_ 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.
SEPTEMBER 29, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 46
Editorial Boar.li B. C. Brnnson, S. H. Hobb3. Jr.. L. R. Wilson, E. W. Knitrht, D. D. Carroll. J. B. Bullitt, H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-class matter November 14, 1914, at the Poatoflice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of Ausrust 24, 1911
STATE GOVERNMENT COST
Aciioriiing to data just released by
the federal Department of Commerce,
North Carolina has the forty-second
most expensive state government in
the United States, on a per inhabitant
expenditure basis. For the fiscal year
enijiog Jane 30, 1925, it cost $16,679,744
to maintain and operate the general
departments of our state government.
The per inhabitant cost was $6.09, and
forty-one states ranked ahead of North
Carolina The table which appears
elsewhere gives the per inhabitant ex
penditures for maintenance and opera
tion of the general departments of the
respective state governments as re
ported by the federal Department of
Co.-nmerce, which annually assembles
and tabulates the financial statistics of
state goverii'ments.
What It Covers
The table covers all current state
government cost payments, or what it
cost to operate the general depart
ments of the state government during
tne fiscal year. It does not covjsr out
lay expenditures for permanent im
provements. Such payments are made
from the proceeds of bond sales which
are retired over a period of years.
The following items are covered, and
states ate comparable as all states
carry on these general activities: (1)
General government, executive, legis
lative, judicial; (2) protection to person
and property; (3)development and con
servation of natural resources; (4)
conservation of health and sanitation,
(6) highways (supervising department
and maintenance only, about four mil
lion dollars); (6) charities, hospitals,
and corrections; (7) education; (8)
recreation; and (9) miscellaneous,
mainly pensions to Confederate soldiers
for North Carolina. The cost of operal
ing and maintaining the general de-
partmeriis of our stale government,
exclusive of highway maintenance, was
about twelve anil a half million dollars.
In our stale tue highw^ department
operates separately from the general
fund, bu:* since highway maintenance is
an activity of every state government,.
the amount spent on maintaining our
state highways is included in the table
which appears elsewhere. This .is
necessary and proper in order to make
the states strictly comparable.
Interest on bonded debt is not in
eluded in the cost of operating the
general departments of state govern
ment, bfcciuse, due to the variety of
purposes for which bonus are issued,
and methods ot financing them, states
are not comparable.' For instance in
•- North Carolina about three-fourths of
our slate debt nas been incurred to
construct highways, which are self
financing, and to lend money to counties
■ for building sohoolhouses. The interest
is paid by owners of automobiles, and
bj^tne counties which have borrowed,
from the state to erect sehoolhouses.
Actually only about a fourth of the
state debt has to be taken care of from
the general fund of the stale.
Nevada. First
money as any state in the Union.
A decade ago we had the least ex
pensive slate government in the Union.
Today we rank forty-second. Our ex
penditures have increased enormously
on a percent basis, but in total expendi
tures, and on a per inhabitant basis,
North Carolina still has a relatively
inexpensive state government.
FINANCIAL EXHIBIT
HIGHWAYS AND CULTURE
A country without highways in a
few years would belong to the Dark
Ages. The greatest single forward
movement being taken by the race
of men today is the means of inter
communication. The greatest single
thing for advancement of learning,
intelligence, and of civilization is
the oppv^rtunity that is afforded for
the people of a country and of vari
ous countries to mingle with each
other. —Senator James A. Reed, Mis
souri.
stitution will he paid for by all and
freed from the odium usually attached
to a pauper or charity institution.—
Press item, N. 'Sanatorium.
The department of Commerce an
nounces a summary of the financial
statistics of the State of North Caro
lina for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1925.
Expenditures
The payments for maintenance and
operation of the general departments
of North Carolina for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1925, amounted to$l6,-
679,744, or $6.09 per capita. This in
cludes $1,842,788, apportionments for
education to the minor civil divisions
of the state. In 1924 the comparative
per capita for maintenance and opera
tion of genera! departments was $5.79;
and in 1917, $1.96. The expenses of
public service enterprises amounted to
$26,061; interest on debt, $4,421,994;
and outlays for permanent improve
ments, $26,296,960. The total pay
ments, therefore, for expenses of
general departments and public service
nterprises, interest, and outlays were
$47,424,739. The totals include all pay
ments for the year, whether made from
current revenues or from the proceeds
of bond issues.
Of the governmental coats reported
above, $26,212,675 was for highways,
$3,310,684 being for maintenance and
$21,901,891 for construction.
Revenues
The total revenue receipts of North
Carolina for 1925 were $28,416,461, or
$10.37 per capita. This was $7,288,672
more than the total payments of the
year, exclusive of the payments for
permanent improvements, but
008,278 less than the total payments
including those for permanent im
provements. These payments in ex
cess of revenue receipts were met from
the proceeds of debt obligations. Prop
erty and special taxes repre.-ented 18.5
percent of the total revenue for 1925,
27.0 percent for 1924, and 60.2 percent
for 1917. The increase in the amount
of property and special taxes collected
was 92.6 percent from 1917 to 1924, but
there was a decrease of 8 percent from
J924 to 1925. The per capita property and |
special taxes were $1.92 in 1925,
1924, and $1.20 in 1917.
EVERY CHURCH A PASTOR
Seventeen Protestant denominations
in Ohio, banded together as the Ohio
council of churches, have as their goal
adequate church equipment, with the
services of a resident pastor for every
inhabitant of the state.
Combined in the campaign of evan
gelism are the following denominations:
Brethren, Christian, Church of God,
Congregational, Disciples of Christ,
that confronts the public is: What per
centage of the population of the state
has made the acquaintance of the night j Evangelical church, Evangelical synod,
shirt or pajamas? What percentage: Friends, Methodist Episcopal, Meth-
actually know what you are talking i odist Protestant, Moravian, Presby-
about when you speak of night shirts? | terian, Protestant Episcopal, Reformed
The Uplift goes on to say further: S., Salvation Army, United
•■Men high in the professions have I Brethren, and United Presbyterian,
been known to entertain no respect for : The council is governed by an as-
a night shirt. Go to a political con- i sembly made up of denominational dele-
• 'gates. Its work is financed in part by
venlion, where the hotels pack their |
guests in a room as if they were sar
dines, and observe. At the convention
which nominated Chas. B. Aycock
for governor, now sainted, the Yar
borough Hotel crowded eleven cots
into one room, each held a man and all
save one manifested his contempt for
any special night habiliments. In
that party was a gentleman, now a
judge on the Superior Court Bench; two
were prominent lawyers, afterwards
hecame congressmen; one was a doctor,
who occupied a high place in the medi
cal world; one was the editor of a
conspicuous daily in the state; one was
a banker; one was a school teacher and
county superiniendent; one was a col
lege professor, who, yet living, has not i
denominational appropriations, but
more largely by gifts of individual con
tributing members. Its program re
flects the judgment of the donomina-
tional delegates as to the activities in
which the churches should cooperate.
Concerning adequate church estab
lishment, the principles of comity
declare:
“Every community with a population
of 60(' or more should have one com
petent, full-time, well-paid, resident
pastor, and the efforts of both com
munity and the denominational officials
should be directed toward bringing this
about at the earliest moment.
“In small communities of less than
1,000 population one well-equipped
Protestant church with adequate resi
dential pastoral leadership shall be
considered sufficient to meet the needs.
If additional workers are needed, the
pastor might better have assistants for
specialized departments."
Where over churched cenditions exist
the principles urge that the churches
merge, or if such a plan is believed un
workable, that a federated church be
established. In the federated church,
the affiliations with national and inter
national denominations are maintained
by individuals but worship and activi
ties in the community are carried on to
gether.
In a survey, the council found many
situations of over-churching and under-
churching, of duplication of effort, and
of abandonment of churches where they
were needed. There are 1,100 aban
doned churches in the state, with rep
resentatives of nearly ail denominations
among them.
To supplement its ^work, the state
council is seeking to establish strong
county councils and has succeeded in
half of Ohio’s 88 counties. The council
undertakes to investigate and conduct
educational programson public questions
of moral significances.
There is an annual pastors’ conven
tion which was attended in 1926 by 600
ministers from 22 denominations. In
the summer, an annual school for town
and county pastors is conducted here in
cooperation with Ohio State University.
— Greensboro Daily News.
NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA, 1925
. . The following table, based on Financial Statistics of State Governments for
espoused the doctrine | 1925, Federal Department of Commerce, itemizes the facts concerning the cost
was a merenant, an one a ig ar , gftvernment in North Carolina and Virginia. North Carolina is more
-none save one o t e occupan s o j wealthier, yet state government in Virginia is more expensive,
that room put on any airc. ey ® | difference in debt is due to the difference in policy employed iu building
their drawers and gauze, * . ® highways and extending loans to counties for erecting schoolhouses.
have a correct account. But we have
progressed and have learned a few
things, under the agencies that seek to
lead ua out of old fogyism. The edict
S19'_! has gone forth ih it prisoners must he
' introduced to night shirts. It is well
to strive for cleanliness, even with
prisoners on the chain-gang, but with a
few more rules and restrictions, it will
be economy to abolish all working
prisons and substitute sunparlors, sleep
ing porches, flower gardens and silk
pajamas—go to the limit. The Up
lift.
COUNTY TB. HOSPITALS
Items
North Carolina
Virginia
Population
2,812,000
2,486,000
Assessed valuation
Maintenance and operation of general depart-
$2,711,784,000
$2,029,822,000
ments of state government
$16,679,744
$19,676,760
Per capita cost ■
$6.09
$8.07
Apportionment for education
$1,842,788
$6,630,056
Interest on debt
$1,421,994
$744,020
Outlays for permanent improvements -
$26,296,950
$12,640,871
Highways
$26,212,675
$14,104,072
1 Total revenue receipt J
$28,416,461
$30,261,961
Per capita
$10.37
$12.42
State debt
$91,646,408
$•26,211,181
State tax on property
Increase in special and property taxes 1917-1924,
None
$7,328,742
percent
92.6
127.1
Per capita, special and property taxes
$1.92
■ '$4.32
COST OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
Per Inhabitant for the Year 1925
Only ten of the one hundred counties ] _
10 in I in North Carolina make special housing
The'receipts provisions for their tuberculous. Four
from general property taxes in 1024 and i of these have provisions only at county :
1025 were negligible, being simply . homes. Cumberland county has a. following table, based on Financial Statistics of State -Governments,
delinquencies. j preventoiium that take's only children
Earnings of general departments, or I and inactive cases alone of ^hildren. j departments of sta'e
compensation for services rendered by ; Guilford and Mecklenburg are the oMy 1 jggg .pgj, (.o,,gr9 all current ex-
State officials, represented 11,2 percent
uf the total revenue for 1925, 14.2 per-
The general departments of the state
government of Nevada cost $28.76 per in
habitant for the year 1926. Georgia had
the least expensive stale government,
her expenditure per inhabitant for the
year 1925 being only $4.67. North Caro
lina has expanded her state government
activities a great deal during the last
decade, and the state has been praised
a great deal because of our state
government policies. But state govern
ment in North Carolina is still fairly
inexpensive, compared with other
states. It is only about one-fifth as
expensive as in Nevada. The average
state government expenditure is fifty
percent above North Carolina s.. The per
inhabitant cost of state government is
less in only six states, ail southern ex-
ceptone. State governmentisonly $1-42
per inhabitant more expensive in North
Carolina than in Georgia, which ranks
last of all the states. State govern
ment is more expensive in Arkansas,
Kentucky, South Carolina, WestVirginia
and other southern states. Virginia’s
state government is a third more expen
sive than North Carolina’s. Louisiana
spends abo^t fifty percent more per
inhabitant on state government,
of which is very gratifying to us.
cent for 1924, and 20.4 per cent for
1917.
Business and non-business licenses
constituted 49.3 percent of the total
revenue for 1926, 39.1 percent for 1924,
and 19.4 percent for 1917. The per
centage of increase in receipts from
business and non-business licenses
noted for 1926 was due, principally, to
increased amounts received Irom auto
mobile licenses and from the sales,
tax on gasoline.
Receipts from business licenses con
sist chiefly of taxes exacted from
insurance and other incorjiorated com
panies and from sales tax on gasoline,
while those from non-business licenses
comprise chiefly taxes on motor vehicles.
Indebtedness
The net indebtedness (funded or
fixed debt less sinking fund assets) of
North Carolina on June 30, 1926, was
$91,646,408, or $33.44 per capita. In
1924 the per capita debt was $26.28,
and in 1917, $3.86, the increase shown
for 1926 being due to a bond issue for
highway purposes.
Assessed Valuations
counties that have modern, well-squipped government during the fiscal
county sanatoria. These sanatoria solve , Outlay payments for permanent improvements are not included, but
the tuberculosis problem in Guilford and | ^jg^t ig included.
Mecklenburg as nothing else would. i government of Nevada cost $28.76 per inhabitant. State govern-
Every one of the larger counties in i ^^ent in Georgia cost only $4:67 per inhabitant.
North Carolina should have a sanato-' It cost $16,679,744 to run the state government of North Carolina for the
rium of its own for the treatment of i ending June 30, 1926. The per inhabitant cost was $6.09 and North
tuberculosis. For the smaller counties | Carolina ranked 42nd on this basis, only $1.42 per inhabitant above the state
three or more should combine and’ ranked lowest, and $3.11 per inhabitant below the average for all the
erect a joint sanatorium for their tu- j states, which was $9 20 per inhabitant,
berculous. The last Legislature passed j S. H. Hobbs, Jr., ■
a law permitting counties to combine ' Department of Rural Social-Economics. University of North Carolina,
for the erection of joint county sana
toria. The county sanatorium may be
combined with a general hospital.
Counties that already have hospitals
may add tuberculosis divisions.
In North Carolina the county is the
unit. So it should be the unit in tte
fight against tuberculosis. Functioning
properly the county unit is: 1. A sana
torium. 2. A cl nic for diagnosis. 8.
A health department. 4. A public nurs
ing service. 6. A county tuberculosis
association. The sanatorium is ptaced
it is the center from
Rank States
fi st because
which the fight against tuberculosis
emanates.
To be a successful and efficient insti-
tution the county sanatorium must be
a modern, well-equipped building.
All!
We
ui wnicn IS very g.raLiLjfunj "i-i rri i. rTr.Hft
are probably getting as much for our i vey» says QQ
It
In North Carolina there is no levy of | must be the kind of an institution w
- -^h^^rSed-r of an: o.::;
IToTenyin the state is ?2.7U.784.«00.) !
^ ' sanatoria. A special tax large enough
ARE WE NIGHT-SHIRTLESS7 j to pay the interest on the bonds
Here is riih opportunity for a sur- ■ take care of the
The question j way the cost and upkeep o
will
Injthis
the in-
Per inhab.
cost state
government
Nevada $28.75
Wyoming 22.72
Delaware 17.29
Utah 16.48
New-York 14.96
California 14.86
Connecticut 14.02
Vermont 14.01
Oregon 13.02
Maine 12.93
North Dakota 12.91
Washington 12.66
Minnesota 12.37
New Hampshire 12.13
Oregon 11.98
New Jersey 11.46
South Dakota 11.17
Texas 10.88
"Maryland 10.69
Michigan 10.63
Colorado 10.52
New Mexico
Wisconsin 9.47
Massachusetts 9.30
Rank SfSte
Per inhab.
cost state
government
25 Idaho $ 9 12
26 Louisiana 9.00
27 Rhode Island 8.72
28 Virginia 8.07
29 Pennsylvania 8.04
30 Montana 7.96
31 Iowa 7.68
; 32 Oklahoma 7.33
133 Indiana 7.29
1 34 Illinois 6.94
; 35 Kansas 6,91
35 WestVirginia 6.91
; 37 Missouri 6.80
' 38 South Carolina 6.68
39 Kentucky 6.66
40 Nebraska 6.24
i4l Arkansas 6.10
42 North Carolina 6.09
: 43 Florida 6.79
' 44 Missis^ppi 6 78
' 45 Alabama 6.50
! 46 Tennessee 6.39
' 47 Ohio 5.16
148 Georgia 4.67