AN ACCOUNT OF THE
ELECTIVE COURSES
GIVEN AT
HARVARD COLLEGE.
PUBLISHED BY THE
EDITORS OF THE HARVARD DAILY ECHO.
1881.
[p. 3]
In preparing the following descriptions of courses in Harvard, care has been taken to consult the various instructors, and to benefit by the experience of those students who have taken the courses. It is believed that this attempt to supplement the College Elective Pamphlet by more detailed descriptions will be found useful in selecting courses for next year. As a considerable portion of this was written early in the year, allowance must be made for changes in the numbering and arrangement of some of the electives. Owing to recent changes in several electives, and the late appearance of the Elective Pamphlet, much hasty revision has been necessary, and there are some alterations which may have been neglected. The index is arranged [p. 4] according to next year’s pamphlet, so that there will be no difficulty in finding the courses, although the arrangement, owing to the method of printing, is haphazard. No description of Mathematics 8 is given, as the nature of the course varies from time to time, and it is uncertain whether it is given at all next year. We wish to express our thanks to the professors and students who have assisted in preparing these pages.
[…]
[p. 120]
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
No student should allow the four years of his College life to pass without devoting some of his time to the study of Political Economy. It is needless to dilate upon its importance. Aside from the great value of a scientific knowledge of the subjects with which this science deals, the value of the mental training which the study of Political Economy affords can hardly be overestimated. Surely there is no science which investigates causes at once so varied and so important, affecting, as they do, the whole course of public and private life. No citizen of the United States has a right to neglect any opportunity to familiarize himself with the principles regulating, whether we will it or not, the whole social, moral, political and financial development of the country whose future rests partly in his hands.
Political Economy 1 is a course devoted principally to a study of the fundamental principles of the science of Political [p. 121] Economy. The textbook used is John Stuart Mill’s “Principles of Political Economy,” the difficulties in it being cleared up in the recitation room. [cf. the abridged edition of Mill’s Principles edited “with critical, bibliographical, and explanatory notes, and a sketch of the history of political economy” by J. Laurence Laughlin published in 1884] Just before the semi-annuals a course of lectures on “Banking” is given by Prof. Dunbar, and before the annuals a course on the “Financial Legislation of the United States,” giving special attention to the measures adopted during the war and after it up to the present time. Both of these are full of interest and valuable information. The instruction, if the course is conducted as in previous years, will be given by means both of recitations and of lectures, the latter predominating during the last part of the year, although even then there is enough of delightful uncertainty maintained to prevent the student from slighting the work of each day. As yet no definite arrangement has been made as to the amount of work to be done by each of the two instructors, Prof. Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin. The course will be either two or three hours, as the student may choose. Let no one take it under the impression that he is taking a “soft” course; those [p. 122] seeking such must avoid Political Economy 1. To recommend such a course to an earnest student would be superfluous ; to any other, useless.
Political Economy 2. This course, heretofore known as Political Economy 3, is one that should be taken by every one who has profited by Political Economy 1. As some peculiar ideas as to this course exist throughout the College, the best way to correct them is to tell what the course has dealt with during the past year. The first text-book used is “Some Leading Principles of Political Economy,” by J. E. Cairnes. Prof. Cairnes is a pupil and admirer of Mill, but one who dares to oppose his master on points where his reasoning or his conclusion seems faulty. He goes deeper into some of the principles of the science than Mill could possibly go in writing such a work as his “Principles,” and his book is perhaps a needed corrective to the mind of one too fully charged with Mill. The “Essays in Finance” is a collection of essays on economical and financial questions of the present time, by Robert Giffen, a gentleman in the [p. 123] employ of the London Board of Trade, a statistician, a member of the Statistical Society, and a contributor to the Economist. These essays bring the student face to face with the practical side of Political Economy. Prof. Dunbar has also given a course of lectures on the “History of Political Economy,” tracing the various distinguished economists of England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia; he has also lectured on other economical subjects. The class has also studied the question of the “Gold Standard,” and undertaken a slight analysis of some recent pamphlets on “Free Trade” and “Protection.” Each student is required to write a thesis on some subject connected with Political Economy. The subjects of this year were: “The Decline of American Shipping;” “The Act of May 31, 1878,” and “The Balance of Trade since 1873 and its Probable Future.” The course is eminently a practical and working course on Political Economy, which no one who wishes thoroughly to understand that science can safely neglect. It might well be called a course [p. 124] in “Applied Political Economy.” as in it the principles learned in Political Economy 1 are studied in their application to actual events. Any one wishing to take the course must first consult Prof. Dunbar. Whatever may be Prof. Dunbar’s private opinion on the, to us, vital questions of free trade and protection, the treatment which they receive in the class is absolutely impartial, and neither side can complain that it is misrepresented.
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archive.org has a downloadable copy of this book.
Image Source: Charles Dunbar in The Harvard Graduates’Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 32 (June, 1900), Frontspiece.