Harvard. Final Exams for Railways and Other Public Works. Meyer, 1901

 

Hugo Richard Meyer received his A.M. in economics from Harvard and went from his instructorship in political economy there (1897-1903) to an assistant professorship in political economy at the University of Chicago (1904-05). While at Harvard he taught courses involving the regulation of railways and municipal utilities. This post provides the examination questions for his two-semester sequence “Railways and other Public Works” that was offered in 1900-01 at Harvard.

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Course Enrollments

[Economics] 5¹ hf. Mr. Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management.

Total 86: 4 Graduates, 52 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 9 Others.

[Economics] 5² hf. Mr. Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works (advanced course).

Total 9: 3 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1900-1901, p.64.

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Final Examination
(First half-year, 1900-01):
Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management

ECONOMICS 5¹

Omit the last question if the paper seems too long

1. The construction put upon the long and short haul clause: by the Interstate Commerce Commission; by the Supreme Court.
2. The decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission on group rates.
3. The railway rate situation in Germany [Prussia]; does it throw any light on the railway problem in the United States?
4. “If pooling produces any beneficial result, it necessarily does so at the expense of competition. It is only by destroying competition that the inducement to deviate from the published rate is wholly removed….By the legalizing of pooling the public loses the only protection which it now has against the unreasonable exactions of transportation agencies.”—Give your reasons for accepting or rejecting this statement.
   Alternative:—
   The reasons for the instability of pools in the United States.
5. The Iowa Railroad Commission.
   Alternative:—
   To what extent was the long and short haul clause of the Interstate Commerce Act enforced; what was the effect of that enforcement: on railway revenues; on intermediate shipping or distributing points?
6. The body of administrative law to be found in the decisions of the Massachusetts Gas and Electric Light Commission’s decisions upon petitions for reductions in the price of gas.
7. (a) Is it to the public interest to insert in street railway charters provisions seeking to secure to the municipality or the state a share in any excess of profit over the normal rate?
   Alternative: (b) and (c).
   (b) The evidence as to the return on capital obtainable in street railway ventures.
   (c) What questions of public policy were raised in the case of the Milwaukee Street Railway and Electric Light Co. vs. The City of Milwaukee?
8. What statistics were used in illustrating in a general way the statement that railway charges are based upon what the traffic will bear; in discussing the bearing of stock-watering upon railway rates; in discussing the return obtained by capital invested in railway enterprises in the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, S. Pages 24-25.

Final Examination
(Second half-year, 1900-01)
Railways and other Public Works
(advanced course)

ECONOMICS 5²

1. The railways and the national finances in Prussia and Australia.
2. Railway rates and the export trade of the United States since 1893, or, 1896.
3. The economic situation in Australia since 1892, and the Australian railways.
4. “A fatal objection to the income or preference bond is that it is an attempt to combine two contradictory commercial principles.”
   Discuss this statement fully. What does it mean? Is it true?
5. If you had access to all the accounts of a railroad, how should you determine the value to it of one of its branch lines?
6. To what accounts would you charge the following expenditures? (If you do not remember the exact Interstate Commerce Commission classification, use your best judgment.) State reasons in each case.
   Engineer’s wages on a special train conveying the general manager to an extensive flood covering the line.
   Fireman’s wages on an engine employed exclusively in switching to and from the repair shops.
   Conductor’s wages on a worktrain engaged in taking up rails on an abandoned branch.
   Brakeman’s wages on a train engaged solely in hauling company’s coal for company’s use.
   Cost of taking up comparatively new sound rails judged too light for heavy rolling stock.
   Cost at a competitive point of a new station to replace an old one which was large enough but old-fashioned.
7. State the commonest problems facing a reorganization committee for an insolvent road, and then suggest and defend one course of procedure for each problem.
8. Combine and arrange the following items so as to give the best information about the operation and condition of the road. (Do not rewrite the names but use the corresponding numbers where possible.)

1.	Passenger train miles	2,000,000
2.	Freight train miles	3,400,000
3.	Passenger train earnings	$2,400,000
4.	Freight train earnings	$5,500,000
5.	Income from investments	$100,000
6.	Dividends	$500,000
7.	Operating expenses	$4,700,000
8.	Av. no. pass. cars per train	4
9.	Av. no. passengers per car	11
10.	Tons freight carried	2,800,000
11.	Av. load per car (loaded and empty), tons	8.2
12.	Av. no. loaded cars per train	12.3
13.	Av. no. empty cars per train	6.7
14.	Interest charge for year	$2,200,000
15.	Due other roads	$100,000
16.	Stocks and bonds owned	$4,900,000
17.	Supplies on hand	$500,000
18.	Taxes for the year	$300,000
19.	Accounts receivable	$500,000
20.	Cash	$1,000,000
21.	Surplus for the year	$300,000
22.	Profit and loss account	$1,000,000
23.	Taxes accrued but not due	$100,000
24.	Capital stock	$50,000,000
25.	Interest due	$700,000
26.	Funded debt	$45,000,000
27.	Due from other roads	$100,000
28.	Interest accrued not due	$300,000
29.	Franchises and property	$90,400,000
30.	Bonds of the company in its treasury	$800,000
31.	Accounts payable	$1,000,000
32.	No. of passengers carried	2,300,000

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, 1901. Pages 25-27.

Image Source: Portrait of Hugo Richard Meyer from the Minneapolis Messenger (October 12, 1905), p. 4. Wikimedia Commons.