NORDICA, LILIAN (1859-1914), American operatic singer (see 19.741), died in Batavia, Java, May 10 1914.
NORFOLK, HENRY FITZALAN HOWARD, 15TH DUKE OF (1847-1917), English statesman (see 19.744), died in London Feb. ii 1917. He was succeeded by the son of his second marriage, Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan Howard (b. 1908).
LORD EDMUND TALBOT (b. 1855), brother of the isth duke, became deputy earl marshal during the minority of the i6th duke. He had assumed in 1876 the name and arms of Talbot instead of Howard, and for many years was a prominent member of the Conservative party in the House of Commons, being Chief Whip from 1913 to 1921. In 1921 he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland and created a peer as Viscount Fitzalan; and he then resumed the family name of Howard.
NORTH, SIR FORD (1830-1913), English judge, was born at Liverpool Jan. 10 1830, the son of a solicitor. He was educated at Winchester and at University College, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1852. He was called to the bar in 1857, and became a Q.C. in 1877. In 1881 he was raised to the bench of the Queen's Bench division, but in 1883 was transferred to the Chancery division. He retired in 1900 and was created a privy councillor, but continued to sit as a member of the judicial committee of the privy council. He died at Carron, Ross, Oct. 13 1913.
NORTH CAROLINA (see 19.771). The pop. in 1920 was 2,559,123, as compared with 2,206,287 in I9 IO > again of 352,836, or 16%. Somewhat fewer than one-third were negroes and 7,099 were foreign-born whites, representing 43 different national- ities. There was less foreign admixture than in the population of any other state. There were 490,370 persons living in cities of 2,500 or more, 240,753 in villages, and 1,828,000 in the open country, so that the state was still predominantly rural, 71% of the pop. living outside of incorporated towns, as against 76% in 1910. This is emphasized by the absence of any large city.
The following table shows the cities having a pop. in 1920 of 15,000 and their gain for the preceding decade:
City
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1920
1910
I ncrease
Winston-Salem . Charlotte Wilmington. Asheville Raleigh Durham Greensboro .
48,395 46,338 33,372 28,504 24,418
21,719 19,861
22,700 34,014 25,748 18,762 19,210 18,241 15,895
113-2 36-2 29-6
51-9 27-1 19-1 25-0
In 1914 the Legislature passed a law providing for the registra- tion of births, deaths, and their causes. Subsequently the death- rate steadily decreased, notably in the case of typhoid fever, where it fell from 35-8 per 100,000 to 10-6 in 1920. In the same period the death-rate from diphtheria was reduced from 22-3, per 100,000 to 9-5. The total death-rate was 12-9 per 1,000 in 1920, a rate lower than that of any of the older states. This was accompanied by the highest birth-rate of any registration state, 32-8 per 1,000 in 1920.
Agriculture. The decade saw great improvements in agricul- ture, both in methods and crop yields. The tendency noted in 1910 toward smaller holdings continued. The number of farms in 1920 was 269,763 as against 253,725 in 1910, but there was a greater average value per farm. In 1919 the values of farm products were greatly inflated, but those of 1920 were not far from the average for 1915-20. The following table presents the more striking figures for 1920 as estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
Crop
Acres
Yield (bus.)
Value
Corn
2,784,000
64,032,000
$72,356,000
Wheat ....
724,000
8,471,000
17,789,000
Oats .
180,000
3,960,000
3,802,000
Rye . . . .
96,000
912,000
1,733.000
Potatoes
56,000
5,040,000
7,157,000
Sweet Potatoes .
101,000
10,605,000
12,090,000
Tobacco
582,000
384,120,000*
97,182,000
Hay .
897,000
i,3io,ooof
30,130,000
Cotton
1,518,000
840,000 {
60,900,000
Peanuts
113 ,000
3-955,000
5,418,000
- Pounds. fTons. {Bales.
The value of all crops in 1920 was estimated to be $412,374,000 as against $142,890,000 in 1909. The state in this respect stood eleventh in 1917, rose to fifth in 1918, to fourth in 1919, and dropped to sixth in 1920. Farm land increased in the average value per acre from $6.24 in 1900, $15.29 in 1910, to $63.00 in 1920. Trucking and fruit growing showed marked increase.
Live stock showed no striking increase except in the case of mules. The following table gives the comparative figures:
FARM ANIMALS
1920
1910
Mules . . . Horses . Milch Cows Other Cattle Swine .... Sheep ....
Number
Value
Number
Value
236,000 183,000 328,000 394,000 i,575,ooo 144,000
$44,840,000 27,999,000 25,584,000 13,908,000 31,500,000 1,368.000
174,7" 166,151 308,914
39L947 1,227,625
214,473
$23,700,000 18,428,000 7,839,000 4,711,000 4,638,000 559,000
Manufactures. The notable industrial development of the two preceding decades was continued between 1910 and 1920. In 1914 the industrial capital of the state was $253,842,000, and the value of manufactured products $289,412,000. No later figures were available in May 1921, but both the capital and the value of prod- ucts were greatly increased by 1920. Cotton and tobacco manufac- turing led. In 1920 there were nearly 550 cotton-mills in .opera- tion with 5,321,450 producing spindles. In tobacco manufacturing Winston-Salem and Durham held first and second places respec- tively among the cities of the world. The volume of the industry can be estimated from the fact that for the year 1919-20 the Fed- eral stamp tax in the state yielded $108,457,156. The manufac- turing of the state was highly diversified and there was a notable absence of concentration, there being many small establish- ments. The syndicating of cotton-mills was a pronounced move- ment during the years 1916-20. It followed the syndication of tobacco factories, fertilizer plants, and cotton-seed oil mills. Steam power was generally employed in the decade 1910-20, but there was increasing use of hydro-electric power. In 1920, 330,000 H.P. had been developed, and it was estimated that a million more were available for development.
Forests and Mines. The total value of lumber and timber prod- ucts in the state in 1914, the last year for which accurate figures were available in June 1921, was $39,631,573. It increased largely during the remainder of the decade. In spite of the ruth- less lumbering operations of the past 40 years, it was estimated in 1920 that there was standing timber ready for the saw to the value of $167,450,000, with young growth valued at $192,500,000. Min- eral products in 1917 were valued at $5,246,391, the more important being clay products and stone.
Transportation. Railway development in the years 1910-20 was checked in 1914 and stopped completely in 1917 by the World War. Only 357 m. of new line and 217 m. of sidings were built, making a total mileage in 1920 of 4,997- In 1917 there were also 172 m. of electric road in operation. Marked improvements were made in the public highways. The Legislature of 1921 undertook the creation of a great state system by providing for the issue of $50,000,000 in bonds. The details of construction were in the hands of a highway commission established in 1917 and enlarged in 1921.
Finance. The revenue of the state for general state purposes in 1919 was $7,647,482, while state, county, and school taxes together yielded a total of $18,912,000. The bonded debt of the state in 1920 was $9,603,000; of the counties, $23,198,226; and of the cities, $28,877,000, making a total of $61,678,226. In addition, there had been otherwise issued $12,000,000 for school buildings, and $24,000,000 voted for roads. The Legislature of 1921 author- ized the bond issue already mentioned of $50,000,000 for state highways, as well as $6,000,000 as a state-aid loan fund for consoli- dated schools, and $6,745,000 for permanent improvements in the state's hospitals and institutions of higher learning. It also author- ized the issue of $25,000,000 in local bonds, and $5,500,000 was issued by small cities prior to May I 1921. The total indebtedness, actual and authorized, was on May I 1921 about $200,000,000, nearly all incurred after 1910. This showed the willingness of the people of the state to tax themselves for community and common- wealth prosperity, a remarkable revolution in sentiment.
The taxation system of the state had long been condemned as ineffective and inequitable, and the Legislature of 1919 passed a law providing for assessment for taxation of all real and personal property at its actual value. This Act was accompanied by the submission to the people of constitutional amendments authorizing a general income tax, limiting the rate of combined state and county property taxes to $.15 per $100 of valuation, permitting a segrega- tion of taxes for state purposes, and abolishing the existing equal- ity between the tax rate on property and the poll tax. The require- ment of payment of poll tax as a prerequisite for voting was abol- ished. Revaluation was accomplished in 1920 and the property in the state was assessed at $3,539,000,000. More than a million ac. of land not hitherto on the tax books were included. The per ^capita taxable wealth was increased 183 %. The amendments were "ratified by large majorities and the state seemingly assured of equitable taxation, but a reaction became strongly manifest in the Legislature of 1921 endangering the results of revaluation.
Education. The state made creditable educational progress between 1910 and 1920. The public school funds increased from approximately $3,000,000 in 1910 to $15,066,487 in 1920. A consti-
