Tag: Ripley

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Transportation

Harvard. Economics of Transportation. Description, Enrollment, Reports, and Exam. Ripley and Jones, 1909-1910

The teaching assistant to William Zebina Ripley in 1909-10 for his course on the economics of transportation (mostly or all about railroad economics) was Eliot Jones (Ph.D., 1913) who continued on to a distinguished career as a professor of economics at Stanford.

Ripley covered a good chunk of the economics curricular waterfront (statistics, railroads, labor, and corporations) at Harvard. 

__________________________

Monographs/Books on Transportation by W. Z. Ripley

Transportation. Chapter from the Final report of the U.S. Industrial Commission (Vol. XIX) and privately issued by the author for the use of his students and others. Washington, D.C., 1902.

Railway Problems, edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley (Boston: Ginn & Company, 1907).

Railroads: Rates and Regulation (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912).

Railroads: Finance & Organization (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1915).

__________________________

Earlier exams etc. for Economics 5 (Economics of Transportation), etc.

1900-01 (Hugo Richard Meyer alone)
1901-02 (Ripley with Hugo Richard Meyer)
1903-04 (Ripley alone)
1904-05 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1905-06 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1906-07 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett and Walter Wallace McLaren). Also with the Assignment of Reports.
1907-08 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1908-09 (Ripley with Edmund Thorton Miller)

….etc.

1906-07. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)
1907-08. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)

______________

Course Announcement and Description
1909-10

APPLIED ECONOMICS
For Undergraduates and Graduates

5 1hf. Economies of Transportation. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Ripley and Mr. Eliot Jones.

A brief outline of the historical development of rail and water transportation in the United States will be followed by a description of the condition of transportation systems at the present time. The four main subdivisions of Rates and Rate-Making, Finance, Traffic Operation, and Legislation will be considered in turn. The first deals with the relation of the railroad to shippers, comprehending an analysis of the theory and practice of rate-making. An outline will be given of the nature of railroad securities, the principles of capitalization, and the interpretation of railroad accounts. Railroad Operation will deal with the practical problems of the traffic department, such as the collection and interpretation of statistics of operation, pro-rating, the apportionment of cost, depreciation and maintenance, etc. Under Legislation, the course of state regulation and control in the United States and Europe will be traced.

Course 5 is open to all students who have taken Economics 1.

Source: Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VI, No. 29 (23 July 1909). History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1909-10, p. 57.

______________

Course Enrollment
1909-10

Economics 5 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Eliot Jones. — Economics of Transportation.

Total 142: 6 Graduate, 48 Seniors, 57 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 6 Freshmen, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1909-1910, p. 44.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Eliot Jones (Ph.D. 1913)

ELIOT JONES, A.B. (Vanderbilt Univ.) 1906, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1908. Subject, Economics. Special Field, Railroad Transportation. Thesis, “The Anthracite Coal Combination in the United States, with some Account of the Early Development of the Anthracite Industry.” Instructor in Economics, University of Pennsylvania.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1912-13, p. 90.

Obituary of Eliot Jones
[b. 12 Feb 1887; d. 17 Oct 1971]

Eliot Jones, retired professor of economics at Stanford University, died Sunday at the Los Gatos Community Hospital. He was 84.

Jones, a native of Grinnell, Iowa, was graduated in 1906 from Vanderbilt University, where he set a record for the half-mile run in the Southern Intercollegiate Association. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Harvard in 1908 and 1913.

During World War I Jones was a member of the Federal Trade Commission and the War Industry Board. He was named associate professor at Stanford in 1917 and a full professor in
1920. He was chairman of the department of economics from 1920 to 1922. He retired in 1952.

Jones’s books include “The Anthracite Coal Combination in the U.S.,” “The Trust Problem in the U.S.,” “The Principles of Railway Transportation,” “Railroads,” and “Principles of Public Utilities.”

He is survived by his wife, Mabel Ross Jones of Los Gatos; a son, Eliot Jones of Carmel; a brother, Chapin Jones of Char-lottesville, Va.; and a sister, Mrs. Cyrus J. Fitton of Hamilton, Ohio…

Source: The Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo Alto, CA. October 19, 1971.

______________

ECONOMICS 5
ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

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

Group A

Students will report upon the organization and present character of one railway company in the United States. This will be indicated by a number, placed against each student’s name on the enrolment slip, which number refers to the railroad similarly numbered on this sheet. See Directions on last page.

The information to be procured is as follows, and should be numbered in correspondence with this list. Note all changes during the year; and compare the results with those for the railway group in which the company lies, as given in U.S. Statistics of Railways.

(1) Miles of line. (2) Passengers transported. (3) Tons of freight carried: gross and per mile of line. (4) Tons carried one mile, with revenue per ton mile. (5) Revenue per train mile. (6) Gross earnings from operation. (7) Operating expenses: gross and per mile of line.

(8) Net income from operation. (9) Stock and bonds. (10) Stock and bonds per mile of line.

(11) Dividends paid. (12) Surplus. (13) Present prices and movements of prices of the various securities listed.

With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

Group B

Students will compare the volume of business (1) in gross and (2) by ton and (3) passenger mileage; and the (4) gross income, (5) operating expenses, (6) net income per mile of line, and (7) market prices of securities; for two different railways. These are indicated by numbers posted against the student’s name on the enrolment slip. The aim should be not only to discover differences, but, as far as possible, to explain them. Mere description of conditions is not desired; actual comparison is demanded. The use of parallel columns is suggested. See Directions on last page.

With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

Group C

Students will compare the volume of business (1) in gross and (2) by ton and (3) passenger miles; together with the (4) gross income, (5) operating expenses, (6) net income per mile of line, and (7) prices of securities; for a given railway through a series of years, since 1890, if possible. Note carefully, however, all changes or additions to the line from year to year. The railway assigned is indicated by a number placed against the student’s name on the printed class lists. The analysis of annual reports in financial journals must be carefully followed year by year. Results may be plotted on cross section paper where possible. See Directions on last page.

With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

⇒ The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “26 A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the New York Central R. R. as described under A on the preceding page; “16 & 37 B,” that a comparison of the Erie and the Wabash Railroads is expected, as described under B on the preceding page; etc.

RAILWAY COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES
    1. Atchison, Topeka, and Sante Fé.
    2. Baltimore and Ohio.
    3. Canada Southern.
    4. Central of New Jersey.
    5. Chesapeake and Ohio.
    6. Chicago and Alton.
    7. Chicago Great Western.
    8. Chicago, Indiana, and Louisville.
    9. Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul.
    10. Chicago and Northwestern.
    11. Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific.
    12. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, and St. Louis. (Big Four.)
    13. Delaware and Hudson.
    14. Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western.
    15. Denver and Rio Grande.
    16. Erie.
    17. Great Northern. (See Northern Securities Co., since 1900.)
    18. Hocking Valley.
    19. Illinois Central.
    20. Iowa Central.
    21. Lake Erie and Western.
    22. Louisville and Nashville.
    23. Mexican Central.
    24. Missouri, Kansas and Texas.
    25. Missouri Pacific.
    26. New York Central.
    27. New York, Ontario, and Western.
    28. Norfolk and Western.
    29. Pennsylvania
    30. Philadelphia and Reading.
    31. St. Louis and San Francisco.
    32. St. Louis Southwestern.
    33. Southern Pacific.
    34. Southern Railway.
    35. Texas and Pacific.
    36. Union Pacific.
    37. Wabash.
    38. Wheeling and Lake Erie.
    39. Wisconsin Central.
    40. Ann Arbor.
    41. Atlantic Coast Line.
    42. Boston and Maine.
    43. Boston and Albany. (See New York Central.)
    44. Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh.
    45. Central Vermont.
    46. Central Railroad of New Jersey.
    47. Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton.
    48. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha. (See Chicago and Northwestern.)
    49. Chicago and Eastern Illinois.
    50. Pittsburgh, Evansville, and Terre Haute.
    51. Lehigh Valley.
    52. Long Island.
    53. New York, New Haven, and Hartford.
    54. New York, Chicago, and St. Louis.
    55. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. (See New York Central.)
    56. Maine Central
    57. Pittsburgh, Bessemer, and Lake Erie.
    58. Western Maryland
    59. Rio Grande Western.
    60. St. Paul and Duluth.
    61. Northern Pacific. (See Northern Securities Co.)
    62. Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Northern.
    63. St. Joseph and Grand Island.
    64. Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Memphis.
    65. International and Great Northern.
    66. Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis.
    67. Mobile and Ohio.
    68. Yazoo and Mississippi Valley. (See Illinois Central.)
    69. Plant System.
    70. Georgia Railroad and Banking Company.
    71. Central of Georgia.
    72. Pere Marquette.
    73. Columbus, Sandusky, and Hocking.
    74. Cleveland, Lorain, and Wheeling.
    75. Mexican Central.
    76. Grand Trunk.
    77. Canadian Pacific.
    78. Chicago, Burlington, and Quiney. (See Northern Securities Co.)
    79. Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf.
    80. Rutland.
    81. Seaboard Air Line.
    82. Northern Securities Co.
    83. Western Pacific Co.
    84. Colorado and Southern.
DIRECTIONS

First. — Secure if possible by correspondence, enclosing ten cents postage, the last or recent annual reports of the company. P. O. addresses are given in Poor’s Manual of Railways; the Official Guide of Railways in the United States; the Investors’ Supplement, N.Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle; or bankers’ and stock exchange Handbooks, Manuals of Statistics, etc.

Second. — Before compiling any returns for ton or passenger mileage, revenue per train mile, etc., read carefully Ripley, in Final Report U. S. Industrial Commission, pp. 274-280 and 293-295; [James Shirley] Eaton, Railway Operations, pp. 190-201; or Woodlock, Anatomy of a Railroad Report, pp. 101-111; and especially [T. L.] Greene, Corporation Finance, pp. 79-130.

Third. — Work back carefully through the file of the Investors’ Supplement, N.Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle. [e.g., for  January 31, 1903] These Supplements, prior to 1902, are bound in with the regular issues of the Chronicle, one number in each volume. Since 1901 they are separately bound for each year. The Investors’ Supplement will be recognized by its gray paper cover, and must be carefully distinguished from the other supplements of the Chronicle. Market prices of securities are given in a distinct Bank and Quotation Supplement, also bound up with the Chronicle. Having found the company in the Investors’ Supplement, follow up all references to articles in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle as given by volume and page. Also use the general index of the latter, separately, for each year since the company was organized.

Fourth. — Look up the summaries and criticisms of each year’s annual report in The Railway Age, and since 1908 in The Railway Age Gazette.

The files of Bradstreets should also be used, noting carefully that the index in each volume is in three separate divisions, “Editorials” being the most important. The course of prices is summarized at the end of each year in January Bradstreets, and also in the Reports of the U. S. Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII.

The files of the Wall Street Journal are also valuable.

Fifth. — Analyze carefully by means of its indexes the returns in the official Statistics of Railways in the United States, published by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Note the statistical division into groups, shown on the map at the head of each volume.

Note also that for each railway lying in two or more groups, a Summary for the road as a whole is given as a Supplement to each table.

The Annual Statistical Abstract of the United States contains convenient general tables for certain purposes.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1909-1910”.

______________

ECONOMICS 5
Mid-year Examination, 1909-10

  1. What were the most significant events in our railroad history in the decade 1870-80?
  2. Describe at least three main reasons for the roundabout routing of freight. Are there any remedies for it?
  3. What are the three modes of emission of new capital stock by railroads under the Massachusetts laws? Why was the last change made?
  4. Name the principal contrasts between British and American railway conditions?
  5. Outline the procedure by which rates are supervised by the government in France.
  6. “While continuing to insist in words that rate control is an exercise of the police power, the (Supreme) Court has in fact treated it as if it were a phase of the power of eminent domain.” What does this mean as applied to the judicial review of railway rates? What objections to this contention may be offered?
  7. —
    1. Explain just how the issue of valuation of railways has arisen in the United States.
    2. Show the distinction between the two kinds of valuation.
  8. State in separate paragraphs at least five of the proposals for new legislation concerning railroads of the present Federal Administration.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 9, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1910-11 (HUC 7000.25) Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1910), p. 41.

Image Source: “The Right of Way” by Beaumont Fairbank, published in Puck, 25 May 1910. A locomotive labeled “Private Monopoly Special” racing down tracks labeled “Opportunity” while two trains labeled “Plain People Local” and “Legitimate Business” have been side-tracked, giving the monopoly the “right of way”.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Statistics

Harvard. Exams for Statistics. Ripley, 1909-1910

William Zebina Ripley

William Zebina Ripley’s teaching portfolio at Harvard included the methods of (descriptive statistics) which was still not yet a mandatory part of the training of graduate students of economics in 1910. Also worth noting is that there was not a deep bench at Harvard to cover the field of statistics in the first decade of the twentieth century—the course was not offered by anyone in 1905-06.

Ripley lists ten treatises on statistics in his chapter on social statistics in A guide to reading in social ethics and allied subjects (1910), by Francis G. Peabody et al. There is certainly overlap with his course readings there.

________________________

Statistics (Econ 4) Exams
from previous years

1901-02.
1902-03.
1903-04.
1904-05.
1905-06 [not offered]
1906-07. [offered but no printed exam found]
1907-08. [only mid-year exam found]
1908-09.

________________________

Course Description
1909-10

[Economics] 4. Statistics. — Theory, method, and practice. Tu., Th., at 11. First half-year: Professor Ripley. Second half-year: Mr. —.

This course is intended rather as an analysis of methods of research and sources of information than as embodying mere results. A brief history of statistics will be followed by an account of census and other statistical methods in the United States and abroad, with the scientific use and interpretation of results. The main divisions of vital statistics, relating to birth, marriage, morbidity, and mortality, life tables, etc.; the statistics of trade and commerce, such as price indexes, etc.; industrial statistics relating to labor, wages, and employment; statistics of agriculture, manufactures, and transportation, will be then considered in order. Laboratory work, amounting to not less than two hours per week, in the preparation of charts, maps, and diagrams from original material, will be required.

Course 4 is open to students who have taken Economics 1; and it is also open to Juniors and Seniors who are taking Economics 1.

Source: Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VI, No. 29
(23 July 1909). History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1909-10, p. 53.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1909-10

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

Total 26: 8 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 4 Freshmen, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1909-1910, p. 44.

________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 4
Mid-year Examination, 1909-10

  1. Suppose that an investigation as to unemployment in 1909 among 5,000,000 men, showed the following result:—
45 per cent. were idle 1 month,
20 per cent. were idle 4 months,
15 per cent. were idle 7 months,
10 per cent. were idle 9 months,
5 per cent. were idle 11 months.

What would be the average unemployment? Could you state the result in any better way?

  1. Fisher estimates a possible average prolongation of life of 15 years; and cites three factors which may still further extend it beyond this limit. What are these?
  2. The median age of the population of the United States in 1900 was 22.85; in 1880 it was 20.86. The average age in 1900 was 26.2; in 1880 it was 24.6. (a) Why is the average age so much higher than the median age? (b) Explain how each is obtained. (c) Which is the better mode of expressing the statistical facts?
  3. The population of Marseilles in 1828 was 133,000, of which 33,000 were vaccinated. There were 3,330 cases of smallpox of which 2,289 were of persons not vaccinated. Of these latter 420 died; while among 1,041 vaccinated persons stricken, only 17 died. Was vaccination a success or not? Is there a showing unfavorable to vaccination deducible from these figures? Prove in each case by ratios.
  4. —
Standard Birth rate. Correction Factor. Crude Birth rate. Corrected Birth rate.
Boston 39.04 0.8942 29.15 _____
Providence, R. I. 43.86 0.7959 26.46 _____
Native born 30.88 1.1305 15.09 _____
Foreign born 55.67 0.6271 49.37 _____

Explain (a) how this table was constructed in principle; (b) complete it by filling in the blank spaces; and (c) explain exactly what it means.

  1. From the age of 10 forward, the probability of death increases progressively. Will a mortality table show more or fewer deaths in consequence between the ages of 60-65 or of 10-15 years?
  2. Is registration of births or of deaths making the more rapid progress in the United States? How widely extended is each?
  3. How is the birth rate for the United States computed from the census data? What is the principal element of uncertainty in such an estimate?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1909-10.

________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 4
Year-end Examination, 1909-10

  1. What is usually conceded to be the best statistical measure of the well-being of a community or a family? Name some authorities who have worked in this field.
  2. About how much unemployment is there normally in civilized countries? Criticise the evidence available.
  3. Where would you find statistical data as to —
    1. Membership in trade unions?
    2. The amount of gold and silver in circulation in the United States?
    3. Traffic on rivers and canals in the United States?
    4. The prevalence of crime in the different states of the Union?
  4. What does the following table show?

Cost of a product valued at $100.

Materials Wages Misc. Exp. Total
U.S. all industries, 1890 $55.08 $24.36 $6.73 $86.17
  1. What is shown by the following table?

Labor cost in three industries.

United States, 1900 Per cent of wages
and value of product		 Average wages
Iron and steel 15.0 $543
Cotton goods 25.6 $286
Flour and grist mills 3.2 $478
  1. Could any change in conditions between 1890 and 1900 be proved by such data?
  2. Describe the statistical system as to price movements of Soetbeer in detail.
  3. Criticise the Aldrich Committee Report on the movement of wages since 1890.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 9, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1910-11 (HUC 7000.25) Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1910), p. 40.

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

Categories
Harvard Regulations

Harvard. Economics Ph.D. Established. Degree requirements as of 1904-05

While there were not a few Ph.D. degrees awarded at Harvard nominally in political science at the turn of the 20th century that were in fact Ph.D. degrees in economics, starting with the academic year 1904-05 the economics Ph.D. degree became officially separated from the Ph.D. in political science “in accordance with the general practice of universities”. It would take another couple of decades for a Ph.D. in sociology to split off from the Ph.D. in economics, but that is a story for another post.

In this post I have transcribed the cover memo submitted by a committee of the Division of History, Government, and Economics that recommended the establishment of a distinct economics Ph.D. This memo is followed by the explicit requirements to be satisfied by candidates for the Ph.D. in economics at Harvard as of 1904-05. Links to the rules and regulations from other years have been included as well.

_________________________

Previously transcribed requirements for the Ph.D. in Harvard University’s Division of History, Government, and Economics

Degree Requirements for 1897-98.
Full 1897-98 Division Announcement
Degree Requirements for 1911-12.
Degree Requirements for 1921-22
Degree Requirements for 1934-35.
Degree Requirements from 1947.
Degree Requirements from 1958.
Degree Regulations from 1968.

_________________________

Members of the Committee to Review the Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Chairman Charles H. Haskins, Professor of History
Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor of History
Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Eaton Professor of the Science of Government.
William Zebina Ripley, Professor of Political Economy and Chairman of the Department of Political Economy
William Frank Taussig, Henry Lee Professor of Economics

_________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

Cambridge, Mass., March 5, 1904.

To the Division of History and Political Science: —

The Committee of the Division of History and Political Science appointed to consider the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy submits herewith its report in the form of a revised statement of the regulations governing the degree. No fundamental changes have been made, nor has it been the purpose of the committee to make the attainment of the degree materially harder or easier than at present. The changes proposed arise partly from the necessity of giving fuller recognition to the instruction now offered in economics and government, and partly from the attempt to correct certain tendencies which have appeared in connection with the general examination.

It is the opinion of the committee that the time has come for distinguishing the degrees offered to the student of economics and the student of government, in accordance with the general practice of universities; and the establishment of the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics is accordingly recommended. A list of subjects suitable for candidates in economics has been drawn up, and the list in political science has been revised and expanded. Unimportant changes are also suggested in the list of subjects in history.

It seems to have been the original intention, of the Division that the general examination should come comparatively early in the course of the candidate’s studies and should serve not only as a guarantee of comprehensive study but also as a sort of “qualifying round,” a test of general eligibility for the subsequent study for the degree. In practice the general examination has become the principal examination, the tendency being more and more evident for students to postpone this examination to the third or even the fourth year of study and to put off further preparation for the doctorate until after this examination. The result is that for most students the greater part of their graduate study is a continuous and avowed cram for the general examination. Their choice of courses and reading is determined by this, and many take no seminary or research courses and get no start in independent work before their last year of study. The committee believes that the general examination should come earlier, so that the weak may be discouraged before they have gone too far, and the strong may be ready as soon as possible to work freely and independently. It is not easy to suggest any legislation which can be trusted to accomplish this end, but the proposed reduction in the number of subjects from seven to six and the allowance suggested for honors at graduation ought to have some influence in this direction. More, however, will depend on the spirit in which the general examination is conducted.

On the other hand there is a constant tendency to narrow unduly the field for the special examination, and the committee recommends that the special field be not less in extent than one of the subjects offered for the general examination. If the period between the general and the special examination be lengthened, it will not be unreasonable to expect somewhat better preparation for the special examination.

The requirement of a reading knowledge of French and German has existed on paper only; it is proposed that each candidate shall satisfy the Division on this point by a special examination or otherwise.

This statement has been drawn up for the convenience of the Division by the chairman of the committee: the report has the approval of the whole committee, consisting of Messrs. Hart, Lovell, Ripley, Taussig, and Haskins.

Charles H. Haskins, chairman.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics. PhD. Material through 1917. Box 2, in an unlabeled folder.

_________________________

DEGREE OF PH.D.
[Division requirements, 1904-05]

For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy not less than two years devoted to advanced studies, approved as affording suitable preparation for the degree, are required of graduates of colleges of good standing. This degree 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. A graduate of another college may ascertain by writing to the Dean of the Graduate School whether any special conditions will be imposed upon him. 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.

The University confers the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History; in Political Science; and in Economics. Candidates for the degree under any 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.

[…]

GENERAL PREPARATION

Every candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is required, 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 at this stage, but the candidate’s ability to use French and German will be specially tested in connection with the general examination described below. 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.

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

I. GENERAL EXAMINATION

The first examination will be held not later than the beginning of the last year of study for the degree, and candidates are recommended to present themselves for this examination in the course of the preceding academic year. The object of this test is to ascertain the applicant’s attainments within a considerable range of subjects in the field of History, Political Science, or Economics. He will ordinarily be examined in six subjects in all, chosen from the groups defined below under the respective departments of study. Candidates are not required, however, to follow the details of these plans. 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. In judging of the candidate’s 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.

The scope of the general examination may be reduced by one of the three following methods:—

  1. Graduates of Harvard College of distinguished excellence, shown by taking highest honors on oral examination, may by special vote of the Division be excused altogether from this examination.
  2. Graduates of Harvard College of high excellence, shown by taking honors on oral examination, may be excused from examination in not more than three of the six subjects, by a vote of the Division.
  3. Students from other institutions, bringing credentials of high excellence, may on entering the Graduate School submit themselves to a special oral test, similar to the honor examinations, in not more than three of the six subjects.

II. THESIS

The thesis must be in the hands of the Chairman of the Division on or before April 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.

III. SPECIAL EXAMINATION

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 the examination. Ordinarily the ground covered by the special examination will not be greater in extent than one of the subjects offered by the candidate at his general examination, and may be identical with one of these subjects. Or the candidate may limit his more special preparation to an approved portion of this field, which will regularly include the period or topic within which the thesis lies. At the final examination, the candidate will be expected to show such a mastery of his special field, and such an acquaintance with the literature, general and special, bearing on it, as would qualify him to give instruction to mature students.

[…]

THE DEGREE OF PH.D. IN ECONOMICS
[1904-05]

GENERAL PREPARATION

Candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics must meet the requirements stated on p. 56. They should also be well grounded in the main outlines of European and American history, and should have had a general view of the nature and growth of political institutions and constitutional law.

GENERAL EXAMINATION

This examination (the general conditions of which are stated on p. 56) will include six subjects, chosen from the following list. Of the six subjects, at least one must be taken from each of the groups A, B, C, and D, the first three of these groups being purely economic, while the fourth, more general in character, is intended to secure a somewhat broader basis of preparation. In all cases at least one of the subjects chosen must be historical in character, either economic history under group B or one of the historical fields defined under Group D

Group A

  1. Economic Theory and its History.

Group B

  1. Economic History to 1750.
  2. Economic History since 1750.
  3. Sociology and Social Reform.
  4. Statistics (Literature, Methods, and Results).

Group C

  1. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.
  2. Public Finance and Financial History.
  3. Transportation and Foreign Commerce.
  4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization.

Group D
Selected topics from one or more of the following fields:—

  1. History of Political Institutions in Mediaeval Europe, including England.
  2. History of Political Institutions since 1500 in Europe, including England.
  3. History of American Institutions.
  4. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law.
  5. Jurisprudence.
  6. Philosophy.
  7. Anthropology

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. University Publications, N.S. 129.  Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History & Government and Economics,1904-05 (Cambridge, Mass.: May 16, 1904), pp. 55-58, 61-62.

Image Source: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. “Sever Hall, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1898 – 1931. Also see Library of Congress (image dated 1904).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization

Harvard. Economics of Corporations. Final Exam, Course Description, Enrollment. Ripley, 1908-1909

Down the line we can expect to have decades worth of field exam questions for Harvard. But between there and here Economics in the Rear-view Mirror needs to continue the unsung work of transcribing the course exams. But it has the virtue of being steady work.

________________________

Other Corporations/Industrial Organization Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Economics of Corporations, 1903-1904.

Economics of Corporations, 1904-05 (with Vanderveer Custis)

Economics of Corporations, 1906-07 (with Stuart Daggett)

Economics of Corporations, 1907-08 (with Stuart Daggett)

Economics of Corporations, 1914-1915.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1908-09

Economics 9b 2hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. [Edmund Thornton] Miller. — Economics of Corporations.

Total 132: 8 Graduates, 35 Seniors, 51 Juniors, 29 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.

________________________

Course Description
1908-09

[Economics] 9b 2hf. Economics of Corporations. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Ripley.

This course will treat of the fiscal and industrial organization of capital, especially in the corporate form. The principal topic considered will be industrial combination and the so-called trust problem. This will be broadly discussed, with comparative study of conditions in the United States and Europe. The development of corporate enterprise, promotion, and financing, accounting, liability of directors and underwriters, will be described, not from their legal but from their purely economic aspects; and the effects of industrial combination upon efficiency, profits, wages, prices, the development of export trade, and international competition will be considered in turn.
The course is open to those students only who have taken Economics 1. Systematic reading and report work will be assigned from time to time.

Source: Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. V, No. 19
(1 June 1908). History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1908-09,
p. 55.

________________________

ECONOMICS 9b
Year-end Examination, 1908-09

  1. Name an eminently successful industrial combination, and an unfortunate one, stating in each case the principal feature of its career.
  2. What has been the principal difficulty in interesting the workmen of the U.S. Steel Corporation in ownership of its stock? What was the leading motive in adoption of the plan?
  3. Describe at least four causes of the financial reorganization of industrial combinations.
  4. What provisions in either the English or German laws regulating corporations would have prevented the financial losses in (a) the U. S. Shipbuilding Co.; (b) the Asphalt Companies Collapse; (c) the American Malting Co.?
  5. What is the lesson of the recent history of the American tin plate industry?
  6. Outline four proposed remedies for the present unsatisfactory situation under the existing Federal law regulating industrial combinations.
  7. What are some of the practical obstacles in the enforcement of the Sherman Act?
  8. What does the balance sheet (see below) show as to the form of organization of the company concerned?
  9. What was the main economic conclusion reached as a result of your thesis work in this course?
ASSETS
Cash $1,616,114.78
Due by Customers 5,930,735.70
Bills Receivable 90,629.21
Doubtful Debtors, valued at 16,473.94
Sundry other Debtors and Book Accounts 117,412.52
Goods on hand and in process 10,810,368.50
Drawbacks Due 462,201.37
Raw materials 1,282,097.23
Sundry Personal Property 291,603.39
Advances to other Companies 14,521,552.90
Plants and Lands 7,197,600.27
Stocks of other Companies 35,678,044.98
Railroad Mortgage 100,000.00
Treasury Stock 100,000.00
Unexpired Insurance Policies 9,875.40
Good Will Account and Organization Expenses $62,832,300.01
 

$141,057,010.20

  

$78,224,710.19

$62,832,300.01
LIABILITIES
Accrued Interest $58,530.00
Current Accounts 328,411.95
Bills Payable 1,557,391.66
Exchange (not due) 1,798,370.74
Bonds.  $6,680,000.00
     Less in Treasury. $1,400,000.00 5,280,000.00
Reserve for Fire Insurance 383.379.88
Preferred Stock 62,282,300.00
Common Stock $62,882,300.00
Surplus—as January 1st, 1903 $6,486,325.97
 

$141,057,010.20

  

$78,174,710.20

  

$62,882,300.00

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1909), pp. 42-43.

Image Source: 1903 stock certificate of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Wikimedia.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Labor

Harvard. Labor economics. Enrollment, Course Description, Final Exam. Ripley, 1908-1909

Labor economics was already an established applied field in the Harvard economics department at the dawn of the twentieth century. William Zebina Ripley covered big labor and big business in separate courses. 

The photo above shows my grandfather (left), seen here working on the railroad.

__________________________

Problems of Labor:
previous semesters

1902-03
1903-04
1904-05
1905-06
1906-07
1907-08
(Some information about Lauren Carroll,
Ripley’s teaching assistant for this course)

__________________________

Course Description
1908-09

9a  1hf. Problems of Labor. Half-course (first half-year). Tu.,
Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Professor Ripley.

This course will deal mainly with the economic and social relations of employer and employed, with especial reference to legislation. Among the topics included will be, —collective bargaining; labor organizations; factory legislation in the United States and Europe; strikes, strike legislation and legal decisions; conciliation and arbitration; employers’ liability and compulsory compensation; compulsory insurance with particular reference to European experience; the problem of the unemployed; apprenticeship, and trade and technical education.

Each student will make at least one report upon a labor union, from the original documents. Two lectures a week, with one recitation, will be the usual practice.

Source: Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. V, No. 19
(1 June 1908). History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1908-09,
p. 54-55.

__________________________

Course Enrollment
1908-09

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Carroll. — Problems of Labor.

Total 80: 4 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 30 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.

__________________________

ECONOMICS 9a1
Mid-Year Examination, 1908-09

  1. If A does only two-thirds of a full day’s work for a day’s pay, is not a corresponding amount of work left over for B? What is the economic fallacy involved?
  2. What are the main arguments against the principle of the Workmen’s Compensation Acts? State these in the form of propositions, with the counter argument in each case.
  3. What was the justification in the then-existing conditions for the adoption by the courts of the “fellow servant” doctrine? Wherein does it fail to harmonize with present-day conditions?
  4. State the main characteristics of the legislation which has resulted from the Taff Vale decision.
  5. How far does the non-union man resemble the independent voter in politics in status? What, if any, is the defect in the parallel?
  6. State in brief sentences, the differences between the New Zealand and the Victorian types of labor legislation.
  7. Describe the main features of American trade union finance, contrasting it with British conditions.
  8. In the unions concerning which you have most information, what seem to you the most serious evils or abuses? What remedy do you suggest?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1909), pp. 41-42.

Image Source: An old family photo colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. My maternal grandpa is the man on the left.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Transportation

Harvard. Enrollment and exam for Economics of Transportation. Ripley, 1908-1909

Transportation was an applied field located within the intersection of industrial organization, government regulation, and corporate finance. William Zebina Ripley’s teaching portfolio at Harvard also included labor and industrial relations. 

__________________________

Monographs/Books on Transportation by W. Z. Ripley

Transportation. Chapter from the Final report of the U.S. Industrial Commission (Vol. XIX) and privately issued by the author for the use of his students and others. Washington, D.C., 1902.

Railway Problems, edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley (Boston: Ginn & Company, 1907).

Railroads: Rates and Regulation (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912).

Railroads: Finance & Organization (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1915).

__________________________

Earlier exams etc. for Economics 5 (Economics of Transportation), etc.

1900-01 (Hugo Richard Meyer alone)
1901-02 (Ripley with Hugo Richard Meyer)
1903-04 (Ripley alone)
1904-05 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1905-06 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1906-07 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett and Walter Wallace McLaren)
1907-08 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)

….etc.

1906-07. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)
1907-08. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)

 ____________________________

Course Enrollment
1908-09

Economics 5 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. [probably, Edmund Thorton] Miller. — Economics of Transportation.

Total 135: 1 Graduate, 34 Seniors, 57 Juniors, 32 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.

 ____________________________

ECONOMICS 51
Mid-year Examination, 1908-09

  1. (Counts for three questions.)
    The subjoined diagram shows the location and mileage of various places in Ohio and Michigan.

Traffic may move from A to D by several routes: viz.,
over A B D (two routes between B and D, as shown on map), over A B C D, and over A B C E D. Traffic may move from A to E likewise by several routes: viz., A B C E and A B C D E. As shown by the map, there is no direct route from B to E.
Shippers of ice at A on the diagram complain that rates from A to E by all routes are $1 per hundredweight, while the rate from A to D is only eighty cents. Formerly the rates from A to both E and D were the same: viz., $1.25.

    1. Was the former equality of rates from A to D and E any fairer than the present situation? If so, explain why.
    2. Is Springfield injured by the lower rate to D? Explain fully. Does this condition of affairs constitute a violation of the Long and Short Haul clause, as finally construed?
    3. Is there any remedy to suggest?
  2. What is the present status of the Gould system of railroads by comparison with other properties?
  3. What are the objections to issues of short-term notes by railroads? Describe recent conditions.
  4. What additions to the present Interstate Commerce Act, as amended, have been suggested? State both sides of the argument in each case.
  5. How do matters stand at present with respect to the powers of the Federal Commissions in securing testimony? Compare with condition in 1900, as described in the Report of the United States Industrial Commission.
  6. Describe the various sources of information utilized in the preparation of your report; stating what you could and could not find in each of the authorities consulted. For instance, what data are given the Statistics of Railways published by the Interstate Commerce Commission?
  7. What feature of the Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission which you read seemed to you most noteworthy?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1909), pp. 35-36.

Image Source: Buster Keaton in “The General” (1926). If you want a mugshot of Professor William Z. Ripley go here.

 

Categories
Economic History Economists Gender Harvard

Radcliffe/Harvard. Ph.D. economic history alumna Esther Clark Wright, 1931

Esther Clark Wright (1916)

Today we meet the Canadian Radcliffe/Harvard Ph.D. in economic history (1931), Esther Clark Wright. A link to her list of publications will be found below. The main artifact for this post consists of transcriptions of documents in her graduate record in the Division of History, Government, and Economics.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

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

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Esther Clark Wright, May 4, 1895, Fredericton, N.B., Canada.

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

1912-1916. Acadia University.
1918. Toronto University.
1920-21. Oxford University.
1926–. Radcliffe College.

Fredericton High School. 1920,1922-23. English and History.
Moulton Ladies College, 1923. History and Latin.
Harvard. Assistant in Business History, 1927.

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

B.A. Acadia, 1916. Honors in Economics.

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your under-graduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc. In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)

History, 1 yr.
Economics and Sociology 3 yrs.
Greek and Latin, 4 yrs. each.
French and German, 1½ yrs each.
Philosophy, 1 yr.
Logic and Ethics, 1 yr.
Psychology, 1 yr..

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

Economics.

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory. S7a. Ec. 11. Courses at Toronto and Stanford (not registered).
  2. Labor Problems. Ec 34. Seminary at Toronto. Private reading..
  3. Socialism and Social Reconstruction. Ec. 7b. Private reading.
  4. Canadian History. Course at Toronto. Private reading. (Special Topic: The Settlement of New Brunswick). Teaching.
  5. [Sociology] Ec. 12. Course at Toronto. (Course credit).
  6. (Economic History since 1750) Ec 2. Ec 20. Course at Oxford. Assistant in Business History at Business School.

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Economic History since 1750.

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

The Genesis of the Civil Engineer. A Study in the Economic History of Great Britain, 1760-1830. Professor Gay..

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

April 28 or 30, 1930. General.
Special, Tues May 19/31

X. Remarks

Professors Gay, Ripley, Mason, [Dr.] Furber, Chamberlin

Special Committee:  Professors Gay, Usher, and Dr. Monroe

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] H. H. Burbank

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

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Esther Clark Wright

Approved: December 10, 1929

Ability to use French certified by Professor A. E. Monroe, March 8, 1930.

Ability to use German certified by Professor A. E. Monroe, November 6, 1930.

Date of general examination April 30, 1930. Passed (Edwin F. Gay, Chairman)

Thesis received April 1, 1931

Read by Professors Gay and Usher

Approved June 1, 1931.

Date of special examination Monday, June 8, 1931. Passed. (Edwin F. Gay, Chairman)

Recommended for the Doctorate June 4, 1931

Degree conferred  June 17, 1931

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

General Examination,
date and examiners requested
[carbon copy]

April 21, 1930.

Dear Sir:

Will it be possible for you to serve as a member of the committee for the general examination in Economics of Mrs. Esther Wright on Wednesday, April 30, at four o’clock? Mrs. Wright’s fields for this examination are:

  1. Economic Theory and its History.
  2. Labor Problems.
  3. Socialism and Social Reconstruction.
  4. Canadian History.

Mrs. Wright’s special field is Economic History since 1750 and she is offering course credit in Sociology.

The committee consists of Professors Gay (chairman), Chamberlin, Mason, Ripley, and Dr. Furber.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Change of thesis title
[carbon copy]

June 6, 1931

My dear Mrs. Wright:

Professor Gay has asked me to tell you that he would like you to change the title of your thesis to

The Genesis of the Civil Engineer in Great Britain

As it is desirable to have this done before the examination, could you attend to it on Monday? The thesis is in my office.

Very sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Radcliffe College

College Record of Mrs. Esther Clark Wright.
SUBJECT GRADE
1926-27 Course

Half-Course

Economics 2

A minus

 

SUBJECT GRADE
1927-28 2hf. Course

Half-Course

Economics 20″
Prof. Gay

A minus

 

SUBJECT GRADE
1928-29 Course

Half-Course

Economics 20
Prof. Gay

A minus
Economics 34″ A
Economics 7b” A

 

SUBJECT GRADE
1929-30 Course

Half-Course

Economics 11

Economics 12

A.B. Acadia University 1916

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1930-31. (UA V 453.270), Box 11.

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

1926-27

Economics 2. Economic History since the Industrial Revolution. Professor Gay.

1927-28

Economics 20. Economic Research. Professor Gay.

1928-29

Economics 20. Economic Research. Professor Gay.

Economics 34. Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley.

Economics 7b. Programs of Social Reconstruction. Asst. Professor E. S. Mason.

1929-30

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.

Economics 12. Some Fundamental Problems in Economic and Social Theory. Professor Carver.

Source: Radcliffe College Catalogue [for] 1926-27, 1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30.

_______________________

Some of her personal backstory

…After her undergraduate study at Acadia, she studied at the University of Toronto and then at Oxford. Her studies at Oxford were cut short after just one year by her younger brother’s illness, which ended his life in October 1921. It was on the journey back to Fredericton from Oxford that she met her future husband, Conrad Payling Wright.

The courtship between the two comprised largely of correspondence over the next two years and culminated in their marriage, in 1924, on the family farm outside of Fredericton. This was unusual at the time because her family held positions of esteem in the local congregation and thus they were expected to marry in a church. After marriage, Esther Clark Wright moved to California where her husband was studying at Stanford University. She soon discovered that she was unable to have children which, though devastating, enabled her to pursue her academic studies and research at liberty. She joined her husband at Stanford, and then following that she studied at Radcliffe (Harvard University), where she graduated with a PhD in economics in 1931.

Back in Fredericton, her father had risen through the political ranks, beginning as mayor of Fredericton and eventually becoming the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. He had also opened several car dealerships in anticipation of the coming demand for automobiles. Her family’s prosperity ensured that Wright never had to depend on any other income to maintain her material comfort and this enabled her to spend time pursuing her research. This also provided her with much more independence in marriage than her female contemporaries enjoyed. Her relationship with her husband was tumultuous with the two of them often maintaining separate residences throughout their sixty-five-year marriage….

Source: New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia website article “Esther Isabelle (Clark) Wright”.

__________________________

Esther Isabelle Clark Wright’s publications, 1914-1988.

__________________________

Esther Isabelle Clark Wright
Timeline of her life and career

1895. Born May 4 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

1916. B.A. Acadia University (Wolville, Nova Scotia). Honors in Economics.

1924. July 31. Married Conrad Payling Wright.

1931. Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. Dissertation: “The Genesis of the Civil Engineer in Great Britain, 1760-1830.”

1943-47. Lectured in sociology at Acadia University.

1975. Honorary D. Litt. awarded by Acadia University

1981. Honorary Ll.D. awarded by Dalhousie University.

1984. Honorary D. Litt. awarded by the University of New Brunswick.

1990. Died June 17

1990. Posthumously awarded Order of Canada. “A prolific author and respected scholar, her excellent research has been used by many students, historians and genealogists studying Maritime history, particularly the Loyalist migration, or tracing family roots.”

Image Source: Esther Isabelle Clark from the Acadia University Class of 1916 photo.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Transportation

Harvard. Railroad economics. Daggett, 1907-1908

Stuart Daggett (1881-1954) wrote his Harvard economics dissertation under William Z. Ripley and went on to become Professor of Transportation on the Flood Foundation at Berkeley.

While at Harvard Daggett co-taught the survey course on the economics of corporations with Ripley a couple of times and the economics of transportation with him several times. Daggett taught the course on railroad practice by himself which was offered for the first time 1906-07.

__________________________

Ph.D. Thesis

Stuart Daggett. A.B. [Harvard] 1903, A.M. [Harvard] 1904. Instructor in Economics. Ph.D. in Economics 1906. Thesis: Railroad Reorganization.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1905-1906, p. 147.

Railroad Reorganization by Stuart Daggett, Ph.D. Instructor in Economics in Harvard University. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1908.

__________________________

From the 1927 Berkeley Yearbook

A personal interest in the affairs and problems of the students enrolled in the College of Commerce has characterized the administration of Stuart Daggett, who was appointed Dean of that College in 1918.

Not only have individuals received assistance and encouragement from him, but many of the college organizations have benefited by his interest and suggestions. The Commercia, the monthly publication of the Commerce students, first moved from a needed storeroom in Budd Hall to a single desk in the Commerce office, and finally found a permanent home through the efforts of Dean Daggett. When the Physics Department was moved to its present quarters, leaving South Hall to be occupied by the Department of Economics and College of Commerce, the present Commerce Club Rooms building was being used as the physics machine shop. This Dean Daggett succeeded in procuring as an office for the Commercia, and as club rooms for the Commerce Association, the foremost social organization of the college. By some effort, the club house has been kept sacred to the students of the College of Commerce. During the campaign for Amendment 10, when the University was looking for some central location from which to conduct the drive, the Commerce Association offered the use of their rooms to President Campbell, thus furnishing a convenient location.

Dr. Daggett attended Harvard University, from which institution he received the degrees of A.B in 1903, and M.A. the next year, and a Ph.D. in 1906. He instructed in economics at the same university for two years after receiving the last degree. In 1909, he became an assistant professor on the University of California faculty; in 1913 was made associate professor; and finally, in 1917, became professor of railway economics on the Flood Foundation. The next year he succeeded Henry R. Hatfield as Dean of the College of Commerce.

Source: University of California, Berkeley. Blue and Gold 1927, p. 25.

__________________________

Railroad Practice
1907-08 

Course Enrollment
1907-08 

Economics 17 2hf. Dr. [Stuart] Daggett. — Railroad Practice.

Total 34: 2 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

ECONOMICS 17
Year-end Examination, 1907-08

  1. The following items appear on the balance sheet of a Boston & Maine agent located at one of that road’s junction points:—
    1. Advanced charges on freight forwarded.
    2. Prepaid charges on freight forwarded.
    3. Prepaid beyond on freight forwarded.
    4. Prepaid beyond on freight received.
    5. Cash remitted treasurer.
    6. Collect charges on freight received.
    7. Drafts on treasurer for advances.

Arrange the above to show the debits and credits to the agent. How would the charges on a collect shipment sent to an interior junction point, such as Nashua, be handled in the station accounts of that junction point?

  1. The following waybills from Providence, R.I., may have been reported to the Boston & Maine by the New Haven as representing freight turned over to the former at Boston for delivery to Boston & Maine stations:—
Destination Articles Weight Rate Freight Advance Prepaid
Portsmouth, N.H. Blackboards, boxed 30,000 16 $48.00 $4.00 $52.00
Portland, Me. Hods 20,000 19 38.00 2.00
North Adams, Mass. Lamps 5,000 30 15.00 3.00 8.00

Assume that the New Haven is entitled to one-half the through rate on (1), to one-third of the through rate on (2), and to one-quarter of the through rate on (3), and that settlements between the two roads have been made on this basis. It subsequently is discovered that the shipments reported never reached the Boston & Maine. What money must be refunded in each case, and to which road is the refund due?

  1. Suppose the shipments referred to in (2) had come to the Boston & Maine from the Maine Central or from the New York Central. Could the same mistake have occurred? If from the Maine Central, how would the balances between the handling roads have been ascertained and settled? Explain fully.
  2. How would a car record have been kept if the shipment had been between two points on the Great Northern Railway? How if the shipment had been of manifest fast freight on the Illinois Central Railroad?
  3. At what speed, according to some recent estimates, could this freight most economically have been handled? Explain the way the estimates were arrived at, and discuss the principal elements of cost due to high speed.
  4. How might the shipment have been handled after its arrival
    1. at the terminal yards at point of destination;
    2. at the terminal station?

Draw a diagram of an infreight and of an outfreight house, and explain the reasons for any difference in construction.

  1. Would the shipment between Providence and Portland have come under the jurisdiction of any railroad traffic association? Describe the organization and scope of
    1. The American Railway Association;
    2. The Southeastern Freight Association;
    3. The Western Classification Committee?
  2. How far do the arguments for demurrage charges justify the imposition of reciprocal demurrage charges? Describe
    1. The method by which demurrage charges are kept watch of and collected.
    2. The present situation in the matter of reciprocal demur-rage.
  1. Analyze the statistics of accidents on railways in the United States. What measures have been taken to reduce accidents, and with what results?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 41-43.

Image Source: University of California, Berkeley. Blue and Gold 1927, p. 25. Colorized at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization

Harvard. Final exam and enrollment. Economics of Corporations. Ripley and Daggett, 1907-1908

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, / Whose progeny here are presented by Pughe. / She petted and pampered and coddled the brats, / And guarded her brood from the bad Democrats

Below you will find the final exam from the second half of William Z. Ripley’s sequence on organized labor and organized capital offered at Harvard in 1907-08. Economics 9b, Economics of Corporations, was devoted to the economics of corporations.

________________________

Other Corporations/Industrial Organization Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Economics of Corporations, 1903-1904.

Economics of Corporations, 1904-05 (with Vanderveer Custis)

Economics of Corporations, 1906-07 (with Stuart Daggett]

Economics of Corporations, 1914-1915.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1907-08

Economics 9b 2hf. Professor [William Zebina] Ripley, assisted by Dr. [Stuart] Daggett. — Economics of Corporations.

Total 115: 8 Graduates, 15 Seniors, 58 Juniors, 26 Sophomores, 3 Freshman, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

__________________________

Course Readings

Cases for the course are most certainly found in Trusts, Pools and Corporations (1905), edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley. From the series of Volumes Selections and Documents in Economics, edited by William Z. Ripley published by Ginn and Company, Boston.

________________________

ECONOMICS 9b
Year-end Examination, 1907-08

  1. What are the three distinct aspects of the problem of price fixing under monopoly in the United States? Which is the most serious, and why?
  2. What did the “Tobacco Trust” do in England to gain control of the market? Describe the episode in detail.
  3. Was the Supreme Court decision in Hopkins v. United States favorable to the government or not? What was the point raised?
  4. State, in not over ten words in each case, the significant feature of the history of the following industrial combinations, viz:—
    1. The International Mercantile Marine Co.
    2. The Royal Baking Powder Co.
    3. The American Malting Co.
    4. The American Ice Co.
    5. The Asphalt Co. of America.
  5. A certain commodity is native in origin, heavy, low grade, cheap, a necessity of life; another is native in origin but not abundant enough for the domestic demand, readily transported, of high grade when finished, selling at a high price, and half a luxury. Which of the two could the more easily be “monopolized” by an industrial combination? If any important factor, in determining this likelihood, has been omitted in the above description, add it.
  6. How are corporations taxed in Massachusetts? What changes were made in the law of 1903, and with what effect?
  7. In the determination of net profits before declaration of dividends, what factors have to be considered? State briefly a case or two.
  8. State what seem to you basic propositions concerning the relation of the tariff to industrial combination; with illustrations if possible.
  9. What is the most important economy incident to production under monopoly of the market, as distinct from mere large-scale production.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 34-35.

Image Source: This illustration shows an old woman labeled “Monopoly Tariff” sitting next to an old shoe labeled “Special Privilege”, around which a number of children are playing; they all represent a “Trust” and are labeled “Tool, Steel, Copper, Lumber, Sugar, Rubber, Beef, Coal, Tobacco, Clothing, Watch, Leather, Paper, [and] Linen”. The centerfold from Puck (March 25, 1908) was by John S. Pughe. Image from the Library of Congress digital image collection.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Labor

Harvard. Exam for Problems of Labor. Ripley with Lauren Carroll assisting, 1907-08

 

Problems of labor constituted the first semester of William Zebina Ripley’s sequence on organized labor and capital. Trade unions were the focus of his labor course and corporations during the second semester.

His teaching assistant, Lauren Carroll, was a recent Harvard undergraduate who was to go on to Harvard Law School. A few details regarding Carroll’s life and subsequent career are included below.

The principal artifact for this post is the final examination for the course.

__________________________

Ripley’s teaching assistant:
Lauren Carroll

Lauren Carroll was appointed at the rank of assistant in economics. Boston Evening Transcript (Nov. 16, 1908), p. 12.

1886: born July 16 in Manhattan, New York City.
1906: A.B. Harvard College
1911: married Akrata von Schrader July 19.
1909: LL.B. Harvard Law School
1945: died in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Self-Report for the 15th anniversary
of the Harvard Class of 1906

At the time of our Decennial I was practicing law in New York City as a member of the firm of Gould and Wilkie. I was also serving my second term as a member of the New York Board of Aldermen. A rather diverse number of businesses required my attention after the death of my father in December, 1916, and finally compelled me to resign from the Board of Aldermen in the Summer of 1917. I continued my activity in the Republican Organization, however, and later served two terms as president of my Assembly District Republican Club, which has a membership of 1500 men and women.
Soon after the United States entered the Great War, the work of organizing the sale of Liberty Bonds over the counters of retail stores throughout Greater New York fell to my lot because my law firm represented several of the large department stores. This took practically all of my time during the 1st and 2d Liberty Loans. In December, 1917 I made a trip through Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa and the Dakotas, for the purpose of assisting in the formation of War Savings Stamp organizations in those states. From February until May, 1918 I worked in the Publicity Department of the New York Liberty Loan Committee. I had charge of outdoor advertising in our Federal Reserve District during the 3d Loan, and at the same time supervised the newspaper advertising of the Department Stores Committee.
After the 3d Loan I was appointed Executive Secretary of the Capital Issues Committee for the New York Federal Reserve District. During the next six months our committee passed on many hundred different security issues submitted to it by private and public corporations. The various issues of stocks and bonds considered by the committee in our district aggregated nearly two billion dollars in par value. The above work naturally took me entirely away from the practice of law, and when the Capital Issues Committee disbanded some six weeks after the Armistice, I decided to take advantage of an opportunity to continue in the financial world with Messrs. Brown Brothers & Co. The business of that banking firm has brought me to the city of Brussels on this glorious Sunday afternoon, which finds me writing a dull summary of the past when we might be sipping Porto Rouge on the boulevards.
Member: University Club; Union League Club; Harvard Club of New York; Bar Association of the city of New York; National Republican Club; Harvard Club of Boston.

Source: Harvard Class of 1906. Quindecennial Report (1921), p. 61.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Obituary

Lauren Carroll, lawyer, businessman and civic leader of New York City, and the father of Miss Kyra Carroll, an official of the local Red Cross organization, died on Wednesday in a nursing home at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., after an eight-month illness. He was 58.
A strong advocate after World War I of American entry into the League of Nations, he had in recent years supported the idea of world cooperation. He served as chairman of the New York State Committee for World Federation and in 1943 presided at a “Win the Peace” rally at Carnegie Hall.
In addition to the foregoing, another daughter, Miss Rosemary Carroll, a member of the staff of the OWI in London, and his wife, Mrs. Akrata von S. Carroll, are surviving.
Funeral services were held yesterday in Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York.

Source: Press of Atlantic City, 31 March 1945, p. 2

__________________________

Problems of Labor:
previous semesters

1902-03
1903-04
1904-05
1905-06
1906-07

__________________________

Course Enrollment

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Carroll. — Problems of Labor.

Total 67: 5 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 24 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

__________________________

ECONOMICS 9a
Mid-Year Examination, 1907-08

  1. What is the difference between a “jurisdiction” and a “demarcation” dispute? Illustrate.
  2. Does the New Zealand or the Victorian legislation interfere more with the personal freedom of the individual workman? State concisely in what respects this holds good.
  3. Based on Massachusetts’ experience, what compensation in respect of production is alleged to have followed the progressive shortening of the hours of labor? Are any unforeseen social results possible if this be continued?
  4. What are the main provisions of the Canadian Act of 1907 concerning trades disputes?
  5. What if any is a possible defect in it, as of any similar legislation? Has Australia any experience of value concerning this matter?
  6. What is Webb’s attitude toward Employers’ Liability Laws? Outline his main argument.
  7. Would Workmen’s Compensation Acts meet this argument or not?
  8. When was Government insurance adopted in Germany—approximately? What political objects were in view? Have these been realized?
  9. State in three distinct propositions, what in your own opinion, are the principal defects of American trades unionism of the present day. What remedy for each, if any, may be suggested?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1907-08.

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