North Carolina Newspapers

VOL. XLVIII County Government Reformation Gov. Morrison Will Take Subject Be fore Next Legislature—Marshal's Office Will be Moved Back to Raleigh—Other News. (By Maxwell Gorman.) Raleigh, N. C., Feb. 7. —County government in North Carolina has been for fifty years a seasoned rotting and (in some counties) a rotten system —where it has not actually been corrupt. It should have been a militant candidate for years for heroic statutory treatment, to the end that needed much needed, improvement mighi be injected into its "system," for the betterment of the people as a whole. Ep parentheses, it may be mentioned that one of the ulcefs on the thing, commonly known as "the court house ring,'' has long needed lancing. Be it added, however, that the afore said "ring" has not been con fined actually to the "court house" green and there'bouts. But itt habitat could be found in the offi ces of numerous wire-pullers —and that without a search warrant— who constitute the party clique that dictates all things pertaining to-county government. If this clique says to Bill Jones, "You may run in the primary for sena tor from Cooptown, or for sheriff of New Light County," why Bill, he "runs" and becomes the "nomi nee of the party"—just as certain as if the "court house ring" had nominated him by the old rush methods in the former county nominating conventions—and so forth and et cetera. You all know of some of the other "rol ten" outgrowths of longstanding of the venerable county government "system" in North Carolina. Well, your Uncle Cam Morrison is said to be taking a post-gradu ate course in statutory physics for the express purpose of fixing up a dose that will be compounded for the purpose of acting on the cor pus of this system—by and with the advice of his official cabinet and the medicine men -composing the next legislature, all of whom will be chosen next fall. In other words, Governor Mor rison is planning to appoint a commission of a score of distin guished men in the state to under take the drafting of a. measure which will be submitted to the Wislature as a basis for its con sideration. Governor Morrison is .satisfied that great improvement can be made in the county governments in North Carolina. The present law under which the comities of the state are governed, says the governor, is out of date. It has been handed down, in its main principles, from tin* first county government act adopted after the War between the States. "The only thing that insures good and efficient government in the counties of the state is the men who are elected to fill the; offices," said the governor. "The! law as it now stands is submerged iu a mass of amendments and special legislatiju to the extent that even the lawyers in many cases are puzzled?" A complete reorganization of the count} gov ernment and the accounting sys tems in operation in them is the governor's aim.* New U. S. Marshal. The new U. S Marshal, It. VV. Ward of Raleigh, just confirmed by the Seuate as successor to George H. Bellamy, will bring the offices of the mar.-hal b*ck to Ral eigh. Marshal Bellamy moved them to his home town when he was appointed. Marshal Ward is a well known and highly esteemed . business man of Raleigh, and his appointment gives general satis- Duriug Roosevelt s ad ministration Mr. Ward was deput.f marshal under Marshal Claud THE ALAMANCE GLEANER Dockery, and is therefore familiar with the duties he now assumes. Keen Interest In This Case, Government cases against Dr. J. M. Manning, mayor of Durham, and Dr. J. A. Lowery, physician of Raleigh, under indictnlent upon charges of violation of the anti narcotic act, are on the calendar for trial in federal court which convenes Monday for its regular civil term. The criminal actions against Drs. Manning and Lowery were set for trial next week when they were called at the fall term of court in December. District At torney Irvin B. Tucker, who has assumed the office of district at torney since the last criminal term, will be in charge of the prosecution against the two phy sicians. The exact nature of the charges against the Durham mayor and ftaleigh doctor has never been iven out, but court officiate poiut •ut that irregularity in issning prescriptions for narcotics is the principal violation involved. , The cases attracted much in terest when warrants were first issued and a large crowd is ex pected to attend the trials. Dr. Manning is highly thought of here and in Durham, and people are loath to believe he has been guilty of any moral wrong, in relieving human suffering. Meeting- N. C. Bankers Alan T. Bowler, secretary of the North Carolina Bankers' Asso ciation, announces that the asso ciation will hold its twenty-sixth annual convention at Pinehurst, April 20, 27 and 28. Pinehurst was selected as the meeting place for the convention at a meeting of the executive com mittee held here in October, when it was decided to open permanent headquarters in Raleigh with Mr. Bowler in charge and E. T. Du tnay of Washington, president of the association, was empowered to arrange dates with the hotel management at Pinehurst. These arrangements were not completed until yesterday, according to Mr. Bowler's announcement. Denouncing Rent Profiteers. Raleigh papers are denouncing the alleged purpose of the "rent hogs" to again profiteer on their tenants by using "increased taxes" as an excuse to again raise rents if the pending million-dollar school bond election for Raleigh Township is carried. Rents have already been raised repeatedly in ftaleigh, Until at present peak prices some families have little left for food and raiment after the ltvndlord is settled with. Friends, of the school children who are suffering from inadequate school faclities are trying to em ploy an adequate remedy to choke off the rent hogs. A friend now suggests-the purchase of a liberal supply of well rotten eggs to be hauded out to school boys, if the bond issue is defeated. Our Country Towns. William Allen White, in Collier's. Collective neighborliness marks ilie country town for its own. Death, poverty, grief, tragedy visit the city, and few friends hurry in to heal the wounds. In some organized way the town's good will touches every family. The belief that if you are good to somebody, somebody will be good to you, distinguishes Americans from the rest of man kind. And it is not the .prodnct of our great cities, andjnot pri marily a farm product. It is made iu our country towns. The Chamber of Commerce to day in the American small town and in the American city is the leading exponent of altruism in the community. It is not a wide interurban altruism that the Chamber of Commerce fosters; it is Iligginsville first. But it is for Higginsvilie all the time. The Chamber of Commerce modifies the innate cussedness of the average selfish, hard-boiled, picayuuish, penny-pinching, oar row-gauged human porker, and lifts up his snout; makes him see further than his home, his busi ness, anl his personal interest, and seta him rooting for his com munity. j If you want plenty of pep, streugth and energy, lake Tan lac. For sale by Farrell Drug Co., Graham, N. C. GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 9, 1922' Some Aspects of the / Farmers' Problems V* " i By BERNARD M. BARUCH jft •"* - ••' 'i J? (Reprinted from Atlantic Monthly) CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK. ra Now that the farmers are stirring, thinking, and uniting as never before te eradicate these Inequalities, they are subjected to stern economic lec tures, and are met with the accusation that they are demanding, and are the recipients of, special privileges. Let us see what privileges the government has conferred en the farmers. Much has been made of Section 6 of the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, which pur ported to permit them to combine with immunity, under certain conditions. Admitting that, nominally, this ex emption was in the nature of a special privilege,—though I think It was so In appearance rather than In fact, —we And that the courts have nullified It by Judicial Interpretation. Why should not the farmers be permttted to ac complish by co-operative methods what other businesses are already doing by co-operation to the form of Incorpora tion? If It be proper for men to form, by fusion of existing corporations or otherwise, a corporation that controls the entire production of a commodity, or a large part of It, why Is It not proper for a group of farmers to unite for the marketing of their common products, either In one or In several selling agencies? Why should It be right for a hundred thousand corporate shareholders to direct 25 or 30 or 40 per cent af an Industry, and wrong f(jr a hundred thousand co-operative farmers to control a no larger propor tion of the wheat crop, or cotton, or any other product? * The Department of Agriculture Is often spoken of as a special concession to the farmers, but In Its commercial results, It Is of as much benefit to the buyers and consumers of agricultural products as to the producers, or even more. I do not suppose that anyone opposes the benefits that the farmers derive from the educational and re search work of the department, or the help that It gives them In working out Improved cultural methods and prac tices, In developing better yielding va rieties through breeding and selection, In Introducing new varieties from re mote parts of the world and adapting them to our climate and economic con dition, and In devising practical meas ures for the elimination or control of dangerous and destructive animal and plant diseases. Insect pests, and the like. All these things manifestly tend to stimulate and enlarge production, and their general beneficial effects are obvious. It Is complained that, whereas the law restricts Federal Reserve banks to three months' time for commercial paper, the farmer Is allowed six months on his notes. This Is no a special privilege, but merely such a recognition of business conditions as makes It possible for country banks to do business with country people. The crop farmer has only one turn over a, year, while the merchant and manufacturer have many. Incidental ly, I note that the Federal Reserve Board has Just authorized the Fed eral Reserve banks to discount export paper for a period of six months, to conform to the nature of the busi ness. The Farm Loan banks are pointed to as an instance of special govern ment favo%for farmers. Are they not rather the outcome of laudable efforts to equalize rural and urban condi tions? And about all the government does there Is to help set up an ad ministrative organization and lend a little credit at the start. Eventually the farmers will provide all the capi tal and carry all the liabilities them selves. It Is true that Farm Loan bonds are tax exempt; but so are bonds of municipal light and traction plants, and new housing is to be ex empt from taxation, In New York, for ten years. On the other hand, the farmer reads of plans for municipal bousing proj ects that run Into the billions, of hun dreds of millions annually spent on the merchant marine; he reads that the railways are being favored with Increased rates and virtual guaranties of earnings by the government, with the result to him of an 'ncreased tell on all that be sells and alt that he bays. He bears of many manifesta tions of governmental concern for par tlcular Industries and interests. Res cuing the railways from Insolvency Is undoubtedly for the benefit of the country as a whole, but what can be of more general benefit than encour agement of ample production of the principal necessaries of life and their even flow from contented producers to satisfied com urn era? , While it may be conceded that special governmental aid may be oec eassry la the g— waM all agree thaf ft Is difficult to see -wh> agriculture and the production and dls trlbutlon of furm products are n t «c corded the sntne opportunities that are provided lor other businesses; espe clallr r.i t'.ie enjoyment by the farmer of such opportunities would appear to be even-more contributory to the gen- eral good than ill the case of other Industries. The spirit of American democracy Is unalterably opposed, alike to enacted special privilege snd to the special privilege of unequal op portunity that arise* automatically from the failure to correct glaring economic Inequalities. I am opposed to the Injection of government Into business, but 1 do believe that It Is an essential function of democratic gov ernment to equalize opportunity so far ns II Is wilhlu Its power to do so, whether by the repeal of archaic statutes or the "enactment of modern ones. If the »uti-trust law* keep the farmers from endeavoring scientifically to integrate their Industry while other Industries find a way to meet modern conditions without violating such stat utes, then It would seem reasonable to find a way for the farmers to meet them under the same conditions. The law should operate equally In fact. Ite pairlng the economic structure on one side Is no injustice to the«other side, which Is In good repair. We have traveled a long way from the old conception of government as merely a defensive and policing agency : and regulative, corrective, or equaliz ing legislation, wb/ch apparently Is of a special nature, Is often of the most genernl beneficial consequences. .Even the First Congress passed a tariff act that-.was avowedly for the protection of manufacturers; but a protective tariff always has been defended as a means of promoting the general good through a particular approach.; and the stutute books are filled with acts for the beuefit of shipping, commerce, and labor. IV Now, what 1* the farmer asking? Without trying to catalogue tht re medial measures that have been sug gested In his behalf, the principal pro posals that bear directly on the Im provement of his distributing and mar keting relation* may be summarized as follow*: — First: storage warehouse* for cot ton, wool, and tobacco, and elevators for grain, of sufficient capacity to meet the maximum demand on them at the peak of the marketing period. The farmer thinks that either private capi tal must furnish these facilities, or the state must erect and own the eleva tors and warehouses. Second: weighing and grading of agricultural products, and certification thereof, to be done by Impartial and disinterested public Inspectors (this I* already accomplished to some extent by the federal licensing of weighers and graders), to eliminate underpay ing, overcharging, and unfair grading, and to facilitate the utilization of the stored products as the basis of credit. Third: a certainty of credit sufficient to enable the marketing of products In an orderly manner. Fourth: the Department of Agricul ture should collect, tabulate, summa rise, and regularly and frequently pub lish and distribute to the farmers, full Information from all the market* of the world, so that they shall be as well •Informed of their selling position as buyers now are of their buying posi tion. Fifth: freedom to integrate the busi ness of agriculture by means of con solidated selling agencies, co-ordlnat- Ing and co-operating In such way as to put the farmer on an equal footing with the large buyera of Ills products, and with commercial relation* In other industries. When a bualneas requires specialized talent, it has to buy It. So will the farmers; and perhaps the best way for them to get It would be to utilize some of the present machinery of the larg est established agencies dealing In farm product*. Of course, If he wishes, the farmer may go further and engage In Hour-milling and other manufactures of foo4 products. In my opinion, however, he would be wise to stop short of that. Public Interest may be opposed to all great Integrations; hut. In Justice, should they be forbidden to the farmer and permitted to others? The corporate form of association can not now be wholly adapted to hi* ob ject* and coridltb ns. The looser co operative form seems more generally suitable. Therefore, lie wlsheii to be free. If he finds It desirable and feas ible, to resort to co-operation with his fellows and neighbors, without run ning afoul of the law. To urge that the farmer* sboe'd bavejhe same lib- eHy to consolidate and 00-ordlnale their peculiar economic functions, which other Industries In their fields enjoy, Is not, however, to concede that any business Integration should have legislative sanction to exercise monop olistic power. The American people are as firmly opposed to Industrial as to political autocracy, whether at tempted by rural or by urban Industry. For lack of united effort the farmers as a whole are still marketing their crops by antiquated methods, or by no methods at all. hut they are surrounded by n business world that has been modernized to the last minute and is tirelessly striving for efficiency. This efficiency Is due In large measure to big business, to united business, to In tegrated business. The farmers now seek the benefits of such largeness, un ion and integration. The American farmer Is a modern of the moderns In the use of labor saving machinery, and he has made vast 3trldes In recent years In scientific tillage and efficient farm management, but as a business In contact with other businesses agirculture Is a "one horse shay" In competition with high power automobiles. The American farmer Is the greatest and most Intractable of individualists. While Industrial pro duction and all phases of the huge com merclal Hiechanism and Its myriad ac cessorles have articulated and co-ordl nated themselves all the way from nat ural raw materials to retail sales, the business of agriculture has gone on In inuc> t'*« one man fashion of the back woods of thf first part of the nine teenth century, when the farmer was self sufficient and ill'J not depend or care very much, what the great world was doltyj. The cesult is that the agricultural group Is almost as much at a disadvantage In dealing with other economic groups as the'jay farm er of the funny pages In the hands of sleek urban confidence men, who sell him acreage In Central Park or the Chicago city hall. The leaders of the farmers thoroughly understand this, and they are Intelligently striving to Integrate their Industry so that It will be on on equal footing with other busi nesses. As an example «f Integration, take the steel Industry, In which the model Is the United States Steel Corporation, with Its Iron mines, its coal mines, Its lake and rail transportation, Its ocean vessels. Its by-product coke ovens, Its blast furnaces. Its open hearth and Hessemer furnaces, Its rolling mills, Its tube mills and other manufacturing processes that are carried to the high est degree of flulshed production com patible >wlth the large trade It has built up. All this Is generally conced ed to be to the advantage of the con sumer. Nor does the steel corporation Inconsiderately dump Its products on the market. On the contrary, It so acts that It Is frequently a stabilizing Influence, as Is often the case with oth er large organizations. It Is master of its distribution as well as of Its pro duction. If prices sre not satisfactory the products are held back or produc tion Is reduced or suspended. It is not compelled to send s year's work to the market at one time and take whatever It can get under such circumstances. It has ooe selling policy and Its own export department. Neither are the graden and qualities of steel determin ed at the caprice of the buyer, nor does the latter hold the scales. In this sin gle Integration of the steel corporation Is represented about 40 per cent of the steel production of America. The rest Is mostly In the hands of a few large companies. In ordinary times the steel corporation, by example, stabilizes all steel prices. If this Is permissible (It Is even desirable, because stable and fair prices are essential to solid and continued prosperity) why would It b$ wrong for the fanners to utilize central agencies that would have simi lar effects on agricultural products? Something like that la what they are aiming at. Some farmers favored by regional compactness and contiguity, such as the cltrus-frult-ralsers of California, al ready have found a way legally to merge and sell their products Inte grally and In accordance with seasonal and local demand, thus Improving their position and rendering the con sumer a reliable service of ensured quality, certain supply, und reasonable and relatively steady prices. They have not found It necessary to resort to any special privilege, or to claim any exemption under the anti-trust legislation of the state or nation. With out removing local control, they have built up a very efficient marketing agency. The grain, cotton, and to bacco farmers, and the producers of hides and wool, because of their num bers and the vastness of their regions, and for other reasons, have found Integration s rnorf difficult task; though there are "now some thousands •it farmer's co-operative elevators, warehouses, creameries, and other en terprises of one sort and another, with n turn-over of a billion dollers a year. They are giving the farmers business experience and training, and, so far as they go, they meet the need of honest weighing and fair grading; but they do not meet the requirements of rationally adjusted marketing In any large and fundamental way. The next step, which will be a pat tern for other groups. Is now being prepared by the r*iln-_ral*er»_ through the establishment "of sales media wfffch shall handle grain separately or col lectively, as the Individual farmer may elect. It Is this step—the plan of the Committee of Seventeen—which has created so much opposition and Is thought by some to be In conflict with the anti-trust laws. Though there is now before congress a measure de signed to clear up doubt on this point, the grain-producers are not relying on any Immunity from anti-trust legisla tion. They desire, and they are en titled, to co-ordinate their efforts Just as effectively as the large business In terests of the country have done. In connection with the selling organiza tions the United States Grain Growers Incorporated Is drafting a scheme of financing Instrumentalities and auxili ary agencies which are indispensable to the successful utilization of modern business methods. It Is essential that the farmers shaultj, proceed gradually with these plans, and aim te avoid the error of scrapping the existing marketing ma chinery, which has been so laboriously built up by long experience, before they have a tried and proved substi tute or supplementary mechanism. They must be careful not to become enmeshed In their own reforms and lose the perspective of their place -In the national system. They must gu.trd against fanatical devotion to new doc trines, and should seek articulation with the general economic system rather than Its reckless destruction as It relates to them. To take a tolerant an ! sympathetic \rlew of the farmers' strivings for hot ter things Is not to give a blanket endorsement to any specific plan, and still less to applaud the vagaries of Home of their leaders and groups Neither should we, nn the other bund, allow the froth of bitter agitation false economics, and mistaken radical Ism to conceal the facts of the farm era' disadvantages, and the practicabil ity of eliminating them by well-con sidered measures. It may be thHt the farmer* will not "show the business sag**!* and develop the wise leader slllp to carry through sound plar.s; but thst possibility does not Justify the obstruction of their 'upward efforts. We, us «clty people, see in high fnd speculatively manipulated prices, spoilage, waste, scarcity, the results of defective distribution of farm prod ucts. t Should It not occur ,to us that we have a common Interest with the farmer In his attempts to attain a de gree of efficiency Id distribution cor responding to his efficiency In produc tion? Do not the recent fluctuations In the May wheat option, apparently unrelated to normal Interaction of supply and demand, offer a timely proof of the need of some such stabil izing agency as the grain growers have In contemplation? It Is contended that, If their pro posed organizations be perfected and operated, the farmers will have In their hands an Instrument that will be capable of dangerous abuse. We are told that It will be possible to pervert It to arbitrary and oppressive prlce flxlng from Its legitimate use of order ing and stabilizing the flow oi farm products to the market, to the mutual benefit of producer and consumer. I have no apprehensions on this point. In the first place, a loose organiza tion, such as any union of farmers must be at best, cannot be so arbi trarily and promptly controlled as a great corporation. The one Is a lum bering democracy anil the other an agile autocracy. In the second place, with all possible power of org .nlzatlon, the farther* cannot succeed to any great extent, or for any considerable length of time, In fixing prices. The great law of supply and demand works In various and surprising ways, to the undoing of the best lild plans that *ttempt to foil It. In the third place, their power will avail the farmer* nothing If It be abused. In our time and country power Is of value to Its possessor only so lorn; a It is not abused. It Is fair to niv that I have seen no sign* In respi usible quarters of a disposition to dictate prices. There seems, on the contrary, to be u commonly beneficial purpose to realize n stability, that will t'lv • nn orderly and abundant flow of farm products to the consumer nnd ensure reasonable and dependable returns ,to the pro ducer. In view of the supreme Importance to the national well-being of a pros perous and contented agricultural pop ulation, we should lie prepared to go a long Way In assisting the farmers to get an equitable share of the wealth they produce, through the inaugura tion of reforms that will procure a continuous and Increasing stream of farm products. They are far from get ting a fair share now. Considering his capital and the long hours of labor put In by the average farmer and his family, he Is remunerated less than any other occupational class, with the possible exception of teachers, reli gious and lay. Though we know that the present general distress of the farmers I* exceptional and Is linked with the Inevitable economic readjust ment following tl»4 war. It must be remembered that, although represent ing one-thlitf of tbe Industrial prodpet NO* 1 anl half the total population of the nation, the rural communities ordi narily enjoy but a fifth to a quarter of the net annual national gain. Notwith standing the taste of prosperity that the fanners ffiid during the war, there Is today a lower standard of living among the cotton farmers of the South than In any other pursuit in the'couhtry. In conclusion. It seepis to me that the farmers Rre chiefly striving for a gen erally beneficial integration of their business, of the same kind and charac ter that other business enjoys. If It should be found on examination that the attainment of this end requires methods different from those which other activities have followed for the same purpose should we not sympa thetically consider the plen for the right to co-operate, If only from our own enlightened self Interest, In ob taining an abundant and steady flow of farm products? In examining the agricultural situa tion wltb a view to Its improvement, we shall be most helpful If we main tain a detached and Judicial viewpoint, v remembering that existing wrongs may be chiefly an accident of unsymmetrl cal economic growth Instead of a crea tion of malevolent design and conspira cy. VVe Americans are prone, as Pro fessor Da-vld Friday well says In hla admirable book, "Profits, Wages and Prices," to eek a "criminal intent be hind every difficult and undesirable eco nomic situation." ( can positively as sert from my contact with men of as a whole, they are endeavoring to fulfill as they see them the obligations that go with their power. Preoccupied with the grhve problems and heavy tasks of their own immedlatc'affalra, they have not turned their thoughtful personal attention or their construc tive abilities to the deficiencies of agri cultural business organization. Agri culture, It may be said, suffer* from their preoccupation and neglect rather than from any purposeful exploitation by them. They ought now to begin to respond to the farmers* difficulties, which they must realize are their own. On the other hand, my contacts with the farmers have filled me with respect for thetrf— for their sanity, their pa tience, their balance. Within the last yp;ir, and particularly at a meeting called by the Kansas State Board of \grlculture and at another called by the Committee of Seventeen, I have met many of the leaders of the hew farm movement, and I testify In all sincerity that they are endeavoring to deal with their problems, not as pro- ° moters of a narrow class Interest, not t»s aiploiters tlle hapless consumer, not as merciless monopolists, but as honest ment bent on the improvement df the comin« D weal. We can and must meet such man and »ue*-i a cause Half way. Thstr business Is our business—the nation's holiness. If you are fueling nil worn out, if jou can't eat, sleep or work with any satisfaction, you need Tanlac. For sale by Farrell Drug Co., Graham, N. C. PROFESSIONAL CARDS THOMAS D. COOPER, Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law, BURLINGTON, N. C Associated with V. S. Coulter, Not. 7 and 8 First National Bank Bldg. S. C. SPOON, Jr., M. D. Graham, N. C. OlTice over Ferrell Drug Co. Iloiire: 2 to 3 ami 7 to if p. in., and by uppoiu' ment. I i'hone H7 GRAHAM HARDEN, M. D. Burlington, N. C. Office Hours: to 11 u. m. and by appointment. i Office Over At-mu l>ru;j Co. rcle|ilione»; Ofliee 11(1—He»ldeiice 'itil JOHN J. HENDERSON Attorney at-Luiv | GRAHAM. N. C. • • Mice over National Bank ol Alaauaea T . 3. C-OOZ, Attorney -at- La« I V* H Xvi i* o >mu« Pstlomon liutiding I ■Vuoud Kt -nr. . . , »' a will uinii.Jß. . . DENTIST . ; ; .... North Carolina " MOV IN PARIS HT-ILniNO .1. 1.1.Wi.1t L i\(. LOUIS C. ALLKR Durham, N. C. Graham, >l. LONG & ALLEN, ■' >i-ii«ya nnd (Counselors mi Law i>KAHAM, X. O.