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Society for Political Education. Popular Economic Tracts. 1880-1891

 

 

During the decade of the 1880s the Society for Political Education founded by the independent Republican (“Mugwump”) Richard Rogers Bowker (1848-1933) published a series of popular works on politics and economics so that American voters might educate themselves concerning the great issues of their day. I came across this organization after checking up on David A. Wells who later endowed a prize in his name for works written at Harvard in political economy (a few past winners: Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow, Michael Spence, Peter Kenen, Deirdre McCloskey, Edward Chamberlin, Harry Dexter White). Wells was the head of the Society’s Finance Committee.

I became curious about Wells after reading in Joseph Dorfman’s The Economic Mind in American Civilization, Vol. 3, 1865-1918, pp. 81-82 that Wells attached a couple of conditions to his prize:

“The prizes ‘shall be paid in gold coin of standard weight and fineness,’ or in the form of a medal of gold of corresponding value. ‘No essay shall be considered which in any way advocates or defends the spoliation of property under form or process of law; or the restriction of commerce in times of peace by legislation, except for moral or sanitary purposes; or the enactment of usury laws; or the impairment of contracts by the debasement of coin; or the issue…by government of irredeemable notes…as a substitute for money.’”

This posting includes (i) an overview of Bowker and his Society for Political Education taken from his biography, (ii) front-and-back cover material describing the Society, its purpose and leadership and (iii) links to almost every single publication

One might regard the Society for Political Education as a counterpoint to William Rainey Harper’s (first president of the University of Chicago) Methodist summer school at Chautauqua where Richard Ely regularly taught his variant of popular economic doctrine.

 

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[Overview of R. R. Bowker’s Society for Political Education]

…It was clear to him [R. R. Bowker] that to get free trade and other desired reforms under the democratic system, it was eternally necessary not only to educate the voter but to perfect the machinery whereby the voter was able to register his will. To these ends he continued to work through his Society for Political Education and a half-dozen other reform organizations to inform and rally the average citizen, to promote ballot reform and civil service reform. In this he was, perhaps, most typically fulfilling the social-engineering mission of the scholar to which he had committed himself.

In directing the fortunes of the Society for Political Education which he had founded in 1880, Bowker had the continuous counsel of Putnam, the Society’s publisher, Wells, who undertook to raise funds for its program, and Richard Dugdale, its indefatigable secretary. Its basic purpose of educating the voter through inexpensive, sound reading matter was pushed without pause. Its Economic Tracts contained original contributions from Horace White, A. D. White, Talcott Williams, W. C. Ford, and Shepard; the second series of its Library of Political Education contained works by Blanqui, Jevons, Mill, Wells, and Herbert Spencer. In addition, the Society distributed gratuitously 1,700 copies of Henry George’s Progress and Poverty and an equal number of his Irish Question, as well as 1,500 copies of Atkinson’s pamphlet on “The Elements of National Prosperity.” It then planned an “Auxiliary Series” of tracts to be given away.

Dugdale’s death in 1883 was a great blow, but his work was ably taken up by Worthington C. Ford. In 1889 George lles, an energetic Canadian liberal with a strong interest in bibliography became the Society’s secretary. Tracts were planned to cover tariff, education, prison legislation, municipal reform, the Southern question, and Canadian relations. The Society’s last publication, issued in 1891, was, perhaps, its finest, The Reader’s Guide in Economic, Social, and Political Science. In this Bowker and lles collaborated with the assistance of twenty-five specialists, including E. R. A. Seligman, W. C. Ford, James Bryce, Gifford Pinchot, D. R. Dewey, D. A. Wells, Andrew D. White, and Horace White. The result was a comprehensive list, not confined to the writings of any one school of economics or one nation. The Reader’s Guide met with hearty response from both librarians and professors of economy, and by 1903 had to be reissued in a second and revised edition.

With such an admirable program of service and a membership fee of only fifty cents, the Society might have been expected to flourish, but it most emphatically did not. Nothing, perhaps, is more indicative of the basic lack of popular support for Bowker’s version of the liberal program than the fact that the Society’s membership never exceeded 1,000 during these years. By the end of 1890 the number of subscribers fell to 113, and income from the casual sale of its pamphlets did not exceed seventy dollars a year. lles felt that the field which the Society had entered as a pioneer was now supplied by such organizations as the American Economic Association and the new trend toward social essays in Century, Forum, and Harper’s magazines. It was therefore decided to close the Society’s books.

From Bowker’s own pen came several items to strengthen the cause of civic education. At the end of 1883 the Society published his first popular summary of economic principles, Of Work and Wealth. The little volume was dedicated to Richard Dugdale, acknowledged in particular its indebtedness to such economists as Walker, Jevons, and Henry George, and deliberately steered a commonsense course between the extremes of the Manchester school and the German school. For some time Bowker had felt the need of a simple presentation of elementary economic principles for the man in the street, and this effort was a very considerable success. Professor Johnson of Princeton reported that his students were “delighted” with it, President Hadley of Yale was enthusiastic, and Wells called it “exceedingly clever.”…

 

Source: Fleming, Edward McClung. R.R. Bowker: Militant Liberal. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pp. 219-220

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The Society for Political Education.
(ORGANIZED 1880.)

OBJECTS. — The Society was organized by citizens who believe that the success of our government depends on the active political influence of educated intelligence, and that parties are means, not ends. It is entirely non-partisan in its organization, and is not to be used for any other purpose than the awakening of an intelligent interest in government methods and purposes tending to restrain the abuse of parties and to promote party morality.

Among its organizers are numbered Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, who differ among themselves as to which party is best fitted to conduct the government, but who are in the main agreed as to the following propositions:

The right of each citizen to his free voice and vote must be upheld.
Office-holders must not control the suffrage.
The office should seek the man, and not the man the office.
Public service, in business positions, should depend solely on fitness and good behavior.
The crimes of bribery and corruption must be relentlessly punished.
Local issues should be independent of national parties.
Coins made unlimited legal tender must possess their face value as metal in the markets of the world.
Sound currency must have a metal basis, and all paper money must be convertible on demand.
Labor has a right to the highest wages it can earn, unhindered by public or private tyranny.
Trade has the right to the freest scope, unfettered by taxes, except for government expenses.
Corporations must be restricted from abuse of privilege.
Neither the public money nor the people’s land must be used to subsidize private enterprise.
A public opinion, wholesome and active, unhampered by machine control, is the true safeguard of popular institutions.
Persons who become members of the Society are not, however, required to endorse the above.

METHODS .— The Society proposes to carry out its objects by submitting from time to time to its members lists of books which it regards as desirable reading on current political and economic questions; by selecting annual courses of reading for its members; by supplying the books so selected at the smallest possible advance beyond actual cost; by furnishing and circulating, at a low price and in cheap form, sound economic and political literature in maintenance and illustration of the principles above announced as constituting the basis of its organization; and by assisting in the formation of reading and corresponding circles and clubs for discussing social, political, and economic questions.

ORGANIZATION. — The Society is to be managed by an Executive Committee of twenty-five persons, selected from different sections of the United States. At the end of the first year the Executive Committee is to resolve itself into three sections, holding office respectively one, two, and three years from that date, and at the expiration of the term of office of each section, the remaining two thirds of the Committee shall elect, by ballot, members to fill vacancies. The correspondence of the Society is to be divided among five secretaries, one each for the East, the Northwest, the Southeast, the Southwest, and the Pacific Slope.

MEMBERSHIP. — Active Members are such persons as will pledge themselves to read the Constitution of the United States, and that of the State in which they reside ; who will agree to read at least one of the annual courses as included in the Library of Political Education, and who will pay an annual fee of 50 cents (which may be forwarded in postage-stamps), entitling the member to receive the tracts and lists published by the Society during the year.

Parents, guardians, or teachers will be considered as having fulfilled the above obligations if they make their children, wards, or pupils follow the prescribed course of reading.

In order to make the membership widespread, and especially to enable students in the public schools and colleges to take part in the Society, the annual fee for Active Members has been made so small that the proceeds are inadequate to carry out the objects of the Society. To provide for the resulting deficiency, the Executive Committee has established a special membership for such public-spirited persons as wish to promote political and economic education, as follows: —

Any person may become a CO-OPERATING Member on the annual payment of $5.00 or more, which shall entitle such member to receive the tracts and lists published by the Society, and to nominate two Fellowship Members. To persons so nominated the Secretary will send the series of Economic Tracts for 1880-81, stating that they are presented through the courtesy of such Coöperating Member.

FIRST YEAR’S WORK, 1880-81. — During the past year the Society has received fees from one thousand five hundred members, of whom one hundred and seventy-five are Coöperating Members, and one hundred and five Lady Members. There have also been seven Auxiliary Societies established, of which two are in connection with colleges or schools.

For the first series of the Library of Political Education, the following elementary works were selected for the year’s course of reading :

  1. Politics for Young Americans, by Chas. Nordhoff. (Including the Constitution of the United States, etc.) Harper & Bros. [Copyr. 1875.] 200 pp., 75 cents.
  2. History of American Politics by Alex. Johnston.  Henry Holt & Co. [Copyr. 1879.] 12×274 pp., 75 cents.
  3. Introduction to Political Economy, by Prof. A. L. Perry. Chas. Scribner’s Sons. [Copyr. 1877.] 348 pp., $1.50.
  4. Alphabet in Finance, by Graham McAdam. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. [Copyr. 1876.] 22×210 pp., $1.25.

The price of the set of four books of the first series, delivered at any post-office in the United States, will be $3.25. (If bought separately, in the publishers’ editions, these volumes would cost $4.25,) The price of the Society’s edition of the second series (the three volumes of which are issued by the publishers at $7.00) will be $5.00.

If any member cannot procure these books from the local booksellers, he should address Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 27 and 29 West 23d Street, New York; Jansen, McClurg & Co., 119 State Street, Chicago ; or W. B. Clarke & Carruth, 340 Washington Street, Boston, Mass., who are the publishing agents of the Society.

The official year begins on the 1st of January.

Letters of inquiry should enclose return postage.

Money should be sent by draft, postal order, or registered letter to the Secretary.

 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

Finance Committee:
Hon. David A. Wells, Norwich, Conn.; Geo. S. Coe, New York City; Horace White, New York City.

E. M. Shepard, Treasurer (120 Broadway), office address, 4 Morton St.,
R. L. Dugdale, Secretary for the East, 4 Morton St., N. Y. City.
Edwin Burritt Smith, Secretary for the Northwest, 142 Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill.
B. R. Forman, Secretary for the Southwest, P. O. Box 2415, New Orleans, La.
F. W. Dawson, Secretary for the Southeast, P. O. Box D 5, Charleston, S. C.
W. W. Crane, Jr., Secretary for the Pacific Slope, P. O. Box 915, Oakland, Cal.

Prof. W. G. Sumner, Yale College, New Haven, Ct.
Charles Francis Adams, Jr., Boston, Mass.
Geo. Haven Putnam, New York City.
R. R. Bowker, New York City.
A. Sydney Biddle, Philadelphia, Pa.
Jno. Watts Kearny, Louisville, Ky.
Worthington C. Ford, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Horace Rublee, Milwaukee, Wis.
Archibald Mitchell, New Orleans, La.
Franklin MacVeagh, Chicago, Ill.
Gen. Bradley Johnson, Baltimore, Md.
Robert P. Porter, New York City.
John H. Ames, Lincoln, Neb.
Geo. Mason, Galveston, Texas.
Peter Hamilton, Mobile, Ala.
E. D. Barbour, Boston, Mass.
M. L. Scudder, Jr., Chicago, Ill.

The following Economic Tracts have been issued during the year (series 1880-81):

  1. What is a Bank ? What Services does it Perform?” by Edward Atkinson, of Boston. Price 10 cents.
  1. Political Economy and Political Science: a priced and classified list of books on political economy, taxation, currency, land tenure, free trade and protection, the Constitution of the United States, civil service, co-operation, etc., compiled by Prof. W. G. Sumner, of Yale College, David A. Wells, W. E. Foster, R. L. Dugdale, and G. H. Putnam. Price, 25 cents.
  1. Present Political and Economic Issues: a collection of questions for debate, and subjects for essays on current topics in American politics; with an appendix of questions proposed for discussion before the Political Economy Club of London, by J. Stuart Mill, George Grote, and others; and questions debated by the Société d’ Économie Politique of Paris. Price 10 cents.
  1. The Usury Question: comprising an abridgment of the famous essays of Jeremy Bentham and the letters of John Calvin; the speech of the Hon. Richard H. Dana, Jr., before the Massachusetts Legislature; a summary of the results of the present usury laws of the United States, by the Hon. David A. Wells ; and a short bibliography on the subject of interest. Price, 25 cents.

There have been six thousand of these Economic Tracts distributed, every member receiving a set of the series for his membership fee. (These tracts may still be obtained of the Secretary at the prices named, or by forwarding 50 cents for the series.)

A series of tracts will be published and distributed to members during 1882 as in 1880-81, the subjects of which will be announced from time to time.

The Executive Committee has selected the following books for the course of reading for 1882, which will constitute the second series of the LIBRARY OF POLITICAL EDUCATION:

 

A History of Political Economy in Europe, by Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui; translated by Miss Emily J. Leonard. 628 pp., $3.50.

Money and the Mechanism of Exchange, by J. Stanley Jevons. 402 pp., $1.75.

On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill, 204 pp., $1.50.

 

Members who join for the year 1882 may read either the first or the second series of the Library, but the Committee recommends them to begin with the first series, unless they have already read the books comprised in it.

In order to enable persons in places where no public library is accessible, to procure, at a reduced rate, the volumes recommended by the Executive Committee for the annual courses of reading, the Committee has arranged for special editions of these in uniform binding, with the imprint of the Society upon the cover, which will be issued in annual series under the general title of the Library of Political Education, and can be supplied only in sets.

 

Source: From the front and back material included with Alphonse Courtois, Political Economy in One Lesson. Translated from the Journal des Économistes by Worthington C. Ford. New York: The Society for Political Education, Economic Tract No. V., 1882.

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ECONOMIC TRACTS
The Society for Political Education.

  1. Atkinson, Edward. What is a Bank? What Service does a Bank Perform? A Lecture Given before the Finance Club of Harvard University, March, 1880.
  2. Sumner, W. G. et al. Political Economy and Political Science: A Priced and Classified List of Books…, 1881.
  3. Subjects and Questions pertaining to Political Economy, Constitutional Law, the Theory and Administration of Government, and Current Politics. Recommended to Students as Suitable for Special Investigation or as Topics for Essay-Writing and Debate. With an Appendix of Questions discussed by the Political Economy Club of London and the Société d’Économie Politique of Paris. 1881.
    Enlarged and Revised Reissue of Economic Tract No. III. Questions for Debate in Politics and Economics, with Subjects for Essays and Terms for Definition (1889).
  4. Wells, David A. The Usury Question
  5. Courtois, Alphonse. Political Economy in One Lesson. Translated from the Journal des Économistes by Worthington C. Ford. 1882.
  6. White, Horace. Money and Its Substitutes. 1882.
  7. White, A. D. Paper Money in France. 1882. [1876Revised edition, 1896]
  8. Whitridge, Frederick W. The Caucus System.
  9. Canfield, James H. Taxation. A Plain Talk for Plain People.
  10. Bowker, R. R. Of Work and Wealth: A Summary of Economics. 1883.
  11. Green, George Walton. Repudiation.
  12. Shepard, E. M. The Work of a Social Teacher: Memorial of Richard L. Dugdale.
  13. Ford, W. C. The Standard Silver Dollar and the Coinage Law of 1878.
  14. Shepard, Edward M. The Competitive Test and the Civil Service of States and Cities.
  15. Richardson, H. W. The Standard Dollar.
  16. Giffen, Robert. The Progress of the Working Classes in the Last Half Century.
  17. Foster, W. E. References to the History of Presidential Administrations—1780-1885.
  18. Hall, C. H. Patriotism and National Defence.
  19. Atkinson, E. The Railway, the Farmer, and the Public. [reprint: 1888]
  20. Weeks, Joseph D. Labor Differences and Their Settlement.
  21. Bowker, R. R. Primer for Political Education.
  22. Bowker, R. R. Civil Service Examinations. 1886.
  23. Bayles, J. C. The Shop Council.
  24. Williams, Talcott. Labor a Hundred Years Ago.
  25. Electoral Reform, with the Massachusetts Ballot Reform Act, and New York (Saxton) Bill.
  26. Iles, George. The Liquor Question in Politics. 1889.
  27. Bowker, R. R. and George Iles. The Reader’s Guide in Economic, Social and Political Science being a Classified Bibliography, American, English, French and German, with Descriptive Notes, Author, Title and Subject Index, Courses of Reading, College Courses, etc., 1891
  28. Questions for Debate in Politics and Economics, with Subjects for Essays and terms for Definition. An Enlarged and Revised Reissue of Economic Tract No. III, 1889.

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THE LIBRARY OF POLITICAL EDUCATION
The Society for Political Education.

 

Nordhoff, Charles. Politics for Young Americans. Harper & Bros., 1875.

[Revised, 1876Revised, 1899]

Johnston, Alex. History of American Politics. Henry Holt & Co., 1879.

[Second edition, 1882; Third edition, 1890Fifth edition (with William M. Sloane), 1901;  Johnston and Sloane continued by Winthrop More Daniels, 1902

Perry, A. L. Introduction to Political Economy. Chas. Scribner’s Sons, 1877.

[Second edition, 1880]

McAdam, Graham. Alphabet in Finance. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1876.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. Labor Economics and Social Reform Divisional Exam, 1939

This posting offers the special examination questions for labor economics and social reform. Socialist themes can be seen to have played a much greater role in 1939 than later in the 20th century.

Concentrators in Economics will have to pass in the spring their Junior year a general examination on the department of Economics, and in the spring of their Senior year an examination correlating Economics with either History or Government (this correlating exam may be abolished by 1942), and a third one on the student’s special field, which is chosen from a list of eleven, including economic theory, economic history, money and banking, industry, public utilities, public finance, labor problems, international economics, policies and agriculture.
Courses in allied fields, including Philosophy, Mathematics, History, Government, and Sociology, are suggested by the department for each of the special fields. In addition, Geography 1 is recommended in connection with international policies or agriculture.
[SourceHarvard Crimson, May 31, 1938]

A printed copy of questions for twelve A.B. examinations in economics at Harvard for the academic year 1938-39 can be found in the Lloyd A. Metzler papers at Duke’s Economists’ Papers Project. 

Economic Theory,
Economic History Since 1750,
Money and Finance,
Market Organization and Control,
Labor Economics and Social Reform.

  • One of the Six Correlation Examinations given to Honors Candidates. (May 12, 1939; 3 hours)

Economic History of Western Europe since 1750,
American Economic History,
History of Political and Economic Thought,
Public Administration and Finance,
Government Regulation of Industry,
Mathematical Economic Theory.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

 

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Labor Economics and Social Reform

(Three hours)

 

PART I
(About one hour)

  1. Write an essay on one of the following topics:

(a) wage theory and collective bargaining,
(b) the functions and ideal qualifications of labor-leaders in present-day America, and your appraisals of several of the men now prominent in this capacity,
(c) the rights and duties of labor and employers,
(d) mobility of labor and the national income and its distribution,
(e) the essentials of an adequate, sound, and feasible program for social security,
(f) the possibilities, methods, and probable results of several types of governmental action to lessen inequalities in the distribution of income,
(g) could a socialist society be a liberal and democratic society?
(h) is there any socialism in German National Socialism?
(i) class-struggle in the United States,
(j) the effects of differences of nationality, race, and religion among American workers on the American labor movement,
(k) the effects of capitalism, and the possible effects of socialism, on population growth,
(l) the role of Marxism in the labor movement, in Europe and in America.

Part II
(About one hour)

Answer two questions. Candidates for honors must answer one starred question.

  1. (*) “The industrial system of the ‘machine age’ can give the working population reasonably full employment and high wages only in the periods during which a high rate of technical and economic progress is maintained.”
  2. (*) Discuss the effects upon each other of phases of the business cycle and trade union policies, and the possibilities of the latter as a means of mitigating the cycle.
  3. Discuss legal limitation of hours of work by individual state with respect to (a) questions of constitutionality and (b) possible economic consequences.
  4. Discuss the merits of the proposal for a government-guaranteed “annual wage” in the building trades.
  5. (*) Explain and discuss the main economic problems created in a society by the effects of the declining birth-rate on the distribution of the population among different age-groups.
  6. (*) “The confident belief of reformers bent on equalizing incomes, that inequalities of economic success are the fault of society and not the result of differences of innate ability, cannot be justified in the face of the relevant evidence and results of common-sense reasoning.”
  7. Describe the principal features of the development of workmen’s compensation in the United States or in one European country.
  8. Discuss the achievements and effects of the P. W. A. or of the W. P. A.
  9. (*) “The organization and mechanism of the socialist economy is almost identical with that of monopolistic corporate capitalism. It is the results which would differ.”
  10. (*) If a socialist society gave all its members either equal incomes, or incomes proportioned to their needs or to their sacrifices rather than to their productive contributions, do you think that its policy in this respect would interfere with attainment of the most efficient allocation and use of all labor resources? Explain.
  11. “It is evident that mankind can neither stand pat with the aging Herbert Spencer, nor move on, except to its ruin, with the young men in colored shirts; it’s only hope lies in the creation of a liberal capitalism.”
  12. Explain and support your opinion of the view that in this country the Communists and all “agitators” on the far-left are unlikely to obtain any ends of their own and are likely, instead, to goad or frighten the business men into setting up a regime of American fascism.

 

Part III
(About one hour)

Answer two questions.

  1. “The trade union seems to be the only institution which can prepare us for, or aid us in, social change.”
  2. “The labor movement owes the support of the rank-and-file of the workers who join it, much less to intelligent pursuit of their own economic interests by the latter as individuals, than to their emotional capacities for blind devotion to an ideology and fighting cause which is to them a class religion.”
  3. Compare the functions of trade unions under capitalism with the functions they might have in a socialist society.
  4. In what order of importance do you rank the following objectives of social reform for the benefit of labor: higher real wages; full and steady employment and general security; “industrial democracy” or participation by the workers in the “control” of industry? – Do you think all three objectives are mutually consistent? Explain.
  5. “The goal of intelligent social reform is neither ‘freedom’ of the businessmen to do as they please, nor of government ‘control’ of them reflecting merely the opposing interests and moral sentiments of other people; but is the co-operation of all citizens under expert guidance based on scientific knowledge of economic geography, of our industrial technology and its possibilities, and of the needs and abilities of all sectors of the population.”
  6. What is to be learned from the experience of N. R. A. in the United States and of the Front Populaire in France about the possibility of increasing real wages by raising money wages?
  7. “The increasing organization of interest groups and the resurgent resurgence of mercantilist state regulation of international and domestic markets promise an end of the elaborate economic organization and division of labor and an end of political freedom as well.”
  8. “The traditional view has been that it is consumers who suffer the chief losses from monopoly, but the fact is that the principle losses fall on labor.”
  9. What should be the attitude of consistent Communists in this country at the present time toward such popular economic and monetary theories as those of the advocates of the Townsend Plan? Explain.

May 10, 1939.

 

Source: David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Lloyd A. Metzler Papers, Box 7; [Harvard University], Division of History, Government and Economics, Division Examinations for the Degree of A.B., 1938-39.

 

Categories
Bibliography

Political Economy Books. Top-Ten Sellers in the U.S., 1876

Joseph Dorfman in Volume 3 (1865-1918) of his The Economic Mind in American Civilization (New York: 1949, p. 81) cites the results of a Publishers’ Weekly survey from 1876 that was used to determine a “top ten list” of books on political economy in the U.S. from the perspective of book sellers.

People in the book trade were asked to send in their ordered lists of ten titles. The entry judged closest to “the popular vote” would be awarded a cash prize.

The mechanics of the vote tallying are not very clear. I certainly would have employed a Borda voting procedure  but this does not appear to be what was done. My guess is that a two-stage process was used. Every book was given one vote each time it appeared on somebody’s list of ten. In the case of ties, e.g. Mill and Smith were on all thirty top-ten lists entered, the prize judge counted the number of times Mill was ranked above Smith to break the tie. Thus the maximum number of points awarded to an entry was 194, meaning of the 300 (thirty times ten) entries 194 were for the books elected to the popular vote top-ten list and 106 entries were for books that did not make the cut. Next each list submitted would be awarded the stage-one vote count for those books included in their list that were on the popular-vote top-ten. Best you could do, as the winner in this case did, was to name all top-ten books correctly.

I’ve tried to find links (which this blog highlights in red) to the economics books mentioned and I was indeed able to get many links to the editions actually referred to in the lists below. However, I have made substitutions, even taking later editions, when a cursory search of archive.org and hathitrust.org did not find the particular editions of the books referred to in the Publishers’ Weekly Quiz lists.

One title, Butt’s Protection and Free Trade, I have been unable to find at all to find.

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PRIZE QUESTIONS.

Which are our standard books; or, what works and editions should form the nucleus of a well-stocked bookstore to-day? This question, of the most vital importance to every one engaged in the production and sale of books, it is proposed to put before the trade in a new department of the Publishers’ Weekly, for which the co-operation of all our subscribers is cordially invited. The material is so extensive that, should our plan meet with the favor of our subscribers, this department may become a permanent and not the least useful feature of the Weekly. The plan for the present is to elicit answers from practical and experienced members of the trade, to a series of test questions as to which are the most standard and salable books in each branch of literature. A prize of $5 will be awarded for that answer which includes the greatest number of works on which competitors generally agree, or which, in the judgment of the editor, may otherwise be most fairly representative. This list will be published in the Weekly, possibly with the number of concurring competitors prefixed to each book, showing thereby the comparative estimation in which each book is held. Thus, in an entertaining and interesting manner, booksellers as well as book-buyers may profit from a general exchange of opinions and comparing of notes, a method which later may be applied to other questions of interest to the book trade and associated branches. Succeeding numbers of the Weekly will contain new questions, and the answers to each will be published four weeks from publication of the question.

 

Source: The Publishers’ Weekly. Vol. IX, No. 209, January 15, 1876, p. 57.

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PRIZE QUESTION No. 3.

Which are the most salable works on political economy?

Give ten titles in the following shape:

Smith, Adam, Wealth of Nations [specify edition, size, price, publisher, as usual].

RULES FOR COMPETITORS.

  1. The object of the questions is to elicit answers as to which books and editions have, independent of local or ephemeral interest, become standard or popular works in the American market, hence safe stock for investment.
  2. A prize of $5 will be awarded for that answer which includes the greatest number of works on which competitors generally agree, or which, in the judgment of the editor, may otherwise be most fairly representative.
  3. Every subscriber and every employee of a subscriber individually are entitled to compete.
  4. The answers shall consist of a list of works on a given topic. The short title is sufficient, but number of volumes, size, price, and name of publisher must be invariably given.
  5. The titles should be arranged according to the popularity each work holds in the opinion of the competitor.
  6. The titles must be written legibly with ink, on one side of the paper only, foolscap preferred, each title in separate paragraph, with space between titles for cutting through with scissors.
  7. The list must not contain a greater number of titles than is demanded in the question.
  8. Each list must be headed by the number of the Prize Question, and signed with full address of competitor.
  9. If several competitors should present lists of equal claim to the prize, it shall be awarded by lot.
  10. The name of the successful competitor shall be published with his list, and the amount of the prize remitted immediately after publication.
  11. The result of the answers will be published four weeks from publication of the question.
  12. All communications should be addressed. Editor Publishers’ Weekly, P. O. Box, 4295, New-York.

These rules are subject to amendment whenever the Editor finds it expedient.

 

Source: The Publishers’ Weekly. Vol. IX, No. 214, February 19, 1876, p. 229.

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THE PRIZE QUESTION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.

The Prize Question (No. 3) in Political Economy has called forth more lists than any previous question. This is partly to be explained, we have no doubt, by the fresh interest awakened in the subject by the present political situation and the fact that the Presidential election [Rutherford B. Hayes (R, Ohio) vs. Samuel J. Tilden (D, New York)] , occurring this year, promises to turn on the questions associated with this class of subject. In accordance with this interest, we have gotten up the order-list on finance and political economy given in our advertising pages last week, and which is to be repeated fortnightly in alternation with the Centennial page. We trust booksellers will not fail to make use of this. There are other indications of the general interest, and we have just at hand a neat catalogue of works on these subjects, from Robert Clarke & Co., of Cincinnati.

In political economy 30 lists have been submitted. It is an extraordinary coincidence that the list of the successful competitor, who is an old friend of our readers—Mr. H. W. Hagemann, with D. Appleton & Co.—gets the highest possible number, 194, since it is identical in its titles, though not in their arrangement, with the list by popular vote. We therefore award him a double prize, of $10. The following is the list:

PRIZE LIST (No. 3) IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Also, LIST BY POPULAR VOTE.

1.

Mill, John Stuart Principles of Political Economy[Vol IVol. II] 12°, 2 vols., $4, Appleton

30

2.

Smith, Adam The Wealth of Nations 12°, $2.50, Putnam

30

3.

Walker, Amasa The Science of Wealth 12°, $1.50, Lippincott

17

4.

Perry, Arthur Latham Elements of Polit. –Econ. cr. 8°, $2.50, Scribner

23

5.

Bowen, Francis American Polit. Econ. cr. 8°, $2.50, Scribner

13

6.

Fawcett, Henry Manual of Polit. Econ. cr. 8°, $3.50, Macmillan

19

7.

Jevons, W. Stanley The Theory of Polit. Econ. 8°, $3.50, Macmillan

11

8.

Wayland, Francis Elements of Polit. Econ. 12°, $1.75, Sheldon.

17

9.

Cairnes, J. E Some Leading Principles of Polit. Econ. cr. 8°, $2.50, Harper

20

10.

Greeley, Horace, Essays on the Science of Polit. Econ. 16°, $1.50, Osgood

14

194

 

The following shows the popular vote down to three:

Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.
[Vol I; Vol. II]

30

(2 v., 8°, Appleton, 18; 1 v., cr. 8°, H. Holt & Co., Lee & Shepard, and Little, Brown & Co., 12.)

Smith’s Wealth of Nations

30

(1 v., 12°, Putnam, 17; 1 v., 8°, Scribner, Worthington, 7; 2 v., 8°, Macmillan, 6.)

Perry’s Elements of Political Economy Scribner

23

Cairnes’ Leading Principles of Polit. Econ. Macmillan

20

Fawcett’s Manual of Political Economy Macmillan

19

Walker’s Science of Wealth

17

(12°, Lippincott, 13; 8°, Little, Brown & Co., 4)

Wayland’s Elements of Political Economy Sheldon

17

Greeley’s Essays on Political Economy Osgood

14

Bowen’s American Political Economy Scribner

13

Jevons’ Theory of Political Economy Macmillan

11

_______________

Sumner’s History of American Currency Holt

9

Jevons’ Science of Money [sic] Appleton

8

Bastiat’s Essays on Political Economy Putnam

7

Cairnes’ Character and Logical Method of Political Economy Harper

7

Fawcett’s (Mrs.) Polit. Econ. for Beginners Macmillan

5

McCulloch’s Principles of Political Economy Scribner

5

Mason and Lalor’s Primer of Political Economy Jansen, McC. & Co.

5

Carey’s Social Science [Vol I; Vol II; Vol III] Lippincott

4

Price’s (Bonamy) Currency and Banking Appleton

4

 

The following gives the lower counts:

3. Bascom’s, List’s, and Say’s Works on Political Economy

2. Bagehot’s Lombard Street; Bastiat’s Sophisms and Protection; Butts’ Protection and Free Trade; Cairnes’ Essays on Political Economy; Fawcett’s Essays and Lectures on Political and Social Subjects.

The second list is that of Mr. J. B. Fredricks, also with D. Appleton & Co., whose number is 186. His list is identical in its entries with that of Mr. Hagemann, with the exception of one book; he lost the prize by citing Carey’s Political [sic] Science, counting but 4, in place of Jevons’ Political Economy, counting 11. That both should be of the same house is a curious co- incidence, and a practical compliment to the establishment, since it is to be presumed, of course, that they worked independently of each other. The third list is that of Mr. Jas. S. Wynkoop, of R. G. Wynkoop & Co., Syracuse, counting 181. His list is also identical with Mr. Hagemann’s, except that it replaces Walker’s “Science of Wealth,” counting 17, with List’s “National System,” counting 3. The highest count after this is 179; the lowest count 102.

Several books were cited which did not properly come within the specific subject. These were, aside from single citations, Nordhoff’s Politics for Young Americans, 12; Townsend’s Civil Government, 4; Lieber’s Civil Liberty, 3; Lieber’s Political Ethics, 2—which come rather within the department of Political or Governmental Science, which, as well as Finance proper, will form the subject of a future question. These were not involved in any of the higher lists, so that the results would not have been altered; but they might have been, and we point out the facts to warn future contestants to confine themselves carefully to the specific subject in hand.

 

Source: The Publishers’ Weekly. Vol IX, No. 218, March 18, 1876, pp. 376-377.

 

Categories
Columbia Exam Questions Syllabus Uncategorized

Columbia. Junior Year Political Economy. Mayo-Smith, 1880

Yesterday while trawling through the Hathitrust digital library, I came across a collection published in 1882, Examination Papers Used During the Years 1877-1882 in Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Amherst and Williams Colleges. (The link takes you to the download page at archive.org)

Hoping for some political economic gold, I paged through the collection that appeared mostly focused on entrance examinations for Latin, Greek, mathematics etc., but eventually I stumbled upon a single examination in political economy for a junior year course (1880) at Columbia College.

The last question of that exam explicitly quotes from the course textbook so I went over to Google Books and searched the phrase “to secure a delusive benefit to individuals”. Sure enough, I could identify the textbook in question as the Manual of Political Economy for Schools and Colleges (3rd ed. 1876) by James Edwin Thorold Rogers. 

Now drunk on Google Books power, I text-searched Rogers’ Manual to locate the pages for answers to all the questions on the 1880 exam. You will find the corresponding page numbers in square brackets following the questions transcribed below…You’re welcome.

The course was taught by Richmond Mayo-Smith as seen in the Columbia College Handbook of Information 1880. I have included descriptive information about the junior and senior classes in history and political economy found there.

________________________________

[From the Columbia College Handbook of Information 1880]

SCHOOL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE.

PROFESSORS

John W. Burgess, A. M.,
Constitutional and International History and Law
Richmond M. Smith, A.M.,
Political Economy and Social Science (Adjunct).
Archibald Alexander, A.M., Ph.D.,
Philosophy (Adjunct).

OTHER OFFICERS

E. Munroe Smith, LL.B., J.U.D:,
Lecturer on the Roman Law
Clifford R. Bateman, LL.B.,
Lecturer on Administrative Law.

[…]

HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.

SOPHOMORE CLASS.

1ST TERM. —German History.
2D TERM.—French History.

JUNIOR CLASS.

1ST TERM—English History.
2D TERM—Political Economy.

SENIOR CLASS.

1ST TERM—Constitutional History of the United States.
2D TERM—Constitutional Law of the United States.
ELECTIVE BOTH TERMS—Political Economy

 

History.—During Sophomore and the first half of Junior year the course in history occupies two hours per week. Some text-book is used, usually those of Freeman’s Historical course for German and French history, and Green’s Short History of the English People for English history.

The instruction to the Senior Class occupies also two hours per week throughout the year, and embraces the following subjects :

I. Character and Constitution of the Colonial Governments in North America; their relation to the English Crown and Parliament; and their history to the Declaration of Independence;

II. Character and Constitution of the Continental Congress as a Revolutionary Government; its relation to the State governments and to the people of the States as a central government ; and the history of its supersedure by the Confederate form.

III. Character and Constitution of the Confederacy as a central authority ; its relation to State governments and to the individual; the historical consequence of its defects and weaknesses, and its final supersedure by the Federal form.

IV. History of the Formation and Adoption of the Federal Constitution; nature and powers of the government which it established; its relation to the State governments and the individual citizen.

V. Interpretation of the Provisions of the Federal Constitution.

VI. History of the Development of the Federal Constitution from its adoption to the present time.

The text and reference books used in connection with this course are: Hildreth, History of the United States; Bancroft, History of the United States; Curtis, History of the Constitution; The Federalist; Story, Constitutional Law; Pomeroy, Constitutional Law; Von Holst, Constitution and Democracy in the United States; Benton, Thirty Years’ View; Jennings, Eighty Years of Republican Government in the United States; Fisher, Trial of the Constitution; Decisions of the United States Supreme Court upon all constitutional questions.

 

Political Economy—There are two courses in Political Economy. During the second term of Junior year it is required from all students of that class. A systematic outline of the science is given, generally with the use of a text-book, either Fawcett’s or Rogers’s Manual of Political Economy.

[Fawcett, Henry. Manual of Political Economy1st ed., 18632nd ed., 18653rd ed., 18694th ed., revised and enlarged 18745th ed., revised and enlarged 1876; 6th ed., 1883;  7th ed., 1888;  8th ed., 1907.

Rogers, James Edwin Thorold. A Manual of Political Economy for Schools and CollegesFirst Edition, 1868Second edition, revised, 1869; Third edition revised, 1876.]

Political Economy may be elected by the students of the Senior Class, two hours per week throughout the year. Instruction is given by lectures on the following topics:

Systems of Land Tenure, past and present, in different countries, and their economic and social effects; Science of Finance, including a consideration of Money, Paper Money, Banking, and Taxation; Financial History and present situation of England, Germany, France, and the United States. All these topics are treated historically as well as critically; and with reference to the economic development in the History of Civilization.

Three or four theses on topics assigned by the professor are required from students of this class, To furnish these students with facilities for such work, besides the books in the college library, a special library of works in the department of Political Economy has been purchased and is for the exclusive use of the students of this class.

 

Source: Columbia College. Handbook of Information as to the Course of Instruction, etc., etc. New York: 1880, pp. x, 41-43.

________________________________

[Examination Questions in Political Economy 1880]

COLUMBIA COLLEGE
POLITICAL ECONOMY

JUNIOR CLASS, 1880.

[Page references to Rogers’ Manual of Political Economy, 3rd ed. 1876]

  1. Give a history of the English Poor Laws. [p. 121 ff.]
  2. What do you mean by Co-operation? What are the supposed advantages to the laborer? Explain the system of the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers [pp. 135-137] and of the Schultze-Delitsch Credit-Banks [p. 106-109].
  3. What determines the rate of wages of labor, and what effect does the customary food of laborers have on their wages? [p. 65]
  4. Explain the following sentence: “It will be clear that the machinery of a Trade’s Union cannot increase wages by depressing the profits of capital.” [p. 90]
  5. Explain and illustrate the following: “Banks of issue find it possible to circulate a far larger amount of paper than the gold on which the paper is based.” What effect does the abstraction of gold have in such a case? [pp. 43 ff.]
  6. What is meant by an income tax; on what part of the income should it be levied and why? [pp. 278-281]
  7. Explain the origin of the Irish cottier system of land tenure, its evils and the proposed remedy. [pp. 175 ff.]
  8. Explain the following sentences from the text book:
    “It (Protection) inflicts actual suffering or inconvenience on the public in order to secure a delusive benefit to individuals.” “It will be clear also that the Protection cannot stimulate general industry.” “In fact, whenever it (the state) protects particular kinds of labor it diminishes capital.” “Every country enjoys a natural protection to its manufactures.” [pp. 234-235]

 

Source: Harry Thurston Peck (ed.), Examination Papers Used During the Years 1877-1882 in Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Amherst and Williams Colleges. New York: Gilliss Brothers, 1882, p. 57-58.

Image Source:  University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D.  Boston: R. Herdon Company.  Vol. 2, 1899, pp. 582.

Categories
Uncategorized

Correcting the last posting: the year is 1912

For the subscribers to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror. Misprints happen, e.g. last posting (now corrected). The nice thing about the blog is that it allows me to correct mistakes, just a warning that what you get in your email is not necessarily the final, corrected, revised, augmented version. It is worth checking back if a particular posting is important enough to you to want to use.

Categories
Harvard Regulations

Harvard Economics Department Votes on Course Rules, 1912

Votes 1, 2 and 3 taken by the Harvard economics department in the Spring of 1912 provide a few details how the courses designated “Group Two: For graduates and undergraduates” were to govern the admission of undergraduates and the differential course requirements for the two types of students.

_______________________________

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
(INTERDEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE SHEET)

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 8, 1912

Dear Lawrence:

You may be interested in certain votes recently passed by our Department. They are part of a general movement for stiffening our instruction and discipline. With reference to the fifth vote, I may add that we have it in mind to arrange next year for some systematic visiting of our courses for undergraduates (very likely by Hanus) with a view to getting suggestions. The sixth vote (and its corollaries) was intended to give instructors a defense against being pestered by requests for postponements on the part of undergraduates.

Sincerely yours,

[signed]

F. W. Taussig

President A. Lawrence Lowell.

 

[Brief biography of Professor Paul Henry Hanus (1855-1941), Chair of Harvard’s Division of Education, 1906-1912 ]

____________________________

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
(INTERDEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE SHEET)

[Carbon copy]

 

Cambridge, Massachusetts

VOTES PASSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS [pencil: April + May 1912]

  1. That such undergraduates only as are candidates for honors in the Division, and are in their last year of undergraduate work, shall be admitted to courses primarily for graduates.
  2. That graduate students enrolled in courses of the Second Group (for graduates and undergraduates) shall be exempt from all tests except the mid-year and final examinations, but shall be expected to do additional work, as may be arranged by the several instructors.
  3. That in those courses of this Second Group which meet ordinarily but twice a week, the instructor shall hold conferences at least once a fortnight with the graduate students taking the courses.
  4. That the scope and method of instruction in courses of the First and Second Groups shall be matters for Departmental consideration.
  5. That the Department shall arrange for adequate inspection of courses of the First and Second Groups.
  6. That theses by undergraduates shall not be accepted if handed in at a date later than that set by the instructor for the course, except in case of illness, or other unavoidable reason for postponement accepted as satisfactory by the Chairman of the Department and the instructor.
  7. That the same principle (vote 6) shall apply to written exercises of all kinds, and to stated conferences. Failure to attend a conference for a thesis, unless excused on the grounds above noted, shall preclude acceptance of the thesis.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. President Lowell’s Papers, 1909-1914 (UAI.5.160), Box 15, Folder 413.

Image Source: U. S. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Treasure room, Widener Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, ca. 1915.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Taussig’s use of own text in his Principles of Economics Course, 1911

“Let those who will—write the nation’s laws—if I can write its textbooks.”
Paul A. Samuelson
. 

In 1911 the biggest gun of the Harvard economics department, Frank W. Taussig, published the first edition of his two-volume textbook Principles of Economics. In this posting I provide first his preface that I find particularly interesting for the following two statements:

“…a suitable place for taxation was not easy to find. I concluded finally to put the chapters on this subject at the very close, even though they may have the effect of an anticlimax, coming as they do after those on socialism.”

“[I] have said little on such a topic as the subjective theory of value, which in my judgment is of less service for explaining the phenomena of the real world than is supposed by its votaries. These matters and others of the same sort are best left to the professional literature of the subject.”

The second item is a letter he wrote that fall to the President of Harvard that provides his apologia for requiring students taking his course to own (or as he wrote “at least control”) a copy of his textbook. He says he contributed a number of his textbooks to the Phillips Brooks House Loan Library so “poor fellows” would not feel compelled to buy the book. That library had some three thousand textbooks in 1921 according to the Harvard Crimson. Cf. “The Phillips Brooks House. Formal Transfer to the University. Memorial Mass Meeting in Sanders.” The Harvard Crimson January 24, 1900.

______________________________________

PREFACE

[Taussig, Frank W. Principles of Economics. (2 vols., New York, 1911). Volume I  ; Volume II.]

I have tried in this book to state the principles of economics in such form that they shall be comprehensible to an educated and intelligent person who has not before made any systematic study of the subject. Though designed in this sense for beginners, the book does not gloss over difficulties or avoid severe reasoning. So one can understand economic phenomena or prepare himself to deal with economic problems who is unwilling to follow trains of reasoning which call for sustained attention. I have done my best to be clear, and to state with care the grounds on which my conclusions rest, as well as the conclusions themselves, but have made no vain pretense of simplifying all things.

The order of the topics has been determined more by convenience for exposition than by any strict regard for system In general, a subject has been entered on only when the main conclusions relating to it could be followed to the end. Yet so close is the connection between the different parts of economics that it has been necessary sometimes to go part way in the consideration of matters on which the final word had to be reserved for a later stage. Taxation has offered, as regards its place in the arrangement, perhaps the greatest difficulties. It is so closely connected with economics that some consideration of it seemed essential; whereas public finance in the stricter sense, whose problems are political quite as much as economic, has been omitted. Yet a suitable place for taxation was not easy to find. I concluded finally to put the chapters on this subject at the very close, even though they may have the effect of an anticlimax, coming as they do after those on socialism.

The book deals chiefly with the industrial conditions of modem countries, and most of all with those of the United States. Economic history and economic development are not considered in any set chapters, being touched only as they happen to illustrate one or another of the problems of contemporary society. Some topics to which economists give much attention in discussion among themselves receive scant attention or none at all. I have omitted entirely the usual chapters or sections on definitions, methodology, and history of dogma; and have said little on such a topic as the subjective theory of value, which in my judgment is of less service for explaining the phenomena of the real world than is supposed by its votaries. These matters and others of the same sort are best left to the professional literature of the subject. I hope this book is not undeserving the attention of specialists; but it is meant to be read by others than specialists.

Though not written on the usual model of textbooks, and not planned primarily to meet the needs of teachers and students, the book will prove of service, I hope, in institutions which offer substantial courses in economics. The fact that it is addressed to mature persons, not to the immature, should be an argument in favor of such use rather than against it. Being neither an encyclopedic treatise nor a textbook of the familiar sort, it offers no voluminous footnotes and no detailed directions for collateral reading. When facts and figures not of common knowledge have been cited, my sources of information have been stated. At the close of each of the eight Books into which the whole is divided, I have given suggestions for further reading and study, mentioning the really important books and papers.

I have expressed in the text, as occasion arose, my obligations to the contemporary thinkers from whom I have derived most stimulus. For great aid in revising the manuscript and proof, on matters both of form and substance, I am indebted to my colleagues Drs. B. F. Foerster and E. E. Day of Harvard University.

F. W. TAUSSIG.

Harvard University,
March, 1911.

______________________________________

[Letter:  Professor F. W. Taussig to Harvard President A. L. Lowell]

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
October 6, 1911.

Dear Lawrence:

It is due to you to explain what course I finally follow in regard to the use of my book in Economics 1.

After consultation with various colleagues, – – Haskins, Hurlbut, Channing, and others, – – I came to the conclusion not to put a large number of copies into the libraries for students’ use. The book is not a reference book, but a textbook. It is not meant for occasional consultation, but for sustained study through the year. Library reading of the book is almost of necessity somewhat hurried; this is a book the students want to read and re-read. At all events, if it is not worth sustained study, it is not worth using in the course at all. We always treated other books used in the course in the same way, never making any pretense of supplying them in the library. Moreover, there is a serious practical difficulty in turning hundreds of students into the reading room at about the same time in the course of each week. This last, however, is a minor matter. The essential consideration is that ownership, or at least control, of the book, is for the intellectual advantage of the men.

One perplexity I have avoided like putting a supply of copies, for the use of poor men, in Phillips Brooks House. I do not want to compel the poor fellows to buy my book. There is a text-book loan library in Phillips Brooks House, and this I have supplied with a sufficient number of copies for the use of the needy. Hurlbut and Arthur Beane between them will see that these copies get into the proper hands.

Sincerely yours,

[signed]

F. W. Taussig

President A. Lawrence Lowell.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. President Lowell’s Papers (UAI.5.160), 1909-1914 Nos. 405-436. Box 15, Folder 413.

 

Categories
M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

MIT. Business Cycles Reading List. Samuelson, 1952

We can see an enormous change in the syllabus of Paul Samuelson’s graduate course on business cycles in this first term of the 1952-53 academic year compared to the course he taught in the second term of the 1942-43 academic year

 

_________________________________________________

[Course Description]

14.481. Business Cycles (A). Statistical, historical, and theoretical examination of determinants of income, production and employment. Modern methods of analysis, forecasting, and control.

 

Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bulletin. Catalogue Issue for 1952-1953 Session. June 1952, p. 149.

_________________________________________________

[in pencil: 14.481]

Reading Assignments
Business Cycles, Fall, 1952

The periods of time allocated to various subjects are very approximate.

 

I. Some fundamental notions about economic dynamics, 2 weeks.

Frisch: “On the Notion of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 3, 1935, pp. 100-105.
Baumol: Economic Dynamics, Chapters 1, 7, 8.
Anyone who would like to learn a little about difference equations might study Chapters 9, 10, 11 of Baumol’s book.
Samuelson: Foundations of Economic Analysis, Ch. 11, pp. 311-344.
Harrod: Towards a Dynamic Economics, Lecture 1.
Samuelson: “Dynamic Process Analysis,” Chapter 10 in a Survey of Contemporary Economics, ed. Ellis, pp. 352-387.

II. Examples of informal theories of the business cycle, 2 weeks.

Pigou: Industrial Fluctuations, Chapters II-XII, pp. 18-138.
Clark: Strategic Factors in Business Cycles, pp. 160-226.
Mitchell: “Business Cycles” in Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 43-60.

III. Examples of formal models of the business cycle, 2 weeks.

Goodwin: Chapter 22 in Hansen: Business Cycles and National Income, pp. 417-468.
Goodwin: Innovations and the Irregularity of Economic Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1946.
Hicks: A Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle, Chapters 7, 8, pp. 83-107.
Samuelson: “Interaction of the Multiplier and the Acceleration Principle,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1939, pp. 75-78. Reprinted in Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
Kaldor: “A Model of the Trade Cycle,” Economic Journal, 1940, pp. 78-92.
Kalecki: Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations, Chapter 6.
Metzler: “The Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1941, pp. 113-129.
Metzler: “Factors Affecting the Length of Inventory Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1947, pp. 1-15.
Abramowitz: Inventories and Business Cycles, pp. 3-34, 90-131, 312-326.

IV. Econometric Models, 2-3 weeks.

Clark: “A System of Equations Explaining the United States Trade Cycle,” Econometrica, 1949, pp. 93-125.
Klein: Economic Fluctuations in the United States, pp. 1-12; 84-122.
Christ: “A Test of an Econometric Model for the United States, 1921-1947,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Conference on Business Cycles, pp. 35-130.

V. The Economics of Long-Run Growth, 3-4 weeks.

Harrod: Towards a Dynamic Economics, Lecture 3.
Hicks: Trade Cycle, Chapters 5, 6, pp. 56-83.
Domar: Expansion and Employment,” American Economic Review, 1947, pp. 34-55.
Baumol: Economic Dynamics, Chapters 2, 4, 9.
Robinson: The Rate of interest and Other Essays, pp. 67-142.
Schelling: “Capital Growth and Equilibrium,” American Economic Review, 1947, pp. 864-876.
Abramowitz: “Economics of Growth,” in Survey of Contemporary Economics, Vol. II, pp. 132-182.
Alexander: “The Accelerator as a Generator of Steady Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1949, pp. 174-197.
Rostow: Aspects of Economic Growth, Part I.

VI. Reading Period, 1 week.

Hansen: Business Cycles and National Income, Part III, pp. 211-498.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Paul A. Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.451 Business Cycles, 1943-1955”.

Image Source: MIT, Technique 1950.

 

Categories
Bibliography Wisconsin

Citizen’s Library of Economics, Politics and Sociology. Richard T. Ely, ed. 1900…

The University of Wisconsin economist, Richard T. Ely, served as the general editor for the social science series entitled “The Citizen’s Library of Economics, Politics and Sociology.” He actually disliked the title “Citizen’s Library” that had been given by Macmillan.  He thought it would give an unintended popular stigma to the scientific works he intended to include (Benjamin G. Radar [1966], The Academic Mind and Reform: The Influence of Richard T. Ely in American Life, p. 156). 

Links are provided to all the individual items but one (I couldn’t find an online copy of Blackmar’s Elements of Sociology).

_____________________

THE CITIZEN’S LIBRARY
OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND SOCIOLOGY.

Edited by Richard T. Ely, Ph.D., LL.D.
Professor of Economics in the University of Wisconsin

Published by The Macmillan Company, New York

EDITOR’S PREFACE

The present volume is the first in a Library having the above title. It is hoped eventually to cover the three fields of knowledge indicated by the title in such way that the various series included in the Library will afford such complete information concerning the theory and facts of these sciences that the volumes will have some of the advantages of an encyclopedic work combined with those of separate and distinct treatises. To aid in the accomplishment of this purpose, it is planned to issue from time to time an index volume or supplement, binding together a series on closely related subjects. [Note: not aware this ever happened] This Library thus includes new and valuable features, for it will give to the public a set of works affording information on topics of importance to every citizen which must now be sought in a great multiplicity of sources, and often sought in vain.

The character of the writers and the management of the Library will be such as to inspire confidence. The utmost pains will be taken to secure the greatest possible accuracy in all statistical tables and statements of fact and theory, and no partisan bias will disturb the conclusions. It is the conviction of the Editor that scientific work in the field of the humanities may generally be made interesting to intelligent citizens through cultivation of clearness in statement and literary style. There are masterpieces even in Economics, for example, which rank as literature, as Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and John Stuart Mill’s Political Economy bear witness. It is desired to lay emphasis on the fact that while the sciences of Economics, Politics, and Sociology are of concern to the citizen, and make appropriate the title ” Citizen’s Library,” in no case will the interests of science be sacrificed to popularity. The aim will be to bring every volume in the Library up to the present standard of science, and it is hoped that the Library will in more than one instance push forward the boundaries of knowledge.

In conclusion, it only remains to add that the various authors assume responsibility for expressions of opinion, and that publication in the Library does not necessarily mean an endorsement either by publishers or Editor of views found in the several volumes.

The Editor.

Source: Ely, Richard T. Monopolies and Trusts , New York: Macmillan, 1900, pp. ix-xi.

_____________________

BOOKS IN THE CITIZEN’S LIBRARY
OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND SOCIOLOGY.

Addams, Jane. (1902). Democracy and Social Ethics.

Addams, Jane. (1907). Newer Ideals of Peace.

Baker, M. N. (1902). Municipal Engineering and Sanitation.

Blackmar, Frank Wilson. (1908). The Elements of Sociology.

Bradford, Ernest S. (1911). Commission Government in American Cities.

Bullock, Charles J. (1900). Essays on the Monetary History of the United States.

Carlton, Frank Tracy. (1908). Education and Industrial Evolution.

Ely, Richard T. (1893).  Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T. (1893, reprinted 1900). Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T., Thomas S. Adams, Max O. Lorenz, and Allyn A. Young. (1908, revised and enlarged). Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T. (1900). Monopolies and Trusts.

Ely, Richard T. (1903). Studies in the Evolution of Industrial Society.

Ely, Richard T. (1905 reprint of 1886). Labor Movement in America.

Fisk, George Mygatt. (1907). International Commercial Policies with Special Reference to the United States, a Text Book.

Hobson, John A. (1900). The Economics of Distribution.

Jones, Edward D. (1900). Economic Crises.

Kelley, Florence. (1905). Some Ethical Gains Through Legislation.

Kinley, David. (1904). Money.

MacLean, Annie Marion. (1910). Wage-Earning Women.

Macy, Jesse. (1900). Political Parties in the United States, 1846-1861.

Mangold, George B. (1910). Child Problems.

Mead, Elwood. (1903) Irrigation Institutions. A Discussion of the Economic and Legal Questions Created by the Growth of Irrigated Agriculture in the West.

Meyer, Balthasar Henry (1909). Railway Legislation in the United States.

Parmelee, Maurice. (1908). The Principles of Anthropology and Sociology in Their Relations To Criminal Procedure.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1900). World Politics at the End of the Nineteenth Century as Influenced by the Oriental Situation.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1902). Colonial Government.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1905). Colonial Administration.

Ross, E. A. and Aleworth, E. (1901). Social control, a survey of the foundations of order.

Ross, Edward A. (1905). The Foundations of Sociology.

Smith, J. Allen. (1907). The Spirit of American Government; A Study of the Constitution: its Origin, Influence and Relation to Democracy.

Sparling, Samuel E. (1906). Introduction to Business Organization.

Taylor, Henry C. (1905). An Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics.

Vincent, John Martin. (1900). Government in Switzerland.

Wilcox, Delos F. (1904). The American City; A Problem in Democracy.

Wilcox, Delos F. (1910). Great Cities in America, their Problems and their Government.

Zueblin Charles (Revised edition, 1916). American Municipal Progress.

 

Image Source: Universities and their sons; history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, Vol. IV (1900), p. 505.

 

Categories
Columbia Regulations

Columbia. Organization of Graduate Education, 1908-10.

Just want to remind/alert readers that the artifacts that I post here on Economics in the Rear-view Mirror are samples from my project on the development of graduate and undergraduate economics education in the United States from the last quarter of the 19th century up through the middle of the 20th century. Besides the syllabi and exams for particular courses, course offerings and staffing that I offer visitors to these pages, I collect and share  information about rules and regulations governing the granting of degrees too.

Today’s posting comes from a Columbia University Bulletin of Information. Faculties of Political Science, Philosophy and Pure Science: Instruction for Candidates for the Degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy, 1908-10. Economics found itself within the Faculty of Political Science that was embedded within the regulations of the larger university. As dull as this sort of reading is, say compared to reading 1910 economics (irony!), it was a part of the world within which young economists were methodologically reared and where they were to refine their tastes to distinguish “good” from “bad” economics as well as “interesting” from “uninteresting” economics.

Let me ask visitors who look at these century-old rules to reflect and share what seems to be the same or different from their own educational experiences. Thanks!

________________________________

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, 1908-10
ORGANIZATION OF GRADUATE INSTRUCTION

[Definitions]

Departments
Faculties
University Council
Higher Degrees
Freedom of Election

[Divisional grouping of the Departments]

Faculty of Political Science
Faculty of Philosophy
Faculty of Pure Science
Faculty of Fine Arts

Registration and Matriculation

Registration
Matriculation
Summer Session
Non-matriculated Students
Undergraduate Courses
Admission of Women

Character of Graduate Work and Choice of Subjects

Minimum Residence
Essential Qualifications
Major and Minor Subjects
Courses [vs. Subjects]
Course Records
Subjects of the Faculty of Political Science
Subjects of the Faculty of Philosophy
Subjects of the Faculty of Pure Science
Subjects of the Faculty of Fine Arts
Change of Subjects
Faculty Jurisdiction
Students in Professional Schools

The Degree of Master of Arts

The Essay
Period of Residence

The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

General Examination
Language Requirement
Dissertation
Special Faculty Regulations
Divisional Requirements
Application for Examination
Oral Examination
Recommendation and Award

[Suggestions to Students]

Language Requirements
Preparation for Examinations
Choice of Dissertation Topic
Consultation with Instructors
Professor in Charge of Investigations
Printing of Dissertation
Size of Dissertation
Style of Dissertation
Period of Candidacy
Credit from elsewhere for Residence
Lapse of Candidacy and Restoration
Ph.D. Association

________________________________

 

PART I—ORGANIZATION OF GRADUATE INSTRUCTION

Departments. The instruction given in Columbia University is conducted by Departments created by the Statutes of the University. Of these Departments there are at present fifty-nine. Every person who gives instruction is a member of some one Department; and the senior officer of the highest rank in each Department, who is in active service, is generally its administrative head. For certain administrative purposes the Departments are grouped into Divisions.

Faculties. For legislative purposes, and for the government of the several Schools into which the University is divided, the several Faculties are established by Statute. Each Faculty is composed of the professors and adjunct professors who are assigned to it by the Trustees, and is under the immediate direction of a Dean. The President is the Chairman of each Faculty. A Department or Division may form part of one, two, or more Faculties.

University Council. The University Council is composed of the President, the Deans, and delegates elected by the Faculties. Among other duties, it determines the conditions under which are awarded the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Laws, and Doctor of Philosophy.

The Higher Degrees. For the conduct of the work leading to the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy, which are for convenience termed “the higher degrees,” the Trustees have established four Faculties, in charge respectively of the Schools of Political Science (founded 1880), Philosophy (1890), Pure Science (1892), and Fine Arts (1906 — not yet completely organized). These four Faculties correspond to what in many American Universities is called a “graduate department” or “graduate school,” and are responsible for the conduct of advanced instruction not only during the academic year, but in the Summer Session of the University. Their representatives on the University Council form ex-officio a Committee on Higher Degrees, whose functions are indicated by its name. To this Committee the Council has delegated, subject to its own final control, the current administration of its regulations.

All requests for action upon matters which under the Statutes and the Regulations of the Council are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Council itself should be addressed to the Secretary of the University Council. Requests for action upon matters falling within the jurisdiction of the several Faculties should be addressed to their respective Deans.

Freedom of Election. It should be noted that the division of the field of graduate work among the four Faculties in no wise limits the freedom of the student to make his own combination of studies. Once matriculated as a graduate student he may be registered as a student in two or more Faculties; and in many cases such an arrangement is highly desirable.

 

The distribution of the work leading to the higher degrees among the Faculties, and the divisional grouping oi the Departments, are here shown:

 

Faculty of Political Science

Division of History, Economics, and Public Law—Departments: Economics; History; Public Law and Jurisprudence; Social Science.

 

Faculty of Philosophy

Division of Classical Philology—Departments: Greek; Latin (each including archaeology).

Division of Education—The Faculty of Teachers College (so far as the higher degrees are concerned).

Division of Modern Languages and Literatures—Departments: Comparative Literature; English; Germanic Languages; Romance Languages.

Division of Oriental Languages—Departments: Chinese; Indo-Iranian Languages; Semitic Languages.

Division of Philosophy, Psychology, and Anthropology—Departments: Anthropology; Philosophy; Psychology.

 

Faculty of Pure Science

Division of Biology—Departments: Anatomy; Bacteriology; Biological Chemistry; Botany; Embryology; Physiology; Zoology.

Division of Chemistry—Departments: Chemistry; P ysiological I Chemistry.

Division of Engineering—Departments: Civil Engineering; Electrical Engineering; Engineering Draughting; Mechanical Engineering.

Division of Geology, Geography, and Mineralogy—Departments: Geology; Geography; Mineralogy.

Division of Mathematical and Physical Science—Departments: Astronomy; Mathematics; Physics.

Division of Mining and Metallurgy—Departments: Metallurgy; Mining.

 

Faculty of Fine Arts

Division of Fine Arts—Departments: Architecture; Music; Design.

 

Announcements. Full statements concerning the courses of instruction, laboratories, seminars, etc., are contained in the “Divisional Announcements.” In these are indicated the scope and character of the several courses, the hours of attendance, etc. They may be had on application to the Secretary of the University, to whom, also, all correspondence of a general character should be addressed.

Courses in Professional Schools. Some of the subjects named above are also under the jurisdiction of the Faculties of the professional schools of the University; but of the work that may be offered towards the higher degrees only the four Faculties named here have control, and all students who intend to carry on such work, whether as candidates for higher degrees or not, are required to register under the Faculty or Faculties that have it in charge.

Consultation. Every student is responsible to the Dean of each Faculty under which he is working, for compliance with the Statutes of the University and with the Regulations of the University Council and of the Faculty. To the head of each Department under which he is studying he is responsible for fulfilment of all the requirements of that Department with regard to attendance upon courses, private study, and examinations. Entering students must therefore first of all consult the Dean of each Faculty and the head of each Department under which they expect to work. It should be fully understood that it is not only the right but also the duty of every student to call upon the Dean and other officers under whom his work is to be carried on for information and guidance whenever he needs them, and that he must keep himself duly and fully informed of all that is expected of him by the Dean and the Departments concerned. The offices of the four Deans, of the Registrar, and of the Bursar are all in East Hall. Information of a general character regarding the University may be had in Room 213, Library Building.

 

 

REGISTRATION AND MATRICULATION

Registration. Registration is required when the student first connects himself with the University, and thereafter at the beginning of each academic year. Students are admitted at any time during the academic year. To obtain full credit for residence during any half-year, they must register at the beginning of it, except that registration for the first half-year (September to January) implies registration for the second (February to June) as well, unless the student withdraws.

Matriculation. Matriculation, i. e., admission to candidacy for degrees, is open only to graduates of colleges and scientific schools in good standing, or to those who have an equivalent training. . Professional (other than engineering) degrees do not in themselves entitle the holders to matriculation. The question whether the training of a non-graduate shall be deemed equivalent to that indicated by a first degree is determined in every case by the Committee on Higher Degrees.

Summer Session. Certain courses given in the Summer Session of the University (see Academic Calendar) may be offered toward the higher degrees, and qualified students may matriculate as candidates therefor at the opening of the Summer Session.

Non-matriculated Students. Students of mature age who give evidence of earnest purpose and special fitness may register, with permission of the Dean concerned, for any of the courses under the control of these Faculties without matriculating as candidates for a degree. By special fitness, in the case of students not holding a first degree, is meant an equipment for the course intended to be taken such as would justify candidacy for a degree if the preliminary requirements could be fully met. Of such fitness the head of each Department under which the applicant wishes to study is the judge, and his approval must be expressed in writing to the Dean of the Faculty. Such students are expected to pursue seriously the work of the course for which they are enrolled, and will be required to pass examinations therein at the discretion of the professor giving the course. They may be excluded from any course which they are following if the instructor in charge be satisfied that proper attention is not being given to the work of the course. In general, students who do not hold the first degree or its equivalent are recommended to register in one of the Colleges, the men in Columbia College, the women in Barnard College.

Undergraduate Courses. In these Colleges emphasis is placed upon the quality of the student’s work rather than upon the time spent in residence, and this fact, together with the opportunities offered in the Summer Session, makes it possible for a well prepared candidate to complete the requirements for the bachelor’s degree in three and one-half years, three years, or conceivably in a shorter period for students who by anticipating College work are able to enter with advanced standing

Admission of Women. Women who have the first degree are admitted on equal terms with men, as candidates for a higher degree or as non-candidates, to all Admission courses offered under these Faculties, unless a specific statement to the contrary is made in connection with the announcement of a course.

[…]

CHARACTER OF GRADUATE WORK AND CHOICE OF SUBJECTS

 

Minimum Residence. The minimum period of graduate study which entitles a student to apply for the degree of Master of Arts is one year, for that of Doctor of Philosophy, two years; but these are only minimum periods, and the statements made below in connection with each degree must be carefully noted. No degree may be conferred upon any person who has not been in residence at Columbia University for a full academic year. (See page 15.)

The Essential Qualifications. The work expected of a candidate for one of the higher degrees is different in character from that usually required of undergraduates. Attendance upon courses, the acquisition of knowledge, and the consequent ability to pass examinations, are not the only requirements; and though a very considerable amount of knowledge in the special field of work chosen and in others adjacent to it is demanded, it is not upon such attainment that the chief stress is laid. The essentials are the acquisition of the power to do independent scientific work, and the demonstration of this power by actual performance. For the assistance of the student in his own labors, instruction is given by means of lectures, in which the theoretical side of the subject, its bibliography, and its methods are set forth; and in the seminars or laboratories he is trained in the practical work of investigation, the presentation of results, and the criticism of the work of others.

Major and Minor Subjects. To secure thorough training in some one field of research, and yet avoid over-specialization with the inevitable concomitant of deficient general training, the regulations call for the selection of three “subjects” for study and eventual examination. The candidate must pursue these three subjects during the required period of residence, and the amount of work done in each subject must be satisfactory to the professor in charge. The major subject is that in connection with which the candidate for the master’s degree must prepare his essay, the candidate for the doctor’s degree his dissertation. This subject is expected to occupy approximately half of the time spent by the candidate in study for the higher degree. The first and second minor subjects, which must stand in some reasonable connection with the major and with each other, should each occupy approximately one- quarter of this time of study. The first minor subject will naturally be more closely connected with the major.

Courses. A “subject” must be carefully distinguished from a “course.” A subject is a field of knowledge, in which the candidate is expected to work and to be examined; the courses of lectures, the work in laboratories, and the exercises of the seminars, are simply means of acquiring knowledge in certain parts of the field and aids to the work of the student himself. The subjects are practically permanent, while the courses offered under each may change from year to year. The number of courses and in general the amount of work to be taken in each subject is determined, for each student, by the professor or professors in charge of that subject.

Course Records. It should be noted that the student is expected to keep his own record of courses attended. In the registration-book which is furnished him for this purpose, he enters at the beginning of each half-year the courses which he proposes to attend. At the beginning and end of each course the professor in charge certifies the student’s attendance by his signature. Before presenting himself for examination for any degree, the student must submit his registration-book to the Dean of the Faculty in which his major subject lies in order that the Dean may satisfy himself that the required minimum number of courses has been attended. Lost registration-books may be replaced if the professors are able from their own records or recollection to certify attendance; but if they are unable to do this, the candidate may lose credit for attendance.

The specific regulations of the Council concerning subjects are as follows:

Immediately after registration, each student who declares himself a candidate for the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy, or either of them, shall designate one principal or major subject and two subordinate or minor subjects. The choice of subjects must in every case be approved by the Dean of the Faculty under which the major subject is taken.

Choice of Subjects. When a candidate designates any subject as his major and first minor, as permitted by the Regulations of the Faculties of Philosophy and Pure Science, no subdivision of that general subject may be chosen by him as a second minor, provided, however, that with the recommendation of the Dean and the head of the Department concerned, by a special vote of the Committee on Higher Degrees, to be taken in every such case, a candidate may be allowed to choose all his subjects under one Department.

The subjects from which the candidate’s selection must be made are:

 

Under the Faculty of Political Science

Group I.—History and political philosophy: (1) Ancient and oriental history; (2) mediaeval history; (3) modern European history from the opening of the 16th century; (4) American history; (5) political philosophy.

Group II.—Public law and comparative jurisprudence: (1) Constitutional law; (2) international law; (3) administrative law; (4) comparative jurisprudence.

Group III.—Economics and social science: (1) Political economy and finance; (2) sociology and statistics; (3) social economy. In his choice of subjects under this Faculty, the candidate whose major subject lies within its jurisdiction is limited by the following rules;

A candidate for the degree of Master of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy must select one minor subject outside of the group which includes his major subject.

A candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy must select one minor subject within the group which includes his major subject.

The candidate for the degree of Master of Arts must take, in each subject, courses occupying at least two hours weekly throughout one year. In his major subject he must also attend a Seminar.

The candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy must take, in his major subject, courses occupying at least four hours weekly during each required year of residence (provided that this number of hours be offered in the subject), and must also attend a Seminar during the period of residence. In each minor subject he must take courses occupying at least two hours weekly during each required year of residence.

 

Under the Faculty of Philosophy

I. Major Subjects: (1) Philosophy; (2) psychology; (3) anthropology; (4) education; (5) linguistics; (6) comparative literature; (7) classical archaeology and epigraphy; (8) Greek language and literature, and, incidentally, Grecian history; (9) Latin language and literature, and, incidentally, Roman history; and the following, including in each case the study of both the language and literature; (10) English; (11) Germanic; (12) Romance; (13) Sanskrit (with Pālī and Iranian); (14) Semitic; (15) Chinese.

Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 may be offered each as the equivalent of a major and one minor subject.

II. Minor Subjects: (1) Philosophy; (2) psychology; (3) anthropology; (4) education; ( 5) linguistics; (6) comparative literature; (7) Greek; (8) Greek archaeology; (9) Latin; (10) Roman archaeology; (11) Sanskrit; (12) Iranian; (13) English; (14) Anglo-Saxon; (15) Gothic; (16) Germanic philology; (17) German language and literature; (18) Scandinavian languages and literatures; (19) Romance philology; (20) French language and literature; (21) Spanish language and literature; (22) Italian language and literature; (23) Hebrew; (24) Arabic; (25) Assyrian; (26) Syriac; (27) Ethiopic; (28) Semitic epigraphy; (29) Turkish; (30) Armenian; (31) Chinese; (32) Coptic; (33) Celtic; (34) Comparative Religion.

A candidate for the degree of Master of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy may, with the consent of the Dean of the Faculty and of the heads of the Departments concerned, select both minor subjects within the same Department, and may divide a minor subject, taking parts of two subjects germane to his major subject.

The choice of subjects made by a candidate must in every case have the approval of the Dean and the head of the Department under which the major subject is taken before being finally allowed.

 

Under the Faculty of Pure Science

(1) Anatomy; (2) astronomy; (3) bacteriology; (4) botany; (5) chemistry; (6) civil and sanitary engineering; (7) electrical engineering (8) geodesy; (9) geology; (10) mathematics; (11) mechanical engineering; (12) mechanics and electro-mechanics; (13) metallurgy; (14) mineralogy; (15) mining; (16) palaontology; (17) physics; (18) physiological chemistry; (19) physiology; (20) zoölogy .

With the consent of the Dean, the major and one minor subject may be taken under one Department. Both minor subjects may not be taken under one Department without the consent of the Faculty.

 

Under the Faculty of Fine Arts

For specific information see the current Announcement of that Faculty.

 

Change of Subjects. Minor subjects may not be changed except by permission of the Dean to be given only on the written recommendation of the heads of the Departments from which and to which the change is desired; major subjects may not be changed except by a special vote of the Faculty in each case.

Faculty Jurisdiction. The student entering Columbia University as a candidate for a higher degree should first of all decide upon his major-subject. He will be registered under the Faculty which has charge of this subject, and will be primarily under the jurisdiction of its Dean. If he selects a minor subject or attends any course under another Faculty, he will be registered under that Faculty also, and will be subject to the jurisdiction of its Dean so far as such subject or course is concerned. It will be seen that the several Faculties have different regulations regarding the choice and combination of subjects. Regarding the interpretation and effect of these regulations the candidates will obtain all necessary information from the several Deans.

Students in Professional Schools. Students in the professional schools which form part of the University, or are in alliance with it, may, if otherwise qualified, combine work leading to the higher degrees with their professional studies; and in some subjects courses which count toward the professional degrees or certificates may be accepted as part of the work required for the higher degrees. In all such cases the professional student must register himself as a candidate for the higher degrees under one of the four non-professional Faculties, and is subject to the jurisdiction of that Faculty as regards examinations and all other matters pertaining to the higher degrees. To complete the requirements the candidate must take his major subject under one of these Faculties, and must conform to all its rules as regards examinations, essay, and dissertation; but he may offer, as the equivalent of the two minor subjects, such of his professional courses as may be approved for that purpose by the Dean of the Faculty under which the major subject is taken and by the Committee on Higher Degrees. He should, before registering consult the Dean of the non-professional Faculty under whose jurisdiction he proposes to work.

Arrangement of Work. Students who devote all their time to work under a non-professional Faculty will usually find it advantageous to pursue the study of their major and minor subjects simultaneously. This, however, is not required, and students who are pursuing professional courses of study, or who are engaged in work outside of the University, such as teaching, may find it advisable, or even necessary, to take up the major and minor subjects in successive years.

 

THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

The Essay. As regards candidates for the master’s degree, the custom of the University lays proportionately more stress upon the acquisition of knowledge, as evidenced by examinations, and less upon capacity for investigation shown in seminars or laboratories and in literary production, than is the case as regards candidates for the doctor’s degree. At the same time, seminar or laboratory work must be done by the candidate, and it is expected that the master’s essay shall be something more than a restatement of things well known. [If the candidate intends or hopes to continue his work for the doctor’s degree, and if he has already selected the topic of his dissertation, it will be advantageous for him to make the master’s essay a study in the line of his future dissertation, confining it to a narrow part of the field and presenting such preliminary results as he has reached. If the essay be read in seminar (as is often the case, and is required in the Faculty of Political Science) the candidate gains the benefit of discussion and criticism by his fellow- students as well as by the professor. In those subjects in which field-work is required for a satisfactory essay, the candidate is advised to perform it before entering the University.

The specific regulations of the University Council concerning the essay are as follows:

Each candidate for the degree of Master of Arts shall present an essay on some topic previously approved by the professor in charge of his major subject. This essay must be presented not later than April 15 of the academic year in which the examination is to take place and must be accompanied by formal application for the degree. Such applications must be made on forms provided for this purpose. to be had of the Registrar. When the essay has been approved, the candidate shall file with the Registrar of the University a legibly written or typewritten copy of it. This copy is to be written on firm, strong paper, eleven by eight and a half inches in size, and a space of one and a half inches on the inner margin must be left free from writing. The title page of every such essay shall contain the words: “Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of ——, Columbia University.”

Period of Residence. The minimum period of study for the master’s degree is one year; and if the candidate in his previous course of study has been adequately prepared for advanced work in the subjects he selects and is able to devote his entire time to university study, he will usually be able to attain the degree within that period. If the student is not adequately prepared, or if he is engaged in outside labor, such as teaching, two or more years may be necessary. The satisfactory completion of work at four consecutive Summer Sessions, or two consecutive Summer Sessions, together with the half year intervening or immediately following, will be accepted in full satisfaction of the requirements for residence and attendance for the degree of Master of Arts.

 

THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

The requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy differ from those established for the degree of Master of Arts (which is not necessary for the acquisition of the doctor’s degree) not only as regards the amount of work, but as regards its character. In the minor subjects the difference is chiefly quantitative, and double the amount of work in attendance upon courses and in collateral reading will in most cases prepare the candidate for the final test. The detailed regulations of each Department under which the candidate expects to study must be ascertained from the head of that Department. As regards the major subject the practice of the University has recently been stated in legislative form by the University Council as follows:

The general examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy will not be confined to the courses which the candidate has attended in Columbia University or elsewhere, or even to the field covered by such courses. The candidate is expected to show a satisfactory grasp of his major subject as a whole, and a general acquaintance with the broader field of knowledge of which this subject forms a part.

Examination. The general examination for the doctor’s degree is oral, and is conducted by the professors in charge of the candidate’s major and minor subjects, in the presence of the Faculty or of so many of its members as are designated or may desire to attend.

Language Requirement. The candidate for the doctor’s degree must show his ability to read French and German. When his major subject lies in the Faculty of Political Science or in the Faculty of Philosophy, ability to read Latin also is usually demanded.

The Dissertation. The candidate for the doctor’s degree must also present an acceptable dissertation embodying the results of his investigation of some The topic bearing closely upon his principal subject of study, and must defend this dissertation before the members of the Faculty or so many of them as may be designated or may desire to attend. The dissertation must be printed and 150 copies deposited with the Registrar of the University before the degree is conferred. In cases where the cost to the candidate is excessive, the number of copies to be deposited may be lessened by special vote of the Committee on Higher Degrees. Further formal requirements, established by the University Council, are as follows:

On the title-page of every such dissertation shall be printed the words: “Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of ——, Columbia University. ”

Each dissertation shall contain upon its title-page the full name of the author; the full title of the dissertation; the year of imprint, and, if a reprint, the title, volume, and pagination of the publication from which it was reprinted; and there shall be printed and appended to each dissertation a statement of the educational institutions that the author has attended, and a list of the degrees and honors conferred upon him, as well as the titles of his previous publications.

As regards the order of time in which these requirements must be met, and as regards certain other details, the regulations and practice of the several Faculties are somewhat different.

Special Faculty Regulations. In the Faculty of Pure Science, ability to read Latin is not required. In the Faculty of Political Science this requirement may be waived when the professor in charge of the candidate’s major subject certifies that ability to read Latin is not necessary for the prosecution of the candidate’s researches. In the Faculty of Philosophy also the requirement may be waived on such a certification from the professor in charge of the major subject, but only when the major subject is psychology, anthropology, or education.

In the Faculty of Philosophy, the ability of the candidate to read French, German, and Latin (if required) must be certified by the heads of these Departments, and the examinations in these languages must be passed at least one academic year before the candidate may present himself for the oral examination on his subjects. In the Faculties of Political Science and of Pure Science, ability to read the required languages is certified by the Dean, on the report of such examiners as he may designate. In the Faculty of Political Science, the examination on the required languages may be taken a year in advance of the examination on subjects, and‘ candidates are advised to take it at such earlier time, but they are permitted to take it at the same time with the examination on subjects. In the Faculty of Pure Science, the examination on languages and that on subjects are held at the same time.

In none of the Faculties is a candidate admitted to the final examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy except upon recommendation of the professor who has approved the topic selected for his dissertation and of the other professors in charge of his major and minor subjects. In the Faculties of Philosophy and of Pure Science, it is also requisite that the dissertation, in its completed state, should have been definitely approved. In these two Faculties the final examination on the major and minor subjects and the defence of the dissertation must take place at the same time, but it is not required that the dissertation shall have been printed before it is defended. In the Faculty of Political Science the candidate may be admitted to examination upon his major and minor subjects before the dissertation is completed, in case the professor under whose direction he is prosecuting his investigations judges that these have been carried to such a point that a satisfactory dissertation will probably be produced. In this Faculty, the candidate is not admitted to the final test, the defence of the dissertation, until the dissertation has been submitted in printed form.

Before the candidate is admitted to the final oral examination in his subjects, he may be subjected to such other examinations, oral or written, as may be required by the several Departments under which he has taken subjects, and at such times as they may prescribe; and the admission of the candidate to the final examination depends on the result of these previous examinations.

Divisional Requirements. The Divisional Announcements contain full statements of the specific requirements of the several Divisions in regard to examinations. In case of doubt the candidate should confer with the heads of the Departments concerned. The candidate who fails to secure full and precise information on all such points neglects his duty at his own risk.

Application for Examination. Applications for the final oral examinations must be made on special forms to be procured from the Registrar. They must be filed with the Registrar at least three months before one of the three dates at which diplomas are issued (viz., the first week of October and of February respectively, and the annual commencement), in order to secure examination before that date. In the Faculties of Philosophy and of Pure Science, in which the completion of the dissertation is required before admission to the examination on subjects, the complete dissertation should be submitted (preferably in typewritten form) to the Dean not later than March 1, and must be so submitted by April 1, if the candidate desires to receive the degree at the following Commencement. In the Faculty of Political Science, candidates who have previously passed the general examination on subjects may submit printed dissertations even later than April 1, if application for admission to the defence of the dissertation has been made on that date; and if copies of the printed dissertation be submitted two weeks before the date set for its defence, and all other conditions have been fulfilled, the degree may be conferred at the following Commencement. All applications for the general examination must be handed to the Registrar, for transmission to the Dean of the Faculty in which the candidate’s major subject lies, and must be accompanied by the candidate’s registration- book, properly signed and attested. All fees, including the examination-fee, must be paid and the Bursar’s receipt shown to the Dean before the arrangements are made for the examination.

The Oral Examination. The oral examination in the major and minor subjects is never divided, not even when the candidate has subjects under more than one Faculty. In this case the examination is held under the auspices of the Faculty in which the candidate’s major subject lies, With the co-operation of members of the other Faculty delegated for the purpose. When a dissertation, as not unfrequently happens, touches on matters that fall within the jurisdiction of Departments in more than one Faculty, it is customary for the Dean of the examining Faculty to invite members of the other Faculty or Faculties interested to be present at the time when the dissertation is criticised and defended.

Recommendation and Award. When all these requirements have been successfully met, the candidate is recommended to the University Council, and (if the requisite number of printed copies of the dissertation have been deposited with the Registrar of the University) the Council, acting through the Committee on Higher Degrees, recommends to the President of the University that the degree of Doctor of Philosophy be awarded. Such recommendation may be made at any time during the academic year, but degrees are publicly conferred only at the annual Commencement.

 

In the endeavor to prepare himself to meet the formal requirements above outlined, the student will find the following explanations and suggestions of value:

Suggestions as to Language Requirements. As regards the language requirements, it has been noted that in the Faculty of Political Science the examination may be postponed, and that in the Faculty of Pure Science it is usually postponed, until the time of the examination on the major and minor subjects. It is strongly recommended, however, that the student who is unable to read the required languages with ease should take the earliest opportunity of supplementing this defect in his preparation. In many subjects he cannot use the sources without acquaintance with Latin, and in hardly any subject can he use the necessary modern literature without ability to read French and German. Students whose preparation is defective in any of these languages will find reading courses provided in Columbia College or Barnard College, to which they are admitted without additional fee. Courses of this character are also provided for students who find other ancient or modern languages necessary for their researches.

The Faculty of Philosophy, as stated above, does not admit students to full candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy until the language examinations have been passed, and this must be done a full academic year before the candidates may come up for the final examination, i.e., if the candidate intends to come up in May, by the first week of the preceding October, and sooner in proportion if the candidate wishes to take the final examinations earlier in the academic year.

As regards the character of the linguistic examinations it should be noted that acquaintance with the required languages is demanded, not, as in undergraduate work, from the point of view of general culture, but strictly from the utilitarian point of view. It is necessary, for example, that the mathematical student should be able to read French and German mathematical literature, and that the student of economics should be able to read the economic literature published in these languages. The student of European history must be able to read chronicles, treatises, and laws written in Latin, and the student of philosophy should be able to read mediaeval philosophical writings in the Latin in which they were written. It is not requisite, however, that any of these students shall be able to pass such examinations in Latin, French, or German as may properly be imposed upon those who are specializing in the field of philology or of belles-lettres.

As to Preparation for Examination. As regards preparation for the general examination, candidates are warned against restricting themselves to the minimum of courses prescribed by the Departments in which they are working. It is often advisable, by way of supplement, to take one or more courses of lectures quite outside the fields covered by the subjects, and possibly under another Faculty. Very extensive private reading is almost always necessary, not only in connection with the courses taken and with the writing of the dissertation, but for general preparation. On all such points the advice of professors must be freely sought.

Choice of Topic for Dissertation. In particular, the choice of a topic for the dissertation should receive the most careful consideration; it should be made neither too early, before the student is well informed upon the general outlines and bearings of his major subject, nor so late as to result in a hurried treatment. Often a topic is suggested by the professor in charge of the subject or by some other instructor; sometimes the student’s own reading or experiments will indicate a suitable one; but in every case the approval of the topic rests with the professor in charge of the major subject.

The dissertation must be founded on the author’s own investigations, and must embody a real contribution to the knowledge of the topic or topics treated in it. No amount of erudition displayed in a dissertation will ensure its acceptance if the condition stated here be not fulfilled.

Consultation with Instructors. It may be noted that the most promising topics for investigation are often suggested by a combination of subjects lying under different Departments or even different Faculties. Many of the recognized fields of science are mere clearings, and pioneer work is needed between them. But even where a topic apparently lies entirely in the field of one Faculty or in that of one Division or Department, its investigation often suggests excursions into neighboring territory. In such cases the student should bear in mind that he is entitled to information and counsel, not only from the instructor under whose immediate direction he is prosecuting his researches, nor only from the instructors whose lectures he is attending, but from any instructor in the University; and no serious student will find that such an application is taken as intrusive. In the field of research, instructors and students are co-laborers.

Professor in Charge of Investigations. The immediate direction of the investigation always pertains to a single professor in the Department in which the candidate’s major subject lies. To this professor the candidate should report from time to time and submit the completed dissertation, preferably in typewritten form, for preliminary judgment. The final acceptance of the dissertation occurs only after its formal defence.

Printing of Dissertation. The printing of the dissertation, whether this precedes the defence, as is required by the Faculty of Political Science, or follows the defence, as is permitted by the Faculties of Philosophy and of Pure Science, is placed by the rules or custom of the several Faculties under the direction of the Dean or of the professor who has directed the candidate’s investigations. In every case there is some one authority through whose hands the proof- sheets must pass.

Under the rule of the Faculty of Political Science, noticed above, which permits the oral examination on subjects to be separated from the defence of the dissertation, it is possible and not unusual for candidates to complete, after the expiration of their academic residence, a dissertation which they have carried to a satisfactory stage of development during residence. The candidates who avail themselves of this privilege should remember that the rules above stated regarding the submission of the completed dissertation, preferably in typewritten form, and, after its provisional approval, the submission of the proof- sheets, continue to apply; and that disregard of these rules may entail the rejection of the printed dissertation or the reprinting of certain portions thereof. Strictly speaking, independent publication is not prohibited, but it involves unnecessary risk, and often unnecessary expense, to the candidate himself.

Series, Journals, etc. When a dissertation is accepted for publication in a scientific series or journal, edited at Columbia University or elsewhere, or in the memoirs of a scientific society, or when it is accepted and printed by a general publisher, the same practice should be followed, i.e., the proof-sheets should be sent to the professor in charge of the candidate’s investigations or to the Dean, as the rule or custom of the different Faculties may require. In all such cases the candidate must secure a sufficient number of reprints for deposit with the University, and these reprints must be furnished with the special title-page and the supplementary vita or outline of the candidate’s scholastic record which are required by the regulations of the University Council.

Size of Dissertation. No definite rule as to the extent or size of a dissertation can be laid down; a mathematical or chemical dissertation may well embody important results in 20 or 30 pages, while one on a philological or historical topic may well demand 100 or more pages. One of the mistakes most frequently made by students is the selection of too broad a topic. If then the original plan is carried out, the dissertation becomes either too bulky or too sketchy. It is likely in either case to include so much that is well known that any real contributions to knowledge which it contains are obscured. When the student perceives that he has made such a mistake, he should ask himself in what direction he has obtained results which seem new and important, and he should so narrow his plan of treatment as to confine himself to this part of his field.

Style of Dissertation. The completed dissertation must be written in a clear and acceptable style. “Fine writing ” is not expected or desired, but a slovenly style of composition, or inaccuracies of expression, will operate to the rejection of a dissertation. Technical terms must, of course, be used, and new technical terms must be coined when they are necessary, i.e., when the facts to be stated or the ideas to be presented cannot be expressed in terms intelligible to the layman without sacrifice of accuracy or without awkward circumlocution. The need of using technical terms, like the need of using other than verbal symbols, varies greatly in different sciences. In dealing with subjects which can be made intelligible to the layman, the use of technical terms should be avoided whenever this is possible. Above all, the candidate should eschew the not uncommon practice of giving a false air of profundity to a very simple statement by the use of Greek or Latin compounds when English words are adequate; and he should not fancy that a distinction which is of no importance becomes a contribution to science when expressed in novel technical terms which may not be needed.

Period of Candidacy. Reviewing the matters above set forth, the student will perceive that it is impossible to fix upon any definite number of years as the normal time within which the degree of Doctor of Philosophy should be attained. The regulations demand a minimum period of two years of graduate study, one of which must be spent at this University, before the candidate may be admitted to the general examinations for the degree. It has been found by experience that only an exceptionally gifted student, who has devoted the later years of his undergraduate course largely to studies in the line of his subsequent graduate work, can properly prepare himself for examination on his major and minor subjects within this period; and even in such cases it has rarely happened that a satisfactory dissertation has been completed and printed before the end of a third year. In the great majority of cases three full years of work in residence at Columbia University or elsewhere have been found necessary; and in many cases where a difficult investigation has been undertaken even the best students have been unable to complete the dissertation within three years.

Credit from elsewhere for Residence. Candidates who have spent one or more years in graduate study in other universities should note that the credit given for such work is credit for time of residence only. The acquisition of the master’s degree, at Columbia University or elsewhere, or other certification of courses successfully accomplished and examinations passed, does not exempt the candidate from any part of the examination on his subjects.

As regards the maximum period of candidacy the following regulations have been adopted by the University Council:

No person may continue to be a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (1) for more than three years after residence at Columbia University has ceased; or (2) for more than six years from the time of initial registration for a higher degree.

Lapse of Candidacy and Restoration. The Committee on Higher Degrees has power to restore to candidacy persons whose time has elapsed under either of the foregoing rules; but this is done only on presentation of cogent reasons, and only for a limited period. The candidate who overruns either of the above periods will act most wisely and in not petitioning for an extension of time until his Restoration dissertation is so nearly completed that he can safely promise its submission before a definite date; for if he exceeds the extended period a request for a second extension of time is unlikely to be favorably regarded. It will also be advisable for him to obtain from the professor under whose direction he has been working a statement that his dissertation promises to be satisfactory.

Ph. D Association. All men who have received the degree of doctor of philosophy from Columbia University are eligible to membership in the Association of Doctors of Philosophy of Columbia University. The objects of the association are to bring the holders of the degree of doctor of philosophy together socially, to keep them in touch with the University and with one another, and to promote the best interests of the doctorate, of the University, and of the members of the association. Three meetings are held each year,—two during the winter and one at Commencement time. A room in East Hall has been set aside for the use of the Association.

 

Source: Columbia University. Bulletin of Information. Faculties of Political Science, Philosophy and Pure Science: Instruction for Candidates for the Degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy, 1908-10. pp. 7-23.