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.
DECEMBER 1, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C. vOL. XIII NO 5
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS - ' » -•
Hd'itorlal Board: E. C. Branson, S. H. Hobbs, Jr., L. R, Wilson,
E. VV. Knivrht, 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 Aufruat 24 1918
IMPROVED COUNTY GOVEINMENT
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
The seventh major funetionof county
government is the administration of
justice. In one sense this is not a part
of county government, for court offi-.
cers are really state officers. While
each county ha.s a sheriff, a clerk and a
coroner, the s)3ptrior court to which
they are attached is not a county court.
It meets in each county only for con
venience. A few counties have an in
ferior court known as the county court,
and several counties have a recorder's
court with a county-wide jurisdiction.
The justices oi the peace are selected
))y townships hut they, to;-, have a
county-wide jurisdiction. The county is
thus recognized' as a convenient judicial
district, but thu admipistraiion of justice
is a slate function Nevertheless, since
it has great local significance, it deserves
a place in this series of articles.
High Cost of Crime
The court and jail costs in every county !
are heavy, much heavier than a few years
ago. Tne honest man is taxed more ;
and more to defena^ and support a
growing criminal class. This situation
gives rise to several pertinent questions.
(1) How can we reduce ccurt costs:'
(2) How can we make our prisons and
and correctional institutions prevent
the rtiaking of future criminals by help
ing the abnormal boys and girls to ad
just themselves. (4) Finally, nothing
serves better as a deterrent of crime
than swift and sure punishment. A
battery of lawyers in every county-
seat who earn a livelihood by, defending
criminals is largely responsible lor the
present delay and defeat of justice. An
accused person is entitled to counsel,
and it is legitimate to defend a known
criminal, but justic^ would be advanced
if the persistent offender hud more diffi
culty in getting a law/er to defend
him.—Paul W. Wager.
GO OB mAm
Our roads are a subject of perennial
interest, and'' one which we have to!
consider often if we are to keep pace !
with their progress and to direct that i
progress inLe!ligt.iitly. j
The latest complete statistics cover- i
ing all roads, both those of the state !
highway systems and the county and ;
local rural roads, for all slates, are the j
figures issued by the Bureau of Public
Roads of the United States Uepai t-
ment of Agriculture, .relating to the
- nd of the^-ear 1925. From these sta
tistics we iiavc compiled by states the
jails mure seif-bupporting? (3) How
canmtn.be delerred turn crime? The total number of miles ofsai-faced reads,
County Government Commission did
not attempt to ans\4;er these questions
but referred them to the committee
from the Bar Association which is
studying crime and reform in judicial
procedure. Neither would I be so
presumptuous as to attempt an ansv-'er
to these diffi’-uiL qucbtiuiis. Nevc-rthe-i
less, ihere are some obvious wastes at
and have worked out for each state
the percent that such surfaced roads
eon: tituted of the total highway mile
age in each sjate, as shown in the table
given elsewhere in this issue.
Tiicre were in the United States at
the end of 1926 a total of 521,914.9
miles of surfaced roj'.ds, which repre
sented 17.4 percent of the total road
the present time which ought to be country.
More Courts
it seems to me that v.e
.iris. There are a great
especially liquor casub.
In the table below the states are!
ranked according to the total surfaced:
mileage of roads. Tnts nec''.‘ssari!y I
varies greatly because of the ^varying j
size of the state.'', butitis,nevertheless, i
abettor basis, for ranking'purpurcs (
stopped.
First of ah'
need more c-
many oases;
which could be tried before a ittagis-; than the percent' surfaced would by:
trate, mure expeditiously and more j because a srriall percentage surfaced of
cheaply tnan in the Superior Court. ■ .h large number of miles represents
In Rulheriuro, Edgecombe and other | generaliy a bigger achievement than a
counties, the recorder’s c>vurt is a large percentage of a small number of
money saving inaiilution. This is so,
MECKLENBURG SURVEY
Agricultural Mecklenburg ar.d In-
dustrial Charlotte is the titfe of the
largest and most impressive county
survey ever issued by the Rural So
cial-Economics Department of the
University. This social and eepnoinic
survey was financed by the Char
lotte Chamber of Commerce and tie
work was done for the most part ly
members of the faculty atid grad-
u ite stui^ents at the University. It
is a bo^k of 317 pages, nicely bourd
and well illustrated. It contains ti e
following chapteis:
The County’s History—Miss Julia
M. Alexander.
The County’.s Natural Resources —
Ivan S Clark.
The Coanty’a Ptople—Eigar T.
Th'..mpson
The County's Schools—Edgar' ’T.
Thompson.
The Count; 's Wealth and Taxation—
Addison T. C'utlar.
The Count;'s^Industries—Edgar T.
Thompson.
The County’s Agriculture-Edgar T.
Thompson,
The County’s Food Needs—Edgar T.
Thompson.-
The County’s Government—Pay! W.
Wager.
The County’s Agencies, Organiza
tions and Instiluiions—Thomas S.
Clarkson.
The Government of Charlotte-Ed
ward J. Woodhouse.
Progress and Problems—Edgar T.
Thompson,
^Until the supply is exh^v^sted any
one wishing a copy of the book may
obtain one without cost from the
Chamber of Commerce, Charlotte,
or. from the Department of Rural
Social Economits, University of No! ih
Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The season of Thanksgiving is upon \ in no other terms.
Just how thankful are you?
The measure of your thankfulness is
found in what you are willing to do,
and WILL do, for those who are not as
fortunate as you are. If you are ti-uly
thankful for this Christian Jand of ours,
' for the creature comforts that God has
^ given you during the past year, for the
'prosperity that your community, your
state, and your nation enjoy, you will
show it by trying to pass on to those
, worthy of your benefactions, some of
^ the blessings that ;ou and yours are
enjoying. ^
If you are looking for some such
outlet as this for the joyful spi'dt of
Thanksgiving that i& filling your heart,
A gift for the care and education of
helpless children will measure the cir-
cumfen.nce and also the depth of the
heari of the donor himself—not others.
Do not suffer yqur butter impulses to be
belittled; make no compromises with
your heart, lest yni do y«aurself an in
jury, not in the eyes of other.i but in
your own estimation.
Men grow from within, not from
without. Men make themselves big or
little by their thoughts and deeds. Take
the full measure of j^ur heart in re
sponding to tne call ot the orphan child
this year, and you will be glad; restrict
that meaaire and you will find no joy..'
It is not what others think, or say, or
Dp, that counls Hearken to Lhepromot-
ings of YOUR OWN HEART.
Makeyour offering on, or near. Thanks-
we commend to your consideration the • direct tjj one of the orphan
ages listed below. The gift may be
appeal of the North Carolina Orphan
Association which is asking everj' citi
zen of the Old North State to contribute
the orphanage of his or her choice on,
or rear, Tnanksgiving Day, the full
proceeds of one day’s labor.
_ Tiu ro are twenty-five of those institu
tions in North Carolina. All of them
are cleanly administered and all of them
dreworthy of the unstinted support of
all good people. You will make no mis
take in giving to any of them, for all of
them are doing noble, conscientiou'.s
work.
These orphanages have added wondi-r-
fully to the state’s richest assets—her
manhood and her womanhood. Many
thousands of homeless and helpless chil
dren have been lifted out of and above
all unfavorable envirmmont and have
forwarded through your church or your
lodije, but the orphanage to which you
intend it shall go should be desigiiated.
_ May this cmcertod philanthropy
tor the orplnned children help toward
making next Thanksgiving Day the
gladdest fan..1 best ever observed in North
Csrulina.
Very re.spectfully,
M. L. Shipman,
Stacey W. Wade,
W. A. Graham,
J. R. Yuuug,
John D. Bo rry,
Mrs. Kate Burr Juimson,
Mrs. Josephus Daniels,,
Publicity Committee.
.ist of Orphanages
been developed into useful jrten and Baptist Orphanage—Rev. M. L Kesler
wumei) by these splendid institutions Thomasvilie. ’
established by those who “live not unto MethodTst Orphanage —Rev. A. S
thein=elves alone. ” iLirnea, Raleigh.
In ail re.speets, these orphanages are Presbyterian Orpirariiige—Jos. B. John
worthy of OUT support and we can do no stor, Barium Spririgs,
finer thing at this ble.-scd Thanksgiving Mulhvaoist Orphanage—R-w. Chas A
season _ ti.an to show pur love and ap- Wood, Win.sion-Salem
preciation for thirti and for the thou j'I'hompson Orphanage—Rf'v W H
sands of helpless children whom thev i Wheeler Charlotte ' ’
bringing uji under Methodl'.t Protestant Homo-Rev. E. G.
, L 'Wde; rnilk, High Point.
■ Christian Orphanage—Chas. D. John-
inaiilution.
first, because it dispusus of cases
profrqitly and keeps the jail population
at a minimum, and second, because it
prevents congestion of Hie Superior
Court docket. In one county a man
who failed to get bail iiad to lie in jail
, five and a half months before his case
could be tried. This ^^as no great hard
ship on him, lor iIa-* jailer boasted of
the fact lliat he led “ihe bovs” eggs,
roast beef, and watermelon. It was,
however, rather 1 ard on the tax'psyers.
There may be counties in the state
where an inferior court would nc.t be
warranted, but in most counties there
is need lor a court of record inferior
to the Supi ric.r Court. Of courstiir-U
is highly imporli.nt that the judge‘ffit
capable, fearless and indepenuept.
Fewer Jails
Along with more courts, there should
be fewer jails, A county jail has no
facilities fui> working its prisoners. To
keep a prisoner in idleness violates
every principle of penology. Further
more, the number of prisoners is so
small that the overhead expense is ex
cessive. With the present ease of trans
portation from one county-seat to an
other there is no need for one hundred
jails in the state, and about the time ail
the counties get equipped with expen
sive jails that fact will be recognized.
The chain gang has been condemned
because of.the abuses’ which so often
attend it, but it does at least help
make the convicts self-supporting,
while keeping them active the open
air and sunshine. All prisons should be
self-supporting, though there are diffi
culties to be overcome in making them
so.
Prevention
Crime seems to be on the increase
but there are forces at work that' may
soon change the tide. (1) Universal
education will raise the economic status
of many who might through poverty
be tempted into crime, (2) The good-
roads movement both ’ produces and
prevents crime, it tends to prevent
crime in that the penetration of back
ward regions breaks down the individ
ualism and provincialism of the people.
Employment on highways has also per-
mitted*and encouraged many to give up
ifiicit pursuits. (3), The .activities of the
welfare officers, the juvenile courts.
miles. It is noticeable, however, that
many of the states ^ivilh 'a very large
total mileage of roads have attacked
their problem with such good-will that
they are able to show very creditable
p.-reentages of their roads surfaced.
Such states are Indiana, Ohio, Wis-
in ihft table, alieud of many states
which have a bigger percentage of
their rouds surfaced but which have
not so many miles ' liuil need to be
worked. *
Florida had a larger percentage of!
her roi.ds surfaced than any other i little ones come from charitably inclined
southern state (.32.13 percentRbut North ’
religious influences, by rcmemleting
them at Tnanksgiving in the same
measure as God has blessed us duiing
the year.
The most appealing and cheering c-f
all picture's of the Saviour of the Vvorld
is the 'ch.-i-Hc' one in which Ho hold.--
little children in His arms and blesses
them. Ihe orphan homes of ogr statu,
where faiherloss and inctherless little
children nre enfolded by devoted and
trai..ed servitors and foster ni'»(h ''s,
are the rnurfern sheltering arm.: of the
Master whose blessings they received
in the long ago.
But the blessings to these precious
-R. L Brown,
s H. Warren,
people who contribute to their mfrlure,
to their rignt living —to their future
1 .-i -J , . b^PPUiess. To thus be perfnitted to be-
much larger than hionda s so that i come an imitaiion c f Pliin who doeih all
Caruli.ua's lota.l mileage of roads is
our mileage of surfaced roads—20,016 j thmgs well, in His lovingest mortal
or 29.6 percent of our total road miie^ ' Rtiise, is such a special privilege, it'were
age—brings us much higher in the ■ think of, ^ven as charity,
tnKi^ .u„v uu . 1 , vvhen, in a.-^suming our Saviour s overt
table ihan hiunda. Kentucky -, and t act of blessing others, we are thrice i
'iennessue to the west of us are ’ doing ' ble.'-'sed ourselves ' '
. ......ww ...... ...^ , good work la this field, while Viririria 'ihe wage or income of a day iilThankli-!
consiD, New York,.Minnesotfl, Michigan, 1^ ^ ^ ^ ' eivin^ to ono or m„ro of nrnii.»n • aa ---j--—, v...
vr .1 r- r u t ' HJid Soutn Carolina respectively had u or niure or ti.e oipoan [ Maxwell Orphanage —J. E Lancaster
North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia,]^ j ■ . . ■ homes will surely bring joy lo the hearts i Franklin '
(’alifornia, Kentucky, Washington, Ala-““ ut their j of everyone whr gives ehesrfuily. It Wright Kefuge-Miss -ilice Pirie
bama, Tennessee, Or;gon. and Missis- of would most as;sured!y be keeping on;'' Durham"*" ^
Sood terms with conscience. s-j,,, Ann’s llome-Belmont:
ston. Elan C(_ liege.
Oxford Orpiiun Asylum-
Oxford.
Odd h'uliav.s Home—Chf
_G jicsb- ro.
Elei.fa Orphansgr-Rev Lucius B.Comr-
ton, Asheville.
P.whiau Home-R. D. Jenkins, Clavton.
Hjhiidrun’sHwme (cocicty—J.J Pnonnix,
GreenFb'.rc
Nazareth Orphan Hume—Rev. W. I.
McNiiirv, Crescent.
Falcon Ofph3iiage-"J. A. Culbretli,
Falcon.
Free-Will Baptist Home—Rev. C. G.
Pope, Middlesex.
NfKareth Orphanage-Rev. Geo. A.
Woods, Nazareth.
Mountain Orphanage—Carl Brindley,
Bl^ck Mountain.
Grand Father Oriihunage—J. T. Gray,
B.nnur Elk.
Aluxauder Home—MrSs Fannie Sharpe,
Charlotte.
Junior League Baby Home—Mrs. E. T.
Cansler, Charlotte.
eighth of their \ of
total mileage of roads at the close of '
. last yetfr. ‘
sippi. j ,
At the end of 1925 Indiana held a I DefauUers '
place of supremacy with, a large total ! Yowa, Kansas, Nebraska,-and Okla-
tuiieage of reads nearly two-thirds of boma, NcTrth Dakota, South Dakota,
The income
dren is a fair
life for money, iJur, rurtiemti^r, joy
not to \ u purchased; lire is not for sale.
, . , f .J fcT f I come freely to all who meet
which (b6.9 i5urceQ4) were surfaced. MonUna, and Wyoming, are all states I worthily the demands of their own
Ohio had nearly halt licr roads surfaced, witn very small ■percentages oi their ' he^arts; and they come in no other way —
New Jersey and Massachusetts had i roads surfaced, it may be that the ' — ■ ■ - , ,
surfaced somewhat more than 40 per-[ character ot the toil in some of these
states IS such,that their roads do not
stand ip as great need of surfacing-
as is the case eisewhwe.
e of a day for'helpless chil- Memuria! Industrial Schdoi (Colored)-
r exchange-yy Lirdulhr..;. R.-y, w. J. Prihdexter, Winston-
i;y. But, rcrfiemb/cr, joy IS . Salem.
Salem.
Oxloid Oiph^nage (Colored)—HenryP/
Ch-y-atham, Oxford.
*Chi!d-placing institution
=!=
>:ent ot their roads. Status which, had
at that time around one-third of their
roads surfaced are Wisconsin, New
York, Washington, Idaho, Florida,
.Maryland. Vermont, and Rhode .Is-
iand. North Carolina came very near
this figure, with a percentage of 29.4
percent of her roads liurfaced.
Very nearly half of the states (23) at
the end of last year had more than a
fifth of their roads surfaced.
, Where the South Stands
The Southern states show more vari
ation than IS usual with them in the
degree of activity in road improve
ment displayed, but, noticeably, al
most all of them stand nearer the top
of the table than the bottom. Whether
their increasing prosperity has pro-:
moted the building of good roads or
vice versa, it is apparent that the
South, oil its way out of the wilderness,
is riding on good roads toward the
Land of Promise now well within hail
ing distance. But undoubtedly we shall
have to bear it in mind that if we are
really to get out of Mencken’s Desert
of Bozart we shall have to see to it
that ou^ roads lead straight to consoli
dated schools with good attendance
Henrietta R. Smedes ^
^Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina.
throughout an adequate school term, vt i.i y-,
J . ■ e ,yooi- general knowledge tnat North Caro-
mslead of serving for joy rides past ^ • Fi
lina has had a leading part m tins ac
tivity.—H. R. S.
SUSFACEO ROADS IN THE UNiTEB STATES AT END OF 1925
Table based on statistics repor'ud by the Bureau of Public Roads of the
U S. Department of Agriculture. Figures given cover surfaced roads ^f all
_ , , , . , highway systems and of all county and local roads combined, at the end
Types ol Hoad included of 1925.
The types^of coad which these figures! United States total, 621,914.9 miles of surfaced roads, or 17.4 percent of
of surfaced roads represent cover sand I total road mileage in the country; North Carolina, 20,01-6.6 miles of surfaced
clay, gravel etc. unireaied, water | roads, or 29.4 percent of road mileage in the state,
bound macadam untreated, surface-
treated macadam and gravel, bitumi
nous macadam by penetratirn, sheet
asphalt, bituminous concrete, portiand
cement concrete, and block pavements
(brick, stone, wood, asphalt, and mis-
.pelianeous).
The Bureau of Public Roads calls
attention to the fact that ail roads
do not require a hard surface, The
need for surfacing and the character of
surface demanded are determined by
the density of traffic and the cost nec
essary to maintain the road- contin
uously in good condition. But where
improved roads go somewhat ahead of
density of traffic, experience indicates
that traffic is apt to follow their
route—this is matter of fretj^uent
demonstration.
A year of activity in road work since
the figures here preseiited were com
piled has brought us all many miles fur
ther on our way, and it is a\natter of
one-room one-teacher shanties.
Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and
Oklahpma stand lowest among the
Suuthirn states in the'percentage of
their roads surfaced. Texas has by
OUR THANKFULKEISS
THANKSGIVING: “The act of ex-
far the biggest mileage of roads, about pressing gratitude for favors and mer-
an eighth of which were surfaced at the cies; a public celebration of divine good-
end, of last year. This brings her, ness; a day so set apart. ”
Rank State
Percent
surfaced
of total
Total
miles of
Rank Slate
Percent
surfaced
of total
Total
miles of
1
Indiana
road
mileage
..66.9.,'
surfaced
roads
....48,124.8
25
Massachusetts
road
mileage
...41.3
surfaced
roads
7,888.3
2
Ohio
..47.4
....40,248.6
26-
New Jersey.,,,
...42.9
7,608.4
3
Wisconsin
..36.9
....28,317.7
27
Arkansas
.... 8 7
6,499.5
4
New York
..32.2
... 26,363 3
28
Iowa
... 5.8
5,986.9
5
Minnesota
..22.6
....24,384.6
29
Louisiana
...13.0
5,183.6
6
Michigan
..27.8
....21,613.8
30
Maryland
...31.6
4,689.0
7
Texas
..12.0
....20,114.6
31
Vermont*
...31.6
4,680.4
—^ TSinrth Carolina
.29.4
. 20,016.5
32
Maine
..,20.6
4,278.6
9
Pennsylvania.
,.20.4
,...18,957.5
33
Kansas
2.6
.....3,194.9
10
Georgia
..19.1
.. 18,710.2
34
Utah •,
...13.4
3,131.9
California
-.22.7
....18,002.3
36
’Arizona
...14.1
3,191.0
12
Kentucky......
..25.1
...17,231.1
36
South Dakota.
... 2.6
3,007.2
13
Washington...
..35.2
....17,271.0
37
Connecticut....
...19.6
2,609.6
14
■Illinois
..15.8
....15.269.2
38
Nebraska
... 2.9
2,601.6
16
Alabama
..22.0
...-13,660.6
39
New Mexico ..
... 6.1
2.440.8
16
Tennessee
..20.4
....13,326.3
40
bjew Hampshire.13.7
1,893 6
17
Idaho
..34.2
. ..12,116.4
41
North Dakota.
... 1.7
L784.1
18
.Oregon
..21.6
....10,764.9
42
Oklahoma
... 1.3
1,685.9
19
Missouri
.. 9.6
...,10,668.4
43
West Virginia
... 4.6
1,628.0
20
South Carolina.,15.6
44
Nevada
... 6.4
.. ..1,251.6
21
JVIississippi
..17.7
.... 9,909.6
45
Mpntana
... 1.8
1,189.4
22
Florida
..32.5
.... 9,843 8
46
Wyoming
... 1.9
907.0
23
Virginia
..16.6
.... 9,781.9
47
Delaware
...20.6
781.9
24
Colorado
..12.7
.... 8,699.8
48
Rhode Island..
...32.7
777.0
*Used data of 1921 as only available mileage.