The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-07-05

| SInR1e wake VI w ~
two things should be borne in mind:
| if these families live in town, they are
! no worse off than people OF like con-
dition in other towns; IT they i've IN
the country, they find the cost OF Hv-
| ing to be decidedly less than in town
and are therefore better off than large
numbers of families elsewhere. A
twenty dollar bill will go much further
toward. buying OF family supplies IN
the rural districts Of North Carolina
than in such populous centers as New
York City, where the article quoted
from first appeared. This the writer
seems to have left out Of account
which he should not have done, since
the reader is more likely to compare
the wages described with his own
standard Of living than with a stand
ard which he knows nothing about.
Let US now consider the statement
that fifty thousand children in these
same mountains do not attend any
school census for the year 1908,
have school advantages only four
months in the year. According to the
school census for the year 1907-,8
there were in the t~wenty-one counties
that NAV be called mountain counties
114,843 white persons the
ages of six and twenty-one years. OF
these S0,879 were enrolled in the pub
lie schools, leaving about $4,000 that
we've Iol II WIZ oL
least 1000 who attended county high
schools. AS to how many were in other
high schools, such as the Appalachian
Training School, Rutherford College,
Weaverville College, Farm School,
Lees-McRae Institute and many
others, and in the various colleges Of
his State and others, l am unable
to make any statement. But allowing
for these students, for those who had
married (many girls under t~wenty-one
years Of age), and for those who have
completed the public school courses
or have not yet started to school
(many children in the country do not
start to school till they are seven or
eight years old or were otherwise not
under the necessity Of attending the
public schools, I should think that 90
600 children out of school would be u
very liberal estimate. Let us invest1-
gate the hundred thousand with school
advantages only four months in the
year h State Of NORTH Carolina
provides that there shall be a four
months school term in each school
district every year. Where there are
local taxes collected for the support
Of the schools. 1t means that the school
term is longer than four months. In
the counties considered more than
one-tenth Of the school districts have
voted local taxes. Subtracting the
school population of these districts,
the towns and the counties OF Bun
combe and Haywood, the number OF
white children of school age having
school for four months will be seer to
be considerably less than ninety thou
sand, probably as low as eighty thou
and This is not a pleasing state Of
affairs, to be sure, but it is not so bad
as one would think from the statement
under consideration
Now as to the religious conditions
in these counties. We are told that
nearly a quarter of a million people
in the mountains Of North Carolina
alone are today without religious at
fi1iations Of any kind, untouched and
uncared for by any religious denonin-
alton Religious statistics by counties
are not available, hence we shall have
to rely upon estimates. The census of
~twenty-one mountain counties as $780,
$50. Allowing for a five per cent in
crease, which Is a very liberal allow
ance, since immigration affects this
region almost not at all, we should
now have about $4,000 people in
Western North Carolina. This would
lead US to suppose that there are but
few more than $4,000 church mem
bers. Granted that this were true,
the situation IS not yet so bad as
woul seem. for 1t is safe to assume
about one-fourth Of the popula-
ton is under twelve years OF age. Now
to turn our calculations the other way,
we may say that there are not more
than 25,1O0 people OF church age
in his section, since not many chill
dren, especially in the rural districts,
join the church under twelve years
OF age. This would leave US five or
ten thousand church members in the
mountains Of North Carolina. I for
one, do not believe any such state
exists. In my own county Of Watagua
there are fifteen or more Methodist
churches, The Baptists have more,
not to mention Presbyterians, Episco-
palians, etc, who, it is true, are far
less numerous. Practically, or per-
haps It would be better to say reIa-
lively, the same conditions obtain in
other western counties, and for some