Category: Harvard

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Exam Questions Harvard Principles

Harvard. Principles of Economics Exam. Taussig et al., 1905-1906

Over the next couple of weeks Economics in the Rear-view Mirror will be posting the printed economics course exams from Harvard for the academic year 1905-06.  Economics in the Rear-View Mirror has already transcribed and posted nearly every economics exam at Harvard University up to this year. You will find links to them in the Catalogue of Artifacts, then use page search for, e.g.,”Exam” to be awed if not shocked by the sheer quantity of material available to you.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 1. Professor [Frank William] Taussig and Asst. Professor [Abram Piatt] Andrew, assisted by Messrs. [Silas Wilder] Howland, [Chester Whitney] Wright, [Seldon Osgood] Martin, [William Hyde] Price, [Frank Richardson] Mason, and [Stuart] Daggett. — Principles of Economics.

Total 470: 1 Graduate, 9 Seniors, 87 Juniors, 266 Sophomores, 63 Freshmen, 44 Others.

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

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ECONOMICS 1
Mid-year Examination, 1905-06

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
Answer nine questions, five from Group I, four from Group II.

Group I

  1. Which of the following would you class as capital:—
    1. stocks of goods in retailers’ hands;
    2. a theatre:
    3. the skill, acquired through training and education, of highly efficient workmen;
    4. agricultural land permanently improved by drainage, embankments and the like.
  2. Explain concisely,
    1. the law of diminishing returns;
    2. intensive and extensive margin of cultivation;
    3. marginal utility.
  3. Suppose all agricultural land to be equally fertile and equally distant from the market; suppose all to be under cultivation: would there be rent? If so, why and where? if not, why not?
  4. Explain in what way the value of monopolized commodities is influenced on the one hand by cost of production, on the other hand by marginal utility.
  5. Explain in what way the value of commodities produced at joint cost is influenced on the one hand by cost of production, on the other hand by marginal utility.
  6. State two different ways in which expense of education and training affects variations of wages in different occupations.

Group II

  1. “The extra gains which any producer or dealer obtains through superior talents for business, or superior business arrangements, are very much of a similar kind [to rent]. . . . All advantages, in fact, which one competitor has over another, whether natural or acquired, whether personal or the result of social arrangements, bring the commodity, so far, into the Third Class, and assimilate the possessor of the advantage to a receiver of rent.” —Mill.
    Explain what is the “third class” of commodities here referred to by Mill; wherein “personal” advantages differ from those which are “the result of social arrangements”; and how far the general doctrine set forth in this extract is found also in Walker and in Seager.
  2. State concisely the residual theory of distribution, as set forth by Walker.
  3. Suppose the number of laborers to increase greatly, the other factors in production (capital, land) remaining unchanged: what changes in wages would ensue, and in what manner would they be brought about, according to Mill? Walker? Seager?
  4. Explain concisely,
    1. the capitalization of rent;
    2. the capitalization of monopoly profits;
    3. the statement that the rate of interest determines the value of land and securities;
    4. innocent investors and acquired rights.
  5. A corporation organized to do a mercantile business buys an expensive city site, erects a building thereon, carries on the operations of buying and selling, and in due time distributes dividends among its stockholders. What is the nature of the return received by the stockholders?

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

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ECONOMICS 1
Year-end Examination, 1905-06

Omit one question from each group.

I.

  1. Define capital, and mention two articles of wealth which are always capital, two which never are, and two which sometimes are and sometimes are not.
  2. Under what conditions would there be no economic rent?
  3. Explain briefly the salient influences which will determine the value (1) at any given moment, (2) in the long run, of the following:
    1. an uncopyrighted book,
    2. a copyrighted book,
    3. an ounce of gold.
  4. What are the limits to the price-fixing and profit-earning powers of monopolies? Are there any other conditions which will tend to check the indefinite growth of combinations?

II.

  1. Is it true of all commodities that changes in supply affect their value proportionally? Is it true of the commodity money? If in your opinion there is any difference, explain it.
  2. Can a commodity change its value without changing its price? Can it change its price without changing its value? Suppose the commodity were gold bullion, would your answer vary?
  3. Suppose an increase in the volume of our currency, due to a new issue of silver, what would be the effect upon international trade? Would this effect be lasting? Would your answer depend at all upon the condition of our currency at the time the increase occurred?
  4. If the merchandise imports from England to the United States equalled the exports from the United States to England (a) what would be the state of exchange on London? (b) Would there be any greater advantage to either of the countries engaged in trade?

III.

  1. Would a tariff “for revenue only” differ from a protective tariff, the product of which is entirely devoted to revenue? Has either any advantage over the other?
  2. “A man is of all sorts of luggage the most difficult to be transported.” What is the bearing of this fact upon the theory of international trade?
  3. (a) How are loans affected when the reserve limit (as established either by law or custom) is reached in England, Germany, and in the United States?
    (b) Show whether a system of “combined reserves” is needed in France, England, or Germany.
  4. Arrange the following items in their proper order as they would appear in the statement of a national bank. What criticisms would a bank examiner make? Would these criticisms vary if the bank were situated in New York, Boston, or the town of Lexington?
Loans,

360 thousands of dollars
Capital,

50      “                “       “
Reserve,

50      “                “       “
Real estate,

28      “                “       “
Deposits,

300    “                “       “
Undivided profits,

3        “                “       “
Notes,

115    “                “       “
Other assets,

20      “                “       “
Bonds and stocks,

40      “                “       “
Surplus,

30      “                “       “

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), pp. 26-27.

Image Source: Portrait of Professor Frank W. Taussig in the Harvard Class Album 1906.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard International Economics Suggested Reading

Harvard. Undergraduate International Economics. Book list and final exam. Caves, 1963-1964

Harvard Square in February 1964

While the memo to the libraries promises a full reading list for the course on international trade and finance to come as soon as possible, there was no copy of Richard Caves’ full reading list for the first semester of 1963-64 to be found with other economics course syllabi in the Harvard archives. Still the twenty items arranged in approximate order of use together with the final exam questions for the course give us a good idea of the course content.

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Course Announcement

Economics 148. International Trade: Basic Facts and Policies

Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., (S.), at 12. Professor Caves

Treats such problems as the balance of payments, the dollar market, capital movements, exchange rates, exchange control, European integration and the relation of domestic and international policies.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Science. Courses of Instruction for Harvard and Radcliffe. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. LX, No. 21 (September 4, 1963) p. 104.

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Book list for Economics 148

September 11, 1963

To: Lamont, Radcliffe, Littauer Libraries
From: Richard E. Caves
Subject: book list for Economics 148, Fall Semester, 1963-64

The following books and other special materials which I plan to assign for Economics 148 (“International Trade: Basic Facts and Policies”) are arranged in the approximate order of use during the term. Heavy assignments will be made in those titles preceded by an asterisk; in general, only relatively short passages will be assigned from other titles.

Students will be urged to purchase as a basic text Charles P. Kindleberger, International Economics, 3rd ed. (Homewood, Ill.: Richard 3 D. Irwin, 1963). I expect an enrollment in the course about the same as last year, 90 to 100.

A full reading list will follow as soon as possible.

Lary, Hal B. Problems of the United States as World Trader and Banker. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1963.

Allen, W. R., and Allen, C. L., eds. Foreign Trade and Finance: Essays in International Economic Equilibrium and Adjustment. New York: Macmillan, 1959.

Meier, Gerald M. International Trade and Development. New York: Harper and Row, 1963.

Kenen, Peter B. Giant Among Nations: Problems in United States Foreign Economic Policy. Chicago: Rand, McNally, 1963.

Daedalus, Summer and Fall numbers, 1962.

Vaccara, Beatrice N. Employment and Output in Protected Manufacturing Industries. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1960.

Myrdal, Gunnar. An International Economy: Problems and Prospects. New York: Harper & Bros., 1956.

Triffin, Robert. Europe and the Money Muddle. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957.

*Salant, Walter S. et al. The United States Balance of Payments in 1968, Washington, D.C. Brookings Institution, 1963.
[Note: Chapters 2-9 were the Reading Period assignments]

Harris, Seymour E., ed. The Dollar in Crisis. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961.

*Factors Affecting the United States Balance of Payments, Compilation of Studies, U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Subcommittee on International Exchange and Payments, 87th Congress, 2nd session. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1962.

Tew, Brian. International Monetary Cooperation, 1945-1956. London: Hutchinson’s University Library, 1956.

Tew, Brian, The International Monetary Fund: Its Present Role and Future Prospects. Essays in International Finance, No. 36. Princeton, N.J.: International Finance Section, Princeton University, 1961.

Machlup, Fritz. Plans for Reform of the International Monetary System, Special Papers in International Economics, No. 3. Princeton, N.J.: International Finance Section, Princeton University, 1962.

Tinbergen, Jan. Shaping the World Economy: Suggestions for an International Economic Policy. New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1962.

Asher, Robert E. Grants, Loans, and Local Currencies: Their Role In Foreign Aid. Washington, D. C.: Brookings Institution, 1961.

Millikan, M. F., and W. W. Rostow. A Proposal: Key To An Effective Foreign Policy. New York: Harper & Bros., 1957.

Mikesell, R. F. Promoting United States Private Investment Abroad. Washington, D.C. National Planning Association, 1957.

*Balassa, Bela. The Theory of Economic Integration. Homewood, Ill.: Richard D. Irwin, 1961.

Sannwald, Rolf F., and Jacques Stohler. Economic Integration: Theoretical Assumptions and Consequences of European Integration. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1959.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 8, Folder “Economics, 1963-1964”.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Economics 148
Final Examination
January 21, 1964

Answer question No. 1 and three of the remaining five. The answers to all questions will be weighted equally.

  1. Describe the basic model used in the Brookings report (The United States Balance of Payments in 1968) to forecast the balance of payments and evaluate its completeness and correctness in terms of international trade theory.
    (Note: Make sure that you distinguish between the structure of the model and the assumptions made about independent variables used in the model.)
  2. Do underdeveloped countries face a conflict between the “gains from trade” and the “gains from growth”?
    Discuss critically the arguments which have been advanced for the restriction of imports by developing countries, distinguishing between arguments for across-the-board restrictions and those for restricting the inflow of particular types of commodities.
  3. A country devalues its currency. Show how the price and income adjustment mechanisms respond to affect the balance of payments. Would you normally expect the balance to improve? Is it possible for no net improvement to occur, although the price effect is favorable?
  4. Discuss the elements of the “international liquidity problem.” Would the problem disappear if the United States balance of payments (miraculously) returned to equilibrium? Appraise the extent to which at least two of the proposals for dealing with the liquidity problem would solve the essential elements of that problem, as you see them.
  5. A country forms a customs union with another. Illustrate the following effects for any one traded commodity, using diagrams, and assuming that the world’s and the partner country’s supply functions are perfectly elastic, while the domestic supply and demand functions are neither perfectly elastic nor perfectly inelastic:
    1. Tariff revenue foregone
    2. Transfer from the government to the consumers
    3. Transfer from domestic producers to consumers
    4. Change in consumers’ surplus
    5. Trade creation
    6. Trade diversion
      Briefly, how might the net effect (gain or loss) of the union on the country’s welfare be measured?
  6. Can industrialized countries increase their rates of economic growth by forming customs unions? Appraise the possible gains from faster growth in the setting of Western European economies. Could some of the effects of a customs union hamper growth, either among members or in excluded countries?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Social Sciences. Final Examinations January 1964 (HUC 7000.28, vol. 150).

Image Source: Harvard Square Snowstorm, February 1964. Boston Public Library, Boston Herald-Traveler Photo Morgue Collection. Copy downloaded from the Digital Commonwealth website.

Categories
Economists Harvard War and Defense Economics

Harvard. Account of his government service during WWI. Gay, 1920

Edwin Francis Gay

Edwin F. Gay was an 1890 alumnus of the University of Michigan (A.B.) whom the Harvard Class of 1890 elected to honorary class membership its 25th anniversary. Five years later we find in the 30th anniversary report of the class a short note paying tribute to Gay’s war service. That note is posted below. Rather than overthink what might be new information worth putting into the digital record here, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror simply decided to transcribe the entire artifact. 

The previous post highlights the role Edwin F. Gay and Wesley Clair Mitchell played at the creation of the “Survey of Current Business” of the Department of Commerce, an important legacy of then Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.

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In-depth look at the life and career of Edwin Francis Gay

Herbert Heaton. A Scholar in Action, Edwin F. Gay. Harvard University Press, 1952.

Contents

Introduction—The man and his work

    1. A Scholar in the Making, 1867-1902
    2. Harvard, 1902-1917
    3. Wartime in Washington, 1917-1919
    4. The New York “Evening Post,” 1919-1923
    5. Harvard and the Squirrel Cage, 1924-1936
    6. In and Out of the Ivory Tower, 1936-1946

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From the 1920 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

EDWIN FRANCIS GAY

DEGREES: (Harvard) LL.D. (Hon.); (Berlin) Ph.D.; (University of Michigan) A.B. 1890.

OCCUPATION: Publisher New York Evening Post.

Offices held in Harvard: instructor in Economics, 1902-03; assistant professor of Economics, 1903-1906; professor of Economics, 1906-1919; dean of Graduate School of Business Administration, 1908-1919. Graduated from the University of Michigan in the class of 1890 and came to Harvard as the dean of the School of Business Administration. He was elected an honorary member of our class at the time of our twenty-fifth anniversary. During the war he went to Washington where he was in charge of the allocation of shipping and at the close of the war he came to New York as the editor of the New York Evening Post where he now is.

Gay really did a wonderful work in Washington in bringing his statistical data to practical results. He started in on the Shipping Board and conceived the idea of restricting imports that were not particularly needed for war work and thus gaining space in ships for carrying munitions, food and men for our Army and those of our Allies from this country abroad. He established a splendid number of expert statisticians, each one of whom made a certain commodity a specialty. These were mostly college deans and professors who quickly acquired a book knowledge of needs and supplies of these various commodities.

For instance, a man would be devoted to the study of rubber. He would know the whole subject and have at his fingers’ ends the amount of rubber imported into this country during the last ten years; the growth of the use of rubber, and what percentage of this total could properly be called essential – to which amount importations might be safely limited without in any way injuring our war preparations. Another man would have similar knowledge of wool; another of minerals; fruits; peanuts; rabbit skins for hats; rattans and reeds for furniture; tobacco, etc., down the list of hundreds of raw materials. In this way over seven hundred and fifty thousand tons of shipping were found for the necessities of the war.

So successful was Gay in quickly starting this bureau that he was made a member of the War Trade Board, and afterwards the War Industries Board, and was the strongest man on both. He was a tremendous worker himself, and had the magnetism to inspire enthusiasm in others. It was generally conceded that he was one of the few strong men in Washington who made it possible for men and supplies to get across the water; a man of great knowledge, but no bigotry. His department was as full of Socialism as were all others in Washington. These college professors were so enthusiastic in keeping out unnecessary commodities that they laughed with glee when an unfortunate business man faced ruin as a result; but the main business was to win the war and it was confidently planned that if the armistice had not come on November 11th, on the following July the United States would have had four million men in Europe and the necessary munitions and supplies.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1890.Thirtieth Anniversary, 1920, Secretary’s Report, No. 7, pp. 76-77.

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

Categories
Agricultural Economics Exam Questions Fields Harvard History of Economics Industrial Organization Money and Banking Public Finance Sociology Theory Undergraduate

Harvard. Division Exams for A.B., General and Economics, 1921

The Harvard Economics department was once one of three in its Division in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Departments of History and Government shared a general division exam with the Department of Economics and also contributed their own specific exams for their respective departmental fields. This post provides the questions for the common, i.e. general, divisional exam, the general economics exam, and all the specific exams at the end of the academic year 1920-21 for those fields falling within the perview of the economics department.

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Previously posted
Division A.B. Exams

Division Exams 1916
Division Exams, January 1917
Division Exams, April 1918
Division Exams, May 1919
Division Exams, April/May 1920

Division Exams 1931

Special Exam for Money and Government Finance, 1939
Special Exam Economic History Since 1750, 1939
Special Exam for Economic Theory, 1939
Special Exam for Labor and Social Reform, 1939

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS

EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF A.B.
1920-21

DIVISION GENERAL EXAMINATION

PART I

The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-half of this examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on one question only. Insert before your answer to this question a sketch of your plan of treatment.

  1. Discuss the relations of civilization to climate.
  2. Does history show that the periods of a nation’s political and literary greatness tend to coincide?
  3. Was America’s entrance into the World War a consequence or a violation of her policies and traditions?
  4. Discuss the following: “One of the great difficulties, as well as one of the great fascinations of history is the constantly changing point of view; but we should beware of interpreting the past in the light of the present.”
  5. What have been and what should be the limitations upon the application of the principle of self-determination in national relations?
  6. Contrast Roman provincial, and nineteenth-century colonial relations.
  7. What should be the limits of nationalization of essential industries?
  8. What have been the marked characteristics of three great states at the time of their greatest power?
  9. “Society has departed very widely from the strict rule of non-interference with industry by the State; indeed, the policy of non-interference was never carried out logically by any State.” Comment.
  10. Discuss: “The patriotism of nations ought to be selfish.”
  11. What are the standards of social justice?

PART II

The treatment of four of the following questions in Part II is required and will be regarded as equivalent to one-half of this examination, and should therefore occupy one hour. The four questions are to be taken from the Departments in which the student is NOT CONCENTRATING; two questions from each of the two Departments.

A. HISTORY

  1. Briefly characterize, with approximate dates, five of the following: Alexander, Aristotle, Augustus, Francis Bacon, Frederick Barbarossa, Bolivar, Calvin, Chatham, Franklin, Richelieu.
  2. Give a short account of the rise of the Christian Church down to the period of the Crusades.
  3. Estimate the importance of the Netherlands in the development of Europe.
  4. Discuss the relations of England and the United States during the past one hundred years.
  5. Write a brief historical account of slavery in the Western Hemisphere.

B. GOVERNMENT

  1. Discuss: “Not independence but interdependence is the hope of nations.”
  2. Explain the evolution and significance of trial by jury.
  3. What is the significance of the following headlines in March, 1921?
    1. “Austria in dangerous unrest.”
    2. “Briand voted confidence on reparations.”
    3. “Crown prince is plotting.”
    4. “Lenin knows his Italian friends.”
  4. What are the limits of uniform state legislation?
  5. What political unities can best control:
    1. police,
    2. water supply,
    3. roads?

C. ECONOMICS

  1. “The fundamental fact in history is the law of decreasing returns. It is the cause of the origin and development of civilization. . . . It is equally, and for the same reason, the source of poverty and war.”
    State, explain, and indicate the significance of the law of decreasing (diminishing) returns.
  2. What are the fundamental features of the organization of modern industrial society?
  3. Discuss one of the following statements:
    1. “Employees have the right to contract for their services in a collective capacity, but any contract that contains a stipulation that employment should be denied to men not parties to the contract is an invasion of the constitutional rights of the American workmen, is against public policy, and is in violation of the conspiracy laws.”
    2. “In the old days, America outsailed the world. . . . I want to acclaim the day when America is the most eminent of shipping nations. . . . A big navy and a big mercantile marine are necessary to the future of the country.”
  4. Why should there be a labor party in England and not in the United States?
  5. What are the economic essentials of socialism?

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GENERAL EXAMINATION
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

I

The treatment of two of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-half of the examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on two questions only.

  1. Give the author, approximate date, and general character of five of the following works:
    1. National System of Political Economy.
    2. Essays in Political Arithmetick.
    3. England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade.
    4. Essay on the Principle of Population
    5. Principles of Political Economy.
    6. The Wealth of Nations.
    7. Das Kapital.
    8. Lombard Street.
    9. Capital and Interest.
  2. Explain four of the following terms:
    Abstinence; Manchester School; stationary state; iron law of wages; produit net; non-competing groups; Scholasticism; Utilitarianism.
  3. Locate on an outline map:
    1. The world’s principal sources of five of the following raw materials: cotton; copper; sugar; silk; wheat; tin; rice; nitrate; petroleum; gold.
    2. The more important routes of overseas transportation.
    3. The world’s chief regions of manufacture.

II

The treatment of three of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-half of the examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on three questions only. Be concise.

  1. Define “thrift” and discuss its social significance.
  2. Analyze the determination of normal value under competitive conditions of joint cost.
  3. What is meant by “monetary inflation”? How is it to be measured and what is its importance?
  4. What has been the course of the interest rate in modern times? What probably will be the course of the rate during the next few years? Why?
  5. What are the purposes and limits of progressive taxation?
  6. Discuss the future of public utilities in the United States.
  7. To what extent and in what respects, if at all, is labor legislation of the times a corrective of the more serious defects of the existing social order?
  8. Discuss: “Perpetual prosperity would be a national calamity.”

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SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMIC THEORY

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. What is the concept of “justice” in the theory of the distribution of wealth?
  2. Comment on the validity and significance of the following contention: “Labor is the source of all wealth.”
  3. “Whether capital is productive depends simply on the question: Are tools useful? It matters not how much or how little tools add to the product — if they add something, capital is productive.” Do you agree? Explain.
  4. “The forces which make for Increasing Return are not of the same order as those that make for Diminishing Return. . . . The two ‘laws’ are in no sense coordinate. . . . The two ‘laws’ hold united, not divided, sway over industry.” Comment critically.
  5. What relations exist between the accounting and economic concepts of “cost of production”?
  6. “The differences in the productive powers of men due to their heredity or social position give to certain individuals the same kind of an advantage over others that the owner of a corner lot in the center of a city has over one in the suburbs. If the income from a corner lot is a surplus and can therefore be described as unearned, the income of a man of better heredity, education or opportunity must also be regarded as a surplus income and therefore unearned.”
    Discuss this statement with reference to your general theory of distribution.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than wto

  1. Give a brief historical account of the theory of population.
  2. Trace the development of the theory of international trade.
  3. In what ways have the following influenced the history of economic thought: Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Malthus, Ricardo, J.S. Mill, Marx?
  4. Outline the evolution of the theory of economic rent.

C

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. “The profits of speculation on the Stock Exchange are just as unearned as the increment in the value of urban building sites; unlike the profits of speculation in produce, they represent no service to society.” Do you agree? Why, or why not?
  2. “There is a point beyond which advertising outlay is extravagant.” Explain.
  3. “I do not see how we can retain our home markets, upon which American good fortune must be founded, and at the same time maintain American standards of production and American standards of living unless we make other peoples with lower standards pay for the privilege of trading in the American markets.” Discuss.
  4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the closed shop?

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMIC HISTORY

Answer six questions 

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. “The opening of the Erie Canal affected both intensive and extensive agriculture in the United States.” Explain. Have there been analogous changes in later periods?
  2. Discuss the following statement: “The enactment of corporation laws by the various states is the most important step made during the past century in the development of American manufactures.”
  3. Analyze the important economic after-effects of the World War.
  4. Briefly explain the most satisfactory methods for separating the different types of variation in time series.

B

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. Write a brief account of one of the early English trading companies.
  2. Sketch the rise of the modern factory system.
  3. Compare changes in farm ownership and tenancy during the nineteenth century in England and the United States.
  4. Outline the history of banking in the United States from 1830 to 1860.
  5. Write a brief narrative of the early development of the railroad.
  6. Give the history of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
  7. Trace the evolution of the middle class and forecast its future.

C

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Give a critical account of the policy of the Federal Government in its regulation of industrial combinations.
  2. Discuss the history and consequences of immigration into the United States since 1840.
  3. Review the development of German foreign trade before the War with special reference to the methods of trade promotion.
  4. Analyze the causes, extent, and consequences of changes in the price level in the United States since 1914.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
PUBLIC FINANCE

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. A law of 1691 authorizes the municipal corporations of New York “to impose any reasonable tax upon all houses within said city, in proportion to the benefit they shall receive thereby.” How far is this a correct principle of taxation and how far has it continued to be applied?
  2. Present a classification of Federal expenditures for a national budget system.
  3. Give a brief account of the financial statistics issued currently by the Federal Government.
  4. Discuss the proposal for the cancellation of all inter-allied debts.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. How has the Federal Constitution influenced national and state tax systems in the United States?
  2. Trace the history of an important fiscal monopoly.
  3. Give a brief account of the financial history of one of the American states.
  4. What connections have existed between currency systems and government finance? Illustrate fully.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. Compare the total expenditures in the United States in normal times for (a) national, (b) state, and (c) municipal purposes. What changes, if any, in the proportions are to be expected?
  2. To what extent is it desirable to separate state and local revenues in the United States?
  3. Indicate the nature and significance of the “grant in aid” in British public finance.
  4. What arguments have been used in European countries for and against a capital levy?
  5. Should the poll tax be abolished? Why, or why not?
  6. Discuss critically the present condition of the public debt of the United States.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
MONEY AND BANKING

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. What part, if any, do commercial banks play in (a) the process of investment; (b) the increase of capital; (c) the course of industrial development; (d) leadership in the business world? In what respects, if at all, may the influence of commercial banks be economically inexpedient?
  2. Discuss the desirability of uniform bank accounting in the United States.
  3. Describe critically the more important sources of statistics of currency and credit in the United States.
  4. Analyze the successive phases of the business cycle. What are the causes of financial panics; industrial crises?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Give a brief account of the life and work of John Law.
  2. Trace the history of usury laws.
  3. Outline the political background of American monetary history from 1870 to 1900.
  4. Give a brief history of the Reichsbank.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. “It is quite clear that the money question no longer survives as a political issue.” Do you agree? Why, or why not?
  2. To what extent has the status of the gold standard been affected by the World War?
  3. “This little neutral country [Switzerland], surrounded by four great continental belligerents, and bordering on the two principal battle-fronts of Europe, possesses at present, curiously enough, an exceptional purchasing power. This is the consequence of the high level of Swiss currency, which is 250 per cent above the usual parity with the currency of the neighbor in the east, Austria-Hungary; 100 per cent higher than that of the neighbor in the north, Germany; 90 per cent higher than that of the neighbor in the south, Italy; and 20 per cent higher than that of the western neighbor, France. Even in overseas countries, Swiss currency has a higher buying power than the English sovereign or the American dollar.” Explain fully.
  4. What changes have been made in the original Federal Reserve System? What have been the purposes and effects of the changes? What further changes, if any, seem desirable?
  5. Compare the provisions for agricultural credit in two important countries.
  6. Comment upon the following statement: “Prosperity continued through the war, and gave the nation such a tremendous start in business activity that we would still be rejoicing in a period of great prosperity had it not been for the death-dealing blow of deflation of credit given by Mr. Wilson’s Federal Reserve Board.”

_______________________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
CORPORATE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING RAILROADS

Answer six questions

 A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. State the theory of value under conditions of monopoly. In what ways, if at all, is monopoly price affected by (a) cost of production per unit; (b) potential competition; (c) an elastic demand for the product; (d) the existence of satisfactory substitutes for the product; (e) hostile public opinion?
  2. Formulate a statistical classification of business organizations in the United States.
  3. Discuss the apportionment of railway operating expenses between freight and passenger service.
  4. Analyze the valuation of corporate assets from the standpoint of the principles of accounting.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Compare the history of business corporations in England and the United States.
  2. Trace connections between railroad construction in the United States and related political and economic events.
  3. Give a brief narrative of the trust dissolutions of the Federal Government.
  4. What provisions of the Federal Constitution have been most important in determining policies of government regulation of public utilities?

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. Discuss the following statement: “The enactment of corporation laws by the various states is the most important step made during the past century in the development of American manufactures.”
  2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of non-par stock?
  3. Discuss the probable consequences of the Supreme Court decision that stock dividends are not income under the income tax law.
  4. What is the nature and importance of good-will in corporation finance?
  5. To what extent may there be differences in the fair valuation of public utilities for the purposes of rate-making, condemnation, taxation, and capitalization?
  6. Did the Government act wisely in returning the railroads March 1, 1920 to their corporate owners for operation? Why, or why not?

_______________________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE

Answer six questions 

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Analyze the doctrine of economic rent from agricultural land.
  2. What are the functions of organized speculation in staple agricultural products?
  3. Describe the methods to be employed in making an annual farm inventory.
  4. What subjects are covered by the decennial Federal census of agriculture? What is the statistical value of the results of the several inquiries?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Trace the history of the relations between landlords and tenants in England.
  2. What have been the most important changes in American agriculture since 1890?
  3. Give a critical account of the land policies of the Federal Government.
  4. Outline the development of the beet sugar industry in Europe.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. What factors determine the most efficient size of farms?
  2. What are the advantages of diversification of crops?
  3. Discuss the future of the meat supply of the United States.
  4. Describe and estimate the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods of marketing farm produce.
  5. State and defend a forest conservation policy for the United States.
  6. Compare the provisions for agricultural credit in two important countries.
  7. What are the principal problems of rural community life in the United States?

_______________________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
LABOR PROBLEMS

Answer six questions

 A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Discuss the proposal to restrict immigration into the United States by limiting the number of each nationality admitted each year to 3 per cent of the foreign-born of that nationality resident in this country in 1910.
  2. Describe the technique of statistical measurement of the high cost of living.
  3. What are the principal difficulties encountered in the collection of wage statistics?
  4. Analyze the relations between high money wages and high commodity prices.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Describe the early development of the factory system.
  2. Trace the origins of trade-unionism in the United States.
  3. Write a brief narrative of the movement for a shorter working day.
  4. Review the relations between organized labor and the steel industry in the United States.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. What is “the labor problem”?
  2. Compare American and British labor leadership. How do you account for the differences?
  3. “Employers must be free to employ their work people at wages mutually satisfactory, without interference or dictation on the part of individuals or organizations not directly parties to such contracts.” Comment.
  4. Discuss a proposed law providing that “in the establishment of salaries for school teachers in the city of—, there shall be no discrimination based on sex or otherwise, but teachers and principals rendering the same service shall receive equal pay.”
  5. “The principle that each industry shall support its own unemployed is one that must be established if a real solution of unemployment is to be made.” Do you agree? Why, or why not?
  6. Discuss the relation of shop committees to trade-unionism.

_______________________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Discuss the following contention: “The landlord is a parasite since he consumes without producing.”
  2. What is the meaning of “over-population”?
  3. “Hitherto it is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day’s toil of any human being.” Comment critically.
  4. What are the interactions of human instincts and modern factory labor?
  5. Discuss the nature and bases of economic prosperity.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

  1. Describe the evolution of language.
  2. Trace the history of the middle class and forecast its future.
  3. Give a brief historical account of the status of women.
  4. What have been the chief cultural consequences of the machine process?

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

  1. What is the province of sociology?
  2. Discuss the family as a necessary social unit.
  3. Describe the leading forms of conflict and their effect upon group life. Why are some forms to be preferred to others? What are the factors which determine the forms actually prevailing at any time?
  4. Analyze the sources of prestige and influence in modern society.
  5. “From the standpoint of progress, the value of the individual depends on the excess of his production over his consumption.” Discuss.
  6. What are the criteria and causes of racial superiority?

_______________________________

Examinations not transcribed for this post

History:

General Examination
Special Examinations: Mediaeval History; English History; Modern European History to 1789; Modern History since 1789; American History

Government:

General Examination
Special Examinations: American Government; Municipal Government; Political Theory; International Law

_______________________________

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975 (HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Course description and exam for Ethics of the Social Questions. Peabody, 1904-05

With the growth of the Harvard economics and economics-related course offerings exploding at the start of the 20th century, it’s taking more time for Economics in the Rear-View Mirror to work through all the courses, year by year as we move forwards. Of course the collection of artifacts becomes more valuable as the sample size increases, but I am aware that other content is wanted by visitors too. Or at least a nice mixture across time and space.

Anyhow, this post completes the Harvard exam transcriptions for 1904-05. It was not technically an economics course, but enough economics graduate students took the course for this to be considered a serious elective or even field of specialization at the time. And any present day economist not interested in the socio-normative side of economic life is unlikely to follow Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

__________________________

The Instructors

Francis Greenwood Peabody, A.M., D.D., Dean of the Divinity School, and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals. The field “Social Ethics” was his responsibility in the teaching programs of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Philosophy) and the Divinity School (Ethics). It was a fairly popular elective field for graduate students in economics. Exam questions for 1889-90 and most intermediate years have been posted earlier.

David Camp Rogers (1878-1959). A.B. Princeton 1899. A.M. Harvard 1902 Ph.D. Harvard 1903 (Thesis: Coördinations in Space Perceptions). First Professor of Psychology at Smith College, appointed 1914. If this seems like an odd pairing of teaching assistant to professor, it would not have seemed particularly odd at that time. Both the study of ethics and human psychology were covered by the philosophy department. To get a Ph.D. in philosophy would have required examination in several fields of philosophy, so I suppose that ethics, or social ethics, was one of Rogers’ examination fields. He probably did well in the exam and was offered a teaching assistantship in social ethics on that basis.

__________________________

Course Enrollment
1904-05
[also listed as Ethics 1]

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

[Philosophy] 5 1hf. Professor Peabody, assisted by Dr. Rogers. — 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 122: 7 Graduates, 35 Seniors, 47 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 1 Freshmen, 20 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 76.

The Divinity School

[Ethics] 1 1hf. Professor Peabody, assisted by Dr. Rogers. — Introductory Course. — The Ethics of the Social Questions. — The modern social questions: Charity, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of ethical theory. — Lectures, special researches, and required reading. Half-course.

Total 122: 7 Graduates, 99 College, 5 Sc., 11 Divinity.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 173.

__________________________

Course Description
1904-05

Ethics
  1. Introductory Course. The Ethics of the Social Questions. — The modern social questions: Charity, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of ethical theory. Lectures, special researches, and required reading. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Professor Peabody, assisted by Dr. Rogers.

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 the same subjects by the emphasis laid on the moral aspects of the social situation and on the philosophy of society involved. Its introduction discusses various theories of Ethics and the nature of the Moral Ideal [required reading from (John Stuart) Mackenzie’s Introduction to Social Philosophy]. The course then considers the ethics of the family [required reading from (Herbert) Spencer’s Principles of Sociology (3rd edition: Vol. 1; Vol. 2; Vol. 3)];the ethics of poor-relief [required reading from Devine, The Practice of Charity, and from Charles Booth’s Life and Labour of the People in London (1903 edition) [First Series, Poverty: Vol. 1; Vol. 2; Vol. 3; Vol. 4. Second Series, Industry: Vol. 1; Vol. 2; Vol. 3; Vol. 4; Vol. 5. Third Series: Religious Influences: Vol. 1; Vol. 2; Vol. 3; Vol. 4; Vol. 5; Vol. 6; Vol. 7; Concluding Volume]; the ethics of the labor question [required reading: J.A. Hobson, The Social Problem; Schäffle’s The Quintessence of Socialism] and the ethics of the drink question [required reading from Rowntree and Sherwell, The Temperance Problem and Social Reform]. 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; and an important feature of the course is the suggestion and direction of such personal investigations, and the provision to each student of special literature or opportunities for observation.

A special library of 700 carefully selected volumes is provided for the use of students in this course.

Source: Announcement of the Divinity School of Harvard University 1904-05, pp. 21-22.

__________________________

PHILOSOPHY 51
THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS

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 chief historical steps in the evolution of the family.
  2. The relation of the Family to the State:—
    (a) As urged by Mr. Spencer (Spencer, Sociology, I, 707).
    (b) As proposed by “Scientific Socialism.”
  3. Certain economic movements which affect the integrity of the Family.
  4. The causes of poverty, classified and compared.
  5. The evolution of the “Double-Decker,” and the provisions of the New York “New Law” for tenements.
  6. Charles Booth’s Class E in East London; its dimensions, special risk of degradation, and the way of security proposed.
  7. Some elementary principles of organized charity (Devine, The Practice of Charity, ch. IX).
  8. Compare the “Case System” with the “Space System.”
  9. Compare the Church Districting System with the Liverpool system of collection.
  10. Germany and Belgium compared in their provision for the “out-of-works.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 45.

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

Categories
Economics Programs Economists Harvard Race

Harvard. Application for Ph.D. candidacy. W.E.B. Du Bois, 1895

The following “Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.” for William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, who was awarded his Ph.D. in 1895 and whose 1896 publication of his dissertation book is noted, appears to be a record filed ex post. His 1895 Ph.D. was only the 3rd awarded by Harvard’s Division of History and Political Science in political science and it appears to me that the creation of an explicit, real-time record of a candidate’s satisfaction of degree requirements only came later. Similar omissions and ex post inclusions can be found in the similar applications filed for/by Frank W. Taussig and J. Laurence Laughlin.

For the previous post I have transcribed Du Bois’ updates in the reports up through 1920 by the secretary of the Harvard Class of 1890.

Research Tip: W.E.B. Du Bois Papers in the Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Cf. the portrait included in above linked page which is dated 1907 with the 1900 portrait  by Paul Nadar of Paris made in 1900. They are not identical, but close enough for me to suspect that they are both from the same Paris studio in 1900.

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

______________________

William Edward Burghardt DuBois 1895

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY
AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

I. Name (in full, and date of birth).

[Name left blank] Feb 23—1868

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

Fisk University 1888
Harvard College 1888-90
Harvard Graduate School 1890-92
Berlin University 1892-94?
Prof. Latin & Greek Wilberforce Univ (Ohio);
Prof. Econ. & Hist. Atlanta Univ (Georgia)

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

A.B. Fisk 1888
A.B. Harvard 1890 [cum laude]
A.M. Harvard 1891
Ph.D. Harvard 1895

IV. Academic Distinctions. (Mention prizes, honors, fellowships, scholarships, etc.)

1st Boylston Prize 1890-91 2nd Boylston Prize 1889-90

Matthews Scholarship 1890

Henry Bromfield Rogers Memorial Fellow [1890-91, first year studying Ethics in Relation to Sociology; second year studying history]

Foreign Fellowship on Slater Fund [1891-92, as non-resident at Harvard to study political science at the University of Berlin]

[Other Academic Distinctions not listed here: Honorable Mention in Philosophy awarded A.B.; Delivered the commencement disquisition “Jefferson Davis as a Representative of Civilization.”]

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

Political Science

VI. Choice of subjects for the General Examination. (Write out each subject, and at the end put in square brackets the number of that subject in the Division lists. Indicate any digressions from the normal choices, and any combinations of partial subjects. State briefly what your means of preparation have been on each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

1. [left blank]
2. [left blank]
3. [left blank]
4. [left blank]
5. [left blank]
6. [left blank]
7. [left blank]

VII. Special subject for the special examination.

[left blank]

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

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade in the United States of America.— ?illegible word? and published Harvard Historical Studies, I (1896).

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

[left blank]

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

[Not to be filled out by the applicant.]

Name: William Edward Burghardt DuBois
Date of reception: [left blank]
Approved: [left blank]
Date of general examination: [left blank]
Thesis received: [left blank]
Approved: [left blank]
Read by: [left blank]
Date of special examination: [left blank]
Recommended for the Doctorate: [left blank]
Voted by the Faculty: [left blank]
Degree conferred: 1895 (Pol Sci.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics, Box 1, Folder “Ph.D. degrees conferred, 1873-1901 (folder 1 of 2)”.

Image Source: W. E. B. Du Bois, identification card for Exposition Universelle, 1900. Nadar, Paul, 1856-1939 (photographer).

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Class of 1890 reports for W.E.B. Du Bois, 1897-1920

W. E. B. Du Bois joined the Harvard Class of 1890 in its junior year. He entered the Ph.D. division of History and Political Science to major in political science. At the end of the 19th century, political science was a synonym for “social science” and encompassed government, economics, and sociology. Economists have a rightful (partial) claim to Du Bois, much as they have to Thorstein Veblen. 

This post provides transcriptions from five Harvard class of 1890 reports on the life and activities of W.E.B. Du Bois through 1820.

Other posts dealing with Du Bois:

Du Bois’ choice of textbooks at Atlanta University

Du Bois goes after Columbia’s Burgess for ‘Anti-Negro’ history

Dubois and Balch post on race and gender

________________________

1897 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois is at present teaching at Wilborforce University, Green County, Ohio, an institution for education of colored youth. Has lately published a monograph on the suppression of the slave trade from the press of Longmans, Green & Co. 1896-97, Fellow, University of Pennsylvania.

Source: Harvard College Class of 1890. Secretary’s Report, No. 3. Boston (1897), p. 38.

________________________

1903 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. “In the fall of 1897 I accepted a position at Atlanta University as professor of history and economics. Here I am still at work. During that time I have published the following works:—

“‘The Philadelphia Negro,’ 520 pp., Ginn & Co., 1899.

“‘The Negroes of Farmville, Va.,’ 38 pp., Bulletin U. S. Department of Labor, January, 1898.

“‘The Study of the Negro Problems,’ 21 pp., Publications of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, No. 219.

“‘Strivings of the Negro People,’ Atlantic Monthly, August, 1897.

“‘A Negro Schoolmaster in the New South,’ Atlantic Monthly, January, 1899.

“‘The Evolution of Negro Leadership,’ (a review of Washington’s “Up from Slavery,”) Dial, July 16, 1901.

“‘The Storm and Stress in the Black World,’ (a review of Thomas’s “American Negro,”) Dial, April 16, 1901.

“‘The Savings of Black Georgia,’ Outlook, September 14, 1901.

“‘The Relation of the Negroes to the Whites in the South,’ Publications of American Academy of Social and Political Science, No. 311. (Reprinted in ‘America’s Race Problems,’ McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901.)

“‘The Negro Land-holder in Georgia,’ 130 pp., Bulletin of U. S. Department of Labor, No. 35.

“‘The Negro as He Really Is,’ World’s Work, June, 1901.

“‘The Freedmen’s Bureau,’ Atlantic Monthly, March, 1901.

“‘The Religion of the American Negro,’ New World, December, 1900.

“‘The Black North,’ New York Times, 1901. [Series: (1st) 17 Nov; (2nd) 24 Nov; (3rd) 1 Dec; (4th) 8 Dec; (6th, sic) 15 Dec]

“‘The Opening of the Library,’ Independent, April 3, 1902.

“I have also edited the following Atlanta University publications:—

“‘Some Efforts of American Negroes for Social Betterment,’ 66 pp., 1898.

“‘The Negro in Business,’ 77 pp., 1899.

“‘The College-Bred Negro,’ 115 pp., 1900.

“‘The Negro Common School,”120 pp., 1901.

“We have had one little boy, born October 3, 1897, died May 24, 1899; a daughter, Nina Yolande, was born October 4, 1900. Married, May 12, 1896, Nina Gomer.”

Address, Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga.

Source: Harvard College Class of 1890. Secretary’s Report, No. 4. Boston (1903), pp. 42-43.

________________________

1909 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

PROF. WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DUBOIS. Son of Alfred Alexander DuBois and Mary Sylvina (Burghardt) DuBois.

Born at Great Barrington, Mass., Feb. 23, 1868.

Prepared for college at Great Barrington (Mass.) High School and Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.

Writes: “I am still Professor of Economics and History in Atlanta University. Since the last report I have published: ‘Souls of Black Folk,’ A. C. McClurg, Chicago, Ill., 264 pp., 1903; ‘Negro in the South’ (by Washington & DuBois), J. W. Jacobs & Co., Philadelphia, 222 pp., 1907; ‘The Negro Church,’ Atlanta, 212 pp., 1903; ‘Negro Crime,’ Atlanta, 75 pp., 1904; ‘Bibliography of the Negro American,’ Atlanta, 72 pp., 1905; ‘Health and Physique of the Negro American,’ Atlanta, 112 pp., 1906; ‘Economic Coöperation among Negro Americans,’ Atlanta, 184 pp., 1907; ‘The Negro American Family,’ Atlanta, 152 pp., 1908; ‘John Brown,’Philadelphia, G. W. Jacobs & Co., 350 pp., 1909.

“I am General Secretary of the ‘Niagara Movement,’ and Editor-in-chief of the ‘Horizon,’ ‘A Journal of the Color Line.’”

He lectured in the Union on “The Transplanting of a Race 1442-1860.”

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Source: Harvard College Class of 1890. Secretary’s Report, No. 5, 1903-1909. Boston (1909), pp. 42.

________________________

1915 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS

BORN at Great Barrington, Mass., Feb. 23, 1868. Son of Alfred Alexander and Mary Sylvina (Burghardt) Du Bois. Prepared at Great Barrington High School, Great Barrington, Mass.

IN COLLEGE, 1888–90. Entered Fall of ’88, graduated ’90. DEGREES: A.B. 1890; A.M. 1891; Ph.D. 1895; A.B. (Fisk Univ.) 1888.

MARRIED to Nina Gomer at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 12, 1896. CHILDREN: Burghardt Gomer, born Oct. 3, 1897, died May 24, 1899; Nina Yolande, born Oct. 14, 1900.

OCCUPATION: Editor.

DURING the years 1897–1910 I was Professor of Economics and History at Atlanta University. I have been Editor of The Crisis Magazine from 1910 to date. I am also Director of Publicity and Research of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1911 I was Secretary for the United States Universal Races Congress.

ADDRESS: (home) 248 West 64th St., Apt. 45, New York, N. Y.; (business) 70 Fifth Ave., Room 521, New York, N. Y.

PUBLICATIONS: “Souls of Black Folk,” “Negro in the South,” (by Washington and DuBois),  “The Negro Church,” “Negro Crime,” “Bibliography of the Negro American,” “Health and Physique of the Negro American,” “Economic Coöperation among Negro Americans,” “The Negro American Family,” “John Brown,” “Efforts for Social Betterment Among Negro Americans,” “The College Bred Negro American,” “The Common School and the Negro American,” “The Negro American Artisan,” “Morals and Manners Among Negro Americans,” “The Quest of the Silver Fleece,” “The Philadelphia Negro,” “The Negro, Home University Library,” “The Suppression of the Slave Trade.”

CLUBS AND SOCIETIES: Authors’ League of America, Liberal Club, New York; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Societies Club, London.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1890. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, 1890-1915, Secretary’s Report, No. 6, pp. 94-95.

________________________

1920 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS

BORN at Great Barrington, Mass., Feb. 23, 1868. Son of Alfred Alexander and Mary Sylvina (Burghardt) Du Bois. Prepared at Great Barrington High School, Great Barrington, Mass.

IN COLLEGE, 1888–90, DEGREES: A.B. 1890; A.M. 1891; Ph.D. 1895; A.B. (Fisk Univ.) 1888.

MARRIED to Nina Gomer at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 12, 1896. CHILDREN: Burghardt Gomer, born Oct. 3, 1897, died May 24, 1899; Nina Yolande, born Oct. 14, 1900.

OCCUPATION: Editor, New York.

Since 1915 I have continued my work as editor of “The Crisis” magazine, which has a circulation of one hundred thousand. I have also begun the publication of a magazine for colored children, known as “The Brownies’ Book.” I have published “The Negro” in The Home University Library , in 1915 , and “Darkwater,” a book of essays, in 1920. After the armistice, I was sent to France to represent the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People. While there, I assembled a Pan-African Conference with fifty delegates, representing sixteen different Negro groups. This conference made report to the Peace Conference, concerning the future of Africa and the treatment of colored peoples.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1890.Thirtieth Anniversary, 1920, Secretary’s Report, No. 7, pp. 65-66.

Image Source: W. E. B. Du Bois in Philadelphia, 1896. National Archives/National Historical Publications & Record Commission/Papers of W.E.B. Du Bois (Microfilm Edition).

Categories
Columbia Economist Market Economists Harvard

Harvard and Columbia. President of Harvard headhunting conversation regarding economists. Mitchell and Mills, 1936

The following typed notes were based on a conversation that took place on February 21, 1936 regarding possible future hires for the Harvard economics department. President James B. Conant (or someone on his behalf) met with Columbia university professors Wesley C. Mitchell and his NBER sidekick, Frederick C. Mills. This artifact comes from President Conant’s administrative records in the Harvard Archives.

In the memo we find a few frank impressions of members of the Harvard economics departments together with head-hunting tips for established and up-and-coming economists of the day.

An observation that jumps from the paper is the identification pinned to the name Arthur F. Burns, namely, “(Jew)”. Interestingly enough this was not added to Arthur William Marget (see the earlier post Harvard Alumnus. A.W. Marget. Too Jewish for Chicago? 1927.) nor to Seymour Harris.  

________________________

[stamp] FEB 25, 1936

ECONOMICS

Confidential Memorandum of a Conversation on Friday, February 21, with Wesley [Clair] Mitchell and his colleague, Professor [Frederick Cecil] Mills (?) of Columbia

General impression is that the Department of Economics at Harvard is in a better state today than these gentlemen would have thought possible a few years ago. The group from 35-50 which now faces the future is about as good as any in the country. [Edward Hastings] Chamberlin, [John Henry] Williams,[Gottfried] Haberler and Schlichter [sic, [Sumner Slichter] are certainly quite outstanding. Very little known about [Edward Sagendorph] Mason;  he seems to have made a favorable impression but no writings. [Seymour Edwin] Harris slightly known, favorable but not exciting.

[John Ulric] Neff admitted to be the best man in economic history if we could get him. Names of other people in this country mentioned included:

[Robert Alexander] Brady — University of California, now working on Carnegie grant on bureaucracy; under 40.

Arthur [F.] Burns at Rutgers (Jew) now working with the Bureau of Economic Research and not available for 3 or 4 years. Said by them to be excellent.

Henry Schultz of Chicago, about in Chamberlin’s class and age, or perhaps a little better.

[Arthur William] Marget of Minnesota, Harvard Ph.D., I believe; well known, perhaps better than Chamberlin. Flashy and perhaps unsound. (Mitchell and Mills disagree to some extent on their estimate of his permanent value but agree on his present high visibility).

Winfield Riffler [sic, Winfield William Riefler], recently called to the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, probably one of the most if not the most outstanding of the younger men.

Morris [Albert] Copeland of Washington; good man but not so good as Chamberlin.

Giddons [sic, Harry David Gideonse?] of Chicago, very highly thought of by Chicago people but has not written a great deal; supposed to be an excellent organizer.

C. E. [Clarence Edwin] Ayres, University of Texas, about 40; in N.R.A. at Washington. Mitchell thinks very highly of him.

England

[Theodore Emmanuel Gugenheim] Gregory, at London School of Economics, about 50, same field as Williams but not so good. Mills more favorable than Mitchell.

Other outstanding young Englishmen:

[Richard F.] Kahn, Kings College, Cambridge

F. Colin [sic, Colin Grant] Clark, of Cambridge

Lionel Robins [sic, Lionel Charles Robbins] of London, age 35, rated very highly by both Mills and Mitchell

F. A. Hayek, another Viennese now in London; spoken of very highly by both Mills and Mitchell.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Records of President James B. Conant, Box 54, Folder Economics, “1935-1936”.

Image Sources: Wesley Clair Mitchell (left) from the “Original Founders” page at the website of the Foundation for the Study of Business Cycles; Frederick C. Mills (right) from the Columbia Daily Spectator, Vol. CVIII, No. 68, 11 February 1964.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Law and Economics

Harvard. Principles of industrial relations and commercial law, Exams. Wyman, 1904-1905

 

The economics department at Harvard at the start of the 20th century offered a course taught by the Law School assistant professor, Bruce Wyman (b. 15 June 1875; d. 21 June 1926), to provide future businessmen an overview of commercial and industrial relations law. Students expecting to go to study law were explicitly not encouraged to take the course.

An earlier post begins with the long personal report Wyman wrote about his life and career for the 25th anniversary of his Harvard Class of 1896. 

Bruce Wyman pops up in an even earlier post. Harvard President Lowell complained to Professor Frank Taussig about Wyman’s course in the economics department having too soft a grade distribution (making it a “snap” course). Also we learn there the somewhat scandalous circumstances that led to Wyman’s forced resignation from his Harvard Law professorship in December 1913.

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Wyman’s exams from earlier years

1903-04
1902-03
1901-02

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

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

Total 182: 14 Graduates, 65 Seniors, 76 Juniors, 15 Sophomores, 12 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 21. Principles of Law governing Industrial Relations. — Commercial Law. — Competition and Combination. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Asst. Professor Wyman.

Course 21 is open to those students who will complete their undergraduate work in 1904-05.

This course considers certain rules of the law modern trade and the governing the course of organization of modern industry. The commercial law is thus taken up at large in its application to the conduct of modern business. The aim of the course is to give to students who mean to enter business life some contact with the law and some understanding of the legal point of view; at the same time the problems brought forward are actual and the rules of law discussed are specific, so that the instruction may prove of service in a business career. The course forms a natural introduction to the study of law, as it involves most of the elementary principles in one way or another. As the course deals with adjudication and legislation on questions of first importance in the economic development of modern times, it may also be of advantage to all those who wish to equip themselves for the intelligent discussion of issues having both legal and economic aspects.

In 1904-05 five principal topics will be discussed: Competition — Combination — Association — Consolidation — Regulation. The conduct of this course will be by the reading and discussion of cases from the law report. The cases selected cover the whole course of the industrial organization, so that both fact and law involved are informing.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), pp. 48-49.

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ECONOMICS 21
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

Answer all questions.

In the case of each question give a specific answer about one line in length, then proceed in subsequent paragraphs to discuss the matter involved both upon principle and upon authority.

  1. A is the manufacturer of the X infants’ food; B is the manufacturer of the Z infants’ food. B inserts an advertisement in various magazines, which contains the following clause: — “The Z food is twice as nutritious as the X food.” A sues B for the publication of this statement; in this suit he offers to prove by expert testimony that the X food is in fact more nutritious than the Z food. The court is asked by B to dismiss the action of A. What result?
  2. A is a workman employed in the works of B. B carries an indemnity policy covering accidents, written by C. A gets his hand crushed in one of the machines, which is improperly guarded. C attempts to make a settlement with A at $500, which A refuses; thereupon C threatens to get A discharged by B, but A still refuses to compromise. Next, C goes to B and demands that A be discharged. B is at first unwilling, but when C threatens to take advantage of the clause in the policy permitting cancellation of the policy upon five days’ notice, B reluctantly undertakes to discharge A at the end of the week for which he is employed, protesting that A is a good workman and he had intended to give him regular employment. After A is thus discharged he brings suit against C for damages for loss of his employment. What result?
  3. A is a manufacturer of tomato catsup. He puts his product on the market in a tapering bottle with a screw cap of tin; this bottle he packs in a round pastboard carton covered with manila paper; on the wrapper is a picture of a bottle filled with red catsup, around which in black type are the brand and address. B another manufacturer of tomato catsup puts his product on the market in much the same way — in a tapering bottle with a screw cap of tin, wrapped in a round carton of pastboard with a label showing a bottle of red catsup, but with the name of his brand in plain black letters, as also his own name and address. A seeks an injunction against B. What result?
  4. The North American Soap Company is organized under the laws of New Jersey. It buys from A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, who are the principal manufacturers of soap in the United States, all of their soap factories. The North American Company in the case of each purchase from A, B, C, D, E, F, and G takes an agreement from each not to engage in the soap business for ten years in the United States. The scheme of the promoters is to get control of the market by this process. B starts a large soap factory in New York two years later. Can he be stopped by injunction?
  5. A is a dealer in coal in San Francisco. An agreement is made between B, C, D, E, F, and G, who are the principal dealers in coal in that city that they will sell for one year at prices to be fixed by the majority. The combination then votes to cut prices 20% for the next 4 months. At the end of 3 months, A’s capital is exhausted by this cut throat competition, and he retires from business a ruined man. A now brings suit against B for his losses. What result?
  6. In a certain factory operated by X, A is employed by the week with 300 others, among whom are B, C, D, E, F, and G. B, C and D propose the organization of a trades union which every employee joins, except A who refuses. The trades union, at an early meeting, votes unanimously that theirs must be a union shop. The committee accordingly waits on X and informs him that unless A is discharged a strike will be called at the end of the week. X reluctantly discharges A at the end of the week. A now sues G for damages. What result?
  7. The X hotel corporation is duly organized by A, B, and C. It builds a hotel the next year. Three years later A buys from B and C all of their stock. The next week A executes a mortgage upon the hotel property to the Y bank to secure a loan himself of $10,000; this is signed: — “X company, by A.” The week following, A transfers one share to M and another to N. A meeting of the shareholders in the X corporation is then called, A, M, and N attending; at this meeting it is unanimously voted to borrow $10,000 from the Z bank and to execute a mortgage upon the corporate property to secure the loan, which A is authorized to execute in the name of the company. This mortgage upon the hotel property is accordingly executed to the Z bank, being signed: — “X company, by A.” Which of these mortgages, the Y bank or the Z bank, will come out ahead, if the hotel property is only worth $15,000, not enough to pay both?
  8. The X corporation is organized with a capitalization of $100,000; its shares are subscribed on the basis of 50% paid down, and all are issued. A year later it issues $50,000 in first mortgage bonds, and the next year $20,000 in second mortgage bonds. In the third year it goes into insolvency owing $60,000 to general creditors for goods. The sale of its properties realizes $50,000. In the final winding up how do the following parties come out: the first bonds? the second bonds? the general creditors? and the stockholders?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1904-05.

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ECONOMICS 21
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

Answer all questions. Give full reasons. Cite some authorities.

  1. Can the following be stopped as unfair competition:—
    (1) One steamship company gives a rebate of 25% to those shippers who agree to give all their business and not to deal with a rival steamship company; (2) A tobacco manufacturer gives jobbers 5% discount extra if they will agree not to handle any goods of rival companies which sell for less than its own brands; (3) A manufacturer of shoe machinery who sells his machines only upon an agreement by the purchaser to buy the staples fed into it of the manufacturer finds that a rival manufacturer is offering staples at 25% off; (4) An oil corporation controlling 80% of its market reduces prices 50% in districts where competitors appear while raising prices 50% in districts where competition has been crushed out; (5) A gas company decides not to deal with any applicant who has had electricity put in by a rival company.
  2. Eight corporations, constituting eighty per cent. of the soap manufacturers of the United States form a partnership to handle sale. Each corporation pays in $10,000 as working capital. It is provided that every manufacturer in the partnership shall have the right to run his own works in his own way, producing as much as he pleases, selling at what price he pleases. But it is further provided that every manufacturer shall pay to the treasurer of the partnership 2½ cents per lb. upon all soap made and sold by him. By another clause any member of the association has the right to withdraw at the end of any quarter. At the end of each quarter, it is stipulated, the treasurer shall pay over to each member of the partnership a share of the fund thus accumulated pro rata according to the capacity of his plant. At the end of the first quarter the X corporation, a member, withdraws; it has paid into the partnership $322; the pro rata share due is $5800. The X corporation now asks counsel what its rights are (1) To the $322; (2) To the $5800; (3) As to the $10,000; (4) Suppose the partnership were insolvent, what would be the respective rights of the X corporation and the general creditors of the partnership? (5) If the X corporation is content to remain in the arrangement, can its dissenting majority stockholders who believe the policy unsafe force it to withdraw?
  3. A and B are co-partners engaged in cotton spinning. One C comes to A and B, whom he finds together in the office of the firm, and offers them 10,000 bales of cotton at 11c. per lb. This is a very large purchase for this firm to make, and the price is rather high as the price is falling. The proposition appeals to A, who says to B, “shall we take the cotton?” B says, “No.” Then A turns to C, who has heard all, and says “we need that cotton, despite what B says, and we will sign a contract with you;” thereupon, against the continued protests of B, A and C executed a contract for the cotton. A signs it, “A & B by A,” B forbidding him to do so to the last. The partnership later refuses to carry out the contract; C sues B for the damages caused by the breach. (1) What result in case as stated? (2) Suppose the partnership was buying a large amount of cotton in order to corner the market, which fact was unknown to C; (3) Would your answer be different if A and C had contracted for the cotton in B’s absence, A secretly intending to sell the cotton and run away with the proceeds? (4) Suppose while A and C were contracting, but before they had struck the bargain, B died without either knowing it; (5) Suppose the purchase price of the cotton was higher than the market, it being understood that in consideration of this C should cancel a debt of $4000 which A owed him.
  4. A buys a mining claim for $8000; he sells it to B and eight others for $12,000, who agree that if they are successful in unloading it upon a corporation which they are planning to form for that purpose he shall have the same share of profits that the rest get. After trying to sell it to various other people for $12,000 and failing to do so (the best offer they can get is $4000) they all form the X corporation with their office boys as stockholders and directors, who vote to buy the mining claim of them for $62,000. The mine when developed by the people who buy into the X company turns out to be worth $500,000 at the least calculation. (1) What are the rights of the X company against A? (2) Suppose it had turned out to be worth only $1000? (3) Suppose the X corporation had already been formed by other parties before this syndicate was made up and that the directors for the time being had foolishly bought the property from the syndicate for $62,000 when most people would say that it was only worth $8000, what could the stockholders of the X company do about it? (4) Suppose B happened to be one of this board of directors, what would be the rights of the stockholders of the X company? (5) Suppose B happened to be a stockholder in this X corporation that bought the mining claim under the circumstances described in (3), could minority stockholders in the X corporation which had voted by a small majority (which included B’s vote) prevent the purchase from being carried through?
  5. Three gas companies, — the A Co., the B Co., and the C Co., are engaged in supplying gas in a certain city. The principal stockholders are friendly, and they desire to consolidate. The following schemes are proposed; how many of these may be put through in any way (a) if every stockholder in the A Co., the B Co., and the C Co. is willing? (b) if minority stockholders dissent? (1) The first scheme proposed is to have the shares in the constituent companies conveyed to a board of three trustees who shall issue trust certificates retaining the voting powers; (2) the second scheme proposed is to have the shares sold to a holding corporation organized to buy them, the shareholders in the a holding constituent companies being offered either the market price of the shares in cash or in shares in the holding corporation; (3) the third scheme proposed is for the constituent companies to vote to sell all their property and franchises for cash to a new corporation organized to buy the properties, the cash to be distributed to the stockholders in the old companies pro rata; (4) the fourth scheme proposed is for the shareholders in the constituent companies to agree to elect identical boards of directors in accordance with a vote among themselves; (5) a fifth scheme is for the A Co. and the B Co. to execute leases of all of their properties to the C Co.
  6. Are the following laws constitutional or do they deprive of life, liberty, and property without due process of law?: (1) prohibiting any manufacturing corporation from stipulating in any employment contract that one half of the employee’s pay shall be in orders for supplies from the employer’s general store; (2) forbidding the manufacture of clothing in any room in any tenement house; (3) forbidding the running of a department store, which is defined as an establishment where two of the following businesses are carried on: the sale of foods, the sale of dry goods, the sale of furniture, the sale of hardware; (4) prohibiting the sale of oleomargarine colored yellow, and requiring any one who sells it to put a sign out which shall say in letters one foot high “Oleomargarine sold here”; (5) making eight hours the limit of time for which any one may be employed to work in any factory.
  7. Are the following refusals to enter into business relations legal? (1) By a telephone company which will install an instrument in the office of only one telegraph company; (2) by a railroad which will only allow one telephone company to establish a pay station in a union station; (3) by an electric company which refuses to furnish electricity for power; (4) by a sleeping car company which after assigning a traveller to “lower 5” reassigns him half an hour later to “upper 8” without making any explanation; (5) by a railroad which refuses to furnish facilities for doing the express business itself upon the ground that it has entered into an exclusive arrangement with one express company.
  8. Do the following constitute illegal discriminations in commercial dealings? (1) By a steamship company which gives 20 per cent. rebate to all shippers who ship 1000 tons per year; (2) by a railroad which charges ten cents excess fare to passengers who have no tickets, even if they have found the ticket office closed; (3) by a hotel keeper who refuses to take in late at night a man and his wife who find themselves unable to get into their own house nearby because they have lost their key; (4) by a gas company which refuses (although offered prepayment) to sell gas to a rival company; (5) by a gas company which finds itself unexpectedly unable to supply its customers; (6) by an electric company which makes it a rule to supply the transformer free to such applicants only who have the wiring of their houses done by it.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), pp. 38-42.

Image Source: Lithograph by John Jepson “Harvard scores” published in 1905. From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Accounting principles. Enrollment and final exam. Cole, 1904-1905

“Principles of Accounting” was one of three courses offered by the department of economics that were specifically targeted to advanced students who intended to start business careers after graduation. William Morse Cole, A.M. was the instructor. An earlier post provides an overview of his career.

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From previous years…

1900-01
1901-02
1902-03
1903-04

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 18 1hf. Mr. W. M. Cole. — Principles of Accounting.

Total 27: 7 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 18 1hf. The Principles of Accounting. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 3.30. Mr. W. M. Cole.

This course is designed primarily for students who expect to enter a business career, and wish to understand the processes by which the earnings and values of industrial properties are computed. It is not intended to afford practice in book-keeping, but to give students a grasp of principles which shall enable them to comprehend the significance of accounts.

In order that students may become familiar with book-keeping terms and methods, a few exercises will be devoted to a brief study of the common systems of recording simple mercantile transactions. The chief work of the course, however, will be a study of the methods of determining profit, loss, and valuation. This will include an analysis of receipts, disbursements, assets, and liabilities, in various kinds of industry, and consideration of cost of manufacture, cost of service, depreciation and appreciation of stock and of equipment, interest, sinking funds, dividends, and the like. Published accounts of corporations will be studied, and practice in interpretation will be afforded. Attention will also be given to the functions and methods of auditors.

The instruction will be given by lectures, discussions, reading, and written work.

Course 18 is open to Seniors and Graduates 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, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), pp. 47-48.

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ECONOMICS 18
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

  1. Construct an imaginary trial balance of at least eight items, of which not over three shall represent persons or corporations.
  2. In a proprietor’s absence the books of a business are opened and kept by a bookkeeper who keeps accurate record of transactions reported to him but cannot be trusted to figure valuations or profits. At the end of a year, the records show, before the books are closed and simply as the result of regular transactions, the following figures:
    Proprietor’s investment, $100,000; Bills Payable, $17,000; Bills Receivable, $26,000; Real Estate, $20,000; Accounts Payable, $15,000; Accounts Receivable, $20,000; Cash, $5,000; Merchandise on hand, valued at cost, $75,000; Merchandise Dr. on ledger, $49,500; Expense, $12,000; Interest balance received, $500.
    Now the proprietor returns and wishes to close his books for the year. If he needs any information not given above, what questions will he ask in obtaining it? Assume any fairly reasonable answers to such questions, if any, and then show what is the proprietor’s present investment in the business.
  3. The annual report of a corporation shows the following figures: Profit and Loss credit balance at the beginning of the year, $20,000; Merchandise profit, $140,000; Expense, $100,000; appreciation of Real Estate, $10,000; permanent Surplus set aside at the end of the year, $15,000; Dividends, $50,000. Present in rough ledger form i.,e. debit and credit items, the Profit and Loss account for the year, showing the balance at the end of the year.
  4. Explain the significance of each of the following accounts appearing, with a balance on the side indicated, on (1) a balance sheet for the beginning of a new fiscal year, and (2) a trial balance taken in the ordinary course of business during the year: Wages, Cr.; Interest, Dr.; Merchandise, Dr.; Profit and Loss, Dr.; Reserve Fund, Cr.; Supplies, Dr.
  5. An annual report of a corporation shows, either on the income sheet or on the balance sheet, an item of which the title means little or nothing to you, e.g., “Pro rata share of bonds of H.R.L. Co.” Assuming the accounts to be kept properly, explain to what extent the position and the treatment of the item throw light upon its character.
  6. A corporation shows the following statements:—
1903. 1904.
Plant $450,000 $440,000
Supplies 59,000 27,000
Real Estate 100,000 95,000
Cash 15,000 15,000
Bills Receivable 50,000 60,000
Accounts Receivable 20,000 15,000
Merchandise 83,000 108,000
Capital Stock 500,000 500,000
Bills Payable 150,000 150,000
Accounts Payable 100,000 90,000
Wages 7,000 10,000
Profit and Loss 20,000 10,000
Proceeds from sales 600,000
Direct cost of production 500,000
General expenses, fixed charges, etc. 70,000

Tell all you can about the history of the corporation for the year 1903-04.

  1. If bonds on hand were bought at a premium, should that fact show upon the income sheet or in any way affect it?
  2. The books of three concerns are open to your inspection. Outline briefly a scheme for consolidating the three concerns into a corporation.
    [Do not allow yourself to get involved in the fascinating details of such a scheme at the expense of time needed for other things. This may well be left for surplus time and energy. Bookkeeping entries are not required. Show how the accounts of the three concerns can be interpreted for such a purpose.]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), pp. 37-38.

Image Source: Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Vol. XIX, No. 16, p. 308. Portrait of William Morse Cole colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.