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Harvard. History/Government/Economics Division A.B. Examinations, 1917-18

 

Not all possible specific examination fields were selected in 1918. In particular it is worth noting that Economic Theory and Application and Agricultural Economics were apparently not chosen for examination.

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Previous Division A.B. Exams from Harvard

Division Exams 1916

Division Exams, January 1917

Division Exams 1931

Specific Exam for Money and Government Finance, 1939

Specific Exam Economic History Since 1750, 1939

Specific Exam for Economic Theory, 1939

Specific Exam for Labor and Social Reform, 1939

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DIVISION EXAMINATION

Beginning with the Class of 1917, students concentrating in the Division of History, Government, and Economics will, at the close of their college course and as a prerequisite to the degree of A.B. and S.B., be required to pass an examination upon the field of their concentration. This examination ·will cover the general attainments of each candidate in the field covered by this Division and also his attainments in a specific field of study. The examination will consist of three parts:—

(a) A general examination, designed to ascertain the comprehensive attainment of the candidate in the subjects of this Division. The paper will be the same for all students, but there will be a large number of alternative questions to allow for differences in preparation.

(b) A special examination, which will test the student’s grasp of his chosen specific field (see list of fields below). The candidate will be expected to show a thorough understanding of the subject of this field; knowledge of the content of courses only will not suffice. The examination will be upon a subject, not upon a group of courses.

(c) An oral examination, supplementary to either or both of the written examinations, but ordinarily bearing primarily upon the candidate’s specific field. The specific field should ordinarily be chosen from the following list, which indicates also the courses bearing most directly upon each field. In special cases other fields or combinations of fields may be accepted by the Division. This field should be selected by the end of the Sophomore year.

Specific field of concentration:

History

  1. Ancient History
  2. Mediaeval History
  3. Modern History to 1789
  4. Modern History since 1789
  5. American History
  6. History of England
  7. History of France
  8. History of Germany
  9. History of Eastern Europe
  10. History of Spain and Latin America
  11. Economic History
  12. Constitutional and Legal History
  13. History of Religions

Government

  1. Modern Government—American
  2. Modern Government—European
  3. Municipal Government
  4. Political Theory
  5. Constitutional Law
  6. International Law and Diplomacy

Economics

  1. Economic Theory and its Application
  2. Economic History
  3. Economics and Sociology

Applied Economics

  1. Money and Banking
  2. Corporate Organization, including Railroads
  3. Public Finance
  4. Labor Problems
  5. Economics of Agriculture

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1917-18. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XIV, No. 25 (May 18, 1917), pp. 78-81.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION GENERAL EXAMINATION
April 23, 1918

PART I

The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-third of the examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on one question only.

  1. Write on three of the following: (a) Cavour, (b) Clay, (c) Cortez, (d) Diaz, (e) Fox, (f) Grotius, (g) Humboldt, (h) Marcus Aurelius, (i) Marshall, (j) Oxenstiern, (k) Turgot, (l) Wyclif.
  2. Does history show that Socialism and Democracy are compatible?
  3. What is meant by (a) “disarmament,” (b) “making the world safe for democracy,” (c) “freedom of the seas”?
  4. What were the effects of mechanical improvements upon national development between 1800 and 1850?
  5. What have been the implications and consequences of Puritanism?
  6. What have been the political and social by-products of the search for gold?
  7. Compare the nature and purposes of conservation in war and in peace.
  8. Trace the development of health service in its national and international aspects. On what grounds should it be supported?
  9. In how far may the rivalry between ancient Rome and Carthage be likened to that of Germany and England at the present day?

PART II

The treatment of one part of the following question will be regarded as equivalent to one-sixth of the examination and should therefore occupy one half-hour.

  1. (a) Mark on the map the territories which compose the British Empire today, and state very briefly in your blue book how and when they were acquired.
    or (b) Indicate clearly upon the map the location of any two of the following five groups:

    1. The chief wheat raising districts of North America in 1850, 1870, 1890, 1910.
    2. The primary sources of the world’s supply of copper, iron, wool, cotton, gold.
    3. The Federal Reserve districts and the location of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks.
    4. The extent of the railway net of the United States in 1850, 1870, and 1890; and the railroad groups as fixed by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
    5. The places or regions with which the following are to be primarily associated: (a) the Homestead strike; (b) the Black Death; (c) the Chartist movement; (d) the Bisbee deportations; (e) the Mooney case; (f) the Populist party.

or (c) Show the progress of Democracy by indicating by consecutive numbers upon the map of the world the chronological order of its spread. Explain why the progress has been as indicated.

PART III

Four questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C, are to be answered, of which two and not more than two questions must be from one group. The remaining questions must be taken, one from each of the other groups, or both from one of the other groups.

A

  1. Trace the history of the relations of the United States to England and France during the presidencies of Washington and of John Adams.
  2. Discuss the following: “The striking and peculiar characteristic of American society is that it is not so much a democracy as a huge commercial company for the discovery, cultivation, and capitalization of its enormous territory.”
  3. Why did the Greeks defeat the Persians, and the Romans the Greeks?
  4. What issues were at stake in the struggle between the mediaeval Emperors and Popes?
  5. Give a brief account of the enfranchisement of the lower classes of the rural population in the principal countries of Western Europe.
  6. What do you understand by the phrase “The enlightened despotism of the eighteenth century”? What names do you connect with it?

B

  1. Give a brief history of the public domain of the Federal Government.
  2. Describe the tariff controversy in Germany before the War. Has the War thrown any light upon any of the arguments employed?
  3. Write a brief analysis of the economic policies of the Federalists.
  4. Discuss: “The nineteenth century was the golden age of the capitalist.”
  5. Sketch the economic and political background of two of the following: (a) the defeat in 1911 of reciprocity with Canada; (b) the creation of the Zollverein; (c) the refusal of a renewal of charter to the First Bank of the United States; (d) the passage of the Clay Compromise Tariff; (e) the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
  6. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of “direct” and legislative action in effecting economic reforms.

C

  1. What political and economic theories have been particularly tested by events since July 1914, and with what results?
  2. Is there any reason why a presidential form of government should be preferable in the United States and a parliamentary or cabinet form in Great Britain?
  3. Give a brief sketch of three of the following, with name of author and date: (1) De Monarchia; (2) On Liberty; (3) The Republic; (4) Looking Backward; (5) De Civitate Dei; (6) Oceana; (7) The City of the Sun; (8) De Jure Belli ac Pacis; (9) Leviathan; (10) Vindiciae contra Tyrannos; (11) The Wealth of Nations.
  4. Compare the public services of two of the following: (a) Louis Blanc; (b) Burke; (c) Cobden; (d) Hamilton; (e) Jackson; (f) Metternich.
  5. Show in what respect and for what reasons any state has become a colonial power.
  6. What should be the method of obtaining peace at the end of the present war according to the principles or theories of one of the following: (a) Aristotle; (b) Cicero; (c) Franklin; (d) Gustavus Adolphus; (e) Lincoln; (f) Machiavelli; (h) Thomas Aquinas.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Modern European History
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions in all, taking at least one from each of the three groups into which the paper is divided.

I

  1. What were the causes of the making and rupture of the Peace of Amiens? Is a similar temporary peace conceivable in the present war?
  2. What were the chief characteristics of the fifteen years immediately succeeding the Peace of Vienna? Can it be fairly argued that the fifteen years following the close of the present war will resemble them?
  3. Note the chief stages in the actual formation of a United Italy. How far did Napoleon III deliberately foster the growth of Italian unity?
  4. Compare the course of events during the three weeks previous to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 with those of the month of July 1914. What do you believe to have been the real object of German diplomacy in each case?
  5. Trace the careers of any two of the following: Blaine, Déak, Gambetta, Mazzini, Palmerston, Pinckney, Sherman, Stein.

II

  1. Who were the most prominent leaders in the States General of 1789, and what were their platforms and policies?
  2. Estimate the attitudes of the chief European powers and of the United States towards the question of Latin American independence.
  3. Give a brief account of the principal events in the history of England’s dealings with Ireland since the time of the French Revolution.
  4. What light is thrown by the history of the revolutionary movements of 1848 upon the relations of the fundamental principles of liberalism and nationality?
  5. What political principles worked at issue in the Carlist Wars?

III

  1. Trace the conflict between Napoleon and Pius VII.
  2. Estimate the influence of the universities upon the development of Germany since the period of the French Revolution.
  3. What light is thrown by the history of England and of the United States on the (a) possibility, (b) desirability of taking the tariff out of politics.
  4. Compare the nature, extent, and causes of social stratification in England, Germany, in the United States.
  5. In how far does the past history of Russia furnish an explanation of her condition today?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
American History
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions in all, taking at least one from each of the three groups into which the paper is divided.

I

  1. Characterize the following colonies at the dates given: Rhode Island, 1640; Delaware, 1650; Louisiana, 1801; Florida, 1815.
  2. What connection may be traced between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution?
  3. Contrast the careers of Bolivar and San Martin.
  4. Describe the military and naval struggles for the control of the Mississippi during the Civil War.
  5. Give a brief account of the relations of Germany and United States from 1860 to 1914.

II

  1. Compare the policies of England, France, and Spain relative to the treatment of the American Indians.
  2. What precedents have there been for a federation of states of Latin America? What are the prospects of such a federation today?
  3. Have the South a constitutional right to secede? How is the answer to this question to be determined?
  4. Does the Monroe doctrine applied to Asiatic as well as to European powers today? Give reasons for your answer.
  5. Comment on, discuss, or explain, as the case may require, four of the following: Dred Scott Decision, Ku-Klux Klan, Gerrymandering, New England Confederation, Tordesillas Line.

III

  1. “American independence was won in the dockyards of Ferrol and Toulon, and not on the battlefields of America.” Explain.
  2. Does the history of the United States show that is (a) desirable or (b) possible to take the tariff out of politics?
  3. Discuss the statement, “The West is preeminently a region of ideals.”
  4. Describe the platforms of the presidential candidates in the election of 1896.
  5. Are the initiative and referendum in accord with the American theory of representative government?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Economic History
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Employing historical illustrations, consider the advantages and disadvantages of the principal forms of agricultural land tenure.
  2. Describe and account for the major movements of the price level during the nineteenth century.
  3. Discuss the future of our meat supply.
  4. Draft a set of rules for the graphic presentation of historical series.

B
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Briefly compare the Industrial Revolution in England and Continental Europe.
  2. What was the effect of the Napoleonic Wars upon American economic development?
  3. Outline the history of the American Silver Dollar.
  4. Write a brief history of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
  5. Trace the course of the relations between organized labor and the railways of the United States.
  6. Sketch the history of one of the following industries in United States (a) tin-plate; (b) fur-seal; (c) beet-sugar; (d) ship-building.
  7. Give a brief account of the economic relations of the United States and South America.

C
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. In what particulars and for what reasons has labor legislation been backward in the United States?
  2. In what respects, if at all, is the present railway situation in the United States a natural development from conditions prevailing before the War?
  3. What conclusions are to be drawn from Germany’s experience with social insurance?
  4. What have been the chief problems of British government finance during the past generation? Wherein will the problems after the War different?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Economics and Sociology
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. “The economic forces have no tendency whatever to direct my effort to the most widely important end or the supply of the most urgent individual need.” Discuss.
  2. “Free competition between labor and capital will result in just wages to labor.” Do you agree? What are “just wages”?
  3. Compare past and present theories of the justification of interest.
  4. Analyze the concept of “productivity” in economics.

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. What statistical studies have been made of standards of living in the United States? What conclusions may be drawn from these studies?
  2. What are the chief causes of infant mortality? What are the most effective preventatives of infant deaths?
  3. Outline the history of poor relief in England. What light does English experience throw up on the relative advantages of “outdoor” and “indoor” relief?
  4. Give a critical account of recent developments in prison reform.

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. In a few words indicate the most important contributions to sociology by three of the following: (a) Comte; (b) Darwin; (c) Galton; Space (d) Giddings; (e) Kidd; (f) Nietzsche; (g) Spencer; (h) Tarde; (i) Ward.
  2. What is social progress?
  3. Contrast North and Latin American views on the subject of race intermixture.
  4. What influence has the institution of private property upon prevailing tastes and social ideals?
  5. “A nation need not be bound by the scruples that most restrain an individual.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
  6. What are the principal forms of conflict? Upon what grounds are some forms to be preferred to others?
  7. “A strong revival of the more devout forms of religion has followed every great war.” Discuss

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Labor Problems
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. “Free competition between labor and capital will result in just wages to labor.” Do you agree? What are “Just wages”?
  2. Who ultimately bears the burden of a system of industrial insurance?
  3. What are the principal difficulties encountered in the collection of wage statistics?
  4. What are the chief sources of unemployment statistics in the United States?

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Outline the evolution of the English agricultural laborer.
  2. Trace the history of minimum-wage legislation.
  3. Compare the experiences of the laboring classes in England and Germany during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
  4. Write a brief history of the Industrial Workers of the World.

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Discuss “non-competing groups” with reference to (a) sorts of work done; (b) age maximum earnings; (c) approximate scale of earnings in dollars per annum; (d) age of marriage; (e) birth-rates; (f) possibility of transition from group to group.
  2. What are the functions of the employment manager?
  3. What are the characteristics, evils and best treatment of the sweating system?
  4. Discuss the use of the injunction in labor disputes.
  5. Explain and criticize the work of the British labor exchanges. Are there similar organizations in the United States?
  6. Give a critical analysis of the Adamson Law.
  7. Describe the present influence of organized labor in English political and economic life.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Public Finance
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Under what conditions is a tax on rented buildings borne by (a) the tenant, (b) the owner, (c) neither?
  2. What accounting problems are involved in budgets for our state governments?
  3. Describe the scope, and estimate the importance, of the work of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research.
  4. What are the chief sources of taxation statistics in the United States?

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Sketch the history of the United States Post Office.
  2. Outline the history of state income taxes in the United States.
  3. Give a brief account of the use of fiscal monopolies by European governments.
  4. Compare the development of English and German increment taxes.

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. If you were devising a balanced system of taxation for this country, what taxes would you assign to (a) the federal government, (b) the state governments, (c) the local governments? Give your reasons.
  2. To what extent would national prohibition necessitate changes in existing arrangements for government revenue? What changes would appear to be most desirable?
  3. What special problems are involved in the taxation of forest lands?
  4. Critically compare the taxation of “excess profits” by England, France, and the United States.
  5. “The practice of exempting government bonds from taxation is a pernicious American custom.” Discuss.
  6. What is the case for and against the “service-at-cost” plan of public utility regulation?
  7. From the point of view of public finance, what are the advantages and disadvantages of centralization of administrative powers?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Corporate Organization, including Railroads
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. What are the social gains and losses of speculation on the stock exchanges?
  2. Discuss comparatively the public regulation of railway accounts in England, France, and the United States.
  3. The following data have been given for the freight service of a group of American railroads during December the past two years:
1916 1917
Tons per loaded car mile 26.5 29.2
Miles per car day 25.4 21.3
Per cent loaded car miles 69.8 70.9

How did the freight car performance of December, 1917, compare with that of December, 1916? What proportion of the changes is to be assigned to each factor?

  1. What difficulties are involved in a satisfactory definition of the following objects of statistical inquiry (a) manufacturers; (b) establishment; (c) capital; (d) employee; (e) wages?

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Give an account of an important corporate reorganization.
  2. Describe the evolution of the German kartell.
  3. Outline a history of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
  4. Briefly characterize the business careers of two of the following: (a) Andrew Carnegie; (b) E. H. Harriman; (c) James J. Hill; (d) Robert Owen; (e) Werner Siemens; (f) James Watt.

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. What problems are involved in public regulation of security issues?
  2. Discuss the opening price association with reference to (a) its nature; (b) the reasons for its appearance; (c) its legal status; (d) its probable future.
  3. Discuss the consequences of the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company.
  4. Describe this criticize the Federal corporation tax.
  5. Analyze critically the present railroad situation in the United States.
  6. Consider the case for and against the “service-at-cost” plan for regulating local transit systems.
  7. What light is German experience throw up on the advantages and disadvantages of the government ownership of railways?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Money and Banking
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. What is the relation of (a) investment banking, (b) commercial banking, to capitalistic production?
  2. Draft an income or profit and loss statement suitable for a large commercial bank.
  3. Discuss the equation of exchange with respect to (a) its formulation; (b) the possibility of its statistical verification; (c) its bearing upon the theory of prices.
  4. Describe a business barometer for banks with reference to (a) the purposes it may serve; (b) the method of construction; (c) the best available statistical method.

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. At what times, and in what forms, has the “money question” been a political issue in the United States? Why is it no longer an issue?
  2. What factors contributed to the adoption by Germany of the single gold standard?
  3. Contrast, in outline, the history of banking in Canada and the United States.
  4. Give an account of the panic of 1890.

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. “The maintenance of a monetary standard is a banking and not a government function.” Discuss.
  2. What was the trade dollar? What monetary principles were illustrated by experience with this coin?
  3. “The idle hoard of silver dollars at Washington is a serious defect in our monetary system.” Discuss. What obstacles stand in the way of any change in this feature of the system?
  4. Give a critical analysis of the working of the Federal Reserve System.
  5. Compare the conduct of banking in England and Germany since the beginning of the War.
  6. Discuss the financial problems involved in the floatation of an immense government war loan.
  7. Briefly describe and explain the foreign exchanges since July, 1914, in two of the following countries: (a) England; (b) Germany; (c) Italy; (d) Russia; (e) Switzerland; (f) United States.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
American Government
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions of which three questions must be from one group, two must be from another group, and one must be from the remaining group.

A

  1. What constitutional principles of the United States have exercised the most potent influence in the development of Latin America?
  2. Has the strain upon the Government of the United States since 1914 shown the need of amendment of the Constitution?
  3. “The great and radical vice in the construction of the existing Confederation (the United States of America, 1781) is in the principle of Legislation for States or Governments, in their corporate or collective capacities, and as contradistinguished from the Individuals of which they consist.” Discuss this statement with reference to its general validity and its applicability to problems of international reconstruction.
  4. Give three examples of “political questions.” What is the attitude of the courts toward such questions which have been brought before the courts?
  5. Compare the theories of the American constitutional system held by two of the following: Calhoun, Webster, Marshall, the Supreme Court in 1868.
  6. What has been the character of recent constitution making and has it brought about the desired results?

B

  1. Are the initiative and referendum in accord with the American theory of representative government?
  2. “Foreign politics demand scarcely any of those qualities which a democracy possesses; and they require, on the contrary, the perfect use of almost all those faculties in which it is deficient.” Discuss the above.
  3. Why has the United States acquired non-contiguous territory and what has been the effect of this acquisition upon subsequent national policy?
  4. Show the effects of the ideals of two Americans upon the development of the United States.
  5. Should the Government in a democratic country be prohibited by the Constitution from concluding treaties which would require it to go to war in certain contingencies?
  6. What is the responsible government? To what extent does it exist in Germany, the United States, France?

C

  1. What organ has the authority to interpret and to alter the Constitution in the following countries: the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France?
  2. Describe three methods by which state constitutions in the United States have been amended. In case a state constitution contains no provision for its own amendment and a majority of the citizens desire a change, what should be done?
  3. How far should the Government of the United States engage in manufacturing in time of war?
  4. What is the best method of selecting judges? Discuss with illustrations from the practice of the United States.
  5. How should the relations among the states of the American hemisphere be made more satisfactory?
  6. Congress (1) appropriates $500,000 for a national laboratory of chemical research, (2) passes a law regulating the hours of railway employees, (3) provides for the punishment of crimes committed on United States vessels at sea. What, if any, constitutional authority is there for these acts?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
International Law
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discuss and illustrate the statement of Grotius: “To pretend to have a right to injure another, merely out of a possibility that he injure us, is repugnant to all the justice in the world.”
  2. Explain the origin and development of exterritoriality.
  3. Is there anything in the literature and experience of ancient Greece of practical value for the statement who will take part in settling the present world crisis? Why?
  4. Write upon three of the following: (a) Bynkershoek, (b) Gentilis, (c) Pufendorf, (d) Selden, (e) Vattel, (f) Wicquefort.
  5. What periods are significant for the development of international relations, and explain the most important factors in each period.

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Would it be possible to treat the foreign policies declared by Washington, Monroe, Polk, and Wilson as the development of permanent principles?
  2. In a protest to Sweden of August 30, 1916, the British government said: “The decree of the 14th July, 1916, reserving the route arranged through the mine-field established in the Kogrund passage to Swedish merchant vessels only, does not seem to be compatible with the provisions of Article 9 of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of the 18th March, 1826, which secure to British merchant vessels in Swedish waters the treatment accorded to the most favored nation, in this case Italy, whose merchant vessels are permitted, in virtue of Article 3 of the Treaty of the 14th June, 1862, to participate in navigation of the coasts and to trade between Swedish ports on the same footing as Swedish vessels.”
    What defense for Sweden?
  3. To what extent and why should the integrity of small states be maintained?
  4. Granting that all Hague Conventions are in force, would a case such as that of the Alabama be similarly decided at the present time?
  5. What is the importance of the blockade as a method of warfare?

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. How far does territorial propinquity justify one state in assuming authority over another? Illustrate by examples.
  2. “If a belligerent cannot retaliate against an enemy without injuring the lives of neutrals, as well as their property, humanity, as well as justice and a due regard for the dignity of neutral powers should dictate that the practice be discontinued.” Should this statement be qualified?
  3. Give a sketch of the questions involving international law arising from the relations of the United States and Mexico, 1912 to 1916.
  4. A was born in New York City of German parentage in 1875. He visited Germany in 1885 and returned in 1886. In 1897, on board an English steamer bound from New York to Russia, he entered the port of Hamburg but did not leave the steamer. The German police came on board and declined to allow the steamer to leave port until Mr. A should surrender, claiming Mr. A had evaded military service.
    Mr. A appeals to the ambassador of the United States. The master of the British vessel appeals to the British ambassador.
  5. What regulations should be made for the conduct of submarine warfare?
  6. States X and Y are at war. Neutral state M issues neutrality regulations forbidding all belligerent armed merchant vessels from entering its ports.
    When the war has progressed for two years.

    1. State X, being unable to import munitions of war, since its commerce has been driven from the seas, protests to state M that observance of neutrality requires that M forbid all export of munitions of war to belligerents.
    2. State Y, finding it expedient to arm its merchant vessels for defense against unwarded attacks by enemy submarines, protests that armed merchant vessels should not be excluded from the ports of M.
      What answer should M make to these protests?
  7. The case of the Three Friends.
  8. The treaty of 1871 between the United States and Italy guarantees to the citizens of either nation in the territory of the other “the most constant protection and security for their persons and property.” Property of Italian citizens is destroyed in a riot in New Orleans due to negligence on the part of the local policy authorities. What remedies may the sufferers pursue?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Municipal Government
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions of which three questions must be from one group, two must be from another group, and one must be from the remaining group.

A

  1. How far have American cities adopted the budget plan and has it proven satisfactory?
  2. Describe the general characteristics of the cities of the twelfth centuries.
  3. Compare city government in France and Prussia as to (a) organization, (b) autonomy, (c) administrative efficiency, (d) popular control.
  4. Compare the principles underlying the different systems of municipal suffrage.
  5. Explain the following terms (a) borough, (b) prefect, (c) rates, (d) syndikus, (e) Local Government Board, (f) Bürgermeister.
  6. In what countries and to what extent may city officers be appointed or selected from non-residents?

B

  1. Where, how far, and with what success has the principle of the owner’s personal liability for fires been tried?
  2. To what extent should the following be controlled by the city: (a) education, (b) poor relief, (c) liquor licenses?
  3. Should a municipality own or control the railway terminals within its limits?
  4. (a) What is the most satisfactory system of municipal taxation and why?
    (b) Should a city levy an income tax?
  5. Should the system of initiative and referendum prevail in cities under commission form of government?
  6. Should the police force in cities of over 100,000 population be under the control of the city, state, or national government?

C

  1. Discuss the following propositions:
    1. To establish a municipal piggery for disposing of the city garbage.
    2. To establish a free ferry between parts of a municipality on opposite sides of a bay.
  2. Illustrate by reference to municipalities the methods of control and regulation of lighting.
  3. How and why should sanitation and health regulations differ in rural and urban communities?
  4. What has been the attitude of the courts in regard to protection of the claims of private individuals under municipal zoning ordinances?
  5. What are the most satisfactory building regulations, and in what cities are they in effect?
  6. What is the case for and against the “service-at-cost” plan for public utilities?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975.  Box 6. Bound volume [from the private library of Arthur H. Cole]: Divisional Examinations, 1916-1927. Division of History, Government and Economics for the Degree of A.B. Division Examinations, 1917-18.

Image Source: Widener Library, 1915. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Digital ID:  cph 3c14486