Category: Harvard

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Enrollment and exams on Adam Smith, Ricardo and followers. Mixter, 1902-1903.

 

Charles Whitney Mixter (b. Sept. 23, 1869 in Chelsea, MA; d. Oct. 21, 1936 in Washington, D.C.) taught a year-long course at Harvard on Adams Smith, Ricardo, and their dissenting followers in 1902-03.

Mixter received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1897 with the thesis “Overproduction and overaccumulation: a study in the history of economic theory.” Further biographical information about Charles Whitney Mixter (1869-1936) is found in the post about his course offered 1901-1902. Also Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has a post with a student’s description of Mixter as economics instructor at the University of Vermont.

One of the dissenting followers of Adam Smith considered in Mixter’s course below was John Rae. Mixter edited a reprint of the 1834 book by John Rae, which he retitled The Sociological Theory of Capital. A few years before, Mixter had written two Quarterly Journal of Economics articles comparing Rae with Böhm-Bawerk:

“A forerunner of Böhm-Bawerk”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, January, 1897. [“the first article by me upon Rae…had a title which was also in great measure a misnomer. Rae is not a mere ‘anticipator of the discoverer’ (to use one of Cannan’s phrases), but the discoverer himself. By reason of the lack of a theory of invention, Böhm-Bawerk’s doctrine of capital, although coming much later, is in essentials the less complete of the two.”]

“Böhm-Bawerk on Rae,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1902. [Review of Chapter XI of the second edition of the Geschichte und Critik der Capitalzins-Theorien].

In the preface to his reprint of Rae’s book, Mixter provides us with some backstory to his research revealing the support of Frank Taussig and Irving Fisher at the beginning and the end of this book project:

When I first became interested in Rae’s theory of capital, under Professor Taussig’s direction in the economic seminary at Harvard University, there existed no printed information (except in his Preface) in respect to Rae himself; and for a long time nothing could be learned through inquiry in quarters which promised well in Canada and Great Britain. The late Professor Dunbar of Harvard, who always displayed a keen interest in the undertaking, urged me to persist, and at length a letter printed in the Montreal Star drew forth two replies, one from the Canadian antiquary Mr. H. J. Morgan, the other from the late Robert S. Knight of Lancaster, Ontario, a grand-nephew of Rae. This set me upon the right road to get into communication with several people who knew Rae personally. Of these the one who could tell me most was the late Sir Roderick W. Cameron of New York, a former pupil and life-long friend, at whose summer residence on Staten Island Rae died. Better still, I was able through the interest and kindness of this gentleman to come into possession of what few papers Rae left at his death. That is, I obtained all Rae’s effects of a literary nature which seem now to be in existence. Apparently, from statements made by Sir Roderick, there was another set of papers which Rae had with him at the time, but which were destroyed or in some way lost. The papers I obtained were little more than odds and ends, mostly unfinished fragments on a great variety of subjects, unfortunately but little on economics. Their chief use has been to help me to a fair understanding of Rae’s life, which I have been able, however, only very imperfectly to set forth.

I have received much information and kind assistance in this part of my work from not a few people in Canada, the United States, Honolulu, and Great Britain. I trust they will accept this general acknowledgment of my sense of indebtedness to them.

To Mr. L. W. Zartman of Yale University my especial thanks are due for assistance in preparing the copy for the printer, and in reading the proofs. I am also much indebted to Mr. Wilmot H. Thompson of the Graduate School of Yale, for revision of the classical quotations.

Finally, I wish here to express my obligations to Professor Irving Fisher of Yale University. His interest and encouragement have been of unfailing support. The proof sheets of the whole book have passed his able scrutiny, and his direct help in many other ways has been invaluable.

C. W. M.

Burlington,
Vermont, July, 1905.

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Course Description

  1. a. Selected Topics in the History of Economic Thought since Adam Smith. , Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri, at 12. Dr. Mixter.

The chief subject to which attention will be directed in this course is the school of dissenting followers of Adam Smith — Lauderdale, Rae, and those influenced by them — who carried forward Smith’s work to very different results from those attained by the Ricardians. This study of a little known tradition gives a fresh point of view as to the general method of formulating and presenting economics. Some of the other subjects to be discussed are, — the classic doctrine of over-production, and the opposition to that doctrine; the economics of absenteeism; the history of the theory of colonization; early American economic theory.
The exercises will be conducted largely by means of discussion. Oral reports on assigned topics will be required.

  1. d 2hf. Adam Smith and Ricardo. Half-course (second half-year). Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor Taussig.

In this course, a careful study will be made of large parts of the writings of Adam Smith and Ricardo, and comparison made with contemporary authors as well as with the later writers who accepted the teachings of the earlier English school.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science  [Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 20a. Dr. Mixter. — The History of English Economic Theory from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill.

Total 5: 3 Gr., 2 Se.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Mid-Year Examination 1902-03

ECONOMICS 20a

It is expected that questions 3 and 7 will be answered more at length than the other questions.

  1. Who was Bentham and what does he stand for in the history of economics?
  2. What is the nature of Rae’s reply to Smith’s 5th argument against protection?
  3. What would Adam Smith say to the assertion that trades unions are necessary in the United States to prevent a fall of general wages? In what various aspects did Smith examine the subject of wages?
  4. What are Adam Smith’s four canons or “maxims” of taxation?
  5. Is “capital” or “labor” the leading concept in the economics proper of the Wealth of Nations?
  6. What idea of most value have you obtained from Cannan?
  7. Discuss the Malthusian theory with respect to errors and shortcomings:—
    1. In its original form of statement and proof.
    2. In its original application.
    3. Sum up the modernized Malthusian doctrine in the form which seems to you most sound and useful.
  8. How has “the Commerce of the Towns contributed to the Improvement of the Country”?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

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Year-End Examination 1902-03

ECONOMICS 20a

Omit two of the last five questions.

  1. Criticise the following statement: “What he [Ricardo] really ‘endeavored to show’ was that the rate of profit depends on the productiveness of the last employed, or no-rent-paying agricultural industry, and it is not of much importance to his theory whether this dependence is brought about through rises and falls of money wages, or also by the direct influence of variations in the productiveness of industry.”
  2. What is Lauderdale’s significance in the history of economics?
  3. What are the points of similarity and of difference between Rae and Böhm-Bawerk?
  4. What portions of a complete treatise on economics are lacking in Rae’s work? Give some examples of peculiar terminology.
  5. Give an account of one of the following writers: Chalmers, Wakefield, Longfield, Senior.
  6. “His [the capitalist’s] profit consists of the excess of the produce above the advances; his rate of profit is the ratio which that excess bears to the amount advanced.” Comment on this.
  7. Criticise the phrase “the profits of stock are only another name for the wages of accumulated labour.” Who first advanced this idea?
  8. What was John Stuart Mill’s treatment of the subject of general overproduction?
  9. When it is said that a certain writer “took as his type of capital, machinery instead of wage-fund,” what do you understand by the expression? Mention several writers who have done this.
  10. Give a brief account of Cannan’s description of the discovery of the law of diminishing returns.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Harvard scores (1905),  John Jepson (artists), Boston. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Exam for German Economic Thought. Gay, 1903

Edwin Francis Gay

This must have been a quick addition to the course offerings for 1902-03 since the course was not announced in the June 1902 brochure for the Division of History and Political Science for the coming academic year. In the following year Edwin Francis Gay (Berlin, Ph.D. in 1902 under Gustav Schmoller) expanded the course to cover both French and German economic thought.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 22. 2hf. Dr. Gay. — Outlines of the Development of Economic Thought in Germany in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 4: 3 Gr., 1 Se.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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ECONOMICS 22

  1. Translate from Conrad, pp. 69 [p. 64-65 in 1897 ed.], § 66, Die Grundrente.
    1. Describe briefly von Thünen’s concentric circles.
    2. Outline Rodbertus’s theory of rent and its relation to his explanation of crises.
  2. Translate  §69 [pp. 68-69 in 1897 ed.] , Die Regulierung des Lohnes.
    1. What features in this passage remind you of von Hermann’s treatment of wages?
      [Note: no (b) or any other parts to the question were printed]
  3. Karl Marx: a concise note concerning his life, his works, his theory of value, his influence in Germany at present.
  4. Give an account of the German historical school of economists.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Portrait of Edwin F. Gay from the Harvard Class Album 1914 colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Philosophy

Harvard. Ethics of the Social Questions. Course description, enrollment, final exam. Peabody, 1902-1903

One fairly popular field chosen for doctoral exams by Harvard’s economics students in the early 20th century was Social Ethics that combined elements of so-called “practical economics”, sociology, philosophy, and religion. That field and later department was chaired by Professor Francis Greenwood Peabody who served in both Harvard College and the Harvard Divinity School.

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A short biography of Francis Greenwood Peabody can be found at the Harvard Divinity School History webpage.

A previous post provides the history of Harvard’s Department of Social Ethics up through 1920.

Peabody’s book, The Approach to the Social Question: An Introduction to the Study of Social Ethics (New York: Macmillan, 1909), presumably captures much, if not all, the spirit (Spirit?) of his ethical teachings.

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Biographical note on
Francis Greenwood Peabody

Francis Greenwood Peabody (1847–1936), Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, was associated with Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School from 1880 to 1912, serving as a lecturer, professor, and dean. He received his Harvard AB in 1869 and graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1872; while a junior, Peabody was first baseman on the first Harvard baseball team to play against Yale. In 1874, he was ordained as minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, a position he maintained until 1880, when he resigned due to poor health. Harvard Divinity School Dean Everett then asked Peabody to lecture, but President Eliot, whose first wife was Peabody’s eldest sister, opposed the appointment due to nepotism. Later that year, however, he was appointed lecturer on ethics and homiletics. His courses, “The History of Ethics,” and “Practical Ethics” were the first of their kind in American theological education. While at Harvard, he ended compulsory worship and helped transform the Divinity School from a denominational seminary into a non-denominational theological school.

Peabody was named Parkman Professor of Theology in 1882, and became Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in 1886, also taking charge of Harvard College’s Appleton Chapel. He retired in 1913. Peabody also served as Acting Dean of the Divinity School on two occasions during the absence of Dean Everett, and was Dean himself from 1901 to 1905. Throughout his career, Peabody published many works, served as an Overseer of Harvard College, and was on the Board of Trustees of the Hampton Institute. Peabody died in 1936.

Source: Harvard Archives. Guide to Papers of Francis Greenwood Peabody webpage.

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Earlier, at the end of the 19th century

Exam questions for earlier years of this course have been transcribed and posted:

1888-1889; 1889-1890; 1890-1891; 1892-1893; 1893-1894; 1894-1895; 1895-1896.

A history of Harvard’s Department of Social Ethics has also been posted earlier.

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The Ethics of the Social Questions
Course Description, 1902-03

Philosophy 5. The Ethics of the Social Questions. The problems of Poor-Relief, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of ethical theory. Lectures, special researches, and prescribed reading. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Professor Peabody assisted by Mr. —.

This course is an application of ethical theory to the social problems of the present day. It is to be distinguished from economic courses dealing with similar subjects by the emphasis laid on the moral aspects of the social situation and on the philosophy of society involved. Its introduction discusses the various theories of Ethics and the nature and relations of the Moral Ideal [Required reading from Mackenzie’s Introduction to Social Philosophy; and Muirhead’s Elements of Ethics]. The course then considers the ethics of the family [Required reading from Spencer’s Principles of Sociology (Volume 1; Volume 2; Volume 3]; the ethics of poor-relief [Required reading from Charles Booth’s Life and Labor of the People (see links to volumes below)]; the ethics of the labor question [Required reading: Carlyle’s Past and Present; Ruskin’s Unto this Last; Schäffle’s Quintessence of Socialism]; and the ethics of the drink-question [Required reading from Fanshawe’s Liquor Legislation in the United States]. In addition to lectures and required reading two special and detailed reports are made by each student, based as far as possible on personal research and observation of scientific methods in poor-relief and industrial reform. These researches are arranged in consultation with the instructor or his assistant; and an important feature of the course is the suggestion and direction of such personal investigation and the provision to each student of special literature or opportunities for observation. Students are advised to take both Philosophy 1 and Economics 1 before taking this course, and must have taken either the one or the other, or its equivalent. A special library of 650 carefully selected volumes is provided for the use of students in this course. Attention is also called to the Paine Fellowship, the holder of which should pursue advanced study in the same direction.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science  [Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Charles Booth’s Life and Labor of the People:

(Original) Volume I, East London;
(Original) Volume II, London;
(Original) Appendix to Volume II;
Note: the previous three original volumes were re-printed as four volumes that then were followed by
Volume V, Population Classified by Trades;
Volume VI, Population Classified by Trades (cont.);
Volume VII, Population Classified by Trades;
Volume VIII, Population Classified by Trades (cont.);
Volume IX, Comparisons, Survey and Conclusions.

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The Ethics of the Social Questions
Course Enrollment, 1902-03

Philosophy 5. Professor Peabody, assisted by Mr. Ireland. — The Ethics of the Social Questions. The problems of Poor-Relief, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of ethical theory.

Total 134: 5 Gr., 60 Se., 37 Ju., 15 So., 17 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 69.

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Mid-Year Examination, 1902-03

[to be added]

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Philosophy 5
The Ethics of the Social Questions
Final Examination, 1902-03

This paper should be considered as a whole. The time should not be exhausted in answering a few questions, but such limits should be given to each answer as will permit the answering of all the questions in the time assigned.

  1. The place in the modern Labor Question of:—

Chalmers;
Proudhon;
von Ketteler;
William Morris;
Leclaire.

  1. Carlyle on:

Democracy;
Permanence;
Captains of Industry.

  1. Ruskin on:

Ad valorem;
Veins of Wealth;
Ideals of Education. (Preface to: Unto this Last, p. xi.)

  1. Anarchism and Communism compared with each other and with the present industrial order.
  2. Lasalle and Marx compared as influences on German socialism.
  3. “Social labor-time” as a standard of value; the view of Marx (Schäffle, p. 81 ff.); the criticism of Schäffle (ch. VI, VII); the ethical effect to be anticipated.
  4. The scheme of industrial conciliation proposed by the Anthracite Coal Commission and its relation to French and English methods of arbitration and conciliation.
  5. The scheme of industrial partnership proposed by the U.S. Steel Corporation — its plan, results, and relation to other types of profit-sharing.
  6. The ethical principles underlying all forms of liquor legislation. Compare the liquor legislation of Massachusetts with that of Pennsylvania. (Fanshawe, ch. XI and XII.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

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

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Statistics

Harvard. Enrollment and Exam for Statistics. Ripley, 1902-1903

Young William Zebina Ripley

At the turn of the 20th century the breadth of Harvard’s course offerings grew faster than the depth of its instructional bench. Thomas Nixon Carver was teaching economic theory, sociology, social reform, and agricultural economics while William Zebina Ripley covered statistics, railroads, European resources, industrial and labor organization.

This post adds another year’s worth of Harvard statistics exams to the Economics in the Rear-View Mirror collection of transcribed artifacts. 

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Course Description

  1. hf. Statistics. — Theory, method, and practice. Half-course. Tu., at 11. Professor Ripley.

This course is intended to serve rather as an analysis of methods of research and sources of information than as a description of mere results. A brief history of statistics will be followed by an account of modes of collecting and tabulating census and other statistical material in the United States and abroad, the scientific use and interpretation of results by the mean, the average, seriation, the theory of probability, etc. 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 them considered in order. The principal methods of graphic representation will be comprehended, and 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 Economies 1; and it is also open to Juniors and Seniors who are taking Economics 1. It is especially recommended, in connection with Economies 2, for all candidates for advanced degrees.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science  [Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Course Enrollment

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

Total 15: 10 Gr., 2 Se., 2 Ju., 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Economics 4
Mid-Year Examination
1902-03

  1. The population of Massachusetts in 1870 was 1,457,351, in 1875 was 1,651,912, in 1880 was 1,783,085. The births in 1878 were 41,238. The Massachusetts Registration Report gives the birth rate in that year as 24.73. How was this obtained?
  2. The birth rates for 1885 in Massachusetts by counties were as follows: Barnstable, 17.4; Berkshire, 25.7; Dukes and Nantucket, 14; Suffolk, 28.7; Middlesex, 24.7; Worcester city, 27.1; Fall River city, 31.07; Cambridge, 27.04; Newburyport, 17.79, etc.
    How would you determine the real significance of these differences?
  3. Padding of the enumerator’s returns in Delaware counties in 1900, being known, how could you estimate the probable amount, assuming no considerable migration of population to have occurred?
  4. What are the main tests for determining the amount of migration in a given population between census periods?
  5. What single merit has the card system of tabulation used by the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the use of electric machines as in the Federal Census?
  6. Compare the rate of increase of the population of the United States with that of principal European countries. What probable future movement is indicated?
  7. What are the principal demographic results of an inequality in the distribution of the sexes? Illustrate by the United States.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

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Economics 4
Year-End Examination
1902-03

  1. What is meant by the “duration of life”? What figures are apt to be confused with it in mortality statistics?
  2. What are the main objections to the use of index numbers, illustrating by examples?
  3. What is the “modulus” as applied to wage statistics? In what different ways may it be ascertained?
  4. Where would you seek for examples of the best practice in interpretation of (a) price statistics; (b) wage statistics?
  5. May the “cost of production” in manufactures be determined with precision? Where has the attempt has been made and with what results?
  6. Where are the best statistics of imports and exports compiled? How does the system differ from those of the United States?
  7. How is a logarithmic curve constructed; and for what purpose?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: MIT Museum website. William Zebina Ripley. Image colorized by Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization

Harvard. Railways and public utility regulation. Exam questions. Meyer, 1902-1903.

Besides adding to the database of economics examination questions, this post provides us with additional biographical information for the railroad and municipal utility expert, Harvard economics Ph.D. alumnus Hugo Richard Meyer (1866-1923). He was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago in 1903-05.

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From a review of Meyer’s book,
Government Regulations of Railway Rates

Hugo Richard Meyer is a native of Cincinnati, O., and is now 39 years of age. He attended the pubic schools of that city in early childhood and in 1877 he was taken by his parents to Germany, where he remained five years. From Germany, his father returned to America and made his home in Denver, Colo., where in the high school young Meyer prepared for Harvard college, from which he was graduated in 1892. Afterward he attended Harvard Graduate school five years.

Prof. Meyer’s usefulness began as an instructor of political economy in Harvard, serving from 1897 until 1903. In 1903 he was one of three commissioners appointed by the Governor to investigate and report on the wisdom of amending the laws of Massachusetts, governing the exercise of the right of eminent domain by cities in public improvement. In 1903, he wrote a series of leaflets on the subject of municipal ownership, taking the side of private ownership. Mr. Meyer began the study of economics with a prejudice in favor of socialism, but came out in a strong belief of individualism. He has studied socialism in Australia and the operation of municipal ownership in Great Britain. He especially has paid attention to the government regulation of railroad rates in the United States, Germany, France, Austria Hungary, Russia and Australia. In his book, Government Regulation of Railway Rates [a study of the experience of the United States, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Australia] , he gives a comparative study of the experiece of public regulation of railway rates in countries where he has been.

In addition to this book, Mr. Meyer has two other works in preparation. One deals with municipal ownership in Great Britain [followed by The British State Telegraphs (1907) and Public Ownership and the Telephone in Great Britain (1907)] and the other with state socialism in Australia. Mr. Meyer has written also articles on the regulation of railway rates in Europe, and an article entitled, “Rate Making by Government,” which were published respectively in 1903 and 1905.

Mr. Meyer came into national prominence in May last, when he appeared before the Senate sub-committee of interstate commerce and gave his views on the question of rate making by government. It was the clearest statement given by any witness on either side of this great question. He presented an array of facts that no other witness had summoned, and when he left the chair it was the judgment of all that he had been the most impressive witness that had appeared before the committee.

Source: The Topeka Daily Herald, October 14, 1905, p. 8.

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Course Description
Economic 5
1902-1903

  1. 1hf. Railways and other Public Works. under Public and Corporate Management. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 1.30. Mr. Meyer.

This course reviews the history and working of different modes of dealing with transportation, and deals with the questions of street railways, gas, and electric light supply.

The manner in which Germany [Municipal Ownership in Germany. Journal of Political Economy, (1906), 14(9), 553–567.], France [The Breakdown of State Railway Building in France. Journal of Political Economy (1906), 14(7), 450–453.], and Russia have regulated railway rates, either by exercising control over private corporations, or by assuming public ownership and operation, will be studied with special reference to the effect of such regulation upon the elasticity of railway rates and the ability of the railways to develop trade and industry. In this connection will be studied the part played by the railways and by the waterways in the development of the leading industries of Germany, France, and Russia; as well as the question why Germany, France, and Russia are obliged to have recourse to the waterways for the performance of services that in the United States are rendered by the railways.

The attempts of the railways of the United States to regulate railway rates through pools will be compared with the attempts of the several states and of the federal government to regulate rates through legislation and through commissions. Typical decisions of pools, of state commissions, and of the Interstate Commerce Commission will be studied for the purpose of ascertaining whether those decisions are founded on a body of principles that may be said to have the character of a science, or whether they express merely the judgment of administrative officers on questions of fact to which no body of scientific principles can be made to apply. In conclusion, the question whether railway rates should be regulated through pools or through legislation and commissions will be discussed by means of a comparison of the experience of the European countries, the United States under the régime of regulation by pools, and the United States under the régime of regulation by state and federal legislation and by commissions.

The problem of the public ownership and operation of the railways will be discussed under the following heads: the difficulties experienced by Prussia, France, Italy, Russia, and the Australian Colonies, in making the railway budget fit into the state budget; the problem of a large body of civil servants in a self-governing community, as illustrated in the experience of the Australian Colonies.

The question of the regulation and control of private corporations operating street railways, gas, and electric light plants will be studied by means of a review of the experience of Massachusetts, which exercises control by means of legislation and commissions; and the experience of Great Britain, which exercises control by means of legislation, and, in many instances, supplements that control by the policy of municipal ownership.

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Enrollment
Economics 5
1902-1903

Economics 5. 1hf. Mr. Meyer. — Railways and other Public Works under Public and Corporate Management.

Total 60: 1 Gr., 30 Se., 14 Ju., 5 So., 1 Fr., 9 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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ECONOMICS 5
Mid-year Examination
1902-1903

Give one hour to question 1

  1. If the Act to Regulate Commerce has been enacted at the close of the Civil War, and if it had been interpreted and enforced in the spirit in which the Interstate Commerce Commission has interpreted it, what, in your opinion, would have been the effect upon the development of the resources of the United States; and what would be the present position of affairs as to local discriminations and personal discriminations? Indicate briefly the facts upon which you base your opinion, but do not recite the details of those facts.
  2. If you were asked to ascertain with what efficiency and reasonableness of charges the railways of a country were serving that country, what information should you seek to obtain?
  3. What facts, and what statistics should you use, were you asked to discuss the question whether the “basing-point” system concentrates trade and population?
  4. Among the dicta of the Interstate Commerce Commission is this one, that the railways have no right to drive out of business the vessels upon the rivers. Discuss the soundness of this dictum, basing your discussion upon the experience of several countries.
  5. The Northern Pacific Railroad Co. charges 65 cents per 100 Ibs. for carrying Pacific slope sugar from the Pacific slope to St. Paul. That charge is fixed by the lake and rail route which carries Atlantic sea-board sugar from the Atlantic sea-board to St. Paul. The N. P. R. Co. charges 97 cents per 100 lbs. for carrying sugar from the Pacific slope to Fargo, which is 240 miles west of St. Paul, on the direct line between the Pacific slope and St. Paul. It also charges 32 cents per 100 lbs. for carrying sugar from St. Paul to Fargo.
    The distance from New York to St. Paul is 1373 miles; from San Francisco to St. Paul, 2300 miles. The charge of 97 cents from San Francisco to Fargo is reasonable per se.
    The San Francisco output of refined sugar is 140,000 tons to 150,000 a year; and of that output, between 30,000 tons and 40,000 are sold to St. Paul, the balance being sold to points upon the Pacific slope and points in the mountain districts between the Pacific slope and St. Paul.
    M. Raworth, a wholesale grocer at Fargo, complains that the rates charged by the N. P. R. Co. are in violation of Clause 4 of the Act to Regulate Commerce.
    What, in your opinion, would be (1) the decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission; (2) the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States?
    Base your opinion upon decisions made respectively by the Commission and the Supreme Court.
  6. State the conditions under which the Interstate Commerce Commission said that certain cuts in the rates on “grain for export” were “a gratuitous gift to the foreigner”; and criticize the reasoning with which the Commission sought to support its position.
  7. When it was suggested in England that the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas be constituted a railway tribunal, Lord Campbell, afterward Lord Chancellor, in behalf of his associates declined the responsibility, saying: “This is not a code which the judges can interpret, it leaves them altogether to exercise their discretion as to what they may deem reasonable. They are, besides, to form a just judgment on all matters of complaint relating to railway management that may come before them, and they are to lay down a code of regulation for the government of railway companies. The judges, himself among the number, feel themselves incompetent to decide on these matters. He had spent a good part of his life in studying the laws of his country, but, he confessed, he was wholly unacquainted with railway management, as well as the transit of goods by boat. He knew not how to determine what is a reasonable rate…”
    What judicial opinion does this quotation recall to your mind; and what is the significance of that opinion?
  8. A recent Siberian Census revealed the fac that there were large and fertile regions in Siberia in which the farmers cultivated, on an average, sixteen acres of land. The farmers in question had emigrated from European Russia in the seventies. What do you presume to be the reasons for that state of affairs?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).
Also included in: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: A newspaper sketch of Hugo Richard Meyer from 1905 reproduced in Wikimedia Commons.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Banking and its history. Enrollment and final exam. Sprague, 1902-1903

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

Money and banking were the subjects in a two semester sequence of distinct courses at Harvard in 1902-03. Material for the money course taught by Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. can be found in the previous post. Here we have a description, enrollment figures, and the final exam questions for economics instructor O.M.W. Sprague’s banking course in the sequence.

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8b2hf. Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Dr. Sprague.

In Course 8b, after a summary view of early forms of banking in Italy, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, a more detailed account is given of the development, to the middle of the nineteenth century, of the system of banking in which notes were the principal form of credit and the chief subject of discussion and legislation. The rise and growth of the modern system of banking by discount and deposit is then described. The work is both historical and comparative in its methods. The banking development, legislation, and present practice of various countries, including England, France, Germany, Scotland, and Canada, are reviewed and contrasted. Particular attention is given to banking history and experience in this country: the two United States banks; the more important features of banking in the separate states before 1860; the beginnings, growth, operation, and proposed modification of the national banking system; and credit institutions outside that system, such as state banks and trust companies.

The course of the money markets of London, Paris, Berlin, and New York will be followed during a series of months, and the various factors, such as stock exchange dealings, and international exchange payments, which bring about fluctuations in the demand for loans, and the rate of discount upon them will be considered. In conclusion the relations of banks to commercial crises will be analyzed, the crises of 1857 and 1893 being taken for detailed study.

Written work, in the preparation of short papers on assigned topics, and a regular course of prescribed reading will be required of all students.

The course is open to those who have taken Economics 1.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science [Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 8b. 2hf. Dr. Sprague. — Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems.

Total 133: 2 Gr., 38 Se., 52 Ju., 27 So., 1 Fr., 13 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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ECONOMICS 8b

Answer the questions strictly in their order.

  1. (a) Why does a fall in the prices of stock exchange securities tend to reduce the loans and the deposit liabilities of the New York banks?
    (b) Why is the rate for call loans subject to greater fluctuations than those for time loans or on commercial paper?
  2. (a) Explain the relation between the supply of commercial bills of exchange and the rates for bankers’ sterling.
    (b) Explain the usual method by which a profit is realized from the export of gold from New York to Paris.
  3. Define or explain—
    1. Due to approved reserve agents.
    2. Bills payable.
    3. Cable transfers.
    4. The bank price of gold.
  4. Changes in the charter of the Reichsbank in 1899.
  5. What changes in other items would involve a change in the amount of deposits?
  6. Discuss the advantages of a central reserve bank and consider its applicability to the United States.
  7. Give some account of failures of the national banks.
  8. How do loans in Europe serve to reduce the credit liabilities of the New York banks?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Portrait of Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague in the Harvard Class Album 1915, colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Reading list and final exam for Survey of Currency Regulation. Andrew, 1902-1903

Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. (1911)

Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. sprang from an assistant professorship of economics at Harvard (following his Ph.D. in 1900) to playing a key staff role in the preparation of the reports of the National Monetary Commission. Ultimately he became a Republican Congressman from Massachusetts, serving from September 1921 until his death in June 1936.

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Official Congressional Biography of
Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr.

ANDREW, Abram Piatt, Jr., a Representative from Massachusetts; born in La Porte, La Porte County, Ind., February 12, 1873; attended the public schools and the Lawrenceville (N.J.) School; was graduated from Princeton College in 1893; member of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1893-1898; pursued postgraduate studies in the Universities of Halle, Berlin, and Paris; moved to Gloucester, Mass., and was instructor and assistant professor of economics at Harvard University 1900-1909; expert assistant and editor of publications of the National Monetary Commission 1908-1911; director of the Mint 1909 and 1910; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 1910-1912; served in France continuously for four and a half years during the First World War, first with the French Army and later with the United States Army; commissioned major, United States National Army, in September 1917 and promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1918; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Willfred W. Lufkin; reelected to the Sixty-eighth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from September 27, 1921, until his death; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1924 and 1928; member of the board of trustees of Princeton University 1932-1936; died in Gloucester, Mass., June 3, 1936; remains were cremated and the ashes scattered from an airplane flying over his estate at Eastern Point, Gloucester, Mass.

Source: Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. entry at the internet Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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Economics 8a
Course Description
1902-1903

8a1hf. Money. — A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Dr. Andrew.

In this course the aim will be to show how the existing monetary systems of the principal countries have come to be, and to analyze the more important currency problems. The course will begin with a brief history of the precious metals, which will be connected, in so far as possible, with the history of prices and the development of monetary theory. The history of coinage legislation in England and Europe and the United States will be traced, and will lead to an extended consideration of the various aspects of the bimetallic controversy.

At convenient points, the experiences of various countries with paper money will also be reviewed, and the influence of such issues upon wages, prices, and trade examined. Some attention, moreover, will be given to the non-monetary means of payment and to the large questions of monetary theory arising from their use.

Systematic reading will be required and will be tested by monthly examinations.

Course 8a1 is open to students who have taken Course 1.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science [Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 8a
Course enrollment
1902-1903

Economics 8a. 1hf. Dr. Andrew. — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times.

Total 99: 4 Gr., 34 Se., 40 Ju., 14 So., 1 Fr., 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Reading List
Economics 8a
1902-03

BOOKS TO BE PROCURED

Francis A. Walker: International Bimetallism.

J. Laurence Laughlin: History of Bimetallism in the United States.

Leonard Darwin: Bimetallism.

REQUIRED READING

October

Walker: 1-110, 118-183.

Laughlin: 109-206.

Macaulay: History of England, ch. XXI. (Passages concerning the currency and its reform.)

The Bullion Report in Sumner, History of American Currency, Appendix; or in Sound Currency pamphlet, Vol. II, No. 14.
In connection with the Bullion Report consult Macleod: Theory of Credit, 738-760, 551-573; or Theory of Banking, I, 516-539,II, 1-95; or Sumner, American Currency, 231-310.

November

Laughlin: 1-105, 209-280.

Walker: 110-117, 183-9, 217-224.

Darwin: 1-154.

December

Taussig: Recent. Investigations on Prices in the United States, in the Yale Review for November, 1893.

Walker: 190-288.

Darwin: 157-280.

Taussig: The International Silver Situation in the Quarterly Journal of Economics for October, 1896.

January

(To be assigned later.)

Hour examinations will be held Nov. 7 and Dec. 5.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “1902-1903.”

Cf. the richer bibliography for this course from the first term 1901-1902.

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ECONOMICS 8a
Mid-year Examination
1902-1903

Arrange answers strictly in the order of the questions
Omit one question

  1. Why did England adopt the gold standard? Why have other countries adopted it?
    State Walker’s and Laughlin’s opinions as well as your own.
  2. In a country with an inconvertible paper currency what are the conditions which control the premium on gold?
    1. according to the Bullion Report.
    2. according to Tooke.
    3. according to your own opinion.

Illustrate from English or American experiences with inconvertible paper.

  1. Trace the general changes in the value of gold in the United States from 1850 to the present time, analyzing so far as possible the reasons for these changes.
  2. Explain what you consider to be the merits and defects in the plans for the Phillipine currency adopted last year by the Senate and the House respectively? What lesson of significance for the Phillipine currency can be drawn from the history of the Latin monetary Union?
  3. Suppose that owing to the increasing gold supply the ratio between gold and silver were to fall, how would Mexican prices and the foreign trade of Mexico tend to be affected?
  4. How would you expect the fall in the value of silver to have affected (a) the trade relations of England and India before 1893? (b) the trade relations of India and China after 1893? How far is theory confirmed by actual experience?
  5. How according to Walker did monetary conditions affect the interests of the American working classes during the last quarter of the 19th century? Explain and criticise the nature of our evidence upon this subject.
    How did Walker and Marshall differ with regard to the effect of monetary conditions upon productive enterprise?
  6. Do falling prices “necessarily enhance the burden of all debts and fixed charges?”
    Illustrate by the experience of the United States during the period from 1873 to 1896, pointing out possible differences between agricultural and mercantile debts.
  7. Under what circumstances might a higher level of prices be maintained by means of book credits? Under what circumstances might a continuous rise in prices be effected by means of such credits?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).
Also included in: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

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

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization Labor

Harvard. Problems of labor and industrial organization, Student Reports, Exams. Ripley, 1902-1903

William Zebina Ripley

 

William Zebina Ripley began his career as racial social anthropologist, with a scientific legacy that could have reduced him to the fate of a poster-child in later histories of popular and academic racism. At the latest, his work as transportation expert for the United States Industrial Commission in 1900 helped to divert his attention to disputes between organized labor and organized capital and away from “problems of immigration”. And so we find his course “Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization” at Harvard which is the subject of this post. Besides a thick course description in the division announcement of its course offerings for 1902-03, course enrollment figures, and the semester final exams, the Harvard archives also has a copy of a four-page printed instructions for the student reports to be prepared during the first semester covering “problems of labor”.

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Economics 9
Course Description
1902-1903

  1. Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization. , Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Ripley.

The work of this course will consist of two parts, one concerned mainly with the economic and social questions relating to labor, with especial reference to legislation; the other with the fiscal and industrial organization of capital, especially in the corporate form.

Among the topics included under the first head will be the following, viz.: methods of remuneration, profit sharing, cooperation, sliding scales, and collective bargaining; labor organizations; factory legislation in all its phases in the United States and Europe; strikes, strike legislation and judicial interpretation, conciliation and arbitration; employers’ liability and compulsory compensation acts; compulsory insurance with particular reference to European experience; provident institutions, friendly societies, building and loan associations; the problem of the unemployed; apprenticeship, and trade and technical education.

With reference to the organization of capital and especially the economics of corporations, the principal topics will be industrial combination and the so-called trust problem. This will be considered in all its phases, with comparative study of the conditions in the United States and European countries. The growth and development of corporate enterprise, promotion, capitalization and financing, publicity of accounting, the liability of directors and underwriters, will be illustrated fully by the study of cases, not from their legal but from their purely economic aspects; and the effects of industrial combination and integration upon efficiency, profits, wages, the rights of investors, prices, industrial stability, the development of export trade, and international competition will be considered in turn.

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

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science[Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 9
Enrollment
1902-1903

Economics 9. Professor Ripley. — Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization.

Total 112: 3 Gr., 26 Se., 55 Ju., 17 So., 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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ECONOMICS 9
ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

GROUP A

Students will report upon the comparative conditions respecting Trade Union organization, functions, and efficiency in corresponding industries in the United States and Great Britain. The particular, industry assigned to each man is indicated by a number on the enrolment slip, which refers to the Trade Union number on the appended list of National Labor Organizations.

GROUP B

Students will report upon the comparative efficiency of Trade Union organization in two distinct lines of industry in the United States. Numbers against the names on the enrolment slip refer to the numbered Trade Union list, appended hereto.

GROUP C

Students will report upon the nature of Trade Union organization in two distinct lines of industry in Great Britain. Names on the enrolment slip as numbered refer to the industries concerned in the appended list of Trade Unions.

→ The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “8A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the Cotton Spinners’ Unions in the United States and Great Britain; “1 & 8B,” that a comparison of the Spinners’ and of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Organizations in the United States is expected : while “1 & 8C” calls for the same comparison for the two industries in Great Britain.

NATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

A star indicates that the Trade Union journal is in the Library. [Loeb Fund.]

*The Knights of Labor
*The American Federation of Labor

  1. Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union.
  2. The United Hatters of North America.
  3. The United Garment Workers of America.
  4. The Journeymen Tailors’ Union of America.
  5. Custom Clothing Makers’ Union of America.
  6. International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.
  7. The Shirt, Waist and Laundry Workers’ International Union.
  8. National Spinners’ Association of America.
  9. The Elastic Goring Weavers’ Amalgamated Association of the United States of America.
  10. International Union of Textile Workers.
  11. Trunk and Bag Workers’ International Union of America.
  12. *International Typographical Union of North America.
  13. German-American Typographia.
  14. International Printing Pressmen and Assistants’ Union of North America.
  15. International Brotherhood of Bookbinders.
  16. Lithographers’ International Protective and Beneficial Association.
  17. International Steel and Copperplate Printers’ Union of the United States of America.
  18. Bricklayers and Masons’ International Union of America.
  19. *United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
  20. Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners.
  21. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
  22. *Granite Cutters’ National Union of the United States of America.
  23. Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paper Hangers of America.
  24. Operative Plasterers’ International Association.
  25. United Association of Journeymen Plumbers, Gas Fitters, Steam Fitters, and Steam Fitters’ Helpers.
  26. National Association of Steam and Hot-Water Fitters and Helpers.
  27. Journeymen Stone Cutters’ Association of North America.
  28. Mosaic and Encaustic Tile Layers and Helpers’ International Union.
  29. Glass Bottle Blowers’ Association.
  30. American Flint Glassworkers’ Union.
  31. *Amalgamated Glassworkers’ International Association.
  32. National Brotherhood of Operative Potters.
  33. *United Mine Workers of America.
  34. Northern Mineral Mine Workers’ Progressive Union.
  35. Amalgamated Woodworkers’ International Union.
  36. United Order of Box Makers and Sawyers.
  37. *Piano and Organ Workers’ International Union.
  38. International Wood Carvers’ Association.
  39. Coopers’ International Union.
  40. Carriage and Wagon Workers’ International Union.
  41. National Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers.
  42. *International Association of Machinists.
  43. Amalgamated Society of Engineers.
  44. *Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and Iron Ship Builders.
  45. International Association of Allied Metal Mechanics.
  46. Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, and Brass Workers’ International Union.
  47. Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association.
  48. *Iron Molders’ Union.
  49. Pattern Makers’ League.
  50. Core Makers’ International Union.
  51. Grand Union of the International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths.
  52. Chain Makers’ National Union.
  53. Stove Mounters and Steel Range Workers’ International Union.
  54. Tin Plate Workers’ International Protective Association.
  55. American Wire Weavers’ Protective Association.
  56. Metal Trades’ Federation of North America.
  57. *International Seamen’s Union.
  58. National Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association.
  59. International Longshoremen’s Association.
  60. Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees.
  61. Switchmen’s Union.
  62. Journeymen Bakers’ and Confectioners’ International Union.
  63. Journeymen Barbers’ International Union.
  64. National Union of the United Brewery Workmen.
  65. *National Brickmaker’s Alliance.
  66. International Broom Makers’ Union.
  67. *Cigar Makers’ International Union.
  68. Retail Clerks’ International Protective Association.
  69. Team Drivers’ International Union.
  70. International Union of Steam Engineers.
  71. National Brotherhood of Coal Hoisting Engineers.
  72. Watch Case Engravers’ International Association.
  73. International Brotherhood of Stationary Firemen.
  74. International Union of Journeymen Horseshoers.
  75. Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ International Alliance and Bartenders’ International League.
  76. International Jewelry Workers.
  77. The United Brotherhood of Leather Workers on Horse Goods.
  78. National Association of Letter Carriers.
  79. *Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen.
  80. American Federation of Musicians.
  81. International Brotherhood of Oil and Gas Well Workers.
  82. United Brotherhood of Paper Makers.
  83. National Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
  84. National Stogie Makers’ League.
  85. *Tobacco Workers’ International League.
  86. Upholsterers’ International Union.
  87. *Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
  88. *Order of Railway Conductors of America.
  89. *Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.
  90. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.
  91. *Order of Railroad Telegraphers.
  92. Brotherhood of Railway Truckmen.
  93. Switchmen’s Union of North America.

The constitutions of most of the Trades Unions for the United States will be found in Vol. XVII, Reports, U. S. Industrial Commission. Similar data for Great Britain is in the Appendix to “Foreign Reports, Vols. 1-2,”Royal Commission on Labour, pp. 15-324. [Volume I, United States; Volume II, Colonies and Indian Empire] [Both reserved in Gore Hall.] Additional evidence as to labor conditions in each industry will be found in Vols. VII, VIII, XII, XIV, and XVII, U. S. Industrial Commission (consult Digest and Index in each volume); and in the Reports of the British Royal Commission. The student should also consult Charles Booth’s Life and Labor of the People;

[(Original) Volume I, East London; (Original) Volume II, London; (Original) Appendix to Volume II; Note: the previous three original volumes were re-printed as four volumes that then were followed by Volume V, Population Classified by Trades; Volume VI, Population Classified by Trades (cont.); Volume VII, Population Classified by Trades; Volume VIII, Population Classified by Trades (cont.); Volume IX, Comparisons, Survey and Conclusions];

Webbs, Industrial Democracy; and other books reserved in Gore Hall.

Data respecting the various unions among railroad employees in the United States will be found in a separate section on Railway Labor, in Vol. XVII, U. S. Industrial Commission: as also in Vols. IV and IX. (See Digests and Indexes.)

In cases where the American Trade Union journal is not in the library, the student will be expected to procure at least one copy from the Secretary of the Union. [See list of post office addresses posted with the enrolment slip.] These are to be filed with the report.

→ Exact references by title, volume and page must be given in foot notes for all facts cited. This condition is absolutely imperative. Failure to comply with it will vitiate the entire report.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1902-1903”.

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Economics 9
Mid-Year Examination
1902-1903

  1. What is the “fellow-servant doctrine” as applied to the interpretation of Employers’ Liability? Upon what reasons was it based; wherein did it fail; and how was it remedied?
  2. Describe, briefly, the causes and results of five great strikes in the United States since 1870.
  3. What was the recent Taff Vale case in Great Britain, and why was it so important?
  4. What is the position of the leading political parties and statesmen in England on labor questions?
  5. What is the general attitude of the American courts toward—
    1. The rights of strikers?
    2. Boycotts?
    3. Non-union men?
  6. What is an injunction? What are its merits and evils?
  7. Where has compulsory arbitration of labor disputes been attempted? What is the main objection to such a policy?
  8. What is the relative importance of the different causes of labor disputes? Are they different in different countries?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

Economics 9b
Year-end examination
1902-1903

  1. Outline with approximate dates, the development of the so-called Trust Problem in the United States.
  2. Show how the methods of promotion usually adopted have affected capitalization; illustrating by a case familiar to you.
  3. In what ways does the financing of industrials differ from railways; and what has been the principal effect upon their dividend policy?
  4. What are Jenks’ main conclusions as to the effect of combination upon prices? How do these compare with Ely’s?
  5. What are the three main inducements for transforming a partnership into a corporation?
  6. Contrast the attitude of the English common law toward monopoly with that of the law in Germany and France.
  7. What has been the attitude of the U.S. Steel Corporation toward its employees? Illustrate by concrete experience.
  8. Is “publicity” a sufficient remedy for the existing abuses of corporate management, in your opinion? Give specific reasons for your view.
  9. What was the decision in the Northern Securities Co. case, and what may be its possible effect?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Harvard University Archives.  William Zebina Ripley [photographic portrait, ca. 1910], J. E. Purdy & Co., J. E. P. & C. (1910). Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Bibliography Economic History Harvard

Harvard. Short Bibliography of Economic History for “Serious-minded Students”, Gay, 1910

Edwin Francis Gay

Economic history played a much larger role in the education of economists at the turn of the twentieth century than it does now. Course reading lists from the earlier time are relatively rare, it appears that assignments were written on the blackboard as part of lectures. Nonetheless, from printed bibliographies we do get a sense of the scale and scope of the literature advanced students would have been exposed to.

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

Economic History is the “allied subject” covered in the bibliography provided by Professor Edwin F. Gay and transcribed below. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has added links to digital copies of all but one of the ca. 90 items listed by Gay! 

UPDATE (July 16, 2023). Friend of Economics in the Rear-View Mirror, Thea Don-Siemion (Twitter: @StationryBandit), suggested a comparison with A bibliography of historical economics to 1980 by D. N. McCloskey and G.K. Harsh (Cambridge University Press, 1990). The book can be borrowed online, an hour at a time, at archive.org by registered users. To think there is still a residual gap of over forty years already!

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Previously posted  Harvard short bibliographies

I.2. Economic Theory by Taussig, 1910

I.7. Social Statistics by Ripley, 1910

II.3. Taxation by Bullock, 1910

IV.5 Economics of Socialism by Carver, 1910

IV.6 Socialism and Family/Christian Ethics by McConnell, 1910

IV.7. Trade Unionism by Ripley, 1910

IV.8. Strikes and Boycotts by Ripley, 1910

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

IV.13. Social Insurance by Foerster, 1910

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Economic History
Edwin F. Gay

The reader interested in economic history must gather his information from many books, for the most part dealing with special phases of the subject and limited as to period and country, rather than from comprehensive manuals or surveys. Since economic history is but a portion or aspect of general history, isolating for convenience of study the organized efforts of mankind to satisfy its material needs, works on political and constitutional history must be used, though they vary greatly in the degree of emphasis placed upon the economic factors. Indeed, for the student who cannot read German and French, such general histories must often be his sole reliance. This is particularly true of the economic history of Greece and Rome and of large parts of the mediæval and modern economic history of other than English speaking countries. This brief list cannot include general histories, but it must necessarily comprise some of the more important German and French contributions to economic history.

The economic history of England must hold first place in such a list, and therefore the books in that field are given the larger amount of space. Then follow some of the more important works relating to the continent of Europe and to the United States.

Cunningham, W. An essay on western civilization in its economic aspects. [Cambridge Historical Series.] Volume I, ancient times; Volume II, mediæval and modern times. Cambridge, University Press, 1898-1900, pp. xii, 220; xii, 300.

A good general introduction to economic history.

Bücher, Karl. Die Entstehung der Volkswirtschaft. 1 Aufl., 1893; 7 Aufl., ibid., 1910. Tübingen: H. Laupp, vii, 464 S.

Bücher, Karl. Industrial evolution. Translated from the third German edition [of the above] by S. M. Wickett. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1901, pp. xiv, 393.

A series of suggestive essays, illuminating the development of industrial organization. The book has exerted a marked influence.

Day, Clive. A history of commerce. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xliv, 626.

The best brief manual; well proportioned and with a good background of economic history; it has a useful bibliography.

Lindsay, W. S. History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce. 4 vols. London: Sampson, Low & Co., 1874-76. [Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV]

An older standard work in this field; more exhaustive than any of its successors. The last two volumes (1816-74) were reprinted separately in 1876.

 

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Cunningham, W. The growth of English industry and commerce, . Volume I, Early and middle ages, fourth edition, 1905; [:] Modern times, Volume II [, The Mercantile System] and [Volume] III [Laissez Faire], fourth edition, 1907. Cambridge: University Press.

This work, constantly improved in the successive editions since the first in 1882, is of importance as a book of reference for English economic history, and should be used, if possible, in preference to the smaller but still commendable manuals on the subject, such as those by Cunningham and McArthur, Gibbins, Warner or Cheyney. Each volume has a helpful bibliography.

Ashley, W. J. An introduction to English economic history and theory. Part 1, The middle ages; Part 2, The end of the middle ages. Third edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1894-98, pp. xii, 227; xii, 501.

A scholarly and readable work.

Traill, H. D., editor. Social England: a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners. By various writers. 6 vols., New York: George Putnam’s Sons, 1893-97 [Volume I, From the earliest times to the accession of Edward I (1895); Volume II, From the accession of Edward I to the death of Henry VII (1894); Volume III, From the accession of Henry VIII to the death of Elizabeth (1896); Volume IV, From the accession of James I to the death of Anne (1895); Volume V, From the accession of George I to the Battle of Waterloo (1896); Volume VI, From the Battle of Waterloo to the General Election of 1885 (1898)]; new edition [illustrated], Traill, H. D., and Mann, J. S., editors, 6 vols., New York: George Putnam’s Sons, 1901-4. [Volume I (1901); Volume II (1902); Volume III(1902); Volume IV (1903); Volume V (1904); Volume VI (1904)]

A poorly edited though useful book; the contributions of Prothero, Maitland, Powell and others more than counterbalance the less scholarly contributions. Brief bibliographical notes accompany each chapter.

Seebohm, Frederic. The English village community. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1883, pp. 464.

A stimulating pioneer book. Its conclusions are controverted by Vinogradoff and Maitland.

Vinogradoff, Paul. Villainage in England; essays in English mediæval history. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892, pp. xii, 464.

Vinogradoff, Paul. The growth of the manor. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1892, pp. 384.

These, with the same author’s “English Society in the Eleventh Century” (1908), are not easy reading, but indispensable for an understanding of earlier social history and manorial institutions.

Maitland, Frederic W. Domesday book and beyond: Three essays in the early history of England. Cambridge: University Press (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.), 1897, pp. xiii, 527.

The best starting point for the study of the vexed problems of social agrarian history presented by Domesday book.

Page, T. W. The end of villainage in England. Publications of the American Economic Association. New York: The Macmillan Company, third series, Volume I, No. 2, May, 1900, pp. 99.

A valuable contribution to the discussion of an important question.

Gross, Charles. The gild merchant. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890, pp. xxii, 332; xi, 447. [Volume I;Volume II]

The author’s chief interest in this book is in the development of the municipal constitution, but his investigations are of fundamental importance for a knowledge of the beginnings of mercantile associations in England. The book has a carefully prepared bibliography.

Rogers, J. E. Thorold. Six centuries of work and wages; the history of English labor. 1 vol. in 2 parts. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), 1884, pp. 591.

A summary of conclusions based upon his monumental “History of agriculture and prices in England” (7 vols., 1866-1902) [Volume I, 1259-1400; Volume II, 1259-1400; Volume III, 1401-1582; Volume IV, 1401-1582; Volume V, 1583-1702; Volume VI, 1583-1702; Volume VII, 1703-1793, Part I; Volume VII, 1703-1793, Part II], the most considerable collection of prices available for any country; but both his price averages and views must be accepted with caution. Eight selected chapters of this work have been reprinted (London, 1895, Social Science Series).

Unwin, George. Industrial organization in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1904, pp. vii, 277.

A well-written attempt to prove the continuity of labor organizations from the medieval craft gild to the modern trade union. For a different opinion see the Webbs’ “History of trade unionism,” second edition, 1907.

Schanz, Georg. Englische Handelspolitik gegen Ende des Mittelalters. 2 Bde. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1881, xix, 684; xiii, 672 S. [Volume I; Volume II]

The best account of English commercial policy and commercial institutions under Henry VII and Henry VIII. The second volume consists largely of documentary materials.

Ehrenberg, Richard. Hamburg und England im Zeitalter der Königin Elizabeth. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1896, 362 S.

A valuable study of the commercial struggle between England and the Hansa towns under Elizabeth.

Hewins, W. A. S. English trade and finance chiefly in the seventeenth century. London: Methuen (University Extension Series), 1892, pp. 174.

This work treats concisely and interestingly of the chief commercial companies and labor organizations of the seventeenth century and of three important commercial treaties of the eighteenth century.
An account of the English commercial companies is given in Cawston and Keane’s “The early chartered companies, 1296-1858” (London: Edward Arnold, 1896, pp. 329), a compilation from material which is found in Macpherson’s “Annals of commerce” (London, 1805, 4 vols.) [Volume I; Volume II; Volume III; Volume IV]. For further account of the commercial companies, especially the Continental, consult Bonnassieux, “Les grandes compagnies de commerce” (Paris: Plon, Nourrit et Cie., 1892, pp. 562).

Hunter, William W. History of British India. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899-1900. 2 vols. [Volume I,To the overthrow of the English in the Spice Archipelago; Volume II, To the union of the old and new companies under the Earl of Godolphin’s award] [Completed by P. E. Roberts owing to the author’s death.]

A readable and reliable history of the English India Company.

Andréadès, A. Histoire de la Banque d’Angleterre: ses origines, sa fondation, son developpement, etc. 2 vols. in 1. Paris: Rousseau, 1904, pp. 455. Translated by Christabel Meredith. London: P. S. King & Son, 1909. [Essai sur la foundation et l’histoire de la Banque d’Angleterre (1694-1844), Paris: Rousseau, 1901]

A competent study; it contains an extensive bibliography.

Prothero, R. E. Pioneers and progress of English farming. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1888, pp. 290.

A brief and picturesque account of the history of English agriculture.

Johnson, A. H. Disappearance of the small landholder. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909, pp. 164.

The most recent and in many respects most useful discussion of the subject. W. Hasbach’s “Die englischen Landarbeiter.” (Leipzig, 1894. English translation by Ruth Kenyon, with preface by Sidney Webb. London: P. S. King & Son, 1908, pp. 470, with bibliography), deals with another aspect, the history of agricultural labor.

Toynbee, Arnold. Lectures on the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century in England. Fourth edition, London, 1894, pp. 319 (with a memoir by B. Jowett). New edition, New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1908 (with reminiscences by Lord Milner), pp. 282.

Suggestive lectures originally addressed to workingmen.

Mantoux, Paul. La Révolution industrielle au xviiie siècle. Paris: G. Bellair, 1906, pp. 543.

An excellent description (with good bibliography) of the industrial revolution in England, with, however, no adequate study of the causes and economic significance of the movement. The reader may find some assistance on this side from Hobson, “Evolution of modern capitalism” (London, 1896).

Macrosty, H. W. Trusts and the state. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. (London: Grant Richards), 1901, pp. 318.

A well-informed historical treatment of the subject.

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice. History of trade unionism. New edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xxxiv, 558.

The best book on the subject.

Hutchins, B. L., and Harrison, A. History of factory legislation. Preface by Sidney Webb. London: P. S. King & Son, 1903, pp. xviii, 372.

Complete and reliable. Extensive bibliography.

Armitage-Smith, George. The free trade movement and its results. Chicago: Herbert S. Stone & Co., 1898, pp. 244.

An historical study written from the standpoint of a free trader.

Bowley, A. L. England’s foreign trade in the nineteenth century. Revised edition, 1905. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1893, pp. 165.

A brief but valuable statistical discussion.

Ashley, W. J., editor. British industries. Second edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xvii, 232.

Eight lectures, each by an expert in his field.

Nicholls, George. History of the English poor law. 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] London: 1854. New edition with revision by the author, a biography by H. G. Willink, and a supplementary volume [III] by Thomas Mackay; 3 vols. [Volume I, A.D. 924 to 1714; Volume II, A.D. 1714 to 1853; Volume III, A.D. 1834 to the present time] London: P. S. King & Son, 1898–9.

The standard work on the subject.

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Lamprecht, Karl. Deutsches Wirtschaftsleben in Mittelalter. 3 Tle. in 4 Bdn. Leipzig: Dürr, 1885-86. [Volume I.1; Volume I.2; Volume II, Statistisches Material und Quellenkunde; Volume III, Quellensammlung]

An important work. Though based on a documentary study of economic conditions only in the Moselle valley for the period ending in the early sixteenth century, it nevertheless deserves its wider title. The same author’s “Deutsche Geschichte” emphasizes—perhaps over-emphasizes—the economic and social aspects of German history.

[Volume I, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 1-4);
Volume II, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 5-7);
Volume 3, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 8-10);
Volume 4, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 11-13);
Volume 5.1, Neuere Zeit (Books 14-15);
Volume 5.2, Neuere Zeit (Books 15-16);
Volume 6, Neuere Zeit (Books 17-18);
Volume 7.1, Neuere Zeit (Books 19-20);
Volume 7.2, Neuere Zeit (Book 21);
Volume 8, Neueste Zeit (Book 22);
Volume 9, Neueste Zeit (Book 23);
Volume 10, Neueste Zeit (Book 24);
Volume 11, Neueste Zeit (Book 25);
Volume 12, Anhang, Bibliographie, Register
Ergänzungsband I, Tonkunst—Bildende Kunst—Dichtung–Weltanschauung;
Ergänzungsband II.1, Wirtschaftsleben—Soziale Entwicklung];
Ergänzungsband II.2, Innere Politik—Äußere Politik]

Von Inama-Sternegg, K. T. Deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte. 3 Tle. in 4 Bdn. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1879-1901

[Volume I, bis zum Schluss der Karolingerperiode; Volume II, des 10. Bis 12. Jahrhunderts; Volume III, in den letzten Jahrhunderten des Mittelalters (1. Teil); Volume III, in den letzten Jahrhunderten des Mittelalters (2. Teil)]

Covers the period to the end of the middle ages. The only general work on the subject.

Pigeonneau, H. Histoire du commerce de la France. 2 vol. 2e édition. [Volume I; Volume II] Paris: Cerf, 1887-88.

A standard work, covering the period ending with the age of Richelieu.

Heyd, W. Geschichte des Levantehandels im Mittelalter. 2 Bde.  [Volume I; Volume II] Stuttgart: Cotta, 1879, 604, 781 S.

The French translation (Histoire du commerce du Levant au moyen-âge. 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: 1885-86, revised by the author) is preferable to the German original.

Levasseur, É. Histoire des classes ouvrières et de l’industrie en France avant 1789. 2 vol. [Volume 1; Volume 2] 2e édition. Paris: Rousseau, 1900-01.

Levasseur, É. Histoire des classes ouvrières et de l’industrie en France de 1789 à 1870. 2 vol. [Volume 1; Volume 2] 2e édition. Paris: Rousseau, 1903.

Levasseur, É. Questions ouvrières et industrielles en France sous la troisième république. Paris: Rousseau, 1907, pp. xxii, 968.

These three works together form the most available general survey not only of the history of the French working classes but of French economic history.

Sée, H. Les classes rurales et le régime domanial en France au moyen-âge. Paris: Giard et Brière, 1901, pp. xxvii, 638.

A convenient survey of French agrarian conditions in the middle ages, with bibliography.

Fuchs, [Carl Johannes]. Die Epochen der deutschen Agrargeschichte und Agrarpolitik. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1898, ii, 32 S. [Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung No 70 und 71 vom 29. und 30. März 1898]

An admirable summary of the results of recent investigation in German agrarian history.

Ehrenberg, R. Das Zeitalter der Fugger. 2 Bde. [Volume I; Volume II] Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1896, xv, 420; iv, 367 S.

A noteworthy contribution to the financial and commercial history of the sixteenth century.

Wiebe, G. Zur Geschichte der Preisrevolution des 16ten und 17ten Jahrhunderts. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1895, ix, 419 S.

The best study of the subject, clear and critical.

Schmoller, G. Das Merkantilsystem in seiner historischer Bedeutung. A chapter from his “Studien über die wirtschaftliche Politik Friedrichs des Grossen” (1884) [Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich Band 8, S. 1-62] and reprinted in the Umrisse und Untersuchungen. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1898, pp. 1-60. English translation by W. J. Ashley: The mercantile system. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1896, pp. viii, 95.

Gives an understanding of the significance of the commercial and political policies of the period when the mercantile system prevailed. For the history of mercantilist doctrine, the English reader may consult J. K. Ingram’s “History of political economy.” New York: The Macmillan Company, 1888, pp. xv, 250. Second edition (unaltered), 1907. More recent books are available in French and German.

Sargent, A. J. Economic policy of Colbert. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899, pp. vii, 138.

A judicious and concise survey of Colbert’s work, based mainly on P. Clément: “Histoire de Colbert et de son administration” (Paris, 1892) [Volume I; Volume II] and Clément’s edition of the “Lettres, instructions, et mémoires de Colbert” (Paris, 1861-70). [Volume I; Volume II (1); Volume II (2); Volume III (1); Volume III (2) ; Volume IV; Volume V; Volume VI; Volume VII; Errata Général et Table Analytique]

Shepherd, R. P. Turgot and the six edicts. New York: Columbia University Press, 1903, pp. 263.

A scholarly study of the policy of Turgot.

Knapp, G. F. Die Bauernbefreiung und der Ursprung der Landarbeiter in den älteren Teilen Preussens. 2 Tle. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1887, vii, 352; vi, 473 S.

A most valuable study of the condition of the Prussian peasants and the work of emancipation. The English reader will find a less authoritative account in Seeley’s “Life and times of Stein,” [Volume I; Volume II; Volume III] and Morier’s “Agrarian legislation of Prussia,” chapters from each being reprinted in B. Rand’s “Selections illustrating economic history,” fourth revised edition. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903, pp. vii, 647.

Sombart, W. Der moderne Kapitalismus. 2 Bde. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1902, xxxiv, 669; viii, 646. S.

Sombart, W. Die deutsche Volkswirtschaft im 19ten Jahrhundert. Berlin: Bondi, 1903, pp. xviii, 647.

These two works together form a stimulating interpretation of the recent economic development of Germany.

Ashley, Percy. Modern tariff history. London: Murray, 1904, pp. xviii, 367.

Contains a useful summary of the tariff history of Germany and France and a less useful one of the United States.

Liefmann, R. Kartelle und Trusts. 2 erweit. Aufl. Stuttgart: E. H. Moritz, 1910, 210 S. [5. Erw. und erb. Aufl. 1922]

A popular account with especial reference to Germany, written by a careful student of the subject.

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Emery, H. C. Economic development of the United States. Cambridge: University Press, 1904, in Cambridge Modern History, Volume VII: “The United States,” pp. 687-722.

The best brief survey. Two fairly good text-books in this field are: Coman, K., “The industrial history of the United States” (New York: Macmillan, 1905, pp. xviii, 343), and Bogart, E. L., “Economic history of the United States” (New York: Longmans, 1907, pp. 522).

Callender, G. S. Selections from the economic history of the United States, 1765-1860. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1909, pp. xviii, 869.

A comprehensive selection of original materials together with helpful editorial comment. Volume II (1860-1900) is in preparation.

Beer, G. L. The commercial policy of England toward the American colonies. New York: Columbia University Press, 1903, pp. 167.

An important monograph.

Hammond, M. B. The cotton industry. Publications of the American Economic Association. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1897, pp. viii, 382.

An historical study, especially good for the period before the Civil War.

Taussig, F. W. State papers and speeches on the tariff. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1893, pp. vii, 385.

Contains Hamilton’s report on manufactures, Gallatin’s free-trade memorial, Walker’s treasury report of 1845, and Clay’s and Webster’s speeches on the tariff of 1824.

Taussig, F. W. The tariff history of the United States. Fifth edition. New York: Henry Putnam’s Sons, 1903, pp. xi, 422.

This is the standard work on the subject. It is a scholarly investigation written from the free-trade standpoint. See also an article by the same author in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (November, 1909, Volume XXIV, pp. 1-38), on “The tariff debate of 1909 and the new tariff.” For the protectionist side of the tariff controversy see E. Stanwood’s “History of American tariff controversies.” 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1903.

Dewey, D. R. Financial history of the United States. Second edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1903, pp. xxv, 530.

The standard text-book in its field. It contains excellent bibliographical notes.

Bullock, C. J. Essays on the monetary history of the United States. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1900, pp. x, 288.

Best on the period before the revolution.

Catterall, R. C. H. The second bank of the United States. Chicago: University Press, 1903, pp. xiv, 538.

A scholarly study.

Mitchell, W. C. A history of the greenbacks. Chicago: University Press, 1903, pp. xvi, 577.

An exhaustive work.

Noyes, A. D. Forty years of American finance. New York: Henry Putnam’s Sons, 1909, pp. ix, 418.

An excellent account of American financial history since the Civil War.

Hadley, A. T. Railroad transportation. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1885, pp. iv, 269.

An early and valuable treatise.

Johnson, E. R. American railway transportation. Second edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1908, pp. xviii, 434.

The best text-book on the subject.

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. 10-21.

Image Source: Portrait of Edwin Francis Gay, colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Monochrome image from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5, March 1914.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. U.S. Economic History. Enrollment and Exams. Sprague, 1902-1903

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

From the announcement of courses for the 1902-03 year, it would appear that the economics department reckoned with Frank Taussig’s return after a one year medical leave since he was listed to teach several courses, including U.S. economic history. However his leave needed to be extended and Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague had to teach the course alone. This post provides the course description, enrollment figures and the final exam questions from 1902-03 for Economics 6.

Materials for the U.S. economic history course (Economics 6) taught at Harvard during the academic year 1901-02 have been posted earlier. They include a reading list for reports to prepared by the students. It was jointly taught by Oliver M.W. Sprague and James Horace Patten.

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Economics 6
Course Description
1902-1903

  1. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30. Professor Taussig and Dr. Sprague.

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the close of the eighteenth century to the present time, and aims to show on the one hand the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by American experience and, on the other, the extent to which economic conditions have influenced social and political development. 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; 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, emancipation and the present condition of the Negro, the effects of immigration. Finally, the more important features of our currency and financial history are reviewed. Comparisons will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of Europe.

The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. It is open to students who have taken Economics 1, and also to Juniors and Seniors who are taking that course.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science[Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 6
Enrollment
1902-1903

Economics 6. Dr. Sprague. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 120: 1 Gr., 36 Se., 59 Ju., 15 So., 9 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Economics 6
Mid-Year Examination
1902-1903

  1. Was the colonial relationship economically advantageous to New England?
  2. The sale of public lands to 1821.
  3. The effect of the credit system in the South upon cotton growing.
  4. The investment of foreign capital and internal improvements in the United States.
  5. Contrast the views of Webster and Clay upon conditions in 1824, and give reasons for their difference of opinion.
  6. The United States “can without difficulty obtain from abroad the manufactured supplies of which they are in want, but they experience numerous impediments to the emission and vent of their own commodities. . . . A constant and increasing necessity on their part for the commodities of Europe, and only a partial or occasional demand for their own in return, could not but expose them to a state of impoverishment compared with the opulence to which their political and natural advantages authorize them to aspire.”
    — Hamilton.
    What would Gallatin have said of this argument for protection? What is your own opinion?
  7. Why did not the opening of the Erie Canal at first greatly change the course of Western trade?
  8. Explain and illustrate the highly speculative character of American economic development.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

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Economics 6
Year-End Examination
1902-1903

  1. The tariff act of 1883.
  2. “There are, however, some aspects of the tariff question on which the inductive and historical mode of inquiry has been more helpful. The protective policy of the United States has had unexpected successes and surprising failures.” Illustrate.
  3. Factors tending to the localization of industries.
  4. Why was the United States a more attractive country to immigrants in 1850 than in 1820?
  5. The future delivery system in the sale of cotton.
  6. What conclusions may be drawn from our experience under the tariffs of 1846 and 1857?
  7. Duties upon raw wool and their consequences.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague portrait in the Harvard Class Album 1915. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.