Tag: Bullock

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Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Exam for undergraduate public finance. Bullock, 1905-1906

Charles Jesse Bullock compressed his two semester public finance sequence at Harvard that was pitched to graduates and advanced undergraduates in 1904-05 into a single semester for undergraduates in the following academic year. This compression and “dumbing down” [?] resulted in a significant increase in enrollment. Who knows, maybe he even lowered the curve for grading?

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Exams from the two semester sequence in public finance (1904-05)

1904-05. Introduction to Public Finance (post includes two obituaries for Bullock)

1904-05. Theory and Methods of Taxation

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Course Enrollment
1905-06

Economics 7 2hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — Public Finance considered with special reference to the Theory and Methods of Taxation.

Total 137: 13 Seniors, 54 Juniors, 55 Sophomores, 4 Freshman, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-1906, p. 72.

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ECONOMICS 7
Year-end Examination, 1905-06

  1. Discuss the history of federal expenditures in the United States since 1860.
  2. Discuss the past and the present policy of the United States with respect to its public lands.
  3. Give an account of the present status of the municipal ownership movement in the United States.
  4. Discuss the proposition that income is the normal source of taxation.
  5. What is your opinion concerning the justice of progressive taxation?
  6. What was decided in the income tax decisions of 1895?
  7. Give a detailed account of the present method of taxing personal property in Massachusetts.
  8. Compare the general corporation tax of Massachusetts with that of Pennsylvania.
  9. Write an account of the present status of the inheritance tax in the American commonwealths.
  10. Write a history of federal taxation in the United States from 1789 to the present day.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), p. 32.

Image Source: Illustration by Louis M. Glackens in Puck, April 8, 1908. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.26261

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Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy. James Waterhouse Angell, 1921

The empirical questions behind most of the collection of archival artifacts found here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror can be reduced to i) what was being taught ii) who was teaching it, and iii) what was the pattern of the courses actually taken by young economists. These artifacts can be thought of as occupying cell(s) in a matrix of year by academic institution, e.g. this post deals with question (iii) and will be filed in the Harvard, early 1920’s cell.

James Waterhouse Angell (1898-1986) was a Harvard and Chicago trained economist who joined the Columbia faculty upon receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1924. He was a member of Columbia’s faculty for over forty years, interrupted by government service during World War II at the War Production Board and the Foreign Economics Administration.  More about his life and career can be read in his New York Times obituary (April 1, 1986)

With this post we have the record for Angell in Harvard’s Division of History, Government, and Economics. It provides us with a wealth of information about his academic training. There will be a flow of such records for other graduate students that promises to match the flow of syllabi and exams, the stock of which constitute the core of archival material.

 You  should subscribe to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror if you are working on the history of economics. To do so scroll down (or search “Subscribe” on this page from your web browser).

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Autobiographical snippet

Angell’s personal statement in the 25th year anniversary report of the Harvard Class of 1918

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

James Waterhouse Angell. May 20, 1898. Chicago.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Undergraduate: Harvard 1914-18. Graduate: University of Chicago, March 1919-June 1920; Harvard, September 1920-date. Teaching: Assistant in Economics, Univ. of Chicago, October 1919-June 1920.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. Harvard, 1918. [magna cum laude]

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.) In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)

History. Harvard: Hist. A, 30a. Government. Univ. of Chicago: Elementary Comp. Govt. Economics. Harvard: Economics A, 2a, 2b, 4b, 5a, 5b. Univ. of Chicago: Labor Problems, Money and Banking, Statistics.

Greek: Harvard: Greek G, A, 2, 8. Latin. Harvard: Latin B, 8. French. Harvard: French 2. Philosophy. Univ. of Chicago: Social and Political Philosophy. Psychology. Harvard: Psychology A, Univ. of Chicago: Social Psychology.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory and Its History. Harvard: Economics A, 11, 14; Univ. of Chicago: History of Econ. Thought. Teaching: Univ. of Chicago: 2 quarters of elementary theory, 1920.
  2. Economic History since 1750. Harvard: Economics 2a and 2b.
  3. Public Finance. Harvard: Economics 5a, 5b, 31
  4. Money and Banking. Harvard: Economics 38. Univ. of Chicago: Elementary Money & Banking. Also private reading.
  5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. Harvard: Economics 33; and private reading.
  6. [Constitutional] History of the U.S., 1789-1914. Univ. of Chicago. 3 quarters of graduate study. (A. D. Mr. Laughlin)

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Special subject either Economic Theory or Public Finance; to be specified later. Money and Banking

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

International Price Levels (With Professors Taussig and Young)

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General: Last week in October, 1921.

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Edmund E. Day

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: James W. Angell

Approved: April 29, 1921

Ability to use French certified by Charles J. Bullock. 10 March, 1922 B.S.M.

Ability to use German certified by Charles J. Bullock, 10 March, 1922 B.S.M.

Date of general examination June 2, 1922 Passed A.A.Y.

Thesis received Oct. 15, 1923

Read by Professors Taussig, Young, and Persons

Approved October 29, 1921

Date of special examination Thursday, March 6, 1924. Passed A.A. Young 

Recommended for the Doctorate[left blank]

Degree conferred  [left blank]

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of James Waterhouse Angell in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University

1920-21
Economics 11.
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 14
[History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848, Prof. Bullock]		 A minus
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]		 A
Economics 331 [half course]
[International Trade and Tariff Problems, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 382 [half course]
[Selected Monetary Problems, Prof. Young]		 A
Attained the degree of Master of Arts.
1921-22
Economics 20 (F.W.T.)
[Economic Research (for Ph.D. candidates)]		 A

Note: A transcript can also be found in Harvard University Archives, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Aab—Belcher (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 1, Record Card of James Waterhouse Angell.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Committee on Economic Research
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Charles J. Bullock, Chairman

Charles F. Adams
Nicholas Biddle
Frederic H. Curtiss
Wallace B. Donham
Ogden L. Mills
Eugene V. R. Thayer

W.M. Persons, Editor
Review of Economic Statistics

J.B. Hubbard, Editor
Harvard Economic Service

F.Y. Presley
General Manager

March 10, 1922.

Professor Charles H. Haskins,
23 University Hall,
Cambridge, Mass.

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. J. W. Angell and find that he has such a knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

CJB/AMB

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Cambridge, Massachusetts
6 June 1922

I beg to report that Mr. James W. Angell passed the General Examination in Economics held on Friday, 2 June. Mr. Angell’s examination clearly earned a pass, but it is proper to say that the examination was not as distinguished and the margin was not as large as Mr. Angell’s brilliant course record indicated it would be.

[signed by D.C. for] Allyn A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[Carbon copy]

26 February 1924

My dear Professor Young:

We are arranging J.W. Angell’s special examination for Thursday, 6 March, at 4 p.m. I will let you know the place later. The committee will consist of Professors Taussig, Williams, Sprague, and yourself as chairman.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 7, 1924

Dear Haskins:

On behalf of the committee appointed to conduct the special examination of Mr. J. W. Angell, I beg to report that Mr. Angell successfully passed the examination. I may add that the examination as a whole was unusually satisfactory.

Very truly yours,
[signed by k. for] Allyn A. Young

Dean C. H. Haskins

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 5. Folder “J. W. Angell.”

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Annotated Typescript for
Division of History, Government, and Economics
Examinations for the Degree of Ph.D. 1923-1924
JAMES WATERHOUSE ANGELL.

SPECIAL EXAMINATION in Economics, passed. Thursday, March 6, 1924.

GENERAL EXAMINATION passed June 2, 1922.

ACADEMIC HISTORY: Harvard College, 1914-18; University of Chicago, March, 1919, to June, 1920; Harvard Graduate School, 1920-23. A.B., 1918; A.M., 1921. Assistant in Economics, University of Chicago, 1919-20; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, Harvard, 1921-22; Frederick Sheldon Travelling Fellow, Harvard, 1922-23; Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, Harvard, 1923-4.

GENERAL SUBJECTS: 1. Economic Theory and Its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Money and Banking. 5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 6. American History since 1789.

SPECIAL SUBJECT: Money and Banking.

COMMITTEE: Professors Young (chairman), Taussig, Williams,
and Sprague.

THESIS SUBJECT: The Theory of International Prices and its History.

COMMITTEE ON THESIS: Professors Taussig, Young, and Persons.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 5. Unmarked Envelope/Folder

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Image Source:  James Waterhouse Angell’s July 18, 1922 U.S. passport application. National Archives.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking Public Finance

Harvard. Course description, enrollment, exam questions for history of public finance. Bullock, 1904-1905

Step by step, inch by inch, course by course we transcribe and file away course materials from academic years gone by. Again we encounter Harvard assistant professor of economics, Charles Jesse Bullock, this time wearing his public finance hat. Note that at the turn of the twentieth century monetary and fiscal issues were taught as two sides of a single financial history.

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Previously…

1903-1904 enrollment and final exam questions.

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 16 1hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — Financial History of the United States.

Total 6: 4 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 16 1hf. The Financial History of the United States. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and(at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Asst. Professor Bullock.

This course will deal mainly with the history of the finances of the federal government; but will include some study of the financial experience of the colonies, and will treat of the development of the finances of the states from 1775 to 1850.
Each student will be required to prepare a thesis upon some special topic.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 46.

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ECONOMICS 161
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

FINANCIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
  1. Describe the development of colonial tax systems.
  2. State the main facts concerning the Continental paper money.
  3. Describe Hamilton’s funding system.
  4. Describe and criticise the sinking-fund act of 1795.
  5. What are the main facts in the history of the Second Bank of the United States?
  6. Describe the tariffs of 1828, 1838, and 1846.
  7. What are the main facts in the history of the greenbacks?
  8. Discuss the suspension of specie payments in December, 1861.
  9. Describe the refunding of the national debt after the Civil War
  10. What were the chief provisions of the resumption act? How was resumption actually accomplished?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 36.

Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Exams for the history of economics through Adam Smith. Bullock, 1904-1905

 

Meanwhile, back in the early 20th century we find Charles Jesse Bullock teaching the history of economics from the ancient Greeks to Adam Smith, judging from his exam questions. Nominally, the course was to cover economic thought through 1848. He, like Frank Taussig, examined economics Ph.D. candidates ability to read French and German. He taught Latin and Greek at the high-school level before going on to study economics so it is not surprising that he would have been expected to cover the ancient Greek and Latin literatures of economics as well.

The year-examination for this course in 1903-04 has been posted earlier.

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 15. Asst. Professor Bullock. — History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.

Total 3: 3 Graduates.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.

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Course Description, 1904-05

[Economics] 15. The History and Literature of Economies to the year 1848. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri, at 12. Asst. Professor Bullock.

The purpose of this course is to trace the development of economic thought from classical antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century. Emphasis is placed upon the relation of economics to philosophical and political theories, as well as to political and industrial conditions.

A considerable amount of reading of prominent writers will be assigned and opportunity given for the preparation of theses. Much of the instruction is necessarily given by means of lectures.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), pp. 49-50.

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ECONOMICS 15
Mid-Year Examination, 1904-05

  1. With what literature upon the history of economics are you familiar?
  2. What place does Plato occupy in the development of economic thought?
  3. What criticism did Aristotle make against Plato’s Republic?
  4. What economic topics are discussed by Xenophon?
  5. Describe the economic doctrines of Thomas Aquinas.
  6. What do you think of the scholastic doctrine concerning usury?
  7. What were the doctrines of Molinaeus and Salmasius?
  8. Compare the Utopia with Plato’s Republic.
  9. What do you think of Ingram’s treatment of economic thought in the Middle Ages?
  10. Upon what subject do you consider the economic doctrine of the Schoolmen most satisfactory?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1904-05.

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ECONOMICS 15
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. What influence did the schoolmen have upon the economic thought of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
  2. Compare the contributions to economic thought made by English writers in the seventeenth century with those made by contemporaneous writers in France and Italy.
  3. Give some account of the economic doctrines of Bodin.
  4. Trace in outline the development of theories of money in Europe from 1550 to 1760.
  5. Compare the communistic theories of Plato with those of More.
  6. Describe the work done in the eighteenth century toward systematizing economic doctrines.
  7. Describe the economic doctrines of two German and two Italian writers of the eighteenth century.
  8. Give a general account of the life and writings of Adam Smith.
  9. What different influences can be observed in the Wealth of Nations? To which do you attribute most importance?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), pp. 35-36.

Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Economics Graduate School Records of Jacob Viner. 1914-1922

Records of individual Harvard economics graduate students are strewn across the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Division of History, Government, and Economics (formerly Division of History and Political Science), and the Department of Economics at Harvard as well as in the archival papers of their professors or themselves. Seek and sometimes ye shall find.

In this post Economics in the Rear-view Mirror presents transcriptions of the items found in the file for Jacob Viner in the papers of the Division of History, Government, and Economics. We see from the application form (then referred to as a “blank”) that the administrative unit responsible for monitoring the satisfaction of the Ph.D. requirements by degree candidates was the Division. Course records and transcripts were issued by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

An interesting anecdote found in the correspondence included below is that Viner committed the indiscretion of announcing in print the completion of his Ph.D. before he had been properly awarded the degree by Harvard. One wonders if his examination committee let him know that they knew and were, like the Dean of the Division, not amused by his presumption.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Jacob Viner, Montreal, Canada, May 3rd, 1892.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

McGill University, Faculty of Arts. Sept. 1911 to May 1914.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

B.A. McGill University, May 1914.
A.M. Harvard, June 1915.

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)

History. (1) General Course, (2) History of England, (3) Recent Developments

Government. (1) General Course, (2) Govt of Canada, (3) Social Reform.

Latin. Two college years. — Horace, Tibullus, Caesar, Livy, Cicero.

French. Two college years advanced work.

Philosophy. (1) Logic, (2) History of Ethics, (3) Theory of Ethics.

Economics. (1) Economic History of England, (Canadian Industrial Problems. (3) Money & Banking, and courses listed [below].

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

    1. Economic Theory.
      Elementary & Advanced Courses at McGill.
      11, Ec. 12a (1914-15), Ec. 17, Ec. 7a, Ec 14, at Harvard.
    2. International Trade.
      33 (full course.) Harvard.
    3. Public Finance.
      Course at McGill.
      31, Harvard.
    4. Course at McGill.
      Ec. 8, Ec. 18, Harvard.
    5. Economic History since 1770.
      2a, Ec. 2b, Harvard.
    6. Theory of Value. (Philosophy.).
      Phil 25a

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

International Trade

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

International Balance of Payments
Prof. Taussig

IX. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

Spring, 1916 (General).

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] F. W. Taussig

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Jacob Viner

Approved: Jan 21, 1916

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock 7 April 1916 D.H.

Ability to use German certified by C. J. Bullock 7 April 1916 D.H.

Date of general examination May 19, 1916 Passed

Thesis received February, 1921

Read by Professors Taussig, Persons, and Young

Approved October 29, 1921

Date of special examination Friday, March 18, 1921

Recommended for the Doctorate January, 1922

Degree conferred February, 1922

Remarks. [Left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of JACOB VINER in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University

1914-15
Economics 11.
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 121
[Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation, Prof. Carver]		 A-
Economics 17
[Economic Theory: Value and Related Problems, Asst. Prof. Anderson]		 A
Economics 33 (full co. [full course])
[International Trade, with special reference to Tariff Problems in the United States, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 34
[Problems of Labor, Prof. Ripley]		 B-
German A
[Elementary Course]		 B+
University Scholar
A.M. at Commencement.
1915-16
Economics 2a1
[European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century, Prof. Gay]		 A-
Economics 2b2
[Economic and Financial History of the United States, Prof. Gay]		 abs.
Economics 7a1
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig] [Note: this course not included in GSAS record for Viner]		 abs.
Economics 81
[Principles of Sociology, Prof. Carver]		 A
Economics 14
[History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848, Prof. Bullock]		 (A)…mid-year grade, excused from final
Economics 18a2
[Analytical Sociology, Asst. Prof. Anderson]]		 credit for residence
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]		 (A-)…mid-year grade, excused from final
Philosophy 182
[Present Philosophical Tendencies. Materialism, Pragmatism, Idealism, and Realism. Prof. R. B. Perry]		 abs.
Philosophy 25a1
[Theory of Value, Prof. R. B. Perry]		 A-
Henry Lee Memorial Fellow.

Note: Original record found in Harvard University Archives. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Sun—Walls (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 14, Record Card of Jacob Viner.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
H. L. Gray

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 7, 1916.

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. J. Viner, and find that he has a good reading knowledge of French and German.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

7 April 1916

Dear Perry:

Could you serve as one of the committee for the General Examination of Jacob Viner on Friday, May 19, at 4 p.m.?

Sincerely yours,
[copy unsigned]

Professor R. B. Perry.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Cambridge April 8-‘16

I shall be glad to help out with Viner’s General Exam on May 19.

[signed] R B Perry

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 20, 1916.

Dear Haskins:

I beg to certify that Jacob Viner passed satisfactorily his general examination for the degree of Ph. D. in Economics. I enclose his application for your files.

Very truly yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

7 February 1921

Dear Mr. Viner,

Your letter of 22 January gives this office its first information that you plan to be a candidate for the Doctor’s degree this year. Will you kindly fill out and return at once the enclosed blank, which was due 15 January?

If you plan to have your Special Examination arranged in the middle of March, you will have to give a wider margin for an examination of your thesis than you indicate in your letter.

At least a month will be necessary between the receipt of the thesis and the time provisionally set for the examination. In arranging the examinations of non-resident students we try to consider their convenience; but there must be due notice in advance, and due opportunity for reading the thesis in its final form with deliberation.

You raise the question of the subject on which you are to be examined. Does that mean that you desire to change the special field, which on your plan is indicated an International Trade?

If your thesis does not reach us until the first of March, we could doubtless arrange to examine you some Saturday after 1 April; or possibly early in June, at the conclusion of your instruction for the spring quarter.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]

Mr. Jacob Viner.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

17 February 1921

My dear Professor Persons:

Dean Haskins would be glad if you would serve on the committee to read the thesis of Mr. Jacob Viner, entitled “The Canadian Balance of International Indebtedness, 1900-13.” The thesis will reach you within a few days.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor W. M. Persons.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

17 February 1921

My dear Professor Young:

Dean Haskins would be glad if you would serve on the committee to read the thesis of Mr. Jacob Viner, entitled “The Canadian Balance of International Indebtedness, 1900-13.” The thesis will reach you within a few days.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

17 February 1921

My dear Professor Taussig:

Dean Haskins will be very glad if you will read Mr. Jacob Viner’s Ph.D. thesis, which is now in your hands, and he has included Professor Persons among the members of the Committee, as you suggested. Professor Day would appreciate it, however, if he could be relieved from serving on the Committee on account of pressure of work, and Mr. Haskins has appointed Professor Young to read the thesis in his place, provided that the change meets with your approval. I enclose an acceptance slip to be included with the thesis.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor F. W. Taussig

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
A. A. Young
W. M. Persons
E. E. Day
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
E. E. Lincoln
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole

Cambridge, Massachusetts
February 20, 1921.

Dear Haskins:

Viner is sending me his thesis by instalments.

A previous instalment of considerable size, sent in some time ago, has already been read by Bullock and Day, as well as by myself. Probably we should avoid some waste of energy if these two were put on the thesis committee with myself. Needless to say, this suggestion is to be considered in the light of your apportionment of the general work of thesis reading.

Yesterday over the telephone I suggested on the spur of the moment that Persons might be on the committee. He is thoroly [sic] conversant with the subject, and would be a good member; certainly if Bullock should find it inconvenient to serve.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

10 March 1921

My dear Dr. Dewing:

Dean Haskins is arranging the Special Examination of Mr. Jacob Viner for the Ph.D. in Economics for March 18 (Friday) at 4 P.M. Mr. Viner’s field is International Trade.

Would you be able to serve on his Examining Committee? The other members consist of Professors Taussig, (chairman), Young, and Persons.

Since the time before the examination is very short, are to the fact that Mr. Viner’s thesis was in the hands of the Committee until very recently, and had not been approved, we should be glad If you would either return the enclosed card with your signature, or let us know by telephone whether you can serve.

I shall notify you later of the place.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. S. Dewing.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I can serve on the Committee for the Special Examination of Mr. Viner on Friday, March 18, at 4 P. M.

[Signed] Arthur S. Dewing

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

11 March 1921

My dear Professor Taussig:

I am sending formal notice to the members of Mr. Viner’s examination committee that the examination will be held on Friday, 18 March, as you suggested. Professor Dewing will serve as the fourth member of the committee, the other three being the members of the thesis committee — yourself, Professor Young, and Professor Persons. I am assuming that the hour will be 4 P.M. as usual.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor F. W. Taussig.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

11 March 1921

My dear Professor Persons:

I am  writing you in order to confirm the arrangements for Mr. Viner’s Special Examination, about which I believe Professor Taussig has already spoken to you. Dean Haskins has set the date as Friday, March 18, and the time will be 4 P. M. Mr. Viner’s special field is International Trade. The Committee consists of Professors Taussig (chairman), Young, Persons, and yourself.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor W. M, Persons.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

11 March 1921

My dear Professor Young:

I am writing you in order to confirm the arrangements for Mr, Viner’s Special Examination, of which I believe Professor Taussig has already told you. Dean Haskins has set the date as March 18 (Friday), and the time will be 4 P. M. His special field is International Trade.

The Committee consists of Professors Taussig (chairman), Young, Persons, and Dewing.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. A. Young.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

15 March 1921

Dear Taussig:

I am enclosing Jacob Viner’s papers for your use at his examination on Friday, 18 March. Viner seems to be very optimistic about his success in his examination, as I notice in the last circular of the University of Chicago he was already listed as a Ph.D. I trust that his attention may be called to the impropriety of his using the degree not only until he has passed the examination but until it is actually conferred.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]

Professor F. W. Taussig

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
A. A. Young
W. M. Persons
E. E. Day
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
E. E. Lincoln
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole

Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 22, 1921.

Dear Haskins:

I find there is no chance of Viner’s fixing up the thesis before April 1. His commitments for the coming week are many, and moreover his time will be absorbed by teaching upon his return. He will not present himself as a candidate again this year. What may be the status of the examination which he took, and on which the report would be favorable, remains to be seen. I take it this question need not be considered until it is presented.

Very sincerely yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
A. A. Young
W. M. Persons
E. E. Day
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
J. H. Williams
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole
R. S. Tucker
R. S. Meriam

Cambridge, Massachusetts
October 29, 1921.

Dear Haskins:

Viner’s thesis has been approved, and the only question that remains is about the acceptance of his Special Examination last June. Young will present the matter for the consideration of the Administrative Board at its next meeting. Will you kindly see that it is on the docket for the meeting?

Sincerely yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics. Ph.D. Examinations 1921-22 to 1922-23. Box 4. Folder “Jacob Viner”.

Image Source: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-08489, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Categories
Curriculum Dartmouth Economists Undergraduate Williams

Williams College. Political Economy and Law 1794-1894. Bullock, 1904

 

Before he accepted an appointment to assistant professorship at Harvard in 1903, Charles Jesse Bullock was Orrin Sage professor of history and political science at Williams College. He published a short history of the first hundred years of course offerings in political economy, political philosophy/theory, constitutional law and international law at Williams in 1904. 

Bonus material: links have been added to the key texts identified by Bullock.

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Other Williams College
Related Posts

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The History of Economic and Political Studies
in Williams College

C. J. Bullock, Assistant Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University; late Orrin Sage Professor of Political Economy in Williams College

Historical and political studies seem to have been almost wholly neglected in the American colleges of the colonial epoch. In this direction the first serious impulse came from the stirring discussions of the Revolutionary period and of the years that witnessed the adoption of the Federal Constitution. In 1784 the first law school was established at Litchfield, Connecticut; and during the next twenty years lectureships or professorships of law were created in various institutions. Before this movement had spent its force, political philosophy, political economy, and, in some cases, history had benefited by the interest thus aroused, so that one or more of these subjects found a place in the curricula of many colleges.

The “Free School” at Williamstown was transformed into Williams College in 1793, at the very time when our institutions of higher education were beginning to recognize the importance of training young men for the legal profession, the service of the State, or the common duties of citizenship. In the first invoice of books purchased for the college library, political and historical works were well represented; and upon October 20, 1794, Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, at that time a member of Congress, was appointed Professor of Law and Civil Polity. It does not appear that Mr. Sedgwick ever entered upon the work of his professorship — a fact which may be readily explained by his absorption in the duties of public life or by the meagre resources of the college; but it is interesting to note that this was the first professorship which the trustees attempted to establish.

In 1795 the first laws for the government of the college were adopted. From these we learn that the studies of the fourth year were “metaphysics, ethics, history, the law of nature and nations, civil polity, and theology.” Thomas Robbins, a member of the class of 1796, writes in his diary, under the date of January 1st of his senior year, “Reciting now Paley’s Moral Philosophy”; and under the date of March 22d, “Began to recite Vattel.” Instruction in these subjects was given by President Fitch, as we learn from a letter* written by a member of the class of 1802 who says, “Those students who were instructed by him during their senior year will never forget the ability and interest with which he explained and illustrated the writings of Locke, Paley, and Vattel.”

* [Calvin] Durfee, History of Williams College, p. 77.

The facts just mentioned are sufficient to establish the character of the instruction given in political philosophy and international law; concerning the study of history, however, no evidence is now available. Paley’s Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, published in England in 1785 and republished in Boston ten years later, devotes one entire book — the sixth — to the philosophy of the State, and treats of such subjects as forms of government, civil liberty, and the administration of justice. This book was used for many years at Williams, as elsewhere. Its author was a conservative by temperament, and a friend of the established social and political order; and these qualities would naturally commend his writings to such an ardent Federalist as President Fitch, who was greatly disturbed over the revolutionary movement in France and the rise of Jeffersonian democracy in the United States.† In his baccalaureate sermon of 1799, Dr. Fitch warned the graduating class that “every civil and religious institution is threatened with ruin,” that “the principles of deism, atheism, and disorganizing politics have of late years made rapid strides,” and he urged his hearers to oppose manfully the progress of these destructive tendencies.

† Cf. [Arthur Latham] Perry, Williamstown and Williams College, pp. 230-233.

This arrangement of studies probably remained unchanged for many years. The College Laws of 1805 repeated the provisions of those adopted in 1795; the Laws of 1815 are more general in their terms, but prescribe that history and the law of nations shall be included in the curriculum. These subjects, undoubtedly, fell to the charge of the president. In 1812 Hon. Daniel Dewey was appointed Professor of Law and Civil Polity, but it is not known that he ever gave regular instruction in the college, although his name appeared in the catalogue until his death in 1815. The laws of the latter year state merely that “the Professor of Law shall occasionally deliver lectures to the senior sophisters or to all the students.”

In 1822 the catalogue of the college contains for the first time a statement of the courses of instruction. From it we learn that history was one of three subjects studied during the third term of the sophomore year, and that Tytler’s Elements of History was used as a text-book. In the senior year Paley’s [Moral and] Political Philosophy was studied during the second term, and Vattel’s Law of Nations during the third. Altogether, one third of the instruction for three terms, or about one twelfth of the college course, was devoted to these three subjects. History was probably taught by one of the two tutors who had charge at this time of most of the studies of the lower classes; the senior courses were conducted chiefly by the president.

In 1827 William Porter [Rev. William Augustus Porter, b. 1798; d. 1830] was called to a newly established chair of Moral Philosophy and Rhetoric, and he appears to have relieved President Griffin of most of the instruction of the senior year.* Paley’s Moral and Political Philosophy was now replaced by Say’s [Treatise on] Political Economy, of which an American translation had appeared in 1821; Vattel’s Law of Nations, however, was retained several years longer. History held its place in the third term of the sophomore year.

*Memoir of W. A. Porter, p. 41.

In 1828 a Manual of Political Economy, by Willard Phillips, was published at Boston, and this work was immediately introduced in the place of Say’s treatise. When we recall that in this year the passage of the “Tariff of Abominations” stimulated excited discussions of the tariff question, and that Phillips was an advocate of protectionism, we may venture upon the conjecture that Professor Porter was dissatisfied with the teachings of Say concerning freedom of trade. At any rate Phillips’ Manual continued to be used in the college for a number of years. When Mark Hopkins was called to the chair of Moral Philosophy in 1830, Paley’s work was reintroduced, but only to supplement and not to displace Phillips and Vattel.

In 1835 Joseph Alden was called to a new professorship of Rhetoric and Political Economy, and more adequate provision was made for instruction in political and economic science. In his inaugural address in 1836, President Hopkins alluded to the recent introduction of the study of political economy, and expressed the hope that means could be provided for instruction in constitutional law. For this a place was found in the same year, when Professor Alden discarded Vattel and introduced [Joseph] Story on the Constitution [Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Abridged by the author for the use of Colleges and High Schools, 1833)]. The sophomore course in history remained as before, and, after a time at least, came under the charge of Professor Alden. In 1837 the course in political economy was shifted to the first term of the junior year, and in 1840 Wayland’s well-known treatise [Francis Wayland, The Elements of Political Economy (1837)]was introduced as a text-book. Professor Alden was a Jeffersonian Democrat and a free trader, but seems to have made more of his lectures upon the United States Constitution* than of his work in history and political economy. In 1843 a course in American history was introduced in the second term of the junior year, and in 1844 this was placed among the studies prescribed for sophomores. Two years later, however, this subject dropped out of the curriculum.

* Cf. A. L. Perry, Miscellanies, p. 142. Williamstown, 1902.

At this point it will prove interesting to compare the development of political and economic studies at Williams with their history at a sister institution, Dartmouth College.†

† See J. F. Colby, Legal and Political Studies in Dartmouth College, Hanover, 1896.

At Hanover these studies were first introduced in 1796, under the stimulus of the same influences that were felt at Williams in the previous year. In Dartmouth the juniors were given instruction in Paley’s Moral and Political Philosophy by the professor who had general charge of that class; while the seniors, under the guidance of President Wheelock, studied Burlamaqui’s Principles of Natural and Politic Law [1792], of which an American edition had been published at Boston in 1793. In 1804 the course in political philosophy was transferred to the charge of the Professor of Divinity, and in 1823 to the Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy. In 1822 instruction in constitutional law was given to the seniors, and in 1828 a chair of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy was created. Professor Roswell Shurtleff, the incumbent of this chair, introduced Say’s Political Economy in the place of Burlamaqui’s [Principles of] Natural and Politic Law; and continued for a decade the use of Paley’s Political Philosophy and the Federalist. In 1838 Paley was replaced by Wayland’s Moral Philosophy [The Elements of Moral Science, 5th ed. (1837)], and in 1842 a course in Kent’s Commentaries on American Law [2nd ed., 1832: Vol. I ; Vol. II ; Vol. III ; Vol. IV] was offered to seniors. Some years later the latter work was displaced by Story’s well-known treatise. The general similarity of development in the two institutions is emphasized by the fact that Dartmouth, in 1808, made unsuccessful efforts to establish a professorship of law.

At Williams the next important event was the resignation of Professor Alden in 1852. After an interval of a year, Arthur Latham Perry was called to a professorship of History and Political Economy; and commenced those studies, especially in the field of political economy, which soon brought him a national reputation and secured distinguished recognition in France and England. Although compelled by the poverty of the college to give instruction in German and in Christian Evidences for many years, he soon built up a strong department of history and political economy. To the sophomores he gave instruction in history, at first for one and later for two terms, introducing newer and better text-books, as they appeared, in place of the wretched treatise by Tytler. To the juniors he offered a course in political economy for which he published, in 1865, the first of his well-known books, Elements of Political Economy. In addition, Professor Perry continued the work in constitutional law which had been begun by his predecessor. This study was, in 1859, transferred to the junior year, where it long remained; at the outset Story’s work was used as a text, but in time the instruction came to be given by lectures. Upon an average, during the period from 1857 to 1887, the three subjects above mentioned occupied about one-eighth of the entire college course, and until the latter year they were required of all students.*

* Cf. A. L. Perry, Miscellanies, pp. 141-148.

In 1871 Orrin Sage, a Massachusetts manufacturer, gave the college $50,000 as an endowment for Professor Perry’s chair. In part, at least, this action was the result of the attacks which had been made from time to time upon Professor Perry’s views concerning the injustice and inexpediency of the protective tariff. The trustees of the college had at all times upheld the independence of the department of political economy, but the gift was prompted by a desire to place the chair upon the most secure foundation possible. So far as freedom of teaching is concerned, few, if any, American colleges can boast of better traditions.

In 1882, with the coming of the elective system, there was established an elective course in European history, conducted by a new instructor. This marked the beginning of the separation of the departments of history and political economy, which became complete when, in 1890, an endowment was received for a chair of American History. In the following year Professor Perry closed his long term of faithful service to the college, and John Bascom was made acting professor upon the Orrin Sage foundation, which was thereafter devoted to the department of political economy. Thus at the close of the first century of its existence, Williams College had created two independent departments for the studies in which, at the outset, the president had instructed the seniors during the last half of the collegiate year.

With the history of the last decade it is not the purpose of this paper to deal. Suffice it to say that the establishment of new chairs of Political Science and of European History has enabled the college to extend and to specialize instruction in these subjects, so that now four professors are cultivating the field where Professor Perry labored so long and so successfully as Professor of History and Political Economy. In all this the college is but meeting the demands of the times for more extensive instruction in political and economic studies. To-day, as in 1794, it is attempting, so far as its resources permit, to prepare young men for the intelligent exercise of the rights and duties of citizenship; and now, as formerly, it seeks to prescribe, for students or teachers, no tests of political or economic orthodoxy. With such a record of honorable achievement, the college faces hopefully the educational demands of the twentieth century.

Source: Charles Jesse Bullock, “History of economic and political studies in Williams College.” Education, Vol. XXIV (May, 1904), pp. 532-537.

Image Source: From the title page of A History of Williams College by Calvin Durfee (1860).

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Course enrollment, description, and final exam for theory and methods of taxation. Bullock, 1904-1905

The Fountain of Taxation

The field of public finance was covered at Harvard in 1904-05 in two semester courses taught by Charles Jesse Bullock. The previous post contains material from the first course in the sequence, an introduction to public finance. The second semester’s focus was on the theory and methods of taxation with enrollment figures, a course description and the final exam transcribed and posted below.

A short bibliography “for serious students” on taxation published in 1910 by Bullock has been transcribed earlier (with many links to the items).

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 7b 2hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — Theory and Methods of Taxation.

Total 45: 5 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 74.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 7b 2hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Asst. Professor Bullock.

In this course the tax systems of England, France, and Germany are first studied. Then the theory of taxation is examined, attention being given to such subjects as the classification, the just distribution, and the incidence of taxes. Finally, the existing methods of taxation in the United States, will receive careful consideration.

Systematic reading will be required, and most of the exercises conducted by the method of informal discussion. Graduate Students and candidates for Honors will be given the opportunity of writing theses.

The course is open to students who have taken Economies 1.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), pp. 41-42.

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ECONOMICS 7b2
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. Make a list of the different taxes employed in the United States, and state by what governments — federal, state, or local — each tax is employed.
  2. What taxes are employed by (a) the German Empire, (b) the Kingdom of Prussia, (c) the local governing bodies of Prussia?
  3. What taxes are employed by the national government in England which our own national government does not employ? How can you account for the differences between the two systems of national taxation?
  4. Compare the British and the Prussian income taxes.
  5. Describe the taxation of inheritances in Great Britain and in France.
  6. Write a brief history of direct apportioned taxes levied by our national government.
  7. What are the chief constitutional limitations upon the taxing power of the states of the American Union?
  8. If called upon to draft a general corporation tax for an Ameri can state, what plan would you follow in order to make the tax (a) constitutional, (b) productive, (c) as just as possible?
  9. Describe the taxation of mortgages in Massachusetts and California, and describe the results secured in each state.
  10. Discuss in some detail the methods of taxing personal property in Massachusetts and the results secured.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 27.

Image Source: Library of Congress. Puck, 23 June 1909. “The fountain of taxation”. Published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, Puck Building.

A large fountain with four basins, at top, supported by a crown and scepters, is a basin labeled “Millionaire”, next resting on a cornucopia is “Well-To-Do”, then the “Middle Class” basin supported by an octopus, and at the bottom is the largest basin labeled the “Laboring Class”. The fountain is standing on a platform labeled “Tax System”; the water, cascading from top down is labeled “Burden of Taxation”.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Course enrollment, description, final exam. Public finance. Bullock, 1904-05

Gore Hall, the Harvard University library, 1838-1913

The systematic transcription of economics exam questions and course materials through the years can be tedious even for the curator of the artifacts collected here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror, so I’ll try to make such posts a bit livelier adding a dash or two of additional anecdotal material about the instructor or the course itself.

From the obituaries for Charles Jesse Bullock inserted immediately below we learn that in his pre-economics life Bullock taught Latin and Greek. This perhaps accounts for his interest in early, as in ancient Greek early, economic thought. Also interesting is to learn that after his retirement from Harvard that he served as the chief of the research division for the Republican National committee and provided advice to the 1936 Republican presidential nominee, Alf Landon.

Bullock’s pre-Harvard career is sketched in a note taken from the Williams College yearbook, The Gulielmensian (1900).

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A Pair of Obituaries

FORMER WILLIAMS TEACHER IS DEAD
Prof. Charles J. Bullock,Retired Harvard Economist,
on Faculty Here at Century’s Turn.

The North Adams Transcript (March 20, 1941)

Dr. Charles Jesse Bullock, professor emeritus of economics at Harvard university, a nationally known tax authority and a former member of the Williams college faculty, died Monday at his home in Hingham. He was 72 years old.

From 1899 until 1903 when he went to Harvard, Dr. Bullock taught at Williams, first as an assistant professor of economics and sociology and then as Orrin Sage professor of history and political science. He became a full professor at Harvard in 1908 and continued to teach there until 1935 when he took the title of professor emeritus.

Prof. Bullock was the author of many books and articles on economics. In the presidential campaign year of 1936, after his retirement, he served as chief of the research division of the Republican National committee and conferred with Alfred M. Landon, the Republican candidate, on many occasions.

A native of Boston, Dr. Bullock was graduated from Boston university in 1889. He taught Greek and Latin in New England schools and served as principal of the Middlebury, Vt. high school before entering the University of Wisconsin to study economics. He earned a doctorate there in 1895.

Prof. Bullock returned to Williamstown in 1921 to receive an honorary degree of doctor of laws from Williams.

Dr. Bullock married Helena M. Smith of Washington in 1895 and they had one daughter, Grace Helena Bullock.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Prof. Chas. J. Bullock

Middlebury Register and Addison County Journal (Mar 28, 1941)

Word has been received in Middlebury of the death at Hingham, Mass. on Mar. 17 of Prof. Charles Jesse Bullock of Harvard University, who was principal of Middlebury High School in 1891 and whose wife was the former Helena Smith of Middlebury. Funeral services were held Mar. 19. After he left Middlebury Prof. Bullock served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin, Cornell, Williams, and Harvard. He became widely noted as an economist, specializing in taxation and monetary problems. In an editorial tribute to him the Boston Herald said: “He saw the necessity of elevating the standards of business and of giving some of the aspects and ideals of the professions. It was due largely to his quiet preliminary work over a considerable period that the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration was initiated and endowed liberally. . . It was not the least of his services that he made academic and nonacademic circles understand each other better, and work together in harmony and with mutual respect.”

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 7a 1hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — Introduction to Public Finance.

Total 26: 5 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 74.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 7a 1hf. Introduction to Public Finance. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Asst. Professor Bullock.

This course is designed to cover the general field of Public Finance exclusive of Taxation. After a brief survey of the scope and history of Public Finance, the following subjects are studied: Public Expenditures, Public Revenues other than Taxes, Public Debts, Financial Administration, and Budgetary Legislation. Attention is given both to theory and to the practice of various countries.

A systematic course of reading will be prescribed, and most of the exercises conducted by the method of informal discussion. Graduate Students and candidates for Honors will be given the opportunity of writing theses.

The course is open to students who have taken Economics 1.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 41.

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ECONOMICS 7a1
Final Examination, 1904-05

PUBLIC FINANCE

  1. Discuss the history of federal expenditures in the United States since 1860.
  2. What can you say concerning the probable future of the following classes of public expenditures: outlay for external defence, out lay for police purposes, outlay for dependent and defective classes, outlay for the benefit of industry and commerce?
  3. What is your opinion of the arguments advanced in favor of municipalization of the lighting and street-transportation industries?
  4. Discuss the past and the present policy of the United States with respect to its public lands.
  5. Discuss in broad outline the history of the British national debt from 1630 to 1815 and that of the French national debt from 1815 to the present day.
  6. Should a national debt be repaid? State and criticise the theory of Pitt’s sinking fund of 1786.
  7. What is your opinion of the proposition to pay off a national debt by accumulating a fund which, invested and improved at interest, will be sufficient to meet the principal of the debt at maturity?
  8. Compare British and American methods of preparing and voting the national budget.
  9. What are the comparative merits of the British and the French methods of public accounting?
  10. Describe in outline the experience of the United States with the independent treasury from 1846 to the present day.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1904-05. Copy also available in Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), pp. 26-27.

Image Source: Interior of Gore Hall, the library at Harvard University from 1838 to 1913. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.  For a colorized mugshot of Charles Jesse Bullock.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Enrollment and final exam for U.S. Financial History. Bullock, 1903-1904

Charles Jesse Bullock first taught at Harvard as a visiting instructor in 1901-02. He returned at the rank of assistant professor of economics in 1903-04. The previous post provided the short biography from the Williams College yearbook from his last year on the faculty there together with his year-end exam for his Harvard course on the history of early economics (ancient Greeks through Adam Smith) in 1903-04.

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Course Enrollment
Economics 16, 1903-04

Economics 16 2hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — The Financial History of the United States.

Total 27: 11 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 162
Year-End Examination, 1903-04

  1. Discuss colonial and State tariffs prior to 1789.
  2. Discuss fully the subject of requisitions and taxation under the Confederation.
  3. What do you consider to be the real services of Hamilton from 1789-1795? At what points was his policy open to criticism?
  4. Characterize the sinking-fund laws of 1795, 1802, and 1817.
  5. Describe in outline the course of tariff legislation from 1846 to 1861.
  6. Why was the independent-treasury system established? To what extent has its original purpose been secured? At what points is it open to criticism?
  7. What were the chief defects of the financial policy followed during the Civil War?
  8. What changes were effected in the national debt between 1865 and 1871?
  9. What different methods of resuming specie payments were proposed after the Civil War? What method was finally adopted?
  10. At what times during its history has the federal government been confronted with the problem of a surplus revenue? How, at each time, has the problem been solved?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 37.

Image Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Enrollment and final exam for history of 19th century economics. Bullock, 1903-1904

The new assistant professor of economics at Harvard in 1903 hired from Williams College, Charles Jesse Bullock, was given responsibility for courses on the early history of economics and public finance.

I could only find the year-end examination in the collection of economics examinations at the Harvard archive for Bullock’s two semester course “History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century” offered in 1903-04. It is transcribed and posted below. 

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Short biography from the Williams College Yearbook, 1902

Charles Jesse Bullock, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science

Graduated from Boston University, 1889, with commencement appointment, and received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1895. He taught in high schools from 1889 to 1893, was Traveling Fellow in Boston University in 1893-94, and was Fellow and Assistant in the University of Wisconsin, 1894-95 From 1895 to 1899, he was Instructor in Economics at Cornell University. Dr. Bullock has written: “The Finances of the United States, 1775-1789,” (Madison, 1895); “Introduction to the Study of Economics,” (Boston, 1897, second edition, 1900); and “Essays on the Monetary History of the United States,” (New York, 1900). Editor of “Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America” (Am. Economic Assoc., New York, 1897), and contributor of various articles to the economic and statistical magazines. He is a member of the American Economic Association and of the American Statistical Association, an associate  member of the National Institute of Art, Science, and Letters, and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Dr. Bullock is a member of the society of ΦΒΚ and of the ΘΔΧ Fraternity.

Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26.

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Bullock appointed assistant professor of economics

At a special meeting of the Board of Overseers held yesterday it was voted to concur with the President and Fellows in their votes as follows: …appointing Charles Jesse Bullock, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics for five years from September 1, 1903…

Source: The Harvard Crimson, May 21, 1903.

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Course Enrollment
Economics 15, 1903-04

Economics 15. Asst. Professor Bullock. The History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century.

Total 5: 5 Graduates.

 Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 15
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. What trace of the influence of Aristotle can be found in modern economic thought?
  2. What were the chief characteristics of English, French, German, and Spanish mercantilism?
  3. Give a brief account of the writings of any three of the following men: Child, Montchrétien, Forbonnais, Seckendorff, Justi, Genovesi, Ustariz.
  4. Give a critical account of the economic doctrines of Thomas Mun.
  5. Give an account of the economic opinions of Sir Dudley North.
  6. Characterize the economic doctrines of Gournay.
  7. Name and characterize the principal works that treat of the Physiocratic School.
  8. Describe the development of Adam Smith’s economic opinions prior to 1764.
  9. What is your opinion of Smith’s criticism upon the mercantilists?
  10. Describe the progress of Smith’s doctrines in France and Germany.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, pp. 36-37.

Image Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.