Categories
Courses Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Transportation Economics, Final Examination. Ripley, 1914-15

 

 

“Economics of Transportation” was a course open to both undergraduate and graduate students at Harvard taught by William Z. Ripley. Judging from the common course number, instructor, and size of enrollment, it appears to have been regarded as the first course of a sequence that included “Economics of Corporations”. The course announcement, enrollment figures, and the final examination questions come from three different sources, all of which are available on-line. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting corresponding material from the twenty economics courses offered during the 1914-15 year for which the final examination questions had been printed and subsequently published.

Readings for the course can most likely found in some or all of:

Railway Problems (revised edition, 1913), edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley. From the series of Volumes Selections and Documents in Economics, edited by William Z. Ripley published by Ginn and Company, Boston.

William Z. Ripley. Railroads–Rates and Regulation. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912.

William Z. Ripley. Railroads–Finance & Organization.  London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1915.

 

________________________

Course Announcement

Economics 4a1. Economics of Transportation. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor Ripley, assisted by—.

A brief outline of the historical development of rail and water transportation in the United States will be followed by a description of the condition of transportation systems at the present time. The four main subdivisions of rates and rate-making, finance, traffic operation, and legislation will be considered in turn. The first deals with the relation of the railroad to shippers, comprehending an analysis of the theory and practice of rate-making. An outline will be given of the nature of railroad securities, the principles of capitalization, and the interpretation of railroad accounts. Railroad operation will deal with the practical problems of the traffic department, such as the collection and interpretation of statistics of operation, pro-rating, the apportionment of cost, depreciation and maintenance, etc. Under legislation, the course of state regulation and control in the United States and Europe will be traced. [p. 64]

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1914-15. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XI, No. 1, Part 14 (May 19, 1914).

________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 4a 1hf.Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Tosdal.—Economics of Transportation.

Total 156: 6 Graduates, 46 Seniors, 88 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, 9 Others.

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, p. 59.

________________________

Final Examination

ECONOMICS 4a1

Answer in order. Do only as many as can be well done.

  1. Classify the means employed by “inside” speculators to attain their ends, citing instances by name.
  2. What was the significant feature of the St. Louis Terminal Railway Co. dissolution case?
  3. Suppose two transportation companies capitalized at $10,000,000 each. One prospers under able management. The other is unsuccessful and is finally bought up by the first for half its original cost. By ability it is again put fully upon its feet without further outside investment of capital. What should be the basis upon which reasonable rates for the combination of the two roads should be allowed?
  4. Contrast the conditions in the Union Pacific, — Southern Pacific dissolution case and those in New England bearing upon the combination of the New Haven and the Boston & Maine. Make each point in a separate paragraph. Draw sketch maps if they will help.
  5. Name as many differences as you can between reorganization and receivership.
  6. Make up a few imaginary items for a Freight Classification, showing what is its usual form.
  7. Explain how the conflict of Federal and state authority came about in the Shreveport, La. case.
  8. What was the first noteworthy effect of the amendment of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1906?
  9. State in not more than ten words each, three motives for the resort to a construction company in railroad building.
  10. What was the principal trouble with the Rock Island railroad system? Why did it go to pieces?

 

Source: Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Ethics, Education, Fine Arts, Music in Harvard College. June 1915, pp. 47-48.

Source Image: William Z. Ripley in Harvard Class Album, 1915.