The Chapel Hill weekly., 1931-02-06

O0AooAy SOS AOOAs
Ny dear Governor Gardner:
Up to September l, 1880, was a
member Of the faculty Of the Uni
versity Of North Carolina, which
was compelled to leave because l felt
that my family was entitled to more
money than l could earn at Chapel
Hill. left the University with re-
!actanee and regret, but in view of
the proposed ten percent reduction in
all state salaries, it was evidently the
part of wisdom for me to move. But
my removal gives me an opportunity
to see the effects of the proposed sal
ary reduction in comparison with the
whole scale of national university
work; and it is my impression that
North Carolina is naturally at the
present moment too closely concerned
with her own troubles to realize the
blow which the state is likely to deal
to her own reputation (and therefore
her drawing power). Therefore, al
though ! am no longer a citizen Of
the state, l venture, thus gratuitously,
to write you as l do.
For, if l have left the University
of North Carolina, it is still an in
stitution for which l have a great
love and admiration. During my years
of service there had pride in it;
five years of my life as a teacher Of
your young men and young women Is
built into it's traditions for better or
worse; and anything that touches its
integrity is still matter of concern
to me. Perhaps | am wrong in feel
ing as | do. Let US put the matter
on another basis. The University of
North Carolina has reached a position
of eminence in the South and the ma
ton; you now propose in fact, if not
in intention, to reduce it from that
eminence. 1t seems to me in this
situation that anything which threat
ems the life of an institution Of this
kind is a matter of kindly concern
to anybody interested in the develop
ment of the South, and in the develop
ment of higher education in these
United States.
The appropriations for the support
of the University of North Carolina
have already several times been
pared down until at the present mo-
ment it is barely able to hold its
own; indeed, the efficiency Of several
of it's departments has already suf-
fered. Faculty members have left it.
often in desperation and with real
regret; and it is now proposed fur
ther to cripple its usefulness, the
spirit of it's faculty, and its attractive
ness as an institution of learning to
which young and promising scholars
might go, by making a fiat reduction
in its salary scale.
Putting all other arguments aside,
| wonder whether you as governor,
or whether those who, outside the
university world, are clamoring for
the proposed reduction, quite realize
the disastrous effects Of the proposed
measure upon the spirit and conduct
of an educational institution. The
University professor is nowhere so
highly paid that he rolls in the lap
of luxury. When times are good, he
is the last class of public servants
to receive the benefits of them; and
when times are poor, his only Sc
curity is that as salarled man he
has a regular income-which you
now propose to render uncertain.
He devotes the best years OF his
younger life to study and prepara-
ton; begins his teaching career at
the salary Of an efficient clerk; and
is lucky, if in middle age, he has paid
off the debts of his schooling, ac-
quired a little insurance, and laid by
a few hundred dollars for the pro-
lection Of his family. Indeed, in view
of the narrow line which separates
him from poverty, many institutions
are compelled to create pension funds
for his old age. This your univer-
sity is unable to do.
The members of the faculty of the
University land l speak with refer
ence to this school only because l
would speak of what l personally
know to be true) are loyal to the
institution and to the state. They
have seen the funds of the institution
cut down to a point where their work
as scholars and scientists has seri-
ously suffered, and have not muir