davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-20

it has opened class riffs as dis
closed by the Gastonia and
Marion disorders of last year.
At any rate, Mr.. Hobbs's book
is indubitable proof that there
is actually a New South in
being, and that North Caro-
lima is at it's head. The cool,
measured statements in this
large and detailed volume indi-
cate that at least one Southern
state has laid aside romantic
illusion for the scientific atti-
tude, and that it is not afraid
of self-examination. This atti-
tude alone will 90 far to help
North Carolina cure itself of the
Affections which this North
Carolina book so honestly and
frankly sets forth.
Mr.. Hobbs's figures reveal his
state as blessed beyond most,
in climate. mineral deposits,
fisheries, plant life, variety" of
crops, and abundance of power.
A rational exploitation of it's
unusual resources which would
dispense with the unthinking
misuse of human labor-power
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-20

last thirty years it has, by its
own efforts, virtually made
itself over, and no small factor
in this renaissance has been the
University, whose press now
sponsors this unusual book.
And yet North Carolina still
suffers from the prevalent
American malady of ruralism,
which Professor Hobbs is bold
enough to call Excessive" Only
one state has more farms than
North Carolina. More than SO
per cent of it's population lives
on farms, as compared with a
national percentage of thirty.
It's countryside dwellers average
TIA per cent, against 1873 for
the whole United States. Re-
gard the concomitants: it is sur
passed in illiteracy only by
Louisiana and New Mexico ;
while as regards inhabitants per
book in public libraries and
population having access to
such books, its percentage is the
lowest of all the states.
1t is ruralism which gives rise
to political demagoguery, emo
tional religious practices, anti
evolution trials, and those other
phenomena that give violent
hues to the American scene.
The particular form of rural
ism, however, which afflicts
North Carolina most grievous-
iy is the the same that lies like an
ulcer in other states-farm ten
ancy, sometimes called the
cropper system. In North Caro-
lima 45.2 per cent Of the farms
are operated by tenants, those
wandering proletarians of the
soil who are at once homeless,
landless, and moneyless. Only
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-20
Will Other Institutions Follow
Pennsylvania in Effort to End
The Overemphasis of Athletics?

With regard to football Mr..
Gates says:
Spring and preseason fall
practice will be eliminated.
No game will be played before
the University is officially in
session. Protracted rest
trips to resorts, involving con-
siderable cost and doubtful ben
eft, will be discontinued"
The budget Of the department
of physical education, covering
the various activities compris-
ing it, will be prepared by the
dean and submitted to the ad-
ministration and the trustees
for approval in the same man.
ner as any other departmental
budget.
The decision of Mr.. Gates
comes as a result of the findings
of survey committee, and with
out reservation the University
accepts the principles enunci-
ated in the committees report.
f. Leroy Mercer is appointed
dean of the new department of
physical education. He was on
the Pennsylvania football team
twenty years ago and was picked
for Walter Camps All-American
team in two seasons. He was
captain of the track team in
1913. For several years he has
served as head of the physical
department and director Of ath-
letics at Swarthmore.
"The steps which have been
taken" says President Gates,
Should produce a new era at
the University of Pennsylvania
so far as concerns the physical
life of the student. In adopting
this policy our purpose is to re-
vive the old loyalty and inter
est of the student body, the
alumni, and the citizens of the
City of Philadelphia in their
university, it's welfare and it's
activities; to encourage and
make provision for more extern
sive student participation in and
enjoyment of athletics; to de-
velOp to the fullest extent whole
some, natural Intercollegiate ri
valries and relationships; and
above all to make the very best
possible provision for the spir-
itual and physical we'll being of
every student committed to our
charge.o
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-20
Comment on S. II. Hobbs Book

i am aware that North Caro-
lima, Economic and Social, by s.
H. Hobbs, Jr., has already been
reviewed in the columns of this
and other newspapers; but the
facts set forth in it, and the
conclusions drawn from them,
have such an important bearing
upon the states present situa-
ton that some further comment
upon the book may not seem
inappropriate.
Here in this volume is the
anatomy of a state. 1t might
be compared to a silo, full Of
pressed-down facts, some succu-
lent, others repellent, but all
highly worth digestion. Never
before, we feel certain, has an
American province been ana
lyzed so effectively, at least
within the covers of a book. It
is section of present-day
American life examined micro
scopically and offered without a
trace of that yearhing to "sell
the state to the world" which
has so often converted needed
information cerning an
American commonwealth into
mere bOosterism.
In recent years, North Caro-
lima, once among the most back
ward Southern states, has
moved, thanks to a determined
improvement in schools, to cheap
electric peweF to masterly
good-roads program, and to q
sudden decision to linger no
more among memories of the
past, into an emphatic lead. In
the ten years preceding 1922 it's
wealth per inhabitant increased
faster than that Of any other
state in the Union. During the
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-20

The most important question
in connection with the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania plan for
the reorganization of athletics
is: Will other institutions fol-
low Pennsylvania lead?
Intense intercollegiate rivalry
has been the main cause of the
growing dominance of sports,
particularly football, in Ameri-
can college life. The desire for
victory has been so keen, on the
campus and among the alumni,
that every institution has made
its policy depend upon the pol
icies of it's rivals. Until now
none has been bold enough to
introduce reforms all by itself.
Now Thomas S. Gates, the
Pennsylvania president, makes
the break.
1t will be interesting to see
to what extent, if any, his plan
will be initiated by other uni
versity and college executives
and boards of trustees.
"Mr. Gates is the first of the
presidents of our great univer-
sities," says the New York
Herald Tribune, to grasp the
banner of reform and march
forward without hesitating by
the way and looking over his
shoulder to see who might be
following. Where he leads,
other colleges and universities
can we'll afford to follow"
Probably the most radical fea-
ture of the Pennsylvania pro-
gram relates to the change in
the status of coaches. Coaches
will be members of the faculty,
and their salaries will be in ac-
cord with the scales provided
for other faculty members.
The new plan includes pre-
cautions against the proselyting
of athletes, and the abolition of
spring practice, training camps,
preseason practice, and ath-
letic scholarships.
"The University proposes,
says Mr.. Gates, "to establish a
new single-headed department
which will assume responsibility
for the administration and CO.
ordination of the activities in
the fields of student health,
physical education, and intercol-
legiate athletics"
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-20

this ratiO-Nebraska. In the
ten cotton-belt states of the
South 57.8 of the farms are
tenant-operated. In Wilson coup-
ty, which is the heart of the
bright tobacco belt, 80 per cent
of the population consists of
landless farmers, and in 1926
more than IS per cent of the
crime was charged to them.
The farm tenant, being for
ever uncertain of his tenure, has
no interest in the soil, and, even
if he knew how, could not be
expected to improve it or to con-
tribute any other thing valu-
able to his community. He
rarely cultivates even a garden
patch or keeps a COW; and, de-
pendent on cash crops like cot
ton, corn, and tobacco, lives on
a narrow and unbalanced diet
that produces All ill-nourished
population.
His landlord, however he may
profit momentarily from share
cropping, is often caught in the
chain around his tenants neck,
for a continuous depletion of
the soil eventually leaves him
with depleted or abandoned
acres. The system, rooted in
pre- Civil War practices and an
outworn tax system, is. kept in
being only by the tenants char
acteristically human inability to
envisage actual conditions at a
given moment, and by an in
vincible American optimism
which makes it's victims believe
that all difficulties will be
solved next year"
The disturbing growth Of
tenancy is only one phase, how
ever, of ruralism which is not
only a physical condition but
a state of mind. Farms in
North Carolina, and in other
Southern states as well, are not
only too small but too far apart.
An extreme individualism united
to a frontier psychology has
prevented the formation of the
European farming village, with
it's common centers for recrea-
ton and exchange of views; and
isolation brings on rigidity,
apathy, and ancestor worship
1t is immensely to North Caro-
lina's credit that she has recog-
nized the danger, and has begun
to break down excessive rural
mindedness by a system of
paved roads far superior to that
Of most states, North or South.
This is one of the agencies which
in recent years has revivified
the state, enabling the farmer
more easily to market his pro-
duce, meet his neighbors, and
send his children to the better
equipped schools of the towns.
Smoothed and shortened high
ways, however, have introduced
contra factor: the trend of
trade and population to the
larger centers at the expense of
the small towns. One third of
North Cardinals former horse
and-buggy towns lost population
during the last census period,
and this tendency becomes more
marked as the speed and cheap
ness of motor cars increases.
Such a trend compels the small
towns, in order to hold their
population or to attract new
residents, either to bring in
factories or to offer themselves
as resort centres.
A score of years ago the sur
plus wealth derived from the
American Tobacco Company en-
abled the late J. B. Duke to
n
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-20

by employers and landowners
would elevate its renaissance to
a degree bound to have its ef-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-20
Uncle Sam" Thompson.

With the appointment of Sam H.
Thompson of Illinois to the Federal
Farm Board, in succession to Alexander
Legge, President Hoover has placed
upon that body one of American agri-
cultures most seasoned veterans. The
appointment is significant in two other
respects. Not only is Mr.. Thompson
the long-trusted head of the American
Farm Bureau Federation, but he was in
the forefront of the McNary- Haugen
equalization fee fight and an ardent ad-
vocate of that now discarded and dis
credited panacea for farm relief.
His acceptance of place on the Fed
eral Farm Board indicates that Uncle
principles underlying the agricultural
marketing act of 1929. which created
the board. Equalization fee, export
debenture and price-fiXing are no part
Sterilization Corporation" formed last
year, frankly aims at pegging the price
of wheat in a disastrously falling mar
ket. But it is an emergency measure,
pure and simple. Time is bound to
show that it effectively served it's I'M
orthodox purpose.
The leader of the Farm Bureau Fed
eration, one of the oldest and largest
unions of agriculturists in the United
States, is a firm believer in the policies
and program of the Federal Farm
Board Mr.. Thompson, like other
spokesman of the soil, does not contend
that the marketing act has produced
the rural millennium. But he holds
that it has advanced the all-underlying
idea Of cooperative selling substantially
and successfully, and is, therefore, pro-
gressively accomplishing the paramount
task of helping the farmer to help
himself.
Uncle Sam" Thompson's elevation to
the official agricultural council Of the
Nation is good thing for the Farm
Beard, for the farmers and for the
country.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-20
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

as a Roosevelt Republican" in politics.
That didn't interfere with a 12-year
association with the late Democratic
New York World as its labor editor.
Leary probably calls more American
labor leaders by their first names than
any man alive. He won the Pulitzer
prize for the most notable work OF a
reporter in 1919, the test being strict
accuracy and terseness in dealing with
the coal strike of that year. Another
of Ieary's distinctions is the silver but
ton of honorary membership in their
Mutual Welfare League" awarded him
by the convicts in Sing Sing Prison for
his interest in their affairs. Talks
with T. r." Leary's book on Roosevelt,
attracted national attention IL years
ago because the early editions were
withdrawn by the publishers on account
of some statements TO which super
ardent Rooseveltians took objection.
* X X X
DR.. Chao-Chu WI, astute Chinese
minister in washington, recently sub
mitted for the consideration OF the
Nationalist government at Marking TWO
proposals of vast importance. He cabled
them to the Central Executive Commit
tee of the Nationalist party, of which
he is a member, and which is tie power
behind the Marking throne. One OF
DR.. Wu's proposals calls for the mold
ing of a. great peoples convention. Tor
discussion of all the questions WnIcn
confront the Chinese nation. The
other projects the partition of China S
IS existing provinces into several times
that number by carving the larger prov
inces into two or three separate ones.
The government has both schemes under
adViSelnent. DR.. WI explains that GER
tain sprawling provinces like Szechwan,
Yunan and Chill are so enormous in
extent that it is practically impossible
for the local or national authorities to
administer them, because of the lack
of communications and other draw
backs. Although China is bigger than
all of North America, from the Cana
dian border to the Isthmus of Panama,
it contains only 5000 miles of railroad,
which are fewer than those embraced
in the Pennsylvania System.
X X
There's genuine rejoicing at the State
Department over the news that the ia
nous American daily newspaper at
Toxic, the Japan Advertiser, is to re-
sumo publication on March 26. The
papers entire plant was wiped out by
fire last November-the second disaster
to overtake it, for it was destroyed
seven years earlier by the Japanese
earthquake. The Advertisers indefati-
gable editor and publisher, B. w. Fleisher,
who went to the Far East from Phila-
delphia rs years ago, has long been one
Of the pillars of Japanese American
friendship. His journal exercises wide
influence throughout the Orient. AL
though published in Toxic with both
Yankee editorial and mechanical staffs)
the Advertiser is consistently and fear
lessly American in its point of view.
Secretary Stimson and all his predeces-
sors in our time have looked upon the
Japan Advertiser as valuable outpost
of the United States on the other side
of the globe.
(Copyright, 1917
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-20

but it will be years before the United
States will have the average road built
to the width OF the present supcr-Aisi1-
way. 1t follows then that the initiative
must BE- taken by the bus manufacturers
and operators.
There is no logical reason--in fact
there are SO many reasons against it
that all of them cannot be enumerated
for the bus to attempt to compete
with the train either in carrying capac-
ity or speed. The bus is an automobile.
II should not BE- constructed to the
size of pullman car and because of its
unwield!ness it should not be driven to
match the speed Of vehicle that runs
on tracks.
1t is apparent that bus manufac-
turers should take cognizance Of the sit
uat.on that has developed. II they
continue to shut their eyes to a condi-
ton Of their own creation which is
inilnical to public welfare it is quite
likely that all aroused opinion will re-
suit in remedial legislation in all States
which will compel them to do what
they should Go without compulsion.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-20

thousands of hngerprints every day.
They are filed away with the upward of
three million already on file in the
Division OF Identification. They are
fled by name, and by the natural
classification OF all fingerprintS. But to
check one lone set CT prints against
three million, or to check the thousands
received every day against the millions
on file is an obvious impossibility.
Some day the police of large cities
like Washington may have the numer-
Gus expert personnel required to keep
tab, daily, on the fingerprints received
and to check them against all others.
with or without the assistance of names
to aid them. Until then the matching
of anonymous prints, and solutions Of
crime thereby, will be left mainly in the
hands of fiction writers. But at that
the prints under the glass top of Ser
geant Sandberg's desk came in handy.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-20
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

| King. At the present day Italy's flag
consists of the Savoy arms, surmounted
| by crown on the central white verti-
cal stripe of Napoleon's green, white and
/ red.
| @. Does the Salvation Army in this
/ country contribute to the Salvation
Army in Great Britain?-E. p.
/ A. The Salvation Army says that it
/ Goes not. Some Misrepresentation has
/ arisen because of the fact that the in
! ternational headquarters OF the Saliva
tlon Army is located in London, England,
| puI no foreign country contributes to its
support. The missionary enterprises, how
ever: are directed from the International
/ headquarters, and every country makes
contributions to the missionary field in
/ the same manner as each church makes
contributions through some central
source. The Salvation Army mission
/ airy operations are supported through
what is known as a self-denial fund.
\ This is brought to the attention of SAL
/ walton Army members. adherents and
/ friends every year. The proceeds of this
I fund are divided equally between home
and foreign missions.
! O. From what part of Africa did
most of the Negroes come as slaves to
/ this country?-W. A. 7.
A. Most Of them were brought from
the Guinea coast, on the western coast
Of Africa.
Q. Is the Saratoga larger than any
battleship?-A. NJ
A. The U. S. S. Saratoga, airplane
carrier, is the flagship of the Carrier
Division, and is the largest ship of the
United States Navy. Its normal dis
placement is $4,000 tons and its length
over all is $50 feet.
Q. In what year did the regular
lighting of the Statue of Liberty begin?
M. Med.
A. Arrangement for the permanent
lighting of the Statue of Liberty was
made on December =. 1916.
@. What is the new canal which is
contemplated by FTance?-W. B. l..
A. Numerous Senators have united in
q special committee to advocate crea-
ton of a French tWo-sea canal from
Bordeaux, on the Atlantic coast, TO
Narbonne, on the Mediterranean. Such
a canal would make it possible for the
French war feet to go from the ocean
to the Mediterranean in less than two
days and without passing under the
British guns at Gibraltar. 1t would
shorten the route from Great Britain
and Northern Europe to the Mediter-
ranean, the Suez and India by HOO
miles. 1t would provide adequate pro-
lection against floods which periodically
devastate Southwestern France. Cost
of the canal would be about $4,000
100000.
@. What countries use the largest
and smallest stamps?-H. E,
A. A stamp dealer says that the
largest stamp that is used comes from
China and the smallest from Victoria.
@. How many islands are there in
the Scilly group of the southern coast
of England?-D. E.
A. There are about 40 of the Scilly
Islands, but only five Of them are in
habited.
Q. Is there tree called the "ague"
tree?-M. N. B.
A. The sassafras tree is sometimes
called the ague tree.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-20
Clearer Bankruptcy
Notices Advocated

To the Editor of The Star:
AS many people are resorting to the
bankrupt law, the published notices in
bankruptcy cases are very misleading.
The washington City Directory, 1881.
contained 10 similar names of one of
the published bankrupts recently. The
address of such parties should also &C
company the names in published notices
of such action being taken; or the names
of the business the parties were engaged
in, or their occupation, etc, something
to designate which individual of the 10
named above had taken advantage of
the bankrupt law to settle" his "hon-
est debts.
This law, like many of the himsy laws
of our so-called latter-day legislators.
needs revising by an expert to prohibit
people from robbing their creditors by
securing some shyster lawyer, and they
are getting numerous, to aid them in
the questionable task. 1t seems queer
for the Government to aid its citizens
to actually hold up" each other by
bankruptcy In q so-called legal manner.
II. T, McCONVEY.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-20
Communist Crank or Agent?

The practical absurdty of the plot
/, to destroy the dirigible Akron, disclosed
in the arrest of a worker at the Ohio
city of that same name. does not lessen
its significance. Whether the scheme
was the crazy purpose of single fanatic
or the deliberate endeavor of the Com
munist organization, it reflects malevo-
lent design against the American Gov
eminent. The most important objective
now is to ascertain just how far this
effort to destroy the latest, largest air
ship carries back to the avowed enemies
of the United States, the radicals, who,
under inspiration of Russia, are carry
ing on a persistent campaign of OBJ
struction.
The man Kassay. a native of Austria
! Hungary, formerly an off1cer of the
Austrian navy, implicated in postwar
Communist agitations in his own land,
came to the United States several years
ago. He was naturalized in 1926. He
gained a Ioothold in technical indus
trial work in Cleveland and went to
Akron two years ago to take a job on
the new dirigible. He seems to have
talked freely to his fellow workmen re-
garding his purpose to prevent the ship
from ever taking the air. Suspicion was
directed to him, and Secret Service OPP
eratives took jobs at Akron in erder to
observe the man, some Of them becom-
ing his side partners, with whom he
became confidential His arrest resulted
from the disclosures he made to them.
No harm has been done to the air.
ship. Kassay is said to have boosted
that he had contrived to omit the driv-
ing of many rivets in the fabric Of the
craft in order to weaken it. This is
denied, on the strength Of an almost
microscopic examination. He had
planned, also, it is stated, to gain ac-
cess to the control compartment Of the
ship and wreck it secretly. There is
no evidence that he ever had such an
opportunity.
1t may be that the whole affair is
simply the imagining of disordered
mind. But of such material are the
ranks of the Communists recruited. The
crazier the. individual, short of acute
mania compelling confinement, the bet
ter the radical agitator and plotter.
No mental tests are applied to the can
didates for membership in the Red
organization.
Just few days ago the Ohio House
Of Representatives refused to repeal the
wartime law against criminal syndi-
calism. This case falls within the
scope of that statute. Whether Kassay
is individual or agent, he is by his own
confession subject to the severe pen
alties prescribed by it, unless he is rated
as insane, in which case he passes to
another form of imprisonment.
The case at Akron emphasizes the
necessity Of eternal vigilance against
the subversive, destructive work Of the
Communists, who are frank in their ex-
preston Of a purpose to destroy this
Government.