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Economists Harvard

Harvard. Charles F. Dunbar Obituary by Taussig, 1900

In this posting I first provide links to six successive editions of Charles F. Dunbar’s textbook on the theory and history of banking (four of which revised and expanded posthumously). 

Next, following President Eliot’s memoir from the last posting, I append here the obituary for Charles F. Dunbar written by Frank W. Taussig published February 3, 1900 in the Cambridge Tribune.  

Another memoir (written by Edward H. Hall) regarding Dunbar was published in vol. 14 (1900-01) of the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, pp. 218-228.

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Dunbar, Charles F. Chapters on Banking, privately printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Zero edition, 1885. Eight chapters printed for the use of classes in Harvard University.

Dunbar, Charles F. Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press.

First edition, 1891. Added introductory chapter, chapter on combined reserves or the system of Clearing-House loan certificates and one on the Bank of Amsterdam.

Note: title shortened for second through fourth edition to The Theory and History of Banking.

Second edition, 1901. Enlarged and edited by O. M. W. Sprague.

Third edition, 1917. Enlarged by Oliver M. W. Sprague to include three new chapters on Foreign Exchange, Central Banks and on the Federal Reserve System.

Fourth edition, 1922. With chapters on foreign exchange and central banks by Oliver M. W. Sprague and a supplementary chapter presenting the record of the Federal Reserve System by Henry Parker Willis.

Fifth edition, 1929 With supplementary chapter presenting the record of the Federal Reserve System by Henry Parker Willis. Revised and in part rewritten with additional material by Oliver M. W. Sprague. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

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Charles Franklin Dunbar.

Charles Franklin Dunbar, professor of Political Economy in Harvard University, died at his house, on Highland street, on the night of Monday, January 29. He had been ill for some weeks, but his friends had not thought the end would come so soon.

Professor Dunbar was born July 28, 1830, and graduated from Harvard College in 1851. Among his class-mates were Professors Goodwin and Langdell, and Dr. S. A. Green; and, among those whom death has already carried away, Professor W. F. Allen of the University of Wisconsin, General Francis W. Palfrey, and Messrs. George O. Shattuck and Augustus T. Perkins of Boston. Professor Dunbar studied law after graduation, but in a few years became connected with the Boston Advertiser. To that paper he gave some of the best years of his life. He became editor-in-chief in 1862, and so was in charge of the paper during the greater part of the civil war. While always independent in his judgments, he was a fervid supporter of the Union cause, and many of his editorials rang through New England like a trumpet blast. In 1869 the paper changed hands, and Professor Dunbar resigned as editor and disposed of his interest. He was invited shortly to accept the professorship in Harvard University, and after two years spent in travel and study in Europe, assumed the duties of the professorship, in 1871. For the rest of his life he was in active service, and a resident of Cambridge through these thirty years.

Professor Dunbar’s sagacity and tact led to his selection for important administrative offices. He was dean of the Faculty of Harvard College from 1876 to 1882, and was the first dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Harvard University when that body was organized in 1890. He remained its dean till 1895. From 1886 to 1896 he was editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, established by the University in the first named year.

Professor Dunbar was distinguished by solidity of learning, sanity of judgment, independence of views, and scholarly thoroughness in probing to the bottom every subject he took up. His favorite topics were banking, currency and financial administration. He was interested alike in the history of these subjects and in current problems connected with them. Probably no man was better equipped by attainments and by justness of views to give advice on the financial questions which have been before the American community for the last thirty years. His writings on them gave but fragmentary indication of his attainments. He published a compact volume on the “Theory and Practice of Banking,” [sic, correct title is “The Theory and History of Banking”] which, though brief, is the best book on this subject in the English language, and in some respects perhaps the best in any language. To the Quarterly Journal of Economics he contributed frequent articles on financial subjects, and on some questions of theory; and he had abundance of material for others which he had planned but unhappily was not able to prepare. His administrative duties absorbed a large share of his strength, and stood in the way of the execution of his literary plans.

Professor Dunbar was a member of the Massachusetts Historical society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was at one time president of the American Economic association. His reputation abroad was at least as high as it was in the United States: among economists the world over he was known as a scholar of the first rank.

An easy and graceful writer, he was also a clear and attractive lecturer, with a remarkable faculty for the consecutive and systematic exposition of difficult subjects. The weakness of his voice was the only obstacle which ever stood in the way of the interest and easy comprehension of his lectures. With small classes of advanced students he was at his best, and no one who came in contact with him under such circumstances failed to cherish feelings of admiration and affection far him. Staunch in his own opinions, open-minded as to those of others, free from all vanity or ostentation, strong in his affection for those with whom he came into close association, he left a memory which will be cherished by his associates and former students.  F. W. Taussig.

Source: Cambridge Tribune, Vol. XXII, No. 48 (February 3, 1900), p. 4.

Image Source: From cover of the 1885 copy privately published Chapters of Banking.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Biographical memoir of Charles F. Dunbar, 1900

Only a few days after Harvard’s first professor of Political Economy died on January 29, 1900, the President of Harvard himself, Charles William Eliot, read the following memoir of the life of Charles Franklin Dunbar before the Massachusetts Historical Society on February 8, 1900. The memoir was published in The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine‘s June, 1900 issue and reprinted along with biographical sketches of other “Sons of the Puritans” in 1908. Page numbers for the 1908 reprint of the memoir have been placed within square brackets below.  The account of Dunbar’s Harvard career begins on page 75.

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CHARLES FRANKLIN DUNBAR

By Charles W. Eliot

[59] Charles Franklin Dunbar, born at Abington in July, 1830, was of Scotch descent, as his sandy hair and complexion, his shrewdness, reticence, and quiet humor plainly testified. He was much interested in his family descent, and gave no little time to tracing it both in Scotland and in Massachusetts. In one of his journeys to Scotland he visited the chief seats of the Dunbar Clan in Morayshire, and found reason to believe that from and after the year 1400 Dunbar was one of the prevailing names in that region. The first Dunbar in Massachusetts was Robert Dunbar of Hingham, who said of himself, in a deposition he made in court in 1659, that he was a servant of Mr. Joshua Foote when Mr. Foote lived in Boston. By a series of careful investigations Charles Franklin Dunbar established the strong probability that this Robert Dunbar who was held to the services of Joshua Foote for a term of years as early as 1655, and possibly as early as 1652, was one of Cromwell’s Scottish prisoners taken at the battle of Dunbar in 1650, [60] or at the battle of Worcester in 1651. It is certain that some of the prisoners taken at the battle of Dunbar were sent to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1650-51, after having endured frightful sufferings which killed three quarters of the prisoners originally captured. Robert Dunbar, who died in Hingham in 1693 at about sixty years of age, was therefore, in all probability, of very tough fibre.

The father of Charles Franklin Dunbar was Asaph Dunbar, who was born in 1779 and died in 1867. Charles was Asaph’s youngest child. He had three brothers, all of whom filled out a reasonable span of life, and two sisters, one of whom died in infancy and the other at the age of twenty-one. The father’s business was making boots and shoes, and Charles’s three older brothers grew up in that business in Plymouth County, but while still young went away to New Orleans to sell there the goods which their father manufactured. One of these three brothers returned to New York to establish himself there in the same business. Charles was the only one of the brothers who received a liberal education. He was sent to Phillips Academy, Exeter, — probably because he had always shown a strong desire to read and an aptitude for study. The [61] success with which he accomplished the academic course at Exeter determined his being sent to Harvard College, where he graduated with credit in 1851. The fact that he was sent to Exeter at thirteen years of age determined his subsequent career; and he always felt unbounded gratitude to that ancient academy, a gratitude which he expressed by serving it for many years as a member of the board of trustees. At Harvard College he won the respect and friendship of scores of young men, many of whom have come to the front in one way or another during the forty-eight years which have elapsed since he graduated. Some of them were associated with him in after life; and he always retained their warm regard and admiration.

After leaving college he went for a time to his brothers in New Orleans; but soon came back, first to New York and then to Boston, applying himself steadily to business. A threatening of serious trouble in the lungs obliged him to abandon this indoor occupation; whereupon he bought a farm at Lexington, and entered cheerfully on the quiet out-of-door life of a farmer, for which he developed a strong taste and aptitude. Here he soon recovered his health and strength; so that he took up the study of the law at the [62] Harvard Law School, and in the office of Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, and was in due course admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1858. Practice coming to the young lawyer but slowly, he had ample time to write for the Boston Daily Advertiser, and, finding this occupation congenial, he became within a little more than a year editor and part owner of that influential newspaper. In this enterprise he was supported and helped by the occasional labors of a group of young men whom he had known at Exeter and in College; but he himself gave his whole time and strength to the paper. He remained in the position of editor for ten years, — all through the Civil War, and through the early years of reconstruction and gradual pacification. During the Civil War he personally wrote every editorial article in any way related to the war which appeared in that newspaper. The Advertiser became by common consent the leading paper in Boston, and no newspaper since has exercised the same influence in this community. His position brought him into contact with a large proportion of the leading men of the time in eastern Massachusetts, — with merchants, manufacturers, politicians, soldiers, lawyers, and preachers. He wrote, of course, constantly on military [63] events and prospects; but the subjects he best liked to deal with were financial, economic, or political, — such as the war loans, tariffs, and banking acts, the suspension of specie payments, and the measures taken to collect a great internal revenue. The amount and the quality of the work he did in the ten years between 1859 and 1869 were remarkable, considering that he began this work at twenty-nine and ended it at thirty-nine years of age. At thirty years of age he was wielding an influence which would now seem almost impossible of attainment at that age.

A few citations from his editorials will suffice to give an idea of the elevation of their tone, and of their moderation, judicial quality, and prophetic insight.

As early as July 4, 1861, he thus defined the objects of the war for the Union, and the spirit of the Northern people: —

“We are fighting now, as eighty-five years ago, to defend a cause in which the grandest principles of government and the highest interests of man are involved. Our people now as then have thrown aside all remembrances of old divisions, and have united in an enterprise which they believe to be just and holy. Life, fortune, and sacred honor [64] are again pledged to the support of the patriotic declarations with which the second war for liberty has been undertaken; and again has Congress assembled, prepared to forego the ordinary topics of political strife, to forget as is believed all tests save the one question of fidelity to country, and to take counsel in singleness of heart for the one great object.”

Immediately after the heavy defeat of the Union troops at the first battle of Bull Run, he wrote, July 23, 1861: —

“We said at the outset that this reverse had temporarily defeated the scheme for advancing through Virginia. Let no man to-day whisper the thought of abating a jot of our vast undertaking. Taught by one reverse the nation will rise above its misfortune, and press on in its just and holy cause. The people who have poured out their blood and treasure so freely will be kindled to new efforts. … Our present misfortune will disclose to all the true secret of our weakness, and will teach all that the advance for which some have so long clamored is not to be accomplished in a single effort. With a full knowledge on all hands of the nature of our undertaking, and with such further preparation as must now be made for this grand enterprise, we can doubt its final success as little as we can doubt the justice of the cause in which [65] it is undertaken, or the wisdom of the Providence which rules all things for our good.”

He early foresaw the fate of slavery as an institution. Writing on the last night of the year 1861 a survey of the events of the year, he made this prophetic utterance a year before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued: —

“It leaves our own people with renewed courage, united beyond all hope in support of the government in a most trying case, and fully ahve to the importance of closing the war at once. It also leaves the majority with an unshaken resolution to confine the war to its proper objects, and to sustain the President in the firm and conservative course which he has pursued through the ten months in which he has held office. At the same time, the year has demonstrated to our whole people the great fact, that in the designs of Omnipotence the South has been led through its own folly to write the doom of slavery. Heavier and heavier are the blows which descend upon that institution, and more and more significant are the proofs that the South built upon a weak foundation, when, within this very year, it announced slavery as the cornerstone of its fabric, political and social.”

Near the close of the year 1862 Secretary Chase communicated to the Committee on Ways [66] and Means the draft of a bill to provide the necessary resources for the prosecution of the war. The second section authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow nine hundred million dollars in any of the modes heretofore authorized for making loans. The bill also contained the details of the national bank scheme. Mr. Dunbar’s comments on this bill are in part as follows: —

“The most important feature of this bill, so far as regards the immediate emergencies of the country, is the second section, and this it seems to us has been well conceived. . . . Should this power be granted by Congress, we trust that the secretary will use it with liberal forethought. Armed with full powers, he will be able to feed the market with such securities as are most popular, at times when prices are favorable. Unrestricted by needless trammels, he can avail himself of the most favorable proposals which may be suggested from time to time by those who have money to loan, or who can present well-considered plans for meeting the wants of the Treasury with the least cost to the nation.”

Of that very important part of the bill which related to the establishment of the national bank system he speaks as follows, in his few words [67] showing that he had a clear vision of the wide scope and far-reaching consequences of the project:—

“It has been taken for granted that this measure will provoke a violent opposition, which, nevertheless, as yet has not manifested itself in any very definite shape. It is nowhere denied that the Secretary’s plan insures several very decided advantages; it looks rather to the establishment of a sound currency for the country upon a permanent basis than to any immediate results. If it be said that it will be time enough to legislate to this end when we have got out of the war and the financial difficulties incident thereto, it may be answered with at least equal force that the necessity of reform will then be less generally apparent. ‘Why don’t you mend your roof ?’ asked a traveler of a negro in whose leaky hut he had taken refuge during the shower. ‘Cause it rains’ was the answer. ‘But why don’t you mend it at some time when there is no rain ?’ ‘Cause then it don’t leak.’ This sort of logic will hardly justify Congress in refusing a careful attention to Mr. Chase’s plan, notwithstanding the statement paraded in advance, that ‘the majority of the Ways and Means are hostile to Mr. Chase’s scheme,’ and that ‘this sentiment of disapproval cannot possibly be changed.’”

[68] After the great victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, July 3-5, 1863, Mr. Dunbar wrote as follows on the 8th of July: —

“We speak of these events as of extreme political importance, because they have now for the first time fairly established the ascendency of the national power over the rebellion. Hitherto the struggle has been often a drawn game, and even in our moments of success has left the military strength of the rebels so formidable as to keep their hopes alive. The handwriting is now on the wall in characters which the rudest may read, warning the rebels that henceforth theirs is a hopeless cause, and that from this time their efforts must decline. We may now, at any rate, count upon the moral effect of defeat and loss of faith in their cause, and may hope for the appearance of those discontents and divisions to which despondency gives rise, and which precede the final ruin of a cause which, like the rebellion, has no root in sound principle.”

Looking back on this statement after an interval of thirty-seven years, we are struck with its absolute accuracy.

In his review of the year 1863, on the 31st of December, his comments on the Proclamation of Emancipation illustrate the perfect balance of his judgment: —

[69] “The most distinctly marked event in the conduct of the war for the year, however, is unquestionably the Proclamation of Emancipation issued on the 1st of January, 1863. Of this measure it can now be said, that it has equally disappointed its advocates and its opponents. It has failed to effect the dissolution of the rebel power which was so confidently predicted as certain to be its instantaneous effect, and has left the actual work of emancipation to be performed by the steady advance of military operations. On the other hand, it has failed to make that disastrous division among the loyal which was predicted by many of its opponents. The mass of the people have acquiesced in it as a military measure taken in good faith. But we must remark, they have done this the more readily since on independent grounds the policy of emancipation has gained favor in the popular mind rapidly during the year.”

Speaking of the extraordinary sales of 5-20 bonds in the summer and autumn of 1863, he writes as follows: —

“Throughout the country these bonds have been eagerly sought, with the noblest demonstrations of confidence and affection towards the government in defense of which the money is contributed. The success with which the government now deals with a debt of great magnitude has inspired the country [70] with faith in its ability to cope with the future, heavy as are the burdens promised by the Secretary of the Treasury.”

How far-seeing is the following paragraph, which occurs in the same review of the year 1863: —

“The feelings of the French Emperor towards the United States had long been suspected, but were first fully appreciated by our people when his designs in Mexico were fairly unmasked, and when he announced his deliberate design of erecting a throne in that country to be occupied by a prince nominated by himself. It was immediately perceived that France had created for herself upon this continent an interest adverse to that of the United States. The occupation of the Rio Grande by our forces, however, together with the established certainty that the Emperor will for the present find enough to do in dealing with the Mexican people, who do not accede to the fiction that Maximilian is their choice, has finally quieted all fears as to the course of France for the present.”

In his review of the year 1864, Mr. Dunbar wrote as follows: —

“Never has the struggle seemed so gigantic as in this year, never have the contending forces so [71] convulsed the continent with their efforts, or so appalled the spectators of a strife as terrible and unrelenting as the of the elements. Indeed, this is an elemental strife, which we have seen approaching its climax and crisis, — a strife which, in the words of a philosophic observer who was lately among us, is waged ‘not only between Aristocracy and Democracy, between Slavery and Social Justice, but between ferocious Barbarism and high Civilization.

“It is only when we view the contest in this light that it is possible to realize completely the futility of such efforts at pacification as that which has characterized this year, and which was defeated by the will of the people a few weeks ago. These raging elements are as far beyond the reach of all such attempts to quiet their agitation as is the tempest which purifies the physical atmosphere. The forces have long been gathering, they are in the full height of their sublime power, and are not to be stayed until the mission assigned to them by Providence is accomplished. A great political party thought otherwise, and sought by months of carefully studied effort to still the contention by premature peace; and it finds itself to-day shivered to atoms, and its candidates swept aside like chaff and forgotten. The judgment of the nation and its will have risen to the height of the occasion, and have settled irrevocably the devotion of this [72] people to their grand task to the very end. In its moral aspects, then, the result of the election has been the great event of the year and of the war.”

Mr. Dunbar was often called upon to express the strongest emotions of the people under circumstances of tremendous excitement. After listening all day to the rejoicings in the streets of Boston over the surrender at Appomattox, he wrote at night an editorial in which two out of the four paragraphs are as follows: —

“Four years ago this morning we were obliged to say in this place ‘we do not seek to pierce the gloom which now seems to overspread the future.’ Four years of that future as they have enrolled themselves have shown many another crisis, or agony more acute, but none of gloom so depressing as settled on us all in that week of uncertainty. This day is the anniversary of the humiliating correspondence between General Beauregard and Major Anderson, in which he demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter as a foregone necessity. To-morrow is the anniversary of the day on which he opened his fire. These four years have called upon the nation to show its steadfast endurance. They have called for that loyalty to institutions which does not seek to pierce the gloom of the future. They have bidden the nation stand firm on the eternal principles of its government, [73] and trust God to give it victory, when for victory the time had come. Through that gloom, or the flushes of hope which at one moment or another varied it, the nation has stood firm, and at last the end has come. . . .

“Such are the moral advantages of the victory. They make a nation so strong that war in its future is wholly unnecessary, — it seems hardly possible. This nation is just, — it can be as generous as it is just. It has no entangling foreign alliances, it need have no petty foreign jealousies. God has shown it His mercy in a thousand ways, and now that He blesses it with Peace, it has His promise that Peace shall lead in every other angel of his Kingdom.”

At the close of the year 1865 he wrote as follows, prophesying a period of discussion and evolution which has not yet ended: —

“The year, we may trust, is the last in the succession of years which by striking and exciting events compete for the leading place in our annals. The period of great deeds is perhaps over; we now have remaining questions of magnitude to be debated and settled, or to be suffered to work towards their own solution by process of time, and not concentrating their fierce interest into single great transactions, of which we have known so many since 1860. The question as to the future [74] of the freedmen is not to be settled by the turn of any crisis, but by many discussions, the long-continued operation of opinions, and the progress of immigration, of industry, and of ideas. Financial questions, of which we have so many of importance, are as little to be determined by any special action, but cast their shadow far over the coming years. The foreign questions, of which the closing year leaves us a supply not trifling in importance if scanty in number, are as little likely, we may hope, to assume such form as to bring back the unhealthy excitements which have long been familiar, but will rather relapse into the ordinary course of international litigation, or be settled by causes and influences which in power are far above the counsels of emperors. In short, we now enter in public matters upon a period of discussion; and if results appropriate to this method of action are wrought out with half the skill and power which we have seen displayed in the marvelous twelvemonth now ending, we shall find our prosperity and happiness, and our development in all that ennobles a people, settled on a foundation more solid than our fathers ventured to hope for.”

During his administration the Advertiser as a property increased greatly in value; so that when in 1869 Mr. Dunbar found it necessary again to pay attention to his health, and to give [75] up work for a time, he sold his interest in the newspaper for a sum which amounted to a competency for himself and his family. This was really a value which his own mental gifts and moral character had imparted to the newspaper. There is no more satisfactory way in which a man can earn a competent support for his family before he is forty years of age. All through his life Mr. Dunbar was a careful, frugal, and successful man of business, although he gave but a very small portion of his time to that side of life.

In order to recover from the nervous exhaustion which he experienced in 1868, he made two journeys to Europe, the first alone, but the second with his family. I had come into the Presidency of Harvard College in 1869, and one of the first measures which the Corporation resolved to prosecute with vigor was the establishment of a Professorship of Political Economy, and the selection of an incumbent for the chair. Mr. Dunbar being well known to all the members of the Corporation, the appointment was offered to him in 1869, and he gave a conditional acceptance to take effect two years later. A quiet life in various parts of Europe restored his health and gave him opportunity, [76] for the prosecution of studies which prepared him further for his new function; and In 1871 he took up the work of his professorship, to which he thereafter steadily devoted himself for more than twenty-eight years.

Professor Dunbar was the first Professor of Political Economy that Harvard University ever had. That great subject had previously been one of the numerous subjects assigned to the Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity. Professor Dunbar announced for the year 1871-72 a course prescribed to Juniors on Rogers’s “Political Economy” and Alden’s “Constitution of the United States,” two hours a week for half a year, and an elective course in Political Economy for the Senior Class, based on Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations,” Bowen’s “American Political Economy,” and J. S. Mill’s “Political Economy;” but these courses were announced under the head of Philosophy. The elective course was attended by seventy-five Seniors. The next year his elective course appears under its proper heading, — Political Science, — the description of the course being altered to the following: J. S. Mill’s “Political Economy,” McCulloch on Taxation, Subjects [77] in Banking and Currency. Professor Dunbar also conducted in 1872-73 a required course for Juniors in Political Science, two hours a week during half a year. That year he used as textbooks for the Junior’s Fawcett’s “Political Economy” and the Constitution of the United States. In 1873-74 Professor Dunbar had for the first time the assistance of an instructor, because the required course in the Elements of Political Economy was transferred from the Junior to the Sophomore year, — on its way to extinction, — so that this required course had to be given that year to two large classes. Under Professor Dunbar’s elective course, Bagehot’s “Lombard Street “appears for the first time. In the next year Professor Dunbar gave, in addition to the prescribed Political Economy, two elective courses parallel to each other, one being preferable for students of History. The rapidly increasing number of students in the department made it desirable to offer these two parallel courses, so that neither class should be too large. One hundred and thirty-one students chose these electives. In 1875-76 Professor Dunbar was conducting three progressive courses: the prescribed elementary course, a first elective course on J. S. Mill’s “Political Economy,” [78] and the Financial Legislation of the United States; and an advanced course on Cairns’s “Leading Principles of Political Economy;” and McKean’s “Condensation of Carey’s Social Science;” and the number of students attending his course was steadily increasing. In the following year Professor Dunbar became Dean of the College Faculty, an administrative position which he held for six years. The prescribed course in Political Economy for Sophomores now disappeared. The elective courses were fully maintained. Professor Dunbar had some assistance in the elementary elective course, because of the necessity of devoting a good deal of his time to the administrative work of the Dean’s office. His assistant in the year 1877-78 was Mr. Macvane, now Professor of History in Harvard University. The next year his assistant was Dr. James Laurence Laughlin, who had the title of Instructor in Political Economy. In 1880-81 another course in Political Economy was added to the two already given, Professor Dunbar working in all three courses, but being assisted in the first two by Dr. Laughlin. The most advanced elective under Professor Dunbar was based on Cairns’s “Leading Principles of Political Economy,” [79] McLeod’s “Elements of Banking,” Bastiat’s “Harmonies Economiques.” In the year 1882-83 Professor Dunbar took leave of absence in Europe. His work was carried on by Dr. Laughlin and a new instructor, Mr. Frank W. Taussig, now Professor of Political Economy in Harvard University. A new half-course was added this year, — a course on the Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, Germany, and Russia. The next year brought considerable expansion to the Department. Professor Dunbar returned to his work; Dr. Laughlin was made an assistant professor; and Dr. Taussig offered for the first time a course on the History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. The number of courses offered by the Department suddenly expanded to four courses running through the whole year, and three running through half a year. Economic History appeared for the first time as part of the instruction given by the Department, Professor Dunbar having charge of the course. It was in that year that the plans of Professor Dunbar for the development of his department in the University became apparent to the academic world. Dr. Taussig soon became an assistant professor; Dr. Laughlin was [80] promoted to a full professorship at Cornell University, whence he was subsequently transferred to the University of Chicago; and a series of young men, all selected by Professor Dunbar, were brought forward in the Department as teachers. The number of teachers and courses increased until, in 1894-95, this Department, called Economics since 1892-93, employed three full professors, one assistant professor, and three instructors, and the number of courses had risen to six full courses and seven half-courses. In 1899 the lowest elective course in Economics was opened to Freshmen; so that the Harvard student thenceforth had access to that subject in all the four years of his college course. For the present year, 1899-1900, courses were announced which gave employment to three full professors, one assistant professor, and six instructors. In the academic year 1898—99 the choices made of courses in Economics numbered 1263.

Such was the development given in twenty-eight years to a subject which certainly should be second to none in value or dignity at an American university. At every step of the process it was Professor Dunbar’s sagacity, sobriety, and fairness which commanded confidence [81] and secured success. He thus made, in the course of twenty-eight years, as it were with his own hands, a complete collegiate instrument for training young Americans in Political Economy, the first such instrument ever constructed. If it should occur to any one that this growth was made possible by the general atmosphere at Harvard, the answer would be that Professor Dunbar had much to do with determining the quality of that atmosphere.

In 1886 a timely gift of a fund of $15,000 from one of Professor Dunbar’s pupils enabled the Corporation to establish the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published for Harvard University. They took this step by the advice of Professor Dunbar, and on the condition that he should edit the Journal. He acted as editor for ten years, and in that time established the position of the Journal in this country and in Europe as a valuable medium for economic discussions and researches. The subjects of some of the articles which he wrote for this Journal will indicate the wide range of his studies: In 1886, “The Reaction in Politics;” in 1887, “Deposits and Currency,” and a note on Ricardo’s Use of Facts; in 1888, a notice of an old tract entitled “The New-Fashioned Goldsmiths,” [82] a tract which appears to have been the source of the generally accepted statement as to the origin of private banking in London in the seventeenth century. In the same year appeared “Notes on Early Banking Schemes “from his pen, and an article on “Some Precedents Followed by Alexander Hamilton.” At the end of this last paper, after a learned review of the system advocated by Hamilton, and of the sources of the measures which he recommended, Professor Dunbar said in conclusion: “No statesman could have a greater task set for him, and political science can hardly have in store any greater triumph than this application of the experience of other men and other nations.” In 1889 he wrote for the Quarterly Journal an article on the Direct Tax of 1861, the conclusion of which was, “The direct tax provided for by the Constitution has at last been discredited as a source of revenue, and it has also been too prolific of misconception and confusion to have any Influence henceforth as a practical measure of finance.” A single sentence from an essay he published in the Journal in 1891 on the academic study of political economy admirably expresses the true conception of the function of an instructor in any moral [83] science: “That the student should learn to reason truly is of far more consequence than that he should perceive and accept any particular truth, and the real success of the instructor is found, not in bringing his students to think exactly as he does, — which is unlikely to happen, and, indeed, unnatural, — but in teaching them to use their own faculties accurately and with a measure of confidence.” In another passage in the same essay, speaking of the conditions under which an instructor may or may not be silent concerning his own beliefs, he says, “There are few men whose weight of authority is such as to compel any extraordinary caution in the declaration of their minds.” Those two statements are highly characteristic of Professor Dunbar’s habitual attitude towards his own students.

One may easily trace through all the activities of Professor Dunbar as a teacher and writer the effect on his mind of his ten years’ work as the editor of a daily paper during a period of startling and far-reaching military, financial, social, and political events; but it is interesting to observe that commercial and economic questions began to engage his attention some years before the war. Thus we find in the North American Review an article by him on the Danish [84] Sound Dues written as early as 1856, when he was twenty-six years of age. His services as a university teacher grew naturally out of the studies and interests of his early manhood.

Professor Dunbar was Dean of the old College Faculty for six years, from 1876 to 1882, and the first Dean of the new Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1890 to 1895. He therefore gave a large amount of administrative service to the University. As an administrative officer he was prompt, efficient, and wise. One peculiarity he had which was rather trying to some of the many students and parents of students with whom he came into contact, — he was sometimes too reticent and silent. He would listen patiently to a long tale in which the narrator felt great interest, and take it all in, but hardly utter a word in reply. Sometimes, however, after his interlocutor had despaired of getting an answer, he would give a concise but comprehensive reply which showed how sympathetically he had apprehended the whole subject under discussion. Ordinarily patient and cautious, he was entirely capable of quick decision and prompt action. On a reconnaissance he was circumspect and thorough; but when he once made [85] up his mind how the land lay and how the adversary was intrenched, he moved on the position, in the safest possible way, to be sure, but with energy and persistence. As a rule, his aspect was serene and mild; but on occasion his face could become set, and from his blue-gray eyes there came a steel-like gleam dangerous to his opponent. In his judgment of others he was gentle, unless he became satisfied that some man he had been observing did not play fair, or was untrustworthy at the pinch; then he became stern and unrelenting. It was these qualities which made him the successful journalist that he was at thirty years of age. The Faculty was always afraid to take a step of which he did not approve, and seldom did so, unless his occasional infirmity of silence had concealed from them his opinion. They felt in him a remarkable sagacity combined with quick insight and unwavering disinterestedness; and they found him to be uniformly just. If he now and then betrayed a prejudice, they felt sure that he had good grounds for it, and were much disposed to share it with him. Every one who has seen much of the world will perceive how rare a combination of qualities was [86] embodied in this modest and retiring man, and will understand how great a loss the University has suffered in his death.

In addition to the solid satisfactions Mr. Dunbar derived from his forty years of professional work, he had great delights in his domestic life. He married, soon after leaving college, Julia Ruggles Copeland, of Roxbury, and he survived his wife only two months. Five children were born to them between 1855 and 1862, of whom three sons and a daughter survive their father and mother.

I have already mentioned the life of the young family at Lexington. When he became editor of the Advertiser, he moved, first, to Roxbury; but finding the inevitable exposures of returning to Roxbury from his office late at night (often after the omnibuses had ceased to run) too great for his strength, he moved to a small house on River Street, at the foot of Beacon Hill. This house was comparatively sunless, and, though close to Beacon Street, had no outlook whatever. It was a great Relight to him and his wife and his growing children to establish the household in 1872 in a spacious house on the hill which rises north of Brattle Street, Cambridge, not far from Elmwood, [87] a house which commanded a charming prospect, and was surrounded by fine trees. He had earned the luxury of fine prospects, abounding sun and air, and garden grounds, as product of the work of his own brain. His tastes and habits were simple, but refined. Luxuries and superfluities had no charm for him. He was fond of driving and sailing, but needed no elaborate equipment for obtaining these pleasures. He valued these sports mainly as means of getting into contact with the beauties of nature by land and by sea. He had the natural healthy enjoyment in food and drink, but always preferred simple things to elaborate, and was displeased by extravagance or excess.

In 1886 he bought the larger part of Bear Island, off Mount Desert, the smaller part being already occupied by the United States as the site of a lighthouse; and here he built in 1893 a cottage for the summer occupation of his family. When visiting friends on the neighboring shore of Mount Desert, he had often marked the beautiful form of this island, and admired the exquisite views it commanded in several directions. In deciding upon the site of his house on this island, it was his chief care to avoid impairing the aspect of the island from [88] the neighboring shores, — a thoughtful result which he perfectly achieved. All his life he had great pleasure in carpentering. He always had a carpenter’s bench in any house he occupied, and delighted in good tools and in using them with skill. He could build with his own hands fireplaces, corner buffets, desks, tables, and other pieces of furniture. At Bear Island he built a large boat-house with chambers in its upper story, doing most of the work with his own hands, after the heavy framing had been put up. He enjoyed thinning the woods which covered the northern shore of the island, and studying the flora and fauna of his isolated kingdom. A thrifty little spruce, looking as if it could easily resist all the ice and snow, all the gales, and all the droughts of that northern clime, a single graceful birch, a mountain ash loaded with red berries, or a clump of ferns, sufficed to give him great enjoyment. With reading and writing interspersed, such pleasures filled his summer days so completely and so happily that he seldom wished to leave his island. Friends came to stay with him; but he seldom cared to go far from his cottage, unless on a sail or a drive with one of his neighbors of the main island. There was no road on his island, [89] and hardly a path, except little tracks between the hummocks and ledges; and there were no sounds, except the beat of the waves on the rocky shores, the singing of birds, and the rushing of the wind through the trees. One of the peculiarities of the climate of the Maine coast had singular charm for Professor Dunbar. On almost every summer evening near sunset, there falls a great calm and stillness. No matter how boisterous the day may have been, near sundown there comes a widespread, profound silence, unspeakably grateful to such a temperament as his. The hills of Mount Desert, in full view from his island, reminded him of the similar hills built of primary rocks which his Scottish forbears had looked on in far-away Morayshire.

Outside his family circle his intimate associates were not numerous; but his friendships were intense, and his rare and concise expressions of affection were overwhelmingly strong. As I look back on this completed life, it seems to me filled with productive labors and large services from which came deep satisfactions. Grave trials and sorrows hallowed it; but its main warp and woof were both made of innumerable threads of happiness and content.

[90] In his religious convictions he was a Unitarian, and he valued highly that simple and optimistic faith; but his mind was hospitable to all forms of theological opinion, while he was strenuously averse to ecclesiasticism and aestheticism in religion. Simplicity, cheerfulness, duty, and love were the articles of his faith, and human joy and well-being their natural fruit.

 

Source: Sons of the Puritans. A Group of Brief Biographies. Boston, American Unitarian Association, 1908. Sketches reprinted from The Harvard Graduates’Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 32 (June, 1900), pp. 469-484.

Image Source: The Harvard Graduates’Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 32 (June, 1900), Frontspiece. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

 

 

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Early Evolution of Behavioral and Social Science Departments. Mason Report.

Today I generate another posting from the Mason Committee Report The Behavioral Sciences at Harvard published in June, 1954. Here we have a quick trot through Harvard’s own history of behavioral and social sciences, the splitting of some of its divisions into departments and the creation of new departments and schools. It is an extremely convenient collection of names and dates to help us see where economics  and economists fit into the larger academic community during the first half century or so following the emergence of political economy and government at Harvard College. You can tell an economist chaired the committee, it’s so much about us. I have added boldface to help readers of this blog find stuff they might (should) be interested in.

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[p. 18]

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES AT HARVARD

The future historian of Harvard will note that a new term began to be prominent in University documents during 1953-1954. A reorganization of course offerings in the Graduate School of Education created the “behavioral sciences” as a prominent new rubric. Reports in the Business School allude to present and planned developments in the “behavioral sciences” and this survey utilizes the new term as an inclusive category to define the area of its inquiry.

If the term is of recent birth, Harvard’s activities in the area of the behavioral sciences certainly are not. Taking the loose definition of the behavioral sciences, which we have adopted (at least provisionally) for this survey, their cultivation at Harvard goes back at least to the emergence of Harvard as a modern university in the second half of the nineteenth century. At least some of the behavioral sciences shared in the rapid growth of Harvard to university stature at the end of the nineteenth century. The reorganization of 1890, establishing the system of Divisions and Departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, brought into existence a Division of History, Government, and Economics. Prior to this time there had been instruction in all of these fields, and Harvard could already point to distinguished scholars in some parts of them. History, after a “false dawn” in 1838 when Jared Sparks was appointed to the new McLean Professorship of Ancient and Modern History, was rapidly coming to strength under the inspiration of Henry Adams and the young men bringing new methods and standards from the German universities. Economics had begun its emergence from moral philosophy in the early Seventies when anxiety that sound currency doctrines be heard in Harvard College led to the appointment of Charles F. Dunbar as Professor of Political Economy. The study of government was comfortably developing in the work of a group of historians who were predominantly concerned with constitutional and institutional history.

1892 Dunbar
Charles F. Dunbar

Today the Division of History, Government, and Economics has been reduced to a shadowy holding company for three powerful and [p. 19] autonomous departments. In 1890-1891, the situation was different. Prior to the reorganization, the Harvard College faculty had indeed been subdivided into departments, but they were very loose and informal bodies, so casual in their operation that regular meetings were not held nor formal records kept. After 1891, a new structure of departments established itself firmly, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences quickly became the nexus of self-contained subdivision that it is today. History and government naturally fell together in a department first labeled that of “History and Roman Law” which in 1895 became the Department of History and Government.1 The split of this joint department into the present Departments of History and Government took place considerably later, in 1911. A Department of Political Economy was in existence from 1879, and economics courses enjoyed a separate listing under this heading until the present Department of Economics became established in 1892.

Within this evolving framework, Harvard quickly pushed to a place of prominence in studies in this area. In history the dominant pattern of activity was clear:

“Institutional History was uppermost at Harvard in the last third of the nineteenth century. Maine and Stubbs in England, Waitz in Germany, Fustel de Coulangcs in France, initiated an eager search into the origins and development of political institutions, believing therein to find the true explanation of human progress. Henry Adams introduced the fashion to Harvard. To take a sample year, 1890-91, there was hardly a history course in the catalogue, save History I, and those given by Emerton, which did not smack of Verfassungsgeschichte. There was Constitutional Government (later Government 1), Constitutional History of England since George I, and Principles of Constitutional Law, by Professor Macvane; English Constitutional History from 1485 to George I, and Early Medieval History “with special reference to Institutions,” by Mr. Bendelari; French History to Louis XIV, with the same emphasis, by Dr. Snow; Constitutional History, Constitutional Development, and Federal Government by Professor Hart; Early American Institutions, by Professor Channing; and three more courses on English Constitutional History by Dr. Gross. Certainly no institutions in the United States or England today would offer so much constitutional history. . . “2

The doctoral dissertations accepted before 1900 in history and government reflect this concentration of interest. In a total of thirty-one accepted during the period 1873-1900, twelve were in United States national and colonial history, ten were in English institutional history, three were in “government and international law.”3 While Harvard initially lagged behind Johns Hopkins in its production of Ph.D.’s, it was early in the field, and its staff played a prominent role in the professionalization of historical study. They were active in the establishment of the American Historical Association (1884) and can claim [p. 20] to have been the prime movers in starting the American Historical Review. The intimate connection between political science and history which was fostered by the joint department and the nature of historical studies in this early period served to give the study of political science a strong historical cast. But instruction in political science extended beyond clearly historical courses, and Government 1 by 1900 was established as one of the great introductory courses with more than four hundred students.

After beginnings in the Seventies with the appointment of Charles F. Dunbar as Professor of Political Economy, Harvard’s work in economics quickly took on strength in the Eighties. The year 1886 is notable for two events: the establishment of the first professional economics journal in the English language, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which has been continuously published under the auspices of the Department since that date; and the appointment of Frank W. Taussig, who became perhaps the central figure in a generation of growth in Harvard economics. As Professor Taussig modestly remarks in his own survey of department history, after 1886, the Department of Political Economy “was able to present a substantial offering.”4 From the first, the work of the Department showed a strong concern with contemporary issues of public policy, but it also reflected the late nineteenth-century concern with economic history in the appointments of William J. Ashley (1892) and Edwin F. Gay. Economics 1 took its place alongside History 1 and Government 1 as one of the famous introductory courses and like them attracted more than four hundred students by 1900.5 A temporary dip in activity occurred shortly after the turn of the century, but the foundations were laid for an exuberant later development.

The history of the other behavioral sciences in this early period is more varied, tentative, and uncertain. Anthropology got off to an early start with the Peabody bequest in 1866 establishing the Peabody Museum and the Peabody Professorship of American Archaeology and Ethnology. The terms of the bequest were such that part of it had to be left to accumulate until it had reached a specified level. The building which now houses the Peabody Museum was not begun until 1876, and the Professorship was not filled until 1887 (by Frederick Ward Putnam).6 The gathering of collections, however, began almost immediately after the Peabody bequest, and the first Report dates from 1868. By the Nineties the Museum collections had grown impressively, [p. 21] and the University acquired a major resource when the Museum became an integral part of it in 1897. Instruction in anthropology was almost lacking before 1890, there being no undergraduate courses and only a few graduate students. The reorganization of 1890 established a Division of American Archaeology and Ethnology, but no regular course in general anthropology was offered until 1894-1895. During the Nineties the Division shared in the general expansion of the University, increasing its staff and offerings so that by 1903 its old title was inappropriate, and it became the Department of Anthropology which still exists. The Nineties saw the beginning of a long series of archaeological and ethnological expeditions in the Americas and elsewhere which have enriched the collections of the Museum and the literature of the field. Studies and instruction in physical anthropology began at this time and have continued to the present day.

Psychology at Harvard is relatively old. Professor Boring when interviewed in the course of this survey has emphasized the point:

“America was very early in the development of experimental psychology, and the development was centered largely at Harvard. James had a very small laboratory as early as Wundt, actually — that is, in 1875. It is true that Germany led the world in experimental psychology in the 1890’s, but there was a great push in America to get psychological laboratories started, and I would say that they lagged behind Germany by less than ten years. In America there was a laboratory developed at Johns Hopkins in 1883, and ours here at Harvard officially began in 1892, although, as I said, there was a small laboratory before that.”

William James not only began experimental studies in psychology at an early date; in 1875 he offered a course in the Relations between Physiology and Psychology, and in the following year he presented another psychology course under the label of Natural History 2. His enthusiasm for experimental psychology led him to raise the necessary funds for the official establishment of the Psychology Laboratory in 1892. He did not, however, want to devote himself primarily to this work, and at his instigation Dr. Hugo Muensterberg was brought from Freiburg, first temporarily (in 1892), then after a brief interval, as a permanent Professor of Psychology in 1897. The early years of the new century saw important additions to the staff (in E. B. Holt and Robert M. Yerkes) and the availability of new space for the laboratories in Emerson Hall (1905). Instruction in psychology grew rapidly, but no independent department appeared. In 1913 psychology courses won separate listing, and the title of the sheltering department was expanded to become the Department of Philosophy and Psychology.

Sociology began its Harvard career in at least two places. The broad concern about social problems which swept over American society in the last third of the nineteenth century and did so much to establish sociology as an academic discipline had its representation at Harvard. The Reverend Francis Greenwood Peabody was giving a course in [p. 22] Practical Ethics in 1881, and from 1883 he offered another in Ethical Theories and Moral Reform. In 1905 it became possible, largely through the benefactions of Andrew Tredway White, to establish instruction of this sort more amply in a separate Department of Social Ethics. The early years of the new department saw expanded work in various types of social problems and a somewhat cautious venture in the direction of professional social work training.7

Not all of Harvard’s early sociology was contained in this lineal ancestor of its present work in sociology. The Department of Economics appointed an assistant professor of sociology in 1893, and after his appointment in 1901 Thomas Nixon Carver regularly gave sociology courses. There was further concern with sociology in connection with such subjects as labor problems, but in summing up the situation to 1929, Professor Taussig found cause to lament Harvard’s failure to “keep pace with the forward movement of economic science … in the field of the social applications or implications of the subject.”

Our sketch thus far has brought the account of the behavioral sciences at Harvard down to the years preceding the first World War. The subsequent years were crowded and active ones, but they have put their imprint so clearly on the present that we may hope to bridge them quickly, reserving details for the contemporary picture presented in Section B.

The organization of the behavioral sciences at Harvard has seen both fission and fusion in the twentieth century. We have noted the splitting off of Social Ethics in 1905 from its parent Department of Philosophy. The next fission was that between Government and History in 1911. In this, as in other organizational changes at Harvard, personalities and special local problems played their role, but the development of the fields themselves made the change a natural one. As Harvard developed rapidly into one of the major American centers of historical study, the heavy concentration in constitutional and institutional history yielded to more diversity. Many of Harvard’s great historians continued to write history in which political events and institutions bulked large, but the range of interests became increasingly catholic. In the history of religions George Foote Moore and others continued and ornamented an established Harvard tradition, Charles H. Haskins ranged over a vast field of medieval studies, Frederick J. Turner brought a sweeping perspective on American democracy, and by 1924 the University had a recognized practitioner of the “new” history in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. An era arrived in which social and economic history took established positions among the common varieties of historical writing so that they now look like older trends in the 1954 picture. A glance at the list of doctoral dissertations submitted [p. 23] to the Department shows a steady and strong growth in American and modern European history paralleling the over-all growth of the Department to a commanding position in the production of the professional historians.8

Since its independent establishment in 1911, the Department of Government has shown continued loyalty to its older union with History. In Charles Mcllwain it had an inspiring continuator of the tradition in English constitutional history and thought. The new Department rapidly expanded its concern with political theory and made new ventures in constitutional and international law, American national, state and local government, comparative government, and international relations. The establishment of the Graduate School of Public Administration in 1937 broadened and strengthened work on matters related to contemporary public policy. A steady rise in the popularity of government as a field of undergraduate concentration brought the Department in the years after World War II into the demanding position of caring for more undergraduates than any other department.

The Department of Economics has continued to grow until it stands today among Harvard’s largest. The concern with the issues of the day which engaged Harvard economists from the first has persisted. The tradition of government consulting blossomed with the work of Taussig, Ripley, Gay and Day during World War I, and in the ill-fated Harvard Economic Service Harvard economists in the Twenties ventured predictions on the course of business conditions. Theoretical economics was pursued with distinction, and a rounded development of the field could be pointed to as a basis for a commonly recognized position of leadership. The Graduate School of Public Administration at its founding could draw on a department with vigorous interests in economic policy, and it in turn provided stimulus and facilities for such work.

Anthropology at Harvard during the early decades of this century continued activities on the wide front established in the Nineties. While Harvard could claim no single figure of such commanding leadership as Boas at Columbia, men like Dixon, Tozzer, and Hooton took major places in the development of American anthropology. A long series of Peabody Museum expeditions extended all over the globe and established Harvard’s position of leadership in Middle American archaeology, Southwestern archaeology, Old World prehistory, and other fields. The large-scale Irish expedition in the Thirties brought widely-known results, and it is perhaps less well remembered that the Yankee City study had its inception in the Department of Anthropology. The Forties brought an important organizational change in the establishment of the Department of Social Relations (1946). This move, which relocated part of the work in [p. 24] Social Anthropology in a new department, has resulted in a substantial expansion of the total numbers of anthropologists on the Harvard staff and of the range and quantity of anthropological investigation.

The chapter on psychology in an official history of Harvard published in 1930 was written by a philosopher, Ralph Parton Perry. Professor Perry notes at the beginning of his account: “Harvard is almost the only American university in which Philosophy and Psychology still constitute a single department.”9 This tardiness of Harvard in following the movement toward an independent status for psychology continued until 1934, when the Department of Psychology was established with Professor Boring as chairman. The lack of separate status had not meant inactivity. The work of the Psychological Laboratory begun under James and Muensterberg continued under the direction of Langfeld (until 1924) and later under Professor Boring. The range of work included that of Yerkes on animal psychology, Troland on physiological optics, and McDougall (after 1920) on social psychology. In 1926 a special bequest for work in abnormal and dynamic psychology led to the establishment of the Psychological Clinic, first under Dr. Morton Prince, and later under Professor Henry A. Murray. The appointment of Professor K. S. Lashley in 1936 brought new work in physiological psychology which was later transferred to the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology, Orange Park, Florida. During the second World War, Harvard’s psychologists became heavily involved in work which led to the present Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory under the direction of Professor S. S. Stevens. Substantial uncertainty as to the ideal arrangements for psychology in the University persisted. A special commission was appointed in 1945, under the chairmanship of Dr. Alan Gregg to examine this question,10 but the work was overtaken by action from another quarter which issued in the founding of the Department of Social Relations in 1946. The consequences of this change will be evidenced at many places in this report; suffice to say here that work in clinical and social psychology was moved to the new department, experimental and physiological psychology remaining in the Department of Psychology.11

Sociology at Harvard continued under the departmental label of Social Ethics until 1929. In the early years of this department (after 1905) the ethical and practical concerns of its founder marked both instruction and research.12 Courses were taught in criminology and penology, radical social movements, juvenile delinquency, housing, immigration, and the typical range of “social problems” found in sociology [p. 25] curricula of this era. After World War I, when Dr. Richard C. Cabot was made Professor of Social Ethics and Chairman of the Department (1920), sociology extended its concerns into philosophical questions and some applied fields, while preserving the ethical orientation. As Professor Cabot’s retirement approached, the status of sociology was subject to a general re-examination. A new Department of Sociology was established under the direction of a committee drawn from various existing departments and including a new appointee, Pitirim A. Sorokin, as Chairman and Professor of Sociology. The new department continued through the Thirties, establishing a strong tradition in theoretical sociology and producing a small but distinguished group of Ph.D.’s. A need for further organizational change was felt by the beginning of the Forties,13 and when the Department of Social Relations emerged in 1946, it had absorbed the old Department of Sociology. Since that time, sociology has been without separate departmental status at Harvard, but it has been strongly represented in the new organization.

This rapid survey could include little more than the most conspicuous and central developments in the behavioral sciences within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. It has neglected many interdisciplinary committees and degree programs, research organizations, area programs, and the growth of such indispensable facilities as the College Library. A great many of the most important special developments have appeared since World War II and are still in existence. As elsewhere throughout the country, much of the history of behavioral sciences at Harvard crowds onto the contemporary scene.

The history we have presented has been largely a history of departments, but we think this not improper. The departments have long been and remain the fundamental units in the organization of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The historical record of the growth of the behavioral sciences at Harvard seems to show a common pattern. Harvard has not been unresponsive to new needs and the development of new fields, but it has moved cautiously, making its first ventures under the shelter of established departments. Government, psychology, and sociology at Harvard thus began under older departments, only slowly winning autonomous status. Ultimately, fields like these have taken their place in an extended roster of the same type of organization which fostered them, namely, as departments on the established model. The record is doubtless a conservative one, substantively and organizationally, but it is perhaps in keeping with President Eliot’s aim of building “securely and slowly, a university in the largest sense.”

Thus far the growth of the behavioral sciences in the professional [p. 26] schools has gone largely unmentioned. Their development will be sketched briefly near the end of Section B, but, to avoid too much repetition, the more detailed historical developments are reserved for Part VI of this report, where each professional school receives a unified and comprehensive analysis. Unless the reader familiarizes himself with the trends in the utilization of the behavioral sciences in the graduate schools of Business, Education, Law, Medicine and Public Health, and Public Administration he will have only a partial image of Harvard’s activities in this field.

[NOTES]

1 Emerton and Morison, in Morison, ed.. Development of Harvard University, 1869-1929 (1930) p. 153, n. 1.

2 Emerton and Morison, op. cit., pp. 159-160.

3 Tabulation in Emerton and Morison, op. cit., p. 164.

4 In Morison, op. cit., p. 190.

5 A graph in Morison (between pp. 194-195) traces the rise in enrollment in these courses. They followed roughly the over-all increase in college enrollment.

6 A delay in the approval of Putnam’s appointment by the Board of Overseers deprived Harvard of the distinction of having the first professorship of American archaeology. (Daniel S. Brinton was appointed Professor of American Archaeology and Linguistics at Pennsylvania in 1886.) Dixon in Morison, p. 211, n. 1.

7 Ford in Morison, op. at., p. 225.

8 Cf. tabulation in Morison, op. cit., p. 164, and data below in Section B.

9 Morison, op. cit., p. 216.

10 Cf. The Place of Psychology in an Ideal University (1947).

11 A contemporary report on the nature and rationale of the split may be found in a joint article by Professors Allport and Boring, American Psychologist, v. 1, 1946, pp. 119-122.

12 Cf. the chapter by James M. Ford in Morison, op. cit., pp. 223-230.

13 The Report of the Visiting Committee to the Department for 1944-1945 remarks, “Obviously, the Department should not be allowed to continue as at present constituted.” Report No. 32, p. 219.

 

Source: The behavioral sciences at Harvard; report by a faculty committee. June, 1954.

Image Source:  Faculty portraits of Professors Taussig, Ripley, Gay and Day from Harvard Album, 1916.

 

Categories
Courses Curriculum Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard Courses in Political Economy, 1874-75

Excerpts from the Harvard Catalogue for 1874-75 with principal texts and examination questions for political economy together with some information about the A.B. distinction between “prescribed” and “elective” studies.

Incidentally, one finds that annual fees for a full course load at Harvard ran $120/year and a copy of John Stuart Mill’s Principles cost $2.50. Cf. today’s Amazon.com price for N. Gregory Mankiw’s Economics which is $284.16. If tuition relative to the price of textbooks had remained unchanged (and the quality change of the Mankiw textbook relative to Mill’s textbook(!) were equal to the quality change of the Harvard undergraduate education today compared to that of 1874-75(!!)), Harvard tuition would only be about $13,600/year today instead of $45,278. Just saying.

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HARVARD COURSES OF INSTRUCTION 1874-75

COURSE OF STUDY
FOR THE DEGREE OF A.B.

The course of study to be pursued by a candidate for the Bachelor’s degree is made up in part of studies which are prescribed, and pursued by all students alike, and in part of studies selected by the student himself out of the various courses of instruction which are given in the College.

PRESCRIBED STUDIES.

The prescribed studies occupy the whole of the Freshman year and about one-third of the Sophomore and Junior years. In the Senior year only certain written exercises are prescribed.

Anticipation of Prescribed Studies.

The prescribed studies of the Sophomore and Junior years being of an elementary character, students who wish to be relieved from attendance at College exercises in one or more of them will be excused from such attendance, if they pass a satisfactory examination in such study or studies at the beginning of the year in which they would regularly pursue the study or studies in College, or at the time of their examination for admission to College. Studies which are pursued only in the second half-year may also be anticipated in the same way in the middle of the year. No such examination will be deemed satisfactory unless the student shall succeed in obtaining at least one-half of the maximum mark. The mark obtained when the examination is successful will be credited to the student as his mark on the Annual Scale of the study which forms the subject of the examination. Preparation for these examinations can often be made while the student is preparing for College or in the long vacation, and time may be thus gained for higher courses of study. Students who intend to present themselves for such examination in any required study for 1875-76 must give notice to the Dean in writing before September 1, 1875.

Information concerning the requirements for passing the examination in any study can be obtained from the instructor in that study.

ELECTIVE STUDIES.

In addition to the prescribed studies, each Sophomore is required to pursue courses, chosen by himself from the elective studies, [ftnt: The prescribed Philosophy of the Junior year may be taken as an elective by Sophomores.] amounting to eight exercises a week for the year; each Junior, courses amounting to eleven exercises a week; and each Senior, courses amounting to twelve exercises a week. Students are at liberty to attend the instruction in as many other subjects as they may have time and taste for pursuing. In choosing his electives, the student must satisfy his instructors that he is qualified by his previous training to pursue those which he selects. With this limitation, all the courses given in the College are open to him in making his choice; but he is strongly recommended to make his choice with great care, under the best advice, and in such a manner that his elective courses from first to last may form a rationally connected whole.

Undergraduates who intend to study Engineering are recommended by the Scientific Faculty to take, as extras, the courses of Drawing and Surveying in the Scientific School; and those who intend to study Medicine are advised by the Medical Faculty to pay special attention to the study of Natural History, Chemistry, Physics, and the French and German languages, while in College.

It will be seen that students who prefer a course like the usual prescribed course of American colleges can perfectly secure it, under this system, by a corresponding choice of studies; while others, who have decided tastes, or think it wiser to concentrate their study on a few subjects, obtain every facility for doing so, and still secure in the briefer prescribed course an acquaintance with the elements of the leading branches of knowledge.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, pp. 46-47

_________________________________

IV. PHILOSOPHY

PRESCRIBED STUDIES

[…]

Prescribed Political Economy.—Prof. [ Charles Franklin] Dunbar

Sophomore Year.

Fawcett’s Political Economy for Beginners.—Constitution of the United States (Alden’s Science of Government, omitting the first four and the last three chapters).

Two hours a week. Second half-year.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 54.

_________________________________

III. PHILOSOPHY

ELECTIVES
Senior Studies

[…]

Philosophy 7. — Prof. [ Charles Franklin] Dunbar.

Political Economy. — Fawcett’s Manual of Political Economy. — Blanqui’s Histoire de l’Économie Politique en Europe. — Bagehot’s Lombard Street.

Three hours a week. 19 Seniors, 14 Juniors.

 

Philosophy 8. — Prof. [ Charles Franklin] Dunbar.

Political Economy. — J. S. Mill’s Political Economy. — Bagehot’s Lombard Street. — Subjects in Currency and Taxation.

Three hours a week. 65 Seniors, 33 Juniors.

 

Courses 7 and 8 are parallel Courses, Course 7 being preferable for students of History.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 56.

_________________________________

III. PHILOSOPHY

PRESCRIBED STUDIES

[…]

Prescribed Political Economy.—Prof. [ Charles Franklin] Dunbar and Mr. Howland.

Elements of Political Economy.—Constitution of the United States.

Two hours a week. Second half-year. Sophomores and Juniors.*

*In 1873 the prescribed Study of Political Economy was transferred from the Junior to the Sophomore Year, and was pursued during the year 1873-74 by both classes.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 215.

_________________________________

PRESCRIBED POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Political Economy.

Those who are also to pass in the Constitution may omit questions marked *.

  1. Define (a)wealth; (b) value; (c)price; (d) capital; (e) money.
  2. What are the qualities which make gold and silver suitable materials for a currency? What are the objections to a double standard of value?
  3. Explain the action of demand and supply upon the prices (a) of raw materials; (b) of manufactured articles.
  4. Show how rents would be affected by suddenly doubling the productiveness of all lands under cultivation. Prove that rent does not enter into the price of agricultural produce.
  5. State and illustrate the causes which produce a difference in the rate of wages in different employments.
  6. Suppose the amount of the (gold) currency of a country to he suddenly doubled, what would be the effect upon (a) values; (b) prices; (c) exports and imports?
  7. Define direct and indirect taxation. What are the objections to an import duty on raw materials? What is the incidence of a tax levied on the rent of land and paid by the tenant?
  8. [*] Define productive and unproductive consumption. If the latter were to cease altogether, what would be the ultimate effect upon production?
  9. [*] Show how the cost of labor is affected, (a) if the efficiency of labor is increased; (b) if the margin of cultivation sinks.
  10. [*] What are the elements of which profits are composed? Why does the rate of profits vary (a) in different employments; (b) in different countries?
  11. [*] Explain the several ways in which credit promotes production. What are the disadvantages of an irredeemable paper currency?
  12. [*] Explain the use of bills of exchange. What is meant by an unfavorable balance of exchange?
  13. [*] Discuss the question, whether temporary and permanent incomes should be taxed alike.

 

Constitution of the United States.

Those who are also to pass in Political Economy may omit questions marked *.

  1. [*] When and by whom was the Constitution framed, and what were the principal steps leading to its formation and adoption?
  2. Define citizenship.
  3. What changes have the abolition of slavery and the consequent amendments of the Constitution made in the system of representation?
  4. State the method of electing the President, and the difference between the present method and that at first adopted.
  5. [*] By whom are questions settled which affect the validity of elections (a) of representatives, (b) of senators, (c) of President?
  6. [*] What provision does the Constitution make for the removal, death, resignation, or inability to serve of the President or Vice-President, or for a failure to elect either officer or both?
  7. [*] What powers over the militia are given to Congress or to the President?
  8. What are the provisions of the Constitution affecting the subject of currency
  9. What are the provisions relating to taxation, and what are direct taxes under the Constitution?
  10. [*] What are the provisions relating to impeachment?
  11. Under what provision did Congress claim and exercise the power of prohibiting slavery in the territories
  12. What is the extent of the judicial power of the United States, and where is it vested? What is the provision for amending the Constitution?

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 218-9.

_________________________________

ELECTIVES.

[…]

  1. Political Economy.—Prof. Dunbar.

J. S. Mill’s Political Economy.—Bagehot’s Lombard Street.—Sumner’s History of American Currency.

Three hours a week. 70 Seniors, 1 Junior.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 220.

 

_________________________________

 

FEES AND BONDS.

The fees to be paid by Bachelors of Arts or Science who receive instruction as candidates for the Degree of Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, or Doctor of Science, or who attend lectures or recitations without being members of either professional school, are as follows : —

For not more than three hours of instruction a week $50.00 a year.
For more than three, but not more than six hours of instruction a week $90.00 a year.

 

For more than six hours of instruction a week $120.00 a year.
For a year’s instruction in any of the laboratories or in

the Museum of Comparative Zoology

$150.00
The fees to be paid for examination are as follows :—
For the examination for the Degree of Master of Arts $30.00
For the examination for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy $60.00
For the examination for the Degree of Doctor of Science $60.00

 

There is no additional charge for the right to use the Library. The fees for instruction, but not those for examination, will be remitted to meritorious students who need such help.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 137.

_________________________________

[Advertisement of Macmillan & Company’s Books]

Logic. Professor Stanley Jevons’s Elementary Lessons in Logic, Deductive and Inductive. 18mo, cloth $1.25.

Political Economy for Beginners. By Millicent Garrett Fawcett. 18mo. $1.00.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 317.

_________________________________

[Advertisement of Lee and Shepard Books]

POLITICAL ECONOMY. Principles of Political Economy. By John Stuart Mill. New and revised edition. Lee and Shepard, Publishers. Boston. Complete in 1 vol. Crown 8vo.   $2.50

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1874-75, p. 336.

 

Categories
Columbia Economists

John Bates Clark Biography from Amherst Yearbook 1894

 

This mid-life testimony about the career of John Bates Clark is interesting to compare to the Memorial Minute entered into the record by his Columbia colleagues one month after his death in 1938.

_____________________

 

JOHN BATES CLARK, who fills the Chair of Political Economy at Amherst, was born January 26, 1847, in Providence, R. I. His father, John H. Clark, was a manufacturer; his mother was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Huntington, the youngest son of Gen. Jedidiah Huntington, of New London, Conn. Professor Clark has, therefore, by right of inheritance, both the industrial traits and the conservatism of New England.

Until his twentieth year, his home was at Providence. In the public schools of that city, he fitted for college, and passed at Brown the first and second years of his college course. In 1867, owing to the — happily temporary — crippled condition of the faculty of that institution, he came to Amherst and entered as Junior the class of ’69. Before the close of the year he was called to the new home of his family, Minneapolis, Minn. It was the failing health of his father that had led to the removal from Providence, and that now broke in upon his academic course. At Minneapolis he assumed and carried for more than a year business responsibilities of considerable weight. Here, too, he came, for the first time, under the spell of the new Northwest; and each influence, that of business responsibility and that of the new environment, had in it a valuable tonic quality. Moreover, some of those who are privileged to know him best think they find the source of certain traits which they greatly like, in the filial solicitude which kept the thought of self far in the background at the very period in a young man’s life when it is naturally, and, perhaps justifiably, most prominent. An improvement, unhappily transient, in his father’s health, permitted his return in the fall of ’69 to Amherst, and the resumption of study with the class of ’71. Then came his father’s death and a second interruption of his course at Amherst; this time, however, it lasted but a year. He graduated with the class of ’72. It is, perhaps, noteworthy that his connection with ’69, ’71 and ’72 made him, for nearly equal periods, the classmate of Prof. H. B. Adams of Johns Hopkins University, and of Professors Garman, Morse and Richardson, who are now his colleagues at Amherst.

Of Professor Clark’s scholarship it is enough to say that, in spite of two breaks in his college course, which together covered fully three years, and in spite of the distracting and absorbing nature of the cause of these breaks, his standing at graduation was higher than that of any man of his class. Of his character during this period the best witness is the singularly deep and fine impression which he made on classmates and teachers.

While at Amherst President Seelye, then Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, advised him to give special attention to social and economic studies, and his interest in these developed rapidly under the instruction of this wise counsellor and powerful teacher. During his Senior year he made that analysis of wealth which was afterwards published in chapter first of “The Philosophy of Wealth.”

The three years following graduation were passed in Germany, Switzerland and France, in the study of economics and history. One semester was spent at Zurich, and a considerable period at Paris, but the larger part of his university work was done at Heidelberg under the direction of Professor Knies. It is worth remarking that these three years abroad were not, in the ordinary sense, wanderjahre; for the companionship of his mother and sister gave him, although a resident of foreign lands, the advantages of an American home. On his return to the United States in 1875, he married Miss Myra A. Smith of Minneapolis. In his home there are now three sons in various stages of preparation for Amherst College, and a daughter who has not yet decided between the claims of Vassar, of which her mother is a graduate, and Smith, where her father was an honored professor.

Professor Clark’s career as a teacher began in 1875 with an appointment to a lectureship in Carleton College, Carleton, Minn. A few weeks after the beginning of his work, a severe typhoidal illness led to an enforced vacation of more than a year. In 1877 he was appointed Professor of Economics and History at Carleton, and there he remained until 1882, when he accepted the Chair of History and Political Science at Smith College. In 1892 he was elected Professor of Political Economy at Amherst; during the following year he gave instruction both at Smith and at Amherst; in ’93 the transfer to Amherst was completed. In addition to his professorship at Amherst, he has held, since 1892, the position of Lecturer on Economics at Johns Hopkins University. The fact that both at Carleton and Smith the parting was with very great reluctance, bears pleasant testimony to the impression he made on the trustees, the faculty and the students of these institutions; and here at Amherst the appreciation, already marked, of his fine and sterling traits as man and teacher, is steadily growing.

In the promotion of economic science through the association of those who made its advancement their life work, Professor Clark has taken a leading part. In 1885 he helped to organize the American Economic Association, the largest and most active of its kind in the world. At its founding he was made third vice-president, and the chairman of the Committee on Economic Theory. In 1893 he was elected president; his immediate predecessor in this office was Professor Dunbar, of Harvard, who followed Gen. Francis A. Walker (A. C. class of 1860), the first president.

Professor Clark’s publications on economic subjects amount all told to thirty. These have appeared for the most part in the New Englander, the Political Science Quarterly, the International Journal of Politics, the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Yale Review, the Revue d’Economie Politique, and Palgrave’s Dictionary of Political Economy. The themes treated are indicated by the following titles : “The Law of Wages and Interest,” “Distribution as Determined by a Law of Rent,” “The Ultimate Standard of Value,” “The Genesis of Capital,” “Insurance and Business Profits,” “Trusts,” “The Influence of Land on the Rate of Wages,” “The Statics and the Dynamics of Distribution.” The articles first published in the New Englander, nine in number, were re-published with some others in 1883, under the title of “The Philosophy of Wealth.” This book was followed by a monograph on “Capital and its Earnings.” Another monograph, written in co-operation with Mr. Stuart Wood, was on “Wages.” Two of the articles that appeared in the Political Science Quarterly were re-published with two by Professor Giddings, in a volume entitled “The Modern Distributive Process.”

In their entirety these various publications present a system of Economics the central feature of which is a new theory of Distribution. According to this theory the existing industrial system, though containing abuses, is in principle sound; and the abuses will gradually disappear if the legal and moral forces of society acting in their own distinct and proper spheres can be made to do their full duty. Briefly told. Professor Clark in spirit, thought and method, is conservatively progressive. His presence at Amherst gives to every friend of the College cause for hope and cheer.

Source: Amherst Yearbook Olio ’96 (New York, 1894), pp. 7-9. Picture above from frontispiece. Another link.

 

Categories
Chicago Columbia Cornell Courses Economists Harvard Johns Hopkins Michigan Pennsylvania Yale

Graduate Economics Courses. 23 US Universities. 1898-99

In this posting we have a compilation of virtually all the graduate courses in economics (and sociology) offered at the major graduate schools in the U.S. at the end of the 19th century. Source 

Barnard
Brown
BrynMawr
California
Chicago
Columbia
Cornell
Harvard
Hopkins
Stanford
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
NYU
Northwestern
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Radcliffe
Vanderbilt
Wellesley
WesternReserve
Wisconsin
Yale

____________________

EXPLANATORY

“ To state the numbers of Graduate Students who have taken courses in each department during 1897-8, thus giving an indication of the amount of graduate work actually going on. A Graduate Student often takes courses in two or more departments; such student counts once in each of those departments….

…The number of hours per week is put in small Roman, the number of weeks in Arabic numerals. A dash, followed by a mark of interrogation, calls attention to the absence of specific information. Unless months are given, a course usually extends from September or October to May or June (inclusive). The abbreviations for the names of the months are as follows: Ja., F., Mar., Ap., My., Jun., Jul., Au., S., O., N., D.

…[Enclosed] in brackets all courses not to be given in 1898-9. Bracketed courses usually may be expected in 1899-1900.

…[Marked] with the asterisk all courses “not designed primarily for Graduate Students.” It should be borne in mind that “Graduate work” in each institution is conditioned by local plans of administration, as well as by the previous preparation of Graduate Students. The marking of a course with an asterisk simply means that (under the conditions prevailing in his institution) the instructor does not offer the course with a primary purpose of meeting the needs of Graduate Students. But the inclusion of the course in these lists indicates that it is often useful to such students.” [p. liii]

 

 

 

  1. ECONOMICS, SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND ETHNOLOGY. 

(Including Finance and Statistics. See also 9 and 11.)

 

BARNARD.
16 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

[All Graduate Courses in Columbia under 10 open to Barnard Graduate Students.]

 

BROWN.
8 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

Henry B. Gardner, Assoc. Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Brown, ’84, and A.M., ’87; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’90;
Instr. in Pol. Econ., Brown, ’88-’90.

Hist. of Economic Thought.* iii, 12, S.-D.
Economic Policy. iii, 12, S.-D.
Money and Banking.* iii, 11, Ja.-Mar.
Public Finance.* iii, 10, Ap.-Jun.
Practical Economic Questions.* iii, 12, S.-D.
Economic Theory (adv.) iii, 11, Ja.-Mar.

 

George G. Wilson, Prof. of Social and Pol. Science.
A.B., Brown, ’86, A.M., and Ph.D., ’89;
Assoc. Prof. of Social and Pol. Science, ’91-5.

Princ. of Sociol.* iii, 12, S.-D.
Social Conditions and Probs.* iii, 21, Ja.-Jun.
Current Social Theory and Practice. i, 33.
Sociology. Seminary. Fort.

 

James Q. Dealey, Asst. Prof. of Social and Pol. Science.
A.B. Brown, ’90, A.M., ’92, and Ph.D., ’95.

Devel. of Social Theory. iii, 12, S.-D.
Social Philos. iii, 11, Ja.-Mar.
[Segregation of Population. iii, 10, Ap.-Jun.]

 

Alpheus S. Packard, Prof. of Zool. and Geol.
Ph.D., Bowdoin;
Libr. and Custodian, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., ’65; Lect., Mass. Agricult. Col. ’69-’77; Maine Agricult. Col., ’71; Bowdoin, ‘73-6.

Anthropology.* iii, 10, Ap.-Jun.

 

 

BRYN MAWR.

3 Graduate Students, 1897-8.
1 Fel. $525 in Hist. of Political Science.

 

Lindley M. Keasbey, Assoc. Prof. of Pol. Sci.
A.B., Harv., ’88; Ph.D., Columbia, ’90;
Asst. in Econ., Columbia, and Lect. on Pol. Sci., Barnard, ’92; R.P.D., Strassburg, ’92; Prof. of Hist., Econ., and Pol. Sci., State Univ. of Col., ’92-4.

Economic Institutions. i, 30.
Am. Primitive Society. i, 30.
Am. Commerce. i, 30.
Descriptive Sociology.* iii, 30.
Theoretical Sociology.* ii, 30.

 

 

CALIFORNIA.

1 Graduate Student, 1897-8.

 

Bernard Moses, Prof. of Hist. and Pol. Econ.
Ph.D., Heidelberg.

Economic Theory.* iv, 16, Ja.-My.
[Econ. Condition of Laborers in Eng. ii, 16, Au.-D.]

 

Carl C. Plehn, Assoc. Prof. of Hist. and Pol. Science.
A.B., Brown; Ph.D., Gottingen.

[Federal Expenditures, Revenues and Debts. ii, 32.]
Industrial and Commercial Hist. of U. S. ii, 32.
[Currency and Banking. ii, 32.]
Finance and Taxation.* iv. 16, Ja.-My.
Statistics. Hist., Theory, and Method, as applied to Econ. Investigation.* ii, 16, Au.-D
Local Govt. and Admin. —?

 

CHICAGO.

 40 Graduate Students, 1897-8; and 40 in Summer Quarter, ‘97, in Political Economy;55 Graduate Students, 1897-8; and 95 in Summer Quarter, ’97, in Sociology. Pol. Econ., Club and Social Science Club fortnightly. Dept. libs. of Pol. Econ., Sociol. and Anthropol. have leading magazines and 6,000 vols. In Anthropol. Dept. of Walker Museum, coll. of 3,000 pieces on Archaeol. of Mexico,valuable colls. on Cliff and Cave Dwellings, and Japan and Aleutian Islands; also complete anthropometrical apparatus. Access to the Fieid Columbian Museum. 6 Fels. in Pol. Econ. 4 in Sociol. 1 Fel. in Anthropol.

 

J. Laurence Laughlin, Head Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Harv., ’73; A.M., and Ph.D., ’76;
Instr. in Pol. Econ., same, ’83-8; Prof. Pol. Econ. and Finance, Cornell, ’90-2.

Money and Banking. iv, 12, Jul.-S.
Seminar. ii, 12, O.-D.
Money. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Seminar. ii, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Unsettled Problems. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Seminar. ii, 12, Ap.-Jun.

 

Bernard Moses, Prof. of History and Political Economy, Univ. of Cal.
Ph.B., Univ. of Mich., ’70; Ph.D., Heidelberg, ‘73;
Prof. of History and Engl. Lit., Albion Col. ’75; Prof. of Hist. Univ. Cal. ’75-6; Prof. Hist. and Pol. Econ. Univ. Cal. ’76.

Practical Economics.* iv, 12, Jul.-S., and O.-D.
Advanced Course on Theory. iv, 12, Jul.-S., and O.-D.

 

Adolph C. Miller, Prof. of Finance.
A.B., California, ‘87 A.M., Harv., ‘88;
Instr., in Pol. Econ., Harv., ’89-’00; Lect. on Pol. Econ., California, ’90-1, and Asst. Prof.-elect of Hist. and Pol. Sci., same, ’91; Assoc. Prof. Pol. Econ. and Finance, Cornell, ’91-2; Assoc. Prof. Pol. Econ., Chicago, ’92-3.

[Public Finance. iv, 12, O.-D.]
[Economic and Social Hist. iv, 24, Ja.-Jun.]
Public Finance.* iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Financial Hist.* U. S. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
[Pol. Econ (adv).* iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.]
[Taxation. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.]
Seminar in Finance. ii, 12, Ja.-Mar.

 

William Hill, Asst. Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Kansas, ’90; A.B., Harv., ’91, and A.M., ’92;
Fellow, Harv., ‘91-3; Instr. Pol. Econ., same, ’93; Tutor Pol. Econ., Chicago, ’93-4; Instr., same, ’94-7.

Tariff Hist.* iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Railway Transportation.* iv, 12, O.-D.
Oral Debates.* ii, 24, O.-Mar. (With Messrs. Damon and Lovett.)
Comparative Railway Legislation.* iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Banking.* iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Money and Banking. iv, 12, O.-D.

 

Thorstein B. Veblen, Instr. in Pol. Econ.
A.B., Carleton, ‘80; Ph.D., Yale, ‘84;
Fellow in Economics and Finance, Cornell, ’91-2; Fellow, Chicago, ’92-3; Reader in Pol. Econ., same, ’93-4; Tutor, same, ’94-6.

Hist. of Pol. Econ.* iv, 12, O.-D.
Scope and Method of Pol. Econ.* iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Socialism. iv, 24, Ja.-Jun.
American Agriculture. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Economic Factors of Civilization. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.

 

Henry Rand Hatfield, Instr. in Pol. Econ.
A.B., Northwestern, ’92; Ph.D., Chicago, ’97;
Prof. of Pol. Econ. Washington Univ., ’95-7.

Railway Accounts, Exchanges, etc.* iv, 12, O.-D.
Processes of Leading Industries. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Coöperation.* iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.

 

A.W. Small, Head Prof. of Sociol.
A.B., Colby, ’76, and A.M.’79; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’89;
Prof. Hist. and Pol. Econ., Colby, ’81-8; Reader in Hist., Johns Hopkins, ’88-9; Pres., Colby, ’89-’92.

Social Teleology. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Sociol. Methodology. viii, 6, Jul.-Au., and iv, 12, O.-D.
[Philos. of Soc. iv. 12, O.-D. State and Govt., Ja.-Mar. Socialism, Ap.-Jun. Social Functions U.S. Govt. iv, 6, Jul.-Au. Contemp. Soc, Jul.-Au.]
[Sem. Probs. in Social Teleology. ii, 36, O.-Jun.]
Social Dynamics. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
[Historical Sociology. iv, 12, Ja.- Mar.]
[Outlines of Constructive Social Philos. Philos. of Society. iv, 12, O.-D. The Social Problem. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar. Philos. of State and Govt. iv, 12, Ap.-S.]
[Seminar. Problems of Social Dynamics. ii, 36, O.-Jun.]
Seminar. Problems in Methodology and Classification. ii, 36, O.-Jun.
[Am. Experience with State Control of Social Action. iv, Ja.-Mar.]
Controlling Ideas of Modern Society. iv, 12. Ap.-Jun., and iv, 6, Jul.-Au.
[Some Pending Problems in Sociology. iv, 6, Jul.-Au.]
[The Sociological Method of Stating the Social Problem and of Arranging Evidence, Applied to a Selected Hist. Period. iv, 6, Jul.-Au.]
[Comparative Study of Social Forces in Am. and French Democracy. iv, 6, O.-D.]

 

C. R. Henderson, Assoc. Prof. of Sociol.
A.B., Old Univ. of Chicago, ’70, and A.M., ‘73; D.B. Baptist Union Theol. Sem., ’73; D.D., same, ’83;
Assist. Prof. Sociol., Chicago, ’92-4.

Methods of Social Amelioration. Sem. ii, 36, O.-Jun.
[The Domestic Inst. iv, 12, O.-D.]
Associations for Sociability and Culture. iv, 12, O.-D.
[Social Reform. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.]
[Beneficent Forces of Cities. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.]
Social Inst. of Organized Christianity. iv, 12, O.-D.
Social Treatment of Crime. iv, 6, Au.-S.
[Bibl. and Eccles. Social Theories. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.]
[Field Work in Local Institutions of Charity and Correction. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.]
The Family.* iv, 12, O.-D.
The Labor Movement.* iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Amelioration of Rural Life. iv, 6, Jul.-Au.
Modern Cities. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Contemporary Charities. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Philanthropy. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.

 

Marion Talbot, Assoc. Prof. of Sanitary Science.
A.B., Boston Univ.’80, and A.M., ’82; B.S., Mass. Inst. of Technology, ’88;
Instr. Domestic Science, Wellesley, ’90-2.

General Hygiene.* iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Seminar. Sanitary Science.* iv, 36, O.-Jun.
House Sanitation.* iv, 12, O.-D.
Economy of Living. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Sanitary Aspects of Water, Food, and Clothing. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.

 

Charles Zueblin, Assoc. Prof. of Sociol.
Ph.B., Northwestern, ’87; D.B., Yale, ’89.

Social Philos. of Eng. People in the Victorian Era. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun. and Jul.-S.
Structure of Eng. Society.* iv, 12, Ap.-Jun. and Jul.-S.

 

G. E. Vincent, Asst. Prof. of Sociology.
A.B., Yale, ’85; Ph.D., Chicago, ’96;
Vice-Principal, Chautauqua System, ‘88-pr; Fellow in Sociology, Chicago, ’92-4.

Course in Statistics.
[Province of Sociol. iv, 12, O.-D.]
[Social Structure. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.]
The Social Mind and Education. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Contemporary Society in the U. S.* iv, 12, O.-D.
Am. City Life.* iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Introd. to Study of Society.* iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Introd. to Sociology,* iv, 12, O.-D.
The Theory of the Social Mind. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.

 

W. I. Thomas, Asst. Prof. of Sociol.

A.B., Univ. of Tenn., ’84; A.M., ’85; Ph.D., Chicago, ’96;
Prof. of English, Oberlin, ’89—’93; Fellow in Sociol., Chicago, ’93-4; Instr. in Folk-psychology, Chicago, ’95-6.

Folk-psychol. iv, 12, O.-D., and Ap.-Jun.
[Primitive Social Control. iv, 12, O.-D. Seminar.]
[Art and Amusement in Folk-psychol. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar. Sex. Ap.-Jun.]
[Analogy and Suggestion in Folk-psychol. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar. The Child. Ap.-Jun.]
[Intro. to Study of Soc.* iv, 12, Jul.-S.]
Ethnological Æsthetic. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
The Primitive Social Mind. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
Sex in Folk-psychology. iv, 12, Ja.-Mar.
[Hungarian and South Slavonian Ethnology and Folk-psychol. iv, 12, O.-D.]
Primitive Social Control. iv, 12, O.-D.

 

Lester F. Ward, Professorial Lecturer in Sociol., Smithsonian Institution.
A.B., Columbia, ‘69; LL.B., same, ‘71; A.M., ’73; LL.D., ’97.

Dynamic Sociology. iv, 4, Au.-S.
Social Mechanics. vi, 4, Au.-S.

 

Henry W. Thurston, Instr. in Econ. and Civics, Hyde Park High School.
A.B., Dartmouth, ’86.

A Method of Applying Sociological Pedagogy to the Teaching of Economics in Secondary Schools. iv, 6, Jul.-Au.

 

Frederick Starr, Assoc. Prof. of Anthropology.
S.B., Lafayette, ‘82; S.M. and Ph.D., ’85;
Prof. Biological Sciences, Coe Col., ‘84-8; in charge Dept. Ethnology, Am. Mus. of Natural Hist., ‘89-’91.

Lab. Work in Anthropology. iv, 36, O.-Jun.
Physical Anthropol. Lab. iv, 36, O.-Jun.
[Physical Anthropol. iv, 12, O.-D.]
Mexico Archaeology, Ethnology. iv, 12, Jul.-S.
General Anthropol.* iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.
Ethnology American Race. iv, 12, Jul.-S.
Prehistoric Archaeology. American. iv, 12, O.-D.
[Field Work in Anthropol. Mexico. Jul.-S.]
Prehistoric Archaeol. European. iv, 12, O.-D.
General Ethnology.* v, 12, Jul.-S.
General Anthropology.* iv, 6, Jul.-Au.
Ethnology American Race. iv, 6, O.-N.
Mexico. Archaeology, Ethnology. iv, 6, Au.-S.
[Comparative Technology. iv, 36, O.-Jun.]

 

Merton Leland Miller, Lecturer in Anthropology.

A.B., Colby Univ., ’90; Ph.D., Chicago. ’97.
Instr. Eureka Acad., ’92; Grad. Stud. at Chicago, ’92-7; Asst. In Anthropol. Mus., ‘94-7;

The Peoples of Europe. iv, 6. O.-N.
Physical Anthropology. Laboratory Work. iv, 36, O.-Jun.

 

J. H. Breasted, Asst. Prof. of Egyptology and Semitic Langs.; Asst. Dir. of Haskell Museum.
A.B., Northwestern, ’88;A.M., Yale, ‘92; A.M. and Ph.D., Berlin, ’94;
non-res. Fellow, Chicago, ’92-4; Asst. in Egyptology.

Chicago-Egyptian Life and Antiquities. iv, 12, Ap.-Jun.

 

C. H. Hastings.
A.B., Bowdoin, ’91.

Bibliography of Sociology. iv, 6, Au.-S.

 

 

COLUMBIA.

63 Graduate Students, 1897-8.
[All graduate courses under 10 open to Barnard Graduate Students.]

 

Richmond Mayo-Smith, Prof. of Pol. Econ. and Social Science.
Ph.D. (hon.), Amherst.

Pol. Econ. (el).* iii, 14, F.-Jun. (With Mr. Day.)
Pract. Pol. Econ:
(a) Problems of Mod. Industry. iii, 16, O.-F.
(b) Problems of Exchange. iii, 14, F.-Jun.
(c) Problems of Distribution. iii, 14, F.-Jun
(d) Readings in Marshall’s “Prin. of Econ.” i, 30.
Statistics and Sociology. ii, 16, O.-F.
Statistics and Economics. ii, 14, F.- Jun.
Theory, Technique, and Hist. of Statis. Sci. ii, 14, F.-Jun.
Seminar. Statistics. i, 30.
Seminar. Pract. Econ. i, 30.

 

Edwin R. A. Seligman, Prof. of Pol. Econ. and Finance.
LL.B., Ph.D., Columbia, ’84.

Econ. Hist. of Europe and America. ii, 16, O.-F. (With Mr. Day.)
Sci. of Finance. ii, 30.
Fiscal and Indus. Hist. of U. S. ii, 16, O.-F.
Hist. of Economics. ii, 30.
Railroad Problems. ii, 14, F.-Jun.
[Hist. of Pol. Econ. ii, 30.]
Seminar. Pol. Econ. and Finance. i, 30.

 

John B. Clark, Prof. of Pol. Econ.
Ph.D., Amherst, ’75;
Prof. Hist. and Pol. Econ., Carleton, ’77-’82; Prof. of same, Smith, ’82-’93; Lect. Johns Hopkins, ‘92-5; Prof. Pol. Econ., Amherst, ’92-5.

Econ. Theory. Statics. ii, 16, O.-F.
Dynamics. ii, 14, F.-Jun.
Communistic and Socialistic Theories. ii, 16, O.-F.
Theories of Social Reform. ii, 14. F.-Jun.
Seminar. Pol. Econ. i, 30.

 

Franklin H. Giddings, Prof. of Sociology.
A.M., Union.

General Sociology. ii, 16, O.-F.
Progress and Democracy. ii, 14, F.-Jun.
Pauperism, Poor Laws, and Charities. ii, 16, O.-F.
Crime and Penology ii, 14, F.-Jun.
Seminar. Sociology. i, 30.

 

William Z. Ripley, Lect. on Anthropology.
B.S., Mass. Inst. of Tech , ’90; A.M., Columbia, ’92; Ph.D., Columbia, ’93;
Assoc. Prof. Pol. Econ. and Sociol., Mass. Inst. of Tech., 94-7; Lect., Hartford School of Sociology, ’95-6.

Physical Geog. Anthropol. and Ethnology. ii, 16, O.-F.

 

Livingston Farrand, Instr. in Physiolog. Psychol.
A.M., Princeton, ’91; M.D., Columbia, ’91.

General Anthropology. ii, 14, F.-Jun.
Anthropology. Primitive Culture. ii, 30.

 

Franz Boaz, Inst. in Anthropol.
Ph.D., Kiehl, ’81.

Phys. Anthropol. ii, 30.
Applica. of Statistical Methods to Biolog. Problems (adv). iii, 30.
North Am. Langs. Seminar. ii, 30.

 

George J. Bayles.
Ph.D., Columbia, ’95.

Civil Aspects of Ecclesiastical Organizations. i, 30.

 

 

CORNELL.
14 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

J. W. Jenks, Prof. of Pol. Econ. and Civil and Social Instit.
A.B., Michigan, ’78, and A.M., ’79; Ph.D., Halle, ’85;
Prof. Pol. Econ., Knox, and Indiana State Univ.; Prof. of Polit., Municipal, and Social Institutions, ’91-2.

Economic Legislation.* ii, 32.
Economics and Politics.*

 

Charles H. Hull, Asst. Prof. of Pol. Econ.
Ph.B.. Cornell, ’86; Ph.B., Halle, ’92;
Instr. in Pol. and Sociol. Institutions, Cornell. ’92-3.

Money, Credit, and Banking*. iii, 32.
Railroad Transportation.* iii, 9, Ap.- Jun.
Finance, Taxation, Admin.* Public Debts. ii, 32.
Recent Econ. Theory. Am., Eng., Continental.* ii, 32.
Earlier Econ. Theory (Prior to J. S. Mill).* ii, 32.
Economic and Commercial Geography. ii, 23, O.-Mar.
Seminary. ii. 32.

 

Chas. J. Bullock, Instr. in Economics.
A.B., Boston, ’89; Ph.D., Wisconsin, ’95.

Industrial Hist., Eng. and Am.* ii, 32.
Internat. Trade and Tariff Hist. U. S.* ii, 32.
Labor Question.* ii, 12, S.-D.
Hist. Trades Unions.* ii, ll, Ja.-Mar.
Socialism.* ii, 9, Ap.-Jun.

 

Walter F. Willcox, Prof. of Social Science and Statistics.
A.B., Amherst; Ph.D., Columbia;
Instr. in Philos., Cornell, ’91-2; Asst. Prof. Social Science and Pol. Econ., ’92-4.

Social Science (el).* ii, 32.
Social Statistics.* ii, 32.
[Theoretical Social Science (adv).* ii, 32.]
Practical Social Science (adv).* ii, 32.
[Anthropology.* ii, 32.]
Philos. and Pol. Econ.* ii, 32.
Seminary. ii, 32.

 

Wm. E. Baldwin, Pres. Long Island R. R.
A.B., Harvard, ’85.

Pract. Railroad Management. Lects. i-ii, Ja.-Mar.

 

Charlton T. Lewis, Counsel Mutual Life Ins. Co.

Principles of Insurance. Lects. i, 15,
—?

B. F. Fernow, Director of Col. of Forestry.
Grad. State Col. of Forestry, Münden, Prussia;
Chief of Dir. of Forestry, U. S. Dept. of Agric, ’86-’92, LL.D., Wisconsin.

Forestry: Econ and Pol. Aspects. ii, 21, Ja.-Jun.

 

 

HARVARD.
21 Graduate Students, 1897-8.
(Courses marked [R] are open to Radcliffe Graduate Students.)

Fel. in Pol. Econ., $450; in Soc. Sci., $500; in Archaeol. and Ethnol., $500 and $1,050, and Schol. of $200. Prize of $150 for Essay in Pol. Sci., two of $100 each for essays on social questions. Peabody Mus., Am. Archaeol., and Ethnol., with Lib., is intended for research.

 

Charles F. Dunbar, Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Harv., ’51; LL.D., same, ’91.

Financial Legislation of U. S.* ii, 15, F.-Jun.
[Financial Admin. and Pub. Debts. iii, 15, F.-Jun.]
Money and Banking. v, 15, O.-Ja.
Seminary. Economics. i, 30. (With Prof. Taussig and Asst. Prof. Cummings.)

 

Frank W. Taussig, Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Harv., ’79; Ph.D., ’83, and LL.B., ’86.

Econ. Theory in the 19th Cent.* iii, 30. (With Prof. MacVane.)
[Theory and Methods of Taxation. Special ref. to U. S. Local Taxation.* ii-iii, 15, O.-Ja.]
Scope and Method of Economic Theory and Investigation.* ii-iii, 30.

 

William J. Ashley, Prof. of Econ. Hist.
A.B., Oxford, ’81, and A.M., ’85; Fel., Lincoln Col., and Lect. on Hist., Lincoln and Corpus Christi Col., Oxford, ’85-8; Prof. Pol. Econ. and Const. Hist., Toronto, ’88-, ‘92.

[Mediaeval Economic Hist. of Europe.* ii-iii, 30.]
[Hist. and Lit. of Economics to close of 18th Cent.* ii-iii, 30.]

 

Edward Cummings, Asst. Prof. of Sociology.
A.B., Harv., ’83; A.M., same, ’85.

Princ. of Sociology. Devel. of Modern State.* ii-iii, 30.
Socialism and Communism.* ii-iii, 30.
Labor Question in Europe and U. S.* iii, 30. (With Dr. John Cummings.)

 

John Cummings, Instr. in Pol. Econ.
A.B., Harv., 91; Ph.D., Chicago, ’94.

Theory and Methods of Statistics*. iii, 30.

 

H. R. Meyer, Instr. in Pol. Econ.
A.B., Harv. ’92; A.M., ’94.

Public Works, Railways, etc., under Corporate and Pub. Management.* iii, 15, F.-Jun.

 

G. S. Callender, Instr. in Pol. Econ.
A.B., Oberlin Col., ’91; A.B., Harv., ’93; A.M., ’94; Ph.D., ’97.

Economic Hist. of the U. S.*
Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th Cents.* ii-iii, 15, F.-Jun.
Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects.* ii-iii, 15, F.-Jun.

 

Francis G. Peabody, Prof. of Christian Morals.
A.B., Harv., ’69; A.M. and S.T.B., ’72; S.T.D., Yale, ‘87.

[Ethics of Social Questions.* iii, 30. (With Dr. Rand.)]
[Sociolog. Sem. Christian Doct. of the Social Order. ii, 30.]

 

Frederick W. Putnam, Prof, of Archaeology and Ethnology, and Curator of Peabody Museum.
A.M. (hon,), Williams, ’68; S.D.(hon.), Univ. of Pa., ’94;
Curator Dept. Anthropol., Am. Mus., Central Park, N. Y.

Primitive Religion. iii, 30. (With Mr. Dixon.)

[R] Am. Archaeol. and Ethnol. Research.

 

F. Russell, Asst. in Anthropology.
S.B., Univ., of Iowa, ’92, and S.M., ’95; Asst., same, ’94-5.

Gen. Anthropology, Archaeology, Ethnology.* iii, 30. (With an Asst.)
[R] Somatology. iii, 15, F.-Jun.
[R] Somatology (adv). Research—?

 

 

JOHNS HOPKINS.
9 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

Sidney Sherwood, Assoc. Prof. of Pol. Econ.
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’91.

Legal Aspects of Economics. ii, 15, O.-F.
Corporations and Economics. ii, 15, F.-My.
Econ. Conference. ii, 30.
Economic Theory. ii. 30.
Economics (adv).* ii, 15, O.-F.

 

Jacob H. Hollander, Assoc. in Economics.
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’94.

Development of Economic Theories. ii, 15, O.-F.
Financial Hist. of U. S. ii, 15, F.-My.
Economics (adv)*. ii, 15, F.-My.
Current Congressional Happenings.* i, 30.

 

 

LELAND STANFORD, JR.
2 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

Hopkins Railway Library, about 10,000 vols.; Transportation, Railway History, Economics, and Law.

 

Amos G. Warner, Prof, of Applied Economics.
B.L., Nebraska, ’85; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’88;
Prof,of Pol. Econ., Nebraska, ’87-’91.

[Corporate Industry.* iii, 15, S.-D.]
[Personal Economics.* ii, 15, S.-D.]
Seminary. (With Ross and Durand.) ii, 32.

 

Edward A. Ross, Prof. of Sociology.
A.B., Coe Col., ’86; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’91;
Prof. of Econ. and Social Science, Indiana, ’91-2; Assoc. Prof. of Pol. Econ, and Finance, Cornell, ’92-3.

[Economic Theory (adv). ii, 15, S.- D.]
[Sociology.* iii, 32.]

 

Mary R. Smith, Asst. Prof. of Social Sci.
Ph.B., Cornell, ’80, and M.S., ’82; Ph.D., Stanford, ‘96;
Instr. in Hist. and Econ., Wellesley, ’86- ’90.

[Statistics and Sociology.* iii, 17, Ja.-My.]

 

Edward D. Durand, Asst. Prof. of Finance and Administration.
A.B., Oberlin, ’93; Ph.D., Cornell, ’96;
Legislative Librarian, N. Y. State Library, ’96-7; Student, Berlin, ’97.

Practical Economic Questions.* iii, 17, Ja.-My.

 

 

MICHIGAN.
10 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

Henry C. Adams, Prof, of Pol. Econ. and Finance.
A.B., Iowa Col., ’74; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’78;
Lect., Johns Hopkins, and Cornell; Statistician to Interstate Commerce Commission: Special Expert Agent on Transportation, 11th Cens.; Director of Economics, School of Applied Ethics.

[Devel. and Significance of Eng. Pol. Econ. iii, 6, O.-N.]
Devel. and Significance of Hist. School of Econ. iii, 6, O.-N.
[Devel. and Significance of Austrian School of Econ. iii, 6, O.-N.]
Relations of the State to Industrial Action. iii, 6, F.-Mar.
[Labor Organizations and Corporations as Factors in Industrial Organization. iii, 6, F.-Mar.]
History of Industrial Society.* ii, 17, O.-F.
Transportation Problems. iii, 17, F.- Jun.
Sem. Economics. ii, 17, O.-F.

 

F. M. Taylor, Junior Prof. of Pol. Econ. and Finance.
A.B., Northwestern, ’76, and A.M., ‘79; Ph.D., Mich., ’88;
Prof. of Hist. and Politics, Albion, ’79-’92.

Hist. and Theory of Money and Banking.* ii, 17. O.-F.
Hist. of Pol. Econ. ii, 17, F.-Jun.
Principles of Finance.* ii, 17, F.-Jun.
Sem. Economics. ii, 17, F.-Jun.
Socialism.* ii, 17; F.-Jun.
[The Value of Money, Theory, and Statistics. iii, 6, O.-N.]
[The Standard of Value. iii, 6, N.-D.]
Paper Money. iii, 6, O.-N.
[Social Philos., with spec. ref. to Econ. Probs. iii, 6, F.-Mar.]
[Credit as a factor in Production. iii, 6, Mar.-Ap.]
The Agricult. Problem. iii, 6, Mar.-Ap.

 

C. H. Cooley, Instr. in Sociology.
A.B., Mich., ’87; Ph.D., same, ’94.

Principles of Sociology.* iii, 17, O.-F. Problems, F.-Jun.
Sociology (adv).* ii, 17, F.-Jun.
Histor. Devel. of Sociolog. Thought. iii, 6, Ja.-F.
Nature and Process of Social Change. iii, 6, My.-Jun.
[Aims and Methods in Study of Society. iii, 6, Ja.-F.]
Social Psychology. iii, 6, My.-Jun.
[Current Changes in Social Organization of U. S. iii, 6, My.-Jun.]
[Theory of Population. iii, 6, Ja.-F.]
Theory of Statistics.* i, 34.
Special Studies in Statistics.* ii, 17, F.-Jun.

 

 

MINNESOTA.
26 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

William W. Folwell, Prof. of Pol. Science.
A.B.,Hobart, ’57; A.M., ’60; LL.D., ’80;
Prof. Math., Hobart, ’59-’61; Prof. Math. and Engineering, Kenyon Col., ‘69; Pres., Univ. of Minn., ’69-’84.

Pol. Sci. Sem. i, 36.
Individual Research. ii, 36.

 

Frank L. McVey, Instr. in Economics.
A.B., Ohio Wesleyan, ‘93; Ph.D., Yale, ‘95;
Instr. in Hist. Teachers’ College, N. Y., ’96.

Comparative Econ. Doctrine. ii, 36.
Economics.* iv, 13, S.-N.
Modern Industrialism.* iv, 12, Mar.-Jun.

 

Samuel G. Smith, Lecturer on Sociology.
A.B., Cornell Col., ’72; A.M.. and Ph.D., Syracuse, ’84; D.D., Upper Iowa Univ., ’86.

Social Sci.* iii, 12, Mar.-Jun.
Indiv. Research. i, 36.

 

 

MISSOURI.
3 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

F. C. Hicks, Prof, of Hist. and of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Univ. of Mich., ’86; Ph.D., same, ’90.

Economic History.* iii, 36.
Problems in Economics.* iii, 36.
Modern Financial Systems.* ii, 36.
Seminar. ii, 36

 

 

NEW YORK.
21 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

Frank M. Colby, Prof. of Economics.
A.B., Columbia, ’88, and A.M., ’89.

Practical Economics. ii, 24.
Economic Theory. ii, 24.
Hist. of Indust. Devel. ii, 30.

 

I. F. Russell, Prof. of Sociology, and of Law in N. Y. U. Law School.

A.M., N. Y. U., ‘78; LL.M., Yale, ‘79; D.C.L., Yale, ‘80; LL.D., Dickinson, ‘93;
Prof. Econ., and Const. Law, N. Y. U., ’80-’93.

[Intro. to Sociology. ii, 30.]
Principles of Sociology. ii, 30.

 

 

NORTHWESTERN.
6 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

John H. Gray, Prof. of Political and Social Science.
A.B., Harv., ‘87; Ph.D., Halle, ‘92;
Instr. in Econ., Harv., ’87-9.

Administration. ii, 36.
[Finance.* ii, 36.]
Seminary.* ii, 36.

 

William Caldwell, Prof. of Moral and Social Philosophy.
A.M., Pass Degree, Edinburgh, ’84; A.M., and Honors of First Class, same, ’86;
Asst. Prof. of Philos., same, ’88-’90; Instr., Cornell, ’90-1; Instr., Chicago, ’92-4; Fellow, Edinburgh, ’86-’93, and Sc.D., ’93.

Seminary. Ethical Philos.* ii, 36.
Seminary. Sociology.* iii, 36.

 

 

PENNSYLVANIA.
12 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

Colwell Lib. of Pol. Econ., 7,000 vols. Carey Lib., valuable for economic history, including 3,000 Eng. pams. 1 Fel. $500 + tui; 1 Schol. in Hist. and Economics, $100 + tui.

 

Simon N. Patten, Prof. of Pol. Econ.
Ph.D., Halle.

Hist. of Pol. Econ. ii, 15, O.-F.
Recent Devel. of Pol. Econ. ii, 15, F.-My.
Relat. of Eng. Philos. to Econ. in 18th Cent. ii, 15, O.-F.
[Scope and Method of Pol. Econ. ii, 15, F.-My.]
[Pract. Applications of Econ. Theory. ii, 12, O.-F.]
Problems of Sociol. ii, 15, F.-My.
Special Topics. ii, 30.

 

Henry R. Seager, Asst. Prof. of Pol. Econ.
Ph.B., Mich., ‘90; Ph.D.. Univ. of Pa., ’94;
Instr. in Pol. Econ., same, ’94-6.

Econ. Conference. ii, 30.
Adv. Reading in Ger. and Fr. Economics. ii, 30.
Eng. Indust. Hist. and Devel. of Econ. Theory, 1750-1870. ii, 15, F.-My.

 

Emory R. Johnson, Asst. Prof. of Transportation and Commerce.
B.L., Univ. of Wis., ‘88; M.L., same, ’91; Fel. in Econ., Univ. of Pa., ’92-3; Ph.D., same, ‘93;
Lect. on Transporta., same, ’93-4; Instr., same, ’94-6; Instr. in Econ., Haverford, ’93-6.

Theory of Transportation. i, 30.
[Am. Railway Transportation. ii, 30. ]
Transportation Systems of the United Kingdom and Germany. i, 30.
Hist. of Commerce since 1500. 1, 30.

 

Roland P. Falkner, Assoc. Prof. of Statistics.
Ph.B., Univ. of Pa.. ’85; Ph.D., Halle, ‘88;
Instr. in Statistics, ’88-’91.

Intro. to Statistics. ii, 15, O.-F.
Statistics of Econ. Problems. ii, 15, F.-My.
Hist. and Theory of Statistics. ii, 15, O.-F.
Statistical Organization. ii, 15, F.-My.

 

Samuel McC. Lindsay, Asst. Prof. of Sociol.
Ph.B., Univ. of Pa., ’89; Ph.D., Halle, ’92.

Theory of Sociol. (2 yr. course). ii, 30.
Social-Debtor Classes. ii, 30.
Sociol. Field Work. ii, 30.
Seminary. ii, 30.

 

 

PRINCETON.
5 Graduate Students, 1887-8.
1 Fellowship, $500.

 

Winthrop M. Daniels, Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Princeton, ’88, and A.M., ’90;
Instr. Wesleyan, ’91-2.

Public Finance.* ii, 18, S.-Ja.
Hist. of Pol. Econ.* ii, 18, F.-My.

 

W. A. Wyckoff, Lect. on Sociology.
A.B., Princeton, ’88, and A.M., ’91.

Sociology.* ii, 18, F.-My.

 

 

RADCLIFFE.
4 Graduate Students, 1897-8.
[See Harvard Courses marked “[R]”.]

Seminary in Econ. (With Prof. Taussig and Asst. Prof. Cummings.)

 

W. J. Ashley.

[Med. Econ. Hist. of Europe.* iii,30.]

 

Dr. Cunningham, Trinity Col., Cam. Eng.

Industrial Revolution in Eng. in 18th and 19th Cents.* iii, 15, F.-Jun.

 

G. S. Callender.

Econ. Hist. of U. S.*

 

Edward Cummings.

Princ. of Sociol.* iii, 30.

 

Edward Cummings and John Cummings.

Soc. and Econ. Conditions of Workingmen.* iii, 30.

 

John Cummings.

Statistics, Theory, Methods, Practice.*

(Of last three courses, two only will be given in 1898-9.)

 

F. Russell.

Gen. Anthropol.* —?

 

 

VANDERBILT.
2 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

Frederick W. Moore, Adj. Prof. of Hist. and Econ.
A.B., Yale, ’86, and Ph.D., ’90

 

Chas. F. Emerick, Asst. in Economics.
A.B., Wittenberg, ’89; Ph.M., Mich., ’95; Ph.D., Columbia, ’97.

Theory of Pol. Econ. Growth of Corporate Industry. iii, 32.
A Study of Socialism.* iii, 16.

 

 

WELLESLEY.
o Graduate Students, 1897-8.

 

Katharine Coman, Prof. of Hist. and Pol. Econ.
Ph.B., Mich., ’80.

Indust. Hist. of U. S.* iii, 17, F.-Jun.
[Indust. Hist. of Eng.* iii, 17, S.-Ja.]
Statistical Study of Problems in the U.S. iii, 17, S.-Ja.

 

Emily Greene Balch, Instr. in Economics.
A.B., Bryn Mawr.

Socialism.* iii, 17, F.-Jun.
Evolution and Present Conditions of Wage Labor.* iii, 17, S.-Ja.
Social Economics.* iii, 17, S.-Ja.; also F.-Jun.

 

 

WESTERN RESERVE.
4 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

S. F. Weston, Assoc. Prof. of Pol. and Soc. Sci.
A.B., Antioch, ’79, and A.M., ’85; Asst. in Economics, Columbia, ’92-4.

Social Theories.* iii, 17, F.-Jun.
Pauperism and Charities.* iii, 17, F.-Jun.
Money and Banking.* iii, 17, F.-Jun.
U.S. Tariff and Revenue System. iii, 17, F.-Jun.
Economic History of England.* iii, 16, S.-Ja.
Economic History of United States.* iii, 16, S.-Ja.
The State.* iii, 16, S.-Ja.
Civil Government.* iii, 16, S.-Ja.
Social Problems.* iii, 17, F.-Jun.
Economic Theories. iii, 36.

 

 

WISCONSIN.
24 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

Location at State capital gives special facilities for studying the State’s activities and methods of administration. Field work in charitable and correctional institutions in Madison and Chicago. Opportunity for continuous practical work during summer months.

 

Richard T. Ely, Prof. of Pol. Econ. and Director of the Sch. of Econ., Pol. Science and Hist.
A.B., Columbia, ’76; Ph.D., Heidelberg, ‘79; LL.D., Hobart, ’92;
Chair of Pol. Econ., Johns Hopkins, ’81-’92.

Distribution of Wealth. iii, 72, S.-Jun. (This course is to run through ’98- ’99, and ’99-1900.)
Public Finance. iii, 18, S.-F.
Taxation and Am. Public Finance. iii, 18, F.-Jun.
[Social Ethics. ii, 18, S.-F.]
[Socialism. ii, 18, S.-F.
Economic Seminary. Recent Devel. of Econ. Theory. ii, 36. (With Prof. Scott and Dr. Jones.)

 

William A. Scott, Prof. of Econ. Hist. and Theory.
A.B., Rochester, ‘86; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, ’92.
Prof. Hist. and Pol. Econ., Univ. So. Dak., ’87-’90; Instr. in Hist., Johns Hopkins, ’91-2;

[Theories of Value. ii, 18, S.-F.]
Theories of Rent, Wages, Profits, and Interest. ii, 36, S.-F.
[Theories of Production and Consumption. ii, 18, F.-Jun.]
Classical Economists. iii, 18, F.-Jun.

 

Edward D. Jones, Instr. in Econ. and Statistics.
B.S., Ohio Wesleyan Univ., ’92; Halle and Berlin, ’93-4; Ph.D., Univ. of Wisconsin, ’95.

Economic Geography. ii, 18, S.-F.
Statistics. iii, 18, F.-Jun.
Charity and Crime. iii, 18, S.-F.

 

Balthasar H. Meyer, Instr. in Sociol. and Transportation.
B.L., Univ. of Wis., ’94; Berlin, ’94-5; Fel. Univ. of Wis., ’95-7; Ph.D., Univ. of Wis., ’97.

Elements of Sociology.* iii, 18, S.-F.
Psychological Sociologists.* ii, 18, S.-F.
Modern Sociological Thought. iii, 18, F.-Jun.
Transportation. ii, 18, F.-Jun.

 

Frank C. Sharp, Asst. Prof. of Philos.
A.B., Amherst, ’87; Ph.D., Berlin, ’92.

Social Ethics. ii, 18, F.-Jun.
Readings in Ger. Social Philos. ii, 18, S.-F.

 

 

YALE.
43 Graduate Students, 1897-8.

Pol. Science Club meets fortnightly. Club Room with Library for Graduate Students.

 

W. G. Sumner, Prof. of Pol. and Soc. Sci.
A.B., Yale, ’63; LL.D., Tenn., ’84.

Anthropology. ii, 32.
Systematic Societology. ii, 32.
[Indust. Rev. Renaissance Period. ii,32.]
[Begin. of Indust. Organization. ii,32.]
Science of Society.* (German.) ii, 32.

 

H. W. Farnam, Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Yale, ’74; R.P.D., Strassburg, ’78.

[Pauperism. ii, O.-D.]
Modern Organiza. of Labor. ii, 20, Ja.-Jun.]
Princs. Pub. Finance. ii, 32.

 

A. T. Hadley, Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B., Yale, 76, and A.M., ’87.

Econ. Problems of Corporations. i, 32.
Relat. between Econ. and Ethics. ii, 32.
Railroad Transportation.* ii, 32.

 

A. T. Hadley and Irving Fisher.

Economics (gen. course).* iii, 32.

 

W. F. Blackman, Prof. of Christian Ethics.
A.B., Oberlin, ’77; D.B., Yale, ’80; Ph.D., Cornell, ’93.

Social Science. ii, 32.
Lit. of Social. ii, 12, O.-D.
Soc. Study of Family. i, 12, O.-D.
Soc. Teach. and Influence of Christianity. i, 32.

 

J. C. Schwab, Asst. Prof. of Pol. Science.
A.B., Yale, ’86, and A.M., ’88; Ph. D., Göttingen, ’89.

Finance. ii, 32.
U.S. Indust. Hist. ii, 32.
U.S. Financial Hist. i, 32.
Finances of Confed. States, 1861-65. i, 32.

 

Irving Fisher, Asst. Prof. of Pol. Econ.
A.B. Yale, ’88, and Ph.D., ’91.

Principles of Economics (adv). ii, 32.
Statistics. ii, 20, Ja.-Jun.
Vital Statistics and Life Insurance. ii, 12, O.-D.

____________________

Source:  Graduate Courses 1898-99: A Handbook for Graduate Students. (6th edition). (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1899), pp. 80-90.

Categories
Courses Curriculum Economists Harvard Regulations

Harvard Economics. Courses, Degree Requirements 1897-98

For a Ph.D. in Political Science (that was awarded for government and economics) candidates to demonstrate a “good knowledge” in examination on seven subjects of twelve listed, only three of which economics. Only sections directly bearing on economics included here. Entire document can be downloaded here.

_________________________

Harvard University

FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
COMPRISING THE DEPARTMENTS OF HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT[,]
AND ECONOMICS

1897-98

[p. 2]

DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.

The Division of History and Political Science is one of the twelve Divisions of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It comprises the departments of History and Government, and Economics. The administrative officers of the Division and Departments are : —

Professor F. W. Taussig, Chairman of the Division, 2 Scott St.

Professor Charles Gross, Chairman of the Department of History and Government, 11 Putnam Ave.

 Professor W. J. Ashley, Chairman of the Department of Economics, 6 Acacia St.

 

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INSTRUCTORS.

History and Government.

James Bradley Thayer, LL.B., LL.D., Weld Professor of Law, 5 Phillips Place.

Ephraim Emerton, Ph.D., Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History, 19 Chauncy St.

Silas Marcus Macvane, Ph.D., McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History, 34 Kirkland St,

Abbot Lawrence Lowell, A.B., LL.B., Lecturer on Existing Political Systems, 709 Exchange Building, Boston.

Edward Channing, Ph.D., Professor of History, 1 Brewster St.

Charles Gross, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, and Chairman of the Department of History and Government, 11 Putnam Ave.

Albert Bushnell Hart, Ph.D., Professor of History, 15 Appian Way.

Joseph Henry Beale, Jr., A.M., LL.B., Professor of Law, 13 Chauncy St.

John Winthrop Platner, A.B., Assistant Professor of Ecclesiastical History, 14 Avon St.

Archibald Cary Coolidge, Ph.D., Instructor in History, 15 Ware Hall.

George Willis Botsford, Ph.D., Instructor in the History of Greece and Rome, 45 Walker St.

Frank Beverly Williams, A.M., Assistant Professor of Law, 29 Thayer Hall.

James Sullivan, Jr., A.M., Instructor in History and Palaeography .

 

[p. 4]

Economics.

 Charles Franklin Dunbar, LL.D., Professor of Political Economy, 64 Highland St.

Frank William Taussig, LL.B., Ph.D., Professor of Political Economy, and Chairman of the Division, 2 Scott St.

William James Ashley, A.M., Professor of Economic History, and Chairman of the Department of Economics, 6 Acacia St.

Edward Cummings, A.M., Assistant Professor of Sociology, Corner of Irving St. and Scott St.

John Cummings, Ph.D., Instructor in Political Economy, 7 Thayer Hall.

Hugo Richard Meyer, A.M., Instructor in Political Economy, 53 Weld Hall.

Guy Stevens Callender, A.M., Instructor in Political Economy.

 

ASSISTANTS.

Joseph Dana Allen, A.B., in History 1.

John Charles States Andrew, A.B., in History 1.

Sidney Bradshaw Fay, A.B., in History 1.

———— in History 10.

———— in History 12.

Henry Barrett Learned, A.M., in History 13.

Edward Henry Warren, A.M., in History 13.

Charles Edward Seaman, A.M., in Government 1 and 7.

Harry Augustus Bigelow, A.B., in Government 4.

Charles Sumner Griffin, A.M., in Economics 1.

Edward Henry Warren, A.M., in Economics 1.

———— in Economics 1.

———— in Economics 3 and 14.

 

[p. 5]

COURSES IN HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.

An asterisk (*) prefixed to the title of a course indicates that it can be taken only with the previous consent of the instructor.

The courses primarily for Graduates are also open to Undergraduates of adequate training. Whether taken by Graduates or Undergraduates, the instructor must first be consulted.

Knowledge of German will be of advantage in any of the courses; and ability to make use of French books will be assumed.

[…]

[p. 30]

ECONOMICS.

 

GENERAL STATEMENT.

Course 1 is introductory to the other courses. It is intended to give a general survey of the subject for those who take but one course in Economics, and also to prepare for the further study of the subject in advanced courses. It is usually taken with most profit by undergraduates in the second or third year of their college career. It may be taken with advantage in the second year by those who are attracted to political and social subjects. A knowledge of general history (such as is given in Course 1 in History) is a useful preparation.

The advanced courses divide themselves into two groups. The first group contains Courses 2, 3, 13, 14, 15, which are concerned chiefly with economic and social theory. Courses 2 and 15 follow the development of economic theory from its beginnings to the present time, with critical examination of the conclusions reached by economists of the past and the present. Course 13, on scope and method in economic investigation, continues the same subjects; it is taken to best advantage after either 2 or 15. Course 3 considers the wider aspects of economic and social study, and reviews the progress of sociological inquiry. Course 14 takes up the history and literature of socialistic and communistic proposals, and leads to a discussion of the foundations of existing institutions.

The second group contains the remaining courses, which are of a more descriptive and historical character. In all of them, however, attention is given to principles as well as to facts, and some acquaintance with the outlines of economic theory is called for.

Before taking any of the advanced courses, students are strongly advised to consult with the instructors. Courses 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 may not be taken without the previous consent of the instructors. It is advised that Course 1 be taken in all cases as a preparation for the advanced courses; and such students only as have passed satisfactorily in Course 1 will be admitted to Courses 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. But Courses 5, 7, and 9, may also be

[p. 31]

taken by Juniors and Seniors of good rank who are taking Course 1 at the same time; Course 6 is open to students who have taken or are taking cither History 13 or Economies 1; and Courses 10 and 11 are open to students who have passed satisfactorily either in History 1 or in Economics 1.

The Seminary in Economics is intended primarily for Graduate Students; but Seniors in Harvard College, who have had adequate training in the subject, may be admitted to it.

 

 

  1. Outlines of Economics. —Principles of Political Economy.— Lectures on Social Questions and Monetary Legislation. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor Taussig, Asst. Professor Edward Cummings, Dr. John Cummings, assisted by Messrs. Griffin, Warren, and ——.   (I)

Course 1 gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics sufficient for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It begins with a consideration of the principles of production, distribution, exchange, money, and international trade, which is continued through the first half-year. In the second half-year, some of the applications of economic principles and some wider aspects of economic study are taken up. Social questions and the relations of labor and capital, the theory and practice of banking, and the recent currency legislation of the United States, will be successively treated in outline.

Course 1 will be conducted mainly by lectures. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading. Large parts of Mill’s Principles of Political Economy will be read, as well as parts of other general books; while detailed references will be given for the reading on the application and illustration of economic principles.

 

 

[*10. The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. Tu., Th., (and at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Professor Ashley.]     (X)

Omitted in 1897-98.

The object of this course is to give a general view of the economic development of society during the Middle Ages. It will deal, among others, with the following topics: — the manorial system in its relation to mediaeval agriculture and serfdom ; the merchant gilds and the beginnings of town life and of trade ; the craft gild and the gild-system of

[p. 32]

industry, compared with earlier and later forms; the commercial supremacy of the Hanseatic and Italian merchants ; the trade routes of the Middle Ages and of the sixteenth century ; the merchant adventurers and the great trading companies ; the agrarian changes of the fifteenth nd sixteenth centuries and the break-up of the mediaeval organization of social classes ; the appearance of new manufactures and of the domestic industry.

Special attention will be devoted to England, but that country will be treated as illustrating the broader features of the economic evolution of the whole of western Europe; and attention will be called to the chief peculiarities of the economic history of France, Germany, and Italy.

Students will be introduced in this course to the use of the original sources, and they will need to be able to translate easy Latin.

It is desirable that they should already possess some general acquaintance with mediaeval history, and those who are deficient in this respect will be expected to read one or two supplementary books, to be suggested by the instructor. The course is conveniently taken after, before, or in conjunction with History 9; and it will be of especial use to those who intend to study the law of Real Property.

 

 

  1. The Modern Economic History of Europe and America (from 1500). Tu., Th., (and at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Professor Ashley. (X)

This course, — which will usually alternate with Course 10 in successive years, — while intended to form a sequel to Course 10, will nevertheless be independent, and may usefully be taken by those who have not followed the history of the earlier period. The main thread of connection will be found in the history of trade; but the outlines of the history of agriculture and industry will also be set forth, and the forms of social organization dependent upon them. England, as the first home of the “great industry,” will demand a large share of attention; but the parallel or divergent economic history of the United States, and of the great countries of western Europe, will be considered side by side with it.

 

 

  1. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructors. Mr. Callender. (XI)

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the formation of the Union to the present time, and considers also the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by the experience so surveyed. A review is made of the financial history of the United

 

[p. 33]

States, including Hamilton’s financial system, the second Bank of the United States and the banking systems of the period preceding the Civil War, coinage history, the finances of the Civil War, and the banking and currency history of the period since the Civil War. The history of manufacturing industries is taken up in connection with the course of international trade and of tariff legislation, the successive tariffs being followed and their economic effects considered. The land policy of the United States is examined partly in its relation to the growth of population and the inflow of immigrants, and partly in its relation to the history of transportation, including the movement for internal improvements, the beginnings of the railway system, the land grants and subsidies, and the successive bursts of activity in railway building. Comparison will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of European countries.

Written work will be required of all students, and a course of reading will be prescribed, and tested by examination. The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. While an acquaintance with economic principles is not indispensable, students are strongly advised to take the course after having taken Economics 1, or, if this be not easy to arrange, at the same time with that course.

 

 

*15. The History and Literature of Economics to the Close of the Eighteenth Century. Mon., Wed., (and at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12.     Professor Ashley. (IV)

The course of economic speculation will here be followed, in its relation alike to the general movement of contemporary thought and to contemporary social conditions. The lectures will consider the economic theories of Plato and Aristotle; the economic ideas underlying Roman law; the mediaeval church and the canonist doctrine; mercantilism in its diverse forms; “political arithmetic;” the origin of the belief in natural rights and its influence on economic thought; the physiocratic doctrine; the work and influence of Adam Smith; the doctrine of population as presented by Malthus; Say and the Erench school; and the beginnings of academic instruction in economics.

The lectures will be interrupted from time to time for the examination of selected portions of particular authors; and careful study will be given to portions of Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics (in translation) to Mun’s England’s Treasure, Locke’s Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, certain Essays of Hume, Turgot’s Réflexions, and specified chapters of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, and Malthus’ Essay. Students taking the course are expected to procure the texts of the chief authors considered, and to consult the following critical works:

[p. 34]

Ingram, History of Political Economy; Cossa, Introduction to the Study of Political Economy; Cannan, History of the Theories of Production and Distribution; Bonar, Philosophy and Political Economy; Bohm-Bawerk, Capital and Interest; Taussig, Wages and Capital.

 

 

*2. Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor Taussig.     (V)

Course 2 is designed to acquaint the student with the history of economic thought during the nineteenth century, and to give him at the same time training in the critical consideration of economic principles. The exercises are accordingly conducted mainly by the discussion of selected passages from the important writers; and in this discussion students are expected to take an active part. Lectures are given at intervals, tracing the general movement of economic thought and describing its literature. Special attention will be given to the theory of distribution.

The course opens with an examination of Ricardo’s doctrines, selections from Ricardo’s writings being read and discussed. These will then be compared with the appropriate chapters in Mill’s Principles of Political Economy, and further with passages in Cairnes’ Leading Principles. The theory of wages, and the related theory of business profits, will then be followed in the writings of F. A. Walker, Sidgwick, and Marshall, and a general survey made of the present stage of economic theory in England and the United States. The development on the continent of Europe will be traced chiefly in lectures; but toward the close of the year a critical examination will be made of the doctrines of the modern Austrian school.

Course 2 is taken with advantage in the next year after Course 1; but Course 15 may also be taken with advantage after Course 1, and then followed by Course 2, or taken contemporaneously with it.

 

 

*132 hf. Scope and Method in Economic Theory and Investigation. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11. Professor Ashley.     (III)

Course 13 will examine the methods by which the important writers, from Adam Smith to the present time, have approached economic questions, and the range which they have given their inquiries; and will consider the advantage of different methods, and the expediency of a wider or narrower scope of investigation. Mill’s essay on the Definition of Political Economy; Cairnes’ Logical Method of Political Economy; Keynes’ Scope and Method of Political Economy; certain sections of Wagner’s Grundlegung and Schmoller’s essay on Volkswirthschaft will be carefully examined. The conscious consideration of method by the later writers of the classic school and by their successors in England; the

[p. 35]

rise of the historical school and its influence; the mode in which contemporary writers approach the subject, — will he successively followed.

Course 13 is open to students who take or have taken Course 2 or Course 15. A fair reading knowledge of German as well as of French will be expected of students, and the opportunity will be taken to assist them to acquire facility in reading scientific German. Subjects will be assigned for investigation and report, and the results of such investigations will be presented for discussion.

 

 

*3. The Principles of Sociology. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.     (XIII)

Course 3 begins with a general survey of the structure and development of society; showing the changing elements of which a progressive society is composed, the forces which manifest themselves at different stages in the transition from primitive conditions to complex phases of civilized life, and the structural outlines upon which successive phases of social, political, and industrial organization proceed. Following this, is an examination of the historical aspects which this evolution has actually assumed: Primitive man, elementary forms of association, the various forms of family organization, and the contributions which family, clan and tribe have made to the constitution of more comprehensive ethnical and political groups ; the functions of the State, the circumstances which determine types of political association, the corresponding expansion of social consciousness, and the relative importance of military, economic, and ethical ideas at successive stages of civilization. Special attention is given to the attempts to formulate physical and psychological laws of social growth; to the relative importance of natural and of artificial selection in social development; the law of social survival; the dangers which threaten civilization; and the bearing of such general consideration upon the practical problems of vice, crime, poverty, pauperism, and upon mooted methods of social reform.

The student is thus acquainted with the main schools of sociological thought, and opportunity is given for a critical comparison of earlier phases of sociological theory with more recent contributions in Europe and the United States. Regular and systematic reading is essential. Topics are assigned for special investigation in connection with practical or theoretical aspects of the course.

 

 

*14. Socialism and Communism, — History and Literature. Tu., Th., and at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.     (VII)

Course 14 is primarily an historical and critical study of socialism and communism. It traces the history and significance of schemes for social

[p. 36]

reconstruction from the earliest times to the present day. It discusses the historical evidences of primitive communism, the forms assumed by private ownership at different stages of civilization, the bearing of these considerations upon the claims of modern socialism, and the outcome of experimental communities in which socialism and communism have actually been tried. Special attention, however, is devoted to the recent history of socialism, — the precursors and the followers of Marx and Lassalle, the economic and political programmes of socialistic parties in Germany, France, and other countries.

The primary object is in every case to trace the relation of historical evolution to these programmes; to discover how far they have modified history or found expression in the policy of parties or statesmen; how far they must be regarded simply as protests against existing phases of social evolution; and how far they may be said to embody a sane philosophy of social and political organization.

The criticism and analysis of these schemes gives opportunity for discussing from different points of view the ethical and historical value of social and political institutions, the relation of the State to the individual, the political and economic bearing of current socialistic theories.

The work is especially adapted to students who have had some introductory training in Ethics as well as in Economics. A systematic course of reading covers the authors discussed; and special topics for investigation may be assigned in connection with this reading.

 

 

  1. The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. — The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings and Dr. John Cummings.    (VIII)

Course 9 is a comparative study of the condition and environments of workingmen in the United States and European countries. It is chiefly concerned with problems growing out of the relations of labor and capital. There is careful study of the voluntarily organizations of labor, — trade unions, friendly societies, and the various forms of cooperation; of profit-sharing, sliding scales, and joint standing committees for the settlement of disputes ; of factory legislation, employers’ liability, the legal status of laborers and labor organizations, state courts of arbitration, and compulsory government insurance against the exigencies of sickness, accident, and old age. All these expedients, together with the phenomena of international migration, the questions of a shorter working day and convict labor, are discussed in the light of experience and of economic theory, with a view to determining the merits, defects, and possibilities of existing movements.

[p. 37]

The descriptive and theoretical aspects of the course are supplemented by statistical evidence in regard to wages, prices, standards of living, and the social condition of labor in different countries.

Topics will be assigned for special investigation, and students will be expected to participate in the discussion of selections from authors recommended for a systematic course of reading.

The course is open not only for students who have taken Course 1, but to Juniors and Seniors of good rank who are taking Course 1.

 

 

*4. Statistics. — Applications to Social and Economic Problems. — Studies in Movements of Population. — Theory and Method. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11. Dr. John Cummings.     (III)

This course deals with statistical methods used in the observation and analysis of social conditions, with the purpose of showing the relation of statistical studies to Economics and Sociology, and the scope of statistical inductions. It undertakes an examination of the views entertained by various writers regarding the theory and use of statistics, and an historical and descriptive examination of the practical methods of carrying out statistical investigations. The application of statistical methods is illustrated by studies in political, fiscal, and vital statistics, in the increase and migration of population, the growth of cities, the care of criminals and paupers, the accumulation of capital, and the production and distribution of wealth.

 

 

52 hf. Railways and other Public Works, under Government and Corporate management. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Mr. Meyer.     (XIV)

 

In this course it is proposed to review the history and working of different modes of dealing with railway transportation, and to deal summarily with other similar industries, such as the telegraph, street railways, water and gas supply. Consideration will be given to the economic characteristics of these industries, the theory and history of railway rates, the effects of railway service and railway charges on other industries, the causes and consequences of monopoly conditions. The history of legislation in the more important European countries will be followed, as well as the different modes in which they have undertaken the regulation and control of private corporations, or have assumed direct ownership, with or without management and operation. Some attention will be given also to the experience of the British colonies, and more especially of those in Australia. In the United States, there will be consideration of the growth of the great systems, the course of legislation by the federal government,

[p. 38]

the working of the Interstate Commerce Act, and the modes of regulation, through legislation and through Commissions, at the hands of the several States. So far as time permits, other industries, analogous to railways, will be discussed in a similar manner.

Written work, in the preparation of papers on assigned topics, will be expected of all students in the course.

 

 

*71 hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to local taxation in the United States. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Professor Taussig.     (XIV)

Course 71 undertakes an examination of the theory of taxation, based upon the comparative study of methods as practised in different countries and in different States of the American Union. This examination necessarily includes some discussion of leading questions in revenue legislation, such as the taxation of incomes and personal property, the single tax, progressive taxation, and indirect taxes.

 

 

*72 hf. Financial Administration and Public Debts. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor Dunbar.       (IX)

Course 72 is devoted to an examination of the budget systems of leading countries, and their methods of controlling expenditure, the methods of borrowing and of extinguishing debts practised by modern states, the form and obligation of the securities issued, and the general management of public credit.

Topics will be assigned for investigation by the students, and a list of topics, references, and required reading will be used.

 

 

* 121 hf. International Payments and the Flow of the Precious Metals. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor Dunbar and Mr. Meyer. (IX)

 

[*122 hf. Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems. Half -course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor Dunbar.]     (IX)

Omitted in 1897-98.

Course 121 is taken up with the discussion of the movements of goods, securities, and money, in the exchanges between nations and in the settlement of international demands. After a preliminary study of the general doctrine of international trade and of the use and significance of bills of exchange, it is proposed to make a close examination of some cases of

[p. 39]

payments on a great scale, and to trace the adjustments of imports and exports under temporary or abnormal financial conditions. Such examples as the payment of the indemnity by France to Germany after the war of 1870-71, the distribution of gold by the mining countries, and the movements of the foreign trade of the United States since 1879, will be investigated and used for the illustration of the general principles regulating exchanges and the distribution of money between nations.

In Course 122 the modern system of banking by deposit and discount is examined, and its development in various countries is studied. The different systems of note-issue are then reviewed and compared, and the relations of banks to financial crises carefully analyzed. Practical banking does not come within the scope of this course. The study is historical and comparative in its methods, requiring some examination of important legislation in different countries, practice in the interpretation of banking movements, and investigation of the general effects of banking. The course, therefore, naturally leads to an examination of the questions now raised as to bank issues in the United States.

 

 

*162 hf. Selected Topics in the Financial Legislation of the United States. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30. Professor Dunbar.      (XI)

The topics for study in this course for 1897-98 will be: (1) The Legal Tender Issues of the Civil War; (2) Development of the National Banking System. Subjects will be assigned and reports called for, requiring thorough investigation in the debates of Congress and other contemporary sources of information, for the purpose of tracing the history and significance of the legislative acts to be discussed, and a close study of such financial and commercial statistics as may throw light upon the operation of the acts.

Arrangements will be made by which graduate students and candidates for Final Honors in Political Science may take this course in connection with the Seminary in Economics as a full course running through the year.

 

 

  1. Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 4.30. Professors Dunbar, Taussig, and Ashley, and Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.

In the Seminary the instructors receive Graduate Students, and Seniors of high rank and adequate preparation, for training in investigation and discussion. No endeavor is made to limit the work of the Seminary to any one set of subjects. Subjects are assigned to students according to their needs and opportunities, and may be selected from any of the larger fields covered by the courses in which stated instruction is given. They

[p . 40]

may accordingly be in economic theory, in economic history, in applied economics, in sociology, or in statistics. It will usually be advisible for members of the Seminary to undertake their special investigation in a subject with whose general outlines they are already acquainted; but it may sometimes be advantageous to combine general work in one of the systematic courses with special investigation of a part of the field.

The general meetings of the Seminary are held on the first and third Mondays of each month. The members of the Seminary confer individually, at stated times arranged after consultation, with the instructors under whose special guidance they are conducting their researches.

At the regular meetings, the results of the investigations of members are presented and discussed. The instructors also at times present the results of their own work, and give accounts of the specialized literature of Economics. At intervals, other persons are invited to address the Seminary on subjects of theoretic or practical interest, giving opportunity for contact and discussion with the non-academic world. Among those who thus contributed to the Seminary in 1895-97 were President Francis A. Walker, Dr. Frederick H. Wines, Mr. S. N. D. North, Mr. A. T. Lyman, Mr. E. W. Hooper, and Mr. F. C. Lowell.

In 1896-97 the Seminary had fifteen members, of whom twelve were Graduate Students, two were Seniors in Harvard College, and one was a Law Student. Among the subjects under investigation in that year were: The Woollen Industry in England during the 17th and 18th centuries; Over-production and Over-accumulation in Economic Theory; The Taxation of Sugar in the United States and in Foreign Countries; The National Banking System with regard to its operation in the West and South; The Financial History of the Pennsylvania Railway; The Financial History of the Union Pacific Railway; The History of Immigration into the United States.

 

[p. 41]

GENERAL INFORMATION.

ORGANIZATION.

The Division of History and Political Science comprises two departments: History and Government, and Economics. The Division has charge of the administration of Final Honors, and of the Degree of Ph.D., in History and Political Science. The recommendation of candidates for assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships is in the hands of the respective departments; Second-Year Honors in History and Government are administered by the Department of History and Government; and in general each Department has charge of all matters relating specially to its own instruction.

 

HONORS.

Honors are awarded to students who attain high grades in a certain number of courses in one subject or group of subjects, and who give satisfactory evidence, at a special examination, as to the range and accuracy of their general knowledge of the subject in which the Honors are awarded.

Second-Year Honors in History and Government are awarded, at the end of the Sophomore or Junior year, on the following conditions : —

1. Distinguished excellence in the work of three and a half courses in History and Government or of three such courses and one course in Political Economy.

2. Passing with distinction a special examination, which shall be a test of the candidate’s general acquirements in History and Government.

3. The study of a special topic upon which the candidate may be required to report in written form. This report must be presented not later than May 15 to the instructor under whose direction it has been prepared.

Candidates for Second-Year Honors are required to register their names at the office of the Dean of the College, as early as the first

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day of April of the year in which they present themselves for examination.

The examinations for Second-Year Honors are conducted by the Department of History and Government.

Final Honors in History and Government or in Political Science are awarded, usually with the degree of A.B. or A.M., on the following conditions : —

Every student who wishes to be regarded as a candidate must present a written application to the Dean of the College before November 1, in his Senior year. Blank forms of application may be obtained from the Recorder.

 

[…]

In Political Science the candidate will present for approval by the Division of History and Political Science, not later than October 10 of his final year of preparation, a plan of study which shall comprise not less than five courses, not elementary, selected from those offered under History and Government, and Economics, including at least one course in Economics, one in History, and one in Government.

[p. 43]

The candidate may also state in his plan of study further work in Political Science which he desires to have considered in determining the award of Honors.

Not later than May 15, the candidate will present a thesis, which may also be counted as part of his work in one or more courses, and which should be handed to the instructor under whose guidance it is prepared; and he will be required to pass an examination on the general field of his studies in Political Science.

 

DEGREES.

The degree of Bachelor of Arts is conferred usually after four years of residence. At least one year of residence is required. Graduates of other colleges and students of the higher classes of other colleges are admitted to advanced standing in Harvard College, without examination, on presenting testimonials of scholarship and character, and satisfactory evidence of work well performed in the institutions previously attended.

The degree of Master of Arts is conferred on persons who have the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College (or who have pursued successfully at some other college a course of study accepted by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as equivalent to the A.B. of Harvard College), and who have pursued at Harvard University advanced studies with high credit for a whole year.

For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy no set period of study is prescribed. It is not usually taken in less than three years after the attainment of the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Harvard College, or an equivalent. In order to be admitted to the degree the candidate must show a general training in the whole field of study, firm grasp of his special subject within the field, and independent research in some portion of that subject. He must present a thesis, showing original treatment or investigation, and must pass such examination or examinations as may be required by the Division. The degree is given on the ground of thorough study and high attainments. Appropriate studies carried on in the Graduate School of any other university may be recognized as a part of the candidate’s preparation for the degree. The minimum period of residence at Harvard University is one year.

[p. 44]

The University confers the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History and in Political Science. Candidates for the degree under either of these heads are subject to supervision and examination by the Division of History and Political Science. In order to indicate the grounds on which it is prepared to recommend candidates for the degree, the Division has adopted the following statements and suggestions.

All communications relative to the doctorate should be sent to the Chairman of the Division of History and Political Science.

 

 

THE DEGREE OF PH.D. IN POLITICAL SCIENCE.

General Preparation.

Every candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science, will be expected, at an early stage in his preparation, to submit to the Division, through its chairman, evidence of the extent and quality of his general studies. A command of good English, spoken and written, the ability to make free use of French and German books, and a fair acquaintance with general history, are expected in all cases. On the evidence presented, the Division will decide, provisionally, as to the sufficiency of the candidate’s general training. No set examinations will be held in any of these elementary requirements. Candidates may be required to make up deficiencies by pursuing specified College courses, or in such other way as the Division may designate. The provisional acceptance of a candidate, as regards this portion of his preparation, does not preclude the Division from rejecting him later, if, in the examination on specific subjects, it shall appear that his general education is insufficient.

 

Examinations.

Candidates must ordinarily pass two examinations: the first general, the second on a special field, defined in each case by vote of the Division.

I. The aim of the first examination is to ascertain the candidate’s acquaintance with a considerable range of subjects included within the scope of Political Science. He may satisfy this requirement by showing a good knowledge of any seven of the subjects named in

[p. 45]

the following list, — at least one to be taken from each of the three groups :

 

Group A.

  1. Political Institutions of Mediaeval Europe, including England.
  1. History of Political Institutions in Continental Europe since 1500.
  1. Constitutional History of England since the beginning of the Tudor period.
  1. History of American Institutions, including the Colonial period.

 

Group B.

  1. Theory of the State.
  1. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law.
  1. International Law and Diplomatic History.
  1. Roman Law and selected topics in the history of Legal Institutions.

 

Group C.

 

  1. Economic Theory and its history.
  1. Applied Economics : Money and Banking, International Trade, Taxation and Finance.
  1. Economic History: either the outlines of the economic history of Europe and the United States ; or economic history of the United States with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Transportation.
  1. Sociology.

 

Candidates are not required, however, to follow the details of this plan. They may present, for the consideration of the Division, reasonable substitutes for any of the topics named, and may offer appropriate combinations of parts of the separate subjects. They are advised, in all cases, to submit their plans of study for approval at an early date. The examination of each candidate will be confined to the subjects selected by him and approved by the Division; but in judging of his fitness for the degree, regard will be had to the general grasp and maturity shown, as well as to the range and accuracy of his attainments in the specific subjects of examination.

II. The second examination will be on a single limited subject agreed upon in advance. It is intended that each candidate should have, as far as possible, freedom of choice in selecting his subject, but it is expected that he will submit, for approval, an outline of work to be presented in satisfaction of this requirement. It is desirable that this outline should be submitted a year in advance of

[p. 46]

the examination. The ground covered may properly be less extensive than that included in any of the general subjects named above and may lie within one of the general subjects offered by the candidate. At the final examination the candidate will be expected to show such a mastery of his chosen subject, and such an acquaintance with the literature bearing on it, as would qualify him to give instruction to mature students.

 

Thesis.

The thesis must be in the hands of the Division on or before May 1 of the year in which the degree is sought. It must be accepted as satisfactory before the candidate can be admitted to the final examination. It must show an original treatment of the subject, or give evidence of independent research, and must also be in good literary form and suitable for publication.

[…]

[p. 49]

 

[…]

FELLOWSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS.

About $40,000 is distributed annually among undergraduate students, in amounts ranging from $40 to $450. Eighteen fellowships and about forty-seven scholarships are also annually assigned to graduate students, the former varying in amount from $400 to $750, the latter from $150 to $300. Many of these appointments may be given or promised to persons not already members of the University. Some of the Fellowships permit the holders to study either at Harvard University or elsewhere; others require residence in Cambridge.

Four of the Fellowships have special reference to political and economic studies, namely: the Henry Lee Memorial Fellowship (income $450), for the study of Political Economy; the Robert

Treat Paine Fellowship (income $500), for the study of Social Science; the Henry Bromfield Rogers Memorial Fellowship (income $450), for the study of Ethics in its relation to Jurisprudence or to Sociology; the Ozias Goodwin Memorial Fellowship (income $450), assigned to students of Constitutional or International Law.

_______________________________

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1897-98.

Categories
Courses Harvard

Harvard Economics. Two course reviews, 1881

 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE
ELECTIVE COURSES
GIVEN AT
HARVARD COLLEGE.

PUBLISHED BY THE
EDITORS OF THE HARVARD DAILY ECHO.

1881.

 

[p. 3]

In preparing the following descriptions of courses in Harvard, care has been taken to consult the various instructors, and to benefit by the experience of those students who have taken the courses. It is believed that this attempt to supplement the College Elective Pamphlet by more detailed descriptions will be found useful in selecting courses for next year. As a considerable portion of this was written early in the year, allowance must be made for changes in the numbering and arrangement of some of the electives. Owing to recent changes in several electives, and the late appearance of the Elective Pamphlet, much hasty revision has been necessary, and there are some alterations which may have been neglected. The index is arranged [p. 4] according to next year’s pamphlet, so that there will be no difficulty in finding the courses, although the arrangement, owing to the method of printing, is haphazard. No description of Mathematics 8 is given, as the nature of the course varies from time to time, and it is uncertain whether it is given at all next year. We wish to express our thanks to the professors and students who have assisted in preparing these pages.

[…]

[p. 120]

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

No student should allow the four years of his College life to pass without devoting some of his time to the study of Political Economy. It is needless to dilate upon its importance. Aside from the great value of a scientific knowledge of the subjects with which this science deals, the value of the mental training which the study of Political Economy affords can hardly be overestimated. Surely there is no science which investigates causes at once so varied and so important, affecting, as they do, the whole course of public and private life. No citizen of the United States has a right to neglect any opportunity to familiarize himself with the principles regulating, whether we will it or not, the whole social, moral, political and financial development of the country whose future rests partly in his hands.

Political Economy 1 is a course devoted principally to a study of the fundamental principles of the science of Political [p. 121] Economy. The textbook used is John Stuart Mill’s “Principles of Political Economy,” the difficulties in it being cleared up in the recitation room. [cf. the abridged edition of Mill’s Principles edited “with critical, bibliographical, and explanatory notes, and a sketch of the history of political economy” by J. Laurence Laughlin published in 1884] Just before the semi-annuals a course of lectures on “Banking” is given by Prof. Dunbar, and before the annuals a course on the “Financial Legislation of the United States,” giving special attention to the measures adopted during the war and after it up to the present time. Both of these are full of interest and valuable information. The instruction, if the course is conducted as in previous years, will be given by means both of recitations and of lectures, the latter predominating during the last part of the year, although even then there is enough of delightful uncertainty maintained to prevent the student from slighting the work of each day. As yet no definite arrangement has been made as to the amount of work to be done by each of the two instructors, Prof. Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin. The course will be either two or three hours, as the student may choose. Let no one take it under the impression that he is taking a “soft” course; those [p. 122] seeking such must avoid Political Economy 1. To recommend such a course to an earnest student would be superfluous ; to any other, useless.

Political Economy 2. This course, heretofore known as Political Economy 3, is one that should be taken by every one who has profited by Political Economy 1. As some peculiar ideas as to this course exist throughout the College, the best way to correct them is to tell what the course has dealt with during the past year. The first text-book used is “Some Leading Principles of Political Economy,” by J. E. Cairnes. Prof. Cairnes is a pupil and admirer of Mill, but one who dares to oppose his master on points where his reasoning or his conclusion seems faulty. He goes deeper into some of the principles of the science than Mill could possibly go in writing such a work as his “Principles,” and his book is perhaps a needed corrective to the mind of one too fully charged with Mill. The “Essays in Finance” is a collection of essays on economical and financial questions of the present time, by Robert Giffen, a gentleman in the [p. 123] employ of the London Board of Trade, a statistician, a member of the Statistical Society, and a contributor to the Economist. These essays bring the student face to face with the practical side of Political Economy. Prof. Dunbar has also given a course of lectures on the “History of Political Economy,” tracing the various distinguished economists of England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia; he has also lectured on other economical subjects. The class has also studied the question of the “Gold Standard,” and undertaken a slight analysis of some recent pamphlets on “Free Trade” and “Protection.” Each student is required to write a thesis on some subject connected with Political Economy. The subjects of this year were: “The Decline of American Shipping;” “The Act of May 31, 1878,” and “The Balance of Trade since 1873 and its Probable Future.” The course is eminently a practical and working course on Political Economy, which no one who wishes thoroughly to understand that science can safely neglect. It might well be called a course [p. 124] in “Applied Political Economy.” as in it the principles learned in Political Economy 1 are studied in their application to actual events. Any one wishing to take the course must first consult Prof. Dunbar. Whatever may be Prof. Dunbar’s private opinion on the, to us, vital questions of free trade and protection, the treatment which they receive in the class is absolutely impartial, and neither side can complain that it is misrepresented.

_______________________

archive.org has a downloadable copy of this book.

 

Image Source:  Charles Dunbar in The Harvard Graduates’Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 32 (June, 1900), Frontspiece.