This post begins with a chronicle of the course work and seminar presentations of the Japanese graduate student of economics, Yukimasa Hattori, at the Johns Hopkins University for the academic years 1900-01 and 1901-02. I find it really remarkable that one is able to put together such a detailed timeline for an arbitrary single graduate student well over a century ago from online sources. A transcription of the doctoral examination questions given to Hattori found in the Johns Hopkins archive and a link to Hattori’s published dissertation complete the post.
Perhaps a Japanese visitor to this blog could find and share additional biographical information about Hattori from Japanese language sources?
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Date of death of Yukimasa Hattori
In Graduates and Fellows of the Johns Hopkins University, 1876-1913. Yukimasa Hattori was listed as having died April 6, 1913.
Source: The Johns Hopkins University Circular, (April 1914). Graduates and Fellows of the Johns Hopkins University 1876-1913, p. 23.
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Coursework of Yukimasa Hattori
First Half-Year, 1900-1901
Daily except Wednesday, 11 a.m. Class B. Elementary German and German Reader. Dr. Kurrelmeyer
Minor Course, Class B. Four hours weekly. Otis, Elementary German (First Part); Brandt, German Reader (50pp.); Heyse, L’Arrabbiata; Goethe, Egmont; E. S. Buchheim, Elementary German Prose Composition; Whitney, German Grammar.
Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. Labor Problems. Mr. W. F. Willoughby
Labor Problems. Mr. W. F. Willoughby, of the United States Bureau of Labor, lectured on Labor Problems to ten graduate students, two hours weekly, during the first half-year.
This course was devoted primarily to a study of the group of movements having for their purpose the increase in the economic security of the laboring classes. Each of the contingencies was considered in which workingmen are unable to earn wages, as disability, sickness, accident, premature invalidity old age, and inability to obtain work, and the effort now being made in Europe and the United States for providing for them through insurance or otherwise A few lectures were also given on the organization and practical work of statistical bureaus in various countries.
Monday and Tuesday, 12 M. United States Constitutional Law. Dr. Willoughby
Advanced United States Constitutional Law. Eleven graduate students, two hours weekly, throughout the year. These lectures presupposed a general knowledge of our political history and of the elements of our public law, and were therefore devoted to the discussion of the more perplexing and as yet unsettled points in our constitutional law, the illustrations being largely drawn from the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court during the last few years. Especial attention was given to the examinations of the legal problems involved in the annexation and government of foreign territories. Carefully prepared written analyses of the leading cases considered were required of the students.
Wednesday, 9 a.m. Economic Development. Associate Professor Sherwood.
The Law of Economic Development. Eight graduate students, one hour weekly, through the year. This course was an examination of the law of evolution as applied to economic life. The basis of this application is found in the fact that social activity and organization begin in the want and will of individuals, and that these are governed by an economic or utilitarian principle which leads men to act so as to secure the greatest satisfaction with the least sacrifice. The operation of this principle was shown in military, political, and religious life, as well as in industrial activity. Individual variation, which begins change, in itself an illustration of this law and the new social organization which results, is evolved from these utilitarian choices and efforts of the individuals. Division of labor, the varying forms of industrial organization and the growth of capital are all to be explained in the same way.
Wednesday and Thursday, 12 m. History of Political Philosophy. Dr. Willoughby.
History of Political Theories, 1300 to 1750 A.D. Twelve graduate students, two hours weekly, throughout the year. The political ideals and principles of this period were analyzed and criticized. An especial effort was made to show the extent to which these theories were the outcome of the political conditions and general characteristics of the times in which they were formulated.
Alternate Thursdays, 4-6 p.m. Economic Seminary, Associate Professor Sherwood
Economic Seminary met two hours fortnightly, with eight graduate students. The special study of Commerce and Commercial Policy of the United States has been continued, in part by the preparation of papers and in part by the critical study of List’s National System of Political Economy. Papers upon other topics were also read and reviews were given of current economic literature.
Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. Banking. Associate Professor Sherwood
Modern Banking. Two hours weekly, first half-year, with ten graduate students. A comparative study of the banking systems of England, France, Germany, and the United States was made. Attention was directed to the internal organization of the central banks and their relation to the other banking institutions of their respective countries, to the present status of the business done by the banks, and to the relation of these banks to the government. Conclusions were drawn from these studies as to the tendencies in modern banking, and certain needed reforms in the American system were pointed out.
Alternate Fridays, 8 p.m. Historical Seminary. Professor Adams.
Historical Seminar [also called “Historical and Political Science Association”] met regularly on alternate Friday evening and was attended by eighteen students and five instructors. The more important original work of the department was presented in these fortnightly meetings, and the current literature of history, economics, and political science was subjected to review and criticism. The proceedings from October 5 to March 15 are published in the University Circulars in January, March,[ and May-June] 1901.
Sources: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XX. No. 148 (November, 1900), pp. 5-6; Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the President of Johns Hopkins University, 1901, pp. 72, 84-87.
Second Half-Year, 1900-1901
Daily except Wednesday, 11 a.m. Class B. Elementary German Grammar and Prose. Dr. Kurrelmeyer
Monday, 9-11 a.m. American Finance. Dr. E. D. Durand.
American Financial History. Dr. E. Dana Durand, Secretary of the United States Industrial Commission, on leave of absence from Stanford University, lectured…to a class of six graduate students, two hours weekly, during the second half-year. The course covered the history of the public finances of the United States Government, from the beginning of the Revolution to 1890. The development of the customs duties and of other methods of taxation was traced and the policy of debt management was discussed. The history of the currency and banking system was also considered in so far as it bears on the general subject of the administration of the public treasury. The students did collateral reading from a number of original documents and of secondary treatises, and each of them presented a paper on some phase of financial history.
Monday and Tuesday, 12 M. United States Constitutional Law. Dr. Willoughby
See First Half-year 1900-1901, above
Wednesday, 9 a.m. Economic Development. Associate Professor Sherwood.
The Law of Economic Development [Associate Professor Sherwood], with eight graduate students, one hour weekly, through the year. This course was an examination of the law of evolution as applied to economic life. The basis of this application is found in the fact that social activity and organization begin in the want and will of individuals, and that these are governed by an economic or utilitarian principle which leads men to act so as to secure the greatest satisfaction with the least sacrifice. The operation of this principle was shown in military, political, and religious life, as well as in industrial activity. Individual variation, which begins change, in itself an illustration of this law and the new social organization which results, is evolved from these utilitarian choices and efforts of the individuals. Division of labor, the varying forms of industrial organization and the growth of capital are all to be explained in the same way.
Wednesday and Thursday, 12 m. History of Political Philosophy. Dr. Willoughby.
See First Half-year 1900-1901, above
Alternate Thursdays, 4-6 p.m. Economic Seminary, Associate Professor Sherwood
See First Half-year 1900-1901, above
Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. Theory of Credit. Associate Professor Sherwood
Theory of Credit with six graduate students, two hours weekly, second half-year. Analysis of credit was made so as to indicate the operation of credit in its economic rather than in its legal aspect. The part played by credit in productive organization and processes was then traced. The adequacy of present credit institutions to meet the requirements of the various classes of industry was also discussed, as well as the relation of credit to prices. The course was closed with a brief review of the historical development of the theory of credit.
Alternate Fridays, 8 p.m. Historical Seminary. Professor Adams
See First Half-year 1900-1901, above
Sources: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XX, No. 150 (March, 1901), pp. 40-41.; Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the President of Johns Hopkins University, 1901, pp. 72, 84-87.
First Half-Year, 1901-1902
Monday 9 a.m. Current Economic Literature, Associate Professor Hollander and Dr. Barnett
During the first half-year, Associate Professor Hollander also directed a journal club, in weekly meetings, for the review and discussion of current economic literature, and for exercise in the use of original sources of economic and financial information.
Monday and Tuesday 10 a.m. Germanic Civilization. Associate Professor Vincent.
No further information available.
Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. Theory and Practice of Finance. Associate Professor Hollander
Finance, [was taught by Associate Professor Hollander] two hours weekly through the year. The past financial experience and the present fiscal practice of the United States — federal, state, and local — were taken as the basis for critical and comparative study. The emergence of contemporary problems in our public economics was traced, and the concrete issues thus presented served to introduce an exposition of the fundamental theories of the science of finance. Emphasis was put upon the place of financial technique in public economics, and attention was directed to the immediate financial problems presented by our new insular possessions. A reasonable amount of collateral reading from selected texts was done in connection with the course.
Wednesday, 11 a.m. Oral Examinations in General History. Dr. Ballagh.
Oral Examinations in General History, [Dr. J. C. Ballagh, Associate in History has conducted] one hour weekly, through the year. This work is particularly designed for candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, though advanced graduates are sometimes admitted to attendance. Important fields of general history were consecutively and systematically reviewed, but especial emphasis was laid upon those in which greater concentration was needed by the individual members of the class. The special course on the political history of Greece and Rome given last year was replaced by a similar specialized course on the constitutional history of England and the political history of the United States. The sources and best exponents of the history of the periods covered were discussed and used by the class.
Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. Mediaeval France. Associate Professor Vincent.
Mediaeval France [taught by Associate Professor J. M. Vincent]. Two hours weekly, first half-year. These two courses together provided a systematic treatment of the history of Europe during the early Middle Ages. Each student was required to present a syllabus of the whole subject with references to sources and authorities.
Wednesday and Thursday 12 m. Legal Aspects of Economic and Industrial Problems. Associate Professor Willoughby.
The Legal Aspects of Economic and Industrial Problems [taught by Associate Professor Willoughby] two hours weekly, throughout the year. The points of law involved in such matters as the control of interstate commerce, taxation, factory legislation and other exercises of the so-called police power, the fixing of wages and prices, the management of strikes, lockouts, boycotts, the control of industrial combinations, of labor unions, etc., were examined. The development of the present law was traced both in the common law and in statutory enactments, and proposals for its amendment outlined and discussed.
Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. Development of Economic Theories since Adam Smith. Associate Professor Hollander
Development of Economic Theories since Adam Smith, [was taught by Associate Professor Hollander] two hours weekly through the year. A detailed historical survey was made of the development of the fundamental concepts of economic science from Adam Smith to current thought. The body of English thought was followed in the main, but other writers and schools were examined wherever direct influence or analogy was discerned. The method of treatment was topical, resulting in a series of cross-sectional views of the history of economic thought. In connection with the course, members of the class read Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, Thomas Robert Malthus’s Essay on Population, and John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.
Alternate Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Economic Seminary, Associate Professor Hollander and Dr. Barnett
Economic Seminary, [was led by Associate Professor Hollander] fortnightly, in two-hour sessions, through the year, with membership limited to the most advanced students, and designed to develop the use of sound methods of economic research. The general subjects of study were the commercial policies and the industrial institutions of Europe and the United States in the nineteenth century. Dr. George E. Barnett, Instructor in Political Economy, assisted in the conduct of the work. Each member of the Seminary prepared and submitted, for detailed criticism as to method and content, one or more studies within [their] field of inquiry.
Alternate Fridays, 8 p.m. Historical and Political Science Association.
Sources: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XXI, No. 154 (December, 1901), p. 15; Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the President of The Johns Hopkins University, 1902, pp. 58-60, 62-64.
Second Half-Year, 1901-1902
Monday, 9 a.m. Elements of Statistics. Dr. Barnett.
Dr. George E. Barnett, Instructor in Political Economy, gave a course of twenty lectures on the Elements of Statisticsduring the second half- year. Attention was directed chiefly to the history of statistics and to methods of statistical investigation. As illustrative material, some of the chief problems of vital statistics were discussed.
Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. German Reformation. Associate Professor Vincent
The German Reformation [taught by Associate Professor J. M. Vincent]. Two hours weekly, second half-year. Beginning with the causes of the Lutheran movement these lectures extended through the Swiss Reformation until the Protestant churches were firmly established. Emphasis was laid particularly upon the social and political conditions which influenced this revolution.
Alternate Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Economic Seminary, Associate Professor Hollander and Dr. Barnett
See First Half-year 1901-1902, above
Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. Theory and Practice of Finance. Associate Professor Hollander
See First Half-year 1901-1902, above
Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. English Reformation. Associate Professor Vincent
England in the Sixteenth Century [taught by Associate Professor J. M. Vincent]. Two hours weekly, second half-year. This course covered the period of the Reformation in England and included the significant parts of the reign of Elizabeth.
Wednesday, 11 a.m. Oral Examinations in General History. Dr. Ballagh.
See First Half-year 1901-1902, above
Wednesday and Thursday 12 m. Legal Aspects of Economic and Industrial Problems. Associate Professor Willoughby.
See First Half-year 1901-1902, above
Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. Development of Economic Theories since Adam Smith. Associate Professor Hollander
See First Half-year 1901-1902, above
Sources: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XXI., No. 157 (April, 1902), pp. 73-74; Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the President of The Johns Hopkins University, 1902, pp. 58-60, 62-64.
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Fellowship Announced June 10, 1902
Yukimasa Hattori, of Sagaken, Japan, Tokyo College of Science, 1898. Economics.
Source: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XXI., No. 159 (July, 1902), p. 111.
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Presentations by Yukimasa Hattori
Historical and Political Science Assocation
May 10, 1901. International Private Law in Japan.
Source: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XX., No. 152 (May-June, 1901), p. 89.
February, 1902. Patten’s Theory of Prosperity.
Source: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XXI., No. 157 (April, 1902), p. 66.
Economic Seminary
December 10, 1901. Commercial Relations of Japan since 1868.
April 22, 1902. Japan’s Foreign Trade since the Restoration, (1868-1900).
Source: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XXI., No. 158 (June, 1902), p. 77.
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Ph.D. Examinations
Mr. Y. Hattori.
General Examination in Political Economy, May 27, 1903
(General)
- Discuss the commercial development of Japan with reference to the theory of international value.
- What theoretical influences contributed to Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations?
- Trace the development of economic thought with respect to the measure of value.
- Describe and criticize the wage-fund theory.
- Discuss modern industrial combinations in the light of an assignable limit to the growth in the size of the modern industrial unit.
- Describe the history of the general property tax, and discuss its shifting and incidence.
- What successive financial measures should be taken by Japan upon the declaration of war with a foreign power?
- Discuss the theoretical difficulties and the practical advantages in the use of index numbers.
- Upon what principle should railroad rates be fixed? Discuss fully.
- Discuss the validity of collective bargaining with reference to industrial conditions in Japan.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mr. Y. Hattori.
SPECIAL EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY
MAY 30, 1903.
(Money and Banking.)
- Discuss the relation of prices to the money supply.
- Define credit and describe its functions.
- Describe the chief stages in the history of the Bank of England.
- Discuss the theory of bimetallism.
- Describe the chief classes of banks in the United States.
- Compare the Bank of Japan with the German Reichsbank.
- Discuss the relation of deposits to reserve.
- Describe the history of the Japanese Currency since 1868.
* * * * * * * * * *
EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY, MAY 29, 1903.
Graduate Courses, 1902-1903.
- Discuss credit and its service in modern economic life.
- What changes are desirable in the American currency system?
- Discuss the movement of the precious metals as a feature of international trade.
- Speculation and its relation to modern industrial organization.
- Describe the inter-relations of mercantilistic theory and practice.
- The forerunners of Adam Smith and their contributions to the “Wealth of Nations”.
- What is the genesis of the differential law of rent?
- Contrast the places of Adam Smith and David Ricardo in the history of economic thought.
Source: Johns Hopkins University. Milton S. Eisenhower Library. Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy. Series 6. Box 3/1. Folder “Graduate Exams, 1903-1932”.
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Ph.D. Dissertation
Hattori, Yukimasa. The Foreign Commerce of Japan Since the Restoration, 1869-1900. In the series Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Series XXII, No. 9-10. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, September-October, 1904. (text: 71 pages)
JAPAN’S FOREIGN TRADE SINCE THE RESTORATION (1868-1900).
By YUKIMASA HATTORI.
[Abstract of a paper read before the Economic Seminary, April 22, 1902.]
The total amount of Japan’s exports and imports was 26 million yen in 1868; 65 million yen in 1880; 138 million yen in 1890, and from that year on, the aggregate increased by leaps and bounds—most notably after the China-Japanese War (1894-5)—until it reached the enormous sum of 491 million yen in 1900. Stated in terms of the yen, this increase is, however, more apparent than real. Since 1873 the value of silver not only relative to gold but also relative to all commodities has gradually gone down, or in other words general prices in Japan have gone up about seventy-five per cent, so that the figures above stated must be reduced according to the index number of prices in each, particular year in order to show the actual quantity of commodities.
In character, it is only since 1890 that Japan’s export trade has undergone important change. Such commodities as cotton yarn, habutaye (white silk fabric,) silk handkerchiefs, matches, straw braids, floor matting, and European umbrellas, which now form the most important exports, first appeared in the foreign trade of Japan almost simultaneously in 1890. For example, in the case of cotton yarn and habutaye,—in 1890 the export of the former was only 2,000 yen and of the latter 818,000 yen; in 1900 the corresponding figures were 20,589,000 yen and 18,314,000 yen, respectively. In other words, up to 1890, the principal articles of export were the natural products most suited to the soil of Japan such as tea, raw silk, rice, copper, coal, camphor and marine products. Since 1890, the export of manufactured goods has gradually risen to a far larger percentage than that of raw materials.
The logical consequence of this change in the character of Japan’s foreign trade has been a change in its geographical distribution. The tide of Japanese trade is moving more and more towards the eastern shores of continental Asia, namely, Russian Asia, Corea, China, Hongkong, British India and the Straits Settlement. Both exports to and imports from European countries are decreasing, relatively; while the imports from the United States show a remarkable increase.
Source: Johns Hopkins University Circulars Vol. XXI., No. 158 (June, 1902), p. 81.
Ph.D. Awarded, 1902-03:
Yukimasa Hattori, of Sagaken, Japan, Tokyo College of Science, 1898.
Subjects: Political Economy, Political Science, and History. Dissertation: The Foreign Commerce of Japan since the Restoration. Referees on Dissertation: Professor Hollander and Dr. Barnett.
Source: Johns Hopkins University, University Publications No 2, 1903-04. The Twenty-Eight Annual Report of the President with Accompanying Reports, 1903 (Baltimore, January 1904), p. 71.
Image Source: Frontpiece of the Johns Hopkins University yearbook, The Hullabaloo 1903.