The philosophy behind the use of division examinations for undergraduate history, government, and economics majors at Harvard was documented in an earlier post providing excerpts from relevant passages in annual reports of the President of Harvard College. This post adds to the growing stock of division exams from Harvard collected here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Links to other exams are provided in the post along with the questions for four exams from the division examinations given in January 1917.
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Background
A significant event of the year [1915-16] was the inauguration by the Division of History, Government, and Economics of its new examination of candidates for the Bachelor’s degree who have concentrated in the Division. This examination was devised “not in order to place an additional burden upon candidates for the A.B., but for the purpose of securing better correlation of the student’s work, encouraging better methods of study, and furnishing a more adequate test of real power and attainment.” In their preparation students have from the beginning of the Sophomore year special tutorial instruction. The examination embraces three tests: first, a general paper, with a large number of alternative questions, treating comprehensively the subjects of the Division; second, a special paper, covering a chosen specific field; and lastly, a supplementary oral examination which may relate to either the general or the special paper, but ordinarily bears upon the specific field. The results of the first examination, taken by a comparatively small group of men graduating in three years, are in no way conclusive. The members of the examining committee, however, think them distinctly encouraging. Twenty-four candidates appeared, of whom twenty-two passed and two failed. Their selection of questions from the general paper indicated breadth of preparation and their bearing at the oral examination showed more than a little clearness and independence of thought.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, pp.75-76.
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April 1927 Division Examinations Not Included in Cole’s Volume of Exams
Handwritten note added to the Arthur H. Cole volume of collected division examinations, 1916-1927:
“This volume contains the January exams for 1916-17. The April 1917 exams are shelved separately”.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975 (HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.
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Other Harvard division exams transcribed and posted:
Division Examinations for the Degree of A.B.
Division of History, Government and Economics.
History of Economic Thought, Public Finance, Labor 1931
Economic Theory 1939
Money and Government Finance 1939
Economic History (since 1750) 1939
Labor and Social Reform 1939
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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
FOR THE DEGREE OF A.B. DIVISION EXAMINATIONS
1916-17
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION GENERAL EXAMINATION
[January 6, 1917]
Part I
The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-half of the examination and should therefore occupy one and one-half hours. Write on one question only.
- How does the federal form of government affect the life of a nation?
- Discuss the arguments for and against universal manhood suffrage.
- What influences have been exerted by the Catholic Church on political development since 1500?
- Sketch the life and work of two or three of the following: (a) Calvin, (b) Cavour, (c) Hildebrand, (d) Jefferson, (e) Kant, (f) Marx, (g) J. S. Mill, (h) Sir Thomas More, (i) Theodosius.
- What were the political and economic effects before 1750 of the discovery of America?
- How has the physiography of the states of Europe influenced (a) their economic development? (b) their political organization, and (c) their present problems?
- What has been the influence of France in the Western hemisphere?
- Discuss the merits and defects of lawyers as statesmen?
- Explain the reasons for the differences in British foreign and colonial policy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
- What have been the consequences of the guarantee of freedom of contract?
- Do periods of internal and external national greatness tend to coincide?
- Discuss sectionalism in the United States since the Civil War.
Part II
Three questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C, are to be answered, of which not more than two may be from one group.
A
- What were the chief features of the economic life of New England prior to the nineteenth century?
- Trace and explain the development of American agriculture since 1860.
- What have been the causes and results of the growth of cities?
- State the case for and against a federal income tax in the United States.
- In what ways and by what means does war affect government regulation of industry?
- Indicate points at which British economic policy has influenced German policy.
B
- Compare the characters and careers of Philip II of Spain, Louis XIV of France, and William II of Germany.
- How does the history of Holland and of Portugal illustrate the principle of balance of power?
- Should the French Revolution be regarded as the beginning or as the end of a period?
- “…With the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.”
From what document is this quotation taken? Give a brief account of the subsequent applications of this principle. - In how far was the navy responsible for the victory of the North in the Civil War?
- Give an account of the political and economic relations of Germany and the United States, since the Declaration of American Independence.
C
- Compare the powers exercised by the President of the United States in 1800, in 1850, and in 1916.
- Why should Europe dominate Africa?
- What are the arguments for and against centralization and decentralization of political power?
- Should members of cabinets sit and vote in national legislative bodies?
- To what causes has the expansion of the United States since 1800 been due?
- Why has the status of Turkey been a matter of importance in international affairs?
* * * * * * * * * * *
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMIC THEORY
[January 10, 1917]
Answer six questions.
A
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.
- “The difference between producer’s and consumer’s goods is at bottom only a difference of degree.” Explain. What is the essential difference between these two classes of goods?
- Define and analyze: (a) consumer’s surplus; (b) producer’s surplus. Under what conditions of cost does producer’s surplus arise? How is monopoly profit to be distinguished from producer’s surplus? Illustrate throughout by diagram.
- What is meant by “overinvestment”? “overaccumulation”? How does over-investment in particular industries “bring its own remedy”? How does a tendency toward overaccumulation?
- “The exchanges between different countries are analogous to the exchanges between non-competing groups within a country.” Explain.
- Discuss the more important difficulties in the way of socialism.
- What methods of investigation may be employed in economic theory? Give an illustration of the use of one of these methods.
B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.
- Sketch and criticize the attitude of the English and American courts during the nineteenth century toward collective bargaining by labor.
- Trace the development of interest theories.
- To what extent were changes in the tariff policy of the United States during the nineteenth century based upon changes in the prevailing opinion concerning free trade and protection?
C
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.
- Contrast the concepts of justice in taxation and justice in the distribution of wealth.
- What is the case for and against the Single Tax?
- To what extent and by what means can trade-unions influence (a) the wages paid in a given occupation? (b) the general level of wages?
- What has been the importance of the “American frontier” in the distribution of wealth in the United States?
* * * * * * * * * * *
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
MONEY AND BANKING
[January 10, 1917]
Answer six questions.
A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.
- Analyze the relation of the value of gold to its cost of production. In what measure, if at all, is the indicated relation peculiar to gold?
- Discuss index numbers of prices with reference to (a) the purposes they may serve; (b) the various methods of construction; (c) the best index numbers for wholesale prices in the United States.
- Below is a combined statement of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks at a recent date.
Explain the several items of the statement, and comment upon the more significant conditions disclosed.
|
RESOURCES |
LIABILITIES | ||
|
(all items in thousands of dollars) |
|||
| Gold coin and certificates in vaults |
$283,730 |
Capital paid in |
$55,711 |
| Gold settlement fund |
$174,801 |
Government deposits |
$26,319 |
| Gold redemption fund |
$1,404 |
Member bank deposits |
$637,072 |
| Legal tender notes, silver, etc. |
$17,974 |
Federal Reserve notes—net |
$14,296 |
| 5 per cent redemption fund |
$470 |
Federal Reserve bank notes |
$1,028 |
| Bills discounted for members |
$20, 501 |
Other liabilities |
$634 |
| Bills bought |
$102,092 |
||
| United States bonds |
$39,427 |
||
| One-year Treasury notes |
$11,167 |
||
| Municipal warrants |
$22,166 |
||
| Federal Reserve notes—net |
$15,414 |
||
| Due from other Federal Reserve Banks—net |
$43,263 |
||
| Other resources |
$2,651 |
||
|
$735,060 |
$735,060 |
||
B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.
- What were some of the forms of primitive money? What functions were performed by each form?
- Describe the economic cycle culminating in the crisis of 1837.
- Trace and explain the inflationist movement in the United States from 1865 to 1900.
- What connections have existed since 1830 between the financial administration of the Federal Government and banks in the United States?
C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.
- Would universal bimetallism conduce to a stable market ratio between gold and silver? to a stable price level? What have been the chief obstacles to universal bimetallism? Are these obstacles increasing or decreasing?
- When prices are rising how are the following affected: (a) farmers; (b) factor operatives; (c) manufacturers; (d) stockholders; (e) owners of gold mines?
- Give a detailed account of silver since 1890.
- Wherein is the Federal Reserve System like the banking system recommended by the National Monetary Commission? Wherein is it different? Discuss the differences.
- Trace and explain the course of foreign exchange rates since the beginning of the European War.
- What is meant by “agricultural credit”? Describe briefly and criticize the existing facilities for agricultural credit in the United States.
* * * * * * * * * * *
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
CORPORATE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING RAILROADS
[January 10, 1917]
Answer six questions.
A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.
- Define “monopoly.” In what ways, if at all, is monopoly price affected by (a) cost of production per unit? (b) potential competition? (c) an elastic demand for the product? (d) the existence of satisfactory substitutes for the product?
- What official statistics throw light upon industrial organization in the United States? Criticise the available statistics of this subject.
- Describe the general features of the uniform accounting system now prescribed for railroads by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Why was the Commission given power to prescribe and supervise such a uniform accounting system?
- Enumerate the principal sources of railway statistics at the present time, and show the content, importance, and deficiencies (if any) of each.
B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.
- Trace any connections between the corporate form of organization and the later stages of the Industrial Revolution.
- Sketch the history of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law and its enforcement.
- Give a brief account of the Granger movement.
- “Railways have been the most important agents in increasing the disparities of wealth in modern times.” Explain.
C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.
- If a corporation regularly earns 5 per cent on all its outstanding securities, can it be said to be overcapitalized? What constitutes overcapitalization? How, if at all, should the law attempt to deal with overcapitalization?
- Analyze the present policy of the Federal Government in its regulation of industrial combinations in the United States.
- What connections exist between banks and industrial combinations in the United States? Contrast the situation here with that in France.
- In railroading in the United States, what is the significance of the following: (a) large plant; (b) joint cost; (c) physical valuation; (d) competition of water routes; (e) division of powers between state and Federal governments?
- Discuss the forms and significance of discriminations in railway rate-making. Which of the discriminations, if any, tend to persist under government ownership?
- What provisions should be made for the settlement of wage disputes on interstate railroads in the United States?
* * * * * * * * * * *
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATIONS
[not transcribed for this post]
MODERN HISTORY SINCE 1789, INCLUDING AMERICAN HISTORY
[January 10, 1917]
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
[January 10, 1917]
Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975 (HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.
Image Source: Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library. Harvard Class Album 1920, p. 65.