Category: Economists

Today’s post was just intended to be a quickie set of five economics exams I found for the University of Toronto from 1891. There turned out to be much more interesting information at the hathitrust.org digital library that I simply had to include: from the University of Toronto Calendar, I was able to obtain course announcements that provide course descriptions as well as list a few key readings. And as though this were not enough, it turns out that it was the practice, at least in Toronto at the end of the 19th century, when applying for a professorship to submit a printed application “cover letter” followed by short “testimonials”. As it so happens, the University of Alberta has copies of Professor William J. Ashley’s application for the vacant Drummond professorship in political economy at Oxford (1890) and of Mr. John Millar McEvoy’s application for Ashley’s vacant chair at Toronto, following Ashley’s move to Harvard in 1892. 

Following the “cover letters” with these two abbreviated c.v.’s are the course descriptions for all four economics courses offered at the University of Toronto in 1890-91 and five sets of examination questions.

__________________

To the Electors to the Drummond Professorship.
[From William J. Ashley, November 20, 1890]

My Lord and Gentlemen:

I beg to offer myself as a candidate for the Professorship of Political Economy in the University of Oxford.

I entered Balliol College with a History Scholarship in 1878, took a First-Class in the Honour School of Modern Histor. in 1881, and received the Lothian Prize in 1882. In February, 1885, I was elected to a tutorial Fellowship at Lincoln College, and soon afterwards was also appointed Lecturer in History in Corpus Christi College. Resigning this position in order to be able to devote my time more exclusively to economic studies, I was appointed Professor of Political Economy and Constitutional History in the University of Toronto in 1888; and by the subsequent appointment of an assistant I have recently been enabled to give my whole attention to Economics.

I began the study of Political Economy under the late Arnold Toynbee, whose Lectures on the Industrial Revolution the 18th CenturyI afterwards assisted in preparing for publication. I began to lecture on Political Economy in 1884; and after my appointment at Lincoln I lectured upon it each year; in one course stating and criticizing Modern Economic Theory, and in another following Economic History and Theory in their relation to one another from mediaeval to modern times. I may add that from 1886 to 1888 I acted as Secretary to the Oxford Economic Society; and that in 1887 and 1888 I examined in the Pass School of Political Economy.

Since my arrival at Toronto I have had the task of organizing the new Department of Political Science, a Department which has grown rapidly, and now numbers more than 100 students; and I have lectured on (i) Elementary Political Economy, (2) The History of Economic Theory; (3) The History of Economic Development; (4) Modern Finance. In dealing with the last mentioned subject I have had an opportunity to acquaint myself with the main features of Canadian and American Taxation, Tariffs, Currency, Banking, and similar subjects.

I have also undertaken the editorship of the Toronto University Studies in Political Science, of which the first, on The Ontario Township, has already appeared. For a further account of my work here I beg to refer you to the subjoined letters from the Chancellor and President of the University, the Minister of Education, the Manager of the Bank of Commerce, and from one of my pupils.

My own researches have hitherto been mainly in the field of Economic History. In 1887 the American Economic Association published my Early History of the English Woollen Industry. In 1888 appeared the first volume of my Introduction to Economic Historyand Theory, which I now beg to lay before you, together with the letters concerning it from English and foreign authorities printed below.

There are two directions in which, as it appears to me, it is most desirable to promote economic study in Oxford. Of these one is Public Finance; it might not be impossible

to secure for men who are about to enter into public life, the civil service, or the higher branches of business, a training similar to that provided by some foreign Universities. The other is the history of Economic Phenomena, and of the parallel growth of Economic Theory. While recognizing the value of recent work in the further analysis of theory, there is, I think, reason to believe that the most fruitful field for economic work at the present time in Oxford is the historical. An effort in this direction would be in sympathy with one of the strongest intellectual forces in the University, and it might reasonably be expected to enlist the interest of students in the School of Modern History.

I have the honour to be,

My Lord and Gentlemen,

Your obedient servant,

W. J. ASHLEY.

The University of Toronto,
November 20, 1890.

[…]

Source: Testimonials in Favour of W.J. Ashley M.A., Professor of Political Economy in the University of Toronto: Late Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. A Candidate for the Drummond Professorship of Political Economy in the University of Oxford, pp. 1-2.

__________________

TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE WILLIAM ROSS, LL.D.
MINISTER OF EDUCATION FOR ONTARIO.

[Application of ] JOHN MILLAR McEVOY.
Toronto, July 30^th, A.D. 1892.

Sir, — I beg leave to make application for the chair of Political Economy and Constitutional History, in the University of Toronto, lately rendered vacant by the resignation of Professor W. J. Ashley, M.A.

I am a graduate of the University of Toronto in the Honor Department of Political Science. Throughout my course in that department I was first in first-class honors in all economic subjects. Since being graduated in Arts I have taken the University Law Examinations, and have been awarded the LL.B. degree. I have attended two years’ lectures in Osgoode Hall Law School, and have taken the examination required at the end of each year.

I may be permitted to mention the following scientific and literary work : —

1. My “Essay on Canadian Currency and Banking,” which was awarded the Ramsay Scholarship. This essay, upon examination by some of the leading bankers of Canada, was thought to be so valuable that the various banking institutions of the Dominion in order to have it printed, have offered to take such a number of copies of it, at $1.50 per copy, as will provide for its publication and leave me a handsome margin.
2. My essay on “Karl Marx’s Theory of Value,” which was read before the Political Science Association of the University of Toronto. This essay was publicly declared by Professor W. J. Ashley, M.A., to be “the ablest exposition of the kernel of the abstract theory of value that it had been his good fortune to have heard or read on any occasion.”
3. At the invitation of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, which is controlled by the most distinguished Economists on the continent, I contributed a series of articles to their publication, the Annals, upon subjects of economic and historical importance to Canada. These may be seen in the November number of that journal for 1891.
4. My essay on “The Ontario Township,” which was printed by the Minister of Education, as the first in the series of University of Toronto studies in Political Science, It has received favorable notice from American, English and German Economic Reviews and Journals. It has also been very favorably received by men engaged in the practical working of our municipal institutions. Several American publishing houses have asked me to publish a second edition; and there is a growing demand for it in our own Province.

As Fellow I have had two years’ experience in the practical work of the Department of Political Science in the University of Toronto. In consequence of sickness in Professor Ashley’s family, I had for a time during last year, full charge of the department. During this time I did acceptably Professor Ashley’s work as well as my own. Throughout last year the Constitutional History, both English and Canadian, has been entirely under my charge.

I have had two years’ experience as Examiner in Political Science in the University, and I have been for one year Examiner in Political Economy in the Ontario Agricultural College. My work throughout has been completely satisfactory, which fact may be easily verified by inquiry. What my success as a practical teacher of the science has been, I will leave you to infer from my testimonials.

It is my desire, if appointed, to spend the long vacations of each of the first three or four years at some foreign university, in which a regular course of lectures in Political Science is delivered during the summer months; and in that event I shall be glad to have your government indicate the institution most suitable for the further prosecution of my studies.

[…]

Source: Application and Testimonials of J. M. McEvoy, B.A., LL.B., for the Chair of Political Economy and Constitutional History in the University of Toronto. 1892.

__________________

FACULTY OF LAW

§1.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Professor: W. J. ASHLEY, M.A.

FIRST YEAR. (SECOND YEAR IN FACULTY OF ARTS.)

The elements of Political Economy. Value, Price, Wages, Interest, Profits, Rent.

For Reference:

F.A. Walker, Political Economy.
Mill, Political Economy, ed. Laughlin.

SECOND YEAR. (THIRD YEAR IN FACULTY OF ARTS.)

The history and criticism of economic theories.

The Economic ideas of Plato and Aristotle; the influence of Roman law; the teaching of the mediaeval church; Aquinas; the genesis of modern conceptions; the mercantile system; the Physiocrats; Adam Smith, Malthus, and Ricardo; the historical school.

Students are requested to especially examine (i.) Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Bk. I, chap. 10, part 2; Bk. IV, chaps. 1, 2, 3, part 2; chap. 7. (ii.) Malthus, Essay on Population, Bk. I, chaps. 1, 2. (iii.) List, National System of Political Economy(trans. Sampson Lloyd), chaps. 10, 11, 12. (iv.) Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy, chaps. 1-6.

For Reference:

Ingram, History of Political Economy.

THIRD YEAR. (FOURTH YEAR IN FACULTY OF ARTS.)

(1) The History of Economic Development, including such topics as the following: the Manor; Guilds; Domestic Industry; Trading Companies; Enclosures; Agricultural changes; the Mercantile System and Protection; the measures of Colbert; the beginnings of modern finance; the Factory System.

For Reference:

Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages.
Ashley, Economic History, vol. I.
Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Bks. IV and V.
Toynbee, Lectures on the Industrial Revolution of the 18^th Century in England.

(2) Modern Economic Questions, including such topics as the following: Socialism; taxation; public debt; currency (including banking); municipal finance; public domain; Government works.

Students are advised to consult such books as the following: Jevons, The State in Relation to Labour and Money; Giffen, Essays in Finance, vol. I, Essays ix, x, xiii, xiv; vol. II, Essay vi; Rae, ContemporarySocialism; Ely, The Labour Movement, and Taxation in American Cities and States; Adams,Public Debts; Seligman, Railway Tariffs, in Political Science Quarterly, vol. II; Adams, Relation of the State to IndustrialAction; and James, Modern Municipality and Gas Supply, in Publications of American Economic Association; Taussig, Tariff History of theU.S.; Felkin, The National Insurance Laws of Germany, in Contemporary Reviewfor August, 1888; Taussig, Workmen’s Insurance, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. II.

Source:  University of Toronto Calendar, 1890-91, pp. 43-44.

__________________

University of Toronto.
Annual Examinations: 1891.
Candidates for B.A.

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Examiners: J.M. McEvoy, B.A. and A.T. Thompson, B.A.

1. What is Political Economy ?
2. Illustrate the use of inductionand deductionin Political Economy.
3. State and criticize the ‘Wage Fund Theory.’
4. “Landlords were able to pocket the whole advantage of the Corn Laws, and the people suffered that rents might be kept up.” Explain and criticize.
5. What are the functions of money ?
6. State arguments for and against the adoption of bimetalism.
7. Is a government justified in taxing the rich for the benefit of the poor? If so, to what degree?
8. Distinguish the various meanings attached to the term “socialism.”

*  *  *  *

University of Toronto.
Annual Examinations: 1891.
Candidates for B.A.

POLITICAL SCIENCE.
HONORS.

Examiners: J.M. McEvoy, B.A. and A.T. Thompson, B.A.

N.B.—Candidates are requested not to attempt more than eight questions.

1. Sketch the history of the Teutonic Hanse in England.
2. Describe the position of the mediaeval villein.
3. Explain the causes for the decay of the Craft Guilds.
4. Trace the development of the Poor Laws during Elizabeth’s reign.
5. Show the importance in English Economic History of the woollen industry.
6. Distinguish the various stages in the growth of English foreign trade.
7. Describe the origin of the Bank of England, and explain its connection with the financial measures of the government of William III.
8. Trace the progress of the East India Company, down to the beginning of the eighteenth century.
9. What were the social effect of the “Enclosures” of the eighteenth century?
10. Compare the Merchant Guild with the modern Joint Stock Company.
11. Illustrate historically the relative advantages and disadvantages of the Factory system of Industry.
12. Sketch the history of factory legislation in England.

*  *  *  *

University of Toronto.
Annual Examinations: 1891.
Second Year.

POLITICAL SCIENCE.
HONORS.

Examiners: J.M. McEvoy, B.A. and A.T. Thompson, B.A.

N.B.—Candidates are requested not to attempt more than eight questions.

1. Examine the assumption made by some Economists, that all persons will act in such a manner as will secure their own best interests.
2. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of the division of labor?
3. Co-operation in production has not been so successful as co-operation in distribution. How would you account for this?
4. Define value. How is the value of commodities determined?
5. “The fundamental cause of rent is difference in fertility.” — Symes. Criticize.
6. What do you understand by “average rate of profit?”
7. State the theoretic arguments, if any, in favour of protection and the practical disadvantages, if any, in its application.
8. What are the objects of trades unions? How far are they suited to the attainment of these objects?
9. State the various circumstances which explain and justify the payment of interest.
10. What would be the result if the government were to issue bills to every farmer to the extent of $500 on the security of his real estate?
    Illustrate the correct and incorrect use of the phrase “a violation of the laws of Political Economy.”

*  *  *  *

University of Toronto.
Annual Examinations: 1891.
Third Year.

POLITICAL SCIENCE.
ECONOMIC THEORY.
HONORS.

Examiners: J.M. McEvoy, B.A. and A.T. Thompson, B.A.

N.B.—Candidates are requested not to attempt more than eight questions.

1. Show how the mediaeval doctrine of Usury was undermined by the doctrine of Interest.
2. Describe the “Balance of Bargain” system.
3. Compare the attitude of Child and Hume towards the Balance of Trade theory.
4. Comment on the Maxims of Quesnay.
5. Distinguish the essentials and non-essentials in the teaching of Malthus.
6. In what case did Adam Smith consider “Protection” desirable.
7. “What Smith sought to establish was the free competition of equal industrial units; what in fact he was helping to establish was the free competition of unequal industrial units.” Explain and comment upon.
8. “Back to Adam Smith.” In what sense is this desirable.
9. State and criticize the “Iron Law of Wages.”
10. Examine the doctrine laid down by Ricardo that the relative values of commodities are governed by the relative quantities of labor bestowed on their production.
11. Wherein does List find the teaching of Smith and his school defective.

*  *  *  *

University of Toronto.
Supplemental Examinations: 1891.
Fourth Year.

ARTS.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Examiners: J.M. McEvoy, B.A. and A.T. Thompson, B.A.

1. Does density of population tend to increase or to diminish the per capitaproductiveness of a nation? Apply your conclusions to determine the importance of the Malthusian doctrine of population.
2. If it were deemed desirable to encourage the manufacturing of steel in Canada would you do so by levying a duty on imported steel, or by giving a bonus per ton for all steel produced in Canada?
3. Examine the soundness of the two fundamental assumptions upon which the laissez fairedoctrine of the functions of Government proceeds.
4. “Value depends on supply and demand.”
   What limitations and explanations does this statement require ?
5. “Rents tend to rise with industrial propers .” [sic, “when industry prosper”]
   Examine this statement.
6. On what principles would you proceed to determine what was “fair wages” between master and workman in any given industry?
7. Describe some of the more important plans recently advanced for the uniting of labour and capital, and examine the expediency of each from an economic standpoint.

Source:  University of Toronto. Examination Papers for 1891.

Image Source: William J. Ashley in University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899), p. 595.