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Exam Questions Harvard Transportation

Harvard. Report assignment and exams for economics of transportation. Ripley, 1903-1904

William Zebina Ripley

 

William Zebina Ripley had recently published his chapter on transportation for the Industrial Commission’s Final report in 1902 so that a course on (mostly or almost exclusively) railroads would have been easy for him to teach. 

Bonus material: Here is a link to Appleton Prentiss Clark Griffin [I wonder what his friends called him], Chief Bibliographer of the U.S. Library of Commerce, A list of Books with Reference to Periodicals Relating to Railroads in their Relation to the Government and the Public [Second Issue]. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1907.

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ECONOMICS 5
Enrollment, 1903-04

Economics 5 1hf. Professor Ripley. — Economics of Transportation.

Total 125: 9 Graduates, 50 Seniors, 45 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 5
ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

⇒  Exact references by title, volume, and page must be given in footnotes for all facts cited. This condition is absolutely imperative. Failure to comply with it will vitiate the entire report.

GROUP A

Students will report upon the organization and present character of one railway company in the United States. This will be indicated by a number, placed against each student’s name on the enrolment slip, which number refers to the railroad similarly numbered on this sheet. See Directions on last page.

The information to be procured is as follows, and should be numbered in correspondence with this list. Note all changes during the year; and compare the results with those for the railway group in which the company lies, as given in U. S. Statistics of Railways. (1) Miles of line. (2) Passengers transported. (3) Tons of freight carried: gross and per mile of line. (4) Tons carried one mile, with revenue per ton mile. (5) Revenue per train mile. (6) Gross earnings from operation. (7) Operating expenses: gross and per mile of line. (8) Net income from operation. (9) Stock and bonds. (10) Stock and bonds per mile of line. (11) Dividends paid. (12) Surplus. (13) Present prices and movements of prices of the various securities listed.

With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

GROUP B

Students will compare the volume of business (1) in gross and (2) by ton and (3) passenger mileage; and the (4) gross income, (5) operating expenses. (6) net income per mile of line, and (7) market prices of securities; for two different railways. These are indicated by numbers posted against the student’s name on the enrolment slip. The aim should be not only to discover differences, but, as far as possible, to explain them. Mere description of conditions is not desired; actual comparison is demanded. The use of parallel columns is suggested. See Directions on last page

With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

GROUP C

Students will compare the volume of business (1) in gross and (2) by ton and (3) passenger miles; together with the (4) gross income, (3) operating expenses, (5) net income per mile of line, and (7) prices of securities; for a given railway through a series of years, since 1890, if possible. Note carefully, however, all changes or additions to the line from year to year. The railway assigned is indicated by a number placed against the student’s name on the printed class lists. The analysis of annual reports in financial journals must be carefully followed year by year. Results may be plotted on cross section paper where possible. See Directions on last page.

With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

⇒  The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “26 A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the New York Central R.R.; “16 & 37 B,” that a comparison of the Erie and the Wabash Railroads is expected, etc.

RAILWAY COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES

  1. Atchison, Topeka, and Sante Fé.
  2. Baltimore and Ohio.
  3. Canada Southern.
  4. Central of New Jersey.
  5. Chesapeake and Ohio.
  6. Chicago and Alton.
  7. Chicago Great Western.
  8. Chicago, Indiana, and Louisville.
  9. Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul.
  10. Chicago and Northwestern.
  11. Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific.
  12. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, and St. Louis. (Big Four.)
  13. Delaware and Hudson.
  14. Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western.
  15. Denver and Rio Grande.
  16. Erie.
  17. Great Northern. (See Northern Securities Co., since 1900.)
  18. Hocking Valley.
  19. Illinois Central.
  20. Iowa Central.
  21. Lake Erie and Western.
  22. Louisville and Nashville.
  23. Mexican Central.
  24. Missouri, Kanas, and Texas.
  25. Missouri Pacific.
  26. New York Central.
  27. New York, Ontario, and Western.
  28. Norfolk and Western.
  29. Pennsylvania.
  30. Philadelphia and Reading.
  31. Louis and San Francisco.
  32. Louis Southwestern.
  33. Southern Pacific.
  34. Southern Railway.
  35. Texas and Pacific.
  36. Union Pacific.
  37. Wabash.
  38. Wheeling and Lake Erie.
  39. Wisconsin Central.
  40. Ann Arbor.
  41. Atlantic Coast Line.
  42. Boston and Maine.
  43. Boston and Albany. (See New York Central.)
  44. Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh.
  45. Central Vermont.
  46. Central Railroad of New Jersey.
  47. Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton.
  48. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha. (See Chicago and Northwestern.)
  49. Chicago and Eastern Illinois.
  50. Pittsburgh, Evansville, and Terre Haute.
  51. Lehigh Valley.
  52. Long Island.
  53. New York, New Haven, and Hartford.
  54. New York, Chicago, and St. Louis.
  55. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. (See New York Central.)
  56. Maine Central.
  57. Pittsburgh, Bessemer, and Lake Erie.
  58. Western Maryland.
  59. Rio Grande Western.
  60. Paul and Duluth.
  61. Northern Pacific. (See Northern Securities Co.)
  62. Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Northern.
  63. Joseph and Grand Island.
  64. Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Memphis.
  65. International and Great Northern.
  66. Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis.
  67. Mobile and Ohio.
  68. Yazoo and Mississippi Valley. (See Illinois Central.)
  69. Plant System.
  70. Georgia Railroad and Banking Company.
  71. Central of Georgia.
  72. Pere Marquette.
  73. Columbus, Sandusky, and Hocking.
  74. Cleveland, Lorain, and Wheeling.
  75. Mexican Central.
  76. Grand Trunk.
  77. Canadian Pacific.
  78. Chicago, Burlington, and Quiney. (See Northern Securities Co.)
  79. Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf.
  80. Rutland.
  81. Seaboard Air Line.
  82. Northern Securities Co.

DIRECTIONS

First — Secure if possible by correspondence, enclosing ten cents postage, the last or recent annual reports of the company. P.O. addresses are given in Poor’s Manual of Railways; the Official Guide of Railways in the United States; the Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle [e.g.: 31 Jan 1903; 25 Apr 1903; 25 Jul 1903]; or bankers’ and stock exchange Handbooks, Manuals of Statistics, etc.

Second. — Before compiling any returns for ton or passenger mileage, revenue per train mile, etc., read carefully Ripley, Transportation, pp. 274-280 and 293-95;  [James Shirley] Eaton, Railway Operations [1900], pp. 190-201; or [Thomas Francis] Woodlock, Anatomy of a Railroad Report [1895], pp. 101-111.

Third. — Work back carefully through the file of the Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle. These Supplements, prior to 1902, are bound in with the regular issues of the Chronicle, one number in each volume. Since 1901 they are separately bound for each year. The Investors’Supplement will be recognized by its gray paper cover, and must be carefully distinguished from the other supplements of the Chronicle. Market prices of securities are given in a distinct Bank and Quotation Supplement, also bound up with the Chronicle. Having found the company in the Investors’ Supplement, follow up all references to articles in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle as given by volume and page. Also use the general index of the latter, separately, for each year since the company was organized.

The files of Bradstreets should also be used, noting carefully that the index in each volume is in three separate divisions, “Editorials” being the most important. The course of prices is summarized at the end of each year in January Bradstreets, and also in the Reports of the U.S. Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII.

The files of Poor’s Manual, the Railway Age, the Railway World, the Wall Street Journal, and other technical papers may of course also be consulted.

Fourth. — Analyze carefully by means of its indexes the returns in the official Statistics of Railways in the United States, published by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Note the statistical division into groups shown on the map at the head of each volume. Note also that for each railway lying in two or more groups, a Summary for the road as a whole is given as a Supplement to each table.

The Annual Statistical Abstract of the United States contains convenient general tables for certain purposes

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder: “Economics 1903-04”.

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ECONOMICS 5
[Half course, first semester]
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

  1. State five of the most important provisions of the Act to Regulate Commerce; and very briefly state, in each case, the present condition as regards its enforcement.
  2. Outline the legal reasoning by which the original meaning of the Long and Short Haul clause has been modified in the Act of 1887.
  3. What is,—
    1. A collateral trust bond?
    2. A debenture?
    3. A receiver’s certificate?
  4. What are two ways adopted for insuring the continued control of a railway through a series of years?
  5. Outline the course of a typical reorganization.
  6. What are the main provisions of the Elkins Amendments to the Interstate Commerce Law?
  7. What is the present condition of railway control by the government in the United Kingdom?
  8. Of what does trade on the Great Lakes mainly consist? Outline its development.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives.  William Zebina Ripley [photographic portrait, ca. 1910], J. E. Purdy & Co., J. E. P. & C. (1910). Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.