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Harvard. Law and Economics. Syllabus and Exams. Wyman, 1901-1902

 

In addition to a course in accounting that was introduced into the undergraduate curriculum at Harvard for students expecting to go on into business, the following course taught by a young Law School lecturer, Bruce Wyman (b. 15 June 1875; d. 21 June 1926) was offered to provide future businessmen an overview of commercial and trade law. Students expecting to go to study law were explicitly not encouraged to take the course.

The post begins with the long personal report Wyman wrote about his life and career for the 25th anniversary of his Harvard Class of 1896. A long description, enrollment figures, syllabus, and final exam questions for his 1901-1902 course “Principles of Law in their Application to Industrial Problems” provide the sort of content that Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is proudest of.

We encountered Bruce Wyman in an earlier post. Harvard President Lowell complained about Wyman’s course in the economics department having too soft a grade distribution (making it a “snap” course). Also we discover the somewhat scandalous circumstances that led to Wyman’s forced resignation of his Harvard Law professorship in December 1913.

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Bruce Wyman
1921 report to Class of 1896

BORN at Boston, Mass., June 15, 1876. Son of Ferdinand A., Harriet A. (Bruce) Wyman.

PREPARED AT Chauncy Hall School, Boston, Mass.

YEARS IN COLLEGE: 1893-96. DEGREES: A.B.; A.M. 1897; LL.B. 1900.

MARRIED: Mary Ethel Andrews, June 30, 1902, Cambridge, Mass. CHILDREN: Andrews, Oct. 3, 1905; Rosemary, Dec. 8, 1908.

OCCUPATION: Counselor at Law and Professor of Law.

ADDRESS: (business) 617-619 Old South Bldg., Boston, Mass.; (home) 15 Winnetaska Road, Waban, Mass.

WHILE the blank for my Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report has been on my desk for months, in my file of matters requiring attention immediately, but always buried by other demands more pressing, I have from time to time asked other members of the class what they regarded as most characteristic of the Twenty-fifth year, and we all agreed that it was the busiest year. We were all of us still endeavoring to do everything to which we had become devoted successively during these years, notwithstanding all the accumulation of our interests; but we realized that in this year we were reaching the climax of what is possible in view of what some one has called the central tragedy of existence, that there are only three hundred and sixty-five days to the year. And hereafter, we appreciated that we must soon be withdrawing from one activity after another as we grew older; just at present, therefore, I seem to be driven by what I must do next, although I look forward to the time when I may begin to choose what I will prefer to do.

Among all the things of interest to me in the years that I was a student at Harvard, getting my A.B. (Summa Cum), A.M. (Final Honors) and LL. B. (Cum Laude), I had thought in that youthful pursuit of scholastic honors that it would be impossible for me to be busier ever again in my life. But when in 1900 upon final graduation I was admitted to the Massachusetts bar and was appointed a lecturer at the Harvard Law School, I found, as we were taught in psychology, that there are powers of man in reserve which may be drawn upon far beyond apparent capacity. Ever since that year I have been engaged both in the practice of law as an art and the teaching of it as a science, endeavoring at times to approximate the impossibility of devoting all of my time to both. The proportions in this have varied — in the first ten years being principally a professor and incidentally a consultant, and now actively a practitioner and incidentally a lecturer. But, fortunately, in either case I have found the vocation more interesting than the avocation.

In these twenty years of teaching, principally at the Harvard Law School and the Law School of University of Chicago, incidentally in the Department of Economics of Harvard College and the School of Engineering of Harvard University, and especially in the Blackstone Institute of Chicago and the Portia Law School of Boston, I have taught the subjects of private business corporation and public service companies, combinations in restraint of trade, administrative law of regulating commissions, contracts and sales, suretyship and mortgage, wills and deeds, conflict of laws and constitutional law. And in all of this I have had the incalculable advantage of discussing these subjects as they have developed in this country with thousands of students.

During this time I have written much on the subjects of the law with which I have identified myself, largely concerning legal control of economic activity, particularly with regard to public utilities and business combinations. Altogether my writings cover some ten thousand pages, in preparation for which I have examined for citation over a hundred thousand decisions. Certain of my treatises of these subjects have come to be regarded as standard, being repeatedly cited by courts and commissions and in briefs and in arguments. The Railroad Rate Regulation in its second edition is used by traffic officials and regulating bodies throughout the country; and the Public Service Companies in its third edition is used in the class room in some twenty five law schools in the United States. Such authority as these books have attained I believe is due quite as much to my experience in practice as to my work in libraries.

My practice has been unusually interesting. I have been at times counsel for most of the New England railway lines and for many of the coastwise navigation companies in a great variety of cases involving important matters of policy; and I have occasionally acted for Western railways and terminals. Recently, I have been more actively engaged as counsel for other public utilities, particularly gas and electric companies in New England and the Central States, and especially concerned with hydro-electric constructions and fuel gas developments. I am at present associated with the management of certain of these and with banking houses that control groups of utilities. And general corporation practice is almost as varied as American affairs; so in the course of years I find myself for a time being in almost every kind of business. For instance, among the papers on my desk at this writing are organizations for a commercial finance company, a national trading syndicate, a chemical works, a textile plant, a chain of hotels and a pulp wood domain.

From the field in which I have specialized I have been called upon for civic services at various times. For a Governor of our Commonwealth, I drafted a Public Service Commission Bill for which I spoke throughout the State. For the National Civic Federation, I acted as counsel for a Committee on Public Utilities in getting together a volume including all of the Commission Laws under analytical headings. For the Directors of the Port of Boston, I have made a report on switching rights looking toward unified terminals. And I later drafted a plan upon which a conference of the Governors of New England upon railroad consolidation was based. I am a member of the Newton Republican City Committee, and I have attended conventions as a delegate.

The stethoscope kept me out of the war; but as a legal adviser to our Draft Board, I saw to it that every lad who belonged there went in. By the chances of practice I am often called upon by national associations and commercial bodies to represent the community in bringing about adjustments with utilities. And I can seldom resist an invitation, sufficiently urged, to speak before associations and conferences, clubs and unions, trade banquets and college commencements. I have taken my part in the drives of recent years, and I have served on boards of charities. For the thesis I am here defending, describing myself without modesty as exemplification, is that it is only by living strenuously that one may enjoy many lives within the span allotted to one.

There is not much left for me to add to all this unblushing autobiography, except those things more personal which round out a life as full as mine. My family becomes increasingly interesting to me, with my son at sixteen just completing his preparation for college and my daughter at twelve just beginning hers. It has been a matter of congratulation to me that I can still scan Virgil and extract cube root, so that I have not yet reached the age where I will be looked down upon by them. A few years ago, after much searching, we bought a long colonial farm house out in Waban on the river, which my wife and I, without architects or decorators, rebuilt and furnished consistently with its style (as you may see from the photographs of it in the files of House Beautiful), into a home to which we hope the children will ever return for the anniversaries of the years to come. The country clubs of the neighborhood provide us with all our outdoor and indoor sports.

My practice in organizing and reorganizing corporations and passing upon their bond issues and financial adjustments gives me the opportunity at times to travel about the United States and to foreign countries and keeps me in touch with lawyers in the large cities and the affairs of the world. With the five thousand Harvard men that I have known in the twenty years that I was at the university as undergraduate and graduate, instructor and professor, I hardly ever go upon a train or steamboat or stop at a hotel or club in these journeyings and conferences, where I do not happen upon some one I have known at college, so that I have come to realize as most of us do the acquaintance one makes in college is the best of all one gains thereby.

Source: Harvard College Class of 1896. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report (1921), pp. 658-662.

Publications of Bruce Wyman

Books:

Cases on public service companies, public carriers, public works and other public utilities.(With J. H. Beale.) Cambridge, Harv. Law Review Publ. Assoc., 1902: — 2d ed., Ibid ., 1909: — 3d ed. , Ibid ., 1920.

Cases on restraint of trade. Cambridge, Harv. Law Review Publ. Assoc., 1902-04 . 5 pt. [Part 1 (second edition); Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5]

The principles of the administrative law governing the relations of public officers. St. Paul, Keefe-Davidson, 1903.

A selection of cases on mortgages. Cambridge, Harv. Law Review Publ. Assoc., 1903: — 2d ed., Ibid ., 1903: – revised ed., 1906.

The law of railroad rate regulation. (With J. H. Beale.) Boston, W.J. Nagel, 1906: — 2d ed., New York, Bake , Voorhis, 1915.

Control of the market; a solution of the trust problem. New York, Moffat, Yard, 1911.

The special law governing public service corporations. New York, Baker, Voorhis, 1911. 2 vol. [Volume I; Volume II]

Cases on engineering contracts, a selection from Cases on the Law of Contracts, ed. by Samuel Williston. Boston, Little, Brown, 1904.

Articles:

Equity. Cyclopædia of Government and Law, 1913.

Unfair competition. Annals of American Academy, 1913.

Monopolies. Cyclopædia of Law and Procedure, 1914.

Public service companies. Modern American Law, 1915.

Together with some twenty-five magazine articles on law, economics, government and politics in the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Green Bag, Railway Age Gazette and Boston Transcript, 1901-1921. 

Source: Harvard College Class of 1896. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report (1921), p. 714.

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Course Description
ECONOMICS 21
1901-1902

For Undergraduates and Graduates

Principles of Law in their Application to Industrial Problems. Three times a week. Mr. Wyman.

Course 21 considers certain rules of the law governing the conduct of modern trade and the organization of modern industry. The course is designed especially for students who mean to enter business life, and who wish to secure some contact with the law and some understanding of its methods, such as will be of service in a business career. As it deals with the course of adjudication and legislation on questions of special importance in the economic development of modern times, it will also be of advantage to those who wish to equip themselves for the intelligent discussion of questions having both legal and economic aspects.

In the one part of the course will be considered the law governing certain combinations of capital and of labor. It will be seen what contracts in restraint of trade are considered in violation of the common law, and what it has been attempted to prevent by statutes. It will also appear what action by such combinations is held to be a tort at common law, and what it has been proposed to make so by legislation. It will further be discussed what combinations to control the market are crimes by common law and by statute. The limits to be placed upon competition in trade and the demarcation to be drawn between fraudulent and permitted dealing will be the final subject in this part of the course. The object will be at once to give the students training in the methods of legal reasoning, and to inform them regarding the main principles involved.

In the other part of the course will be considered the general question raised by the association of men for the carrying on of business. This will require a study of the main principles involved in the various forms of the corporation. The stress will be laid upon the conception of the association as an entity, and the liabilities and capacities of the officers and stockholders. It will be considered how far the industrial organism may be affected by judicial decision and by legislation; what tendencies are manifested by the courts; and what policies appear on the part of the legislatures. The object will be to equip the student for better understanding of questions he will meet in a business career, and of the public problems presented by the growth of this form of organization.

The conduct of the course will be by the reading and discussion of selected cases from the law reports and of the text of typical statutes and bills.

Course 21 is open to Seniors and Graduates who have taken Economics 1. Those who propose to study law as a profession are not advised to take it.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science (June 21, 1901), University Publications, New Series, No. 16, pp. 47-48.

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Course Enrollment
1901-1902
ECONOMICS 21

Economics 21. Mr. Wyman. — Principles of Law in their Application to Industrial Problems.

Total 33: 24 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 78.

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Syllabus
ECONOMICS 21
CASES ON COMMERCIAL LAW

FIRST TOPIC. — COMPETITION

I. To What Extent Competition Is Allowed

(A) Free Competition

Schoolmasters Case, Y. B. 11 H. 4, 47. A.679
Pudsey Gas Co. v. Bradford, L. R. 15 Eq. 167.

(B) Unfree Competition

Hix v. Gardner, 2 Bulstrode, 115.
B. & L. R. R. v. S. & L. R. R., 2 Gray, 1.

II. By What Methods Competition Is Allowed

(A) Fair Competition

Snowden v. Noah, Hopkins Ch. 347.
Parson v. Gillipsee, 1898, A. C. 239.
Choynski v. Cohen, 39 Cal. 501.
Tallerman v. Dowsing Co., 1900, 1 Ch. 1.
Ayer v. Rushton, 7 Daly, 9.
Johnson v. Hitchcock, 15 Johns. 185. A. 634
White v. Mellen, 1895, A. C. 154.
Ajello v. Worsley, 1898, 1 Ch. 274.
Young v. Hickens, 6 Q. B. 606.
Walsh v. Dwight, 40 App. Div. 513.
Manufacturers Co. v. Longley, 20 R. 1. 87.

(B) Unfair Competition

  1. By inducing persons dealing with another to commit a breach of legal duty to him.

Hart v. Aldridge, Cowp. 54. A. 584.
Boston Glass Manuf. v. Binney, 4 Pick. 425.
Lumley v. Gye, 2 E. & B. 216. A. 600.
Bowen v. Hall, L. R. 6 Q. B. D. 333. A. 613.
Laly v. Cantwell, 30 Mo. App. 524.
Ashley v. Dixon, 48 N. Y. 430.
Chambers v. Baldwin, 91 Ky. 121.
Heaton Co. v. Dick, 55 Fed. 23.
N. C. & L. R. R. v. McConnell, 82 Fed. 65.

  1. By influencing persons dealing another who owe no legal duty to him.

a. By fraud.

Blofield v. Payne, 4 B. & A. 410. A. 635.
Coates v. Holbrook, 2 Sandf. Ch. 586.
Materne v. Horwitz, 18 Jones & Sp. 41.
Sawyer Co. v. Hubbard, 32 Fed. 388.
Morgan v. Wendover, 43 Fed. 420.
Wamsutta Mills v. Fox, 49 Fed. 141.
Cook v. Ross, 73 Fed. 203.
Van Camp v. Cruikshank, 90 Fed. 814.
Lawrence Co. v. Tenn Co., 138 U. S. 537.
Johnson v. Ewing, 7 A. C. 219.
Stone v. Carlan, 13 Law Reporter, 360. A. 630.
Boulnois v. Peake, 13 Ch. D. 513 N.
Birmingham Co. v. Powell, 1897, A. C. 710.
National Co. v. Baker, 95 Fed. 135.
Croft v. Day, 7 Beav. 84.
Baker Co. v. Saunders, 80 Fed. 889.
Singer Co. 2. June Co., 163 U. S. 88.
Brewery Co. v. Brewery Co., 1898, 1 Ch. 539.
Canal Co. v. Clark, 13 Wall. 11.
Wotherspoon v. Currie, L. R. 5 H. L. 508.
Waltham Co. v. U. S. Co., 173 Mass. 85.
Reddaway v. Banham, 1896, A. C. 199.
Ratcliffe v. Evans, 1892, 2 Q. B. 524. A. 642.
Rice v. Manley, 67 N. Y. 82. A. 663.
Hughes v. McDonough, 43 N. J. 459. A. 666.

b. By disparagement.

(1) Of person.

Harmon v. Delaney, 2 Str. 898.
Secor v. Harris, 18 Barb. 425. A. 406.
Davy v. Davy, 50 N. Y. S. 161.
Harmon v. Falle, L. R. 4 A. C. 247. A. 640.
Morassee v. Brochu, 151 Mass. 567. A. 652.
Australian Co. v. Bennett, 1894, A. C. 284.
Paris v. Levy, 9 C. B. (n.s.) 342.
Boynton v. Shaw Co., 146 Mass. 221.
Bradstreet Co. v. Gill, 72 Tex. 496.

(2) Of goods.

American Co. v. Gates, 85 Fed. 729.
Jenner v. A’beckett, L. R. 7 Q. B. D. 11.
Malachy v. Soper, 3 Bing. N. C. 371. A. 677.
Young v. Macrae, 3 B. & S. 634.
Western Co. v. Lawes Co., L. R. 9 Exch. 218. A. 623.
Hubbuck v. Wilkinson, 1899, 1 Q. B. 86.
Lubricating Co. v. Oil Co., 42 Hun. 153.
Hatchard v. Mege, L. R. 18 Q. B. D. 771. A. 625.
Lewin v. Welsbach Co., 81 Fed. 904.

c. By coercion.

(1) With force.

Garret v. Taylor, Cr. Jac. 567. A. 675.
Keeble v. Hickeringill, 11 East, 574 n. A. 678.
Tarleton v. McCauley, Peake, 205. A. 678.
Higgins v. O’Donnell, Ir. R. 4 C. L. 91.
Walker v. Cronin, 107 Mass. 555. A. 694.

(2) Without force.

Royalston Bank v. Suffolk Bank, 27 Vt. 505.
Fallon v. Schilling, 29 Kans. 292. A. 729.
Heywood v. Tillson, 75 Me. 225. A. 707.
Crawford v. Wick, 18 Oh. St. 190.
Graham v. St. R. R., 47 La. Ann. 214.
Robinson v. Texas Land Assoc., 40 S. W. 843.
Dels v. Winfree, 80 Tex. 400. A. 704.
Mogul S. S. Co. v. McGregor, L.R. 23 Q.B.D.598. A. 680.
Allen v. Flood, 1898, A. C. 1.

SECOND TOPIC. — CONTRACT IN RESTRAINT OF TRADE

I. Agreement in Total Restraint of Competition

(A) When unreasonable — principal contract

Claygate v. Batchelor, Owen 143.
Toby v. Major, 43 Sol. J. 778.
Oliver v. Gilmore, 52 Fed. 563.
Ice Co. v. Williams, 28 So. 669.
Perkins v. Lyman, 9 Mass. 521.
Presbury v. Bennet, 18 Mo. 50.
Oakes v. Water Co., 143 N. Y. 430.

(B) When reasonable — ancilliary contract

Mitchell v. Reynolds, 1 P. WMS. 181.
Whitney v. Slayton, 40 ME. 224.
Alger v. Thacher, 19 Pick. 51.
Herreschoff v. Boutineau, 17 R. I. 3.
Lufkin Co. v. Frengeli, 57 Oh. St. 596.
Diamond Co. v. Roeber, 106 N. Y. 473.
Baker v. Hedgecock, L. R. 39 Ch. D. 520.
Mills v. Dunham, 1891, 1 Ch. 301.
Mandeville v. Harmon, 42 N. J. Eq. 185.
Nordenfeldt v. Maxim Co., 1894, A. C. 535.
Rogers v. Drury, 57 L. J. Ch. 504.

II. Agreement in Partial Restraint of Competition

(A) When unreasonable — suppression of competition

King v. Maynard, Cro. Car. 231.
Raymond v. Leavitt, 46 Mich. 447.
Young v. Timmins, 1 Cromp. & Jer. 331.
Acheson v. Mallon, 43 N. Y. 147.
Jones v. North, L. R. 19 Eq. 426.
Ch. R. R. v. W. R. R., 61 Fed. 993.
Anderson v. Jett, 89 Ky. 375.
L. R. R. v. St. L. R. R., 63 Fed. 775.
Sandford v. R. R., 24 Pa. 378.
Cravens v. Rodgers, 101 Mo. 247.
State v. Portland Co., 153 Ind. 483.
Thompson 2. Harvey, 1 Show. 2.
Pacific Co. v. Adler, 90 Cal. 110.
Richards v. Desk Co., 87 Wis. 503.
Texas Co. v. Adoue, 83 Tex. 650.
Brigham v. Brands, 119 Mich. 255.

(B) When reasonable — regulation of competition

Freemantle v. Throwsters, 1 Lev. 229.
Stovell v. McCutcheon, 54 S. W. 969.
Crystal Co. v. Brewing Assn., 8 Tex. Civ. 1.
Jones v. Lees, 1 H. & N. 189.
Bowling v. Taylor, 40 Fed. 104.
Heaton Co. v. Specialty Co., 77 Fed. 298.
Wickens v. Evans, 3 Younge & Jerv. 318.
Fowle v. Parke, 131 U. S. 88.
National Co. v. Union Co. 45 Minn. 272.
Collins v. Locke, L. R. 4 A. C. 674.
Gloucester Co. v. Russia Co., 154 Mass. 92.
Clarke v. Frank, 17 Mo. App. 602.
Long v. Towle, 42 Mo. 545.
Walsh v. Dwight, 40 N. Y. App. D. 513.
Catt v. Towle, L. R. 4 Ch. App. 654.
Van Mater v. Babcock, 23 Barb. 633.
Altman v. Royal Acquarium, L. R. 3 Ch. D. 228.
Printing Co. v. Sampson, L. R. 19 Eq. 462.
N. Y. Co. v. Brown, 61 N. J. 536.
Keith v. Optical Co., 48 Ark. 138.
Hounk v. Wright, 77 Miss. 476.
Welch v. Windmill Co., 89 Tex. 653.

THIRD TOPIC. — COMBINATION

I. Combination of Labor

(A) To what extent combination is forbidden

1. When unreasonable restraint

R. v. Journeymen Tailors, 8 Mod. 10.
P. v. Fisher, 14 Wend. 9.
C. v. Carlisle, Brightly 36.
R. v. Bykerdyke, 1 M. & Rob. 179.
R. v. Hewitt, 5 Cox C. C. 162.
Curran v. Gallen, 152 N.Y. 33.
Knights of Labor v. Laborers’ Union, 60 N.Y. Sup. 388.
Lucke v. Assembly, 77 Md. 396.
Plant v. Woods, 176 Mass. 492.

2. When unfair competition

Gunmakers v. Fell, Willes, 384.
R. v. Hibbert, 13 Cox C. C. 82.
R. v. Parnell, 14 Cox C. C. 508.
Dominion S. S. Co. v. McKenna, 30 Fed. 48.
Sherry v. Perkins, 147 Mass. 212.
Crump v. C. 84 Va. 927.
Delz v. Winfree, 80 Tex. 400.
Temperton v. Russell, 1893, 1 Q. B. 715.
U. S. v. Elliot, 62 Fed. 801.
Elder v. Whitesides, 72 Fed. 724.
Murdock v. Walker, 152 Pa. 595.
Vegelahn v. Guntner, 167 Mass. 92.
Doremus v. Hennessey, 176 Ill. 608.
Glass Mfgrs. v. Bottle Blowers, 59 N. J. Eq. 49.
Quinn v. Leatham, 1901, A. C. 495.

(B) To what extent combination is permitted

1. When reasonable restraint

Freemantle v. Silk Throwsters, 1 Lev. 229.
C. v. Hunt, 4 Met. 111.
Snow v. Wheeler, 113 Mass. 179.
Righy v. Connol, L. R. 14 Ch. D. 482.
Meyer v. Stone Cutters, 47 N. J. Eq. 519.
Clemmit v. Watson, 14 Ind. App. 38.

2. When fair competition

Kirkham v. Shawcross, 6 T. R. 103.
R. v. Shepard, 11 Cox C. C. 375.
Rogers v. Evarts, 17 N.Y. Sup. 264.
Coons v. Chrystie, 53 N. Y. Sup. 668.
Vegelahn v. Gunter, 167 Mass. 92.
Lyons v. Wilkins, 67 L. J. Ch. 383.
Tube Co. v. Allied Mechanics, 7 Oh. N. P. 87.
Krebs v. Rosenstein, 66 N. Y. Sup. 42.
Allen v. Flood, 1898, A. C. 1.

II. Combination of Capital.

(A) To what extent combination is forbidden

1. When unreasonable restraint

Anon. 12 Mod. 248.
Cousins v. Smith, 13 Ves. 542.
Bagging Assn. v. Koch, 14 La Ann. 168.
Arnot v. Coal Co., 68 N. Y. 558.
Salt Co. v. Guthrie, 35 Oh. St. 666.
Moore v. Bennet, 140 Ill. 69.
Umston v. Whitelegg, 63 L. T. 455.
Hester v. Brewing Co. 161 Pa. 480.
U. S. v. Joint Traffic Assn., 171 U. S. 505.
Addystone Pipe Co. v. U. S., 175 U. S. 211.
The Wiswall, 86 Fed. 671.
U. S. v. Fuel Co., 105 Fed. 93.
Cummings v. Bluestone Assn., 164 N. Y. 401.

2. When unfair competition

Davenant v. Hurdis, Moore, 576.
Hilton v. Eckersly, 6 E. & B. 47.
Craft v. McConoughy, 79 Ill. 346.
Mattison v. Railway, 3 Oh. Dec. 526.
Olive v. Van Patten, 7 Tex. Civ. App. 630.
Dueber Co. v. Noyes, 21 N. Y. Sup. 341.
P. V. Duke, 44 N. Y. Sup. 336.
Hartnett v. Plumbers’ Assn., 169 Mass. 229.
Bailey v. Plumbers’ Assn., 103 Tenn. 99.
U. S. v. Coal Dealer’s Assn., 85 Fed. 252.
Ertz v. Produce Exchange, 79 Minn. 149.

(B) To what extent combination is permitted

1. When reasonable restraint

R. v. Harrison, 3 Burr, 1322.
Jones v. Fell, 5 Fla. 510.
Ontario Co. v. Merchants Co., 18 Grant Ch. 540.
Skranka v. Scharringhaussen, 8 Mo. App. 522.
Collins v. Locke, L. R. 7 A. C. 674.
Livestock Assn. v. Levy, 54 N. Y. Supr. Ct. 32.
Mogul S. S. Co. v. McGregor, L. R. 23 Q. B. D. 598.
Good v. Daland, 121 N. Y. 1.
U. S. v. Nelson, 52 Fed. 646.
Herriman v. Menzies. 115 Cal. 16.

2. When fair competition

Kirkham v. Shawcross, 6 T. R. 103.
Orr v. Insurance Co. 12 La Ann. 255.
Bowen v. Matheson, 14 Allen, 499.
Ladd v. Cotton Press, 53 Tex. 172.
Mogul S. S. Co. v. McGregor, L. R. 23 Q. B. D. 598.
McCauley v. Tierney, 19 R. I. 255.
Brewster v. Miller. 101 Ky. 368.
Boots Co. v. Grundy. 82 L. T. 769.

FOURTH TOPIC. — THE CORPORATION

I. The Nature of the Corporation

(A) The idea of the corporation

1. Definition of the corporation

Liverpool Ins. Co. v. Mass., 10 Wall, 566. S. 1.
Thomas v. Dakin, 22 Wend. 9. S. 4.
Gifford v. Livingstone, 2 Denio, 395. S. 20.
Carr v. Inglehart, 30 Oh. 457. S. 875.
Trustees v. Flint, 13 Metc. 539. S. 876.
Moyer v. Slate Co., 71 Pa. 293. S. 883.

2. Distinction between corporation and shareholders

Waring v. Cataba Co., 2 Bay, 109. S. 39.
Foster v. Commissioners, 1894, 1 Q. B. 516. S. 40.
Williamson v. Smoot, 7 Martin, 31. S. 24.
Burton v. Hoffman, 61 Wis. 20. S. 33.
Moore etc. Co. v. Towers etc. Co., 87 Ala. 206. S. 45.
Salomon v. Salomon Co., 1897, A. C. 22. S. 1143.
Montgomery v. Forbes, 148 Mass. 249. S. 94.
P. v. England, 27 Hun. 139. S. 593.
Sandford v. McArthur, 13 B. Mon. 413. S. 600.

(B) The body corporate

1. Organization of the corporation

Franklin Bridge Co. v. Wood, 14 Ga. 80. S. 65.
State v. Dawson, 16 Ind. 40. S. 69.
Newcomb v. Reed, 12 Allen, 362. S. 77.
Finnegan v. Noerenberg, 52 Minn. 239. S. 87.
Rutherford v. Hill, 22 Ore. 218. S. 109.
Slocum v. Warren, 10 R. I. 116. S. 134.
Bank v. Silk Co., 3 Metc. 287. S. 138.

2. Funds of the corporation

Russell v. Temple, 3 Dane Abr. 108. S. 23.
White v. Salisbury, 33 Mo. 150. S. 1069.
C. v. Crompton, 137 Pa. 138. S. 1073.
Music v. Corey, 129 Mass. 435. S. 1120.
Bank v. Paper Co., 19 R. I. 139. S. 221.
Curries Case, 3 De G., J. & S. 367. S. 817.
Coit v. Gold Amalgamating Co., 119 U. S. 343. S. 839.
Malting Co. v. Brewing Co., Minn. S. 831.
Handley v. Stutz. 139 U. S. 417. S. 844.
Harger v. McCullogh, 2 Denio, 119. S. 839.
Taft v. H. P. & F. R. Co., 8 R. I. 310. S. 347.
C. v. Smith, 10 Allen, 449. S. 190.
Parsons v. Hayes, 11 Abb. N. C. 419. S. 314.

II. The Powers of the Corporation

(A) The capacity of the corporation

1. Rights of the corporation

Downing v. Mt. Washington Rd., 40 N. H. 230. S. 148.
Stockton Bank v. Staples, 98 Cal. 189. S. 179.
Aurora Society v. Paddock, 80 Ill. 264. S. 189.
Bradbury v. Canoe Club, 153 Mass. 77. S. 196.
Norris v. Staps, Hobart 211. S. 209.
Bank v. Paterson, 7 Cranch, 299. S. 213.
Greenwood v. Freight Co., 105 U. S. 13. S. 720.
Sinking Fund Case, 99 U. S. 100. S. 777.
Eagle Co. v. Ohio, 153 U. S. 446. S. 704.

2. Rights of the majority

Dudley v. High School, 9 Bush, 576. S. 224.
Ashton v. Burbank, 2 Dill, 435. S. 229.
H. & H. H. R. R. v. Croswell, 5 Hill, 383. S. 230.
Treadwell v. Salesbury Co., 7 Gray, 293. S. 243.
Taylor v. Earle, 8 Hun. 1. S. 246.
Peabody v. Flint, 6 Allen, 52. S. 263.
Menier v. Telegraph Works, L. R. 9 Ch. App. 350. S. 287.
Foss v. Harbottle, 2 Hare, 401. S. 267.

(B) The incapacity of the corporation

1. Ultra vires

Monument Bank v. Globe Works, 101 Mass. 57. S. 451.
Long v. Georgia Co., 91 Ala. 519. S. 457.
St. L. R. R. v. T. H. R. R., 145 U. S. 393. S. 503.
Marble Co. v. Harvey, 92 Tenn. 116. S. 511.
Washburn Co. v. Bartlett, 3 N. Dak. 138. S. 515.
Davis v. O. C. R. R., 431 Mass. 258. S. 564.
Bates v. Beach Co., 109 Cal. 160. S. 941.

2. Effect of ultra vires

S. v. Oberlin Assn., 35 Oh. St. 258. S. 375.
Wheeler v. Pullman Co., 143 Ill. 379.
Morville v. Tract Society, 123 Mass. 129. S. 588.
Packet Co. v. Shaw, 37 Wis. 655. S. 590.
McCutcheon v. Capsule Co., 37 U. S. App. 586. S. 422.

FIFTH TOPIC. — THE CONSOLIDATION

I. Without Incorporation

(A) Trust agreement

Shepaug Voting Trust Cases, 60 Conn. 553. S. 1032.
Mobile etc. R. R. v. Nicholas, 98 Ala. 92. S. 1043.
Gould v. Head, 38 Fed. 886.
P. v. Sugar Refining Co., 121 N. Y. 582. S. 943.
State v. Distilling Co., 29 Neb. 700.
State v. Standard Oil Co., 49 Oh. St. 137.
Distilling Co. v. Importing Co., 86 Wis. 352.

(B) Partnership agreement

Whittenton Mills v. Upton, 10 Gray 582. S. 935.
Tram Co. v. Bancroft, 16 Tex. C. App. 170.
Mallory v. Oil Works, 86 Tenn. 598.
Lowry v. Tile Assn., 98 Fed. 817.
Addystone Pipe Co. v. U. S., 175 U. S. 211.
Stockton v. Central R. R., 50 N. J. Eq. 53.
U.S. v. Joint Traffic Assn., 171 U. S. 505.

II. With Incorporation

(A) Holding corporation

Pauley v. Coronado Beach Co., 56 Fed. 428.
Milbank v. N. Y. etc. R. R., 64 How. Pr. 20. S. 963.
De La Vigne Co. v. German Institution, 175 U.S. 40.
P. v. Gas Trust, 130 Ill. 268. S. 952.
National Harrow Co. v. Hench, 76 Fed. 667.

(B) Operating corporation

Shade Roller Co. v. Cushman, 143 Mass. 353.
Oakdale Co. v. Garst, 18 R. I. 484.
Richardson v. Buhl, 77 Mich. 632.
McCutcheon v. Capsule Co., 37 U. S. App. 586.
Trenton Potteries v. Oliphant, 58 N. J. Eq. 507.
Distilling Co. v. P., 156 Ill. 448.
Louisville & Nashville R. R. v. Kentucky, 161 U. S. 677.
Keokuk etc. R. R. Co. v. Missouri, 152 U. S. 301.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics 1895-2003, Box 1, Folder “Economics 1901-1902”.

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Mid-year Examination
ECONOMICS 21
1901-1902

Answer seven questions.

  1. The A Railroad Company had by express provision of its charter the exclusive right of transporting persons and property from X to Z by railroad. Later the B Street Railway Company built a line from X to Y; the C Street Railway Company built a line from Y to Z; and the B and C Companies under an agreement began to run through street cars from X to Z. Can the A Company have an injunction against the B and C Companies for this competition?
  2. A and B were rival manufacturers of infant foods. B inserted this advertisement: The A food is less nutritious and less healthful than the B food; therefore, all persons are advised not to buy the A food, but to insist on getting the B food. A thereupon sued B, alleging that an expert examination would prove the A food better than the B food; and that by means of the circulation of these misstatements by B his trade had been ruined. Should A recover damages against B?
  3. A sold button fastening machines to shoe manufacturers. Each manufacturer agreed with A that all staples to be used in the machines should be bought of A. B began the sale of staples to these manufacturers although he knew of the contract between these manufacturers and A. Can A have an injunction against B for such competition?
  4. B, a large manufacturer of saleratus, made a contract with certain jobbers that they should not sell the saleratus of A below a certain price and not more than a certain amount of the saleratus of A in any event. Can A sue B for the damage to his business as consequence to this agreement?
  5. Certain steamship companies formed themselves into the B Steamship Conference. It was agreed amongst the members of the conference that if any rival line entered into competition with them they would cut the rates one-half, also they would raise the rates to double for any shippers who shipped by the new line. Later A entered into competition with a new line against the B Conference; the B Conference put the proposed rates in force; and A was thereby ruined. Can A sue the B Conference?
  6. A and B and C were all that were engaged in the ice business in X. B sold A his ice-houses, teams, etc., and B agreed with A that he would not engage in the ice business in X for five years. C also sold A his ice-houses, teams, etc., and made the same agreement with A. Are these agreements valid?
  7. A, a manufacturer of pianos, enters into a contract with a jobber, B, that B shall have exclusive right to sell the pianos at wholesale in Massachusetts. B enters into a contract with a retailer C, that C shall sell the pianos in Boston at not less than a certain price. Are these contracts valid?
  8. The B Union struck on the A Railroad because the A Railroad took cars from another railroad where the men had gone out for higher wages. The B Union posted men at the yards to persuade new men not to take their places. Can the A Railroad have an injunction?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-Year Examination Papers, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume, Mid-year Examination Papers, 1901-02. Sub-volume Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College (January 1902).

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Year-end Examination
ECONOMICS 21
1901-1902

Answer seven questions.

  1. By a contract between a fuel company and an association composed of ten concerns engaged in producing coal and coke in a certain district, the company was to handle for a term of years the entire output of the mines of the association intended for the western market. The amount to be furnished by each member of the association was to be fixed by its executive committee; the fuel company was to fix a uniform price from time to time at which it should sell the products turned over. The net profits of the fuel company less its commission were to be turned back to the members of the association pro rata. Is this agreement enforceable?
  2. A retail lumber association agrees not to buy lumber of any wholesale lumber dealer who sells direct to customers. A certain wholesale dealer began to sell to customers direct in car load lots only. Thereupon the executive committee of the lumber association sent notices to all members, warning them not to buy any lumber of this wholesale dealer upon penalty of a fine to be paid in accordance with the by-laws. May the wholesale dealer sue the members of the association for damages caused thereby to his business?
  3. An act of legislature provided: “That X, Y, and Z, proprietors of the Charles River Marshes, are hereby constituted a corporation under the name of the Marsh Company, with authority to assess and collect from each member ten per cent. upon the valuation of his land, to be expended in making and maintaining a street across the same.” X and Y, after giving Z notice of the proposed meeting, meet, organize the corporation, and vote an assessment upon all the members for the amount specified in the charter. Suit against Z to collect the assessment. What decision?
  4. A merchant conveys all the property of his business to a corporation organized by himself and his two brothers, with one share subscribed by each of the three. By vote of them as directors, the merchant takes in payment for the property the debenture bonds of the company at proper valuation. Later the whole capital stock of the corporation is subscribed by outside parties at par. Still later the corporation incurs large debts to bankers. After all this the corporation goes into bankruptcy, with small assets. What is the right to these assets of the merchant? of the bankers? of the stockholders?
  5. In a certain banking corporation with various branches the conduct of the business was as follows: The manager of each branch made to the general manager of the corporation a weekly statement; from these statements the general manager made up a monthly summary for the Board of Directors to examine. The general manager left the weekly statements on the file in the directors’ room. Later the bank failed; it appeared that the general manager had been a rascal from first to last; and that his summaries had been false all the time. Now, the receiver of the banking corporation sues the directors for losses due to their neglect in office. What decision?
  6. The A railroad was chartered to run from X to Y; the stock was all subscribed and the road was built. Later a consolidation was proposed with the B railroad which ran from Y to Z. An act was passed by the Legislature of the State in which both railroads A and B lie, which allowed a new corporation, the C railroad, to be formed to take over both the A and B railroad, and which directed the exchange of the capital stock of each of the railroads A and B share for share for the stock of the new corporation C. The act provided that it should take effect when accepted by a majority of each corporation. A majority is found in each corporation for the scheme; but a minority object in each. Can the scheme be carried out?
  7. On account of a sudden great demand for coal, the A railroad company, running through a coal-mining region, was unable to supply enough cars to carry all the coal offered by the mine owners. A bought and opened a new coal-mine, and presented to the company coal for shipment; the company declined to receive the coal until its old customers were supplied with cars. Can A legally object?
  8. A corporation is formed in California to construct a large storage basin, and conduct the water therefrom by means of a canal to the valley for the purpose of irrigation. The company has given to it the right of eminent domain. When its works are constructed the company publishes the following schedule: “Any consumer must pay to the company $10 per acre in advance every ten years and $1.50 in advance per acre each year. Twenty-five per cent. deduction will be allowed to consumers having 100 acres or over. [”] It is proved that if all consumers, paid $2.50 per acre each year the company would make about 9% on its capital stock. Q, a farmer, applies for water. His farm is, 50 acres in extent. What objections may he bring forward against this schedule?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1902-03. Sub-volume Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College (June 1902).

Image Source:  Harvard Seal detail from the Harvard Law School Yearbook 1949 cover.

Categories
Fields Harvard

Harvard. Subjects Chosen by Economics Ph.D. Candidates for Examination, 1905

 

This posting lists seven graduate students in economics who took their subject examinations for the Ph.D. at Harvard between December, 1904 and June, 1905.  The examination committee members, academic history, general and specific subjects are provided along with the doctoral thesis subject, when declared. Lists for 1903-04,  1915-16, and 1926-27 were posted previously. In the same archival box one finds lists for the academic years 1902-03 through 1904-05, 1906-07 through 1913-14, 1915-16, 1917-18 through 1918-19, and finally 1926-27. I only include graduate students of economics (i.e. not included are the Ph.D. candidates in history and government).

Titles and dates of Harvard economic dissertations for the period 1875-1926 can be found here.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.

1904-05

 

Stuart Daggett.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, December 1, 1904.
Committee: Professors Taussig, Ripley, Carver, Gay, and Andrew.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1899-1903; Harvard Graduate School, 1903-05; A.B. (Harvard) 1903; A.M. (ibid.) 1904.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology and Statistics. 3. Money, Banking and Commercial Crises. 4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization. 5. History of American Institutions. 6. English Economic History to 1800.
Special Subject: Transportation.
Thesis Subject: “Railroad Reorganization.” (With Professor Ripley.)

Lincoln Hutchinson.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, April 12, 1905.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Emerton, Bullock, Gay, Andrew, and Sprague.
Academic History: University of California, 1882-84, 1887-89; Harvard University, 1892-Jan. 1894, 1898-99; Ph.B. (Univ. of Calif.) 1889; A.B. (Harvard) 1893; A.M. (ibid.) 1899.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History to 1750. 3. Money, Banking and Commercial Crises. 4. Public Finance and Taxation. 5. Commercial Geography. 6. History of Political Institutions in Mediaeval Europe, including England.
Special Subject: International Trade: its History, Theory, and Present Position.
Thesis Subject: “Ten Years’ Competition (1894-1903) for Markets in Brazil and the River Plate.”

Lincoln Hutchinson.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, April 24, 1905.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Gay, Andrew, and Sprague.
(See above.)

Joseph Clarence Hemmeon.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 26, 1905.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Macvane, Hart, Bullock, Gay, and Sprague.
Academic History: Acadia College (N.S.), 1894-98, 1902-03; Harvard Graduate School, 1903-05; A.B. (Acadia) 1898; A.M. (ibid.) 1903; A.M. (Harvard) 1904.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Modern Economic History of Europe and Economic History of the United States from 1789. 3. Sociology and Social Reform. 4. Public Finance and Financial History. 5. Modern Government. 6. History of England since 1685, and History of the United States since 1763.
Special Subject: Sociology and Social Reform.
Thesis Subject: Not yet announced.

Vanderveer Custis.

Special Examination in Economics, Wednesday, June 7, 1905.
General Examination passed May 20, 1904.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Bullock, Sprague, and Wyman.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1901-04; A.B. (Harvard) 1901; A.M. (ibid.) 1902.
Special Subject: Industrial Organization.
Thesis Subject: “The Theory of Industrial Consolidation.” (With Professor Ripley).

James Alfred Field.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, June 12, 1905.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Carver, Gay, Castle, and Dr. Munro.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1899-1903; Harvard Graduate School, 1903-05; A.B. (Harvard) 1903.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History. 3. Sociology. 4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization. 5. The Sociological Aspect of the Evolution Theory. 6. International Law.
Special Subject: Sociology.
Thesis Subject: (Not yet announced.)

Albert Benedict Wolfe.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, June 19, 10 a.m. 1905.
General Examination passed May 11, 1904.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Carver, Bullock, and Andrew.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1899-1902; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; A.B. (Harvard) 1902; A.M. (ibid.) 1903.
Special Subject: Modern Economic Theory.
Thesis Subject: “The Lodging House Problem in Boston, with some Reference to Other Cities.” (With Professor Ripley).

William Hyde Price.

Special Examination in Economics, Tuesday, June 20, 1905.
General Examination passed April 13, 1904.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Carver, Bullock, and Gay.
Academic History: Tufts College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1901-05; A.B. (Tufts) 1901; A.M. (ibid.) 1901; A.M. (Harvard) 1902.
Special Subject: English Economic History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.
Thesis Subject: “The English Patents of monopoly, 1550-1650.” (With Professor Gay).

 

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1904-1905”.

Image Source:   Harvard University. Quinquennial Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates, 1636-1920. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1920. Front cover.

Categories
Courses Harvard

Harvard. Course with a “snapper” problem, 1910

We have below a random letter from the President of Harvard, Abbott Lawrence Lowell, to Professor Frank Taussig of the Economics Department that struck my fancy because 1) the President of the University appears to be aware of the grade distribution of a particular faculty member (he was not amused at the low frequency of bad grades) and 2) his choice of words “However good a course may be, that kind of marking is certain to drift into it many snappers.” In my day, it was the course that received the opprobrious label of being a “gut”, though here in Germany we do refer to students attracted to the “gut” courses as “Tiefflieger” (low-flying aircraft). 

Economics 21 is apparently the course referred to by President Lowell. The title of the course appears to change without the course description changing over time. The content of the course, taught by the law professor, Bruce Wyman, appears to have focused on “competition; combination; association; consolidation”.

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[Copy of letter from Harvard President Lowell to Professor Frank Taussig]

December 21, 1910.

Dear Frank:-

I was told, the other day, that the Visiting Committee in Economics had promised the Department quite a sum of money for additional assistants. Is that available this year? If so, I should much rather have you use a part of that, than ask the Corporation for more money. I suspect that one great reason for the large size of Wyman’s course is its softness. I notice that he gave last year only 1% of E’s and 4% of D’s. However good a course may be, that kind of marking is certain to drift into it many snappers. By the way, I should like to have a talk with you about him sometime.

Very truly yours,

A. L. Lowell

 

Professor F. W. Taussig.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. President Lowell’s Papers, 1909-1914. Nos. 405-436. Box 15, Folder 413 “1909-1914”.

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[Course Enrollment, Economics 21]

Courses Preparing for a Business Career

[…]

[Economics] 21 1hf. Professor Wyman, assisted by Messrs. Brannan and Lyeth.—Principles of Law governing Industrial Relations.

Total, 183:
3 Graduates, 2 Business School, 113 Seniors, 56 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 4 Others.

 

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1909-1910, p. 45.

___________________________

 

[Course Description, Economics 21]

 

[Economics] *211hf. The Law of Competition and Combination. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 12. Professor Wyman, assisted by Mr. —— . (V)

Course 21 is not open to students before their last year of undergraduate work, and is only open to those who have passed in Economics 1.

The course considers certain rules of the law governing the course of modern trade and the organization of modern industry. As the course deals with adjudication and legislation on questions of first importance in the economic development of modern times, it is of advantage to all those who wish to equip themselves for the intelligent discussion of issues having both legal and economic aspects. In 1911-12 four principal topics will be discussed: competition; combination; association; consolidation, — some very briefly, some with more detail. The conduct of the course will be by the reading and discussion of cases from the law reports, which are contained in an edited series of case books.

 

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 68.

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[CV data for Law Professor Bruce Wyman]

Bruce Wyman, A.B. summa cum laude, 1896; A. M. 1897; LL.B. 1900; Lectr. (Law S.) 1900-1903; Asst. Prof. of Law 1903-1908; Prof. of Law 1908-1914.

Source: Quinquennial catalogue of the officers and graduates of Harvard University, 1636-1915 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1915), pp. 111 and 355.

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[Scandal: a case of regulatory capture]

Bruce Wyman resigned his professorship of law in December 1913 when it came out that he was drawing $833 per month from the New Haven and the Boston & Maine (railroads) “for delivering lectures favorable to the roads without the fact being known that he was a paid employe. He admitted that, while employed as their consulting counsel he helped Gov. Foss to frame the Public Utilities bill, which was designed to give the State better control of the railroad situation.”

 

Source: New York Times, December 21, 1913, p. 30.

Image Source: Frank Taussig from the Harvard Album 1915.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Graduates’ Magazine reports on Economics Dept. 1892-1904.

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, October, 1892, pp. 116-117.

ECONOMICS.

Ten years ago, the Department of Political Economy had one professor and one instructor, neither giving all of his time to the subject. At present, the Department of Economics has three professors and two instructors. The change in name, from Political Economy to Economics, indicates of itself an enlargement of the range of subjects. The number of courses offered has grown from two to a dozen, with a corresponding development in the variety of topics treated. The increase in the number of students is indicated by the fact that the first course, introductory to the rest, which was taken ten years ago by perhaps fifty students, now has over three hundred. This striking development is significant of the rapid increase in the attention given to economic problems by the public and by our institutions of learning. The staff now consists of Professors Dunbar, Taussig, and Ashley, and Messrs. Cummings and Cole. Professor Ashley enters upon his duties for the first time this autumn, his chair being a newly created one of Economic History. Professor Dunbar continues to edit the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which was established by the University in 1886 with the aid of a fund contributed by John Eliot Thayer, ’85, and which has an established position among the important periodicals on economic subjects. The Department has recently done service to economic students by a reprint, under Professor Dunbar’s care, of Cantillon’s Essai sur le Commerce, a rare volume of importance in the history of economic theory; and it has now in press a volume of State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, meant to aid students of the tariff history of the United States. For its growth in the past the Department has depended wholly on the expenditure by the Corporation of unpledged resources. No doubt the increasing sense of the importance of economic study will in time change the situation in this regard, and will make this department as attractive for benefactors as those which are older and more familiar.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

 

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, July, 1893, p. 576.

[Birth of a semester system, emphasis added]

The elective pamphlet announcing the courses to be offered in 1893-94 by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences contains few striking changes. There is a tendency manifested in it to increase the number of half-courses beginning or ending in February, at the time of the mid-year examinations. Thus History 12 is split into two halves, the first half being on the recent history of Continental Europe, and the second half on the recent constitutional history of England; Economics 7 is cut in two, and Economics 12 is established as two half-courses, one on International Payments and the Flow of Precious Metals, and the other on Banking and the History of the Banking Systems. Other examples might be given to emphasize the drift towards something akin to a division of the year into two semesters, particularly for the convenience of graduate students. 

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, July, 1893, p. 590.

ECONOMICS.

In the department of Economics several new courses are offered for 1893-94. Professor Dunbar offers two half-courses, one on international payments and the flow of the precious metals from country to country, the other on banks and the leading banking systems. The two half-courses come at the same hours in the first and second half-years, and, when taken together, form a convenient full course running through the year. This new course will alternate with Course 7, on taxation and finance, which is to be omitted in 1893-94, and will be resumed in 1894-95. — Professor Ashley offers a course on Economic History, from the Middle Ages to modern times, which will take the place of the former Course 4, on the economic history of Europe and America since the middle of the eighteenth century. The new course covers a longer period than was covered in Course 4, and will supplement effectively the instruction in history as well as in economics. Professor Ashley also offers a new half-course, intended mainly for advanced and graduate students, on land tenure and agrarian conditions in Europe. — Professor Cummings offers a half-course, also intended for advanced students, on schemes for social reconstruction from Plato’s Republic to the present time, including the proposals of Bellamy and Hertzka. The course is meant to give opportunity for the discussion of social and political institutions and of socialist theories. — Economics 1, the introductory course in the department, will be remodeled in part in the coming year. A somewhat larger proportion of the exercises will take the form of lectures to all members of the course. Professor Taussig will lecture on distribution and on financial subjects, Professor Ashley on economic development, Professor Cummings on social questions.

F. W. Taussig, ’79.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 3, March, 1895, pp. 383-384.

ECONOMICS.

The matter that has of late most engaged the attention of the Department has been the welcome and yet embarrassing growth in the number of students taking the introductory course known as Economics 1. This has risen from 179 in 1889-90 to 201 in ’90-91, 288 in ’91-92, 322 in ’92-93, 340 in ’93-94, until in the present year it is 398. Such an increase necessarily raises grave questions both of educational method and of academic discipline. Those professors to whose labors in past years the success of the course has been due are still of opinion that the recitation method, in its best form, — the discussion day after day and chapter by chapter of some great treatise like the work of John Stuart Mill, — furnishes a mental training such as no other plan can provide. But for its successful practice it is necessary either that the class should be quite small, or that, if divided, the sections should be few and small. Accordingly it became evident that some modification of plan was necessary; and last year the arrangement was hit upon of retaining the section work for the greater part of the year, but diversifying it with three months of set lectures at different periods by Professors Taussig, Ashley, and Cummings. The experiment was so satisfactory that it has been repeated this year; and, in the absence of Professor Taussig, Professors Ashley and Cummings have each lectured for six weeks. If the numbers continue to grow, it may seem advisable in the future to take further steps in the same direction. But Upper Massachusetts, in spite of its historical associations, has abominable acoustic properties; the room in Boylston, which was suggested as an alternative, is redolent of Chemistry; and it may ultimately become necessary to invade the sacred precincts of Sanders Theatre. — In the absence of Professor Taussig upon his sabbatical, before referred to, his course on Economic Theory (Econ. 2) has been divided into two half-courses, and undertaken by Professor Ashley and Professor Macvane. Professor Macvane’s action will do something to break down that middle wall of partition between departments which is sometimes so curiously high and strong in this University of free electives. It need scarcely be added that to those who know how considerable have been Professor Macvane’s contributions to economic theory, and how great his reputation is with foreign economists, he seems altogether in place when he takes part in the economic instruction of Harvard University. — Professor Taussig’s course on Railway Transportation (Econ. 5) has been assigned for the present year to Mr. G. O. Virtue, ’92; his other courses have been suspended. — Mr. John Cummings, ’91, has returned, with a year’s experience as instructor and his doctorate, from the University of Chicago, and is now an Assistant in Econ. 1; he is also offering a new course on Comparative Poor Law and Administration. — The instructors in this, as in other Departments, find themselves increasingly hampered by the difficulty of providing the necessary books for the use of students. Oxford and Cambridge Universities, with hardly more students than Harvard, have libraries in every college, together with the Union libraries and the University libraries; here in Harvard, if an instructor in class mentions any but the best known of books, the chances are that there is only one copy in the place,— that in the University Library; and unless he has been provident enough to have that book “reserved,” some undergraduate promptly takes it out, and nobody else can see it. It is true that undergraduates ought to buy more books; but frequently there is not a copy to be had even in the Boston bookstores. It would certainly be a great relief if the societies could see their way to create, each for itself, a modest working library of a few hundred books. Meanwhile something may be done by strengthening the Departmental Library in University Hall. This, which owes its creation to the generosity of some of the members of the Class of 1879, is in urgent need of enlargement; and the professors in the Department will be glad to hear from any graduate whose eye this happens to catch. — Finally, it may be advisable to mention that, as the result of careful deliberation on the part of the members of the Division Committee, a detailed statement of requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science was drawn up last spring, and will now be found at the end of the Division pamphlet This Statement is noteworthy in that it defines for the first time the “general” examination, and the examination on “a special field;” and also for the stress it lays upon “a broad basis of general culture ” as the foundation of specialist work. “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 mentioned as “of special importance.”

W. J. Ashley.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 4, December, 1895, pp. 242-243.

ECONOMICS.

The Department of Economics began its work for the year under unfortunate circumstances. Professor Dunbar, its honored head, was compelled by ill-health to withdraw from academic work for the year, and was given leave of absence by the Corporation. His withdrawal rendered necessary changes in the courses of instruction. Of those announced to be given by Professor Dunbar, course 7, on Financial Administration and Public Debts, was undertaken by Dr. John Cummings, and course 12, on Banking and the History of the Leading Banking Systems, by Professor Taussig. The additional work thus assumed by Professor Taussig was made possible through the aid of Professor Macvane, who will conduct during the second half-year that part of Economics 2 which had been announced to be given by Professor Taussig. Course 8, on the History of Financial Legislation in the United States, has been shifted to the second half-year, and will then be given by Dr. Joseph A. Hill, A. B. ’86, Ph. D. ’92. By this rearrangement all the courses originally announced will be given, and no diminution in the Department’s offering results from Professor Dunbar’s absence. — Another change has taken place, affecting course 1. The numbers in this introductory course have grown steadily of late years, and it is now taken annually by about 400 men. It had been the policy of the Department to conduct it not by lectures, but mainly by face to face discussion, in rooms of moderate size, the men being divided into sections for this purpose. As the numbers grew, however, it became more and more difficult to keep the sections at a manageable size, to find convenient rooms for them, and to secure efficient instructors. The alternative of lecturing to the men in one large room had long presented itself, but the probable educational advantages of instruction in smaller rooms by sections caused this alternative to be avoided. For the present year, however, the withdrawal of Professor Dunbar rendered some economizing of the force of the Department necessary, and it has been accordingly determined to try the lecture plan for the current year. All the members of the course meet in Upper Massachusetts, — a room which, by the way, proves reasonably well adapted for this use, — and there are given lectures by the various instructors who take part in the course. By way of testing their reading and securing for the instructors some evidence as to their attainments, a system of weekly written papers has been introduced. On a given day of each week the students write answers to questions bearing upon the work of that week and of previous weeks. These answers are examined and corrected, and serve as a means of estimating the diligence and attainments of the students. Whether this radical change of plan will prove to be advantageous remains to be decided by the year’s experience; but it indicates a change in the methods of college work which is making its way in all directions, and which presents new and difficult problems to instructors. — The Seminary in Economics opens the year with sixteen advanced students of good quality, and promises well. Two are Seniors in Harvard College; the remainder are members of the Graduate School. Four are candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the close of the current year. The growth of the Seminary in numbers and the better organization of its work are part of the general advance of the Graduate School, which is now reaping the fruits of the marked gains it has made in recent years.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 7, March, 1899, pp. 427-8.

ECONOMICS.

Like other departments, that of Economics finds itself confronted with the problem of the best mode of dealing with large numbers of students in the courses much sought for, and especially in the general introductory course. Economics 1 is now regularly chosen by from 450 to 500 students. Well-nigh every undergraduate takes it at some stage of his college career, and the question of its numbers seems to be simply a question of the number of students in the College and Scientific School. This great demand for general training in the subject has imposed on the Department an obligation to make its instruction as stimulating and efficient as may be, and yet has made this task more difficult than ever before. Inevitably, the old method of dividing the course into sections for all of the instruction has been abandoned. Its place has been taken by a mixed method of lectures and oral exercises. Twice a week, lectures are given to the whole course in one large room. Upper Massachusetts, remodeled, reheated, and reseated, serves for these lectures, — not well, but not unendurably ill; there is great need, for the use of the large courses, of a new and well-equipped building. The lectures are largely in the nature of comment on assigned reading. The third hour in the week is then given to meetings in sections of moderate size, in which the lectures and the reading are subject to test and discussion. The course is divided into some fifteen sections, each of which meets its instructor once a week. At these exercises, a question is first answered in writing by each student, twenty minutes being allowed for this test; the remainder of the hour is used in oral discussion. Some continuous oversight of the work of students is thus secured, and opportunity is given for questions to them and from them. A not inconsiderable staff of instructors is necessary for the conduct of the sections, and a not inconsiderable expenditure by the Corporation for salaries; but some such counter-weight on the lecture system pure and simple is felt to be necessary. The Department has been fortunate in securing trained and competent instructors for this part of the work; and the new method, if not definitively adopted, is at least in the stage of promising experiment. — During the second half year of 1898-99, the place of Professor Ashley, who is absent on leave, is taken by Dr. Wm. Cunningham, of Trinity College (Cambridge, England). Dr. Cunningham and Professor Ashley are easily the leaders among English-speaking scholars on their subject, economic history; and the Department has cordially welcomed the arrangement by which the scholar from the Cambridge of England fills the place, for the time being, of the scholar of the American Cambridge. Dr. Cunningham gives two courses in the current half year, — one on Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects, Mediaeval and Modern, the other on the Industrial Revolution in England.

F. W. Taussig, ‘79.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 8, December, 1899, p. 223.

ECONOMICS.

The Department finds, as usual, large numbers of students to deal with during the current year. In the introductory course, Economics 1, nearly 500 students are enrolled, and once again it appears that the University has no good lecture room adequate for the accommodation of such numbers. The system of instruction which has been in use in this course for several years is continued. For part of the time, lectures are given to all members of the course; for the remainder of the time, it is split into small sections for question and discussion. So long as lectures are given at all, there is little gain from splitting the course into two or more parallel courses, as has sometimes been proposed; but the absence of a good lecture room for the whole number makes the present situation trying. In its advanced courses, the Department has again the services of Prof. Ashley, who returns after a year’s leave of absence, and finds large numbers enrolled in his course on modern economic history. His advanced course, on the history and literature of economics to the close of the 18th century, also attracts a satisfactory number of mature students. Prof. Cummings omits for the year his course on the labor question; but compensation for this is found in Philosophy 5, a course having a similar range of subjects, which is again given by Prof. Peabody, who has returned from his year’s leave of absence. Professors Dunbar and Taussig give, without material change, the courses usually assigned to them. — The Department assumes some additional burden through a change in its plans for the publication of the Quarterly Journal of Economics. That journal, whose 14th volume begins with the opening issue of this year, is hereafter to appear in more ambitious form. Its size will be somewhat increased, the departments varied, and the elaborate bibliography of current publication will be strengthened. At the same time the price goes up from $2 to $3 a year, — a change which, it is hoped, can be carried out without a loss of subscribers.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 10, December, 1901, pp. 261-2.

ECONOMICS.

An unusual number of changes have to be noted in this Department. Prof. Taussig’s leave of absence, and Prof. Ashley’s recent resignation, have made it necessary to call in several men from the outside to give instruction during the present year. Prof. Taussig’s work is provided for in part by Prof. C. J. Bullock, of Williams College, who is giving the courses on finance and taxation, — and in part by a redistribution of the work among the members of the regular teaching staff. Dr. Andrew has charge of Economics 1, and Dr. Sprague of Economics 6, on the Economic History of the United States. Prof. Ashley’s courses, as announced for the year, have been provided for as follows: Prof. Wm. Z. Ripley, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is giving course 5 on Statistics, and is to give the latter half of course 17 on the Economic Organization and Resources of European Countries, Mr. Meyer having charge of it during the first half year. Dr. C. W. Mixter is giving course 15 on the History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the 19th century. In addition, Prof. Ripley is giving course 5a on Railway Economics. In the second half year, Mr. W. F. Willoughby is to give courses 9 and 9a on Problems of Labor. — The courses preparing for a business career have been extended somewhat. Mr. W. M. Cole continues his course on the Principles of Accounting, and Prof. Wambaugh his course on Insurance. In addition to these, Mr. Bruce Wyman is conducting a new course on the Principles of Law in their Application to Industrial Problems, using the case method as it has been developed in the Law School. The popularity of these courses, in spite of the unusual severity of the examinations, is some indication of their success, and suggests, at least, the practicability of still further extensions. While there is a tendency in some quarters to carry the idea of commercial education to extremes, it is to be noted that these courses neither pretend to take the place of business experience, nor to teach those things which can be learned better in a business office than in any institution of learning. Moreover the work is confined to a mastery of principles and not to the gaining of general information. — The number of students in the Department continues large, there being upward of 480 in course 1, and about 1100 in the Department as a whole, not excluding those counted more than once. The housing of Economics 1 continues to be a problem, as Upper Massachusetts is uncomfortably packed at each meeting. More difficult, however, is the problem of finding small rooms for the 11 sections into which this class is divided for discussion and consultation once each week. — The Board of Overseers have confirmed the appointment of Dr. A. P. Andrew, Dr. O. M. W. Sprague, and Mr. H. R. Meyer as instructors without limit of time. — The change from two dollars to three dollars per year in the subscription price of the Quarterly Journal of Economics has been followed by no diminution in the number of subscribers, and the hope of the editors that the Journal might be conducted on a somewhat more ambitious scale is being realized.

T. N. Carver.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 11, December, 1902, pp. 247-248.

ECONOMICS.

Prof. Taussig’s continued absence has occasioned some readjustment of work within the Department during the present year. Dr. A. P. Andrew has full charge of Course I, Dr. O. M. W. Sprague of Course 6, and Prof. T. N. Carver of Course 2, while Prof. Taussig’s course on Adam Smith and Ricardo has been combined with Dr. C. W. Mixter’s course on Selected Topics in the History of Economic Thought since Adam Smith. Prof. W. Z. Ripley, formerly of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has accepted a professorship in our Department, and is giving Course 9 on Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, the first half of Course 3, on the Principles of Sociology, the second half of Course 17, on the Economic Organization and Resources of European Countries, and Course 4, on the Theory and Method of Statistics. Dr. E. F. Gay, who has spent several years in Europe investigating in the field of economic history, has accepted an instructorship here, and is giving Courses 10 and 11, on the Economic History of Mediaeval and Modern Europe.

The interest in the work of the Department continues to grow. Economics I has 542 students, as compared with about 480 at this time last year. Mr. Wyman’s course (21), on The Principles of Law in their Application to Economic Problems, now contains over 60 students, as compared with 38 last year. Other courses show no great variation one way or the other, except Prof. Ripley’s course in Statistics. The interest which is being revived in this too much neglected field promises well for the future of economic studies in Harvard.

The change in the hour of Economics I from Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 9, to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 11, was necessary in order to find a suitable room. This makes it possible for a larger number of Freshmen to elect the course, since it no longer conflicts with History I. Whether this is going to prove advantageous or not remains to be seen. At present the policy is to discourage Freshmen from electing this course. If there should be a considerable increase in the number of men who complete the college course in three years, it may be advisable to allow some of the more mature members of the Freshman Class to take Economics I. In that case it will be necessary to increase the number of courses which are somewhat general in their scope. Thus the course on Economic Theory (2) might be made somewhat less special than it now is, and a new course covering the general field of Practical Economics might be started. In this way the evils of too early specialization might be avoided. However, no definite policy has as yet been decided upon.

The Department has secured the use of Room 24, University Hall, as headquarters. In this room the mail of the Department and of the Quarterly Journal of Economics will be received, and the exchanges will be available for immediate inspection. This room has also been fitted up with drawing tables and other apparatus necessary for practical work in statistics. It is the purpose to make it a statistical laboratory.

The accounts of the Quarterly Journal of Economics are satisfactory, and the subscription list is making slow but substantial gains.

T. N. Carver.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 11, June, 1903, pp. 560-562.

ECONOMICS.

An interesting comparison between the allied departments of History and Economics is shown below on the basis of the number of students electing such courses. Some of the novel problems entailed by the rapid growth of the very large courses are now being considered by both departments. This rapid growth in large courses, coupled with the increase in the number of highly specialized courses, is bound to make necessary a constant increase in the instructing staff, if full justice to the work is to be done. Among the new courses offered for next year are the following: Economics of Agriculture, by Prof. Carver; Corporation Finance, by Prof. Ripley; Outlines of Agrarian History, by Prof. Gay; and American Competition in Europe since 1873 and The Indirect Activities of the State in Australasia and in Europe, by Mr. Meyer. A general revision of the methods of the Seminary is also under consideration, although plans in that direction are not as yet completed,

 

1902-3. STUDENTS IN ECONOMICS.

ECONOMICS.

HISTORY.
1st half year 1st half year

Econ.

 5 60 Hist. 12a 93

“

 7b 21 “ 16a 151 244
“ 8a

100

 2d half year

“

 12a 10 Hist. 12b 79

“

 10 16 “ 16b

148
“ 18 45 252 “ 29 86

313
2d half year ½ course thro yr.

Econ.

 8b 152 Hist. 17 4

4

“

 11b

19

 Whole courses.

“

 12b 43 Hist. 1

506
“ 16 29 243 “ 3

6
½ course thro yr.

“

 4

7

Econ.

 4 15 15 “ 6

19
Whole courses.

“

 8

8

Econ.

 1 519 “ 9 36

“

 2 26 “ 10 188

“

 3 45 “ 11 67
“ 6 122 “ 13

214
“ 9 111 “ 15 13
“ 14 15 “ 20d

3

“

 17 9 “ 20e 12
“ 20 11 “ 21

1

“

 20a 5   “ 25

3

“

 21 60 “ 26 11

“

 22 6(?) Hist. of Relig. 2 50

1144
Deduct 50 given by another Faculty

1705

1655
________________________________________
Whole courses

11

 Whole courses

16
Half-courses

11

5 ½

 Half-courses

6

3
16 ½

19
Including 5 courses of over 100 students, of which 2 are half courses. Including 5 courses of over 100 students, of which 2 are half courses.

A prompt response to suggestions made to the committee on instruction in economics of the Board of Overseers, as to the needs of the Department, has been made by Mr. Arthur T. Lyman in the shape of a gift of $500, to be expended in the preparation of charts, maps, and other illustrative material. The courses in general descriptive economics, it was felt, can be very greatly improved by the use of such material. Chart cases had already been installed in the new department headquarters, but this will enable the services of an expert draftsman for commencing the preparation of a suitable collection.

Among the other needs of the Department expressed at this meeting was that of an adding and computing machine for use in connection with the courses in Finance and Statistics. It was felt that the so-called “Burroughs Adder,” so generally in use in banking houses and statistical offices, could be utilized to great advantage in the prosecution of original work. The cost of such a machine is approximately $350. It is also to be hoped in the course of time that a collection of illustrative material other than maps may be commenced. This would include, for example, samples of the leading raw materials whose classification enters into tariff discussions and debates, photographs of social and industrial establishments, and other material of this sort. Such a collection, within moderate limits, along the lines of the Philadelphia Commercial Museums, has already been begun at Dartmouth, Ann Arbor, and other places. It should be kept in mind as a possible department at Cambridge.

 

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 12, December, 1903, p. 246.

ECONOMICS.

Prof. Taussig has returned after an absence of two years, entirely restored in health. His resumption of work completes the working corps in the department, enabling it to offer its full list of announced courses. The number of graduate students is considerably increased over the preceding years, and there is every prospect of a successful resumption of the regular work in all lines.

The November number of The World’s Work contains the first of a noteworthy series of articles by Prof. Carver upon agricultural conditions in the West. Prof. Carver made a tour of some hundreds of miles on horseback during the summer, principally in the corn belt. It is his intention to supplement this tour by similar observations in other parts of the country in the coming years. This issue of The World’s Work forms distinctively a Harvard number, containing also an article on The Progress of Labor Organizations, by Prof. Ripley.

Among the new courses announced for this year are several by Prof. Bullock, one upon “The History and Literature of Economics,” with an additional research course entitled “Studies in American Finance.” Prof. Gay’s course upon ” The German Economists” last year met with so cordial a response that it has been expanded to a full course, covering the French as well as the German authorities. Mr. H. R. Meyer, having re- signed as an instructor, will continue as a lecturer, giving two courses upon “American Competition in Europe since 1873” and “The Industrial Activities of the State in Australasia and in Europe.”

W. Z. Ripley.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 13, December, 1904, p. 278.

ECONOMICS.

Economics 1 opens with an enrolment of 491 students, and is again the largest elective course in College. Government 1 is a close second, with 481 students; History 1 has 436. The numbers in Economics 1 are distinctly less than last year, which doubtless reflects the decline in attendance in the College at large. More than half of the total are Sophomores (255) ; the Juniors number 102, and the Freshmen 73. The resort to these three courses shows how strong is the trend to ward instruction in subjects connected with political life, and how great is the need for careful teaching and careful organization. Economics 1 continues to be conducted on the system which has been in use for some years past, and has been followed also in Government 1 and History 1. Two hours of lectures are given each week; for the third hour the course is divided into sections, in which there is a weekly examination, coupled with oral discussion of the subjects taken up during the week. Five assistant instructors conduct these sections, and the system seems to solve the problem of large courses satisfactorily.

In line with the policy adopted last year in the Department of paralleling the various undergraduate courses with advanced courses for graduate students, involving more or less research in each special field, Prof. Andrew is this year giving an advanced course upon the theories of crises, as a continuation of his larger course upon crises and cycles of trade.

An experiment intended to deal with the increasing difficulty of giving required reading to constantly enlarging classes will be tried in Economics 9b, through the publication of a casebook in economics similar to those in use in the Law School. The plan is to reprint official documents and detailed descriptions of particular phases of corporate economics, leaving to the lectures the task of supplying the connecting links and of tracing the development of the subject as an organic whole.

A valuable collection of charts of railway mortgages has recently been acquired through the generosity of graduates. These charts, prepared for the different railway systems, illustrate the exact character and situs of the securities. The collection of other charts and diagrams, made possible through the generosity of Mr. Arthur T. Lyman, is also making progress.

Source:  See the listings for the Harvard Graduates’ Magazine at Hathitrust. These are some of the items found using the index for the first twenty volumes.