lined Twice a Month
VOLUME 2
■■UOi
'DUNN, N. e* AUGUST .15,
So other Englishman, whether explorer, soldier, or
statesman, has so many memorials in North -Carolina
as the Elder Pitt. Pitt county is named for him;
Chatham is named for him as Earl of Chatham;
Pittsboro is another memorial.
Pitt’s first county seat was named for Governor l
Martin, but the Revolutionary troubles were brewing,
and at Martinborough, the royal governor’s own
namesake, just 160 years ago today, August 15, 1774,
at a general meeting of the freeholders of Pitt county,
with John Hardee in the chair, the county was defi
nitely launched upon the Revolutionary current. The
following October another meeting was held and the
following patriots were named as a standing commit
tee to plan the county’s movements during the con
tention between the colony and the king: John Harr
dee, Robert Salter, Edward Salter, William Bryant,, \
Edmond Williams, Benjamin May,'George Evans, , and
Amos Atkinson. **'*.'■. ' \ - ■•?*'■■■' ■' r - .
General James Armstrong seems to have been the
most prominent military officer in the county for a
long period. Away back in 1755, during the French
and Indian War, he was major of the militia of that
section, the historian ascribing him in that year as
“major of the Pitt militia.”' He served as a member
of Pitt’s committee .of safety during the Revolution- -
ary period, and after peace was a member, of, the
state council in 1784, and a member-of the convention ••
held at Fayetteville in 1789- to pass upon the XT. S,
constitution.
Despite, the enforced retirement of Governor Mar
tin, the capital of Pitt seems to have held his name
till after peace was declared, when the name was.
changed to GreenvilleS t r ' y* r ;
Among the prominent in the early days were Win;
Blount, who was a^m^^>e^.^^^^|ntinetital Conr _
,fleiphia which fra med the U. S. ’ e&nstitutibh, govern'of
of the territops aonth of the Ohio by appointment of/
President "Washington, !axvi one ,of the first two sena
tors from Tennessee. ** ‘ ... J;
General Br^an Grimes won renown during the war
of the sixties. His son' Bi^an Grimes, Jr., was not
so long*a£o the popul^i secretary of state for North*,
Carolftiai’ .,**
Moi-c Recent Notable*. »
Pitt’s mbst distingiUShed citizen of all time was
Governor Jarvis, 'thougji ke was not] a native of the '
county. JTarvis was soldier, teacher, lawyer, lieu ten:*:
ant-governorj succeeding Yance as governor when the
latter was chosen seriator, and being elected governor
in 1880-* GovCTndYlintrvis thus served considerably^
over a four-year'-teniV He served also as successor
of Senator Vance as senator by appointment, and as
minister to. Brazil during the first Cleveland adminis
tration. - V? - - ■ •• • ■ ' > ■ ■ »”•
Harr# Skihner Ws Bitt’s most distinguished orator. .
He was'one '-of thb' T4W elderly statesmen of the state^
who joined forces’vith the Populists in the nineties.
He, Dy#Cy Thompson; and Marion Butler were a trio
which Could hot be successfully opposed by the whole
coterie • of Democratic orators in the . state. Harry.
Skinner segvddi two' terms in Congress.’;- Possibly;
though.*! dorJtaPt^|ft%R^C Dr. Thoa JV Skinner,
long recOgni^ed -.aa^he.’of the-South's strongest min
isters, was ’ st, native’ of Pitt. Louis C. Latham was
Pitt’s only, other member of Congress. He served as
representative during the term beginning in 1881.
. . Pitt’s High Rank in AgriguBurg. *«£ Zi\
Pitt county’s.famfe hi both- agriculture and com-'
merce is based Upon tobacco. The flue-cured OtfiaccP
development lies well within the last half-century.
But 150 years ago the tobacco business in that sec- ...
tion afforded one. of the “two or three articles of ^for*^;
eign commerced It.'was in 1784, just 150’"years ago,'-,
that the legisi4t]|re :Of the new state passed an* act
providihg jfoctW opening,of Tar River and Fishing
Creek .for navigation. 1Martinborough, now Green- v
vine, was designated’hs one of several points at which
provision for-“the inspection of tobaccb was made.
The other c^ef hrti^^^mmer^.’fere “tar, pitch,
and turpentine.” ^.Washington, on. bis visit to that
section in 379V wrote - "diary; ns foBowst
“Greenyill^Js-%er?:
the same as those of Tarhorough,;wRh-a greater \
portion, of ^tfijfpr the lower’ down the sweater the
^number‘’’of tar "makeis are here—^this a^tkile Is, co1^
ti*ary‘ to^lflcieas oniPwould fentertain on thebubjec^
ioll&i* aiis.which goesthrough
*%oth beads—one horse draws two barrels in this
manner.” ^ <•
. Pitt, the World« Great Tobacco Producing County*
Probably it was a very small amount tobacco
that went down Jhe Tar and across the waters—cer
tainly inconsiderable as compared with the vast vol
umes of bright) tobacco now sold upon the markets
of Pitt, ; . 7\„
The county has ranked fourth in the United States
for the money value of its crops, and it held that,
rank and its present rank almost wholly, upon the
strength, of its tobacco crop. It is said now that
Pitt produces more tobacco than any other county in
the world. And now Greenville claims to have sur- .
passed WUaon.andis contending that it is the largest
tobaeco market in the world.. Anyway, about 72 mil
.Ubn pounds of the leaf was sold upon the flfteep acres
Of Greenville’s warehouse floors last year! 'The
shorter Crop will reduce that amount this year, it is
presumed, .though the superior quality of this year’s
crop and the greatly, higher level of prices this sea
son will probably hold the value of t^^tohaeco mar
keted, there up'to that of last season’s sates. Wilsoii
has not surrendered its claim to .being the ‘‘greatest
tobacco market in the world.’’ Consequently, .North
Carolina has tWo cities boasting supremacy in that
reject.' • • f
r . .tr^-FamTiIle Sells Much Tobacco. '
Greenville is not Pitt’s Only tobacco market. .Farm"
ville possesses three or four .warehouses, ^nd sells'
more-tobacco in a year than was made in the world ;
we suspectr-when those tobacco inspections were made ‘
lj>0 .years ago. Those marts will be busy places afW
August-23, when the markets are scheduled to open. *
G^pyille’s Greatest Historical Event. - ":
Few historians hasp- the .-measure oft historical :
history suM^es. to cover the history of .the. comhfg of
"Whitefleld and the Wesleys to this country. Yet
their coming has,lmd,s possibly, a greater influence’
upon the current of life--,in - this coup try than the"
yrhole: Revolutionary war had. ■
. Yet in Such sketches ds>I have-seen of Greenville’s
history, 1 see no mention of ;t£e organisation of, the
Baptist; State Convention in that: town a-little more
than a hundred years ,ago. Yet the Baptist Statd
convention has largely revOtpHdhized the religious
life of North Carolina. The edifice of the city's Hirst
Baptist church wasbufltaSanwmorialof that event
hy the aid of the Baptists of the Whole % state. *
- ' Education in Pitt. \ „ r r ’ '*
Pitt early had an academy chartered by the l^gls?*
lature, hut like .all other .North Carolina communities
.education was a matter largely governed by the. size
rof the purse of the parents'of the children. ^Che
most of*them for 150 years or more got very littlp or
none. 'But those old-time academies were marked by /'
wonderful achievements of learning on the part of
some. of the youth who could afford to attend *h«n, ‘
About a half-century ago,- W. H/~Bagsdale. became
school master in Greenville and conducted an unpsu
ally high-type school, retiring to become superinten
dent of county schools when th<f public funds* had
made public education a matter of moment. ; '
" At WinterviHe", A'. G., Cox, a few years later/ estab -
lished an academy, or high school, which became the
rendezvous of hundreds of ambitious youths. Of this
school, G. E. Lineberry, now at the'head of the State's
school for the blind, was principal for a number of %
yeata. * The Primitive Baptists established a college
at Ayden^ which did good work, for a number of- ;
; years. . , - ■> , . , ,r-' i
' East Carolina Teachers’ College. * ’
But the pride of Pitt,' and especially of^fereenville,
F is the Bast"; Carolina 5%achers^ jpelleg%^nly‘ 25 years
. nid. »n Institutiglr possibly larger1
than any existing in the state at" the date of ita in*
ception: as -the.; Bast Carolina Teachers’ Training f
School. It is stated that W- it* "Ragsdale was one of,
the eariiest^proinoters <q/f the idea ©^establishing1 suck"
a^chiOoi^and Kt
jet* T'itt bounty -and <Gree®fvfile. hfich ? vdfcea T
$60,000 in bonds as>aif Biducehi«o|?*|or Qje gchooi (jfc *
go t© Greenville. They have k right to feel proud oif
-the development of the institution.'' r?f •: /f..
Greenville has grown" into, a city of ten thousand;**,
people, boasting its college] great public’ichdols, fine ^
churches, immense industrial and commercial],plants,^
, yet it has hd'traffic‘.lights on its streets? an example,
cfertainly, for smaller towns, if not Tai*g§r bneh. * *
>■ z.itm' ;;t,.;
A CODE FOR LABORERS
By JOHN B. ANONYMOUS
it'*:
Presumably every industry^ of tins country is, m
this' goddyear of our Lord Nineteen Hundred Thirty
Four, operating under government license as to mini
mum wage, hours of labor, as well as quantity and
quality - of. labor personnel. That Is, the~ erstwhile
“individualistic” owner must circumscribe his business
to conform to government regulations by code au
thorities, and is policed by government sleuths to
check up on compliance, and any violation turned up
by these government sleuths Is swiftly punished with
withdrawal of license and a subtle boycott is directed
against continued operations.
~ Our “Capitalistic” economic structure that was
brought to ihis country prior to our independence
and that has survived. many devastating “depres
sions,” several foreign wars and. a civil .war lasting
for four years, is founded upon free possession and
use of proparty and wealth, by those who were capa*>
:ble^6r “just” able to^ obtain its possession. Each of
our citizens.have been, "capitalists” .in the past... Few
persons, even the lowliest, but have had "invest
ments” in a life annuity or a “burial” society policy.'
The farmers are all of the “capitalistic” stripe and
his tenant has, since time immemorial, gambled upd*
the success or failure of a crop. The industrialist
the banker, and the landed proprietor have, in"the
common concept,, constituted the “capitalistic” group.
Labor, as Such, has never been considered as “capital
istic.
v. ‘it#„ ‘
Organized Labor as Capitalist.
Organized Labor must be included In this category/
How else codld the dues collected from members be
“invested” and preserved for enhancement and.use
as funds for propagating .strikes and making: strikes
successful? Moreover^ all labor must be inclkded iiT
J4he caidtalistic '-cla^: An' Industry' > induced, b<*
cause d ko^avbr^le ^cinstatice,'to build it*
" % podunk. Laborers miidif leave their former
e.- ■■■ - : - - - - L
Home, investing a surplus in tne. venture or moving
to the new location, gambling upon the success or
failure of the new enterprise which offers sufficienl tii- ,;1
ducement, else labor would not
chance and make the investment.
If government regulation is required to1 guarantee
elect tb-;t^*thU
2 '-Jfe*
J
rap of 1
the proper functioning uf the gfj:
consisting of those whose individual Wealth 1®
vested in industry, why is it not just as essential and '
more than reasonable to respire government regula^w
tion of each and every phase of oureconomlc iffe* and 7
all groups in our capitalistic structure. It a^Socty
authority is required for “capital” regulated hy th(^
government," why hot a ■ code authority^ for Babor^ un*'|
d'er government;supervision? . " ‘
1
Under' existing laWs and regulations each industry
has its'code for regulating use of.“capital.” General
Johnson is expected to “crack down” when there |a4 ^
any violation of the code. ,
Why not have each industry’s labor under a eode
with government supervision and if there are gi‘iev*^“'
ances the two governmental agencies eertainly could
adjust the difference® equitably; without 'the'civil
strife that is now menacing many lives’ each dSy andJ |
that’ is impeding the efforts the Administration.’ t,
\ ' „„„„ ; Sa \v f "A:.£1 ' : Ai
looking to recovery, • ^ *
Who Decreed' Such Discrimination in
Many things could be accomplished by placing d
Code" authority, "'under government supervision; ovetf
the labor”of each type of industry. There exists a
certain ratio of rates of-hourly pay of one das* of
worker to another class.r For' example, a highly
skilled steel worker receives $lf>0 per hour; a dve|#
heater receive® about |10Q. ana a cdmmon steel la
borer' receive® W. The iabener receives one-tfiir$ *
>ft& amount ^id;tfc®higb^ j^wort&^tadbn^
half of the' other class worker. -Who has determined >
~~ (<5ontinued On Page Fou*) ^
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