Tag: Custis

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Exam Questions Harvard Labor

Harvard. Report assignments and final exam for Problems of Labor. Ripley et al., 1905-1906

Professor William Zebina Ripley’s courses at Harvard ranged from economic and social statistics, through transportation economics, industrial organization and regulation, and (as we see in this post) labor economics/industrial relations. Besides the enrollment figures and the final exam questions for the course, we were able to fish copies of the report assignments for 1905-06 from the Harvard archives. This course material has been transcribed and can be found below.

Fun fact: the teaching assistant Mr. Houghton can be identified as William Morris Houghton who received an A.M. from Harvard in 1904 and went off to work as a writer for the New York Herald Tribune, first as a reporter/feature writer and then as an editorial writer (and was included in the 35th anniversary of the Yale Class of 1904 as a member of the class who did not graduate from Yale).

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Other Labor Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Problems of Labor, 1903-1904.

Problems of Labor, 1904-05.

Short Bibliography of Trade Unionism, 1910.

Short Bibliography of Strikes and Boycotts, 1910.

Trade Unionism and Allied Problems, 1914-1915.

Problems of Labor, 1931.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor [William Zebina] Ripley, assisted by Messrs. [Vanderveer] Custis and [William Morris] Houghton. — Problems of Labor.

Total 96: 7 Graduates, 23 Seniors, 42 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 7 Others.

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

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 9a

ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

Group A

            Students will report upon the comparative conditions respecting Trade Union organization, functions, and efficiency in corresponding industries in the United States and Great Britain. The particular industry assigned to each man is indicated by a number on the enrolment slip, which refers to the Trade Union number on the appended list of National Labor Organizations.

Group B

            Students will report upon the comparative efficiency of Trade Union organization in two distinct lines of industry in the United States. Numbers against the names on the enrolment slip refer to the numbered Trade Union list, appended hereto.

Group C

            Students will report upon the nature of Trade Union organization in two distinct lines of industry in Great Britain. Names on the enrolment slip as numbered refer to the industries concerned in the appended list of Trade Unions.

          → The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “98 A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the Cotton Spinners’ Unions in the United States and Great Britain; “9 & 98 B,” that a comparison of the Spinners’ and of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Organizations in the United States is expected; while “9 & 98 C” calls for the same comparison for the two industries in Great Britain.

NATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
IN THE UNITED STATES

*Indicates that the Trade Union journal is in the Library. [Loeb Fund.]

† Reference to Reports, U.S. Industrial Commission, is given within parentheses.

*The KNIGHTS OF LABOR
*THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR

  1. Actors’ International Union.
  2. Asbestos Workers of America.
  3. Bakery and Confectionery Workers.
  4. Barbers’ International Union.
  5. Bill Posters and Billers of America.
  6. International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths.
  7. *Boiler Makers and Iron Ship Builders of America.
  8. International Brotherhood of Bookbinders.
  9. Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union. († VII, 356; XIV, 333.)
  10. United Brewery Workmen.
  11. *Brick, Tile and Terra Cotta Workers’ Alliance.
  12. Bridge and Structural Iron Workers.
  13. Broom and Whisk Makers’ Union.
  14. Brushmakers’ International Union.
  15. *United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
  16. Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners.
  17. International Carriage and Wagon Workers.
  18. International Wood Carvers’ Association.
  19. International Association of Car Workers.
  20. Brotherhood of Cement Workers.
  21. Chainmakers’ National Union.
  22. *Cigarmakers’ International Union. († VII, 257, 715.)
  23. Retail Clerks’ International Protective Association.
  24. United Cloth Hat and Cap Makers.
  25. Commercial Telegraphers’ Union of America.
  26. International Compressed Air Workers’ Union.
  27. Coopers’ International Union.
  28. Amalgamated Lace Curtain Operatives.
  29. International Union of Cutting Die and Cutter Makers.
  30. International Union of Electrical Workers. († VII, 375.)
  31. International Union of Elevator Constructors.
  32. International Union of Steam Engineers.
  33. International Association of Watch Case Engravers.
  34. International Brotherhood of Stationary Firemen.
  35. International Association of Steam and Hot Water Fitters and Helpers. († VII, 964.)
  36. International Union of Flour and Cereal Mill Employes.
  37. International Brotherhood of Foundry Employes.
  38. International Union of Interior Freight Handlers and Warehousemen.
  39. International Association of Fur Workers.
  40. United Garment Workers of America. († VII, 182.)
  41. International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.
  42. Glass Bottle Blowers’ Association. († VII, 102, 920.)
  43. *Glass Workers’ International Association.
  44. International Glove Workers’ Union.
  45. *Granite Cutters’ International Association. († XIV, 422.)
  46. Pocket Knife Blade Grinders’ and Finishers’ National Union.
  47. Table Knife Grinders’ National Union.
  48. United Hatters of North America.
  49. Hod Carriers and Building Laborers’ Union.
  50. International Union of Journeymen Horse-Shoers.
  51. Hotel and Restaurant Employes’ International Alliance and Bartenders’ International League.
  52. Iron, Steel and Tin Workers. († VII, 84.)
  53. International Jewelry Workers’ Union.
  54. International Union of Wood, Wire, and Metal Lathers.
  55. International Union of Shirt, Waist, and Laundry Workers.
  56. United Brotherhood of Leather Workers on Horse Goods.
  57. Amalgamated Leather Workers’ Union.
  58. International Protective and Beneficial Association of Lithographers.
  59. International Protective Association of Lithographic Press Feeders.
  60. International Longshoremen’s Association.
  61. National Association of Machine Printers and Color Mixers.
  62. *International Association of Machinists.
  63. International Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes.
  64. International Association of Marble Workers.
  65. *Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen.
  66. International Union of Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, and Brass Workers.
  67. International Alliance of Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers.
  68. *United Mine Workers.
  69. International Molders’ Union.
  70. American Federation of Musicians.
  71. Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paper Hangers.
  72. United Brotherhood of Paper Makers.
  73. Pattern Makers’ League.
  74. International Union of Pavers, Rammermen, Flag Layers, Bridge and Stone Curb Setters.
  75. Paving Cutters’ Union.
  76. International Photo-Engravers’ Union.
  77. *International Piano and Organ Workers’ Union.
  78. International Steel and Copper Plate Printers’ Union.
  79. International Association of Operative Plasterers.
  80. United Association of Plumbers, Gas Fitters, Steam Fitters, and Steam Fitters’ Helpers.
  81. National Federation of Post Office Clerks.
  82. National Brotherhood of Operative Potters. († XIV, 636, 643.)
  83. United Powder and High Explosive Workers.
  84. National Print Cutters’ Association.
  85. International Printing Pressmen’s Union.
  86. International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers.
  87. Quarry Workers’ International Union.
  88. *Order of Railroad Telegraphers. († XVII, 821.)
  89. Brotherhood of Railway Clerks.
  90. Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employes. († VII, 205.)
  91. International Brotherhood of Roofers, Composition, Damp and Waterproof Workers.
  92. Saw Smiths’ National Union.
  93. *International Seamen’s Union.
  94. International Shingle Weavers’ Union.
  95. International Union of Shipwrights’ Joiners and Caulkers.
  96. International Slate and Tile Roofers’ Union.
  97. International Union of Slate Workers.
  98. Spinners’ International Union. († XIV, 564, 573, 581.)
  99. Theatrical Stage Employes’ International Alliance.
  100. The Steel Plate Transferers’ Association.
  101. International Stereotypers and Electrotypers’ Union.
  102. Stone Cutters’ Association. († VII, 201.)
  103. Stove Mounters’ International Union. († VII, 860.)
  104. Switchmen’s Union of North America.
  105. *Journeymen Tailors’ Union.
  106. International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
  107. United Textile Workers. († VII, 343.)
  108. International Ceramic, Mosaic and Encaustic Tile Layers and Helpers’ Union.
  109. Tin Plate Workers’ Protective Association.
  110. International Brotherhood of Tip Printers.
  111. *Tobacco Workers’ International Union.
  112. International Union of Travellers’ Goods and Leather Novelty Workers.
  113. *International Typographical Union. († VII, 268.)
  114. Upholsterers’ International Union.
  115. Elastic Goring Weavers’ Amalgamated Association.
  116. American Wire Weavers’ Protective Association.
  117. International Brotherhood of Woodsmen and Saw Mill Workers.
  118. International Union of Amalgamated Wood Workers.
  119. *Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. († XVII, 821.)
  120. *Order of Railway Conductors of America. († XVII, 821.)
  121. *Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. († XVII, 821.)
  122. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. († XVII, 821.)
  123. Brotherhood of Railway Trackmen.

            The constitutions of most of the Trades Unions for the United States will be found in Vol. XVII, Reports, U. S. Industrial Commission. Similar data for Great Britain is in the Appendix to “Foreign Reports, Vols. 1-2,” Royal Commission on Labour, pp. 15-324. [Volume I, United States; Volume II, Colonies and Indian Empire] [Both reserved in Gore Hall.] For early history of British Unions consult Reports, Royal Commission on Organization and Rules of Trades Unions, 1867-69; Parl. Papers, 1867, Vol. XXXII; 1867-68, Vol. XXXIX; 1868-69, Vol. XXXI. The Annual Report on Trade Unions by the Labour Department of the Board of Trade also contains up-to-date material on English conditions. Additional evidence as to labor conditions in each industry will be found in Vols. VII, VIII, XII, XIV, and XVII, U. S. Industrial Commission (consult Digest and Index in each volume); in the 11th Special Report, U.S. Bureau of Labor, on Restriction of Output; in the annual reports of the state bureaus of labor of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc. [See index under Unions in Special Index published by the U.S. Department of Labor; and in the Reports of the British Royal Commission.] The student should also consult Charles Booth’s Life and Labor of the People;

[(Original) Volume I, East London; (Original) Volume II, London; (Original) Appendix to Volume II; Note: the previous three original volumes were re-printed as four volumes that then were followed by Volume V, Population Classified by Trades; Volume VI, Population Classified by Trades (cont.); Volume VII, Population Classified by Trades; Volume VIII, Population Classified by Trades (cont.); Volume IX, Comparisons, Survey and Conclusions];

Webbs’, Industrial Democracy and History of Trade Unionism; and other books reserved in Gore Hall.

            Data respecting the various unions among railroad employees in the United States will be found in a separate section on Railway Labor, in Vol. XVII, U. S. Industrial Commission: as also in Vols. IV and IX. (See Digests and Indexes.)

            In cases where the American Trade Union journal is not in the library, the student will be expected to procure at least one copy from the Secretary of the Union. [See list of post office addresses posted with the enrolment slip.] These are to be filed with the report.

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

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1905-1906”.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 9a

ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

            → Exact references by title, volume and page must be given in footnotes for all facts cited. This condition is absolutely imperative. Without such foot-notes the report will be rejected. General references listed separately are of no value.

Group F

            Students will prepare a connected and logical statement of the course of a labor dispute, as indicated by number on the appended list. The particular year being given in this reference, proceed at first to fix the date of beginning and close of the contest. Poole’s Index of Periodicals should be carefully searched for references. Note, however, that the more serious studies do not appear until a year or two after the event. A Select List of Books (and periodicals) on Strikes, published by the Library of Congress in 1903, may conveniently be used. The World Almanac often contains data worthy of consideration. Rely upon the Economic journals, where possible, but always seek many different authorities. The various reports of state Bureaus of Labor, which might take cognizance of the strike, should also be examined. Newspapers, to be found at the Boston Public Library, are useful; but statements therein should be carefully weighed. Clearly distinguish among other things: the cause of the strike; the policy of workmen and employers in its conduct; legal processes invoked; and the results to both parties. Summarize your conclusions succinctly at the end.

  1. Pennsylvania Railroad, 1877.
  2. Chicago Printers, 1880.
  3. Railway Telegraphers, 1883.
  4. Southwestern Railways, 1886.
  5. Anthracite Coal Miners, 1887-88.
  6. Homestead Strike, 1890.
  7. Spring Valley, 1890.
  8. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 1891.
  9. Cripple Creek, 1893.
  10. Anthracite Coal Miners, 1893-94.
  11. Northern Pacific Railway, 1894.
  12. Pullman Strike, 1894.
  13. The Army of the Commonweal, 1894.
  14. New York Tailors, 1895.
  15. Bituminous Coal Miners, 1897.
  16. Marlboro, Mass., 1898-99.
  17. Chicago Building Trades, 1900.
  18. New York Cigar Makers, 1900.
  19. Anthracite Coal Workers, 1900.
  20. Steel Workers, 1901.
  21. Louis Street Railway, 1901.
  22. Boston Teamsters, 1901.
  23. Machinists Strike, 1901.
  24. Anthracite Coal Miners, 1902.
  25. Boston Brewery Workmen, 1902.
  26. Pawtucket Weavers, 1902.
  27. New York Building Trades, 1903.
  28. Colorado Miners, 1903-04.
  29. New York Garment Workers, 1903-04.
  30. New York Subway, 1904-05.
  31. Fall River Cotton Mills, 1904-05.
  32. Chicago Butchers, 1904

[Note: nothing listed between items 32 and 51]

  1. London Docks, 1889.
  2. Scottish Railways, 1891.
  3. English Coal Miners, 1893.
  4. Lancashire Cotton Mills, 1900.
  5. English Coal Miners, 1901.
  6. French Coal Miners [Carmaux], 1902.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1905-1906”.

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ECONOMICS 9a
Final Examination, 1905-06

  1. Criticise Compulsory Insurance Acts from the distinct points of view of (1) thrift, (2) efficiency, and (3) morality, stating the nature of the evidence in each case.
  2. In what domains of social legislation are the following countries more advanced than the United States: (a) Great Britain, (b) the colony of Victoria, (c) the colony of New Zealand, (d) Germany? In what branches of such legislation does the United States surpass Buropean countries? [Answer by merely naming, without descriptive matter.]
  3. How do the Australian colonies deal with the non-union man in their labor laws?
  4. Defend the Minimum Wage policy from the workman’s point of view, and state the employers’ objections thereto.
  5. In what kinds of social legislation is the Federal character of our government a serious bar to experimentation? Show clearly the reasons why.
  6. What policies in the matter of apprenticeship on the part of employers do the trades unions seek to thwart by their rules on the subject?
  7. How does an injunction differ from an ordinary rule at law; and why is it so commonly used in labor disputes?
  8. What is a Federal Union as distinct from a Trade Union?

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. 35.

Image Source: Four strikers of the Ladies Tailors union on the picket line during the “Uprising of the 20,000”. Photo dated February 1910. Strike ran from November 1909 to March 1910. From the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization

Harvard. Enrollment, Course description, Final exam. Economics of Corporations. Ripley and Custis, 1904-1905

William Zebina Ripley

In 1904-05 Professor William Zebina Ripley of Harvard co-taught his course on the economics of corporations with his dissertation student Vanderveer Custis, who went on to teach economics at the University of Washington and later at Northwestern University where he attained professorial rank. The economics of corporations course was at least implicity paired to a course on labor problems (material found in the previous post). The common thread through the sequence would have been the study of market power through combination of laborers (trade unions) on the one hand and corporations (trusts) on the other.

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Other Corporations/Industrial Organization Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Economics of Corporations, 1903-1904.

Economics of Corporations, 1914-1915.

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Course Readings

Cases for the course are most certainly found in Trusts, Pools and Corporations (1905), edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley. From the series of Volumes Selections and Documents in Economics, edited by William Z. Ripley published by Ginn and Company, Boston.

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 9b 2hf. Professor Ripley and Mr. Custis. — Economics of Corporations.

Total 190: 17 Graduates, 31 Seniors, 95 Juniors, 34 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 12 Others.

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

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 9b 2hf. Economics of Corporations. Half-course (second half-year) Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor Ripley.

The work of this course will consist of a discussion of the problems connected with the fiscal and industrial organization of capital, especially in the corporate form. The principal topic considered will be industrial combination and the so-called trust problem. This will be treated in all its phases, with comparative study of the conditions in the United States and European countries. The growth and development of corporate enterprise, promotion, capitalization and financing, publicity of accounting, the liability of directors and underwriters, will be Illustrated fully by the study of cases, not from their legal but from their purely economic aspects; and the effects of industrial combination and integration upon efficiency, profits, wages, the rights of investors, prices, industrial stability, the development of export trade, and international competition will be considered in turn.

The course is open to those students only who have taken Economies 1. Systematic reading and report work will be assigned from time to time.

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. 43-44.

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ECONOMICS 9b
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. In what respect did the English Company Law of 1900 fall short of providing an adequate remedy for abuses which had developed?
  2. What was the gist of the Federal decision in the Knight (Sugar Trust) case; and how does it bear upon the present situation?
  3. What is the form of the Anti-Trust laws of the different states? Discuss the feasibility of this remedy.
  4. What are Meade’s final propositions as to the need and nature of reform in corporate management?
  5. Compare the two principal methods of administering corporate sinking funds.
  6. Outline three important cases showing the attitude of the English common law toward monopoly.
  7. What appears to you as the most serious social evil in the present situation? Distinguish carefully between economic, social, and political aspects.
  8. How has economy in the matter of freights been sought by industrial combinations, and with what success?

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. 30.

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

Categories
Economists Exam Questions Harvard Labor

Harvard. Enrollment, Course description, Final exam. Problems of Labor. Ripley and Custis, 1904-1905

Professor William Zebina Ripley of Harvard had comfortably settled in his fields of statistics, labor problems and corporate finance/industrial organization by 1904-05. In that year he co-taught his labor course with his dissertation student Vanderveer Custis, who went on to teach economics at the University of Washington and later at Northwestern University where he attained professorial rank.

Fun fact: According to the 1907 University of Washington yearbook Tyee (p. 22), Assistant Professor of Economics Vanderveer Custis was a lineal descendant of Martha Custis Washington.

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Other Labor Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Problems of Labor, 1903-1904.

Short Bibliography of Trade Unionism, 1910.

Short Bibliography of Strikes and Boycotts, 1910.

Trade Unionism and Allied Problems, 1914-1915.

Problems of Labor, 1931.

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Vanderveer Custis
[1878-1961]

Chicago, June 17. Vanderveer Custis, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, died today in a rest home in Arlington Heights. He was 82 years old.

Mr. Custis studied at Harvard University, where he took degrees of Bachelor of Arts [1901], Master of Arts [1902] and Doctor of Philosophy [1905].

He taught economics at the University of Washington from 1905 until 1922, when he went to Northwestern as Associate Professor of Economics. He was made a full professor in 1937 and retired in 1944.

Source: New York Times (18 June 1961).

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Vanderveer Custis
Ph.D. exams

Special Examination in Economics, Wednesday, June 7, 1905.
General Examination passed May 20, 1904.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Bullock, Sprague, and Wyman.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1901-04; A.B. (Harvard) 1901; A.M. (ibid.) 1902.
Special Subject: Industrial Organization.
Thesis Subject: “The Theory of Industrial Consolidation.” (With Professor Ripley).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1904-1905”.

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor [William Zebina] Ripley and Mr. [Vanderveer] Custis. — Problems of Labor.

Total 128: 10 Graduates, 29 Seniors, 59 Juniors, 23 Sophomores, 7 Others.

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

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 9a 1hf. Problems of Labor. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 1.30. Professor Ripley.

The work of this course will be concerned mainly with the economic and social questions relating to the relations of employer and employed, with especial reference to legislation. Among the topics included will be the following, viz.: methods of remuneration, profit sharing, cooperation, collective bargaining; labor organizations; factory legislation in all its phases in the United States and Europe; strikes, strike legislation and legal decisions, conciliation and arbitration; employers’ liability and compulsory compensation acts; compulsory insurance with particular reference to European experience; provident institutions, friendly societies, building and loan associations; the problem of the unemployed; apprenticeship, and trade and technical education.

Each student will be expected to make at least one report upon a labor union, from the original documents. Two lectures a week, with one recitation, will be the usual practice.

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. 43.

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ECONOMICS 9a1
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. State two objections to a general policy of insurance against unemployment, as tried in Switzerland.
  2. What peculiar trade conditions may make the National Union outweigh the locals in importance? Illustrate.
  3. State the two principal grounds on which employees were first denied damages for injuries about 1837.
  4. As a commercial venture how does compulsory insurance, as in Germany, differ from ordinary insurance, as it exists in the United States.
  5. What is the present status of the “closed shop” before English and American courts?
  6. In what respects does the British Trades Union Congress differ from the Annual Convention of the British Federation of Labor?
  7. What were the main causes of the downfall of the Knights of Labor? How is the American Federation protecting itself in these regards?
  8. How far has arbitration in labor disputes by governmental agency proceeded in the United States?

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. 29-30.

Image Source: The 1907 edition of the University of Washington yearbook, Tyee.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Principles

Harvard. Enrollment and exams for Outlines of Economics. Taussig et al., 1904-1905

Frank W. Taussig & A. Piatt Andrew

From the final exams for the two semester introductory economics course run by Frank Taussig and A. Piatt Andrew in 1904-05 we see (among other things) that John Stuart Mill provided the backbone of theory and that there was room for a compare and contrast question regarding a liberal market economy vs a socialist economy.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 1. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig, Asst. Professor [Abram Piatt] Andrew, and Messrs. [Vanderveer] Custis, [James Alfred] Field, [Silas Wilder] Howland, [Selden Osgood] Martin, and [Chester Whitney] Wright. — Outlines of Economics.

Total 438: 10 Seniors, 84 Juniors, 232 Sophomores, 54 Freshmen, 58 Others.

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

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ECONOMICS 1
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

One question in each group may be omitted.
Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions
Give your reasons in all cases.

I

  1. Which among the following would you consider (1) “productive laborers,” (2) otherwise useful to society: actors, manufacturers of gambling implements, stock-brokers, landlords receiving and spending the rents of land.
  2. It has been laid down that,—
    Capital is distinguished from non-capital by its nature, — it consists of machinery, materials, and other apparatus for production;
    Capital is distinguished from non-capital by the intention of the owner in dealing with his wealth;
    Capital, though the result of saving, is yet continually consumed.
    Can you reconcile these propositions? If not, which do you consider sound?
  3. “The laws and conditions of the production of wealth partake of the character of physical truths.” Is this true of the law stating the conditions under which the accumulation of capital takes place? of that stating the conditions under which production upon land takes place?
  4. Define briefly: value in use, value in exchange, utility, marginal utility, margin of cultivation, consumer’s rent.
  5. Can a person having a monopoly of a given commodity control its price at will? If so, how? If not, why not?
  6. “An individual speculator cannot gain by a rise in price of his own creating . . . when there is neither at the time nor afterwards any cause for a rise of prices except his own proceedings.”
    On what reasoning does this statement of Mill’s rest? Does the practice of dealings for future delivery (“futures”) affect the reasoning.

II

  1. What is the difference between a wages-fund and a wages-flow? Which seems to you the better mode of describing the influences that act on the general rate of wages?
  2. “The expectations of profit, therefore, in different employments, cannot long continue very different: they tend to a common average.”
    “It is true that, to persons with the same amount of original means, there is more chance of making a large fortune in some employments than in others.”
    “Gross profit varies greatly from individual to individual, and can scarcely be in any two cases the same.”
    Can these statements of Mill’s be reconciled?
  3. Is the return from capital sunk in the soil to be regarded as rent or interest? Is the return from urban real estate to be regarded as rent or interest? Is the return on corporate securities (stocks and bonds) to be regarded as rent or interest?
  4. How will a rise in the rate of interest affect the selling value of land? that of securities yielding a fixed income?
  5. “But it is impossible for anyone to study political economy, even as at present taught, or to think at all upon the production and distribution of wealth, without seeing that property in land differs essentially from property in things of human production, and that it has no warrant in abstract justice.” Henry George.
    Do you think this statement true in view of what you have learned in this course? Consider both your reading and the lectures.
  6. What would become of interest, rent, business profits, in a socialist state? what if there were an all-embracing régime of coöperative production?

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 1
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

Omit one question from each group.

I

  1. What is meant by the equilibrium of demand and supply? How is it secured?
  2. Suppose there were a general rise in wages: could capitalists, by charging higher prices for their goods, prevent profits from falling?
    Suppose a rise of wages in a particular trade: could the capitalists in that trade, by charging higher prices, keep their profits from falling?
  3. Under what head — wages, rent, interest, profits — would you class the remuneration of (1) an apothecary; (2) a city merchant who owns the building in which he carries on his business; (3) an author who receives copyright payments on books which he has written; (4) a stockholder in a company which owns a lucrative patent?
  4. Is land capital? Are buildings capital? Are the skill and capacity of a workman — such as a trained engineer or a great inventor — to be regarded as capital?

II

  1. What would be the effect on the price of beef if a high protective tariff were levied on the import of hides?
  2. Which of the economic advantages and disadvantages of combination, in the broad sense, result from (a) pooling, (b) merger in a single corporation, (c) monopoly?
  3. President Roosevelt in a recent message said that our tariff “duties must never be reduced below the point that will cover the difference between the labor cost here and abroad.” Discuss this statement.
  4. Suppose that a country which manufactures only enough to supply half the home market, and which has a large export trade in wheat, imposes a uniform import duty of 50% on all commodities. What will be the effect on the nominal and the real wages of agricultural laborers, absolutely, and as compared with wages in manufacturing industries?

III

  1. How do you explain the fact that there is less than 1/10 as much silver in a dime as in a silver dollar? Is there any reason why this should be so?
  2. Explain briefly:—

(a) Deposit.
(b) Suffolk Bank system.
(c) Clearing House certificate.
(d) Post-note.
(e) Discount.
(f) Reserve city.
(g) Central reserve city.
(h) Asset currency.

  1. Secretary Shaw has said “Without claiming that the national banking act is perfect or that our currency system is free from objection I think that the world joins us in the verdict that it is the best system known to man.”
    Discuss this statement, comparing the American system as regards security and elasticity with those of England and Germany.
  2. If a national bank examiner should discover the following to be the account of a bank in Boston to what would he object:
Capital 200,000 Loans 733,000
Surplus 24,000 U.S. Bonds 75,000
Undivided profits 43,000 Other assets 42,000
Notes 78,000 Deposits in U.S. Treas. 3,500
Deposits 745,000 Deposits in other banks 150,000
Clearing House certificate 14,000
Coin & legal tender notes 72,500
1,090,000 1,090,000

Would his objections differ at all if the bank were located in Cambridge?

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. 21-23.

Image Sources:  Frank W. Taussig (Original black and white image from of Frank William Taussig from a cabinet card photograph, 1895, at the Harvard University Archives HUP); Abram Piatt Andrews (Picture from ca. 1909 used in a magazine article about Andrew’s appointment to the directorship of the U. S. Mint. Hoover Institution Archives. A. Piatt Andrew Papers, Box 51). Images colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Principles Undergraduate

Harvard. Principles of Economics. Description, Enrollment, Exam Questions. Andrew, Mixter, and Sprague. 1902-1903

Over 500 students enrolled in the introductory course “Outlines of Economics” offered at Harvard in 1902-03. Frank Taussig continued his sick-leave through the academic year 1902-03 which is why his name was listed in the (ex ante) course description from June 1902 but not included in the departmental staffing report to the president (ex post) for 1902-03. 

Artifacts for the same course offered during the academic year 1901-1902 have been posted earlier. It is worth noting that of the three required texts listed below, Hadley’s Economics replaced Walker’s Political Economy (Advanced Course) that had been assigned for the previous year.

Fun Fact: Gilbert Holland Montague, one of the teaching assistants, left economics to become an anti-trust lawyer who quite apparently had the means to collect over 15,000 books and 20,000 pamphlets during his lifetime. He even owned a 14th century copy of the Magna Carta.

______________________________ 

Course Description, 1902-03
Economics 1

Course 1 is introductory to the other courses. It is intended to give a general survey of the subject for those who take but one course in Economics, and also to prepare for the further study of the subject in advanced courses. It is usually taken with most profit by undergraduates in the second or third year of their college career. Students who plan to take it in their first year are strongly advised to consult the instructor in advance. History 1 or Government 1, or both of these courses, will usually be taken to advantage before Economies 1.

[…]

Primarily for Undergraduates

  1. Outlines of Economics. — Lectures on Social Questions and Monetary Legislation. , Th., Sat., at 11. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig, Drs. [Abram Piatt] Andrew, [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague, and [Charles Whitney] Mixter, and Messrs. [Gilbert Holland] Montague and [Vanderveer] Custis.

Course 1 gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It undertakes a consideration of the principles of production, distribution, exchange, money, banking, and international trade. The relations of labor and capital, the present organization of industry, and the recent currency legislation of the United States, will be treated in outline.

Course 1 will be conducted partly by lectures, partly by oral discussion in sections. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading. Large parts of Mill’s Principles of Political Economy, of Hadley’s Economics, and of Dunbar’s Theory and History of Banking will be read; and these books must be procured by all members of the course.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science [Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

______________________________ 

Course Enrollment, 1902-03
Economics 1

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

Economics 1. Drs. [Abram Piatt] Andrew, [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague, and [Charles Whitney] Mixter, and Messrs. [Charles] Beardsley [Jr.], [Vanderveer] Custis, and [Gilbert Holland] Montague. — Outlines of Economics.

Total 514: 2 Gr., 25 Se., 108 Ju., 270 So., 39 Fr., 70 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 67.

______________________________ 

Mid-year Examination 1903
Economics 1

Omit one question

  1. The population of the United States has increased from 23 millions in 1850 to about 80 millions in 1902 (not including the population of the islands acquired from Spain), and yet the “standard of living” has not fallen. Can you reconcile this with the Malthusian theory?
  2. “Economic rent and net profits are like the producers’ and consumers’ surplus described at the beginning of the chapter in being differential gains. . . .”
    Explain these terms and discuss Hadley’s comparison of profits and rent.
  3. How in your opinion does the use of labor-saving machinery in agriculture affect the value of agricultural produce, and the rent of agricultural land?
  4. What would you suppose to be the effect of immigration upon the production of wealth, upon wages, and upon the value of land in the United States?
  5. A recent Secretary of the Navy, in defending large naval appropriations, wrote as follows: “It is a taking thing to say that $100,000,000 could be better spent for education or charity; and yet, on the other hand, $100,000,000 spent in the employment of labor is the very best use to which it can be put. There is no charity in the interest of the popular welfare or of education so valuable as the employment of labor.”
    Discuss the economic argument implied in this statement.
  6. Should a railroad be compelled to charge the same rate per ton-mile for all goods of equal bulk? Why? or why not?
  7. Suppose that one piano manufacturer buys out all of the other piano manufacturers in the country, can he now sell the former aggregate output of all the factories at an advanced price? Give reasons for your answer.
  8. Explain by the theory of the value of money why prices are high in times of speculation and low when a period of depression sets in.
  9. Could a paper currency depreciate in value, if a government pledged the public lands for its redemption? Give reasons.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

______________________________ 

Year-end Examination 1903
Economics 1

Omit one question from each group.

I

  1. What is meant by

unearned increment,
marginal utility,
double standard,
rapidity of circulation?

  1. Explain the relation of the law of diminishing returns to rent.
  2. It wages are determined by the productivity of labor, how would you explain the circumstance that labor organizations which impose restrictions upon individual output, have been accompanied by a rise of wages?
  3. What considerations are likely to determine the prices of trust-made commodities?

II

  1. In what ways would the repeal of our tariff duties affect our export trade?
  2. Former Speaker Reed, in an article on Protection, said: “Any system which enables our people to do our own work is a system which can give the best results. . . . The whole nation gets the benefit of it?”
    Discuss this statement.
  3. Give the principal reasons for and against the adoption of the policy of the single tax.
  4. How is the community served by the produce exchanges? by the stock exchanges?

III

  1. (a) What kinds of money are susceptible of increase under existing legislation in the United States? In what way?
    (b) In what way do clearing house loan certificates add to the circulating medium?
    Under what circumstances may they be issued?
  2. Suppose the deposits of the national banks to increase one hundred million dollars, would the position of the banks be rendered stronger thereby?
  3. Are the national banks of the United States unfairly granted the privilege of earning a double profit in respect to their circulation?
  4. In his last annual report, the Secretary of the Treasury writes: “I think a far better course for the present at least would be to provide an elastic currency available in every banking community and sufficient for the needs of that locality. This, I think, can be accomplished . . . . by several methods.”
    Explain some of these methods.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Sources: Abram Piatt Andrew (1920) from Wikimedia Commons. O.M.W. Sprague from Harvard Class Album 1920, p. 25.

 

Categories
Economists Faculty Regulations Harvard

Harvard. Economics Graduate School Records of James Alfred Field, ABD. 1903-1911.

 

The artifact transcribed for the previous post came from the tenth year report for the Harvard Class of 1903 written by University of Chicago associate professor of economics James A. Field. This post begins with an excerpt from Field’s Chicago Tribune obituary to complete our picture of his career.

What makes this post noteworthy for Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is the following information transcribed from Field’s graduate student records kept at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and within the division of History and Political Science during his first two graduate years in residence at Harvard. 

Also of particular interest is the copy of a 1911 letter included in his file informing the chairman of the economics department, Professor Frank Taussig, that the submission of a single excellent paper would not satisfy the thesis requirement for the Ph.D. By this time James A. Field was well-established at the University of Chicago and appears to have subsequently abandoned his plans to complete a Harvard Ph.D. degree. 

_________________________________

From James A. Field’s obituary in the Chicago Sunday Tribune
(July 17, 1927)

James Alfred Field, professor of economics at the University of Chicago, died on Friday [cf. The Associated Press reported that he died Saturday] in Boston from a tumor of the brain. He was returning from study at the British museum when he was stricken in Boston and died after a short illness. He was 47 years old and a native of Milton, Mass…In 1910 he came to the University of Chicago and in 1923 was made dean of the college of art and literature.
He was associate editor of the Journal of Political Economy and was special investigator of the division of statistics of the council of national defense in 1917. In 1918-19 he served as chief statistician of the American shipping mission of the allied maritime transport council in London. Prof. Field was the author of “Progress of Eugenics” and co-author of “Outlines of Economics…”

Source: Chicago Sunday Tribune, 17 July, 1927, p. 12.

_________________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE

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. Name (in full, and date of birth).

James Alfred Field
May 26th 1880

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

Harvard College 1899-1903
Assistant in Economics 1903-1904
Austin Teaching Fellow in Economics 1904-1905

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

A.B. Harvard 1903

IV. Academic distinctions. (Mention prizes, honors, fellowships, scholarships, etc.)

A.B. summa cum laude; honorable mention in Economics; Jacob Wendell Scholarship; John Harvard Scholarship (twice)

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

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (Write out each subject, and at the end put in [brackets] the number of that subject in the Division lists. Indicate any digressions from the normal choices, and any combinations of partial subjects. State briefly what your means of preparation have been on each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

    1. Economic Theory and its History [1]. Based on Econ. 1, taken and for two years taught. Econ. 3, Econ. 15.
    2. Economic History [2 and 3 merged] Based on Econ. 6 and 11 and parts of History 9.
    3. Sociology [4] Based on Econ. 3 taken and taught; Anthropology 1, and on private reading.
    4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization [9]. Based on Econ 9a and 9b.
    5. The Sociological Aspect of the Evolution Theory [4 and 16, modified]. Based chiefly on private reading; and on parts of Philosophy 1b, of the courses mentioned under (3), and of other courses and work in biological subjects.
    6. International Law [14, adapted] Based on Gov. 4.

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

[Left blank]

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

[Left blank]

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

General examination as late in the present academic year as is practicable.

X. Remarks.

[Left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: James Alfred Field

Date of reception: Feb. 13, 1905

Approved: Feb. 14, 1905

Date of general examination: June 12, 1905. Passed.

Thesis received: [blank]

Read by; [blank]

Approved: [blank]

Date of special examination: [blank]

Recommended for the Doctorate: [blank]

Voted by the Faculty: [blank]

Degree conferred: [blank].

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Unsigned copy of letter to F.W. Taussig
(presumably from head of Division)

11 December 1911

Dear Taussig:

            I have read Field’s article with interest, and I wish all our Ph.D.’s could do things as well. I should suppose there would be no question that it shows the kind of quality which will justify a doctor’s degree, and, of course, quality is far more important than quantity. Nevertheless, I think that if this article alone were accepted as a thesis our students and former students would feel that Field had been let off easily. Good as it is, I should not suppose this article would stand in line with the substantial volumes which make up the Harvard Economic Studies, and I should be sorry to have anybody feel that we had given Field a special favor.

            I hope very much we can make Field one of our Ph.D.’s. Could he not advantageously and with comparatively little effort use this article as part of some more comprehensive study in the field of population? The stimulus of working on a larger book is something Field needs.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]

Professor F.W. Taussig

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Box 3 “PhD. Exams, 1917-18 to 1920-21”, Folder “Ph.D. Applications Withdrawn”. 

[Memo: The above letter was likely written by CHARLES HOMER HASKINS, Ph.D., Litt.D., Professor of History, Chairman of the Division of History, Government, and Economics, and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.]

_________________________________

From the Announcement for Ph.D. General Examinations

James Alfred Field.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, June 12, 1905.

Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Carver, Gay, Castle, and Dr. Munro.

Academic History: Harvard College, 1899-1903; Harvard Graduate School, 1903-05; A.B. (Harvard) 1903.

General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History. 3. Sociology. 4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization. 5. The Sociological Aspect of the Evolution Theory. 6 International Law.

Special Subject: Sociology.

Thesis Subject: (Not yet announced.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government and Economics, Exams for PhD. (Schedules) 1903-1932. Examinations for 1904-05, p. 8.

_________________________________

FROM THE GRADUATE SCHOOL RECORD CARD

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

Record of James Alfred Field

Years: 1903-04, 1904-05

First Registration: 1 Oct. 1903

1903-04 Grades.
First Year. Course. Half-Course.
History 9 abs.  
Government 4 A  
Economics 2 A  
Economics 11 incomplete

 

1904-05 Grades.
Second Year. Course. Half-Course.
Economics 9a1 (extra)   no report
Economics 9b2 (extra)    
Economics 15 (extra) abs.  
Economics 20 (extra) incomplete  

Division History and Political Science

Scholarship, Fellowship

Assistantship in Economics [1903-04]
Austin Teaching Fellowship in Economics [1904-05]
Proctorship in Apley 1 [1903-04, 1904-05]

College attended [Harvard]

Honors at College: Hon. Mention, Economics.

Degrees received: A.B. summa cum laude 1903

Non-Resident Student Years: 1905 John Harvard Fellow

Source: Harvard University Archives. GSAS, Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930. File I, Box 5 “Eames-Garrett”.

_________________________________

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror Note:
Course numbers, names, and instructors

1903-04

History 9. Constitutional History of England to the Sixteenth Century. Professor Gross.

Government 4. Elements of International Law. Professor Macvane and Mr. Jones.

Economics 2. Economic Theory. Professors Taussig and Carver.

Economics 11. The Modern Economic History of Europe. Asst. Prof. Gay.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1903-04.

1904-05

Economics 3. Principles of Sociology, Theories of Social Progress. Professor Carver and Mr. Field.

Economics 9a1. Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley and Mr. Custis.

Economics 9a2. Economics of Corporations. Professor Ripley and Mr. Custis.

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

Economics 20. The Seminary in Economics.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1904-05.

Image Source: Original black-and-white image from the Special Diplomatic Passport Application by James Alfred Field (January 1918). Cropped and colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. (Note: left third of the image is slightly distorted because of a transparent plastic strip used to hold pages in the imaging process)

Categories
Economists Fields Harvard

Harvard. Subjects Chosen by Economics Ph.D. Candidates for Examination.1904

______________________________

This posting lists the seven graduate students in economics who took their subject examinations for the Ph.D. at Harvard in 1904.  The examination committee members, academic history, general and specific subjects are provided along with the doctoral thesis subject, when declared. Lists for 1915-16 and 1926-27 were posted previously. In the same archival box one finds lists for the academic years 1902-03 through 1904-05, 1906-07 through 1913-14, 1915-16, 1917-18 through 1918-19, and finally 1926-27. I only include graduate students of economics (i.e. not included are the Ph.D. candidates in history and government).

Titles and dates of the economic dissertations for the period 1875-1926 can be found here.

______________________________

 

DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1903-04

 

Charles Beardsley.

General Examination in Political Science, Wednesday, February 24, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Lowell, Haskins, Carver, Bullock, Gay and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1888-92; Graduate School, 1893-94, 1896-97, 1902-03; Harvard, 1897[sic, he received his A.B. in 1892] (A.B.); Harvard, 1902 [sic, he received his A.M. in 1897] (A.M.)
General Subjects: 1. Constitutional History of England since the beginning of the Tudor Period. 2. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law. 3. Economic Theory and its History. 4. Applied Economics: Money and Banking, International Trade, Taxation and Finance. 5. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Industrial Combinations. 6. Sociology, including the Labor Question. 7. (Special subject.).
Special Subject: Tariff Legislation and Controversy in England since the time of Adam Smith.
Thesis Subject: “Huskisson’s Tariff Reforms in England.” (With Professors Taussig and Gay.)

[Note: Charles Beardsley, Jr. was never awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard. More about Charles Beardsley’s life is found in my earlier posting taken from the Secretary’s Report of the Harvard Class of 1892 (1912).

 

William Hyde Price.

General Examination in Political Science, Wednesday, April 13, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Macvane, Taussig, Ripley, Bullock, Gay, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Tufts College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1901-04; Tufts, 1901(A.B.); Harvard, 1902 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. Constitutional History of England since 1500. 2. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law. 3.(a) History of Economic Theories; (b) Statistics. 4.(a) Public Finance; (b) Transportation; (c) Labor and Industrial Organization. 5. European Economic History. 6. American Economic History. 7. Sociology.
Special Subject: English Economic History since the Sixteenth Century.
Thesis Subject: “Elizabethan Patents of Monopoly.” (With Professor Gay.)

 

George Randall Lewis.

General Examination in Political Science, Thursday, April 14, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Macvane, Turner, Taussig, Carver, Gay, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1898-1902; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Harvard, 1902 (A.B.).
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Applied Economics; Labor and Railroads. 3. Economic History of the United States and Europe. 4. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Railroads. 5. Sociology. 6. History of American Institutions. 7. International law and Diplomatic History.
Special Subject: Economic History of Europe.
Thesis Subject: “Mines and Mining in Mediaeval England.” (With Professor Gay.)

 

David Hutton Webster.

General Examination in Political Science, Monday, May 2, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Lowell, G.F. Moore, Carver, Andrew, Bullock and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Stanford University, 1893-97; Assistant in Economics, Stanford University, 1899-1900; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Stanford University, 1896 (A.B.); Stanford University, 1897 (A.M.); Harvard University, 1903 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. History of Religion. 2. Theory of the State. 3. Economic Theory and its History. 4. Applied Economics: Money and Banking, International Trade, Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization. 5. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Transportation. 6 and 7 Sociology (double subject).
Special Subject: Sociology.
Thesis Subject: “Primitive Social Control: A Study of Tribal initiation Ceremonies and Secret Societies.”

Special Examination in Political Science, Friday, May 27, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Wright, Peabody, Ripley, Gay and Dr. Dixon.

 

Albert Benedict Wolfe.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 11, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Carver, Bullock, Gay, Hart, Andrew, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1899-1902; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; 1902 (A.B.); 1903 (A.M.); South End House Fellow, 1902-04; Final Honors at graduation in 1902.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology and Social Reform. 3. Statistics. 4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization. 5. United States History and International Law. 6. Economic History of Mediaeval Europe and of the United States.
Special Subject: Not yet announced.
Thesis Subject: “The Lodging House Problem in Boston, with some Reference to other Cities.”

 

Vanderveer Custis.

General Examination in Political Science, Friday, May 20, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Macvane, Taussig, Ripley, Andrew, Gay, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Harvard, 1901 (A.B.); Harvard, 1902 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. Constitutional History of England since the beginning of the Tudor Period. 2. Modern Government and International Law. 3. Economic Theory and Statistics. 4. Applied Economics: Money and Banking, Industrial Organization, Taxation, and Finance. 5. Economic History of Europe and the United States. 6. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Transportation. 7. Sociology.
Special Subject: Industrial Organization.
Thesis Subject: “The Theory of Industrial Consolidation.”

 

Chester Whitney Wright.

General Examination in Political Science, Thursday, May 26, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Haskins, Turner, Ripley, Andrew, and Bullock.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Harvard, 1901 (A.B.); Harvard, 1902 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. Money, Banking, Commercial Crises. 4. Transportation and Foreign Commerce. 5. The Economic History of the United States and Industrial Organization. 6. United States History since 1789.
Special Subject: The Economic History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: Not yet announced.

 

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1903-04”.

Image Source: John Harvard Statue (1904). Library of Congress. Photos, Prints and Drawings.