Professor Charles Dunbar had a leave of absence for the 1895-96 academic year at Harvard. His courses on public finance were taught by Dr. John Cummings and Dr. J.A. Hill. Professor Frank Taussig returned from his year leave of absence for 1894-95 and taught (among other courses) the history of financial institutions, Dunbar’s second field of specialization.
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1895-96.
The Ethics of the Social Questions.
Course Enrollment for Philosophy 5
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Philosophy] 5 . Professor Peabody. — The Ethics of the Social Questions. — The problems of Poor-Relief, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question in the light of ethical theory. — Lectures, special researches, and required reading. 3 hours.
Total 88: 7 Graduates, 49 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 18 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 60.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mid-Year Examination
1895-96.
PHILOSOPHY 5.
THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS.
[This paper should be considered as a whole. The time should not be exhausted in answering a few questions, but such limit should be given to each answer as will permit the answering of all the questions in the time assigned.]
- What is meant by;
Exogamy;
Marriage by capture;
The Patriarchal theory;
“The family is the unit of civilization”?
- The stability of the family as affected by:
(a) city life.
(b) the conflict of State laws.
(c) the philosophy of individualism.
(d) the philosophy of collectivism.
- Spencer’s view of the regime of the family in relation to the regime of the State (Principles of Sociology I, 707 pp.), with criticisms.
- The distribution of wealth in Great Britain or in the United States, statistically illustrated; and its lessons,
- Illustrate the indirect economic value of judicious charity.
- Charles Booth’s Class B in East London; its character, dimensions, relation to the general problem of poverty, and suggested treatment. Life and Labor of the People, I, 39-44; 162-169.)
- The new inquiry undertaken by Mr. Charles Booth (Vol. V and VI, 1895); its relation to the preceding researches and its confirmation of earlier results.
- “What is good in the poor-administration of Germany is due to good citizenship. … We have not citizenship enough to administer it.” (C. S. Loch, Parliamentary Report of 1888, p. 88.) Compare, in the light of this comment, the English and German theories of municipal relief.
- The influx to the great cities in its effect on methods of poor-relief.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
PHILOSOPHY 5.
THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS.
[This paper should be considered as a whole. The time should not be exhausted in answering a few questions, but such limit should be given to each answer as will permit the answering of all the questions in the time assigned.]
- Explain and illustrate, briefly, what is meant by:
“The social questions are ethical questions.”
“The correlation of the social questions.”
- The doctrines of social progress in Carlyle and in Ruskin compared in their bearing on the modern industrial situation.
- Consider the principle of social labour-time as the standard of value:
(a) Mr. Ruskin’s theory of value;
(b) The plan proposed by scientific socialism (Schäffle, p. 81);
(c) Schäffle’s criticism of this view (ch. VI., VII.);
(d) Your own judgment.
- “Socialism has no necessary affinity with any forms of violence, or confiscation, or class selfishness, or financial arrangement. … The aim of socialism is the fulfilment of service; the aim of individualism is the attainment of some personal advantage, riches, or place, or fame.” — Bishop Westcott.
“Socialism, as I understand it, is any theory of social organization which sacrifices the legitimate liberties of individuals to the will or interest of the community.” — Professor Flint.
Which of these definitions appears to you more justified by the history and tendency of socialism? What do you understand to be the “quintessence” of socialism?
- The economic and ethical criticisms commonly urged against the programme of collectivism, and your estimate of their importance.
- The ethical place and lessons of:
Anarchism;
Communism;
Arbitration.
- Compare the plans of industrial unity illustrated by the Anzin collieries, the Val-des-Bois Mill, and the Hebden Bridge Mill.
- The coöperative movement in Great Britain, its principles, its expansion, and the conditions of success for the system in this country. In federalistic coöperation what should be, in your judgment, the principle of distributing the bonus?
- The polities and the ethics of the Maine liquor law (Fanshawe, VII.)
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
Outlines of Economics.
Course Enrollment for Economics 1
Primarily for Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 1. Professors Taussig and Ashley, Asst. Professor Edward Cummings, and Dr. John Cummings. — Outlines of Economics. — Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures on Economic Development, Distribution, Social Questions, and Financial Legislation. 3 hours.
Total 338: 3 Graduates, 35 Seniors, 91 Juniors, 161 Sophomores, 8 Freshmen, 40 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 63.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mid-Year Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 1.
- Is all wealth produced by labor?
- Compare the distinction between fixed and circulating capital with the distinction between auxiliary and remuneratory capital; and state why one or the other distinction is the more satisfactory.
- Are differences in profits from employment to employment similar in kind to differences in wages from occupation to occupation?
- In what way are differences of wages affected by the absence of effective competition between laborers? by its presence?
- What are the grounds for saying that rent is a return differing in kind from interest?
- Trace the effects of an issue of inconvertible paper money, less in quantity than the specie previously in use, on (1) the circulation of specie, (2) the foreign exchanges, (3) the relations of debtor to creditor.
- State Mill’s reasoning as to the mode in which, under a double standard, one metal is driven from circulation; and explain how the actual process differs from that analyzed by Mill.
- What are the grounds for saying that the gain of international trade does not come from the sale of surplus produce beyond the domestic demand?
- In what manner is the price of landed property affected by an increased quantity of money? by a rise in the rate of interest?
- Wherein does monopoly value present a case different from that of the usual operation of the laws of value?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 1.
[Answer ten questions. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]
GROUP I.
[At least one.]
- Explain the meaning of two of the following terms, — margin of cultivation; wages of superintendence; rapidity of circulation (as to money).
- Do profits constitute a return different from interest?
- Explain what is meant by the law, or equation, of demand and supply; and in what manner it applies to commodities susceptible of indefinite multiplication without increase of cost.
- In what manner does a country gain from the division of labor in its domestic trade? In what manner from international trade?
GROUP II.
[At least one.]
- Does it fall within the province of the economist to discuss the institution of private property?
- Show the connection between the industrial development of the present century, and the discussion among economists as to the functions of the entrepreneur.
- Consider in what manner prices, or rents, [choose one] are differently determined according as they are under the influence of custom or of competition.
- “The idea that economic life has ever been a progress mainly dependent on individual action is mistaken with regard to all stages of civilization, and in some respects it is the more mistaken the farther we go back.” Explain and criticize.
GROUP III.
[At least one.]
- If coöperation were universally adopted, what would be left of the wages system?
- Is there anything in what you learned as to the laws governing wages, which the action of the English trade-unions in regard to wages has disregarded?
- Has the course of events justified Mill’s expectations in regard to the development of profit-sharing and of cooperation? Explain why, or why not.
- Describe the trade and benefit features of the English trade-unions.
GROUP IV.
[At least three.]
- Is the present position of the Treasury of the United States in any respect essentially similar to that of the Issue Department of the Bank of England? In any respect essentially dissimilar?
- What is the test of over-issue, as to inconvertible paper money? What light does the experience of the United States and of France throw on the probability of over-issue?
- Arrange in their proper order the following items in a bank account:
| Capital |
100,000 |
Bonds and Stocks |
75,000 |
| Specie |
150,000 |
Surplus |
50,000 |
| Notes |
100,000 |
Other Assets |
50,000 |
| Loans |
400,000 |
Other Liabilities |
60,000 |
| Expenses |
25,000 |
Undivided Profits |
40,000 |
| Deposits |
350,000 |
|
|
Could this bank be a national bank of the United States? If such a bank, how would the account stand?
- Compare the policy of the Bank of England in times of financial crisis with the policy of the Associated Banks of New York; and give an opinion as to which is the more effective in allaying panic.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
Economic Theory from Adam Smith to the present time.
Course Enrollment for Economics 2.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 2. Professors Ashley and Macvane. — Economic Theory from Adam Smith to the present time. — Selections from Adam Smith and Ricardo. — Modern Writers. —Lectures. 3 hours.
Total 37: 5 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 7 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 63.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mid-Year Examination.
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 2
N.B. — Not more than seven questions must be attempted.
- Compare the Aristotelian conception of Wealth with that of modern economists.
- Explain the growth, in the later Middle Ages, of the theory of “Interest.”
- Consider briefly the claims to consideration, in the history of economic thought, of Nicholas Oresme and Antoine de Montchrétien.
- “It was reserved for the eighteenth century to let in the grand idea of necessity, and to prove that the rate of wages established in a country was the inevitable consequence of the circumstances in which that country was placed, and had no connection with the wishes of any individual, or, indeed, with the wishes of any class.” (Buckle, History of Civilization.) Consider this.
- Explain the “plan” of the Wealth of Nations, and consider how far it agrees with the contents of the work.
- State and discuss Adam Smith’s doctrine of the Component Parts of Price.
- “A man must always live in his work.” Discuss the accuracy of this proposition, and the use made of it by Adam Smith and later economists.
- The effect upon English economists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of their observation of the United Netherlands.
- “Every candid reader knows that Mr. Malthus laid no stress on his unlucky attempt to give numerical precision to things which do not admit of it, and every person capable of reasoning must see that it is wholly superfluous to his argument.” (Mill). Consider this.
- With what justice can socialists claim the authority of Ricardo for their “iron law of wages”?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 2.
Take any three of the five questions.
- State your conclusions regarding the various definitions of Cost of Production. Are wages an element in Cost? Show whether economic cost and commercial (or employers’) cost may vary independently of each other.
- State briefly the views of Henry George, Marshall, and Boehm-Bawerk (or any other three writers) regarding the law of Interest. Give also your own conclusions.
- Set down carefully your conclusions as to the source and the law of Wages. Examine at least one opposing view.
- Explain and examine the Marginal Utility theory of Value. How is it reconciled with the observed connection between value and cost?
- Is a high level of wages in a country an obstacle to foreign trade?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
The Principles of Sociology.
Course Enrollment for Economics 3.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 3. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings. — The Principles of Sociology. — Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. 2 hours.
Total 37: 8 Graduates, 21 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 63.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mid-Year Examination.
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 3.
(Arrange your answers in the order of your questions. Omit one.)
- “Hence, in this case we may assert clearly that when the individual is removed the social ceases to be, and that there is absolutely nothing in society which does not exist in a state of subdivision and continual repetition in the living individuals, — or which has not existed in the dead ancestors from whom the living proceed.” Explain carefully. Compare this conception of society with the “social organism” conception, and state clearly your own views.
- What do you conceive to have been the habits and characteristics of primitive man in “a state of nature”? Discuss the evidence presented by Westermarck, Spencer, and others.
- “In a word, the physiological bond, which of old constituted the main foundation of the small domestic societies, then of the tribes, then of the ancient cities, is still the essential foundation of the great nations of today.” Explain carefully. What according to Spencer, have been the merits and defects of the various forms of family organization? What are the present tendencies?
- “Entangled and confused with one another as Ceremonial and Fashion are, they have thus different origins and meanings.” Explain. Trace carefully the significance of these differences, and give examples.
- “Class distinctions, then, date back to the beginnings of social life.”
- In what order have political institutions evolved? What have been the chief determining factors?
- “M. Alfred Fouillée has endeavored to express the truth of both ways of regarding society by saying that the highest form of it must be an ‘organism contractuel,’ — a formula that may perhaps gain more general acceptance than anything expressed in the phraseology of German idealism.” Explain carefully.
- Discuss the views of Spencer and of Comte in regard to the scope of sociology and its relation to other sciences
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 3.
Answer the questions in the order in which they stand. Give one hour to each division.
I.
A critical estimate of Giddings’ Principles of Sociology, — contrasted (a) with Spencer, (b) with Tarde.
II.
A critical estimate of Evolution and Effort, — contrasting it with views set forth in Social Evolution.
III.
The bearing of sociological theory upon the practical problems of (a) poverty, (b) pauperism, (c) crime.
Which of the books read during this half-year (and not already discussed) has seemed to you of greatest worth? Why?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
The Theory of Statistics.
Course Enrollment for Economics 42.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 42. Dr. John Cummings. — The Theory of Statistics. — Applications to Social and Economic Problems. — Studies in movements of Population. Hf. 3 hours. 2d half year.
Total 19: 2 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 2 Sophomores.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 64.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 4.
(Divide your time equally between A and B.)
A
I and II may be treated as one question.
- What do you understand by “movement of population”? What light do Statistics throw upon the law of population as stated by Malthus?
- What are some of the “more striking facts and more pregnant results of the vast growth of population in Europe, America, and the British Colonies within the last half century”?
B.
Take five.
- In constructing a life table what correction must be made for abnormal age and sex distribution of the population?
- Define the following terms: “Mortality,” “Expectation of Life,” “Mean Duration of Life.” How should you calculate the mean duration of life from the census returns for any community?
- How should you calculate the economic value of a population?
- What are some of the inaccuracies to which censes enumerations are liable?
- What is the nature of a statistical law? of what categories of social phenomena may statistical laws be formulated? in what sense are they laws? How do they bear upon freedom of the will in human conduct?
- How do the conditions of observation in social sciences differ from conditions of observation in the natural sciences?
- What do you understand by the law of criminal saturation?
- By what considerations should the Statistician be guided in in making selection of social phenomena for investigation?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
Railway Transportation.
Course Enrollment for Economics 51.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 51. Professor Taussig. — Railway Transportation. — Lectures and written work. Hf. 3 hours. 1st half year.
Total 43: 6 Graduates, 27 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 3 Law.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 64.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 5.
- The means of transportation in the United States in 1855.
- Is there historical warrant for the assertion that in United States the construction and operation of railways have been left mainly to private enterprise?
- The resemblances and differences between the legislation of Iowa on maximum rates, and that of England.
- Are there good grounds for alarm at the tendency to consolidation and the growth of great systems among railways?
- “There was never a more mistaken idea than the idea that rates would be reduced if they were based on cost of service. The principle keeps rates up. If it is strictly applied, it makes it necessary that each item of business should pay its share of fixed charges.” Why? or why not?
- “It is not true that when the price falls below cost of production, people always find it for their interest to refuse to produce at a disadvantage. It very often involves worse loss to stop producing than to produce below cost.” Why and how, as to railways?
- The provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act which bear on
an agreement to maintain certain rates;
an agreement to divide earnings;
a lower rate for one hundred carloads than for one carload;
a postage-stamp rate;
a higher rate for a shorter than for a longer distance.
- Does the history of pooling arrangements in the United States justify the assertion that they tend to remove inequalities in the rates to shippers?
- The lessons of public railway management in Italy and in France.
- The evidence as to the financial and economic success of public railway management in Prussia.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
Also found in: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
___________________________
1895-96.
History of Tariff Legislation in the United States.
Course Enrollment for Economics 61.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 61. Professor Taussig. — History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. Hf. 2 hours. 1st half year.
Total 88: 11 Graduates, 40 Seniors, 20 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 12 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 64.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 6.
Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. One question, and one only, may be omitted.]
- What earlier legislation affected the provisions of the tariff act of 1789? What light does the earlier legislation throw on the character of this act?
- Was the argument for protection to young industries more applicable to cotton goods in 1816 than to silk goods in 1870?
- What changes were made, in 1833, in the duties on woollens, cottons, linens, and worsteds? Why the differences in policy?
- What were the grounds on which it was maintained, in 1828-32, that a tax on imports was virtually a tax on exports? How far was the assertion true?
- Mention points of similarity and points of difference between Webster’s speech of 1824 and Gallatin’s memorial of 1831.
- Should you say that the position of the protective system in public opinion was the same in 1870-90 as in 1816-32?
- Explain the legislation in regard to the duties on sugar in the acts of 1890 and 1894. Was the at of 1894 more advantageous than its predecessor to the planters? to the refiners? to the public?
- What do you believe would now be the effect, on domestic industries, of the free admission of (1) pig iron, (2) woollen goods, (3) linens?
- In what mode were the tea and coffee duties dealt with in the period 1840-60? in the period 1865-95? What explanation of the general course of policy can you give in either case?
- In what cases, if in any, are duties on imports a charge on the foreign producer?
- The significance of the events of 1860 for the tariff history of France and of England.
- Is there ground for saying that the drift since 1870 toward protective duties, in the United States and on the Continent of Europe, rests on the same general causes?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
Also found in: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
Financial Administration and Public Debts.
Course Enrollment for Economics 71.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 71. Dr. John Cummings. — Financial Administration and Public Debts. Hf. 3 hours. 1st half year.
Total 27: 1 Graduate, 8 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 5 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 64.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 7.
Divide your time equally between A and B. I and II may be treated as one question.
A.
- Give an account of the sinking fund provisions enacted by Congress 1790-1820; and of the management and refunding of the debt during this period.
- Examine and criticise the following account of the evolution of public credit, with a view to determining whether a government is ever justified in pledging the State to any definite policy of debt payment:—
“In this evolution, as in all others, there are transition stages: we have debts of long term, but secured by the pledging of public property or of income from taxes. Then we have a long period of redemption without such a pledge. The plan of discharging the debt simply on the ground of financial expediency, to which the debtor state has accustomed itself, presently takes the place of redemption simply at the instance of impatient creditors. Finally the question of redemption comes by mutual consent to be left entirely undetermined.”
B.
(Take any five of the questions following.)
- What effect upon the present worth of a security has lengthening the term for which it is to run?
- Give an account of the payment of the war indemnity to Germany.
- Discuss the “use and disuse of ‘relishes,’ gambling risks which are added in order to commend a public loan to the taste of creditors,” as a feature in the development of public credit.
- Compare the development of public credit in Prussia with that of Great Britain, at the beginning of this century.
- Examine and criticise the following selection:—
“As regards the relation of public control to the public credit, there is obviously a lone step taken in advance when the public control comes to he so employed as to not discriminate in its own favor.”
- [sic] Define the following terms, and illustrate: “budget,” “conversion,” “rolling annuity.”
- [sic] What influence has our Secretary of the Treasury over financial legislation, as compared with the influence of the English Chancellor of the Exchequer? Compare the manner of making up the estimates of public income and expenditure in England and in the United States; of appropriating funds out of the Treasury.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
Also found in: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
___________________________
1895-96.
History of Financial Legislation in the United States.
Course Enrollment for Economics 82.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 82. Dr. J.A. Hill. — History of Financial Legislation in the United States. Hf. 2 hours. 2d half year.
Total 64: 5 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 13 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 64.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 8.
(N. B. — Omit one question under each of the five main divisions of the paper.)
I.
- Is the Independent Treasury System preferable to the use of banks as public depositories? Present the arguments on each side of the question, using any illustrations from the History of the United States that may occur to you.
- What illustrations does our financial history afford of difficulties that may arise from an exclusive reliance upon import duties as a source of revenue?
II.
- Describe the scheme which was adopted in 1790 for settling the accounts between the United States and the individual States. How did the assumption of the State debts affect the account?
- In what respects did the financial policy which the country pursued during the War of 1812 deviate from that which Gallatin had advocated in anticipation of war?
- What descriptions of treasury notes were issued during the War of 1812, and how did the successive issues indicate that the country was drifting towards a government paper currency?
III.
- The following extract is from a speech which Webster delivered in Congress on Jan. 2, 1815. The bank bill to which it refers was substantially the same as Dallas’ plan for a bank:—
“What sort of an institution, sir, is this? It looks less like a bank than a department of the Government. It will be properly the paper money department. Its capital is Government debts; the amount of its issues will depend on Government necessities; Government, in effect, absolves itself from its own debts to the bank, and by way of compensation absolves the bank from its own contracts with others.”
What features of the proposed bank did Webster refer to in his criticisms? What sort of a bank did he favor? What was the outcome of the movement for a bank at this session of Congress?
- What causes produced the surplus of 1836? When was there a somewhat similar situation in the later history of the country?
- State briefly where the public moneys of the United States have been kept at different periods since 1789.
IV.
- How did Secretary Chase execute the authority conferred upon him by the loan Acts of July 17 and Aug. 5, 1861, and in what respect was the course which he pursued open to criticism?
- The Legal Tender Act of March 3, 1863, contains the following clauses:—
And so much of the Act to authorize the issue of United States notes, and for other purposes, approved Feb. 25, 1862, and of the act to authorize an additional issue of United States notes, and for other purposes, approved July 11, 1862, as restricts the negotiation of bonds to market value, is hereby repealed. And the holders of United States notes, issued under and by virtue of said acts, shall present the same for the purpose of exchanging the same for bonds, as therein provided, on or before the first day of July, 1863, and thereafter the right so to exchange the same shall cease and determine.
Explain the meaning, object and effect of these provisions.
- How much assistance did the Government derive from the Direct Tax during the Civil War? Why is it probable that this form of taxation will never be resorted to again?
V.
- Give the main provisions of the Resumption Act of 1875? Why was it doubtful whether this Act would actually secure the resumption of special payments?
- State in general terms the changes effected in the form of the national debt (1) while McCulloch was Secretary of the Treasury, (2) under the Refunding Act of 1870, (3) by Secretary Windom in 1881.
- Give an account of the discussion which arose in 1867-68 on the question of paying the principal of the War debt in legal tender notes.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
___________________________
1895-96.
The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the United States and in other countries.
Course Enrollment for Economics 9.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 9. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings. — The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the United States and in other countries. 3 hours.
Total 67: 4 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 27 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 5 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 64.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mid-Year Examination.
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 9
(Arrange your answers in the order in which the questions stand. So far as possible illustrate your discussions by a comparison of different countries. Omit one question.)
- Contrast the structure of industry before machinery with the structure of modern industry.
- In what sense can there be said to be a law of invention? and how is this illustrated historically by the appearance and sequence of the great industrial inventions?
- How does machinery affect the demand for labor? the quality of labor? the family of the laborer? his real wage?
- Trade unionism vs. trades unionism; the old unionism vs. the new unionism. Explain the differences, and show how and when these phases have from time to time recurred during this century.
- How is Chartism related to other phases of the labor movement in England?
- The merits and the demerits of such trade-union organizations as you have thus far become acquainted with.
- Arbitration and Conciliation: (a) In what industries and in what forms have they succeeded best? (b) The present status and the prospects of industrial arbitration in England and in the United States.
- Taking the ordinary factory, how far is it possible or impossible to devise a system of remuneration which reconciles the interests of (a) workmen, (b) foremen, (c) employers, and (d) consumers? Explain carefully the merits and defects of the methods you propose to adopt or reject.
- In what respects does labor differ from other commodities? What ethical and economic consequences flow from these differences?
- How far, from time to time, has economic theory — Smith, Ricardo, Malthus, Mill, etc., — seemed to justify, and how far to suggest remedies for the industrial evils affecting wage-earners?
- The relation of cooperation to trade-unions, to profit-sharing, to socialism.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 9.
(Arrange your answers in the order in which the questions stand. So far as possible illustrate your discussions by a comparison of different countries. Take the first six questions and one other.)
- Describe carefully the German system of compulsory insurance:
(a) To whom and to what proportion of the population it applies;
(b) The method of organization and of assessment in each case;
(c) The relation of the system to employer’s liability, to poor laws, friendly societies, etc.
(d) Arguments for and against the system.
- How far and with what modifications have such schemes been adopted or seriously proposed elsewhere?
(a) Contrast the plan in each case with the German plan;
(b) What circumstances seem to you to favor and what to hinder such action by the government?
- How far have voluntary organizations solved or failed to solve the problem of workingmen’s insurance, (a) in England? (b) in the United States?
- What light does the experience of France and of England during this century throw upon the good or the bad effect of attempts on the part of the government either to repress or to foster, (a) labor organizations; (b) coöperation; (c) friendly societies?
- In what other countries have you found instructive examples of such interference?
- Compare the experience and the legislation of the United States in regard to immigration, with the experience and legislation of other countries in which immigration problems have arisen.
- In what countries and in what ways have labor organization tended to drift into politics, and seek political remedies for industrial evils?
(a) Compare the experience of France, Belgium, Germany and English-speaking countries.
(b) What conclusion do you draw from such experience?
- What evidence do statistics of family income and expenditure furnish (a) in regard to the social condition of labor in staple industries of the United States and of competing countries? (b) in regard to cost of labor?
- What attempts have been made to perpetuate or reestablish certain aspects of the guild organization in European countries?
- Discuss the schemes adopted by governments, municipalities, etc., for meeting the “out-of-work problem.”
What is the origin of that problem in the United States?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe.
Course Enrollment for Economics 10.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 10. Professor Ashley. — The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. 2 hours.
Total 14: 7 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 2 Juniors.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 63.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mid-Year Examination.
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 10.
I.
To be first attempted by all.
Translate, and comment, on the following passages:
- Totius terrae descriptio diligens facta est, tam in nemoribus quam in pascuis et pratis, nec non in agriculturis, et verbis communibus annotata in librum redacta est.
- In Tineguella . . . sunt iiii hidae et dimidia ad geldum Regis. Et de istis tenent xx homines xx virgas terrae. Et xiii homines tenent vi virgas et dimidiam.
- Sicut traditum habemus a patribus, in primitivo regni statu post conquisitionem, regibus de fundis suis non auri vel argenti pondera sed sola victualia solvebantur.
- Plerique, cum aut aere alieno aut magnitudine tributorum aut injuria potentiorum premuntur, sese in servitutem dicunt nobilibus, quibus in hos eadem omnia sunt jura quae dominis in servos.
- Ceteris servis non in nostrum morem, descriptis per familiam ministeriis, utuntur. Suam quisque sedem, suos penates regit.
II.
Write on four only of the following subjects.
- The importance of the yardland in the rural economy of the Middle Ages.
- A history of the mark theory, from its first promulgation to its general acceptance.
- A comparison of the life of a medieval English village with that of a New England village of today.
- The Roman colonate.
- An account and criticism of Mr. Seebohm’s “Tribal System in Wales.”
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 10.
I.
To be first attempted by all.
Comment on the following passages, and translate those in Latin and French:—
- If a man agree for a yard of land, or more, at a fixed rent, and plough it; if the lord desire to raise the land to him to service and to rent, he need not take it upon him, if the lord do not give him a dwelling.
- Ego Eadward . . . rex . . . dedi X manentes in illo loco qui dicitur aet Stoce be Hysseburnam, cum omnibus hominibus qui in illa terra erant qando Ælfred rex viam universeæ carnis adiit.
- Magnates regni et alii minores domini qui tenentes habebant perdonarunt redditum de redditu ne tenentes abirent prae defectu servorum et caristia rerum.
- Whan Adam dalf and Eve span,
Wo was thanne a gentilman?
- Nul ne deit rien achater a revendre en la vile meyme, fors yl sera Gildeyn.
- Cives Londoniae debent LX marcas pro Gilda telaria delenda ita ut de cetero non suscitetur.
- No one of the trade of Spurriers shall work longer than from the beginning of the day until curfew rings out at the church of St. Sepulchre.
II.
Write on four only of the following subjects:
- The economic and constitutional questions involved in recent discussions as to the beginnings of town life in mediaeval Europe.
- A comparison of a mediaeval merchant gild with a modern “trust,” and of a craft gild with a modern trade union.
- The extent and character of the public regulation of prices and wages in the later middle ages.
- The cause of the Peasant Revolt in 1381.
- The relation of the English Reformation to the origin of the Poor Laws.
- A criticism of Cunningham and McArthur’s Outlines of English Industrial History.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems.
Course Enrollment for Economics 122.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 122. Professor Taussig. — Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems. Hf. 3 hours. 2d half year.
Total 70: 10 Graduates, 30 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 7 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 64.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 12.
[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Give some answer, however brief, to each question.]
- What was Bagehot’s opinion as to the advantage of a “many reserve” system as compared with a “single reserve” system? What light does American experience give?
- What important proposal made by Bagehot in Lombard Street has been adopted?
- What was the theory of the act of 1844? How far was that theory followed in the legislation on the Reichsbank of Germany?
- (a) Arrange in their proper order the following items, in which the figures stand for millions of marks.
| Capital |
150 |
Loans |
800 |
| Specie |
800 |
Securities |
50 |
| Notes |
1150 |
Other Assets |
50 |
| Deposits |
350 |
Other Liabilities |
50 |
(b) Consider what would be the significance of the statement if it were for the Reichsbank of Germany; assuming the limit of uncovered issue to be 300 millions of marks.
(c) Rearrange the items as they would appear if the statement were one of the condition of the Bank of England; assuming the limit of notes not required to be covered by specie to be 16 millions sterling = 400 million marks, and assuming that securities of any sort may be held against the uncovered issue. Consider then how the statement, thus rearranged, differs from a probable statement of the actual condition of the Bank of England in recent times.
- Does the Bank of France supply an elastic currency? Do the National Banks of the United States?
- “Redemption by the Treasury under the national bank legislation has been a convenient method of disposing of worn and soiled notes, and in case of accumulations of currency at special points has facilitated its rapid exchange for legal tender and specie. But nobody would say that this system has compelled any bank to face its notes in the same sense in which it has to face its liability for checks drawn against deposits.” Explain.
- Consider the effects on bank-note circulation and redemption of (1) exchange of notes among banks; (2) legislative prohibition of payment by a bank of notes other than its own; and give historical examples of the use of one or the other method.
- Does the United States Treasury now carry on a banking business? Did the Comptoir d’Escompte in 1848? The Prussian government in 1866?
- Does a banker lend his own money? the money of others?
- To what extent, and for what reasons, should the operations of savings-banks, private bankers, and trust companies, be excluded from consideration in this course?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
Scope and Method in Economic Theory and Investigation.
Course Enrollment for Economics 132.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 132. Professor Taussig. — Scope and Method in Economic Theory and Investigation. Hf. 2 hours. 2d half-year.
Total 14: 11 Graduates, 3 Seniors.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 63.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 13.
- Compare Wagner’s enumeration of the problems within the scope of economic science with Keynes’s; and consider what doubts or objections there may be in regard to any of the problems mentioned by either writer.
- Explain and examine critically one of the following passages in Wagner:
Section 63 (pp. 158-163).
Section 70 (pp. 180-182).
- Illustrate the mode in which use is advantageously made of the deductive and the inductive method in regard to two of the following topics:
the causes which determine the general range of prices;
the prospects of socialism;
the prospects of coöperation.
- What peculiarities and difficulties appear for economic science if the choice of terminology and in definition? Illustrate.
- Is there ground for saying that the economic history of very recent times is of greater value for economic theory than the economic history of remote periods?
- What do you conceive to be the position in regard to method in economies of Ricardo? J.S. Mill? Roscher? Schmoller?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
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1895-96.
Communism and Socialism.
Course Enrollment for Economics 141.
For Graduates and Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 141. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings. — Communism and Socialism. — Utopias, ancient and modern. Hf. 2 hours. 1st half-year.
Total 15: 1 Graduate, 10 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 2 Sophomores.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 63.
* * * * * * * * * *
Final Examination
1895-96.
ECONOMICS 14.
(Arrange your answers in the order of the questions. Omit one.)
- The different senses in which the word Socialism is used. Where do you intend to draw the line between Socialism proper, and familiar forms of government interference and control — such as factory legislation, municipal water works, and government postal, telegraph or railroad services?
- “National communism has been confused with the common ownership of the family; tenure in common has been confused with ownership in common; agrarian communism with village commons.” Discuss the evidence.
- “Just as Plato had his Republic, Campanella his City of the Sun, and Sir Thomas More his Utopia, so Baboeuf had his Charter of Equality, Cabet his Icaria, St. Simon his Industrial System, and Fourier his ideal Phalanstery. . . . But the common criticism of Socialism has not yet noted the change, and continues to deal with the obsolete Utopias of the pre-evolutionary age.” What do you conceive to be the character of the change referred to? How far did the earlier Utopias anticipate the ideals of the modern social democracy?
- What indication of Socialistic tendency are to be found in the discipline of the Christian church? Explain the triple contract and its bearing on the doctrine of usury.
- “The Communistic scheme, instead of being peculiarly open to the objection drawn from danger of over-population, has the recommendation of tending in an especial degree to the prevention of that evil.” Explain Mill’s argument. Do you agree?
- To what extent are the theories of Karl Marx indebted to earlier writers in the 19th century?
- How far are the economic theories of (a) Lasalle, (b) Marx related to the theories of the so-called orthodox Economists? Explain critically.
- How far do you trace the influence of historical conditions in the social philosophies of Plato, More, Bacon, Rousseau, St. Simon, Karl Marx?
- What connection do you see between the teachings of Rousseau and (a) modern Socialism. (b) modern Anarchism?
- What, according to Hertzka, is the economic defect of the existing social and industrial system, and what is the remedy? Contrast “Freeland” with “Looking Backward.”
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1895-96.
Also reprinted in. Harvard University, Examination papers 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1896-97. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College, June 1896.
