A few posts ago we saw what J. Laurence Laughlin thought about how economics should be taught. This post follows with a chapter contributed by Richard T. Ely that was written somewhat earlier and essentially on the same topic. Laughlin quoted Ely in his book chapter. The mystery “proudest institution in the United States” mentioned by Ely in his first paragraph that used Fawcett’s Political Economy for Beginners could very well have been Harvard. The Harvard Catalogue from 1874-75 indicates that Professor Charles Franklin Dunbar indeed used that textbook.
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On Methods of Teaching Political Economy.
By Richard T. Ely,
Johns Hopkins University.
[61]
IT is easy to compress into the compass of a single sentence all the information needed to qualify any man of fair native ability and liberal education to teach political economy as it was taught eight years ago in one of the proudest institutions in the United States. The information in question is this: Buy Mrs. Fawcett’s “Political Economy for Beginners” [5th edition]; see that your pupils do the same; then assign them once a week a chapter to be learned; finally, question them each week on the chapter assigned the week before, using the questions found at the end of the chapter, and not omitting the puzzles which follow the more formal questions; as it is a test of the academical learning and grasp of economic science of a senior to have a puzzling problem like this hurled at him: “Is the air in a diving-bell wealth; and, if so, why?”
Let no one suppose this description satirical or exaggerated. It is the literal truth; and the hour a week for a part of a year of such instruction was absolutely all the teaching of political economy done in any department of the rich and powerful college. It is scarcely necessary to describe the state in which the students’ minds were left. They learned by heart a few truisms, as, e.g., that it is a [62] good thing to be honest, diligent, and frugal; that products are divided between capitalists, laborers, and landlords; and that values being defined as certain relations of things to one another, there cannot be a general rise or a general fall in values; and they acquired an imperfect comprehension of certain great fundamental facts, like the Ricardian theory of rent and the Malthusian doctrine of population. This, with not a very high opinion of political economy, was the sum-total of results for the student, and prepared him for the degree of A.B. first, and afterward for that of A.M. In our national banks we have a wonderful and unique economic institution, but they were not once mentioned, nor was a single allusion made to the financial history of this great country. And yet this instruction was to fit the elite of the youth of the land for the duties of citizenship
This is a true picture of one way to teach political economy, and it is a method of instruction for which a high salary was paid. Is it a state of things entirely exceptional? It is to be feared not. A preface to Amasa Walker’s “Science of Wealth,” edited 1872, contains these words, which seem to have met with very general approbation: “Although desirable that the instructor should be familiar with the subject himself, it is by no means indispensable. With a well-arranged text-book in the hands of both teacher and pupil, with suitable effort on the part of the former and attention on the part of the latter, the study may be profitably pursued. We have known many instances where this has been done in colleges and other institutions highly to the satisfaction and advantage of all parties concerned.”
The writer holds that better things than this are possible, even in a high school; and it is certain that political economy ought to be taught in every school of advanced grade [63] in the land.1 The difficulties are by no means insuperable. It is, in fact, easy to interest young people in economic discussions which keep close to the concrete, and ascend only gradually from particulars to generals.
1In Belgium it has been proposed to introduce political economy even into the elementary schools; and in view of the immense importance of the economic problems which will one day be pressing for solution in the United States, it is to be hoped that such a proposal at some future time will not be Utopian in our country.
The writer has indeed found it possible to entertain a school-room full of boys, varying in age from five to sixteen, with a discourse on two definitions of capital, — one taken from a celebrated writer, and the other from an obscure pamphlet on socialism by a radical reformer. As the school was in the country, illustrations were taken from farm life, such as corn-planting and harvesting, and from the out-door sports of the boys, such as trapping for rabbits. Some common familiar fact was kept constantly in the foreground, and thus the attention of the youngest lad was held.
Perhaps money is as good a subject as any for an opening lecture to bright boys and girls, and the writer would recommend a course of procedure somewhat like this: Take into the class-room the different kinds of money in use in the United States, both paper and coin, and ask questions about them, and talk about them. Show the class a greenback and a national bank-note, and ask them to tell you the difference. After they have all failed, as they probably will, ask some one to read what is engraved on the notes, after which the difference may be further elucidated. Silver and gold certificates may be discussed, and the distinction made clear between the bullion and face value of the five-cent piece, etc. Other talks, interesting and familiar, about alloys, the extent to which pennies and small coins are legal tender, the character [64] of the trade-dollar, etc., etc., will occupy several hours, and delight the class.2 The origin of money is a topic which will instruct and entertain the scholars for an hour. Various kinds of money should be mentioned; and it is possible you may find examples of curious kinds of money in some hill town not very remote, e.g., eggs, and you are very likely to find several kinds of money in use among the boys and girls, e.g., pins. In one boarding-school, near Baltimore, bits of butter, served the boys at meals in quantities less than they desired, passed as money, and quite an extensive use of bills and orders, “negotiable instruments,” was established.3 After this, a work like Jevons’s “Money and the Mechanism of Exchange,”4 or at least parts of it, will interest the pupils.
2The teacher will find the necessary information in the Revised Statutes of the United States (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.), which should be in the school library. It is contained in more convenient shape in the “Laws of the United States relating to Loans and the Currency” and “Instructions and Regulations in Relation to the Transaction of Business at the Mints and Assay Offices of the United States.” These pamphlets, like most other government publications, can be obtained gratis of the congressman of the district in which the school is situated. They are kept on sale by various book-dealers in Washington.
3Cf. Mr. John Johnston’s instructive paper, ”Rudimentary Society among Boys,” published in the “Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Sciences,” second series, No. XI, edited by Dr. Herbert B. Adams.
4This is published in paper covers in the Humboldt Library for forty cents, as well as in the ” International Scientific Series ” of D. Appleton & Co.
Banking, very properly comes under the head of political economy, performing as it does most important functions in industrial life; and the most prominent banking institutions in this country are the national banks, which have also played an important role in our history. There is likely to be one in every town where there is a high school, and it is well to continue the course of instruction with the village national [65] bank. Procure for this purpose “The National Bank Act,”5 and study it with your class in connection with reports and advertisements and circulars of the village bank. You will find a certain minimum number of directors prescribed by law: ascertain the number in the bank in question, and their functions. Some members of the class will be acquainted with them, and all the class will know of them, and this will give a personal interest to the study. Then compare the amount of capital required with the actual amount, and have the class ascertain from the law the amount of bank-notes which the bank could receive from the comptroller of the currency, and the actual circulation! After the various features of the bank have been examined, it is desirable that some bright boy should write a history of the bank, to read before the class, and afterwards, perhaps, to publish in the village paper. Files of the paper, to which the editor will doubtless give access, will contain all the published reports of the bank, as well as the proceedings and the village talk about the bank at its foundation. If officers of the bank are properly approached, they will assist with hints and information. In this way the pupils will acquire a new interest in banks; and when they pass by the national bank, it will never again seem quite the same lifeless institution. From the history of one national bank it is easy to pass over to the history of national banks in this country, and to a description of the State banking systems, which preceded the national banking system.6 Then the student may be glad to read what General Walker says on banks, in his “Political Economy,” [66] and in his “Money, Trade, and Industry,”7 and a work like Bagehot’s “Lombard Street” will not be without attractions.8
5A government publication; also published by the Homans Publishing Company, 251 Broadway. Care should be taken to secure the latest edition, as there have been various changes in the banking laws.
6For this purpose the teacher should consult the reports of the comptroller of the currency, especially for the years 1875 and 1876.
7Published by Henry Holt & Co., New York.
8Published by the Scribners, New York.
Taxes can be studied in the town or village. The pupils can learn from their fathers what the taxes are, how they are assessed and collected, and what part of the revenues is used for village purposes, what part for schools, what part for the county, and what part for the State. In any village it cannot be difficult to induce one of the assessors to explain before the class in political economy the principles upon which he does his work. All the pupils can then write essays about taxation in the said place, and perhaps one of them will be able to write a financial history of the town. In this way the pupils will be prepared for the perusal of a work like the “Report on Local Taxation,” prepared by Messrs. Wells, Dodge, and Cuyler.9 It may be learned from the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury10 how the expenses of the federal government are defrayed. In this way a complete view of taxation in the United States is obtained,11 and in many respects a small town or village offers better facilities for such a course than a large city, where manners are less simple, and where city officials for well- known reasons often show a manifest unwillingness to impart information. This course will teach pupils to observe economic phenomena, will impart to them an interest in financial questions, and will prepare them in later years to deal with large problems. As Carl Ritter prepared himself for his [67] great geographical work by the study of the geography of Frankfort,12 so bright pupils, beginning with the study of local finance, will learn how to deal with even the difficult problems of war finance when they arise.
9Published by Harper & Brothers, New York.
10Government publications.
11The United States Census Reports contain valuable information, and every high school should be provided with copies.
12This illustration is taken from Dr. Adams’s paper, v. p. 161 of first edition.
The two great impelling causes of economic study have ever been financial difficulties of government and social problems, or discontent with the condition of social classes, coupled with a desire to improve this unsatisfactory condition, and it is with these two kinds of topics that political economy chiefly deals. In a manner similar in principle to that described, the administration of public charity and its relation to private charity may be studied in the town and county. If poorhouses, insane asylums, hospitals, etc., are in the vicinity, and can be visited, so much the better. The manner of caring for the criminal classes may be studied locally. Reports of State boards of charities will enable the pupils to connect local with State charities.13
13Teachers and pupils will find much useful information in the large work of Dr. Wines, entitled “The State of Prisons and of Child-Saving Institutions in the Civilized World,” Cambridge (Mass.), 1880.
Then there is the ordinary laborer. Let the pupils describe his manner of living, his wages, etc. If the school is a mixed one, some young girl of sufficient tact will be found to visit the ordinary laborers in their homes, to talk with them, and obtain their ideas. In some towns a real laboring population can scarcely be said to exist; but factory towns afford favorable opportunities for studies of this character. Many a Massachusetts factory town furnishes an excellent field for such study, and the reports of the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics will be found helpful. [68] A book like “Work and Wages,” by Thorold Rogers,14will then be enjoyed by many of the class.15
14Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.
15In his “French and German Socialism” (Harper & Brothers), the writer has attempted to give a brief sketch of the more prominent Utopian theories in a manner adapted to school and college use. Albert Shaw has described admirably an American communistic society in his “Icaria: A Chapter in the History of Communism.” Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
After part or all of this ground has been gone over, it will then be time to take up the more systematic study of political economy. The work described might be gone over in exercises once a week, extending through one year, and the second year a systematic course might follow; and this is not too much time for so all-important a study in a high school. There are few good text-books of political economy, but for the English-speaking student the writer would recommend Francis A. Walker’s “Political Economy,” or Laveleye’s “Elements of Political Economy,” with additions by Taussig.16 Here is an admirable high-school course sketched out. All the works referred to ought to be accessible to the teacher, and should be mastered before he begins to teach.17 This may seem like requiring a great deal; but preparation is as necessary in a teacher of political economy as in a teacher of mathematics; and it is as absurd to venture to teach political economy, without a knowledge of the subject, as to teach trigonometry without a knowledge of trigonometry. It is because this has been attempted that such contempt has been thrown on the study of political economy, and that the science is in such a sad condition.
16If there is sufficient time, Walker’s larger work is preferable; if less time can be devoted to the study, Laveleye’s is better. The teacher should have both. Laveleye’s “Political Economy” is published by the Putnams, New York.
17Let one who proposes to teach political economy master, first of all, F. A. Walker’s “Political Economy.”
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For a more advanced course, a preliminary training in logic is advisable, as the discussion of deductive and inductive methods, of conceptions and definitions, etc., will otherwise hardly be intelligible.18 Besides this, the training one obtains in the study of logic is excellent preparation for much of the work required in political economy. It teaches students to analyze conceptions, to combine elements, and to reason closely. The writer has often felt that a want of this training in his pupils was an obstacle in his way.
18The two little works by Thomas Fowler, “Deductive Logic” and “Inductive Logic,” published in the Clarendon Press Series, Oxford, are recommended.
The more profound one’s knowledge of history the better for teacher in high school or college. This economic life, this working, buying, selling, this getting a living, is only one part of the historical life of a people; and the more that is known about the whole, the better will each part be understood. For the advanced investigation, a knowledge of foreign languages, especially of German, is indispensable. Roscher,19 Wagner,20 Knies,21 Schmoller,22 Schönberg,23 and Leroy-Beaulieu24 should be studied.
19System der Volkswirthschaft. [5 ed. (1864) Volume I; 3 ed. 1861, Volume II]
20Lehrbuch der politischen Oekonomie. [3d ed. (1893) Volume 1.1; 3d ed. (1894) Volume 2.1-3; 3d ed. (1883) Volume 4.1; 2d ed. (1890) Volume 4.2; (1889) Volume 4.3; (1901) Volume 4.4]
21“Die politische Oekonomie vom geschichtlichen Standpunkte”, and his “Geld und Credit.”
22Ueber einige Grundfragen des Rechts und der Volkswirthschaft.
23Handbuch der politischen Oekonomie. [3ed. (1890)]
24Traité de la science des finances. [5ed. (1891/2). Volume I; Volume II]
Colleges and universities ought also to provide periodicals like the “Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik,” “Jahrbuch fur Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirthschaft,” the “Tübinger Zeitschrift für die Gesammte Staatswissenchaft,” the “Journal des Économistes,” the English “Economist,” “Bradstreets,” and the “Banker’s Magazine.”
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The teacher of college students, who ought always himself to be an original worker, should be perfectly independent. It is doubtless owing largely to a lack of independence on the part of the teacher that political economy has not made more progress in this country. Men are too often employed to teach free trade or to teach protection, — and as usually taught, it is difficult to tell which of the two is more unscientific, — or to teach Henry C. Carey’s system, or teach monometallism or bimetallism, whereas the teacher should be encouraged in the pursuit of truth, regardless of where it strikes.
Independence is nowhere more necessary than in the study of economies. A new theory of the iota subscript does not move the mass of men profoundly, but a new theory of taxation is bound to call forth from some one the cry “heresy.” In fact, as there are always large and powerful classes interested in the present condition of things, every change proposed, no matter what it is, is certain to meet with a storm of opposition. Ignorance, prejudice, and selfishness have always combined in their attacks on every political economist who has contributed to the advance of his science.
The political economist requires likewise, if he is to do his best work, a salary which shall enable him to mingle with the world, to become, to a certain extent, a man of the world, in order that he may the better understand the world with which he deals. He ought further to be able to travel and conduct investigations in industrial regions at home and abroad. So important is travel, indeed, that one great French school, that of Le Play, has made travel the chief method of investigation.25
25The following note on Le Play may be interesting in this connection: In 1820 Le Play began a series of journeys, which continued for over fifty years, and extended themselves into all parts of Europe, and even into the regions of Asiatic semi-civilization. These travels have borne plenteous fruits, of which the most prominent are the following: the publication of numerous works, the establishment of a method of study in social science, and the foundation of a school. Le Play’s method, which he calls ” La Méthode social,” centres in what maybe called the doctrine of travel. The quintessence of his theory is, that it is as essential for the economist to observe economic phenomena as for the mineralogist to observe minerals. The economist, however, not being able to gather together and arrange in a laboratory manufactories, laborers’ quarters in cities, agricultural villages, extensive mines, and the commercial phenomena of a great port, must travel to them, observe the manifestations of social and individual life which are there to be seen, and classify the results thus obtained in such manner that instructive and useful generalization may be drawn therefrom. The most important among the works of Le Play bears the title “les Ouvriers Européens,”[2d ed. (1879), Volume I; (1877), Volume II; (1877), Volume III; (1877), Volume IV; (1878), Volume V; (1878), Volume VI] in which the author describes from actual observation the minutest details of separate laborers’ households in every part of Europe. The third service to science, which these journeys enabled Le Play to render, consists in the foundation of a school, called “L’École de la Paix Sociale,” which manifests its activity in various ways, of which the most striking is the publication of their semi-monthly organ, “La Réforme Sociale.”
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The thoroughly equipped teacher of political economy ought, in addition to his qualifications in history and philosophy, including chiefly logic, to be a careful student of the principles of law. Evidence and practice, and the formal details of law, are not of great importance to him; but real- estate law, the law of contract and of banking, etc., are. The political economist lays the basis for legal study, he tells the reason why such and such legal institutions, e.g., private property in land, exist, and should exist; but he can manifestly lay a much better basis if he knows the superstructure which is to be erected thereon.26
26In many German universities every law-student is obliged to take a course in political economy. The study of political economy is likewise obligatory in French law-schools.
A legal friend, at the same time a political economist, recommends the following course in law for advanced students of political economy: “Blackstone’s Commentaries,”27 [72] which should be thoroughly digested; Parson on “Contracts“; Washburn on “Real Estate [4ed (1876, Volume I; 3ed (1868) Volume III],” Benjamin on “Sales of Personal Property,” and Bispham on “Equity.” I would add, at least, Morse on “Banks and Banking,” Cooley on “Taxation,” and Morawetz on “Corporations.”
27Chase’s edition is one volume.
Only one point more remains to be mentioned. The best original economic work is, for the most part, expensive. Laws, government reports, as blue-books and financial statements, and all sorts of original documents are required. Much economic work can be done only in connection with a learned institution or a government office, or by a very wealthy person. Any university which would have good work on the part of its teachers of political economy must not begrudge the expense of material as necessary to the economist as chemicals to the chemist. Of course, it cannot be expected that an American college will provide the political economist with a special library of seventy thousand volumes, like the Library of the Prussian Statistical Bureau; but it is doubtful whether a fair working university library of political economy can be produced for less than five thousand dollars.28
28It will readily be understood that a university library, designed to aid original research, is something quite different from a high-school library. One hundred dollars would purchase economic books which would answer fairly well the needs of a high school.
Source: Richard T. Ely, “On Methods of Teaching Political Economy,” in Vol. I. Methods of Teaching History (pp. 61-72) in the series Pedagogical Library, edited by G. Stanley Hall. Boston: D.C. Heath & Company, second edition, 1885.
Image Source: Universities and their sons; history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, Vol. IV (1900), p. 505.