Author: Irwin Collier

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Advanced modern European economic history. Description, Enrollment, Final Exam. Gay, 1911-1912

Vue d'un port avec le Capitole by Claude Lorrain (Gellée) (1636)

This is listed as a full-course (i.e. both semesters). However to date I have only been able to find a copy of the final exam from the end of the second semester.

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Earlier Harvard courses
on European economic history

Links to earlier course material for European Economic History from Harvard, 1883-84 through 1910-11.

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Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 11. Modern Economic History of Europe. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Gay and Dr. [Howard Levi] Gray. [Note that Gray was not reported as co-teaching this course in the Harvard President’s Annual Report]

At the outset a survey will be made of economic and social conditions in the chief European countries at the close of the Middle Ages. The history of agriculture, industry, and commerce in the succeeding periods down to the beginning of the nineteenth century will then be treated in some detail. England will receive the emphasis due to its increasing importance during this period.

Course 11 is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Economics 1 or History 1.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911). p. 62.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

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

Total 4: 3 Graduates, 1 Freshman.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-end Final Exam
1911-12

  1. State the chief provisions and significance of (a) the Statute of Artificers, (b) the Navigation Act, and (c) the Corn Law of 1688.
  2. Trace the development of banking in Europe before 1760.
  3. What were the chief forms of company organization? Give examples.
  4. Describe in general the price movement of the sixteenth century and indicate its causes and results.
  5. “With a country almost naturally defenceless, engaged by position and religion in conflicts far beyond their real national strength, the Dutch at length became exhausted by the pressure of the taxes they paid.” Does this explain the economic decline of Holland?
  6. Discuss taxation in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 56-57.

Image Source: Wikipedia Commons.

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Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization

Harvard. Economics of Corporations. Description, Enrollment, Final Exam. Ripley, 1911-1912

Harper's Weekly. October 20, 1888

The “so-called trust problem” was the principal topic for William Z. Ripley’s course on the Economics of Corporations. Big Business and Organized Labor were the objects of his research interests as well.

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Earlier Harvard courses
on Corporations

Links to earlier course material for Economics of Corporations taught at Harvard, 1902-1903 through 1909-10.

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Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 9b 2hf. Economics of Corporations. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Ripley, assisted by Dr. [Arthur Stone] Dewing.

This course will treat of the fiscal and industrial organization of capital, especially in the corporate form. The principal topic considered will be industrial combination and the so-called trust problem. This will be broadly discussed, with comparative study of conditions in the United States and Europe. The development of corporate enterprise, promotion, and financing, accounting, liability of directors and underwriters, will be described, not from their legal but from their purely economic aspects; and the effects of industrial combination upon efficiency, profits, wages, prices, the development of export trade, and international competition will be considered in turn.

The course is open to those students only who have passed in Economics 1. Systematic reading and report work will be assigned from time to time.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911). p. 65.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 9b 2hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Dr. [Arthur Stone] Dewing.— Economics of Corporations.

Total 140: 9 Graduates, 41 Seniors, 72 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

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ECONOMICS 9b
Final Examination
Year-end, 1911-12

Answer in order.

  1. State in topical form, omitting everything except the briefest outline, all you can recall concerning preferred stocks of industrial corporations. Just such headings as would make paragraphs in an essay on the subject. Name examples under each where possible.
  2. What was the purpose of the valorization of coffee scheme? How has it worked?
  3. Two objections to the price policy of the “trusts” have been advanced. One is the special cutting of prices in local markets; the other is “dumping” abroad at reduced prices. Are the two really different in essence; and if so, in what respect? Discuss fully.
  4. Sketch the argument and conclusions in the recent Standard Oil case in the Supreme Court. What particular logical difficulty had to be overcome?
  5. What is meant by “over capitalization”? What its effect upon: (a) earning power; (b) the market price of securities?
  6. Compare the organization of the “Powder Trust,” with the Standard Oil Co. How does the dissolution of the two bring up different problems in each case?
  7. In what respect is English company law in advance of ours?
  8. Compare Federal incorporation and Federal licences as remedies for some of our industrial ills.
  9. What industrial factors favor the inauguration of a policy of integration in production? Illustrate.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], p. 56.

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Other Corporations/Industrial Organization Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Economics of Corporations, 1903-1904.

Economics of Corporations, 1904-05 (with Vanderveer Custis)

Economics of Corporations, 1906-07 (with Stuart Daggett)

Economics of Corporations, 1907-08 (with Stuart Daggett)

Economics of Corporations, 1908-09 (with Edmund Thornton Miller)

Economics of Corporations, 1909-10 (with Goepper and Whipple)

Economics of Corporations, 1914-1915.

Image Source: “A Trustworthy Beast” by W. A. Rogers in Harper’s Weekly (October 20, 1888), p. 803.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Labor

Harvard. Problems of labor. Course description, enrollment, final examination. Ripley, 1911-1912

Cartoon by Arthur Young

 

William Z. Ripley’s course on problems of labor was an institutional survey of trade unionism and labor legislation. Economics 9a and 9b were dedicated to market power of organized labor and organized capital, respectively. 

His assistant was the magna cum laude, prize-winning undergraduate Roscoe Russell Hess who had a QJE publication before leaving for the Harvard Law School.

Links to previous Harvard labor exams 1892-93 to 1910-11.

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Labor Bibliographies
Prepared by Ripley

Short Bibliography of Trade Unionism, 1910.

Short Bibliography of Strikes and Boycotts, 1910.

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Meet the Teaching Assistant:
Roscoe Russell Hess
(1887-1979)

Harvard Class of 1911, First Report  (April 1912)

1909-10. Bowdoin Prize. Second prize of $100 for the essay “A Short History and Analysis of the English Submarine Telegraph Company.”

1910-11. Bowdoin Prize. First prize of $250 for the essay “The Paper Industry in its Relation to Conservation and the Tariff.” [Published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1911.]

1911. A.B. magna cum laude

1912. Address:  1722 West 58th St., Seattle, Wash.; is tutoring; his present address is care of Mrs. Hugo R. Johnstone, ” Brackenide,” Hamilton.

Harvard Class of 1911 Decennial Report (1922),
pp. 193-194

Roscoe Russell Hess

Born at Plymouth, Ind., Oct. 17, 1887.
Parents: Joseph William Hess, Nellie Josephine Tibbets.
School: Seattle High School, Seattle, Wash.
Degrees: A. B. 1911; LL. B. 1916.
War Service: Enlisted Aug. 3, 1917, Pvt.; Discharged Jan. 15, 1919, 2nd Lt. F. A. 144th F. A. and others.
Occupation: Lawyer.
Address: ( Home ) Overland Club, Pasadena, Calif. ( Bus. ) 503 H. W. Hellman Bldg., Los Angeles, Calif.

 

For two years after graduation I was tutor for two sons of Hugo R. Johnstone, ’92, wintering in California. The next three years were in the Law School, wherein I received the ” gentleman’s mark, ” but I did an unbelievable amount of type- writing for other fellows in the Law School. The summer of 1916 I spent as secretary for Sir Edgar Speyer, London banker, and the next year was in California, getting admitted to the bar. Then came seventeen months in the Field Artillery and never got across, but landed as far as Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and was discharged Second Lieutenant, Field Artillery. The last two years I have spent in the office of F. G. Cruickshank, best probate lawyer in Pasadena, but at this present writing I am spending time in Los Angeles, preparing income tax returns for people who cannot understand the intricacies of the thing. After March 15 I hope to open an office of my own in Los Angeles.

As to the service, I can only speak of it with regret – a most poignant bitterness, because I enlisted in August 1917 with an outfit that I hoped had the pull to get overseas orders and I made the mistake of my life in not going back to Boston at that time and trying to tie up with an eastern outfit that would have had a better chance of seeing the real stuff.

Member: Overland Club, Pasadena; Sons of the Revolution, California Society, Los Angeles.

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Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 9a1hf. Problems of Labor. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. ——

This course will deal mainly with the economic and social relations of employer and employed, with especial reference to legislation. Among the topics included will be: collective bargaining; labor organizations; factory legislation in the United States and Europe; strikes, strike legislation and legal decisions; conciliation and arbitration; employers’ liability and compulsory compensation; compulsory insurance with particular reference to European experience; the problem of the unemployed; apprenticeship, and trade and technical education.

Each student will make at least one report upon a labor union, from the original documents. Two lectures a week, with one recitation, will be the usual practice. This course is open to students who hare passed in Economics 1 and to Juniors and Seniors of good standing who are taking Economics 1 at the same time.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911). pp. 64-65.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Hess. — Problems of Labor.

Total 70: 3 Graduates, 23 Seniors, 35 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

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ECONOMICS 9a
Final Exam
Mid-year 1911-12

  1. Economically speaking, that is to say regardless of legal obstacles, why should not the state regulate conditions of labor for adult men, as well as for women and children? Would this accord with trade union ideals?
  2. What details in the Baldwin Locomotive Works’ plan of apprenticeship would insure or forfeit its approval by a thoroughgoing trades unionist?
  3. What are some of the defects, according to Webb, in the Victorian Minimum Wage legislation?
  4. State any economic differences between American and Australian conditions which might affect the success of such legislation in Massachusetts.
  5. Name, specifically, four labor and social laws in England, which are more advanced than most of our state regulation in America.
  6. Having regard to its original uses, to what occurrences might injunctions be applied in connection with labor disputes? To what others has it been applied in later usage?
  7. Cite as many instances as you can, of different labor laws, held to be unconstitutional by the Courts.
  8. Discuss the present longshoremen’s strike in Boston.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], p. 55.

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Previous Labor Courses at Harvard

1892-93. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1893-94. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1894-95. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1895-96. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1896-97. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (J. and E. Cummings)
1897-98. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (J. and E. Cummings)
1898-99. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (E. Cummings)
1899-1900. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (Omitted)
1900-01. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (W.F. Willoughby)
1901-02. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (E.D. Durand)
1902-03. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1903-04. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1904-05. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1905-06. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1906-07. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1907-08. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1908-09. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1909-10. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1910-11. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)

Image Source: Arthur Young cartoon illustration for “The Industrial Revolt at Lawrence” by Richard Washburn Child in Collier’s The National Weekly, Vol. 48, Issue 25 (March 9, 1912), p. 14.

Categories
Business Cycles Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Money, Banking, and Crises. Description, Enrollment, and Year-end Exam. Day, 1911-1912

I don’t know why the department of economics felt a need to merge two semester courses into a single two semester sequence,  but in 1911-12 Edmund Ezra Day’s two distinct courses were joined into a single sequence covering money, banking and crises. Maybe it was really a desire to reduce three semester courses (1) money (2) banking and foreign exchange (3) and commercial crises into two semesters.

The mid-year exam for the first term of the two-semester course on money, banking, and crises was not found with the other exams of the 1911-12 academic year in the Harvard archives. One has to make do with what one’s got.

Professor Edmund Ezra Day’s biographical timeline was posted earlier.

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Banking, Foreign Exchange and Crises pre-1911/12

Links to earlier course material for Banking, Foreign Exchange, and Crises from Harvard, 1902-03 through 1910-11.

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Meet the Course Teaching Assistant

Thomas York (1883–1941)

Dec. 22, 1883 — Born, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, son of Walenty (“Valentine”) and Anna York, Polish immigrants.

1900 — Graduates Mount Carmel High School.

1903 — Enters Phillips Exeter Academy in preparation for Harvard; matriculates at Harvard College, 1903.

1903–06 — In residence at Harvard College.

1907 — Receives A.B., summa cum laude, with the Class of 1907 (having completed the course in three years).

1907–1910 (c.) — Teaches Latin and Greek at the Morristown School, a boys’ boarding school in Morristown, N.J.

1910 — Returns to Harvard, entering the Graduate School to study economics.

1911 — Receives A.M.

1911–1913 — Serves as Assistant in Economics, Harvard University, under Professor  Day, including work on Economics 8 (Money, Banking and Crises).

1913 (c.) — Leaves Harvard without pursuing the Ph.D.; joins the staff of the Wall Street Journal.

Sept. 4, 1918 — Marries Isabel Smith of Mount Carmel, in New York City (Mount Carmel Item, Sept. 6, 1918).

Sept. 12, 1918 — WWI draft registration; listed as reporter, Wall Street Journal; residence 609 West 127th Street, New York, with wife Isabel.

1920 — Publishes Foreign Exchange: Theory and Practice.

1920 (c.) — Leaves the Wall Street Journal after seven years on its staff (having risen to Foreign Exchange Editor); joins the Ronald Press Company, New York, publishers of business and financial books.

1920–1922 — Prepares an enlarged edition of his foreign-exchange book.

1923 — Publishes International Exchange, Normal and Abnormal; favorably reviewed in the New York Times (Apr. 8, 1923) and celebrated in his hometown paper, the Mount Carmel Item (Apr. 9, 1923).

1920–1941 — Serves twenty years on the editorial board of the Ronald Press Company, supervising numerous finance and business titles; contributes to financial periodicals and lectures at financial conventions; frequently consulted by banking and brokerage houses.

(undated, pre-1941) — Works on an unpublished manuscript on banking, accounting, and corporation law, left incomplete at his death.

Jan. 12, 1941 — Dies suddenly of a heart attack at his home, 5 West 65th Street, New York City, age 57.

Jan. 13–14, 1941 — Death reported in the Mount Carmel Item and the New York Times.

(after 1941) — Widow Isabel Smith York donates his unpublished manuscript to Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School.

Sources: Harvard College Class of 1907, Secretary’s First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth (Quindecennial) Reports; Cambridge, Mass. city directories (1912–13); Mount Carmel Item (Sept. 6, 1918; Apr. 9, 1923; Jan. 13, 1941); New York Times (Apr. 8, 1923; Jan. 14, 1941); WWI draft registration card (Sept. 12, 1918); Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School, finding aid (bak01111).

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

THOMAS YORK [as of 1922]

BORN at Mt. Carmel, Pa., Dec. 22, 1883.
SON OF: Walter, Anna York.
PREPARED AT: Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.
YEARS IN COLLEGE: 1903-06.
DEGREES: A.B. 1907, Α.Μ. 1911.
MARRIED: Isabel Smith, September 1918, Mt. Carmel, Pa.
OCCUPATION: Publisher.
ADDRESS: c/o Ronald Press Co., 20 Vesey St., New York, N.Y.

                  I HAVE been engaged in sundry occupations since leaving College. For three years I taught Latin and Greek at the Morristown School, a private institution for boys at Morristown, N.J. The classics, however, offered little opportunity for my rising ambition, and I, therefore, decided to turn to matters of more up-to-date interest. So in the fourth year of graduation I came back to Harvard to enter the Graduate School, and there I spent three diligent years delving into the dismal science, otherwise known as economics. I still had teaching in view, but at the close of my graduate course I definitely abandoned the idea. I hasten to add, lest there be some misunderstanding, that I am not the possessor of the Ph.D. A constitutional dislike of the grind that is the condition precedent of obtaining that degree turned me away from pursuit of it.

                  Having accumulated a modicum of knowledge about banking and finance during my Graduate School days, I decided to try my fortune in financial journalism. So I am next found on the staff of the Wall Street Journal. Here I had a varied experience, marketwise and otherwise. I made valiant attempts during my first years in the Street to find the proverbial pot of gold. Not meeting with success I turned to less distracted, though more laborious, pursuits, visible evidence of which is furnished by a book on foreign exchange. Not satisfied with this maiden effort at authorship, I undertook to get out an enlarged edition of the book, and this has engaged my spare time for the last two years. I have in the meantime also been contributing to some financial periodicals.

                  I left the Wall Street Journal two years ago, after serving seven years on its staff. Since then I have been associated with the Ronald Press Company, 20 Vesey Street, New York, publishers of business and financial books.

                  In September of 1918 I joined the ranks of the benedicts. My wife was Miss Isabel Smith of my home town, Mt. Carmel, Pa.

Source: Secretary’s Fifth Report. Harvard College Class of 1907 (June, 1922), pp. 596-597.

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Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 8. Money, Banking, and Crises. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 1.30. Dr. Day.

This course aims to analyze the principal problems of money and credit. An examination is first made of the more important existing monetary systems. This is followed by a careful review of the more instructive chapters in the monetary history of England, Germany, France, the United States, Austria, British India, Mexico, and the Philippines.

The nature, origin, and early growth of commercial banking are considered. A thorough investigation of present banking practice in England, France, Germany, and Canada is followed by a study of banking history and present banking problems in the United States. In this connection foreign exchange and the money markets of London, Paris, Berlin, and New York are examined.

Finally attention is turned to those problems of money and credit which appear most prominently in connection with economic crises. Though emphasis is thrown upon the financial aspects of the trade cycle, the investigation covers the more fundamental factors causing commercial and industrial fluctuations.

Short papers upon assigned topics will be required of all students. The course is open to those only who have passed in Economics 1.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 64.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 8. Dr. E. E. Day, assisted by Mr. York. — Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 120: 7 Graduates, 16 Seniors, 70 Juniors, 22 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 1 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

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ECONOMICS 8
Year-end Final Examination
1911-12

  1. Give (in not more than 100 words, using tabular form if you wish) the history of the silver dollar in the United States. What is its present position? Is it a source of weakness in our monetary system? If so, why? If not, why not?
  2. Describe the monetary experience of India from 1893 to 1901. What were the immediate and ultimate standards of value in India in (1) 1895, (2) 1899, (3) 1901?
  3. Compare the bank note issues of Germany and Canada with reference to (1) elasticity; (2) limitations upon the aggregate circulation; (3) ultimate security. Which system seems to you preferable for the United States? Why?
  4. Define discount market. Describe the English discount market. How has the absence of such a market affected banking in the United States? What provisions of the Aldrich Bill are designed to establish a discount market in this country?
  5. To what degree does the rate of discount vary in different parts of (1) Canada, (2) the United States? How in each case is the absence of perfect uniformity to be accounted for? If the Aldrich Plan were adopted, could the Reserve Association probably control the rate of discount in the United States? If so, how? If not, why not?
  6. Describe briefly the following phenomena in the crisis of 1907: (a) currency premium; (b) hoarding; (c) the domestic exchanges; (d) substitutes for cash.
  7. State concisely the theory of crises advanced by Professor Fisher in “The Purchasing Power of Money.” Discuss the theory critically.
  8. Indicate fully the significance of the following “indices” in an analysis of general business conditions:

(1) Value of the corn crop;
(2) Railway net earnings;
(3) Business failures;
(4) Gold exports.

In each case explain why the “index” has or has not significance.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 54-55.

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Exams from earlier years

1902/03-1907/08. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (A.P. Andrew)
1906/07. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1907/08. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1908/09. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (Wesley Clair Mitchell)
1908/09. Banking and Foreign Exchange (W.C. Mitchell)
1909/10. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles [Not offered].
1909/10. Banking and Foreign Exchange (O.M.W. Sprague)
1910/11. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade (E.E. Day)
1910/11. Banking and Foreign Exchange (E.E. Day)

Source: Edmund Ezra Day (colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror) in the Harvard Class Album 1915.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Theory and Methods of Taxation. Description, Enrollment, Final Exam. Bullock, 1911-1912

"...tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes..."

Comparative national taxation systems gave this Harvard public finance course dedicated to the nuts and bolts of taxation an international flair.

Fun fact: While Benjamin Franklin did indeed write in a 1789 letter that “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” The certainty of death and taxes was a notion that had been in the air (indeed in print) earlier, e.g. in Christopher Bullock’s farce, The Cobler of Preston.

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Earlier Harvard courses
on Public Finance and Taxation

Links to earlier course material for Public Finance and Taxation 1883/4 through 1910/11.

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Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 7b 2hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor Bullock.

In this course the theory of taxation is first examined; then the tax systems of the United States and leading countries of Europe are studied. Finally proposals for reforming the methods employed in the United States are considered historically and critically.

The course will be conducted in the same manner as Economics 7a, and admission is subject to the same conditions. Students who do not elect this course at the beginning of the year will be admitted in February only with the consent of the instructor.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), pp.63-64.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 7b 2hf. Professor Bullock. — The Theory and Methods of Taxation.

Total 37: 2 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 9 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

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ECONOMICS 7b
Year-end Examination
1911-12

  1. Discuss fully the doctrine that income is the normal source of taxation.
  2. Discuss the expediency of using taxation as a means of regulating the distribution of wealth.
  3. How should the burden of taxation be distributed?
  4. Discuss the incidence of the tax on mortgages in the American states.
  5. State and explain four criticisms urged by Seligman against the single tax. State and explain the replies Mr. Shearman has made to these criticisms.
  6. Discuss the taxation of personal property in the United States and in Switzerland.
  7. Compare the British and the Prussian income taxes.
  8. Compare the custom taxes of France, Great Britain, and Germany.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 53-54.

Image Source:  Origin of the observation of the the inevitability of death and taxes: “You lye, you are not sure; for I say, Woman, ’tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes — therefore hold your Tongue, or you shall both be soundly whipt—Sure I know my Office⁠⁠—Give me some Sack⁠—Lord, how I sweat!” from The Cobbler of Preston by Christopher Bullock, p. 21.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Introduction to Public Finance. Description, Enrollment, Final Exam. Bullock, 1911-1912

 

For those trained to think of sovereign kings subject to a government budget constraint that boils down to the use of some combination of taxing the peasants, borrowing from the grand houses of international banking, debasing the currency, and rents paid for the use of royal land to finance any particular level of government spending, it seems odd to divide a two semester sequence into a semester devoted to taxation and another semester for all the other items in that government budget constraint. But that was the way the field was divided at Harvard under Charles Jesse Bullock in the first part of the 20th century. 

This post is for Economics 7a, the non-taxation parts of public finance.

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Public Finance pre-1911/12

Links to earlier course material for Public Finance from Harvard, 1883-84 through 1910-11.

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Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 7a 1hf. Introduction to Public Finance. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor Bullock.

This course covers the general field of public finance exclusive of taxation. After a brief survey of the history of public finance, the following subjects are studied: public expenditures, public revenues other than taxes, public debts, financial administration, and financial legislation. Attention is given both to the theory and to the practice of various countries.

A systematic course of readings is prescribed, and most of the exercises are conducted by the method of informal discussion. Candidates for honors will be given an opportunity to write theses. The course is open only to students who have passed in Economics 1. Graduate students are advised to take Economics 16. Course 7a is not open to students who in the year 1910-11 elected Economics 7, but such students may be admitted to Economics 1b with the consent of the instructor.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 63.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 7a 1hf. Professor Bullock. — Introduction to Public Finance.

Total 24: 3 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 11 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Others

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

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ECONOMICS 7a
Mid-year Final Exam
1911-12

Omit any question except the last.

  1. Discuss fully the proposition that increasing public expenditures are a sign of advancing civilization.
  2. Compare the policy of our federal government with regard to revenue from public domains with the policy of Prussia.
  3. To what extent in the United States and elsewhere has the weight of taxation been reduced by revenue from public industries?
  4. What light does the history of the United States Post Office throw upon the character and tendencies of public management of industries? Does the postal service of other countries reveal different or similiar tendencies?
  5. What policy would you advocate in fixing the prices charged by public industries? If your policy would not be the same under all circumstances, state what it would be under each of the different sets of circumstances that may be assumed to exist.
  6. Present what seems to you to be a satisfactory theory of the economic effects of public debts; then state and criticize four other theories which you have studied.
  7. “The truth is that all newly produced goods are at the outset disposable capital. All are created for the same purpose, the immediate or more remote satisfaction of needs; they are already destined to be capital, and must, therefore, be considered as capital. To take away any part of them is as truly a destruction of capital, as the destruction of capital previously accummulated would be.”
    What does this passage suggest to you? Criticise it.
  8. Of the writers upon public finance whose works you have read, which four impress you as the most important? State what each of these four writers contributed to the science, and explain why he deserves the rank you assign him.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 52-53.

________________________

Earlier public finance exams
at Harvard

1883-84. Political Economy 7. Comparison of the financial systems of France, England, Germany, and the U.S. Taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1884-85. Political Economy 7. Comparison of the Financial Systems of France, England, Germany, and the U.S. [Omitted 1884-85].

1884-85. Political Economy 8. History of financial legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1885-86. Political Economy 8. Financial history of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1886-87. Political Economy 7. Public finance and banking taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1886-87. Political Economy 8. Financial history of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar [Exams not (yet) found]

1887-88. Political Economy 7. Taxation, public debts, and banking taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1887-88. Political Economy 8. History of financial legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1888-89. Political Economy 7. Taxation, public debts, and banking taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1888-89. Political Economy 8. History of financial legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1889-90. Political Economy 7. Public Finance and Banking. Omitted.

1889-90. Political Economy 8. History of financial legislation in the U.S. taught by Adolph Caspar Miller

1890-91. Political Economy 7. Public finance and taxation taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1890-91. Political Economy 8. History of financial legislation in the U.S. taught by William Morse Cole.

1891-92. Political Economy 71. Theory and methods of taxation  taught by Charles F. Dunbar [Mid-year examination not found]

1891-92. Political Economy 8. History of fnancial legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1892-93. Economics 71. Theory and methods of txation taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1892-93. Economics 72. Financial administration and public Debts taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1893-94. Economics 8. History of financial legislation of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1894-95. Economics 7. Theory and methods of taxation (first semester) and financial administration and public debts (second semester) taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1895-96. Economics 7. Financial administration and public Debts taught by John Cummings.

1895-96. Economics 8. History of financial legislation of the U.S. taught by J. A. Hill.

1896-97. Economics 16. Topics in the financial legislation of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1897-98. Economics 71. Theory and Methods of Taxation taught by Frank William Taussig, Readings, Exams.

1898-99. Economics 16. Topics in the financial legislation of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1899-1900. Economics 7a. Financial administration and public Debts taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1899-1900. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation taught by Frank William Taussig.

1900-01. Economics 7a and 7b. Not offered.

1901-02. Economics 7a and 7b. Financial administration; taxation [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1902-03. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation with reference to local taxation [undergraduate] taught by Edward Dana Durand, Readings, Exam and Durand biography.

1902-03. Economics 16. Financial history of the United States taught by Prof Henry Brayton Gardner of Brown University.

1903-04. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation taught by Frank William Taussig.

1903-04. Economics 16.  Financial history of the United States taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1904-05. Economics 7a. Introduction to public finance [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1904-05. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1904-05. Economics 16. Financial history of the United States taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1905-06 Economics 7.  Public finance [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1905-06 Economics 16. Public finance [advanced] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1906-07 Economics 16. Public finance and taxation taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1907-08 Economics 16. Public finance and taxation taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1908-09 Economics 7. Public finance [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1908-09 Economics 16. Public finance [advanced course] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1909-10 Economics 7. Public finance and taxation taught by Charles Phillips Huse [biographical information included]

1909-10 Economics 16. American taxation [advanced course] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock and Charles Phillips Huse.

1910-11 Economics 7 2hf. Public finance considered with special reference to the theory and methods of taxation. taught by Charles Phillips Huse, assisted by Wilfred] Eldred and Roscoe Russell Hess.

1910-11 Economics 16 Public finance (advanced course) taught by Charles Jesse Bullock.

1910-11 Economics 17 2hf.  Municipal finance taught by Charles Phillips Huse

Image Source: The original Seal of the Department of the Treasury, designed in 1778. The Latin inscription is an abbreviation for the phrase Thesauri Americae Septentrionalis Sigillum, which means “The Seal of the Treasury of North America.” 

 

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. US Economic History. Course Description, Enrollment, Final Exam. Gay, 1911-1912

Waltham system, ca. 1870

Economic historians of the present day must look back to the relative importance of their field in the undergraduate and graduate training of economists back in the day with some envy. U.S. economic history was an constitutive part of the educational mission of the department in 1911-12.

________________________

Earlier Harvard courses
on U.S. economic history

Links to earlier course material for U.S. Economic History taught at Harvard, 1901-1902 through 1910-11.

_______________________

Course Description
1911-12

6b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States. Halfcourse (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor [Edwin F.] Gay, assisted by Mr. [Julius] Klein.

The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; banking and currency experiences; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply; certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, and the effects of immigration.

It is open to students who have passed in Economics 1, and, with the consent of the instructor, to all students except Freshmen who are taking Economics 1.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 61.

_______________________

Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 6b 2hf. Professor [Edwin F.] Gay, assisted by Mr. [Julius] Klein. — Economic and Financial History of the United States.

Total 94: 19 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 48 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

_______________________

ECONOMICS 6b
Year-end Final Examination
1911-1912

  1. —
    1. Discuss this statement:

“Peel’s prophecy that the English policy of Free Trade would be followed by other nations was upset by the American Civil War . . . American protection, the mother of Trusts, is the daughter of war.” (MacGregor, Evolution of Industry).

    1. Give a survey of American tariff history during the period 1880–1910 with particular reference to its connection with agriculture, foreign commerce, labor problems, and finance.
  2. Analyze the causes, symptoms, and results of the periods of discontent in American agricultural history.
  3. Outline the labor history of the United States since 1870.
  4. Comment on the following passage from President Taft’s message to Congress, December 7, 1911: “I need hardly reiterate the conviction that there should speedily be built up an American merchant marine. This is necessary to assure favorable transportation facilities to our great ocean-borne commerce as well as to supplement the navy with an adequate reserve of ships and men. It would have the economic advantage of keeping at home part of the vast sums now paid foreign shipping for carrying American goods. All the great commercial nations pay heavy subsidies to their merchant marine, so that it is obvious that without some wise aid from Congress, the United States must lag behind in the matter of merchant marine.”
  5. Criticise the following statement from Callender: “Perhaps the most striking peculiarity of American expansion is the insignificance of government intervention.”
  6. —
    1. Outline the important points of difference between the woollen and cotton industries. Is there any explanation for this difference in the economic history of the two industries in the United States?
    2. It is asserted that the jobber of American cotton goods is disappearing. Is this true, and, if so, why? How far do you think the tendencies in this staple industry are found in the distribution of other commodities?

Questions seven and eight are for graduate students who have not taken the half-hour tests.

  1. Sherman’s place in the economic history of the United States.
  2. Give a list of books with brief critical estimates on two of the following topics in this course: agriculture, banking, transportation, labor.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 51-52.

________________________

Economic History Materials
Posted Earlier

Economic History of the United States

1901-02. Economics 6. Economic History of the United States. [O.M.W. Sprague and J.H. Patten]

1902-03. Economics 6. Economic History of the United States. [O.M.W. Sprague]

1903-04. Economics 6. Economic History of the United States. [O.M.W. Sprague]

1904-05. Economics 6. Economic and Financial History of the United States. [O.M.W. Sprague]

1905-06. Economics 6. Economic and Financial History of the United States [with Frank W. Taussig]

1906-07. Economics 6b. Economic and Financial History of the United States. [E.F. Gay]

1907-08. Economics 6b. Economic and Financial History of the United States. [E.F. Gay]

1908-09. European and U.S. Economic History. Reading Lists and Exams. [E.F. Gay]

1909-10. European and U.S. Economic History. Reading Lists and Exams. [E.F. Gay and H.L. Gray]

1910-11. Economic and Financial History of the U.S. [Gay and Klein]. Including reading list.

Image Source: Harvard Business School, Baker Library, Special Collections & Archives webpage “Boston Manufacturing Company”.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. European Economic History. Description, enrollment, final exam. Gay, 1911-1912

Borsig's Maschinenbau-Anstalt zu Berlin in der Chausseestraße

A clue that your economic history course description wasn’t written by a.i.: it includes the words “recrudescence of protectionism”. Anyone? Anyone?

Biographical notes for can be found for Edwin F. Gay and Julisus Klein in this earlier post.

________________________

Earlier Harvard courses
on European economic history

Links to earlier course material for European Economic History from Harvard, 1883-84 through 1910-11.

________________________

Course Description
1911-12

6a 1hf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Klein.

Course 6a undertakes to present the general outlines of the economic history of western Europe since the Industrial Revolution. Such topics as the following will be discussed: the economic aspects of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic regime, the Stein-Hardenberg reforms, the Zoll-Verein, Cobden and free trade in England, labor legislation and social reform, nationalism and the recrudescence of protectionism, railways and waterways, the effects of transoceanic competition, the rise of industrial Germany.

Since attention will be directed in this course to those phases of the subject which are related to the economic history of the United States, it may be taken usefully before Economics 6b. It is open to students who have passed in Economics 1, and, with the consent of the instructor, to students who have taken or are taking Economics 1.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 61.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 6a 1hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Klein. — European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 65: 22 Graduates 5 Seniors, 28 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

________________________

ECONOMICS 6a
Final Examination
Mid-year 1911-12

  1. “Trade bursts local barriers because industry is the history of invention responding to the pressure of wants.”
    Discuss this statement with special reference to the Industrial Revolution.
  2. “The years from 1800 to 1825 were suited to almost any doctrine of despair. No economic problem was generally understood; it was the age of everything done wrong.”
    Do you agree? Substantiate your answer with detailed examples.
  3. Compare the agricultural history of England during the periods 1825–1850 and 1875–1900. Describe the condition of the agricultural laborer during the two periods.
  4. —
    1. Comment upon the following statistics (compiled from the British Board of Trade “Memoranda,” 1903): —
Average ad valorem import duties. Number of inhabitants per ton of steam shipping.
Russia 131% 330
United States 73 116
Austria-Hungary 35 110
France 34 71
Italy 27 72
Germany 25 34
Denmark 18 9
Norway 12 4
Holland 3 15
United Kingdom 0 4.6
    1. Outline the development of the English merchant marine during the nineteenth century.

5.  Discuss: —

    1. The regulation of prices by English industrial combinations.
    2. “Protective tariffs do not seem to have been of special significance in the formation of industrial combinations in Europe, although in many cases the combination has been enabled to take advantage of the protective tariff.”
      — U. S. Industrial Commission Report, v. 18.
  1. Enumerate and comment upon those features of England’s cotton industry which contribute to her superiority in that field.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 50-51.

________________________

Links to earlier course material for
European Economic History.
Harvard 1883-84 through 1910-11

1883-84. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1884-85. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1885-86. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1886-87. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1887-88. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1888-89. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [Gray]
1889-90. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [A.C. Miller]
1890-91. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1891-92. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [W.M. Cole]
1892-93. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [W.M. Cole]
1892-93. Economics 10. Economic History of Europe and America, to 1763. [W.J. Ashley]
1893-94. Economics 10. Elements of Economic History from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. [W.J. Ashley]
1893-94. Economics 13. Development of Land Tenures and of Agrarian Conditions in Europe. [W.J. Ashley]
1894-95. Economics 10. Elements of Economic History from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. [W.J. Ashley]
1895-96. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [W.J. Ashley]
1896-97. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe and America [W.J. Ashley]
1897-98. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe and America [W.J. Ashley]
1898-99. Economics 8. Western Civilization, mediaeval and modern, in its Economic Aspects [W. Cunningham, Reading List]
1898-99. Economics 11. Industrial Revolution in England. [W. Cunningham]
1899-1900. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [W.J. Ashley, Reading List]
1900-01. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [W.J. Ashley]
1901-02. No course in European economic history offered.
1902-03. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay]
1902-03. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1903-04. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1903-04. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1903-04. Economics 24. General Outlines of Agrarian History [E.F. Gay]
1904-05. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay, only one student enrolled, no printed exam available]
1904-05. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1905-06. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay]
1905-06. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1906-07. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay]
1906-07. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1906-07. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1907-08. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay]
1907-08. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1907-08. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay]
1908-09. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay with M.T. Copeland]
1908-09. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1908-09. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1909-10. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay with H. L. Gray]
1909-10. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe [H.L. Gray]
1909-10. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1910-11. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay with J. Klein]. Reading list included.
1910-11. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]

Image Source: Borsig’s Maschinenbau-Anstalt zu Berlin in der Chausseestraße (1847) at the Märkisches Museum in Berlin. Image at Wikimedia commons.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Transportation

Harvard. Transportation Economics. Description, enrollment, exam. Ripley, 1911-1912

Great Northern Railway Co., 1892 Minnesota. $1,000 4% Collateral Trust Coupon Bond

The value-added in this post for Economics in the Rear-view Mirror are the course description, enrollment and final exam for William Z. Ripley’s one semester course at Harvard during the 1911-12 academic year on the economics of transportation. I have copied and pasted some biographical information about Ripley’s T.A. for the course, Arthur Stone Dewing, and appended a list of links for earlier exams on the economics of transportation.

________________________

Bonus Material

Links to earlier course material for Economics of Transportation from Harvard, 1887-88 through 1910-11.

_________________________

Not your typical teaching assistant

Dr. Arthur Stone Dewing was born (April 16, 1880) and died (January 19, 1971) in Boston. His academic degrees were awarded by Harvard (A.B., 1902; A.M., 1903; Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1905). Dissertation title: “Negation and Intuition in the Philosophy of Schelling.” He also studied at the University of Munich. Dewing taught philosophy from 1902 to 1913 and in economics and finance from 1911 to 1933.  He was one of the founders of the Harvard Business School. For a memorial see Cornelius Vermeil, “Arthur Stone Dewing”, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 83, 1971, pp. 165-167.

Incidentally Arthur S. Dewing was a distinguished numismatist, his collection of nearly three thousand ancient Greek coins was considered “one of the most outstanding in the hands of a private collector in the world.” Here a fascinating article about the theft and recovery of much the Dewing collection.

__________________________

Monographs/Books on Transportation by W. Z. Ripley

Transportation. Chapter from the Final report of the U.S. Industrial Commission (Vol. XIX) and privately issued by the author for the use of his students and others. Washington, D.C., 1902.

Railway Problems, edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley (Boston: Ginn & Company, 1907).

Railroads: Rates and Regulation (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912).

Railroads: Finance & Organization (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1915).

_________________________

Course Description
1911-12

51hf. Economics of Transportation. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Ripley, assisted by Dr. Dewing.

A brief outline of the historical development of rail and water transportation in the United States will be followed by a description of the condition of transportation systems at the present time. The four main subdivisions of rates and rate-making, finance, traffic operation, and legislation will be considered in turn. The first deals with the relation of the railroad to shippers, comprehending an analysis of the theory and practice of rate-making. An outline will be given of the nature of railroad securities, the principles of capitalization, and the interpretation of railroad accounts. Railroad operation will deal with the practical problems of the traffic department, such as the collection and interpretation of statistics of operation, pro-rating, the apportionment of cost, depreciation and maintenance, etc. Under legislation, the course of state regulation and control in the United States and Europe will be traced.

Course 5 is open only to students who have passed in Economics 1.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 63.

_________________________

Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 5 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Dewing. — Economics of Transportation.

Total 99: 4 Graduate, 23 Seniors, 54 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

_________________________

ECONOMICS 5
Final exam
(mid-year 1911-12)

  1. The “operating ratio” on the Delaware and Hudson is 59.7; on the New Haven 67; and on the Union Pacific 51. Suggest explanations for these variations.
  2. Pittsburg soft coal operators contend that their freight rate to the Lake ports is unreasonably high; and urge, as one reason for a reduction, the fact that the predominant movement of other tonnage, principally iron ore, is in the opposite direction. In other words, because many cars would otherwise be hauled northwards empty, soft coal should be carried as a back load at cheaper rates.
    Discuss this proposition; indicating especially what other factors must necessarily be considered.
  3. Does a “flat rate” over a large territory favor the local jobbers within that territory or not? Illustrate by an actual or hypothetical case.
  4. State the main features of the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910, — the East Federal law regulating common carriers.
  5. Contrast the Gould and Harriman policies of railroad expansion, pointing out the main reasons for the success of one and the failure of the other.
  6. Define carefully: —

Commodity rate.
Valuation of railroads.
Stock watering.
Collateral Trust Bond.
Voting Trust.

  1. What was the nature of the first great case to come before the Interstate Commerce Commission under the law of 1910, which could not have arisen under the law of 1906? How was it decided?
  2. Are there any features of transportation in foreign countries which seem to you to be worthy of imitation in the United States? If so, indicate how they would need to be modified to suit our conditions.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 49-50.

________________________

Earlier exams etc. for Economics 5,
Pol Econ 9
(Economics of Transportation/ Railroads)

1887-88 (James Laurence Laughlin)
1888-89 (John Henry Gray)
1889-90 [Omitted]
1890-91 (Frank William Taussig)
1891-92 (Frank William Taussig)
1892-93 (Frank William Taussig)
1893-94 (Frank William Taussig)
1894-95 (George Ole Virtue)
1895-96 (Frank William Taussig)
1896-97 (Frank William Taussig)
1897-98 (Hugo Richard Meyer)
1898-99 (Hugo Richard Meyer
1899-1900 (Hugo Richard Meyer)
1900-01 (Hugo Richard Meyer)
1901-02 (Ripley with Hugo Richard Meyer)
1903-04 (Ripley alone)
1904-05 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1905-06 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1906-07 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett and Walter Wallace McLaren). Also with the Assignment of Reports.
1907-08 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1908-09 (Ripley with Edmund Thorton Miller)
1909-10 (Ripley with Eliot Jones)
1910-11 (Ripley with Ralph Cahoon Whitnack)

….etc.

1906-07. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)
1907-08. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)

Image Source: madoncollections.com.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Statistics

Harvard. Statistics. Course description, enrollment, final exam. Ripley, 1911-1912

Q. 1. Define "Quet".

As we move into the second decade of the twentieth century we can see the field structure of the Harvard economics department crystallizing both with respect to the fields and the faculty covering the courses. William Zebina Ripley was responsible for courses in statistics, industrial organization and industrial relations.

Of note is the application of Engel’s law seen in the last question of the year-end examination below.

Note: For the academic year 1911-12 I have been unable to find a mid-year examination for Ripley’s statistics course.

________________________

Statistics (Econ 4), previous years

1896-1900, John Cummings.
1900-01 [omitted]
1901-02, Ripley.
1902-03, Ripley.
1903-04, Ripley. [only mid-year exam found]
1904-05, Ripley.
1905-06 [omitted]
1906-07. [offered but no printed exam found]
1907-08, Ripley. [only mid-year exam found]
1908-09, Ripley.
1909-10, Ripley.
1910-11, Young.

________________________

Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 4. Statistics. — Theory, Method, and Practice. Tu., Th., at 11.Professor Ripley.

This course is intended rather as an analysis of methods of research and sources of information than as embodying mere results. A brief history of statistics will be followed by an account of census and other statistical methods in the United States and abroad, with the scientific use and interpretation of results. The main divisions of vital statistics, relating to birth, marriage, morbidity and mortality, life tables, etc.; the statistics of trade and commerce, such as price indexes, etc.; industrial statistics relating to labor, wages, and employment; statistics of agriculture, manufactures, and transportation, will be then considered in order. Laboratory work, amounting to not less than two hours per week, in the preparation of charts, maps, and diagrams from original material, will be required. Course 4 is open to students who have taken Economics 1.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), pp. 588-59.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 4. Professor Ripley. — Statistics. Theory, method, and practice.

Total 20: 4 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Other

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 63.

________________________

ECONOMICS 4
Year-end Examination, 1911-12

  1. Define the following: —

Skewness.
Quet.
Fecundity (as applied to population).

  1. Standardize and compare the following: —

 Population A. Number. Population A. Death Rate. Population B. Number. Population B. Death Rate.

44,000 16.4 44,000 16.2
Components:
Under 5 4,000 25.5 1,000 26.
Over 5 40,000 15.5 43,000 16.
  1. Discuss the following statistics. What do they show?

Cost of Product Valued at $100.

 Materials. Wages. Misc. Exp. Total.
U. S. All industries, 1890 $55.08 $24.36 $6.73 $86.17
  1. Work up and draw conclusions from the following figures of incomes of a college class: —
Incomes. Number. Incomes. Number.
$1,000 to $1,499 5 $7,500 to $7,999 5
1,500 to 1,999 15 8,000 to 8,499 2
2,000 to 2,499 22 8,500 to 8,999 0
2,500 to 2,999 25 9,000 to 9,499 1
3,000 to 3,499 11 9,500 to 9,999 0
3,500 to 3,999 10 10,000 to 14,999 6
4,000 to 4,499 9 15,000 to 19,999 4
4,500 to 4,999 8 20,000 to 29,999 2
5,000 to 5,499 7 30,000 to 39,999 1
5,500 to 5,999 3 40,000 to 49,999 1
6,000 to 6,499 5 50,000 and above 2
6,500 to 6,999 3 —
7,000 to 7,499 5
  1. What is the corollary according to Mayo-Smith from Engel’s law as to just methods of taxation applied to the masses of the people?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 48-49.

Image Source: Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. From the Royal Collection Trust, acquired by Prince Albert.