Harvard. Railroad economics. Daggett, 1907-1908

Stuart Daggett (1881-1954) wrote his Harvard economics dissertation under William Z. Ripley and went on to become Professor of Transportation on the Flood Foundation at Berkeley.

While at Harvard Daggett co-taught the survey course on the economics of corporations with Ripley a couple of times and the economics of transportation with him several times. Daggett taught the course on railroad practice by himself which was offered for the first time 1906-07.

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Ph.D. Thesis

Stuart Daggett. A.B. [Harvard] 1903, A.M. [Harvard] 1904. Instructor in Economics. Ph.D. in Economics 1906. Thesis: Railroad Reorganization.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1905-1906, p. 147.

Railroad Reorganization by Stuart Daggett, Ph.D. Instructor in Economics in Harvard University. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1908.

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From the 1927 Berkeley Yearbook

A personal interest in the affairs and problems of the students enrolled in the College of Commerce has characterized the administration of Stuart Daggett, who was appointed Dean of that College in 1918.

Not only have individuals received assistance and encouragement from him, but many of the college organizations have benefited by his interest and suggestions. The Commercia, the monthly publication of the Commerce students, first moved from a needed storeroom in Budd Hall to a single desk in the Commerce office, and finally found a permanent home through the efforts of Dean Daggett. When the Physics Department was moved to its present quarters, leaving South Hall to be occupied by the Department of Economics and College of Commerce, the present Commerce Club Rooms building was being used as the physics machine shop. This Dean Daggett succeeded in procuring as an office for the Commercia, and as club rooms for the Commerce Association, the foremost social organization of the college. By some effort, the club house has been kept sacred to the students of the College of Commerce. During the campaign for Amendment 10, when the University was looking for some central location from which to conduct the drive, the Commerce Association offered the use of their rooms to President Campbell, thus furnishing a convenient location.

Dr. Daggett attended Harvard University, from which institution he received the degrees of A.B in 1903, and M.A. the next year, and a Ph.D. in 1906. He instructed in economics at the same university for two years after receiving the last degree. In 1909, he became an assistant professor on the University of California faculty; in 1913 was made associate professor; and finally, in 1917, became professor of railway economics on the Flood Foundation. The next year he succeeded Henry R. Hatfield as Dean of the College of Commerce.

Source: University of California, Berkeley. Blue and Gold 1927, p. 25.

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Railroad Practice
1907-08 

Course Enrollment
1907-08 

Economics 17 ²hf. Dr. [Stuart] Daggett. — Railroad Practice.

Total 34: 2 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

ECONOMICS 17
Year-end Examination, 1907-08

1. The following items appear on the balance sheet of a Boston & Maine agent located at one of that road’s junction points:—
   1. Advanced charges on freight forwarded.
   2. Prepaid charges on freight forwarded.
   3. Prepaid beyond on freight forwarded.
   4. Prepaid beyond on freight received.
   5. Cash remitted treasurer.
   6. Collect charges on freight received.
   7. Drafts on treasurer for advances.

Arrange the above to show the debits and credits to the agent. How would the charges on a collect shipment sent to an interior junction point, such as Nashua, be handled in the station accounts of that junction point?

2. The following waybills from Providence, R.I., may have been reported to the Boston & Maine by the New Haven as representing freight turned over to the former at Boston for delivery to Boston & Maine stations:—

Destination	Articles	Weight	Rate	Freight	Advance	Prepaid
Portsmouth, N.H.	Blackboards, boxed	30,000	16	$48.00	$4.00	$52.00
Portland, Me.	Hods	20,000	19	38.00	2.00
North Adams, Mass.	Lamps	5,000	30	15.00	3.00	8.00

Assume that the New Haven is entitled to one-half the through rate on (1), to one-third of the through rate on (2), and to one-quarter of the through rate on (3), and that settlements between the two roads have been made on this basis. It subsequently is discovered that the shipments reported never reached the Boston & Maine. What money must be refunded in each case, and to which road is the refund due?

3. Suppose the shipments referred to in (2) had come to the Boston & Maine from the Maine Central or from the New York Central. Could the same mistake have occurred? If from the Maine Central, how would the balances between the handling roads have been ascertained and settled? Explain fully.
4. How would a car record have been kept if the shipment had been between two points on the Great Northern Railway? How if the shipment had been of manifest fast freight on the Illinois Central Railroad?
5. At what speed, according to some recent estimates, could this freight most economically have been handled? Explain the way the estimates were arrived at, and discuss the principal elements of cost due to high speed.
6. How might the shipment have been handled after its arrival
   1. at the terminal yards at point of destination;
   2. at the terminal station?

Draw a diagram of an infreight and of an outfreight house, and explain the reasons for any difference in construction.

7. Would the shipment between Providence and Portland have come under the jurisdiction of any railroad traffic association? Describe the organization and scope of
   1. The American Railway Association;
   2. The Southeastern Freight Association;
   3. The Western Classification Committee?
8. How far do the arguments for demurrage charges justify the imposition of reciprocal demurrage charges? Describe

1. 1. The method by which demurrage charges are kept watch of and collected.
   2. The present situation in the matter of reciprocal demur-rage.

9. Analyze the statistics of accidents on railways in the United States. What measures have been taken to reduce accidents, and with what results?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 41-43.

Image Source: University of California, Berkeley. Blue and Gold 1927, p. 25. Colorized at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.