MAT IS. IMC.
11.11
TIAB » ADVANC1
r
AS COUNTIES ARE RUN 1
IN NORTH CAROLINA
Surrey of Am Afartfi Co—tj M*4o by lipmrtiHw
of Tfc* Uohror»ity of North Caroibt Bring* to Li|k
Co^ty GoTonHM* io tW State"
•COUNTY NAME WITHHELD
BUT SOUNDS LIKE SUMY
The following editorial taken from
Ik* Charlotte Otiiwu gives a review
of IIm report of the survey that haa
ju*t been ot|IKi< by tha University
of North CwiMm to It* study of tha J
management of maty affair* aa car
riad ait la a county that I* ntppoaad
to rapraaant tha average la tha state.
Whib tha nam* of tha county is with-'
hold by tha Univarsity yet all tha
facta as given out lead* on* to believe
that Surry County is tha one that was
■elected aa a sample from which to '
make a study of tha present system
of county govermcnt that is ia vogue
to North Carol!**.
The article follow*:
It was noted in The Observer (av
ers! weeks ago, y>at Mr. Paul Wag
nar, of tha University of North Car
olina, haa been giving study to tha In
sufficiencies la county govanimant
■ystams obtaining throughout tha
country, and bad adopted The South
am Agriculturist as the medium1
through which to make his observs
tions public. This paper submitted
mmm of Mr. Wagner's preliminary j
statements, there having been prom-!
isad forthcoming details of situa-1
tions existing in one North Carolina 1
county that hds bean selected as an |
example. An editorial note explains 1
that "on account of an understanding
entered into when this survey was
made, the name of the county 1a with
" But thi> rmmAmr vkft misrht !
1, • lw|l voltMM of IM4 USM would
Mill ho colUcUd, but most of the IMS
and IMS Ium would bo declared In
■iilvanl M«at nf lkj.ni would not
have boon insolvent If collected on
ttee. This dilatoriness in collecting
Iftlfft SlMVili th<* lou of coniit<icrihl9
revenue, and aloe deprives th» county
of the uao of tax money and noeos
sitates constant borrowing and tbo
paying of interest. for instance, at
the cloao of school year tbo sheriff
■till owed tho school fund I78.67®.
Tho achool hoard had to borrow tho
money or make tho teachers wait sev
oral month* for tboir pay. Directly
and indiractly, thia looseness in col
lecting taxo* la coating tho taxpayers
several thousand dollar* a year.
The people elect a treaaurer aa cus
todian of rounty furvda. The last
treasurer's book* were to tangled that
it cost hundreds of dollars to get
them audited. The audit revealed
that he owed the county about $'12,000.
Ho was totally incompetent, failed to
keep his own money separate from
county money, and it la quite pooaible
that he was the innocent victim of
fraud on the part of another. The
treasurer preceding him also de
faulted, and there is no doubt about
his guilt. He still owes the county
$18,000. These instances illustrate
the failure of popular election to se
cure competent and trustworthy of
rici.il«. While dishonesty is the ex
ception rather than the rate, incom
petence Is almost universal.
There is very littk bookkeeping
done In connection with the expendi
ture of county funds. Then- is no
Mpr or voucher record. In fact,
there is no record of expenditures st
mil except th* voucher stubs and a
list in the Minute Docket of claims
audited by the commissioners. Fur
thermore, these record" ar* only of
thoae expenditure* made from the
general fund or the bridge fund. The
highway board has Its own secretary
and treasurer and pays its own bills.
The same is true of the school board.
Interest on bonds is paid directly by
the treasurer. The clerk of imperii* j
court pay* witness fees. The regis
ter of deeds pay* out p«or relief after
I he dependent has been placed on the
pauper list. He has the welfare of
ficer review the list monthly so as not
to make the mistake some counties
have made of continuing payments
after the beneficiary was dead. There
is no attempt at classification of dis
bursements. There are no control ac
counts. There is no accounting
worthy of the name. It is a loose,
careless system which insures wast*
and invites corruption.
Each officer buys his own supplies.
The jailer buys supplies for the jail,
the janitor for the court house, the
superintendent of highways buys road
and bridge material. Usually, bills
have the o. k. of some other official
before being presented to the com
missioners for their approval. Alt
paid vouchers eventually come hock
to the county and are filed in the reg
ister's office, but without any control
accounts there is no way Of knowing
where the county stand* at a |u»rticu
lar time, and it is difficult to locate
an error.
A highway commission wan estab
lished in April, 1019. Hy the end of
1924 this board had raised and spent
*1,327,«16. Of this $523,02i> repre
sented bond issues, $211,712 repre
sented short time loans, and $680,818
had been raised from taxation or from
miscellaneous sources. Nearly 400
mile* of road had been improved, sev
eral good bridges built, and the coun
ty had acquired a large outfit of road
machinery. The road board is a bi
partisan board, has bad a good busi
ness man for chairman, employed a
capable road superintendent and has
served the county faithfully. There
has been a minimum of "polities" hi
the highway work and that largely
explains reeulta.
All of the officers of th* county
are paid salaries, except the deputy
sheriff and the jailer. Th* ehartff
receives $8,000 The register of
Mi $8,000, and tlw clerk of court
Ujm. The sheriff alao retain hi*
few. The fee* ta the register of
deeds office am—lie*, hi 1M4. ta
$4447 aad in the clerk of court's of
fice ta $8,784 Each official mi hie
own clerical sialrt—>a. It will to
be familiar with situations in North
Carolina counties ret* wall into the 1
article, he may be able to make a
rood rue** aa to location of the coun
ty that ia under discussion. Mr. War
nrr tell* u* this much about it: The
county contain* almost exactly one1
per cent of the State* area and slight
ly more than one per cent of popula- j
tion. It is a fiml agricultural county
und ha* two brisk manufacturing
town* Now, a* to situation* in this
county: The total value of all proper
ty listed for taxes in 1924 w«* $27,-1
159,307. Thi* property probably
represents about two-thirds of the
county's wealth. >On the whole farm
Innd is assessed more nearly at its
true value than town property. This
is largely because there has been no
reassessment since 1*21 and town
values have enhanced more than farm
values^ Even farm lands ia not as
*e**ed at any uniform percentage of
it* true value. Careleas methods of
aaaessing and of keeping the tax re
cords also results in the loaa of much
property from the tax books. For
instance there were 2.7S4 town lots
listed for taxation in 1922, 2,471 in
1928, and 2,828 in 1024.
The county-wide tax rate for the
past four years has fluctuated from
11.06 to $1.22 per 9100 of taxables
In addition, there are a few special
township levies for roads and schools.
A table is submitted showing varia
tions in levies from 1921, of <1.10 for
schools and roads and all other pur
poses, on a valuation of 1906,1M, to
the same levy in 1924 on a valuation
of $334,820. The present bonded in
debtedness is 11,869,000, or almost
exactly five per cent of the taxable
wealth of the county. These bond to-1
sue* are distributed between county '
home, court house, roads, bridges,
township and road debts and funding ;
To show for this indebtness the conn
ty ha* a large number of good steel'
bridge*. 400 miles of sand-clay and
gravel roads and a splendid court
house. The jail to a fairly good one, |
but the county home to entirely inad
equate. It is a brick building bat to
too small and to dark and gloomy.
There to the greatest laxity and I
araa>s tat the collection of fanes The
sheriff and hto deputy art aa tax ool
twtors. Although the law requires
that he shall make a complete settle
Mat of e*e year's taxes before he,
re as toes the tax books for
year, the sheriff of
UNCLE JOE CAN NQN
REACHES M* BIRTHDAY
Only the arrival ft
gratulatory Mm a
and Mm «Utt of several formal M
egationa «wr altar* thie birthday
rout In* from which ha wkh| haa de
vlatad silica, ha dropped the mantle of
rtma home to raat.
lot avail hie determination to
tha day quitely could aot raakr tha
arcaaion an ordinary mm. And to
viaitora who caiaa tha atohrart flpra
who haa baan Uncle Jaa to tham for
fifty yaara waa raady to wnvc a
treating from tha vwranda, a raising
of tha hand which onca wialdad in *
grip of atael tha |t**l of tha national
houaa of representatlvea.
Tha omnipresent stogie waa clench
ed batwaan tha taath—a milder stogie,
though.
To viaitora ha daclinad to espreee
view* on questiona of tha day, "even
on my birthday."
"I had opinions, and expressed
tham, whan I waa in public life," ha
uid. "Now, I're ratirad. Tha naw
generation doaa not naad my advice."
Haw Bmd
fai Tkair AkpUaa.
Martinsvilla, Va., May 4.—Homer
Carter died yastorday evening at
Henry elation ai reaulta of injnriaa
sustained Sunday whan ha crashed in
an airplane with Alanao Martin, who
waa but slightly injured. Carter sus
tained two broken lags and • fractur
ed Jaw and probable internal injuries.
Carter aged 30, and a farmer, ac
quired a Curtis biplane some time
ago after learning how to pilot it. He
was considered an expert in the han
dling of his machine. A Ion so Martin,
a neighbor, alao so*urod an airplane
and Carter rose with him on Sunday.
They were about to land and were
about 300 fret from earth when the
biplane hit an air pocket which sent
the ship into a nose dive. Martin did
not have time to flatten out and the
machine waa demolished.
Thieve* Get Away With 65
Automobile* During April
Raleigh, M*y 1*.—Thieves and police
men ran a neck and neck race with
automobile* for April, the thieve*
getting away with *5 and the police
recovering M.
Thin U one of the closest of all the
content*. Often the stealings have
gone far ahead of the recapture* and
oftener (till the theft department ha*
done better than the robber*. Both
department* of larceny and of police
did a good month'* work.
A* u*ual the Ford era* several
time* a* popular with the thieve* aa
any other make waa.
noticed that theee two office* are prac
tically *elf-*upporting. The t>«ae
urer receive* 91,200 a year, the wel
fare officer $1,500 the superintend
ent of public health 13,600, the county
nurae, $1,800 and the superintendent
of school* 93.000. The commission
ers receive a small per diem.
Mr. Wagner's comment is that
"there i* much to he commended in
this county, the highway admini*tra
tion, the public health aervice, the
welfare work, the elimination of the
fee system, and a rather exceptionally
aggressive board of commissioner*.
The greatest weakness ia the manner
in which the taxes are levied and col
lected and in the lack of proper ac
counting. It may be reported, how
ever, that within another year the
county ia to abolish the treasurer*hip
a* an elective office, appoint a com
install a thorough sy»t«m of accooat
Ing. Thi* official will aleo serve a*
tax supervisor, and effort* wil be
made to correct abuee* ia that field."
The advice ia that the eooaty ought
to ge ■ stag further and take tax-col
lecting eat of the atorifT* office.
The general situation hi this cowtg
I* typical ef all other eooatiea hi the
State, with exception of the taw that
tare ^ moderated their^ lyH—i. aad
feraltr student the L««slstui-e ma*
twl a iub>ct for imi *c*am
Talla By The
County Agent
'it ■. a wu*
Mr. D. C. Km of While Mm wm
In the Office af Cooirty Agent last
geetlon aboat Um mi* of Dm newly
set otvkards ef thia spring. Ha finds
If yen wtU mulch tha treee they all
all Maud tka dry wiathsr awl bat
tar, Leavea, straw and other rafoaa
ran ba placed around tha traaa and
thia will prevent tha evaporation af
moiatare aa rapidly TMa should ba
dona aa aoesi ai poaalbla for mm af
tha traaa arc probably being injured
to a (Taat extent by tha present
drouth.
Thara kava con to thla office two
valuable publication* In tha taat faw
days. One of particular Intereat to
poultry producera, Minnesota Fann
ers Institute Annual, Farm Poultry
No. M. Thia la without doubt ooa of
the most practical hooks to ba found
on tha subject. It sells far ton cants
and can ba secured from Director of
Farmers Institute University Farm,
' St. Paul, Minn., by sanding that
amount. The other booh la rather re
markable and one should ba of in
terest to a groat many building
houaaa out of mud which la often done
in many countries. It Is claimed that
satisfactory dwellings, poultry houaaa,
hog houses and other useful buildings
can ba easily and cheaply constructed
out of mud found on any lam. Are
you interested in such? If so yon
can examine thia book by calling at
the Office of County Agent and look
over the plana and methods uaed and
if you then want to try your hand in
building aa unuaual building and pro
ducing a sensation In the county then
go ahead. While I am not advocating
such in a big way yet h might be
worth Investigating for mud houaaa
have been common for thousands of
years in many countries.
nave ju« received in# Mortn car
olin» Crop note* to May 1st. It
that the tobarrn farmer* are rather
optimistic for the future. Accord
ing to report* of the intentiona of the
farmer* there will be an increase in
acreage of tobacco. There i* an in
crease of new barn* and new beds.
Some of the new bam* are intended
to replace old one* but many have
Seen built to take care of the larger
rap intended, which it expected to
iivcrage from 5 to 7 per cent more
than 1926. The U. S. Department of
Agriculture offer* no hope of better
price* for the tobacco farmer for
another year. With thi* in prospect,
what can you expect in the way of
better price* ? You nhould grow
•ome tobacco of course but be lure
that you make your living at hone
and produce enough of food for the
family and for the Uee stock on the
farm. Now it the time to make ar
rangements to have a supply of hay
by growing soy beans, peas and sudan
Sudan grass ia telling at the lowest
price in its history and that means
that the coat of wading per acre will
be rather low. It to a wonderful
catch crop and will produce a lot of
feed in a short time. It to strictly
annual grass and if town early you
ran get from 2 to 4 cutting* eaaily.
Stock like it and the feeding value is
equal to timothy hay. Sow from IS
to 25 of seed or plant in drill. Since
this Is a grass it to not a toil builder.
Here to a toil builder but it not well
known In the county, 100 Day or Spec
kled Velvet Bean. It make a tremen
dous growth and to recommended for
poor and worn oat toils. They can
be uaed as a forage crop aa well as a
soil builder. Vines grows so rank l
that it to practically impossible to
cur# for hay or turn under as green I
crop, but should be left undisturbed I
aad let the frost kill the vines, then
turn in stock and they can clean up
the vines. After fattening your stock
on them turn to winter or early
spring turn under" aad the mass of
vines will alia oat equal a heavy ap
plication of barnyard manure. Can
be planted in May and June and can
ha uaed aa a coapatha crop with
com. Plant one pack par acre tot
laws fear feet apart aad they tkaaM
While I aat act advocating any aw
hiaa to pleat a large err sage until
ha has ghm them a trial ( think ha
can afford ta try half aa acta or aa
aer# to got aa tdpa of the putaftlWU.i
of Um plant. Penwaalty I woald not
heaitate ta plaat more thaa this if
rea^ was* It ealy^fer^aaa baildlag
MT. AIRY HIGH SCHOOL
EXERCISES BEGIN SUNDAY,
_____
P»>» w. A. Ml to Pnk - 1 1,
Smmmm «ad Or. Fataal, W Waka Fm, WU Uh>
Ifca Utorary AJAaai■
WwtfWM ttrr D»
»lmm UA W SchMl FW» J
ten*. Um t satin ri have acquitted
themsehru with credit and approba
tion, and all would be welcmned back
acain but it is rumored that Mat of
them expert to change their plan m"
reeidence aad occupation aa wel; the
enrollment waa 1M and the exerciees,
dosing Monday night, reflect credit
on the teachera and children aa well.
Certainly they deserve aa auditor
ium in the school building weU and
nicely seated and it we had four wo
men aad J. H. Lowe aa a school
board they would not submit to It aa
it is; no fire eecape, not even a skin
ned pine pote reaching from the win
dow to the ground, some awful day
100 bright, beautiful children will be
caught in a panic and destroyed.
Mr. J. H. Lowe, 79, waa out driving
a twe horse harrow at 7 o'clock this
morning and walking at that.
Have had a nice rain and farmers
will set lots of tobacco next wM.
John Marshall is confined to his bed
wfth rheumatism.
LitUe Blannie Hall, of, Danbury
participated in the Mother's Day ser
vice, much to the delight of the large
audience.
nrmr punuiN
GRADUATING CLAM.
Airy High I
tea are Mar 1«-17-U. \
at • •'clack Sonday mnh| '
at Central MieMlati Chan* whaa
>»ailii< bjr Be*. W. A. NeweD A
aole by Ban John ton, a pa pit of the
achool, will be a feature of the araei
«l|proram. /
^The claaa play aatHM fCaaa Oat
of tha Kitchen" will be LmUrA at
the National Thaatra, Monday/erea
in» at 8 o'clock. Tha acetfe of mm play,
which la developed in Ahr*% acta, la
"Th* DangarfWld Minatat hi Ylf
rinia;" tha caat of chAraeferi follow*
Olivia Dan*erftel<V Al(aa J ana El.
len, Virginia Marti/; Slum bet h Dan
gerfteld. Aliaa Ar*nfnta. Kathlaaa
Herman; Mm FMkaaar, Tucker'*
8iater, Katharine RHa; Cora F«lhaa
ar, her dauffhtm, Alraarie In
Amanda, OliviV* Clack
Edna Back; Barton Crane. ___
North. Calria tirav**; Thomas Lef
ferta, Statiatfcal I "bet, Worth Baa
nar; Solon Tucker, Crane'* Attorney
and Gueat, Dock^ry Wolfe; Paal
DangerflaM, Aliaa .Smithfield. Paal
Weheter; Char lea Danirvrfield, Aliaa
Bhadlehury. Georf* Wright;
dolph Waeka, A ret* of the Dt
flelda, Wilaon Barker. An ■
■ion fee of fifty cent* will he charted
for the play.
DIES IN AGONY OF
HYDROPHOBIA
Fought Frmswd Animal With
Bm H«umU ud FImIi Wm
Lacerated by Dog's Teeth.
Spartanburg. 8. C„ May A.—Suf
fering indcscrihablr agonies. 8. P.'
West, night watchman at the Feir
rootil mills, died Wedneeday at a lo
cal hospital of hydrophobia. Despite
his intense sufferings Mr. Went »»#
conscious at times and cooly made mm
runtfrmcntn for his funeral services!
Mr. West secured the Pasteur trgil
ment for rabies, receiving the stip
ulated number of inoculations for 81
days, and his hand, lacerated by the
doc, apparently had healed. Several
days ago he complained of pain in one
of the finger* on the wounded hand.1
In a few hours the pain became more
intense and symptoms of convulsions
developed. He was brought to a hos
pital here Monday.
Mr. West was attacked by a mad
dog as he was at work in the boiler i
rooms at Fairmont mills about a
month ago. He fought the animal
with Ms bare hands and knocked the
dog to the ground several times.
Once, when the frensied beast sprang
at his throat, Mr. West slapped the
dog in the face, and the animal im
mediately grabbed his hand. The
dog's teeth tore through the flesh
and almost severed two fingers from
the hand. The animal cluag desper
ately to the hand and Mr. West was
forced to choke the dog almost to
death before he could free his Angers.
. — -i j— srimnsa!
give it a trial let me know that you j
intend to plant some so we can keep i
records on the project.
Farmers meetings will be held at
-State Road, Friday 14th, Oak Grove..
Saturday 1Mb and at Zephyr M°n<i*yj
17th. these will be night meetings and :
the subject discussed wtll be soy bean
and the Mexican Bean Beetle. All1
we invited.
With the preeent prospect of an in
crease of tobacco in this state aad an
prospect of an iacrsaee in price if
looks Uke K weald pay to greatly ie- j
peaa aad velvet keens, If we have
Hsksr soils we eaa have off eases j
On TnMdftjr evening th*
commencement exercise* will ba
in the National Theatre, th*
include* mu*ic by high achool pupil*
with the main feature an iMmi by
Dr. William Lrait Poteat. Dr. Pa
teat i* president of Wake Forest Cot
leg* and one of the most distinguished
educator* of th* State, it is indeed an
honor to our people to have Dr. Fa
teat t.> address the student body hare.
The public i* cordially invited to at
tend these exercise*.
Thirty young men and glorioaa^
rirls compose the graduating claaa
thi* yearj urtllir*
a* well trained
4orth from
equipment and
high school
follows:
Annie E<
Banner, Mary
Brannock, Ira W
Blanche Uegmer, A
Margaret Bowman
Burke, Percy li
Laura Dobbin*,
Treva Irene F>
Jr., Kathleen Mi
Wynn* Herring,
field, A
Kapp
Martin,
dor Albert
Bertha Ti
jorie Ei
Dockery
Wright.
The
Fawcett, Vi
Johnaon, Ra;
Shelton and Giles
class.
Calvin
am** Worth
Arljraa H.
Minnie
Hlatt, Clarice
ary Virginia
Cook,
L.
Gravaa.
Hcnun, Lfttk
Harry Glenn Holy
Mary Eugenia
Kiger, E. Virginia
ixabeth Newell. to
Virginia Perkins,
Ida Mae TiUey, Mar
orrell, Neeta Webb.
Wolfe, George C.
are Miaaea Annie
Weat and Lillian
Worrell. Wallace
ith of the junior
CAROLINA MOTOR CLUB
FILES NEW COMPLAINT
Winston-Salem, May 7.
•ipon the ^romplainta of the
_• l m 0%
Motor rlub of
Winston-Satan
Sheriff J. B McCreary U
iag unfair tactiea allegad to
ployed by county oHWs in
raat of metoriaU in
fl«li Gma*b
Acting
th*