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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Economics Course Examinations, 1898-99

Another year of staffing, enrollments and semester examinations for the economics department at Harvard has been transcribed for the Economics in the Rear-view Mirror test-bank.

Worth noting is that half of the questions in the second semester exam for Frank Taussig’s advanced course on methodology (Economics 13) were in German. John Cummings’ course “Ethnology in its Applications to Economic and Social Problems” (Economics 17) was entirely what one would expect from a turn-of-the-century course of racist anthropology — e.g. “What do you understand by ‘cephalic index’? of what is it an index? Consider its validity as a test of (a) race origin, (b) of individual capacity”

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1898-99 Course Announcement
Outlines of Economics.

[Economics] 1. Outlines of Economics. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor [Frank William] Taussig, Asst. Professor Edward Cummings, Dr. John Cummings, Dr. [Morton Arnold] Aldrich, Mr. [Edward Henry] Warren, and Mr. [Charles] Beardsley.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 351.

1898-99 Enrollment
Outlines of Economics.

[Economics] 1. [Outlines of Economics] — Professor [Frank William] Taussig, Asst. Professor Edward Cummings, Dr. John Cummings, Dr. [Morton Arnold] Aldrich, Dr. [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague, Mr. [Edward Henry] Warren, and Mr. [Charles] Beardsley. Lectures (2 hours); recitations and conferences (1 hour) in 14 sections.

Total 443: 26 Seniors, 88 Juniors, 259 Sophomores, 13 Freshmen, 57 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 72.

1898-99.
Economics 1.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899]

Arrange your answers in the order of the questions.

  1. It has been said that “the laws and conditions of the production of wealth partake of the character of physical truths.” Do you believe this to be true of the “laws and conditions” which Mill sets forth as to the accumulation of capital? as to the increase of production from land?
  2. Suppose greater and greater amounts of capital to be saved and invested, other things remaining the same: would wages rise or fall? profits? Would there be a limit to the rise or fall in either case?
  3. If all landlords owning advantageous sites remitted to tenants all economic rent, would the prices of commodities produced on those sites be affected? If so, how? If not, why not?
  4. Would you expect wages in agreeable occupations to be high or low? Why? Are they in fact high or low? Why?
  5. “The value or purchasing power of money depends, in the first instance, on demand and supply. But demand and supply, in relation to money, present themselves in a somewhat different shape from the demand and supply of other things.” Wherein different, and why?
    “The sequel of our investigation will point out many qualifications with which the proposition must be received, that the value of the circulating medium depends on the demand and supply, and is in the inverse ratio of the quantity; qualifications which prove the proposition an extremely incorrect expression of the fact.” What are the qualifications? and how far do they make the proposition incorrect?
  6. Wherein do the causes determining the level of prices remain the same, wherein become different, when specie has been displaced by inconvertible paper money?
  7. What determines the exchange value of
    an ounce of gold bullion,
    a bale of wool,
    English wheat in England,
    Dakota wheat in Dakota,
    Dakota wheat in England.
  8. If American shoes sell at the same price in New York and in Mexico (allowance being made for cost of transportation) can it be said that their value in the one case is determined by cost of production, in the other case not?
  9. What do you say to the common opinion that it is to a country’s advantage to dispose of an increasing quantity of exported goods?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99
Economics 1.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions,
Answer concisely.
Take nine questions, and from each group at least two.

I.

  1. Does the rate of interest depend on the abundance of money? does the rate of discount? If so, how? if not, why not?
  2. Is the exportation of specie from a country to be regarded with apprehension?
  3. In what way is the price of landed property likely to be affected by a rise in the rate of interest? by an increase in the quantity of money? by a growth of population?

II.

  1. Assuming Mill’s theory as to the causes determining the rate of wages to be sound, how far can trade union action influence the rate? State concisely whether you accede to Mill’s theory, and why or why not.
  2. What light does the experience of English coöperators throw on the contention that the discontent of the workingmen would cease if coöperative organization were extended to all branches of industry?
  3. Brentano’s reasoning as to the nature of the bargaining between employer and workman, and the policy therefore necessary on the workman’s part; and your own opinion as to his conclusion.

III.

  1. (a) In what manner the exigencies of a commercial crisis are best met by banking institutions; (b) how far the legislation of England and the United States aids, in a time of crisis, in the pursuance of the best policy by the banking institutions of these countries.
  2. Does the mode of regulating the issue of bank-notes in Germany proceed on a principal essentially different from that in England? Does the mode of regulation under the National Bank system?
  3. Arrange in their proper order the following items:
Capital

$1,000,000
Specie

$1,100,000
Notes

$   400,000
Surplus

$   200,000
Securities

$   450,000
Loans

$4,200,000
Deposits

$4,100,000
Undivided Profits

$   100,000
Expenses

$     50,000

 

Consider how the account would stand if the bank sold $100,000 of securities for cash, and with the proceeds met demands by depositors for the like sum; and whether the bank, before or after this operation, could carry on its operations as a National Bank?

IV.

  1. How the resumption of specie payments in the United States was promoted by the condition of international trade and by the course of prices in the years preceding resumption.
  2. Are there important differences between the modes in which the functions of money are fulfilled in the United States by National Bank notes, deposits in National Banks, legal tender notes, silver certificates?
  3. Explain to whom and in what manner what manner the changes in general prices during the last twenty years have been harmful.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899) in bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99, pp. 26-27.

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1898-99  Course Announcement
Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century

[Economics] 2. Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor Taussig.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 352.

1898-99 Enrollment
Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century.

[Economics] 2. Professor Taussig. — Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century. Discussion of selected passages from leading writers. The history of theory. Lectures and recitations (3 hours).

Total 67: 5 Graduates, 27 Seniors, 22 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 10 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 72.

1898-99.
Economics 2.
[Mid-Year Exam, 1899]

  1. Are the high wages earned by some kinds of skilled laborers cause or effect of high prices of commodities made by them?
  2. Many Americans annually visit European countries, and there spend freely. Supposing this to be the only cause, beside the imports and exports of merchandise, affecting the international trade of the United States, what would you expect the usual relation of its imports and exports to be? and what the usual flow of specie to or from the country?
  3. “What a nation is interested in is, not in having its prices high or low, but in having its gold cheap — understanding by cheapness not low value, butlow cost — a small sacrifice of ease and comfort; and it generally happens that cheap gold is accompanied by a high scale of prices.”
    How does a country gain from having its gold cheap? and why need cheap gold not be accompanied by a high scale of prices?
  4. “The distinction, then, between capital and non-capital does not lie in the kind of commodities, but in the mind of the capitalist — in his will to employ them for one purpose rather than another; and all property, however ill adapted in itself for the use of laborers, is a part of capital, so soon as it, or the value to be received from it, is set apart for productive reinvestment.” Is this true?
  5. “The multitudes who compose the working class are too numerous and too widely scattered to combine at all, much more to combine effectually. If they could do so, they might doubtless succeed in diminishing the hours of labor, and obtaining the same wages for less work. But if they aimed at obtaining actually higher wages than the rate fixed by demand and supply — the rate which distributed the whole circulating capital of the country among the working population — this could only be accomplished by keeping a part of their number permanently out of employment. . . . The workpeople collectively would be no better off than before, having to support the same numbers out of the same aggregate wages.”
    Whom do you suppose to be the writer of this passage? What would Cairnes say to it? Professor Taussig?
  6. “If the efficiency of labor could be suddenly doubled, whilst the capital of the country remained stationary, there would be a great and immediate rise in real wages. The supplies of capital already in existence would be distributed among the laborers more rapidly than would otherwise be the case, and the increased efficiency of labor would soon make good the diminished supplies. The fact is that an increase in the efficiency of labor would bring about an increase in the supply of capital.” — Marshall.
    Why? or why not?
  7. Do you believe Walker’s discussion of the theory of wages has promoted the better understanding of the causes affecting the welfare of laborers? If so, how? If not, why not?
  8. “The extra gains which any producer or dealer obtains through superior talents for business, or superior business arrangements, are very much a similar kind [to rent]. If all his competitors had the same advantages, and used them, the benefit would be transferred to their customers, through the diminished value of the article: he only retains it for himself because he is able to bring his commodity to market at a lower cost, while its value is determined by a higher. All advantages, in fact, which one competitor has over another, whether natural or acquired, whether personal or the result of social arrangements . . . . assimilate the possessor of the advantage to a receiver of rent.” — Mill.
    Wherein does Walker’s doctrine differ from this?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99.
Economics 2.
[Year-end Exam, 1899.]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

I.

Three questions from this group.

  1. J. S. Mill’s contributions to economic theory, and his position as regards the development of theory.
  2. “Cost of production” and “expenses of production”: what Marshall designates by these phrases; whether he believes that “expenses” measure “cost”; and how far Cairnes and Mill believed “expenses” to measure “cost.”
  3. It has been said that the wages-fund doctrine grew out of the industrial conditions of England during the Napoleonic wars, — capital having then been accumulated to such an extent as to enable employers to pay their laborers by the month, week, or day, without waiting for the marketing of the product. It has been said also that its general acceptance was favored by the fact that it afforded a complete justification, as to wages, for the existing order of things. — Give your opinion as to the historical accuracy of these statements as to the origin and the ready acceptance of the doctrine.
  4. Marshall’s conclusions on the relation of cost and of utility to the value of a commodity, —

(a) for long periods, if it be subject to the law of constant returns;
(b) for short periods, if it be subject to the law of constant returns;
(c) for long periods, if it be subject to the law of increasing returns.

Which among these conclusions has been heretofore most dwelt on by economists? and which is applicable to the greatest range of phenomena?

II.

Three questions from this group.

  1. Explain “consumers’ rent” (or “surplus,”) “producers’ rent,” “savers’ rent,” “quasi-rent”; and consider how far any or all of these conceptions are analogous to the traditional one of “economic rent.”
  2. The effect on consumers’ rent of a tax on a commodity subject to the law of diminishing returns; and the mode in which the reasoning would be affected according as the commodity were tobacco or diamonds.
  3. Admitting that interest is the reward of “abstinence,” does it follow that the rate of interest is a measure of the “abstinence” undergone by the several receivers of interest? Why or why not?
  4. The rent of rare natural abilities may be regarded as a specially important element in the income of business men, so long as we consider them as individuals. In relation to normal value, the earnings even of rare abilities are, as we have seen, to be regarded rather as a quasi rent than as a rent proper.” Is the rent of rare abilities specially important in the case of business men? if so, why? and why not to be regarded as rent in relation to normal value?

III.

Two questions in this group.

  1. “ The instructed man of today desires that the world generally and all other countries should have a full circulation, while he would like for his own country, if that were possible, a trifle less than its distributive share of that supply, so that it may be a good country to buy in and not a very good country to sell in. He desires to have prices everywhere sustained, in order that trade may be good. He would like, if that were possible, to have prices in his own country permanently lower, though only a shade lower, than anywhere else, in order that his countrymen may get the largest share of that trade.’ Walker
    Would you agree?
  2. Your conclusion as to whether in general a régime of falling prices is a cause of depression and an obstacle to prosperity; and whether the actual fall in prices during the past generation has had ill effects of this sort.
  3. The compensatory action of bimetallism, in regard to the ratio between the metals, and in regard to their stability in value: is it made out in either way? in both ways?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899) in bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

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1898-99 Course Announcement
The Principles of Sociology

[Economics] 3. The Principles of Sociology. —Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Asst. Professor E. Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 352.

1898-99 Enrollment
Principles of Sociology.

[Economics] 3. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings. — The Principles of Sociology. Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. Lectures (2 or 3 hours) and conferences. 4 reports or theses.

Total 83: 4 Graduates, 42 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 72.

1898-99.
Economics 3.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899]

Answer the questions in the order in which they stand.

I.

  1. What as a matter of history, has been the contribution of the family to
  2. a) Social organization?
    b) Social ideals?
  3. What does Spencer mean by saying, The Salvation of every society, as of every species, depends on the maintenance of an absolute opposition between the regime of the family and the regime of the State?
  4. a) Does Haycraft agree?
    b) Does Kidd?
    c) Does Plato?

II.

  1. “Man has been supposed to be a ‘free agent,’ which meant that there were no laws to which his activities were subject. There could be no science of man and hence no science of society.
  2. a) What do the authors we have examined think?
    b) What do you think about it?

III.

  1. “In his Social Evolution he makes religion the mainspring of human progress and charges reason with anti-social and anti-progressive tendencies.”
    “Religion is rational through and through.”
  2. a) Expound and discuss these views.
    b) Do you see any way of reconciling the demands of Biology and Ethics. — progress and justice?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99.
Economics 3.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

  1. “The whole history of the world bears witness to the different endowments of races, and even to the unequal capacity of the nations which have grown out of them.” (Explain and illustrate.)
    State some of the theoretical consequences drawn from these alleged differences.
  2. How far can you trace the influence, good or bad, of biological conceptions in Bluntschli’s theory of the State? For example, in his analysis of sovereignty, division of powers, and the like.
  3. “Another error, which is almost childish, is that which treads the organism of the State as a logical syllogism.” Discuss.
    Contrast Tarde’s analysis of Social phenomena with the legal and biological conceptions of other writers with whom you are familiar.
  4. The modern conception of the State and of its relation to the individual, contrasted with the ancient and the mediaeval.
  5. State briefly the work done on your last report and the conclusions you reached.
  6. Does the realization of social justice make for “equality” or the reverse? Why?
    Does social progress call for the sacrifice of the weak to the strong or of the strong to the weak? Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899) in bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

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1898-99 Course Announcement
Statistics.

[Economics] 4. Statistics. — Theory, Method, and Practice. — Studies in Demography. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11. Dr. J. Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 353.

1898-99 Enrollment
Statistics.

[Economics] 4. Dr. John Cummings. — Statistics. Theory, method, and practice. Studies in Demography. Lectures (3 hours) and conferences; 2 reports; theses.

Total 19: 10 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

1898-99.
Economics 4.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899]

Devote one hour to A and the remainder of your time to B.

A.
Take two.

  1. The growth of modern cities and the laws governing the migrations of population as illustrated in the growth and constitution of the populations of London, Berlin, and other large cities.
  2. Define fully a “normal or life-table population,” considering its age and sex constitution and its movement.
  3. Discuss the development and predominance of the statistical method, and the gradual limitation of the field of statistical science.

B.
Take six.

  1. What do you understand by the “law of large numbers”? Discuss some of the principles which should govern the formation of statistical judgments.
  2. The “new law of population.”
  3. The value of criminal statistics and the nature of the statistical proofs that the value of punishments is over-estimated.
  4. “Several tests are employed to measure the duration of human life, and we are at present concerned to determine their precise value, and the relationship existing between them.” What are some of these tests, their precise value and inter-relationship?
  5. What is the nature of the statistical evidence that the “influx of the population from the country into London is in the main an economic movement”?
  6. The rate of mortality in urban and in rural populations.
  7. Decline in the rates of natality in the populations of Europe and the United States.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99
Economics 4.
[Year-end Exam, 1899.]

Devote at least one hour, but not more than one hour and a half, to A, and the remainder of your time to B.

A.

  1. Statistics of wages, manufactures, and capital in the eleventh census of the United States.
  2. Movement of population and the standard of living. Consider in connection with the growth of population the movement of wages, prices, efficiency of labor and capital, the exploitation of new natural sources of power and wealth, and the relative movements of industrial groups.

B.
Take six.

  1. Average wages as an index of social condition.
  2. Statistical indexes of pauperism.
  3. What is the statistical basis for calculating the doubling period of a population and of what is that period an index?
  4. Define normal distribution of population (a) by sex, (b) by age.
  5. Show how the economic value of a population is affected by its age and sex distribution.
  6. To what extent may the prison population of the United States as given in the eleventh census be accepted as an index of criminality for the population of the United States?
  7. The growth of cities and the movement of population. Consider the effect of “urbanization” upon rates of criminality, natality, and mortality.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899) in bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

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1898-99 Course Announcement
Railways and Other Public Works.

[Economics] 51 hf. Railways and other Public Works under Public and Corporate management. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Mr. [Hugo Richard] Meyer.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 353.

1898-99 Enrollment
Railways and Other Public Works.

[Economics] 51 hf. Mr. Meyer. — Railways and other Public Works under Public and Corporate Management. Lectures (3 or 2 hours).

Total 85: 1 Graduate, 49 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, 12 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

1898-99.
Economics 51.
[Mid-year (Final) Exam, 1899]

Omit one of the last four questions.

  1. “And the Commission elsewhere says that the question of rates is not so much one between the railroads and the body of shippers, as between different classes of shippers, or rival localities.” — Railroad Gazette, June 22, 1888.
    Illustrate by means of the following complaints brought before the Interstate Commerce Commission:
      • Rates on sugar from Pacific Coast points to Fargo and St. Paul; V. 234.
      • Relative rates on wheat from certain “common territory” to Minneapolis and Duluth; V, 571.
      • Relative rates on salt from Hutchinson and St. Louis to certain “common points” in Texas; V, 299.
      • Export rates on wheat: III, 137.
      • Relative rates from Atlantic sea-board points to the interior on imported commodities and domestic; IV, 448.
      • Group rates on vegetables shipped from points between Mobile and East St. Louis; VII, 43.
      • Group rates on milk shipped from points in New York State to Jersey City; VII, 93.
      • Relative rates on hogs, dressed pork, and dressed beef: IV, 611.
  1. To what extent have Germany, France, and the Australian Colonies been able to enforce their rigid schemes of railroad charges? What is the nature of the evidence that such enforcement has prevented the railroads from fully developing traffic? Why has not enforcement of these schemes worked with greater friction?
  2. “Had [railroad] building been checked by the censorship of a board of commissioners, and charters granted by the State only upon a showing of necessity, to be determined by the population, density of traffic, and like warrantable reasons, a large percentage of the roads which to-day constitute the disturbing element of interstate commerce, would never have been built.” — Clark: State Railroad Commissions.
    Give your reasons for accepting or rejecting the statement that the control here suggested could not possibly have been exercised.
  3. State Railroad Control and Politics in California.
  4. Why was the Interstate Commerce Commission unable to enforce the prohibition of special rates?
  5. Contrast the working of the state ownership of railways in Prussia with the working of the state ownership of railways in Australia.
  6. The Massachusetts Gas and Electric Light Commission.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

Also: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899) in bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

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1898-99 Course Announcement
Economic History of the U.S.

[Economics] 6. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Dr. [Guy Stevens] Callender.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 352.

1898-99 Enrollment
Economic History of the U.S.

[Economics] 6. Dr. Callender. — The Economic History of the United States. Lectures (2 hours) and discussions of assigned reading (1 hour). 2 theses.

Total 122: 6 Graduates, 60 Seniors, 38 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

1898-99.
Economics 6.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899] 

  1. “Between England and the American Colonies there was a real interchange of services. England gave defence in return for trade privileges. In the middle of the last century, at the time when the American quarrel began, it was perhaps rather the colonies than the mother country that had fallen into arrears.” — Seeley.
    Do you agree with this view of English Colonial Policy?
  2. Compare the following statement, with what you know of the views of commercial policy entertained by leading American statesmen during and after the Revolution:
    “From all this (i.e. the tariff acts passed by the various States between 1783 and 1789) it is clear enough that the States sought protection for the sake of building up manufactures. It was natural that they should. To suppose that they had any special predilection for free trade, at a time when restriction was the policy of the world, and while the mercantile system had not yet lost its grip save among a few economists, is to suppose them far ahead of their time.
    “Nor would their policy have been different if England had practiced perfect reciprocity with them at the beginning.” —  Kelley. Quarterly Journal of Economics II, 481.
  3. What were the “Great Inventions” and how did they chiefly influence the economic growth of the United States down to 1860?
  4. How would you explain the absence of commercial banks in America in Colonial times?
  5. According to Adam Smith “there seems to be two cases in which it will generally be advantageous to lay some burden upon foreign for the encouragement of domestic industry.” Do you think the tariff act of 1816 could be fairly considered as coming under either of his exceptions to general free trade principles?
  6. “It is now proper to proceed a step further, and to enumerate the principal circumstances from which it may be inferred that manufacturing establishments not only occasion a positive augmentation of the produce and revenue of the society, but that they contribute essentially to render them greater than they could possibly be without such establishments.” — Hamilton’s Report on Manufactures.
    Mention as many of these “circumstances” as you can, and discuss one.
  7. How do you explain the prevalence of much higher protective duties since the civil war than before it?
  8. Mention three cases in which high duties have failed to cause any considerable growth of the industries affected, and compare these with any others in which the high duties did cause a growth of industry, pointing out a reason for the difference in result.
  9. Compare the conditions which gave rise to the trade on the western rivers between 1815 and 1845 with the conditions which caused the growth of trade in the English colonies between 1700 and 1760.
  10. To what extent have the people of the United States relied upon the assistance of government to supply transportation facilities? How would you explain the tendency to state intervention in this industry in the United States before 1850?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99.
Economics 6.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

Select at least eight questions and answer them concisely.

  1. “The Southern States, then, are reduced to the very same relation to the tariff states, in point of principle, as that in which all the colonies formerly stood to Great Britain….
    I confidently assert that the restrictions imposed by the tariff states upon the commerce of the planting states, are more injurious and oppressive than all the colonial restrictions and taxes which Great Britain ever imposed upon the commerce of our forefathers…” — McDuffie.
    Do you think there is any grounds for such a comparison as this?
  2. “It is sometimes loosely said, that America has been settled by the European races, and different portions are distinguished, as settled by the English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The truth really is, that America, including its islands, has been settled chiefly from Africa, and by negroes….” — Weston.
    How did African slavery affect the settlement and growth of the thirteen continental colonies?
  3. How far has the United States applied the protective system to agriculture? Compare its policy in this respect with that of Continental Europe.
  4. Point out the main causes of agricultural discontent in the following sections of the country: the South; the northern states east of the Mississippi River; the northern states west of the Mississippi River.
  5. “Trusts have not yet been properly discriminated, and such a discrimination is necessary to a correct understanding of them. Some of the trusts have in them permanently vicious elements, whilst others, although not by any means harmless in their effect on political right, are so incapable of working prolonger and serious mischief that they may be left to the usual methods of relief or to their own inevitable dissolution.” — Bonham.
    Discuss this proposition, pointing out the circumstances which render the power of a trust formidable to competitors, and how far all trusts are in possession of such advantages.
  6. What reasons can you give for the failure of competition to regulate railway rates so as to secure justice to both buyer and seller of transportation? How far does the same reasoning apply to such industries as the manufacture of steel rails, and coal mining?
  7. “Before inquiring as to general changes in our national condition which may justify a change of opinion and policy in this respect (i.e. restriction of immigration), let us deal briefly with two opinions regarding the immigration of the past, which stand in the war of any fair consideration of the subject. These two opinions were, first, that immigration constituted a net reinforcement of our population: and secondly, that, in addition to this, or irrespective of this, immigration was necessary, in order to supply the laborers who should do certain kinds of work, imperatively demanded for the building up of our industrial and social structure, which natives of the soil were unwilling to undertake.” — Walker. Discuss one of these opinions.
  8. “In the early days of cotton growing it had been supposed that the cultivation of this staple would be carried on by white labor… It was a misfortune for Southern agriculture that slave labor was ever applied to the cultivation of the cotton plant. As has been pointed out in the preceding chapter, cotton culture offered many and great advantages over other crops for the use of slave labor; but slavery had few, if any, advantages over free labor for the cultivation of cotton…” — Hammond.
    “Taking infants, aged, invalid, and vicious and knavish slaves into account, the ordinary and average cost of a certain task of labor is more than double in Virginia what it is in the adjoining free states.” — Olmsted.
    Granting the truth of these statements how would you explain the growth of slavery in the United States after 1790? Compare these conditions with those existing in Virginia one hundred years earlier.
  9. Sketch briefly the history of the legal tenders from the close of the civil war to the resumption of specie payments.
  10. Compare the condition of the United States Treasury so far as its ability to maintain gold payments was concerned, in the years 1884-1885 and 1891-1893.
  11. “…Up to our own day American history has been in a large degree the history of the colonization of the great West. The existence of an area of free land, its constant recession, and the advance of American settlements westward, explain American development.” — Turner.
    What features of American social and political development have been influenced or determined by the conditions here referred to?
  12. Describe what you consider to be the most important change which has taken place in the South as a result of Emancipation.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), pp. 32-34. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects

[Economics] 82 hf. Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects. (Mediaeval and Modern.) Half-course(second half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Dr. [William] Cunningham (Trinity College, Cambridge, England).

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 352.

1898-99 Enrollment
Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects.

[Economics] 82 hf. Dr. Cunningham. — Western Civilization, mediaeval and modern, in its Economic Aspects. Lectures (3 hours). 4 reports.

Total 105: 13 Graduates, 41 Seniors, 15 Juniors, 23 Sophomores, 1 Freshmen, 12 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 72.

Course Reading List (1899)

https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-economic-aspects-of-western-civilization-cunningham-1899/

1898-99.
Economics 82.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

Answer the first 3 questions and any 3 of the later questions.

  1. “In any community where there is wealth to spare, which can be sunk in magnificent buildings or other public works, there is a permanent record of its greatness or of the riches of its rulers. On the whole, when the characteristic buildings of each civilization were erected was the time of its greatest material prosperity; this gives us the means of gauging most definitely the precise nature of its contribution to the growth of Western Civilization as a whole.”
    Explain and criticise.
  2. Take any two of the evils of which complaint is made in the “Common Weal of the Realm.” What were the causes of those evils given in the dialogues? Were they, in your opinion, the real causes?
  3. Why can we obtain a greater knowledge of medieval Europe generally through the study of a single country than we could obtain for modern Europe by the use of a similar method?
  4. Trace the change from a natural to a money economy in agriculture, and in taxation.
  5. Compare the policy of a medieval town with the national policy of European States which followed.
  6. In what new direction and with what results was capital invested at the close of the Middle Ages?
  7. Compare the commercial policies of Portugal, Holland, and England with reference to the East India trade.
  8. (Take one.) For what is Western Civilization indebted to:

(a) The monastery.
(b) The crusades.
(c) The craft guild.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), p. 34. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Labor Question in Europe and the U.S.

[Economics] 9. The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. — The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Asst. Professor E. Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 352.

1898-99 Enrollment
Labor Question in Europe and the U.S.

[Economics] 9. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings. — The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen. Lectures (3 hours) and conferences; 2 reports; thesis.

Total 129: 2 Graduates, 51 Seniors, 42 Juniors, 22 Sophomores, 12 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

1898-99.
Economics 9.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899]

So far as possible discuss both the historical and the theoretical aspects of the questions.

  1. Is the principle of coöperation capable of indefinite extension and application? If not what are its limits?
  2. Compare the English Trade Union congress with the annual convention of the American Federation of Labor.
  3. Is the programme of trade unionism inconsistent with the coöperative ideal?
  4. What do you understand by the English working classes; and what proportion do they bear to other classes in the community?
  5. Indicate the manner in which English working people have met the exigencies of sickness, accident, old age, out of work.
    What proportion of the working classes is identified with

a) the coöperative movement?
b) trade unionism?
c) the various forms of insurance?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99.
Economics 9.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

  1. On what elements does the strength of a trade union depend? In what directions does it seem to you that American trade unions most need to develop in the future? In what specific respects may they profit by the policy and experience of European organizations?
  2. “The workers should certainly not fail to realize how important is the recognition by them that only by unity and solidarity is there any hope for protection and progress.” — President Gompers.
    Do the various forms of workingmen’s organizations give evidence of any distinctly differentiated wages class in the United States? Discuss carefully the evidence as to the extent and the limitations of class feeling among American workingmen.
  3. “If unemployment insurance should follow trade lines, every argument would seem to indicate that such efforts should be made through existing organizations of workingmen.” Discuss the various forms of insurance against unemployment, and indicate the advantages and disadvantages of each form.
  4. “France has joined Germany, Austria, Great Britain and Norway in the indorsement of the principles so boldly inaugurated by the first of these countries, — that the compensation of injured workmen should be compulsory upon their employers.”

(a) Explain the differences between the systems adopted in the countries named.
(b) Discuss the present status of employers’ liability and of accident insurance in the United States.

  1. Contrast the condition of workmen in the United States, England, and on the Continent as regards earnings, conditions of employment, cost of living, and effectiveness of organization, — taking the condition of railway labor as the basis of your comparison.
  2. Discuss the relative merits of the form which government interference on behalf of working people has taken in the United States and in European countries.
  3. State briefly the most important conclusions which you have arrived at regarding the subject assigned you for special investigation

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), p. 35. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Industrial Revolution in England

[Economics] 112 hf. The Industrial Revolution in England. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 11. Dr. [William] Cunningham (Trinity College, Cambridge, England).

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 352.

 

1898-99 Enrollment
Industrial Revolution in England.

[Economics] 112 hf. Dr. Cunningham. — The Industrial Revolution in England. Lectures (2 hours) and conferences. 6 reports.

Total 98: 8 Graduates, 30 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 21 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 72.

1898-99.
Economics 112.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
Take the first 2 and any 3 of the later questions.

  1. (Devote at least one third of your time to this question.) Compare industry before and after the Industrial Revolution with reference to —
    1. The function of capital.
    2. The control of the capitalist or entrepreneur over production.
    3. Status of the artisan, which should include discussion of mobility of labor, stability of employment, and extent and objects of associated activity.
  2. Give some account of Francis Place and his importance as a social reformer.
  3. An account of the silk industry in England. Show how it illustrates the economic policy of England during the 17th and 18th century?
  4. Why was the mercantile policy ultimately given up? Was that policy, in your opinion, advantageous to England during the 18th century?
  5. Arrange in order of importance causes of distress in the factory towns during the first quarter of this century. To what causes may the subsequent improvement be ascribed?
  6. Discuss distress among the agricultural population in the same way.
  7. Contrast the English Corn Laws of the 18th century with the law of 1815 with special reference to its results on different elements in the agricultural interest.
  8. Describe the chief improvements which have been introduced into English mines with special reference to the work of Alexander Macdonald.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), p. 36. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems

[Economics] 121 hf. Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems. Half-course (first half-year).Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor [Charles F.] Dunbar.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 353.

1898-99 Enrollment
Banking and the History of the Leading Banking Systems.

[Economics] 121 hf. Professor [Charles F.] Dunbar. — Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems. Lectures (3 hours).

Total 61: 2 Graduates, 41 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

1898-99.
Economics 121.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

Reserve ONE THIRD of your time for questions under section B. Answer ALL the questions under A, and TWO of those under B.

A.

  1. Explain carefully the following terms:

(a) Safety or Guaranty Fund;
(b) Free banking;
(c) Reserve;
(d) Surplus;
(e) Daily Redemption;
(f) Clearing House Loan Certificates.

  1. Compare Ricardo’s scheme for a national bank with the existing law for the bank of England.
  2. What are the most striking advantages of the Scotch system of note issue?
  3. Why is the Bank of France able to maintain a more uniform rate of discount than the Bank of England?
  4. What provisions are made by the German bank law protecting, or tending to protect,

(a) notes;
(b) deposits?

  1. White says [Money and Banking, p. 327], “In 1845 the State of Massachusetts passed a law providing that no bank should pay out over its counter any notes but its own.”
    Was this law necessary for the working of the Suffolk Bank System?
  2. What are the chief arguments for and against a system of banking with a central reserve as in England?

B.

  1. Discuss the following extract, and its consistency with the author’s aphorism that “money is that money does”:—
    “Bankers’ deposits or liabilities are not money. Inscribed on the books of the bank itself, divided into no definite parts, constituting no tangible thing, having no outside course to run, with no separate identifiable existence, they are not money: they are simply an instrumentality for saving the use of money.” [Walker, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, October, 1893, p. 69.]
  2. In what ways, if any, do the different proposals for modifying our present banking system appear to fall short of a theoretically perfect system of banking for the United States?
  3. What are the circumstances which, beginning with 1865, have caused and kept up the great inequality observed in the distribution of national banks among the different sections of the Union?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

Also: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), pp. 37-38. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Methods of Economic Investigation

[Economics] 13. Methods of Economic Investigation. — English Writers. — German Writers. Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Taussig.

Course 13 may also be taken in either half-year as a half-course.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 352.

 

1898-99 Enrollment
Methods of Economic Investigation.

[Economics] 13. Professor Taussig. — Methods of Economic Investigation. Rapid reading in English and German books, and discussion of questions of method and scope. Lectures and conferences. 2 hours.

Total 5: 2 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 72.

1898-99.
Economics 13.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899]

  1. Point out, as to one of the subjects named below, the nature of the problems in economics according as its scope is believed to be that of a positive science, a normative science, an art formulating precepts:

Bimetallism.
Economic Rent and the “nationalization” of land.
Wages and Trade Unions.

  1. The nature and extent of the aid given by statistical and historical inquiry in solving the problems of international trade and of tariff legislation.
  2. Adam Smith’s and Ricardo’s methods of reasoning on wages and profits.
  3. “The method by which Economic Science should be carried into regions never penetrated by Ricardo was simple. It was only necessary to draw from the actual observation of affairs fresh premises relating to forces of what we have called the secondary order.”
    Consider how far this general proposition is illustrated or confirmed by (1) Cairnes’s reasoning on the relation between cost, value, wages in different occupations; (2) Marshall’s reasoning as to demand-schedules, supply-schedules, and the theory of value and distribution.
  4. The questions of definition arising as to the terms capital, rent, money; and your grounds for believing one or another use of these terms to be advantageous.
  5. Keynes’s conclusions as to the mode in which economic history bears on economic theory; and your own.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99.
Economics 13.
[Year-End Exam, 1899]

  1. “Alle konkreten volkswirthschaftliche Organisationsfragen sind also bedingt durch die Vorfrage, wie die psychologischen Grundtriebe bei dem fraglichen Volke durch Sitte und Recht modifiziert sind. Darum ist mir auch die Lehre von dem Egoismus oder dem Interesse, als dem psychologischen steten und gleichmässigen Ausgangspunkt aller wirthschaftlichen Handlungen nichts als eine bodenlose Oberflächlichkeit.” — Schmoller.
    Explain; and give your own opinion.
  2. “Die Geschichte bietet den Wissenschaften vom Staate und von der Volkswirthschaft . . . ein Erfahrungsmaterial ohne gleichen. Dieses Erfahrungsmaterial dient nun, wie jede gute Beobachtung und Beschreibung, dazu [1] theoretische Sätze zu illustrieren und zu verifiziren, die Grenzen nachzuweisen innerhalb deren bestimmte Wahrheiten gültig sind, [2] noch mehr aber neue Wahrheiten induktiv zu gewinnen. [3] Zumal in den komplizierteren Gebieten der Volkswirthschaftslehre ist nur auf Boden historischer Forschung voranzukommen; z. B. über die Wirkung der Maschineneinführung auf die Löhne, der Edelmetallproduktion auf den Geldwert, ist jedes bloss abstrakte Argumentieren wertlos. [4] Noch mehr gilt dies in Bezug auf die Entwickelung der volkswirthschaftlichen Institutionen und Theorien, sowie auf die Frage des allgemeinen wirthschaftlichen Fortschrittes.” – Schmoller.
    Explain; and give your opinion as to the several conclusions as numbered.
  3. “Das ist das Dilemma, vor welchem der Socialismus steht. Gelingt es ihm nicht, dem ersten Motiv noch eine genügende Wirksamkeit für die Arbeitsleistungen, für den technischen Fortschritt zu belassen, was nicht unmöglich, aber schwer, wen überhaupt mit den sonstigen Principien des Socialismus … in Einklang zu setzen ist; vermag er nicht das dritte, vierte, und vor Allem das fünfte Motiv in seinem System zu ordentlicher, mächtiger, wiederum mit seinen Principien aber noch vereinbarer Function zu setzen … was wen möglich, jedenfalls wieder ausserordentlich schwierig ist … so bleibt eben nichts Anderes übrig, als auf Zwang, Strafandrohung, kurz auf das zweite Motiv zurückzugreifen.”
    Explain; and consider whether the difficulties and inconsistencies which Socialism must face are equally strong with the first motive as with the others referred to.
  4. “Die Ergebnisse jedes der beiden Verfahren [Deduktion und Induktion] für sich allein haben hiernach ohne oder vor der Prüfung mittelst des anderen Verfahrens in Bezug auf die Wirklichkeit der Erscheinungen und auf deren Erklärung stets nur einen solch hypothetischen Werth.” — Wagner.
    The reasoning which led to this conclusion; and your own opinion.

Answer summarily as many of the following as time permits.

  1. Schmoller’s and Wagner’s statements of the ideal which the theory of distribution should set forth.
  2. How far the scope of economics is differently defined by Cairnes, by Schmoller, by Wagner; and how far their conclusions as to methods of investigation rest on their demarcation of the science.
  3. Schmoller’s views as to the nature of the services rendered by Adam Smith for economic theory; and your opinion as to the justice of these views.
  4. The mode in which Wagner thinks the development of motives was affected by the system of restriction (e.g. guild system) and has been affected by the modern system of free competition.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), pp. 38-39. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Selected Topics in U.S. Financial Legislation

[Economics] 16. Selected Topics in the Financial Legislation of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Professor [Charles F.] Dunbar.

Course 16 may be taken as a half-course during either half-year.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 353.

 

1898-99 Enrollment
Selected Topics in U.S. Financial Legislation.

[Economics] 16. Professor [Charles F.] Dunbar. — Selected Topics in the Financial Legislation of the United States. Lectures (2 hours). 4 reports.

Total 22: 4 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

1898-99.
Economics 16.
[Mid-year Exam, 1899]

Give one half of the time allowed for this examination to the discussion under Section B.

A.

  1. Give the reasons which would lead you to justify, or reject, the following sentence:
    “It is sometimes said that Mr. Hamilton believed in a perpetual debt, and when one notices the form into which he threw the obligations of the United States, the only escape from this conclusion is to say that he was ignorant of the true meaning of the contracts which he created.” [H. C. Adams, Public Debts, p. 161.]
  2. What is the historical value of Jefferson’s account of the adopting of the funding and assumption measure, given in his Ana?
  3. The plan on which the first Bank of the United States was organized has been criticised as unsound,
    (a) because subscriptions for stock could be paid in part in “public debt” instead of cash;
    (b) because of the provision as to the mode of paying the subscription to stock made by the government.
    Give your own judgment as to the weight of these criticisms.
  4. What was the real importance of the resort to excise duties as a regular source of revenue under the Federalist administration?
  5. Suppose that in collecting the direct tax of 1798 it had been found that a part of the taxpayers in the State of X were unable to pay the amount assessed upon them, — would this deficiency have remained as a debt due by the State, or would it have been lost by the United States?
  6. What untoward events, tending to defeat calculations made as to the income and expenditure of the government, occurred between 1794 and 1800?

B.

Discuss the following extract,

(a) with respect to the statement of fact;
(b) with respect to the conclusion arrived at:—

“The result of financial operations during the twelve years of Federalist administration was to increase rather than to decrease the Federal debt. Upon January 1, 1791, the amount of outstanding obligations was $75,463,476; upon the corresponding date for 1795 the debt had risen to $80,747,587. While Wolcott was Secretary of the Treasury, the operations of the sinking-fund made no impression whatever upon the amount of indebtedness, and there was left by the Federalists as a legacy to the Jefferson administration a debt of $80,700,000. Nothing is here said in criticism of the fact that the debt increased. That may have been a necessity under the circumstances. Nor do we undertake to decide whether this necessity was due to inefficiency on the part of the Federalist administration, or to the carping criticisms of the Republicans out of office; our only conclusion is, that it is unwise to play at paying a debt while the debt is in reality growing. This leads to false security, and becomes a most prolific source of new loans.” [H. C. Adams, Public Debts, p. 266.]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-years 1898-1899.

1898-99.
Economics 16.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

In answering those questions do not change their order.

A.

  1. In what ways did the revulsion of 1873 affect the question of specie resumption?
  2. Has the coinage of silver dollars since 1878 at any time been a seriously inflating influence? If not, how and when has its influence been counteracted?
  3. What modes of redemption of legal tender notes are contemplated by the act of 1890, or are practicable under its terms? How is the gold reserve affected by redemptions thus carried on?
  4. What special phenomena gave an unusual character to the financial crisis of 1893?
  5. What was the seignorage bill of 1894, its purpose, and its fate?
  6. What were the operations by which the syndicate of 1895 undertook to protect the Treasury against demands for gold?
  7. What is the precise relation between “the endless chain” and deficient revenue?

B.

Choose one of these two subjects, and discuss it carefully, devoting to it at least one-third of your time.

  1. The possibility of returning to the specie basis after the great depreciation of the Civil War, without contraction, either open or disguised.
  2. Sherman’s qualities and rank as a financier, as exhibited in the history of the great financial measures with which, as Senator or as Secretary, he has associated his name.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), pp. 39-40. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Ethnology in its Applications to Economic and Social Problems.

[Economics] 172 hf. Ethnology in its Applications to Economic and Social Problems. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Dr. J. Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 353.

1898-99 Enrollment
Ethnology in its Applications to Economic and Social Problems.

[Economics] 172 hf. Dr. John Cummings. — Ethnology in its Applications to Economic and Social Problems. Lectures and discussions (3 or 2 hours); conferences; 2 reports; 2 theses.

Total 16: 1 Graduate, 4 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

1898-99.
Economics 172.
[Year-end Exam, 1899]

Devote one hour, but not more than one hour and a half, to A, and the remainder of your time to B.

A.

  1. “When the skulls are compared of the various human races, belonging to the past and present, it is found that the races in which the volume of the skull presents the greatest individual variations are the most highly civilized races. … Anatomical and physiological equality only exist in the case of individuals of quite inferior races.”
    “The superior races are distinguished from the inferior races by their character as well as by their intelligence. … Character is formed by the combination, in varying proportions, of the different elements which psychologists are accustomed at the present day to designate by the name of sentiments.”
    “The inequality between the different individuals of a race is greater in proportion to the superiority of the race.”
    “Whether in the race or the individual a correlation exists between the psychological character, the cerebral structure and the form of the skull.”
    Consider each of these statements carefully and comment at length.
  2. The race history of the French people.

B.
Two questions may be omitted.

  1. The colored population of the United States: its physical, moral, and intellectual character and progress since emancipation.
  2. What do you understand by “cephalic index”? of what is it an index? Consider its validity as a test of (a) race origin, (b) of individual capacity.
  3. “The constant immigration from all countries (to America) brings to light the question of adaptability and non-adaptability of the different races to the special conditions of American life.”
    How is this question being answered in America? in other countries? Consider in this connection the ethnical composition of the slum populations of American cities, and some social problems which arise in connection with these populations.
  4. In what sense are Anglo-Saxons as a race more hostile to socialism than other races?
  5. Take one:—

The French Canadian population of the United States.
The population of the city of Boston.

  1. State and explain some of the more important “laws” of Anthropo-Sociology.
  2. The growth of cities and social selection.
  3. “Anthropology is destined to revolutionize the political and social sciences as radically as bacteriology has revolutionized the science of medicine.” Comment upon and explain.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1899), pp. 40-41. In bound volume Examination Papers 1898-99.

_______________________

1898-99 Course Announcement
Seminary in Economics

[Economics] 20. The Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 4.30.

Subjects for 1898-99:—

(a) The Theory of Money. Professor [Charles F.] Dunbar.
(b) Local Taxation in the United States. Professor Taussig.
(c) Socialism and Communism. Asst. Professor E. Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Science 1898-99 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1898), p. 353.

 

1898-99 Enrollment
Seminary in Economics.

[Economics] 20. The Seminary in Economics. — Conferences (weekly); open meetings (fortnightly); thesis. Instructors and topics for 1898-99:

(a) Professor  [Charles F.] Dunbar. — The Theory of Money. 1 Graduate.
(b) Professor Taussig. —  Local Taxation in the United States. Total 7: 6 Graduates, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1898-99, p. 73.

Topics and Speakers at the
Seminary of Economics,
1898-99

  • Aids in economic investigation. Professor Taussig.
  • Economic study in England. Dr. O.M.W. Sprague.
  • The growth and the constituent elements of the population of Boston. Mr. F. A. Bushée (2).
  • Some operations of the United States Treasury in 1894-96. Professor Taussig.
  • The Interstate Commerce Act as interpreted by the courts. Mr. F. Hendrick.
  • The English industrial crisis of 1622. Dr. O. M. W. Sprague.
  • The earlier history of the English income tax. Dr. J. A. Hill.
  • The theory of savers’ rent and some of its applications. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
  • The working of the French Railway Conventions of 1883. Mr. F. Hendrick.
  • The adoption of the gold standard by England in 1816. Mr. D. F. Grass.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1899-1900, p. 417.

Image Source: Walter Babcock Swift (Photographer), Harvard Square looking south, ca. 1900. Harvard University Archives, Hollis Images.