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Economics Programs Economists Harvard

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy. Frank D. Graham, 1917

Frank Dunstone Graham (1890-1949) taught at Princeton from 1921 up to his premature death in 1949. The portrait above however comes from the Dartmouth yearbook for the class of 1922. Graham was briefly an assistant professor of economics there for the 1920-21 academic year. Previous to that, from 1917-19 while working on his Harvard Ph.D. he worked as an instructor in economics at Rutgers.

Graham’s records in the files of the Division of History, Government, and Economics of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard have been transcribed for this post. From his transcript we now know exactly which courses he attended as a graduate student at Harvard (and his grades) and from his application to candidacy to the Ph.D. we learn a little bit about his undergraduate preparation at Dalhousie University.

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AER obituary for Frank D. Graham

In Memoriam: Frank Dunstone Graham 1890-1949, American Economic Review,Vol. 40, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Sixty-second Annual Meeting of the American Economic Asociation (May, 1950), pp. 585-587.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Frank Dunstone Graham. Dec 31st 1889, Halifax, N.S.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Dalhousie University 1906-07: 1910-13
Dalhousie Law School 1913-15
Harvard University 1915-17
Tutor in Classics Dalhousie University 1913-14
Assistant in Political Science Rutgers Univ. 1917-18

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. Dalhousie Univ. (Halifax N.S.) 1913
LL.B. Ibid 1915

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)

Two courses in English History.
Elementary Economics. Additional Economics for the degree with distinction. Work covered included Gide’s Principles, Hobson’s Evolution of Modern Capitalism and parts of J. S. Mill and Nicholoson’s on Taxation.
No Government studied in undergraduate work but in my Law course was included. Consitutional and International Law and Consitutional History.
Ancient Languages included 4 years work in Latin and 3 in Greek
Modern Languages I did not study until I came to my graduate work. In Philosophy I took two undergraduate courses one of them devoted to psychology.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory. Econ 7 and Econ 11 at Harvard. Private reading on the history of economic theory.
  2. Economic History. Econ. 2a and 2b at Harvard. Work read for degree of AB with distinction in Economics, Dalhousie Univ. including English Economic History.
  3. Public Finance. Econ 31. Harvard.
    Course in Economics at Dalhousie included Nicholson’s treatment of Taxation
  4. Sociology. Econ 8, 18a, 18b at Harvard. A considerable amount of private reading
  5. Political Theory. Gov. 6a, 6b Harvard. Degree of LL.B. covers an allied field
  6. International Trade and Tariffs. Econ 33, Econ 20a at Harvard

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

International Trade and Tariffs

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

International Trade of the United States in the Greenbak Period

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

For general exams. The beginning of the session 1917-18.
For special exam same time toward the close of the session 1917-18.

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: F. D. Graham

Approved: May 25, 1917

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock. 20 May 1917.

Ability to use German certified by  C. J. Bullock. 31 May 1918. [D.N.]

Date of general examination June 3, 1918. Passed [D.N.]

Thesis received December 26, 1919.

Read by Professors Taussig, Persons, Day.

Approved January 22, 1920.

Date of special examination February 4, 1920. Passed. [D.T.]

Recommended for the Doctorate January 21, 1920.

Degree conferred  [left blank]

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of FRANK DUNSTONE GRAHAM in the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

1915-16
Economics 7a1 [half course]
[Economic Theory. Prof. Taussig]
A
Economics 81 [half course]
[Principles of Sociology, Prof. Carver]
A
Economics 18a2 [half course]
[Analytical Sociology, Asst. Prof. Anderson]
B+
Economics 332 [half course]
[International Trade and Tariff Problems. Prof. Taussig]
B
French A abs.
Government 6a1 [half course]
[History of Political Theories. Asst. Prof. Holcombe]
A
Government 6b2 [half course]
[Political Theories of Modern Times. Asst. Prof. Holcombe]
A
Government 20a
[Selected Topics in Municipal Government. Prof. Munro]
B
1916-17
Economics 2a1 [half course]
[European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Prof. Gay]
no return
Economics 2b2 [half course]
[Economic History of the United States. Prof. Gay]
B
Economics 11
[Economic Theory. Asst. Prof. Day]
B+
Economics 18b2 [half course]
[Historical Sociology. Asst. Prof. Anderson]
B
Economics 20a [half course]
[Research course: Economic Theory, also International Trade and Tariff Problems. Prof. Taussig]
B
Economics 31
[Public Finance. Prof. Bullock]
B+
German A C
Social Ethics 151 [half course]
[Recent Theories of Social Reform. Asst. Prof. Foerster]
A

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 28, 1917.

Dear Haskins:

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. Graham and found that he has a suitable reading knowledge of French. I understand that he needs this certificate in connection with his candidacy for the master’s degree, but it may cover the French part of the language requirement if he later comes up for the doctor’s degree.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Postponing General Examination Date

Camp Aloha Summer School
Lake Asquam
Ashland, N.H.

Sept 10th 1917

Mr. Geo. M. Robinson
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Mr. Robinson

After conferring with Professor Bullock and on his advice, I have decided to postpone the date for my General examinations until the Spring rather than this Fall as I requested in my application for the exams for the Ph.D. degree. Will you be so good as to make the necessary alterations?

Sincerely yours,
[Signed]
Frank D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Ph.D. study plan approved
[Carbon copy]

29 May 1917

Dear Mr. Graham:

At its meeting on Friday, May 25, the Division of History, Government, and Economics voted to approve your plan of study for the Ph.D. in Economics.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned]

Mr. F. D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Postponing General Examination Date

Camp Aloha Summer School
Lake Asquam
Ashland, N.H.

Sept 10th 1917

Mr. Geo. M. Robinson
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Mr. Robinson

After conferring with Professor Bullock and on his advice, I have decided to postpone the date for my General examinations until the Spring rather than this Fall as I requested in my application for the exams for the Ph.D. degree. Will you be so good as to make the necessary alterations?

Sincerely yours,
[Signed]
Frank D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Scheduling General Examination
[Carbon copy]

7 February 1918

My dear Mr. Graham:

Mr. Robinson has shown me your letter of January 28. It is not easy to arrange examinations for the first of June, as professors’ engagements are very uncertain after the beginning of the final examination period. I would suggest that you arrange to get away some day in May and come up for the examination, say on a Saturday. I should be glad to arrange any such day at your convenience. If that does not work out, let me know and I will see what we can do early in June.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned]

Mr. F. D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 31, 1918.

My dear Haskins:

This is to certify that Mr. F. D. Graham has today passed the examination in French and German required for candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

General examination passed

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank

Cambridge, Massachusetts
June 4, 1918.

My dear Haskins:

Yesterday afternoon Mr. F. D. Graham passed his general examination for the doctor’s degree. Mr. Graham’s examination was not brilliant in any way, but it was distinctly better than the average general examination.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Expecting Christmas time 1919 for thesis submission

Alumni House,
New Brunswick N.J.
Dec. 13th 1919

Dear Miss Taylor

Your letter of yesterday is under my hand. The preliminary draft of my thesis lay for a long time in the hands of Professor Taussig and of Professor Persons with whom Professor Taussig had consulted about it. Pressure of business prevented them from returning it sooner. As a consequence its completion was a good deal delayed. I have however been hurrying it forward of late as rapidly as possible and expect to have it ready about Christmas time. If you will give me an address to which to send it then, I shall get it off just as soon as possible.

Sincerely yours,
[Signed]
Frank D. Graham

Miss Dorothy Taylor
Secretary of the Division
of History, Government & Economics
Harvard University

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Instructions for thesis drop-off
[Carbon copy]

15 December 1919

My dear Mr. Graham:

Your thesis when completed should be sent to 24 University Hall, in care of Mr. G. W. Robinson, the Secretary of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. I shall then see that it is submitted to the committee at once.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned]
Secretary of the Division.

Mr. F. D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Members of thesis committee

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Division of History, Government, and Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts

F. D. Graham
16 December 1919

Committee on Thesis

Professor Taussig or (Prof. Sprague)
Professors Persons and Day

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Dropping off copy of thesis
on Christmas day

25th December 1919

Mr. George W. Robinson
Harvard University

Dear Mr. Robinson:

This is my Ph.D. thesis with the required summary. I was passing through Cambridge today and brought it with me. Miss Dorothy Taylor wrote me that if I delivered it to you she would see that it got into the proper hands.

Sincerely yours,
[Signed]
Frank D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passing completed thesis
around committee
[Carbon copy]

26 December 1919

Dear Taussig:

I find that the other members of Graham’s thesis committee are Professor Persons and Professor Day. If you could get it to either of these before you leave for Chicago, they could doubtless work on it next week. If that is not convenient for you, if you could get it either to Miss Ham or to my office we could see that it reaches the next member of the committee.

Truly yours,
[unsigned]

Professor F. W. Taussig

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Request for Graham’s preference for date of special examination
[Carbon copy]

14 January 1920

My dear Mr. Graham:

Dean Haskins would be glad to know whether you have any preference as to the date of your special examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. If you wish to come up for the degree at mid-years, the examination must be held not later than 7 February. Your thesis is still in the hands of the committee, but will probably be accepted.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned]
Secretary of the Division.

Mr. F. D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Graham Confirms Time and Place
of his Special Examination

Alumni House
New Brunswick N.J.
Jan 28th 1920

My dear Miss Taylor,

Your letter of the 14th inst. [“instant” = of the current month] is under my hand.

My preference as regards a date for my Doctor’s examination is for Wednesday, Febrary 4th, or Thursday, February 5th. If either of those dates is satisfactory to my examiner and to the committee I wish you would so inform me.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Frank D. Graham

Miss Dorothy Taylor
Secretary of the Division
of History, Government & Economics
Harvard University

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Committee Named for the General Exam
[Carbon copy]

[Note: T. N. Carver did not serve on the committee and J. S. Davis added later, see letter from the Secretary of the Division (January 31, 1920) below.]

21 January 1920

My dear Mr. Graham:

Dean Haskins is arranging your special examination for the doctorate for Wednesday, 4 February, at 4 P. M. The committee will consist of Professor Carver (Chairman), and Professors Persons, Day, and Sprague.

I will notify you as to the place later.

Sincerely Yours,
[unsigned]
Secretary of the Division.

Mr. F. D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Response Cards from
Examiners for Frank D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Day Requested to Replace Carver
As Chair of Exam Committee
[Carbon copy]

24 January 1920

My dear Mr. Day:

As Professor Carver is to be away at the time of Mr. Graham’s examination on 4 February, Dean Haskins would be glad if you would serve as Chairman of the committee.

Sincerely Yours,
[unsigned]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor E. E. Day.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Time and Place for Special Exam
[Carbon copy]

26 January 1920

My dear Mr. Graham:

I am glad to be able to inform you that your thesis has been accepted. Your examination on 4 February will be held in Widener U at 4 P. M. Will you please acknowledge the receipt of this letter, in order that the Committee may know definitely that you will be present at the examination?

Sincerely Yours,
[unsigned]
Secretary of the Division.

Mr. F. D. Graham

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Graham Confirms Time and Place
of his Special Examination

Alumni House
New Brunswick N.J.
Jan 28th 1920

Dear Miss Taylor,

I have your letter of the 26th reporting the acceptance of my thesis and naming the date and place of my special examination

Sincerely,
[signed]
Frank D. Graham

Miss Dorothy Taylor
Sect’y of the Division
of History, Gov’t & Econ.
Harvard University

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Final Committee
for the Special Examination
[Carbon copy]

31 January 1920

My dear Mr. Day:

I enclose Mr. Graham’s application blank and a copy of his record in the Gradute School of Arts and Sciences for your use at his special examination on Wednesday, 4 February, at 4 P.M. The examination will be held in Widener U. The committee as it now stands consists of Professors Day (Chairman), Persons, Sprague, and Davis.
May I ask you to return the application with a written statement of the quality and result of the examination as soon as possible?

Sincerely yours
Secretary the Division.

Professor E. E. Day.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passed Special Exam

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Committee on Economic Research

Charles J. Bullock, Chairman
Charles F. Adams
Nicholas Biddle
Frederic H. Curtiss
Wallace B. Donham
Edwin F. Gay
Ogden L. Mills
Eugene V. R. Thayer

W. M. Persons, Statistician
E. E. Day, Consulting Statistician
F. Y. Presley, Business Manager

Wadsworth House
Cambridge, Massachusetts

February 4, 1920

Dean Charles H. Haskins,
Division of History, Government, and Economics,
University Hall,
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Mr. Haskins,

I return herewith Frank Dunstone Graham’s record in candidacy for the degree of Ph.D. Graham passed his special examination in Widener U this afternoon. It was the unanimous opinion of the members of the committee present – Professor Sprague being absent – that Graham’s examination was disappointing; but there was no question about his having passed.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Edmund E. Day

EED A

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Memo asking for return of thesis
[Carbon copy]

9 February 1920

My dear Professor Davis:

Miss Ham tells me that you were good enough to offer to bring back Mr. Graham’s thesis, which was taken from University 24 last week for use at the examination. We should appreciate it if the thesis could be returned immediately, since it should be on hand in case any of the Faculty wish to examine it at the meeting on Thursday.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor J. S. Davis

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Ph.D. Dissertation

Frank Dunstone Graham’s 1920 Ph.D. thesis “The International Trade of the United States in the Greenback Period.” A condensed version was later published “International trade under depreciated paper, the United States, 1862-1879,” Quart. Journ. Econ., 1922, 36: 220-273.

_______________________

Image Source: Dartmouth College, The 1922 Aegis. Vol 64, p. 60.

Categories
Bibliography Harvard Philosophy Socialism

Harvard. Short Bibliography of Social Ethics for “Serious-minded Students”, Peabody, 1910

In 1910 Harvard published 43 short bibliographies covering “Social Ethics and Allied Subjects”, about half of which were dedicated to particular topics in economics, economic sociology, and social ethics. The project was coordinated by Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Francis G. Peabody who compiled three of the short bibliographies. 

Peabody regularly taught a course on the Ethics of Social Questions [e.g., 1902-03; 1904-05] so we may presume that most of the items listed below would have been in whole or in part assigned reading.

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About Francis G. Peabody

Links to biographical information previously posted

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Previously posted  Harvard short bibliographies
(1910)

I.2. Economic Theory by Taussig

I.3. Economic History by Gay

I.7. Social Statistics by Ripley

II.3. Taxation by Bullock

IV.5 Economics of Socialism by Carver

IV.6 Socialism and Family/Christian Ethics by McConnell

IV.7. Trade Unionism by Ripley

IV.8. Strikes and Boycotts by Ripley

IV.12 Thrift Institutions by Oliver M. W. Sprague

IV.13. Social Insurance by Foerster

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SOCIAL ETHICS
FRANCIS G. PEABODY

            The sources of instruction in Social Ethics must be sought in the philosophical masterpieces which study the individual in his relation to social order: Maurice, Social Morality, 1869; Plato, The Republic, tr. Jowett, 1871; Grote, A Treatise on the Moral Ideals, 1876; Green, Prolegomena to Ethics, 1883; Aristotle, Politics, tr. Jowett, 1885; Fichte, Vocation of Man, tr. Smith, 1889; Kant, Critique of Practical Reason, tr. Abbott, 5th ed., 1898; Royce, The World and the Individual, 1901.

            Of contemporary and less academic titles, the following, out of a great number, may be named:

Addams, Jane. Democracy and social ethics. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1902, pp. 281.

A forcible exposition of the new duties created by a new social world. “The essential idea of democracy becomes the source and expression of social ethics” (p. 11).

Bosanquet, Helen. The strength of the people, a study in social economics. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1902, pp. xi, 345.

The correlation of circumstance and character traced in the problems of poverty, the family and industrialism. “‘Difficulties to overcome and freedom to overcome them’ is an essential condition of progress” (p. 339).

*Dewey, John, and Tufts, James H. Ethics. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1908, pp. xiv, 618.

Ethical theory interpreted in its relation to “the world of action.” The ethics of social organization, economic life, politics and the family effectively described.

Dole, Charles F. The ethics of progress. New York: T. Y. Crowell & Co., 1909, pp. vii, 308.

A popular and lucid exposition of “the new morality.”

Henderson, Charles R. Practical sociology in the service of social ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1902, pp. 25.

“Social technology” as the guide of social philosophy.

Hobson, J. A. The social problem; life and work. London: James Pott, 1902, pp. x, 295.

Socialism applied to the “economy of national life.” “The Social Question will find its essential unity in the problem how to deal with human waste” (p. 7). “An organized democracy standing on a sound basis of property” (p. 130).

Jones, Henry. Idealism as a practical creed. Glasgow: J. Maclehose & Sons, 1909, pp. ix, 299.

A lucid and serene exposition of the practical efficiency of ethical idealism. “The call of modern age” is a call to the “earnest questioning of our ideals of life” (p. 220).

Jones, Henry. The working faith of a social reformer. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1910, pp. xii, 308.

Lectures to students for the ministry, and collected essays, expounding the interdependence of individualism and socialism, or the concurrent evolution of social and individual rights, duties and powers” (p. 111).

*Mackenzie, John S. An introduction to social philosophy. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1890, pp. xi, 390.

An academic, somewhat elusive, but judicial and suggestive outline, which has not yet been superseded.

Muirhead, J. H. Philosophy and life and other essays. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1902, pp. 274.

Admirable essays on various aspects of the ethics of modern life.

Peabody, Francis G. The approach to the social question. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1909, pp. vii, 210.

The ways of social science, sociology and economics traced, and the ethical approach approved and explored.

Perry, R. B. The moral economy. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909, pp. xvi, 267.

A searching and convincing analysis of the moral life in its relation to science, art and religion.

Ritchie, David G. Studies in political and social ethics. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905, pp. ix, 238.

Occasional papers on the fundamental problems of social evolution, equality, liberty and responsibility.

*Stein, Ludwig. Die soziale Frage im Lichte der Philosophie. 2te verb. Aufl. Stuttgart: F. Enke, 1903, xvi, 598 S.

A brilliant survey of the history of social philosophy, with the outline of a system. Anti-socialist, but describing the “socializing” of property, law, politics and religion.

Wells, H. G. Mankind in the making. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1904, pp. viii, 400.

Social organization in the “New Republic,” with regulation of births, language, education and politics.

Ziegler, Theobald. Die soziale Frage eine sittliche Frage. 6te Aufl. Leipzig: G. J. Göschen‘sche Verlagshandlung, 1899, 183 S.

An early, but permanently important study of the social problem by an ethical philosopher. The moral note in socialism, industrialism and politics detected and reaffirmed.

Source: A guide to reading in social ethics and allied subjects; lists of books and articles selected and described for the use of general readers by teachers in Harvard University  (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1910) pp. 22-24.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives.  Francis Greenwood Peabody [photographic portrait, ca. 1900], Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Law and Economics

Harvard. Commercial Law and Industrial Relations Law for Economists. Wyman, 1905-1906

Assistant professor in the Harvard Law School, Bruce Wyman (b. 15 June 1875; d. 21 June 1926) provided aspiring future businessmen an overview of commercial and labor law. Students hoping to go on to study law were explicitly not encouraged to take this course. His exam questions rank among the longest I have encountered thus far in my archival fishing expeditions. He apparently expected as much in return (he wrote in his suggestions for the mid-year examination “Thirty-six pages would be a desirable maximum as to length.”)

In the 1905-06 economics course outline folder there is an incomplete collection of the homework paper assignments, 10 of (13?). Perhaps they were due every second week or so over the semester. The format of the questions matches that found in the exams. Everything found for this year was transcribed for this post.

__________________________

From earlier years

1901-02. Autobiographical note, enrollment, course description, syllabus, exams.

1902-03. Obituary, enrollment, course description, exams.

1903-04. Enrollment and exams.

1904-05. Enrollment, course description, exams.

__________________________

Course Enrollment
1905-06

Economics 21. Asst. Professor Wyman. — Principles of Law governing Industrial Relations and Commercial Law.

Total 150: 6 Graduates, 68 Seniors, 46 Juniors, 19 Sophomores, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 73.

__________________________

ECONOMICS 21
Paper Assignments
[incomplete]

Paper No. 1
  1. A is a workman employed in the works of B. B carries an indemnity policy covering accidents written by C. A gets his hand crushed in one of the machines, which is improperly guarded. C attempts to make a settlement with A at $500, which A refuses; thereupon C threatens to get A discharged by B, but A still refuses to compromise. Next, C goes to B and demands that A be discharged. B is at first unwilling, but when C threatens to take advantage of the clause in the policy permitting cancellation of the policy upon five days’ notice, B reluctantly undertakes to discharge A at the end of the week for which he is employed, protesting that A is a good workman and he had intended to give him regular employment. After A is thus discharged he brings suit against C for loss of employment. What decision? Give reasons with care.
  2. A is a manufacturer of soap who is dealing with a jobber named B, among others. C, another manufacturer of soap, goes to B and first offers him a rebate of 10% if B will not handle the soap of A any longer, but will deal with C exclusively, and then threatens B that unless he will do this he will not sell him any soap at all. B then accedes with much protestation. A, thus cut off by B, brings suit against C for loss of business. What decision? Give reasons with care.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 2
  1. A & Co., proprietors of a department store, advertise “the B Co. piano, regular price $500, our price $444.” A & Co. have one such piano in stock, but if they should have more orders they would try to get more if they could. The B Co. are much injured in their business by this; as they only allow their agents 10%, retailers cease handling their piano in the district where A & Co. sell. After A & Co. sell the piano they have had in stock they continue to run the advertisement, although the B Co. of course refuse to sell them any more pianos. Can the B Co. succeed in bringing any suits against A & Co.? Cite any cases you think in point. Give your reasons carefully.
  2. X & Co. begin the manufacture of underwear, woven with an open mesh, which they advertise as “Cellular Underclothing.” A few months later Z & Co. begin the manufacture of a similar article which they advertise as “Cellular Underclothing, a better article than that of any other manufacturer.” Can X & Co. sue Z & Co. for anything? Cite any authorities that you think in point. Give your reasons carefully.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 3
  1. (a) Give briefly the facts in Pontefact v. Isenberger. (b) Give shortly the rule of law in Reddaway v. Banham.
  2. (a) A manufacturer of tomato catsup puts his product on the market in a bottle with a tapering neck wrapped in a cylindrical cardboard carton covered with manila paper upon which is printed in large black letters “X & Co. — Tomato Catsup,” with a picture of the bottle represented as full of red catsup. Z & Co. who begin the manufacture of tomato catsup some years later put their product upon the market in almost exactly the same way, — the bottle tapering, the carton cylindrical, the wrapper manila paper, the printing black, “Z & Co. — Tomato Catsup,” with a picture of the bottle filled with red catsup. Can X & Co. require Z & Co. to make some changes? Cite cases in point. (b) When the patent ran out on the “Singer Sewing Machine” which had been made by S & Co., J & Co. began the manufacture of a machine exactly similar which they put upon the market marked “Singer Sewing Machine.” Can S & Co. prevent J & Co. from doing this in this way? Cite cases in point.

    *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 4
  1. (a) Give briefly the facts in Dudley v. Briggs. (b) Tell shortly what was decided in Pitt v. Donovan.
  2. (a) A & Co., manufacturers of farm implements, circulated the following advertisement in the country newspapers: “We believe that we have the fundamental patents upon harvesters; and, noticing that B & Co. are putting on the market a harvester which seems plainly an infringement of our patents, we hereby give notice that we shall begin legal proceedings against buyers who use this machine, as well as against B & Co.” B & Co. bring a bill for an injunction against A & Co., stating the above facts. What decision? Cite cases in point. (b) X & Co., manufacturers of artificial fertilizer, circulate a statement that their product has 25% more nitrates than that of Z & Co. Z & Co. bring suit, offering to prove that these figures are fabricated by X & Co. What result? Cite cases in point.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 6
  1. Is the following a correct statement of the law: “What our law forbids is total suppression of competition, partial restriction of competition is unobjectionable; thus if there are three grocers in a town and one pays each of the others money to quit business the agreements are not valid, but if the first pays the second money to quit business the law does not object, since competition remains between the first and third.” In your answer cite various cases in the prescribed reading for the week in support of your opinion.
  2. The following cases deal with the same problem: Jelliet v. Broade, Hayward v. Young, Harvey v. Cooke, and Nordenfelt v. Maxim-Nordenfelt Co. What is the principle of law involved in all of them? In your answer show familiarity with each case, both with the chief facts found and with the rule of law laid down.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 7
  1. State the facts in the following cases: (a) Wickens v. Evans, (b) Milwaukee Mason & Builder’s Association v. Niezerowski. Say whether you agree with the decisions in these cases. In your answers support your reasoning with citation of other cases in the prescribed reading.
  2. Here are the principal facts about two cases recently decided. (a) In one an agreement was proved between a manufacturer of skirt binding and the proprietor of a woman’s periodical by which the manufacturer agreed to take a page of advertising for a year at $1000, while the proprietor agreed to reject the advertisements of other manufacturers of skirt binding; the court held that the proprietor was liable for breaking this agreement by taking another advertisement of skirt binding. (b) In the second case three manufacturers of shoes agreed together not to send more than five travelling salesmen into any one state; this agreement the court held invalid. Do you think these cases to be rightly decided? In your answers as to each case cite the cases in the prescribed reading that you consider most in point.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 8
  1. Compare (a) Scottish Coöperative Society v. Glasgow Flesher’s Association with (b) Plant v. Woods. In your discussion cite other cases by way of illustration.
  2. If these two cases should be brought to Court how should they be decided: (a) A combination of oil refiners, A, B, C, D, and E, agree to lower prices 33 1/3% for a year in order to drive X, a dangerous competitor, out of business; their intention is to raise prices after X is disposed of. Can X sue B for the damages caused him by this campaign? (b) Employes of the A railroad refuse to handle freight cars forwarded from the B railroad where a strike is in progress; this policy is adopted because the employes of both railroads are affiliated with the same union, which has voted to instruct the employes of the B Co. to strike and those of the A Co. to support them as they are doing. What remedy has the A Co.? In your answer refer to some cases.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 11
  1. (a) State the factors usually enumerated in the definition of a corporation. (b) Say how many of these are essential to the conception of a corporation.
  2. (a) A acquires all of the capital stock in the X corporation. He then makes a mortgage of the property of the X corporation to the L bank to secure a loan of $5,000 to him. Later he gives B and C one share each in the corporation, and calls a stockholders’ meeting which votes to mortgage the property of the corporation to the M bank to secure a loan of $5,000 to the corporation; the vote authorizes A to execute the mortgage, which he does. The property proves worth about $8,000 when the X corporation fails. How shall it be divided between the L bank and the M bank, neither of which knew of the other’s mortgage? (b) Ships which have English owners only can be registered as English ships. A certain corporation organized in England is shown to have solely French stockholders; may ships owned by it be admitted to English registry?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 12
  1. (a) Give in one sentence the point of law decided in Ellis v. Marshall. (b) Also give in one sentence the point of law decided in Trustees of Free Schools v. Flint.
  2. (a) Give the facts in Broderip v. Salomon fully. (b). Give accurately the decision of the Divisional Court upon the case, written by Vaughan-Williams, J., together with his reasons. (c) Give accurately the decision of the Court of Appeal, written by Lindley, L. J., together with his reasons. (d) Give accurately the decision of the House of Lords, written by Lord Halsbury, together with his reasons.

    *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Paper No. 13
  1. (a) What does Coit v. Gold Amalgamating Co. decide about the validity of payment of stock subscriptions with property instead of cash? (b) What does Bundy v. Ophir Iron Co. decide about the effect of mortgages upon corporate property which are executed by all of the shareholders in their own names?
  2. (a) A partnership is composed of A, B, and C, but is known as “A & B.” Land is conveyed to “A & B,” paid for with partnership funds; goods are bought by C for the partnership which are delivered to it, but for which he advances the money himself. Later A, B, and C and “A & B” all become bankrupt A, B, and C each own a house and furniture. They individually each owe various people, and the firm owes various people. How shall these estates he wound up? (b) In a certain corporation A, B, and C each own one-third of the shares. It owns a grain elevator; this A wants the corporation to insure, but this B and C refuse to agree shall be done. Then A insures the elevator in his own name, paying the premiums himself. Later it burns; it was worth $21,000; how much will A recover?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1905-1906”.

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ECONOMICS 21
Mid-year Examination, 1905-06

Please observe the following suggestions: Divide your time so as to reply to all questions. Make your answers definite; if you to treat the principal questions as units for discussing them, indicate plainly your decision upon each subdivision. Give your reasons for your answers in every case, but state them as briefly as possible, citing cases whenever you remember them. Thirty-six pages would be a desirable maximum as to length.

  1. Do the following go beyond fair competition:
    1. X & Co. advertise that “The Natural brand of preserves made by us contains no artificial preservatives, whereas the Perfect brand, manufactured by A & Co., contains (as is shown by the analysis of that eminent chemist, Professor L., which is upon file at our office) 1% of Benzoate Soda.” A & Co. offer to prove that no such analysis was ever made. Can A & Co. sue X & Co.?
    2. Suppose that in that same suit X & Co. offer to prove by three experts that A & Co’s preserves really do contain more than 1% of Benzoate Soda, should the evidence be admitted?
    3. This advertisement was also published by X & Co.: “The L hotel tried the Perfect brand of preserved fruits for one week — then the manager gave orders to the steward never to buy any more, and to stop serving those that they had bought.” The statement was true; but the reason for the change was because the employees of the hotel, who belonged to a union, refused to serve the Perfect brand as A & Co. had locked out the union men employed at their factory. Can A & Co. sue X & Co.?
    4. Another advertisement of X & Co. was: “Think what canned fruits were like before we entered the market — the Perfect (?) brand used to be considered the best! Today everyone realizes the superiority of the processes used in making our Natural brand over all the old fashioned methods used by others.” A & Co. sue X & Co., offering to prove that the reputation of their goods is better than that of X & Co. What result?
  2. Are the following unfair competition:
    1. X has worked for 10 years for A, the leading florist of Boston. He starts out in business for himself, three doors below, stating on the sign: “X, late with A,” with a card in the window stating: “Customers of A will receive prompt attention.” Can A get any injunction against X?
    2. A has extensively advertised and sold the L brand whiskey, which is put up in a peculiar, cubical shaped bottle, with a very long neck, and is recognized by the shape of the bottle. X offers for sale a whiskey in exactly the same kind of bottle, but with a different label.
    3. After the Singer patents, under which the Singer Mfg. Co. was manufacturing, had run out, the June Mfg. Co. began the manufacture of a machine according to the Singer designs, which they labelled in large letters; “Singer Machine.” Can the Singer Mfg. Co. get any injunction?
    4. A man named Baker begins the manufacture of chocolate in Massachusetts in 1880, which he calls Baker’s chocolate. A man in California, in 1885, named Baker, begins the manufacture of chocolate which he calls Baker’s chocolate. Both begin selling in Illinois for the first time in 1890. Which can stop the other?
  3. In a strike at a paper mill, called to get recognition of the union by getting the non-union men discharged, the union of the employees adopt the following tactics. How many of these will be stopped by an injunction asked for by the employers:
    1. Posting two pickets at the mill gates with instructions to them to use no violence.
    2. Refusing to patronize dealers who advertise in newspapers which buy their paper from this mill.
    3. Posting upon bill boards an appeal to workingmen urging “all honest laborers not to apply for employment at the mill while the strike is in progress.”
    4. Paying non-union men who have taken employment at this mill $25 each to quit work at the end of the week for which they are employed.
  4. An association of refiners of kerosene oil adopt the following policies. How many of these will give a rival refiner who is injured an action for damages:
    1. Refusing to sell any oil to retailers who deal at all with refiners outside the association.
    2. Reducing prices 25% in districts where rival refiners are selling.
    3. Giving 33 1/3% discount to those retailers who will agree to deal with members of the association exclusively.
    4. Fining any member of the association who sells to any retailer who deals with any outside refiner.
  5. Can A sue X in the following cases, or is the course of dealings described regarded as permissible:
    1. A makes a contract with a retail stove dealer in which it is agreed that all stoves which the retailer shall need during the year shall be bought of X at certain specified prices. X then comes to this retailer and says: “I will cut every price you have from A in that contract 33 1/3% if you will buy of me instead of from A.” The retailer thereupon repudiates his contract with A and enters into one with X.
    2. A manufacturer of saleratus enters into a contract one with jobbers, in he promises those jobbers a special discount who agree not to sell other cheaper grades. A, a manufacturer of a cheaper grade, finds himself almost forced out of the market of a cheaper grade finds himself almost forced out of the market by this.
    3. L, a baker, sells his shop to A, agreeing with him not to engage, within five miles, for five years, in any branch of the provision business, in any capacity. X, a rival baker, takes a lease of the shop next door, and opens branch there, inducing L to act as manager of the shop.
    4. X, a salesman of A, during his last trip, tells customers that he is going to set up for himself after Jan. 1, 1906, and that he will hope to have their patronage then.
  6. Are the following agreements enforceable:
    1. An agreement signed by various railroads not to give credit for freight to shippers who owe any of them for freight.
    2. An agreement between shoe manufacturers not to employ more than three drummers in any one state.
    3. An agreement between one automobile manufacturer and a magazine proprietor that $2,500 should be paid for one page of advertising in the April number, and that no other automobile advertisements should be taken for March, April, or May.
    4. An agreement between three manufacturers of iron pipe that each would give to each of the others 5% of all orders received by them.
  7. Can A sue the X corporation, which is organized to manufacture shoe machinery, in the following cases:
    1. A has conveyed to the X Co. a tract of land upon which it is building a model town for its employees, but for which it has not paid X.
    2. A has agreed to transfer to the X Co. a majority of the shares in the B Co., a rival shoe machinery company, for which block of shares the A Co. has agreed to pay $125 per share.
    3. Suppose A is a shareholder in the X Co., and a dividend of 20%, payable June 1, was declared May 1 by the directors, but at a later meeting, on May 15, they had reconsidered that vote and voted to pay no dividend at all, although the corporation books showed 50% profit for the last five years.
    4. Suppose that the board of directors of the X Co., who hold a majority of the shares of stock, buy of a syndicate of which they are the members a tract of land for an extension of the factory, the plot costing them $100,000, being sold to the X Co. for $250,000. What can A, a minority stockholder, do?
  8. X and Y form a partnership to manufacture cotton cloth. Can A sue X and Y in the following cases:
    1. A comes to X and Y offering them 5,000 bales of cotton at 12 cents per lb. X says to A: “We do not need that cotton,” but Y says to A: “Yes, we do; and we will take all of it from you at that price.” So Y and A enter into a written contract for the cotton, which Y signs in the firm name,” X all the time protesting.
    2. Suppose A had found Y alone at the firm’s office and Y had entered into a similar contract for the 5,000 bales of cotton on behalf of X and Y, which X had protested against when he returned.
    3. Suppose I had, without authority of X, signed a note in the name of the firm to pay his butcher’s bill, and the butcher had discounted the note with A, a banker.
    4. Suppose Y, with consent of X, had signed a contract agreeing to subscribe $1,000 to a cotton manufacturer’s exposition.
  9. In the insolvency of the A corporation, the following facts appearing, what will each claimant noted in the statement of facts get out of the winding up, taking every fact stated below into account: The B corporation, having no other assets than a plant worth then about $200,000, but subject to a bonded indebtedness of $100,000 upon its assets, the bonds being held by V, by a unanimous vote sells all its rights in the plant which are subject to the outstanding bond issue to the A Co. for $100,000, payment to the B Co. being made by $50,000 in cash and a $50,000 note of the A Co., which has not yet been paid. One W acquires later all the stock in the B Co. at 75 from the different shareholders who had originally paid 100 for their shares. It further was shown that X, who owned another plant worth about $105,000, sold it to the A Co. for $100,000, getting in return $5,000 cash and $100,000 of the bonds of the A Co., which bonds were part of an issue of $200,000 constituting a first lien upon all the assets of the A Co. of every sort, the other $100,000 of these bonds having been sold by the A Co. to Y at a discount of 15%. It also appeared that the capital stock of the A Co. was $200,000, the shares of which were issued to Z at 50% discount. When, in the insolvency proceedings the two plants are sold, the one bought from the B Co., having much depreciated, sells for $80,000, while the one bought from X, having appreciated, sells for $150,000. In addition to the claims noted above the A Co. is found to owe $50,000 to general creditors.
    Give clearly, in figures, the amount that each claimant will get. It is unnecessary in this question to discuss the rules of law involved; simply relate the processes by which you reach the results, stating the rules.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1905-06.

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ECONOMICS 21
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

Give your answers plainly and definitely; and state your reasons carefully and briefly.

  1. The X Beef Corporation was organized in New Jersey with a capital stock of $200,000,000. With these shares or their proceeds it bought the packing plants at L, M, N, O, and P, getting the sellers to agree not to engage in the beef packing business for twenty years within the United States; A was one of these sellers. The corporation has acquired and is endeavoring to continue a monopoly in restraint of trade. One method used by it in this respect is to refuse to sell its products to dealers who handle the goods of its rivals at the same price as it will sell to those dealers who will agree to deal with it exclusively; B was a dealer who refused to accede to these terms. The corporation sold beef to C on credit and bought cattle from D on credit.
    Can the X corporation sue A or C for breaking their contracts; and can B or C sue the X corporation for damages?
  2. In 1894 an individual and a corporation enter into a partnership agreement, stipulated to continue for five years. In 1897 large net profits have been realized and are in the hands of the corporation. It is reasonably certain that further profits will accrue if the partnership is continued to the end of the stipulated term. But the corporation, in 1897, refuses to continue in partnership, or to recognize the individual partner’s right to share in the profits then on hand.
    What, if any, remedies has the individual against the corporation?
  3. The X, Y, and Z corporations, engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods and all in a flourishing condition, wished to combine their businesses. The directors and a majority of the stockholders of each corporation voted to transfer all the assets of their respective corporations to the D corporation, recently organized, and to take the stock of the D corporation in payment. A, B, and C, stockholders in these companies, obtained a temporary injunction against such transfer. Thereupon all the stockholders of the X corporation (except A, B, and C) transferred their stock to L, as trustee, with power for five years to vote the stock and to make such transfers as he should think wise for the purpose of qualifying directors. All the stockholders of the Y and Z corporations (except A, B, and C) transferred their stock to M and N respectively on like trusts. L, M, and N entered into an agreement always to elect the same persons directors of all the corporations during the continuance of the voting trusts, and they thereafter voted for certain persons for directors in pursuance of this agreement. A, B, and C voted for different persons for directors, no person being voted for as a director in more than one corporation.
    May the persons so voted for oust the directors voted for by L, M, and N? Should the injunction obtained by A, B, and C be made permanent?
  4. A railroad company is constructed through a coal region. At first it receives coal from all shippers into the cars which it leaves upon its own sidings. Later the larger operators at considerable expense construct spurs to their mines and erect conveyors to load the cars; to such operators the railroad makes a reduction in rates over those who load at stations. Later still the railroad gives notice that it will no longer accept coal in bulk from any shipper who does not maintain his own spurs and conveyors.
    Has the small operator who has no such equipment any complaint against the earlier discrimination or against the later refusal to serve?
  5. An electric light company in the city of X is constructed by the issue of $1,000,000 of stock issued to a contractor in part payment for the construction of its plant and by the floating of $1,000,000 20 year 5% bonds at 90. The contractor made 10% net on the whole job. At present the company is paying 8% dividends in addition to meeting promptly the interest on its bonds. It makes a practice of charging to operating expenses all repairs and replacements, while outright new construction or extensions it provides for out of a surplus fund collected some years ago. In addition to these charges it sets aside out of current earnings 8 1/3% relying upon an expert’s opinion that practically the whole plant must be renewed in in twelve years, and by vote of its stockholders it pays enough into a sinking fund each year to retire its bond issue at maturity. A to a corporation commission, acting under the authority of enabling legislation, orders the price for electricity reduced to consumers to a figure which the electric company shows by its books will leave them only 2% dividends if their present financial policy is continued.
    Should the courts set aside the orders of the commission on this showing?
  6. A railroad company buys coal of various operators along its route which it transports to market and sells there. An independent operator shows that at times of press of business the railroad uses part of its cars in its own coal shipments; to which the railroad company replies that it gives him his proportion of cars. This operator also shows that the railroad will buy coal at $3.00 per ton, transport it to market and sell it at $3.75, while he shipping from the same station has to pay the published rate of $1.25 per ton; to which the railroad company replies by saying that they make themselves a trainload rate of 75 cents per ton which they are willing to give him.
    Must he be content with these answers?
  7. A railroad running east from A to C through B advertises a cheap round trip from B to C and return which it states is “only from station B, passengers from stations west of B may not take advantage of this excursion.” X who lives in A buys a ticket to B, intending to do some business with a merchant, Y, in that town. As he is getting off the train at B he is met by the office boy of Y who tells him that Y went to C by an earlier train. X thereupon decides to follow Y to C and get him to return back; he accordingly goes to the ticket office at B and asks for a cheap round trip so that he can go on by the same train which is still waiting in the station. The ticket agent refuses to sell him a ticket. He gets on board the train and offers to pay the conductor regular fare, but the conductor tells him that he cannot ride upon this excursion train without a special ticket, and thereupon ejects him, using necessary force.
    What are X’s rights against the railroad?
  8. The rate from A to B on the X railroad, an interstate carrier, was 10 cents per ton; from A to C, 20 miles beyond B, the rate Over the same road was 8 cents per ton. From A to B there were several competing lines of railroad, but they had successfully formed a traffic agreement to keep up rates. From A to C the competing lines were cutting rates, and the 8-cent rate was necessary if the X railroad was to obtain business. At D, a station beyond C, where there was also competition, the X railroad carted goods free for all shippers who would agree to ship all their goods by it.
    Have shippers at B or at D any legal complaint?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), pp. 43-46.

Image Source: Harvard Law School ca. 1901 from the Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Exams for the advanced course in public finance. Bullock 1905-06

Say what you will, Bullock’s courses in public finance attempted to span centuries of fiscal history and had a strong international comparative scope. 

Charles Jesse Bullock also provides us a nice illustration of the ephemeral nature of academic rank and distinction. In the long-run…

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Bullock’s earlier public finance exams
at Harvard

1901-02. Economics 7a and 7b. Financial administration; taxation [undergraduate]

1903-04. Economics 16.  Financial history of the United States

1904-05. Economics 7a. Introduction to public finance [undergraduate]

1904-05. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation [undergraduate]

1904-05. Economics 16. Financial history of the United States.

1905-06 Economics 7.  Public finance [undergraduate]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

From 1910: Short bibliography on public finance “for serious minded students” by Bullock

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Course Enrollment
Economics 16
1905-06

Economics 16. Asst. Professor Bullock. — Public Finance (advanced course).

Total 7: 5 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-1906, p. 73.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 16
PUBLIC FINANCE
Mid-year Examination, 1905-06

  1. What were the chief causes of the increase of public expenditure during the nineteenth century?
  2. Can any prediction be made concerning the probable future of any classes of public expenditures?
  3. What has been the history of revenues from domains in European states since the close of the Middle Ages?
  4. What can you say concerning the revenue now derived from domains and industries in Prussia and in England?
  5. How do Seligman and Adams classify public revenues? What are Bastable’s criticisms against Seligman’s classification?
  6. What are the arguments commonly advanced for and against alienation of domains?
  7. With what different definitions of taxes are you familiar? What do you consider a correct definition?
  8. Discuss the comparative merits or demerits of proportional and progressive taxation.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1905-06.

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ECONOMICS 16
Year-end Examination, 1905-06
[Note: question 6 missing in printed exam]

  1. What is your opinion of the causes and results of the increase of public expenditures in the nineteenth century?
  2. What is your opinion of the merits of the arguments for and against municipal ownership of lighting and traction enterprises in the United States?
  3. Compare the French system of national taxation with the British.
  4. Write an account of the present financial system of the Kingdom of Prussia, considering particularly the following topics: expenditures, domain and industries, taxation, and indebtedness.
  5. What is the present status of corporation taxes in the American commonwealths?
  6. What, in your opinion, would constitute a satisfactory tax system for the State of Massachusetts?
  7. Discuss the incidence of taxes falling upon: (a) wages, (b) rent, (c) interest.
  8. Compare the British budgetary system with that of the United States.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906),  p. 41.

Image Source: John Harvard statue, ca. 1904. U.S. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for Principles of Accounting. W.M. Cole, 1905-06

The principles of accounting course taught by William Morse Cole in the department of economics at Harvard was expanded to two semesters in 1905-06. 

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Earlier accounting exams

About William Morse Cole
1901-02
1902-03
1903-04
1904-05

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Course Enrollment
1905-06

Economics 18. Mr. W. M. Cole. — Principles of Accounting.

Total 44: 6 Graduates, 23 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-1906, p. 73.

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ECONOMICS 18
Mid-year Examination, 1905-06

I
  1. What is the function of nominal accounts in double-entry book-keeping?
  2. The books which the following trial balance represents are correct and record only normal transactions. Is the trial balance satisfactory? If not, show how you would go to work to correct it.
Proprietor 45,000
Merchandise 17,200
Cash 9,000
Interest 500
Bills Payable 4,000
Real Estate 15,000
Bills Receivable 20,000
Accounts Receivable 14,000
Rentals 500
Expenses 8,200
______ ______
66,700 66,700
  1. If rent is earned on buildings owned, should the amount of rent be debited or credited? Is it objectionable to enter the amount to the Real Estate account? If so, why?
  2. Construct a special-column journal to do all the work of journal, sales book, purchase book, and special-columncash book, combined. Illustrate briefly how posting would be done from it.
  3. Name the four common groups of railroad operating-expense accounts and show the logic of the classification.
II

            Show the balance-sheet for a business which meets the following conditions: Capital stock, 200,000; cash on hand, 7,000; surplus, 50,000; manufactured goods on hand, 10,000; notes outstanding, 25,000; sums owed for raw material, 25,000; sums owed for wags, 3,000; raw material on hand, 6,000; undivided profits, 4,000; notes of customers on hand, 17,000; depreciation fund, in bonds, 8,000; sums due from customers, 15,000; real estate, 100,000; machinery, etc., 144,000.

            In the following year the business is as follows: Goods manufactured (on contract), 147,000 (contract price); goods delivered (on contract), 135,000; collected on goods, 129,000 in cash, 20,000 in notes; labor expense incurred and paid, 50,000; raw material bought, 75,000; raw material paid for, 90,000; raw material consumed, 70,000; new machinery bought and paid for, 20,000; interest paid, 1,000; interest accrued against the corporation, not yet due, 200; collected on notes, 28,000; general expenses paid, 9,000; borrowed on notes, 50,000; repairs of buildings paid from depreciation fund, 2,000; paid on notes, 20,000; losses from bad debts, 1,000; taxes, 1,000; dividends, 17,300.

            Show the income sheet for the year.

            Show the balance sheet for the new year.

            [It is probable that time will be saved and confusion will be avoided if a rough journal and a rough ledger are used for assistance in working out the above problem. Only results are required, however.]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1905-06.

__________________________

ECONOMICS 18
Year-end Examination, 1905-06

Follow the order of the paper, not only in arrangement but also in performance.

  1. What is a trial balance? How far is it useful?
  2. What is the relation between an income sheet and a balance sheet? Can an item appear upon both at the same time?
  3. What ought books to show with regard to discounts (on merchandise) for prompt payments?
  4. Arrange the following items of a railroad report in proper form, and fill in any important omissions by figures derived from the items given:—
[Figures represent millions of dollars]
Fixed charges 5.0 Accrued liabilities 3.0
Accounts payable 4.0 Claims audited 1.0
Bills receivable 0.5 Funded debt 85.0
Other income 4.0 Supplies 3.0
Investments 67.0 Accounts receivable 4.0
Accrued assets 1.5 Earnings from operation 17.7
Dividends 1.8 Cost of road 50.0
Cash 4.0 Net earnings 5.9
Capital stock 30.0 Miscellaneous assets 1.0
Betterments charged to income 1.0
  1. A partnership is organized on January 1. On July 1 a partner dies. How far is a correct trial balance taken on the latter day a satisfactory basis for a settlement of the dissolved partnership? Assuming the ordinary commercial accounts to be kept, how should you go to work to determine the share of each partner?
  2. Except for the items mentioned below, a corporation’s balance sheets for 1905 and 1906 show the same figures. How much do these items tell about the history of the corporation for the year 1905-1906?

 

1905
Surplus $70,000

1906

Depreciation Fund $20,000 Reserve Fund $60,000
Depreciation Fund $20,000
Surplus $10,000
  1. How should you determine on an interest date the value of ten-year bonds bought (at the time of issue) at a premium and now having five years more to run? [Do not figure, but describe have process.] Should the books show that value? If so, how and where? If a portion of the bonds is now sold at less than the value so determined, how should the sale show on the books?
  2. A factory is engaged in a dying industry. Five years is the estimated life of the machinery and of the good-will. The buildings are convertible to other uses. The corporation will be dissolved at the end of five years.
    Describe a brief administrative policy that you would recommend to close the business and end the corporation, and then describe the accounting processes to record the closing transactions and to leave no balances on the books.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), pp. 42-43.

Image SourceHarvard Alumni Bulletin, Vol. XIX, No. 16 (January 18, 1917), p. 308. Portrait of William Morse Cole colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Exam questions for Social Reform, Socialism, Communism. Carver, 1905-1906

Courses on utopias, schemes of social reform, shades of socialism and communism were offered by the Harvard economics department from its early years through the twentieth  century. Thomas Nixon Carver taught such a course for several decades as an exercise of know-thy-enemies. His autobiographical Recollections of an Unplanned Life (1949) makes it clear that there was not a collectivist bone in his body. 

__________________________

Previously posted

Pre-Carver:
Carver’s courses
Post-Carver:

__________________________

Methods of Social Reform,
Socialism, Communism…
Economics 14b
1905-06 

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Course Enrollment
1905-06

Economics 14b 2hf. Professor Carver. — Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.

Total 29: 10 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-1906, p. 73.

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ECONOMICS 14b
Year-end Examination, 1905-06

  1. Describe one Eutopian scheme, covering the following points:
    (a) supposed location, (b) time, (c) form of government, (d) organization of industry, (e) system of exchange, (f) family life, (g) distribution of the products of industry.
  2. What periods in American history have been most prolific in non-religious communistic experiments? Describe a characteristic experiment of each period.
  3. Do communistic experiments, so far as you have studied them, throw any light upon the question of the probable success or failure of communism or socialism on a national scale? Explain.
  4. Characterize the social philosophy of one writer who is not an economist, covering the following points: (a) Is his philosophy religious or non-religious? (b) Does the writer discriminate between the obligation of the individual and that of the state? (c) Is his philosophy constructive or merely critical? (d) Has he a clearly defined principle of justice? If so, what is it?
  5. Is there a clearly defined principle of justice embodied in the competitive system? Explain.
  6. How does Marx account for the interest of capital?
  7. Does every government enterprise necessarily narrow the field for private enterprise and diminish the amount of competition? Explain.
  8. Would socialism entirely eliminate competition? If so, under what conditions?
  9. What is meant by the proposition that a single tax on land values is paid for all times by the one who owns the land at the time the tax is first imposed?
  10. Is an inheritance tax a socialistic measure? Explain.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), p. 40.

Image Source: “The trouble, my friends, with socialism is that it would destroy initiative” by Udo J. Keppler. Centerfold in Puck, v. 66, no. 1715 (January 12, 1910). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Illustration shows a large gorilla-like monster with human head, clutching clusters of buildings labeled “Public Utilities, Competition, [and] Small Business” with his right arm and left leg, as he crushes a building labeled “Untainted Success, Initiative, Individualism, Independence, [and] Ambition” with his left hand, causing some citizens to flee while others plead for mercy. He casts a shadow over the U.S. Capitol, tilting in the background.

Categories
Business Cycles Exam Questions Harvard Problem Sets

Harvard. Report guidelines and exam for commercial crises and trade cycles. Andrew, 1905-1906

While the exam questions for A. Piatt Andrew’s course on commercial crises and trade cycles for 1905-06 have been transcribed and posted earlier, this post adds his “Suggestions with regard to first report and accompanying chart.” This artifact provides a taste of an actual course assignment.  

__________________________

Previously posted

All of Andrew’s exams from his commercial crises and trade cycles course at Harvard for the academic years 1902-03 through 1907-08.

__________________________

Commercial Crises
and Cycles of Trade
Economics 12b
1905-06 

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Course Enrollment
Commercial Crises
and Cycles of Trade
1905-06

[Economics] 12b 1hf. Ass’t. Professor Andrew. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.

Total 55: 9 Graduates, 20 Seniors, 20 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-190 6, p. 72.

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ECONOMICS 12b
SUGGESTIONS WITH REGARD TO FIRST REPORT AND ACCOMPANYING CHART

I. Concerning the Chart

  1. Neatness is desirable; accuracy essential.
  2. Before beginning the chart note the highest and the lowest figures, and devise a scale so that both may be included on the paper, but upon the largest possible plan.
  3. When several sets of figures are to be included upon the same chart, if possible, draw the various lines upon the same scale. If, by so doing, however, variations in one of the lines will be too small to be easily discerned, increase the scale for this line.
  4. Note the decimal division of the profile paper. Do not start with other than a decimal number as a basis. If you have a period covering 20 or 30 years a good plan is to let one of the large squares represent two years.
  5. When two or more decades are included mark the decennial years clearly with a heavier line than the other years.
  6. Bring the figures in every case as nearly to date as possible.
  7. Note on bottom of chart in small letters the source of your statistics, volume and page.
  8. Note also on chart whether the statistics are for the fiscal, calendar, or crop year, — or the year ending at what date.
  9. Place title and your own name somewhere on the chart.

II. Concerning the Report

  1. Give your figures in tabular form, naming all of the sources.
  2. Discuss the sources of your statistics, their authority, and their comprehensiveness.
  3. Trace the trade cycles as shown on your chart, showing the relation between the line movements and periods of prosperity or depression.
  4. Explain the reasons for the larger movements, paying particular attention to the maximal and minimal years. Show to what extent they may be caused by, or may be the cause of industrial fluctuations.
  5. When several countries are concerned note the resemblances and differences in their respective movements, explaining any important dissimilarities.
  6. Name all references employed in the preparation of the report. The references given by the instructor are only preliminary suggestions, and not meant to be sufficient for the completion of the report.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1905-1906”.

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ECONOMICS 12b
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

Omit one question
  1. Compare as regards recent cycles of trade,—
    1. the number and liabilities of failed firms.
    2. banking and commercial failures.
    3. railway and commercial failures.
  2. To what extent have changes in the clearings of the New York banks registered changes in general business?
  3. Explain Juglar’s theory as to the movements of bank loans and reserves, and state how far it is confirmed by American experience.
  4. Explain what was done by the Bank of England to relieve apprehension in 1825, 1847, 1857, 1866, 1890.
  5. Explain and discuss Rodbertus’ theory of crises.
  6. Upon what occasions within the past thirty-five years and by what means, have the American Secretaries of the Treasury helped to relieve a stringency in the financial centres?
  7. In what ways is business affected by the condition of the crops? Within what limitations? In the case of which crops is the connection closest?
  8. What part does “credit” play in the explanation of crises,—
    1. according to Laughlin,
    2. according to Chevalier,
    3. in your own opinion?
  9. In what ways and to what extent are trade conditions apt to be affected,—
    1. by the increasing gold supply,
    2. by the trust movement,
    3. by increasing armies and navies,
    4. by the present agricultural situation?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1905-06. Also a copy in Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), p. 37.

Image Source: 1911 portrait of Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. by Anders Born at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Wikimedia Commons.

Categories
Distribution Exam Questions Harvard Theory

Harvard. Final exam for distribution theory. Carver, 1905-1906

 

Thomas Nixon Carver was hired by Harvard based on his work in economic theory. As it turned out theory would only constitute a minor share of his portfolio of courses at Harvard. Here we have the exam for a theoretical course offered in 1905-06 dedicated to the functional distribution of income. This is the second time Thomas Nixon Carver taught this one-semester course at Harvard. (Exam from its initial run in 1904-05).

The course content is undoubtedly captured in Carver’s 1904 book The Distribution of Wealth which was reprinted several times during his lifetime.

__________________________

Course Enrollment
Distribution of Wealth
1905-06

Economics 14a 1hf. Professor Carver. — The Distribution of Wealth.

Total 46: 7 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-1906, p. 73.

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ECONOMICS 14a
Distribution of Wealth
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. Why does the value of a consumable commodity fall when its supply increases, — other things remaining the same?
  2. Ditto of a productive factor?
  3. What limits or checks the supply of labor?
  4. Ditto of land?
  5. Ditto of capital?
  6. Fill out the blank columns in the [following] table.

Total Crop, Marginal Product of Labor, Total Wages, and Rent (All in Bushels) from Four Farms of Different Productivity when cultivated by Varying Numbers of Laborers, Capital being left out of account.

Farm A

Total crop Marginal product Total wages Total rent

Rent per acre

1 500
2 900
3 1200
4 1400
5 1500
 

Farm B

Total crop Marginal product Total wages Total rent

Rent per acre

1 400
2 700
3 900
4 1000
5
 

Farm C

Total crop Marginal product Total wages Total rent

Rent per acre

1 300
2 500
3 600
4
5
 

Farm D

Total crop Marginal product Total wages Total rent

Rent per acre

1 200
2 300
3
4
5
  1. In what proportion could six laborers be most advantageously distributed among these farms? Ten laborers? Fourteen laborers?
  2. When there are six laborers employed, how much, in bushels, would the product of the whole group of farms and laborers be reduced by the removal of one laborer, assuming the laborers all to be of the same efficiency? Ditto when there are ten laborers?
  3. When there are fourteen laborers employed on these farms, how much, in bushels, would the product of the whole group be increased by the opening up of a new farm of the same grade as farm A, and the transfer to it of four of the laborers?
  4. Compare Clark’s theory of business profits with Walker’s.
  5. State Hollander’s position on the question. Does rent enter into price?
  6. Compare Clark’s definition of capital with Taussig’s.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1905-06.

Image Source: Portrait of Thomas Nixon Carver from the Harvard Class Album 1913. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

 

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy. Arthur Eli Monroe, 1915

 

The graduate school records of Arthur Eli Monroe (A.B., 1908; A.M., 1914; Ph.D., 1918) are reasonably complete, allowing us to follow the course of his graduate studies and learn some details regarding his satisfaction of the Ph.D. requirements at Harvard. He did stay at his alma mater for his entire career, with his academic high-water mark attained at the rank of assistant professor of economics from 1922-28. He was able to occupy an instructional niche as lecturer-tutor, which is pretty good considering he entered graduate school in economics after doing what he could to avoid the subject during his college years.

Tutor, 1915-1923
Instructor in Economics, 1916-22
Assistant Professor of Economics, 1922-28
Lecturer on and tutor (Kirkland House) in economics beginning in 1928 through his retirement sometime in the 1950’s.

For historians of economics Monroe’s 1924 edited volume Early Economic Thought: Selections from Economic Literature Prior to Adam Smith is a useful collection of bite-sized chunks of original texts, though current students of economics might possibly choke on Monroe’s servings.

_______________________

From Reports of the Harvard College Class of 1908

ARTHUR ELI MONROE
[1914]

After spending half a year in looking for a job, and four years and a half in working at it, I withdrew from the teaching profession, which had occupied me continuously, and strenuously at Kent School, Kent, Conn., to enter the Harvard Graduate School. Since leaving college, I had become interested in Economics. This has been the subject of my work this year, and I hope to continue it at Harvard next year. Member: Phi Beta Kappa.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1908. Secretary’s Second Report, Sexennial Celebration, June 1914, p. 233.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

ARTHUR ELI MONROE
[1918]

Born: West Brookfield, Mass., Aug. 2, 1885.
Parents: Eli Monroe, Louise Octavia Arsino.
School: High School, Brookfield, Mass.
Degrees: A.B., 1908; A.M., 1914; Ph.D., 1918.
Occupation: Teacher.
Address: 56 Thayer Hall, Cambridge, Mass.

After graduation I taught Latin and German in a boys boarding school (Kent School, Kent, Conn.), until June, 1913, when I returned to Harvard for graduate work in economics, a subject I had carefully avoided in college. The next year I was appointed assistant in economics in Harvard College, to which was later added a tutorship. In January, 1916, I went to Williams College, to substitute for Professor McLaren, remaining until the end of the college year. I have been at Harvard since then, as instructor and tutor.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1908. Secretary’s Third Report, Decennial Report, April 1920, p. 334.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Arthur Eli Monroe. West Brookfield, Mass. Aug. 2, 1885.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Harvard College, Sept. 1904 – June 1908
Harvard Graduate 
School. Arts & Sciences, Sept. 1913 –
Teacher, Latin and German, Kent School. 1909 – 1913

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. [magna cum laude] (Harvard) 1908
A.M. (Harvard) 1914

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)

French 2c, 6, 9
German A, 1a, 4, 6, H, 32b, 9
Latin B, 1, E
Greek B, E

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory & Its History.
    Economics 11, 7, 14, Reading
    Assistant in Economics A
  2. Economic History since 1750.
    Economics 2a, 2b, Reading
  3. Public Finance.
    Economics 31
  4. Statistical Method & its Application.
    Economics 13
  5. History of Political Theory.
    Private Reading
  6. Special field to be a suitable portion of the field of the History of Economic Thought

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Some topic in the History of American Economic Thought

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

Professor Bullock

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General Examination, Autumn, 1915

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: A. E. Monroe

Approved: May 28, 1915

Ability to use French certified by F. W. Taussig

Ability to use German certified by F. W. Taussig

Date of general examination 13 October 1915. Passed [per W.C.W.]

Thesis received [Left blank]

Read by [Left blank]

Approved [Left blank]

Date of special examination 20 May 1918. Passed 

Recommended for the Doctorate[left blank]

Degree conferred  [left blank]

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of ARTHUR ELI MONROE in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University

1913-14

 

Economics 2a1 [half course]
[European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century, Prof. Gay]
B
Economics 2b2 [half course]
[Economic and Financial History of the United States, Prof. Gay]
B minus
Economics 7
[Theories of Distribution and Distributive Justice, Asst. Prof. Anderson]
A
Economics 11
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig]
A
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]
A
1914-15
Economics 13
[Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice, Asst. Prof. Day]
A
Economics 14
[History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848, Prof. Bullock]
A
1915-16
Economics 20e (2 co. [courses?])
[Economic Research (American Taxation and Finance; History of Economic Thought, Prof. Bullock]
AA
1916-17
Economics 20e (2 co.) [courses?])
[Economic Research (American Taxation and Finance; History of Economic Thought, Prof. Bullock]
AA
1917-18
Economics 20
[Economic Research (for Ph.D. candidates)]
A

Note: A transcript can also be found in Harvard University Archives, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Marks—Neville (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 10, Record Card of Arthur Eli Monroe.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Certification of reading knowledge of French and German

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
H. L. Gray

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 28, 1915.

Dear Haskins:

I hereby certify that A. E. Monroe has reading knowledge of French and German such as is required for the Ph.D. degree.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Approval of Ph.D. Plan of Study
[Carbon copy]

4 June 1915

Dear Mr. Monroe:

At a meeting on May 28 the Division of History, Government, and Economics voted to approve your plan of study for your degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned]

Mr. A. E. Monroe

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Committee named for the General Exam
[Carbon copy]

[Note: identical copies were sent to Professors Gay, Taussig, Day, Holcombe]

4 October 1915.

Dear Professor Bullock:

Will you kindly serve as one of the committee for the General Examination in Economics of Arthur E. Munroe, Wednesday, October 13, at 4 P. M.? The committee consists of Professors Bullock (Chairman), Taussig, Gay, Day, and Holcombe.

Mr. Muroe’s subjects are: Economic Theory and Its History, Economic History since 1750, Public Finance, Statistical Method and its Application, History of Political Theory, and a special field to be a suitable portion of the field of the History of Economic Thought.

Mr. Munroe has decided upon Public Finance and Statistics. Will you kindly see that the papers are set and the written examination held a reasonable time in advance of the oral?

Very sincerely yours,
[unsigned]

Professor C. J. Bullock.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Time and Place of General Exam
[Carbon copy]

9 October 1915

My dear Mr. Monroe:

Your examination, Wednesday, October 13, will be held in Widener U at 4 P.M.

Yours very truly,
[initials of Dean Haskins added]
C. H. H.

Mr. A. E. Monroe

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passed General Exam

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.

Cambridge, Massachusetts
October 14, 1915.

My dear Haskins:

Mr. A. E. Monroe passed his general examination for the doctor’s degree in Economics on October 18th. He passed creditably in all subjects except History of Political Theory, in which his examination was not satisfactory; but the instructor thought should not stand in his way if the other subjects were good.
His written examinations in Public Finance and Statistics were of A quality, and his oral examination in the other economic subjects was thoroly satisfactory.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Special Exam Field
[carbon copy]

25 January 1917

Dear Mr. Monroe:
At its meeting last Tuesday the Division of History, Government, and Economics voted to approve, as your special field, the History of Economic Thought to 1776, with special reference to the period subsequent to 1500.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passed Special Exam

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 21, 1918.

My dear Haskins:

I wish to report that yesterday Mr. A. E. Monroe passed his special examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Mr. Monroe passed an unusually good examination which was from every point of view thoroly satisfactory.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 3. Folder “Ph.D. Applications.”

_______________________

Ph.D. Dissertation

Arthur Eli Monroe’s 1918 Ph.D. thesis “The Theory of Money before 1776” was revised and published as Monetary theory before Adam Smith as number 25 of the Harvard Economic Studies (1923).

Image Source: At least as early as 1923, this portrait of Arthur Eli Monroe is found in the Harvard Class Albums. This portrait clipped from the 1925 Class Album and colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exam questions for Medieval and Modern Economic History of Europe. Gay, 1905-1906

For most of the twentieth century you didn’t have a full and complete economics department without significant course offerings in economic history. Needless to say, Harvard has had a full and complete economics department. 

This post contributes an incremental addition to the collection of economics exams with those from Edwin Francis Gay’s European economic history courses at Harvard in 1905-06.

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Related posts

A brief course description for Economics 11 plus the exams from 1902-03.

Exams for 1903-04.

Exams for 1904-05.

A short bibliography for “serious students” of economic history assembled by Gay and published in 1910 has also been posted.

Gay and Usher’s economic history exams from 1930 through 1949.

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Mediaeval Economic History of Europe.

Course Enrollment
1905-06

Economics 10 1hf. Asst. Professor Gay. — Mediaeval Economic History of Europe.

Total 8: 6 Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-190 6, p. 72.

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ECONOMICS 101
Final Examination
Mid-year 1905-06
  1. Explain briefly:—
    1. gwely.
    2. liti.
    3. molmen.
    4. formariage.
    5. lettre de foire.
    6. mercator.
    7. commenda.
    8. contractus trinius.
    9. droit d’amortissement, droit de régale.
    10. tunnage and poundage.
  2. Outline the estate organization prescribed by the Capitulare de Villis.
  3. “It seems to be almost certain that the ‘hams’ and ‘tuns’ (of England) were, generally speaking, and for the most part from the first, practically manors with communities in serfdom upon them.” Whose view is this? State succinctly the chief arguments for and against.
  4. Enumerate the chief franchises and privileges of a fair. What was the jus fori?

Take one of the following questions:

  1. What were the provisions of the Law Merchant in regard to sales and contracts?
  2. What is the significance of the following passages:—
    1. “ne alienigene opus suum operatum ad forum non deferant, nisi cum omnium eorum voluntate qui juri illo quod inninge appellatur participes existunt.” (Privilege to Magdeburg shoemakers, end of the twelfth century.)
    2. “quod nullus textor potest vel debet in aliqua civitate nullo etiam tempore, ubi non habet consortium mercatorum quod vulgariter ignige appellatur, pannos incidere.” (Halberstadt, 1291.)
    3. “Si aliquis alienus vult societatem pistorum, quod Innunge dicitur, ille dabit duas marcas et due partes spectabunt ad civitatem, una pars ad pistores.” (Neumarkt, 1235.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1905-06. Also a copy in Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), pp. 35-36. 

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Modern Economic History of Europe

Course Enrollment
Economics 11
1905-06

Economics 11. Asst. Professor Gay. — Modern Economic History of Europe.

Total 10: 8 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-1906, p. 72.

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ECONOMICS 11
Mid-year Examination, 1905-06
  1. Explain briefly:—
    1. purveyance.
    2. staple.
    3. copyhold.
    4. Leibzins.
    5. mainmorte.
    6. mesta.
  2. What were the chief factors in the emancipation of the serf? Compare the history of the movement in England with that in Germany.
  3. The craft gild:
    1. What in general was its object and policy?
    2. What, during the sixteenth century, was the attitude of the national government to the craft gilds in England and in France?
    3. What was the Statute of Artificers?
  4. Outline the history of the trade relations between England and northern Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, stating the chief facts connected with the decline of the Hanseatic position in England and the rise of the Merchant Adventurers.
  5. Describe succinctly the price movement of the sixteenth century, its extent, character, causes, and results.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1905-06.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-end Examination, 1905-06
  1. State briefly the place in English economic history of Gresham, Burleigh, Cromwell, Paterson, Walpole, Bakewell, Arkwright, the younger Pitt.
  2. [Wages]
    1. Describe, stating causes, the growth of the wage-earning class in England.
    2. Summarize the history and results of wage regulation by public authority.
    3. The average daily wage of an English artisan at the close of the sixteenth century was about one shilling. How would you determine the modern equivalent in purchasing power? What other factors should be considered in a comparison of conditions?
  3. Compare the commerce of England with that of France in the eighteenth century. Can the comparative magnitude be statistically measured? If so, with what result? If not, why not?
  4. Why did the Industrial Revolution take place in England in the latter part of the eighteenth century? What facts of English agricultural history bear upon this question?
  5. Describe the transitions in industrial organization leading up to the domestic system, to the factory system.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), pp. 36-37.

Image Source: Image of a page from the Statute of Artificers  in Vimala C. Pasupathi, Shall Strangers Rule the Roast? Migration and Displacement in Sir Thomas More (1600).