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 Economy. 1st ed., 1863; 2nd ed., 1865; 3rd ed., 1869; 4th ed., revised and enlarged 1874; 5th 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 Colleges. First Edition, 1868; Second 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]
- Give a history of the English Poor Laws. [p. 121 ff.]
- 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].
- What determines the rate of wages of labor, and what effect does the customary food of laborers have on their wages? [p. 65]
- 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]
- 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.]
- What is meant by an income tax; on what part of the income should it be levied and why? [pp. 278-281]
- Explain the origin of the Irish cottier system of land tenure, its evils and the proposed remedy. [pp. 175 ff.]
- 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.