.. 4.6
66
Surry
.. 6.1 ..
6.7
19
Camden*. ...
..2.4
... 2.3
69
Cherokee ....
.. 6.6...
9.3
19
Franklin. ..
, 2.4
... 4.8
70
Dare
.. 6.7...
0
pift
fi 1
71
Lenoir
.. 6.8...
8.4
19
Union
. 2.4
... 4.0
72
Durham
.. 6.2...
13.8
9, 6
... .0
72
Forsyth
.. 62...
.... 10.8
23
Yadkin
. 2.6
... 8.2
72
Henderson...
.. 6.2...
23.6
26
Jones
. 2.6
... 6.6
76
Randolph ....
.. 6.3...
.... 25.6
26
Onslow*.. ..
2.7
... 6.5
76
Pender
.. 6.3..
.. 6.2
27
Chowan.. ..
. 2.8
... 2.1
77
Person
.. 6.4..
6.1
27
Davie
. 2.8
... 3.4
78
Transylvania.
.. 6.6...
22.1
27
Edgecombe
, 2.8
... 6.0
79
Alamance....
. 6.6...
12.3
27
Rockingham*
..2.8
... 2.9
80
Alexander.. .
.. 6.8..
6.8
27
Rowan
.,2.8
... 2.9
80
Vance
.. 6.8..
4.9
32
Rutherford..
..2.9
... 4.9
82
Orange
.. 7.0..
18.3
33
Ashe
. 3.1
.. 13.9
83
Macon
.. 7.1..
17.2
34
Carteret* . .
. 3.4
.. 11.4
84
Gaston
.. 7.2 .
10.8
34
Greene . -. •
. 3.4
... 4.2
84
Wake
.. 7.2..
13.6
36
Granville ...
..3.6
... 4.7
84
Watauga ...
.. 7.2..
44.1
36
Guilford ....
..3.6
... 9.3
84
Wilkes
.. 7.2..
6.9
36
Robeson
. 3.6
... 3.6
88
Burke
.. 7.3..
8.6
39
Clay
.3.6
.. 30.0
89
McDowell...
.. 7.6..
11.7
40
Cabarrus. ..
. 3.7
... 6.8
90
Mecklenburg
.. 7.6..
13.6
40
Gates
. 3.7
.... 3.9
91
Wilson
.. 8.0.,
13.8
42
Bertie
3.8
... 6.3
92
Perquimans.
.. 8.2..
21.6
42
Chatham. ..
. t.S
.. 13.4
93
Buncombe...
.. 8.7..
17.8
42
Graham.. ..
..3.8
0
94
Richmond...
.. 8.9..
16.0
45
Caldwell*...
..3.9
.... 4.6
96
Tyrrell
.. 9.2..
2.7
8 Q
6.3
96
Duplin
.. 9.6..
10.3
46
Halifax*....
...3.9
.... 4.8
97
Lincoln
... 9.8,.
21.9
46
Moore
...3.9
...37.3
98
Lee
..10.0..
18.0
49
Sampson....
..4.0
.... 6.0
99
Haywood ...
..14.1..
22.6
49
Pasquotank.
..4.0
.... 3,8
100
Mitchell
..16.4,.
17.8
•^Convictions only. Rank should be lower.