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Harvard. Graduates’ Magazine reports on Economics Dept. 1892-1904.

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, October, 1892, pp. 116-117.

ECONOMICS.

Ten years ago, the Department of Political Economy had one professor and one instructor, neither giving all of his time to the subject. At present, the Department of Economics has three professors and two instructors. The change in name, from Political Economy to Economics, indicates of itself an enlargement of the range of subjects. The number of courses offered has grown from two to a dozen, with a corresponding development in the variety of topics treated. The increase in the number of students is indicated by the fact that the first course, introductory to the rest, which was taken ten years ago by perhaps fifty students, now has over three hundred. This striking development is significant of the rapid increase in the attention given to economic problems by the public and by our institutions of learning. The staff now consists of Professors Dunbar, Taussig, and Ashley, and Messrs. Cummings and Cole. Professor Ashley enters upon his duties for the first time this autumn, his chair being a newly created one of Economic History. Professor Dunbar continues to edit the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which was established by the University in 1886 with the aid of a fund contributed by John Eliot Thayer, ’85, and which has an established position among the important periodicals on economic subjects. The Department has recently done service to economic students by a reprint, under Professor Dunbar’s care, of Cantillon’s Essai sur le Commerce, a rare volume of importance in the history of economic theory; and it has now in press a volume of State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, meant to aid students of the tariff history of the United States. For its growth in the past the Department has depended wholly on the expenditure by the Corporation of unpledged resources. No doubt the increasing sense of the importance of economic study will in time change the situation in this regard, and will make this department as attractive for benefactors as those which are older and more familiar.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

 

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, July, 1893, p. 576.

[Birth of a semester system, emphasis added]

The elective pamphlet announcing the courses to be offered in 1893-94 by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences contains few striking changes. There is a tendency manifested in it to increase the number of half-courses beginning or ending in February, at the time of the mid-year examinations. Thus History 12 is split into two halves, the first half being on the recent history of Continental Europe, and the second half on the recent constitutional history of England; Economics 7 is cut in two, and Economics 12 is established as two half-courses, one on International Payments and the Flow of Precious Metals, and the other on Banking and the History of the Banking Systems. Other examples might be given to emphasize the drift towards something akin to a division of the year into two semesters, particularly for the convenience of graduate students. 

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, July, 1893, p. 590.

ECONOMICS.

In the department of Economics several new courses are offered for 1893-94. Professor Dunbar offers two half-courses, one on international payments and the flow of the precious metals from country to country, the other on banks and the leading banking systems. The two half-courses come at the same hours in the first and second half-years, and, when taken together, form a convenient full course running through the year. This new course will alternate with Course 7, on taxation and finance, which is to be omitted in 1893-94, and will be resumed in 1894-95. — Professor Ashley offers a course on Economic History, from the Middle Ages to modern times, which will take the place of the former Course 4, on the economic history of Europe and America since the middle of the eighteenth century. The new course covers a longer period than was covered in Course 4, and will supplement effectively the instruction in history as well as in economics. Professor Ashley also offers a new half-course, intended mainly for advanced and graduate students, on land tenure and agrarian conditions in Europe. — Professor Cummings offers a half-course, also intended for advanced students, on schemes for social reconstruction from Plato’s Republic to the present time, including the proposals of Bellamy and Hertzka. The course is meant to give opportunity for the discussion of social and political institutions and of socialist theories. — Economics 1, the introductory course in the department, will be remodeled in part in the coming year. A somewhat larger proportion of the exercises will take the form of lectures to all members of the course. Professor Taussig will lecture on distribution and on financial subjects, Professor Ashley on economic development, Professor Cummings on social questions.

F. W. Taussig, ’79.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 3, March, 1895, pp. 383-384.

ECONOMICS.

The matter that has of late most engaged the attention of the Department has been the welcome and yet embarrassing growth in the number of students taking the introductory course known as Economics 1. This has risen from 179 in 1889-90 to 201 in ’90-91, 288 in ’91-92, 322 in ’92-93, 340 in ’93-94, until in the present year it is 398. Such an increase necessarily raises grave questions both of educational method and of academic discipline. Those professors to whose labors in past years the success of the course has been due are still of opinion that the recitation method, in its best form, — the discussion day after day and chapter by chapter of some great treatise like the work of John Stuart Mill, — furnishes a mental training such as no other plan can provide. But for its successful practice it is necessary either that the class should be quite small, or that, if divided, the sections should be few and small. Accordingly it became evident that some modification of plan was necessary; and last year the arrangement was hit upon of retaining the section work for the greater part of the year, but diversifying it with three months of set lectures at different periods by Professors Taussig, Ashley, and Cummings. The experiment was so satisfactory that it has been repeated this year; and, in the absence of Professor Taussig, Professors Ashley and Cummings have each lectured for six weeks. If the numbers continue to grow, it may seem advisable in the future to take further steps in the same direction. But Upper Massachusetts, in spite of its historical associations, has abominable acoustic properties; the room in Boylston, which was suggested as an alternative, is redolent of Chemistry; and it may ultimately become necessary to invade the sacred precincts of Sanders Theatre. — In the absence of Professor Taussig upon his sabbatical, before referred to, his course on Economic Theory (Econ. 2) has been divided into two half-courses, and undertaken by Professor Ashley and Professor Macvane. Professor Macvane’s action will do something to break down that middle wall of partition between departments which is sometimes so curiously high and strong in this University of free electives. It need scarcely be added that to those who know how considerable have been Professor Macvane’s contributions to economic theory, and how great his reputation is with foreign economists, he seems altogether in place when he takes part in the economic instruction of Harvard University. — Professor Taussig’s course on Railway Transportation (Econ. 5) has been assigned for the present year to Mr. G. O. Virtue, ’92; his other courses have been suspended. — Mr. John Cummings, ’91, has returned, with a year’s experience as instructor and his doctorate, from the University of Chicago, and is now an Assistant in Econ. 1; he is also offering a new course on Comparative Poor Law and Administration. — The instructors in this, as in other Departments, find themselves increasingly hampered by the difficulty of providing the necessary books for the use of students. Oxford and Cambridge Universities, with hardly more students than Harvard, have libraries in every college, together with the Union libraries and the University libraries; here in Harvard, if an instructor in class mentions any but the best known of books, the chances are that there is only one copy in the place,— that in the University Library; and unless he has been provident enough to have that book “reserved,” some undergraduate promptly takes it out, and nobody else can see it. It is true that undergraduates ought to buy more books; but frequently there is not a copy to be had even in the Boston bookstores. It would certainly be a great relief if the societies could see their way to create, each for itself, a modest working library of a few hundred books. Meanwhile something may be done by strengthening the Departmental Library in University Hall. This, which owes its creation to the generosity of some of the members of the Class of 1879, is in urgent need of enlargement; and the professors in the Department will be glad to hear from any graduate whose eye this happens to catch. — Finally, it may be advisable to mention that, as the result of careful deliberation on the part of the members of the Division Committee, a detailed statement of requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science was drawn up last spring, and will now be found at the end of the Division pamphlet This Statement is noteworthy in that it defines for the first time the “general” examination, and the examination on “a special field;” and also for the stress it lays upon “a broad basis of general culture ” as the foundation of specialist work. “A command of good English, spoken and written, the ability to make free use of French and German books, and a fair acquaintance with general history ” are mentioned as “of special importance.”

W. J. Ashley.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 4, December, 1895, pp. 242-243.

ECONOMICS.

The Department of Economics began its work for the year under unfortunate circumstances. Professor Dunbar, its honored head, was compelled by ill-health to withdraw from academic work for the year, and was given leave of absence by the Corporation. His withdrawal rendered necessary changes in the courses of instruction. Of those announced to be given by Professor Dunbar, course 7, on Financial Administration and Public Debts, was undertaken by Dr. John Cummings, and course 12, on Banking and the History of the Leading Banking Systems, by Professor Taussig. The additional work thus assumed by Professor Taussig was made possible through the aid of Professor Macvane, who will conduct during the second half-year that part of Economics 2 which had been announced to be given by Professor Taussig. Course 8, on the History of Financial Legislation in the United States, has been shifted to the second half-year, and will then be given by Dr. Joseph A. Hill, A. B. ’86, Ph. D. ’92. By this rearrangement all the courses originally announced will be given, and no diminution in the Department’s offering results from Professor Dunbar’s absence. — Another change has taken place, affecting course 1. The numbers in this introductory course have grown steadily of late years, and it is now taken annually by about 400 men. It had been the policy of the Department to conduct it not by lectures, but mainly by face to face discussion, in rooms of moderate size, the men being divided into sections for this purpose. As the numbers grew, however, it became more and more difficult to keep the sections at a manageable size, to find convenient rooms for them, and to secure efficient instructors. The alternative of lecturing to the men in one large room had long presented itself, but the probable educational advantages of instruction in smaller rooms by sections caused this alternative to be avoided. For the present year, however, the withdrawal of Professor Dunbar rendered some economizing of the force of the Department necessary, and it has been accordingly determined to try the lecture plan for the current year. All the members of the course meet in Upper Massachusetts, — a room which, by the way, proves reasonably well adapted for this use, — and there are given lectures by the various instructors who take part in the course. By way of testing their reading and securing for the instructors some evidence as to their attainments, a system of weekly written papers has been introduced. On a given day of each week the students write answers to questions bearing upon the work of that week and of previous weeks. These answers are examined and corrected, and serve as a means of estimating the diligence and attainments of the students. Whether this radical change of plan will prove to be advantageous remains to be decided by the year’s experience; but it indicates a change in the methods of college work which is making its way in all directions, and which presents new and difficult problems to instructors. — The Seminary in Economics opens the year with sixteen advanced students of good quality, and promises well. Two are Seniors in Harvard College; the remainder are members of the Graduate School. Four are candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the close of the current year. The growth of the Seminary in numbers and the better organization of its work are part of the general advance of the Graduate School, which is now reaping the fruits of the marked gains it has made in recent years.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 7, March, 1899, pp. 427-8.

ECONOMICS.

Like other departments, that of Economics finds itself confronted with the problem of the best mode of dealing with large numbers of students in the courses much sought for, and especially in the general introductory course. Economics 1 is now regularly chosen by from 450 to 500 students. Well-nigh every undergraduate takes it at some stage of his college career, and the question of its numbers seems to be simply a question of the number of students in the College and Scientific School. This great demand for general training in the subject has imposed on the Department an obligation to make its instruction as stimulating and efficient as may be, and yet has made this task more difficult than ever before. Inevitably, the old method of dividing the course into sections for all of the instruction has been abandoned. Its place has been taken by a mixed method of lectures and oral exercises. Twice a week, lectures are given to the whole course in one large room. Upper Massachusetts, remodeled, reheated, and reseated, serves for these lectures, — not well, but not unendurably ill; there is great need, for the use of the large courses, of a new and well-equipped building. The lectures are largely in the nature of comment on assigned reading. The third hour in the week is then given to meetings in sections of moderate size, in which the lectures and the reading are subject to test and discussion. The course is divided into some fifteen sections, each of which meets its instructor once a week. At these exercises, a question is first answered in writing by each student, twenty minutes being allowed for this test; the remainder of the hour is used in oral discussion. Some continuous oversight of the work of students is thus secured, and opportunity is given for questions to them and from them. A not inconsiderable staff of instructors is necessary for the conduct of the sections, and a not inconsiderable expenditure by the Corporation for salaries; but some such counter-weight on the lecture system pure and simple is felt to be necessary. The Department has been fortunate in securing trained and competent instructors for this part of the work; and the new method, if not definitively adopted, is at least in the stage of promising experiment. — During the second half year of 1898-99, the place of Professor Ashley, who is absent on leave, is taken by Dr. Wm. Cunningham, of Trinity College (Cambridge, England). Dr. Cunningham and Professor Ashley are easily the leaders among English-speaking scholars on their subject, economic history; and the Department has cordially welcomed the arrangement by which the scholar from the Cambridge of England fills the place, for the time being, of the scholar of the American Cambridge. Dr. Cunningham gives two courses in the current half year, — one on Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects, Mediaeval and Modern, the other on the Industrial Revolution in England.

F. W. Taussig, ‘79.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 8, December, 1899, p. 223.

ECONOMICS.

The Department finds, as usual, large numbers of students to deal with during the current year. In the introductory course, Economics 1, nearly 500 students are enrolled, and once again it appears that the University has no good lecture room adequate for the accommodation of such numbers. The system of instruction which has been in use in this course for several years is continued. For part of the time, lectures are given to all members of the course; for the remainder of the time, it is split into small sections for question and discussion. So long as lectures are given at all, there is little gain from splitting the course into two or more parallel courses, as has sometimes been proposed; but the absence of a good lecture room for the whole number makes the present situation trying. In its advanced courses, the Department has again the services of Prof. Ashley, who returns after a year’s leave of absence, and finds large numbers enrolled in his course on modern economic history. His advanced course, on the history and literature of economics to the close of the 18th century, also attracts a satisfactory number of mature students. Prof. Cummings omits for the year his course on the labor question; but compensation for this is found in Philosophy 5, a course having a similar range of subjects, which is again given by Prof. Peabody, who has returned from his year’s leave of absence. Professors Dunbar and Taussig give, without material change, the courses usually assigned to them. — The Department assumes some additional burden through a change in its plans for the publication of the Quarterly Journal of Economics. That journal, whose 14th volume begins with the opening issue of this year, is hereafter to appear in more ambitious form. Its size will be somewhat increased, the departments varied, and the elaborate bibliography of current publication will be strengthened. At the same time the price goes up from $2 to $3 a year, — a change which, it is hoped, can be carried out without a loss of subscribers.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 10, December, 1901, pp. 261-2.

ECONOMICS.

An unusual number of changes have to be noted in this Department. Prof. Taussig’s leave of absence, and Prof. Ashley’s recent resignation, have made it necessary to call in several men from the outside to give instruction during the present year. Prof. Taussig’s work is provided for in part by Prof. C. J. Bullock, of Williams College, who is giving the courses on finance and taxation, — and in part by a redistribution of the work among the members of the regular teaching staff. Dr. Andrew has charge of Economics 1, and Dr. Sprague of Economics 6, on the Economic History of the United States. Prof. Ashley’s courses, as announced for the year, have been provided for as follows: Prof. Wm. Z. Ripley, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is giving course 5 on Statistics, and is to give the latter half of course 17 on the Economic Organization and Resources of European Countries, Mr. Meyer having charge of it during the first half year. Dr. C. W. Mixter is giving course 15 on the History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the 19th century. In addition, Prof. Ripley is giving course 5a on Railway Economics. In the second half year, Mr. W. F. Willoughby is to give courses 9 and 9a on Problems of Labor. — The courses preparing for a business career have been extended somewhat. Mr. W. M. Cole continues his course on the Principles of Accounting, and Prof. Wambaugh his course on Insurance. In addition to these, Mr. Bruce Wyman is conducting a new course on the Principles of Law in their Application to Industrial Problems, using the case method as it has been developed in the Law School. The popularity of these courses, in spite of the unusual severity of the examinations, is some indication of their success, and suggests, at least, the practicability of still further extensions. While there is a tendency in some quarters to carry the idea of commercial education to extremes, it is to be noted that these courses neither pretend to take the place of business experience, nor to teach those things which can be learned better in a business office than in any institution of learning. Moreover the work is confined to a mastery of principles and not to the gaining of general information. — The number of students in the Department continues large, there being upward of 480 in course 1, and about 1100 in the Department as a whole, not excluding those counted more than once. The housing of Economics 1 continues to be a problem, as Upper Massachusetts is uncomfortably packed at each meeting. More difficult, however, is the problem of finding small rooms for the 11 sections into which this class is divided for discussion and consultation once each week. — The Board of Overseers have confirmed the appointment of Dr. A. P. Andrew, Dr. O. M. W. Sprague, and Mr. H. R. Meyer as instructors without limit of time. — The change from two dollars to three dollars per year in the subscription price of the Quarterly Journal of Economics has been followed by no diminution in the number of subscribers, and the hope of the editors that the Journal might be conducted on a somewhat more ambitious scale is being realized.

T. N. Carver.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 11, December, 1902, pp. 247-248.

ECONOMICS.

Prof. Taussig’s continued absence has occasioned some readjustment of work within the Department during the present year. Dr. A. P. Andrew has full charge of Course I, Dr. O. M. W. Sprague of Course 6, and Prof. T. N. Carver of Course 2, while Prof. Taussig’s course on Adam Smith and Ricardo has been combined with Dr. C. W. Mixter’s course on Selected Topics in the History of Economic Thought since Adam Smith. Prof. W. Z. Ripley, formerly of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has accepted a professorship in our Department, and is giving Course 9 on Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, the first half of Course 3, on the Principles of Sociology, the second half of Course 17, on the Economic Organization and Resources of European Countries, and Course 4, on the Theory and Method of Statistics. Dr. E. F. Gay, who has spent several years in Europe investigating in the field of economic history, has accepted an instructorship here, and is giving Courses 10 and 11, on the Economic History of Mediaeval and Modern Europe.

The interest in the work of the Department continues to grow. Economics I has 542 students, as compared with about 480 at this time last year. Mr. Wyman’s course (21), on The Principles of Law in their Application to Economic Problems, now contains over 60 students, as compared with 38 last year. Other courses show no great variation one way or the other, except Prof. Ripley’s course in Statistics. The interest which is being revived in this too much neglected field promises well for the future of economic studies in Harvard.

The change in the hour of Economics I from Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 9, to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 11, was necessary in order to find a suitable room. This makes it possible for a larger number of Freshmen to elect the course, since it no longer conflicts with History I. Whether this is going to prove advantageous or not remains to be seen. At present the policy is to discourage Freshmen from electing this course. If there should be a considerable increase in the number of men who complete the college course in three years, it may be advisable to allow some of the more mature members of the Freshman Class to take Economics I. In that case it will be necessary to increase the number of courses which are somewhat general in their scope. Thus the course on Economic Theory (2) might be made somewhat less special than it now is, and a new course covering the general field of Practical Economics might be started. In this way the evils of too early specialization might be avoided. However, no definite policy has as yet been decided upon.

The Department has secured the use of Room 24, University Hall, as headquarters. In this room the mail of the Department and of the Quarterly Journal of Economics will be received, and the exchanges will be available for immediate inspection. This room has also been fitted up with drawing tables and other apparatus necessary for practical work in statistics. It is the purpose to make it a statistical laboratory.

The accounts of the Quarterly Journal of Economics are satisfactory, and the subscription list is making slow but substantial gains.

T. N. Carver.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 11, June, 1903, pp. 560-562.

ECONOMICS.

An interesting comparison between the allied departments of History and Economics is shown below on the basis of the number of students electing such courses. Some of the novel problems entailed by the rapid growth of the very large courses are now being considered by both departments. This rapid growth in large courses, coupled with the increase in the number of highly specialized courses, is bound to make necessary a constant increase in the instructing staff, if full justice to the work is to be done. Among the new courses offered for next year are the following: Economics of Agriculture, by Prof. Carver; Corporation Finance, by Prof. Ripley; Outlines of Agrarian History, by Prof. Gay; and American Competition in Europe since 1873 and The Indirect Activities of the State in Australasia and in Europe, by Mr. Meyer. A general revision of the methods of the Seminary is also under consideration, although plans in that direction are not as yet completed,

 

1902-3. STUDENTS IN ECONOMICS.

ECONOMICS.

HISTORY.
1st half year 1st half year

Econ.

 5 60 Hist. 12a 93

“

 7b 21 “ 16a 151 244
“ 8a

100

 2d half year

“

 12a 10 Hist. 12b 79

“

 10 16 “ 16b

148
“ 18 45 252 “ 29 86

313
2d half year ½ course thro yr.

Econ.

 8b 152 Hist. 17 4

4

“

 11b

19

 Whole courses.

“

 12b 43 Hist. 1

506
“ 16 29 243 “ 3

6
½ course thro yr.

“

 4

7

Econ.

 4 15 15 “ 6

19
Whole courses.

“

 8

8

Econ.

 1 519 “ 9 36

“

 2 26 “ 10 188

“

 3 45 “ 11 67
“ 6 122 “ 13

214
“ 9 111 “ 15 13
“ 14 15 “ 20d

3

“

 17 9 “ 20e 12
“ 20 11 “ 21

1

“

 20a 5   “ 25

3

“

 21 60 “ 26 11

“

 22 6(?) Hist. of Relig. 2 50

1144
Deduct 50 given by another Faculty

1705

1655
________________________________________
Whole courses

11

 Whole courses

16
Half-courses

11

5 ½

 Half-courses

6

3
16 ½

19
Including 5 courses of over 100 students, of which 2 are half courses. Including 5 courses of over 100 students, of which 2 are half courses.

A prompt response to suggestions made to the committee on instruction in economics of the Board of Overseers, as to the needs of the Department, has been made by Mr. Arthur T. Lyman in the shape of a gift of $500, to be expended in the preparation of charts, maps, and other illustrative material. The courses in general descriptive economics, it was felt, can be very greatly improved by the use of such material. Chart cases had already been installed in the new department headquarters, but this will enable the services of an expert draftsman for commencing the preparation of a suitable collection.

Among the other needs of the Department expressed at this meeting was that of an adding and computing machine for use in connection with the courses in Finance and Statistics. It was felt that the so-called “Burroughs Adder,” so generally in use in banking houses and statistical offices, could be utilized to great advantage in the prosecution of original work. The cost of such a machine is approximately $350. It is also to be hoped in the course of time that a collection of illustrative material other than maps may be commenced. This would include, for example, samples of the leading raw materials whose classification enters into tariff discussions and debates, photographs of social and industrial establishments, and other material of this sort. Such a collection, within moderate limits, along the lines of the Philadelphia Commercial Museums, has already been begun at Dartmouth, Ann Arbor, and other places. It should be kept in mind as a possible department at Cambridge.

 

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 12, December, 1903, p. 246.

ECONOMICS.

Prof. Taussig has returned after an absence of two years, entirely restored in health. His resumption of work completes the working corps in the department, enabling it to offer its full list of announced courses. The number of graduate students is considerably increased over the preceding years, and there is every prospect of a successful resumption of the regular work in all lines.

The November number of The World’s Work contains the first of a noteworthy series of articles by Prof. Carver upon agricultural conditions in the West. Prof. Carver made a tour of some hundreds of miles on horseback during the summer, principally in the corn belt. It is his intention to supplement this tour by similar observations in other parts of the country in the coming years. This issue of The World’s Work forms distinctively a Harvard number, containing also an article on The Progress of Labor Organizations, by Prof. Ripley.

Among the new courses announced for this year are several by Prof. Bullock, one upon “The History and Literature of Economics,” with an additional research course entitled “Studies in American Finance.” Prof. Gay’s course upon ” The German Economists” last year met with so cordial a response that it has been expanded to a full course, covering the French as well as the German authorities. Mr. H. R. Meyer, having re- signed as an instructor, will continue as a lecturer, giving two courses upon “American Competition in Europe since 1873” and “The Industrial Activities of the State in Australasia and in Europe.”

W. Z. Ripley.

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The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 13, December, 1904, p. 278.

ECONOMICS.

Economics 1 opens with an enrolment of 491 students, and is again the largest elective course in College. Government 1 is a close second, with 481 students; History 1 has 436. The numbers in Economics 1 are distinctly less than last year, which doubtless reflects the decline in attendance in the College at large. More than half of the total are Sophomores (255) ; the Juniors number 102, and the Freshmen 73. The resort to these three courses shows how strong is the trend to ward instruction in subjects connected with political life, and how great is the need for careful teaching and careful organization. Economics 1 continues to be conducted on the system which has been in use for some years past, and has been followed also in Government 1 and History 1. Two hours of lectures are given each week; for the third hour the course is divided into sections, in which there is a weekly examination, coupled with oral discussion of the subjects taken up during the week. Five assistant instructors conduct these sections, and the system seems to solve the problem of large courses satisfactorily.

In line with the policy adopted last year in the Department of paralleling the various undergraduate courses with advanced courses for graduate students, involving more or less research in each special field, Prof. Andrew is this year giving an advanced course upon the theories of crises, as a continuation of his larger course upon crises and cycles of trade.

An experiment intended to deal with the increasing difficulty of giving required reading to constantly enlarging classes will be tried in Economics 9b, through the publication of a casebook in economics similar to those in use in the Law School. The plan is to reprint official documents and detailed descriptions of particular phases of corporate economics, leaving to the lectures the task of supplying the connecting links and of tracing the development of the subject as an organic whole.

A valuable collection of charts of railway mortgages has recently been acquired through the generosity of graduates. These charts, prepared for the different railway systems, illustrate the exact character and situs of the securities. The collection of other charts and diagrams, made possible through the generosity of Mr. Arthur T. Lyman, is also making progress.

Source:  See the listings for the Harvard Graduates’ Magazine at Hathitrust. These are some of the items found using the index for the first twenty volumes.

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Harvard

Harvard. Economics Seminary Schedules. 1929-32.

An earlier posting provides lists of presenters for the Economic Seminary for the years 1891-1908.  This posting provides the lists of announced presenters for the final three years of the seminary.

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Seminary Meetings in 1929-30
Professor Bullock

Sept. 30          Harvard Union

Oct. 14            S.E. Harris, “Monetary Policy of the British Dominions since 1914.”

Oct. 28            W. E. Beach, “Bank Policy and Gold Movements in England from 1880 to 1914.”

Nov. 4              J. P. Wernette, “Fiscal Reorganization in the United States of Colombia.”

Nov. 25           F. W. Taussig, “German Economic Periodicals and Works of Reference.”

Dec. 9            H. D. White, “International Balance of Payments of France.”

Feb. 3             W. Z. Ripley, “Railroad Consolidation.”

Feb. 17           C. S. Joslyn, “A Proposed Statistical Measurement of Vertical Occupational Mobility.”

March 8          T. J. Kreps, “The Chemical Phase of the Industrial Revolution.”

March 31       D. V. Brown, “Family Allowances.”

April 28          J. H. Williams, “Reparations and the International Flow of Capital.”

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Seminary Meetings in 1930-31
Professor Gay

Sept. 29         Harvard Union

Oct. 15           University Film Foundation, “The Availability of Motion Pictures for Instruction in Economic History and Economic Resources”.

Oct. 29            O. H. Taylor, “The Present Position and Prospects of Economic Theory”.

Nov. 5            Professors Bullock, Ripley, and Black, “Graduate Study and Research in Economics”.

Nov. 19          H. D. White, “The American Rayon Industry, a Product of Protection”.

Dec.   3           Professor Schumpeter, “Financial Policy of Germany since 1919″.

Dec. 17           Professor W. E. Eckblaw, Professor of Economic Geography, Clark University, “Russia To-day”.

Jan. 7             A. E. Monroe, “Land as a Consumers’ Good”.

Jan. 21            (Reading period)

Feb. 4              (Exam. period)

Feb. 18           D. H. Wallace, “The Aluminum Monopoly in the U.S.”

March 4         W. C. Mitchell, “Cyclical Behavior of Factors in Business”.

March 11       L. B. Currie, “The Commercial Loan Theory of Banking”.

March 25       Dr. B. M. Squires, “The Administration of Public Employment Offices”.

April 1             Dr. J. J. de Stoop, “The Merger Movement in Belgium”.

April 8             Dr. Mabel C. Buer, Lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading, England, “The Relation between Industrial Development and Vital Statistics in England”.

April 22          Major Lyndall Urwick, Director of the International Management Institute at Geneva, “The International Organization of Economic Study”.

April 29          Professor T. S. Adams, Yale University, “The Treatment of Capital Gains and Losses under the Federal Income Tax”.

May 6            Professor J. D. Black, “Interregional Competition in Production”.

May 20          (Reading period)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.

______________________________

Seminary Meetings in 1931-32
Professor Carver

Second and fourth Monday of month

Oct. 5          Members of teaching staff

Oct. 19        Dr. E. Dana Durand, United States Tariff Commission, “The Business Depression”.

Oct. 26        Mr. J. P. Wernette, “Politics and Finance in Peru”.

Nov. 9          Mr. J. B. Crane, “Aviation”.

Nov. 23       Professor W. Z. Ripley, “National Economic Planning.”

Dec. 14        Dr. J. F. Normano, “South America Today: An Attempt at an Economic ‘Characteristique’.

Jan.  11        Dr. L. B. Currie, “The Nature of Credit”.

Feb.  8         Dr. B. C. Hunt, “The English Joint Stock Company 1800-1862”.

Feb. 15        Dr. Mordecai Ezekiel, Assistant Chief Economist of the Federal Farm Board, “Stability vs. Flexibility as Means to Economic Adjustment”.

Feb. 29       Dr. C. J. Ratzlaff, “The Theory and Practice of the International Labor Organization of the League of Nations”

Mar  14       Dr. Leontief, “Postive and Normative Approaches in Economic Theory”

Mar  28       Mr. K. L. Anderson, “Thornstein Veblen’s Economics”.

Apr.  11       Mr. Ejnar Jensen, “International Monetary and Technological Influences on European Agricultural Development since 1870”.

Apr.  18       Dr. Wilhelm Kromphardt, A. O. Professor of Economics, University of Münster, “The Relation of Economic Evolution to Economic Theory and Its Application”.

Apr. 25       Mr. N. R. Danielian, “Recent Developments in the Electric Light and Power Industry in the U.S.”

May 9          Professor Charles S. Collier, Professor of Law in George Washington University, “Public Utility Valuation.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.

Categories
Harvard Syllabus

Harvard. Taxation Theory and Methods. Taussig, 1897-98

 

Frank W. Taussig took over this taxation course from Charles E. Dunbar in 1896/97. The course was a graduate course that juniors and seniors were permitted to attend. About a decade later the topic was absorbed into Charles Bullock’s teaching portfolio. The reading list is for the academic year 1897-98. It is not altogether obvious what Taussig intended with the pairings of readings within curly brackets.  I presume he meant that students were allowed to choose from the two items.

After posting this material, I have added a transcription of the final examination for this course.

________________________________________

[Course Announcement]

*71 hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to Local Taxation in the United States. Half-course (first half-year.) Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Professor Taussig.

Source: Harvard University, Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1897-98 (second edition, 1897), p. 39.

________________________________________

[Course Enrollment]

[Economics ] 71. Professor Taussig.—The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to Local Taxation in the United States. 2 or 3 hours. 1st half year.

Total 42: 5 Graduates, 27 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Annual Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College 1897-98, (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1899), p. 78.

________________________________________

 

ECONOMICS 71.

Seligman, [Edwin R. A.] — Essays in Taxation.
[1st edition, 1895; 2nd edition, 1897; 3rd edition, 1900; 4th edition, 1903; 5th edition, 1905; 6th edition, 1909; 7th edition, 1911; 8th edition, 1913; 9th edition, 1921; 10th edition, 1925]

Bastable, [C.F.] — Public Finance.
[1st edition, 1892; 2nd edition, 1895; 3rd edition, 1903]

Leroy-Beaulieu, [Paul] —Science des Finances, Vol. I [Des Revenus Publics]
[3rd edition (1883); 5th edition (1892); 6th edition (1899)]

Say, [Léon] — Dictionnaire des Finances. [1889]
[Tome I: A — D (1889); Tome II: E — Z (1894)]

Quarterly Journal of Economics, cited as Q. J. E.

Dowell, [Stephen] — History of Taxation and Taxes in England [1884].
Vol. I (Taxation, From the Earliest Times to the Civil War); Vol. II (Taxation, From the Civil War to the Present Day); Vol. III (Direct Taxes and Stamp Duties); Vol. IV (Taxes on Articles of Consumption)]

[Palgrave, R. H. Inglis (editor). Dictionary of Political Economy (1899).
Vol. I, A — E; Vol. II, F — M; Vol. III, N — Z]

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS: CLASSIFICATION.

Seligman, Ch. IX.
Bastable, Bk. II, Ch. I; Bk. III, Ch. 1

 

TAXES ON LAND.

{Leroy-Beaulieu. Bk. II, Ch. VI;
Say, article “Foncière (Contribution).” 233-241.}
Bastable, Bk. IV, Ch. I.
Dictionary of Political Economy, article “Land Tax.”

 

HABITATION TAXES.

{Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. VII.
Say, article “Personelle-Mobilière,” 850-857.}
Dowell, Vol. III, 186-192.

 

INCOME TAXES.

Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. X.
Bastable, Bk. IV, Ch. IV.
{Dowell, Vol. III, 99-122;
Article “Income Tax in the United Kingdom,” in Dictionary of Political Economy, Vol. II.}
J. A. Hill, The Prussian Income Tax, Q. J. E., January, 1892.
Seligman, Ch. X, iii, iv.

 

BUSINESS TAXES.

{Say, article “Patentes,” pp. 743-752;
Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. VIII.}
J. A. Hill—The Prussian Business Tax, Q. J. E., October, 1893.

 

SUCCESSION TAXES.

Seligman, Ch. V; Ch. IX, i.
Bastable, Bk. III, Ch. III.

 

PROGRESSION.

{Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. II;
Bastable, Bk. III, Ch. III.}
Seligman, Progressive Taxation [1894], pp. 190-200; pp. 39-53 (Switzerland). [2nd edition, 1908]]

 

DIRECT TAXES BY THE UNITED STATES.

C. F. Dunbar, The Direct Tax of 1861, Q. J. E., July, 1889; Vol. III, pp. 436-446.
J. A. Hill, The Civil War Income Tax, Q. J. E., July, 1894.
C. F. Dunbar, The New Income Tax, Q. J. E., October, 1894.

 

LOCAL TAXES IN ENGLAND.

Blunden, Local Taxation and Finance, Ch. III, IV, V.

 

LOCAL TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Seligman, Ch. II, IV, VI, XI.
Ely, Taxation in American States, part III, Ch. VII.
Plehn, The General Property Tax in California, (Economic Studies, Vol. II, No. 3), Part II, 151-178.
Angell, The Tax Inquisitor System in Ohio, in Yale Review, February, 1897.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 1, folder “1897-1898”.

Image Source: Harvard College Album, 1900.

Image Source:  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.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Seminary in Economics. Topics and Speakers, 1891/2-1907/8

 The inspiration for the research workshop goes back to the German tradition of the research seminar for which the English word “seminary” was used. A sole economics seminary was announced at Harvard for the period 1892-1933 according to the annual Announcement of Courses of Instructions. One presumes the division of workshops is limited by the extent of the graduate program and that, by the early 1930s, the scale and scope of the Harvard department supported greater differentiation of its research seminars. The later Hansen-Williams Fiscal Seminar is an example of the kind of specialized workshop that was to develop. 

This posting provides the names and topics of presenters at the seminary in economics as published in the Harvard University Catalogues up through the academic year 1907/08 after which time we need to draw on other sources, e.g. announcements of individual seminars published in the Harvard University Gazette or the Harvard Crimson. Where invited guest lecturers for the public were announced, e.g. John Commons and Thorstein Veblen, I have included the information for the corresponding year.

________________________________

[First announcement of the Seminary in Economics, 1892-93]

Economics 20. Seminary in Political Economy.

Professors Dunbar and Taussig, and Mr. Cummings, will guide competent students in research on topics assigned after consolation. The Seminary will hold weekly meetings; and in addition each student will confer individually, once a week, with the instructor under whose guidance he carries on his investigations.

Source:  Harvard University, Announcement of Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1892-93, p. 32.

________________________________

[Last announcement of the Seminary in Economics, 1932-33]

The Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 7.45 P.M.

Meetings are held by instructors and advanced students for the presentation of the results of investigation.

Source: Harvard University, Announcement of Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1932-33 (second edition), p. 130.

_________________________________________

1891-92

At the Seminaries of Political Economy and American History (Joint Meetings):

Colonial Tariffs. Mr. William Hill.
Periodical Literature and Collections. Professor Taussig.
Suppression of the African Slave Trade. Mr. W. E. B. DuBois.
The Episcopal Church and Slavery. Mr. W. L. Tenney.
The Pacific Railways. Mr. H. K. White.
The Central Pacific Railway. Mr. W. Olney.
Impeachment Trials. Mr. Melville E. Ingals, Jr.
Some Early Anti-Immigration Laws. Mr. E. E. Proper.
Reconstruction in South Carolina. Mr. D. F. Houston.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1892-93, p. 122.

_________________________________________

1892-93

At the Seminary in Economics:

The economic periodicals of France and England. Prof. C. F. Dunbar.
The economic periodicals of Germany and the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.
Georgia’s experiment in state railway management. Mr. G. Walcott.
The theory of gluts, with special reference to earlier discussions. Mr. C. W. Mister.
Public works in Pennsylvania. Mr. A. M. Day.
Postal subsidies in Great Britain. Mr. H. C. Emery.
Internal improvement in Indiana. Mr. H. H. Cook.
Railway Pools in the United States. Mr. G. L. Sheldon.
The earlier history of the anthracite coal industry. Mr. G. O. Virtue.
The construction of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. H. K. White.
The organization of Poor Relief in Massachusetts. Mr. H. K. White.

At the Seminaries of American History and Institutions and of Economics. (Joint Meetings):

Study of History and Economics in English Universities. Professor W. J. Ashley.
The Mark theory. President E. A. Bryan.
Tariff legislation in the United States from 1783-1789. Mr. William Hill.
The federal import and the tariff act of 1879. Mr. William Hill.
The currency situation in the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.
Legislation by the states on the issue of bank notes. Mr. D. F. Houston.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1893-94, pp. 129-130.

_________________________________________

1893-94

At the Seminary of Economics:

The economic congresses and meetings at Chicago. Professors Cummings and Taussig.
The economic and statistical meetings at Chicago. Professor Taussig.
Combinations among anthracite coal producers since 1873. Mr. Virtue.
Results of recent investigations on prices in the United States. Professor Taussig.
Some phases of public management of railways in Victoria (Australia). Mr. H. R. Meyer.
Local rivalry in the earlier development of internal improvements in the United States. Mr. A. M. Day.
Forestry legislation in the United States. Mr. C. C. Closson.
The Trunk Line Pool, and its effects on railway rates. Mr. G. L. Sheldon.
Sismondi and the theory of gluts. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
The earlier stages of the operation of the Erie canal. Mr. W. R. Buckminster.
The income tax of the civil war. Mr. J. A. Hill.
Internal improvements in Illinois. Mr. G. S. Callender.
Changes in the factory population of the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.
The Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. G. W. Cox.
Public railway management in New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The development of the theory of gluts and over-accumulation. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
Compulsory insurance in Germany. Mr. J. G. Brooks.
The Erie canal. Mr. W. R. Buckminster.
The factory system in the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1894-95, p. 136.

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1894-95

At the Seminary of Economics:

Wilhelm Roscher. Professor Ashley.
The factory operatives in the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.
The classification of the Political Sciences. Professor Ashley.
The English Budget of 1894. Mr. F. R. Clow.
The antecedents of J. S. Mill’s “Principles.” Messrs. Aldrich, Estabrook, and Harper.
The theory of “House-Industry.” Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
Definition and history of statistics. Mr. H. H. Cook.
The distribution of mediaeval fairs. Mr. J. Sullivan.
The United States and its mineral lands Mr. G. O. Virtue.
Child labor in the early factories. Mr. Hisa.
The economic condition of the South. Dr. E. von Halle.
The Chicago strike. Professor Ashley.
Legislation on arbitration in the United States. Rev. T. P. Berle.
The taxation of sugar in Germany. Mr. G. E. Chipman.
State railroads in New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
Economic teaching in Germany. Rev. W. L. Bevan.
English industrial organization in the 17th and 18th centuries. Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
Mediaeval fairs and the law merchant. Mr. J. Sullivan.
The antecedents of Mill’s “Doctrine of Value.” Mr. E. H. Harper.
The financing of internal improvements in the Northwest. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The antecedents of Mill’s chapters on Property and Land-Tenure. Mr. H. K. Estabrook.
Technical education in England. Mr. G. W. Cox.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1895-96, p. 139.

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1895-96

Eight lectures by Francis A. Walker, LL.D., on Bimetallism since the Discovery of America.

Lecture. The Present Condition of the Currency of the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.

At the Seminary of Economics: —

Economics in Italy. Professor Taussig.
The study of economics in German universities. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
The theory of the standard of living, from Adam Smith to J. S. Mill. Mr. R. Ware.
Financial operations by the loyal states during the Civil War (1861-1865). Mr. H. H. Cook.
International borrowing in its early stages, with special reference to England and the United States, 1820-1840. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The workman in the textile industries of England and the United States. Mr. S. N. D. North.
Attainment of the income tax in England. Mr. A. M. Chase.
Public management of railways in Victoria. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The organization and regulation of certain domestic industries in England in the 18th century. Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The taxation of personal property in Massachusetts. Mr. E. W. Hooper.
The annual appropriation bill of the city of Boston. Mr. W. H. King.
The legal tender acts of 1862. Mr. D. C Barrett.
Fundamental errors in sociology. Dr. Frederick H. Wines.
International borrowing before 1850. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The tonnage laws and the shipping policy of the United States. Mr. P. D. Phair.
The internal revenue act of 1862. Mr. G. Thomas.
The beginning of liquor legislation. Mr. A. P. Andrew.
The international trade of the United States in its relation to recent currency legislation. Mr. A. Sweezey.
Beginnings of trade and industry in Scotland, with some account of the early Guilds. Mr. T. Allison.
The bimetallic situation. President Francis A. Walker.
The Intercolonial Railway of Canada. Mr. C. E. Seaman.
The railway situation in California. Mr. H. C. Marshall and Dr. F. E. Haynes.
The taxation of sugar in the United States since 1860. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
The economic basis of Irish emigration 1650-1850. Mr. H. H. Cook.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1896-97, pp. 138-9, 141-42.

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1896-97

Eight lectures on the Income Taxes in Germany, Switzerland, and England, by Dr. J. A. Hill. Subjects as follows: —

Income Taxes in Germany: Historical Development. The Taxpayers, the Taxable Income, and the Rates.
The Methods of Assessment. Income and Property Taxes in Switzerland: Their Development. The Rate and Exemptions. The Methods of Assessment.
The English Income Tax: Its History. The Assessment.

At the joint meetings of the Seminary of American History and Institutions and the Seminary of Economics: 

Methods and experience of historical investigation. Mr. J. F. Rhodes.
The financial procedure of a state legislature. Mr. F. C. Lowell.

At the Seminary of Economics:

French economic periodicals and other aids to economic study. Professor Dunbar.
Periodicals and other aids to economic study, in France. Professor Dunbar.
Periodicals and other aids to economic study, in England and the United States. Professor Ashley.
John Rae: A neglected economist. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
Some impressions of reformatories. Mr. W. H. Gratwick.
Sir Robert Giffen on prices in relation to material progress in England. Mr. F. Atherton.
The woolen manufacturer and the tariff. Mr. A. T. Lyman.
British capital and American resources, 1815-1850. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The taxation of sugar in the United States, 1789-1861. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
Recent immigration into the United States. Mr. E. H. Warren.
Apportionments of national bank currency. Mr. T. Cooke.
Some phases of the history of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. S. P. West.
Some recent phases of economic thought in the United States. Mr. J. A. Tirrell.
The condition of coal-miners in the bituminous districts. Mr. H. E. George.
Certain phases of the history and literature of industrial depression from 1873 to 1886. Mr. C. Beardsley, Jr.
The financial history of the Pennsylvania Railway. Mr. R. D. Jenks.
Some aspects of the financial history of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. S. P. West.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1897-98, p. 387-388, 391-392.

 

_________________________________________

1897-98

At the joint meetings of the Seminary of American History and Institutions and the Seminary of Economics:

Some results of an inquiry on taxation in Massachusetts. Professor F. W. Taussig.
The Making of a Tariff. Mr. S. N. D. North.
The currency reform plan of the Indianapolis convention. Professor Dunbar.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Trade-unions in Australia. Dr. M. A. Aldrich.
The coal miners’ strike of 1897. Mr. J. E. George.
An analysis of the law of diminishing returns. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
The Secretary of the Treasury and the currency, 1865-1879. Mr. H. C. Marshall.
An inquiry on government contract work in Canada. Mr. W. L. M. King.
The sugar industry in Europe as affected by taxes and bounties. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
The security of bank notes based on general assets, as indicated by experience under the national bank system. Mr. A. O. Eliason.
The inter-colonial railway. Mr. C. E. Seaman.
Some results of the new method of assessing the income tax in Prussia. Dr. J. A. Hill.
Antonio Serra and the beginnings of political economy in Italy. Mr. D. F. Grass.
The American Federation of Labor. Dr. M. A. Aldrich.
The earlier stages of the silver movement in the United States. Mr. Randolph Paine.
The land grant to the Union Pacific Railroad. Mr. R. W. Cone.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1898-99, pp. 400-1.

_________________________________________

1898-99

Fifteen lectures on Life Insurance by Charlton T. Lewis, of New York City.

At the Seminary of Economics: 

Aids in economic investigation. Professor Taussig.
Economic study in England. Dr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The growth and the constituent elements of the population of Boston. Mr. F. A. Bushée (2).
Some operations of the United States Treasury in 1894-96. Professor Taussig.
The Interstate Commerce Act as interpreted by the courts. Mr. F. Hendrick.
The English industrial crisis of 1622. Dr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The earlier history of the English income tax. Dr. J. A. Hill.
The theory of savers’ rent and some of its applications. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
The working of the French Railway Conventions of 1883. Mr. F. Hendrick.
The adoption of the gold standard by England in 1816. Mr. D. F. Grass.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1899-1900, pp. 412, 417.

_________________________________________

1899-1900

Lecture. The United States census. Professor W. F. Willcox, of the Census Office.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Aids in Economic study: (1) Specialized publications in Germany. Professor F. W. Taussig.
(2) English and American literature. Professor Ashley.
(3) American publications. Professor Taussig.
The conference on trusts at Chicago. Mr. John Graham Brooks.
Legislation on combinations and trusts in the United States. Mr. R. C. Davis.
Judicial decisions on statutes relating to combinations and trusts. Mr. R. C. Davis.
The tenement house exhibition, and tenement conditions in Boston. Mr. F. A. Bushée.
The influence of the tariff on the iron and steel industry. Mr. D. S. Bobb.
The duties on wool and their effects, 1870-1899. Mr. F. W. Wose.
The duty on copper and its effects. Mr. W. D. Shue.
The duties on sugar and their effects. Mr. G. H. Johnston.
The economic aspects of close commercial relations with Hawaii. Mr. U. S. Parker.
The discussion of value at the hands of English writers before Adam Smith. Mr. C. Bowker.
The silk manufacture and the tariff. Mr. S. S. Fitzgerald.
The commercial crisis of 1857. Mr. C. Hobbs.
The economic significance of the Hebrew year of jubilee. Mr. R. J. Sprague.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1900-1, pp. 429, 432.

_________________________________________

1900-01

Six lectures on Statistics of Wages, by the Hon. Carroll D. Wright:—

Methods and Difficulties in Collecting Statistics of Wages.
Difficulties and Fallacies in Presentations of Wages.
Chief Sources of Statistical Information on Wages.
Value of the Various Collections of Wages Statistics.
Money Wages as shown by Statistics during last Half Century.
Real Wages for the same period.

At the Seminary of Economics:

The trusts and the tariff. Mr. Charles Beardsley.
Civil service reform in Australia: its successes and its failures. I. Victoria; II. New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The early history of the Standard Oil Combination. Mr. G. H. Montague.
Manufacturing industries in the South End of Boston. Mr. R. F. Phelps .
Notes on a transcontinental journey. Professor Taussig.
Relations of employers and workmen in the Boston building trades. Mr. W. H. Sayward.
Changes in the geographical distribution of the Southern negroes since the Civil War. Mr. R. J. Sprague.
Changes in the tenure and ownership of land in the South since the Civil War. Mr. R. J. Sprague.
The early history of the Erie Railway. Mr. A. J. Boynton.
The early history of banking in Massachusetts. Mr. F. L. Bugbee.
The work of the United States Industrial Commission. Professor E. D. Durand, of Stanford University.
The cotton-seed oil industry. Mr. W. D. Shue.
Combinations in the German iron trade. Mr. E. B. Stackpole.
Are the English payments to mail steamships subsidies? Mr. W. E. Stilwell.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1901-02, pp. 414, 419-420.

 

_________________________________________

1901-02

Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 4.30. Professor Ashley and Asst. Professor Carver.

In the Seminary, the instructors undertake the guidance of students in independent investigation, and give opportunity for the presentation and discussion of the result of investigation. Members of the Graduate School who propose to conduct inquiries having in view the preparation of theses to be presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, may select subjects agreed upon after conference with the instructors, and may carry on investigations on such subjects, as part of the work in the Seminary.
The general meetings of the Seminary are held on the first and third Mondays of each month. The members of the Seminary confer individually, at stated times arranged after consultation, with the instructors under whose special guidance they are conducting their researches.
At the regular meetings, the results of the investigations of members are presented and discussed. The instructors also at times present the results of their own work, and give accounts of the specialized literature of Economics. At intervals, other persons are invited to address the Seminary on subjects of theoretic or practical interest, giving opportunity for contact and discussion with the non-academic world.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science (June 21, 1901), University Publications, New Series, No. 16, p. 48.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Four lectures by Professor Edward A. Ross, on “The Growth and present Stage of the Literature of Sociology”:—

The Building of Sociology.
The Recent Tendencies of Sociology.
The Moot Points of Sociology.
The Desiderata of Sociology.

At the Seminary of Economics:

The Rise of the Oil Monopoly. Mr. G. H. Montague.
The Conditions of Employment and Housing of South End (Boston) Factory Operatives. Mr. R. Morris.
Principles Underlying the Demarcation between Public and Private Industries. Mr. R. Morris.
Restriction of Municipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.
Economic Conditions in Nicaragua. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
Some Theoretical Possibilities of Protective Tariffs. Professor Carver.
A Study of some Records of the Associated Charities of Boston. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The Rise and Regulation of Municipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.
Le Solidarisme social de M. Leon Bourgeois. Professor Léopold Mabilleau.
A Review of the French and Italian Economic Journals. Professor Ripley, Dr. A. P. Andrew, Mr. C. W. Doten, and Mr. R. F. Phelps.
National Corporation Laws for Industrial Organizations. Mr. James B. Dill.
The Budgetary System of Canada. Mr. R. C. Matthews.
The Elements of Labor and Relief Departments in Railway Expenditure. Mr. A. L. Horst.
The Economics of Colonization. Professor E. A. Ross.
Elizabethan Mercantilism as seen in the Corn Trade. Mr. R. G. Usher.
The Present Position of Economics in Japan. Mr. Nobushiro Sakurai.
The Economic Theories of Josiah Tucker. Mr. Robert Morris.
Urban and Suburban Residence of South End (Boston)
Factory Employés. Mr. R. F. Phelps.
The Recent History of the Standard Oil Monopoly. Mr. G. H. Montague.
State v. Local Control of the Boston Police. Mr. F. R. Cope.
The Laws regulating Muncipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1902-03, pp. 431, 434-435.

_________________________________________

1902-03

Eight lectures on “Some Leading Principles of Political Economy and Statistics,” by Professor F. Y. Edgeworth, of Oxford University, as follows: —

The Theory of Value applied to International Trade.
The Exceptions to the Rule of Free Trade.
Value in a Regime of Monopoly.
The Value of Land and other Factors of Production.
The Taxation of Urban Site Values.
The Higher Theory of Statistics.
Index Numbers.
Supplementary.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Reports on Current American and English Economic Periodicals, respectively by Messrs. R. W. Magrane and H. M. Kallen.
Gas Profits in Massachusetts. Mr. Alton D. Adams.
Economic Problems and Conditions in the Far Northwest. Professor C. Beardsley.
Report on Economics in Italy. Mr. D. H. Webster.
Reforms in Economic Teaching in the English Universities. Professor F. Y. Edgeworth.
Reports on Current German Periodicals and Literature. Messrs. W. H. Price and G. R. Lewis.
Recent Changes in the Rate of Wages. Dr. E. D. Durand.
Classification of Occupations in Relation to the Tariff. Mr. Edward Atkinson.
A Study of the Boston Ghetto. Mr. H. M. Kallen.
Report on Current French Literature. Mr. A. B. Wolfe.
The Anatomy of a Tenement Street. Mr. H. M. Kallen.
Railroad Reorganization in the United States. Mr. S. Daggett.
The Inclosure Movement and the English Rebellions of the Sixteenth Century. Dr. E. F. Gay.
A Stock Exchange Day. Mr. Sumner B. Pearmain.
The Lodging House Problem in Boston. Mr. A. B. Wolfe.
Jewish Trade Unions in Boston. Mr. Philip Davis.
Economics of the American Corn Belt. Mr. A. J. Boynton.
Movement of Real Estate Values in American Cities. Mr. Henry Whitmore.
Report on Labor Journals and Trades Union Publications. Mr. V. Custis.
Some Phases of the American Copper Mining Industry. Mr. G. R. Lewis.
The Determination of Franchise Values. Mr. C. W. Wright.
Initiation Ceremonies among Primitive Peoples. Mr. D. H. Webster.
The Indebtedness of English Mercantilism to Holland. Mr. E. T. Miller.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1903-04, pp. 466, 469.

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1903-04

At the Seminary of Economics:

A Trip through the Corn Country of the West. Professor Carver.
Early History of Economic Studies in American Colleges. Professor Bullock.
The Growth of Labor Organization in the United States. Professor Ripley.
Industrial Combinations in Germany, with special reference to Coal. Dr. F. Walker.
Our Trade Relations with Canada. Mr. Osborne Howes.
Supervision of National Banks, solvent and insolvent, by the Comptroller of the Currency. Mr. William A. Lamson (H. U. ’81), National Bank Examiner.
The Effect of Trade Unions upon Industrial Efficiency. Mr. Henry White, Secretary of the United Garment Workers of America.
The Financing of Corporations. Hon. Charles S. Fairchild.
A Remedy for Some Industrial Troubles. Hon. William B. Rice.
The Elizabethan Patents of Monopoly. Mr. W. H. Price.
The English Miner in the Middle Ages. Mr. G. R. Lewis.
The Northern Securities Case and the Supreme Court Decision. Mr. E. B. Whitney.
Progress in Manufactures in the United States. Hon. S. N. D. North, Director United States Census Bureau.
The Expansion Periods of 1878-85 and 1897-02 compared. Mr. Sumner B. Pearmain, ’83.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1904-05, p. 457.

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1904-05

Under the auspices of the Department of Economics, Professor W. F. Willcox, of Cornell University, gave three lectures on some results of the United States census enumeration of 1900: —

1. The Population of the United States.
2. Some Statistical Aspects of the Negro Problem.
3. The Birth Rate and Death Rate of the United States.

Three lectures on the “Relations between Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations,” by Professor John R. Commons, of the University of Wisconsin: —

1. The Teamsters’ Organizations in Chicago.
2. Industrial Organizations in the Window-glass Manufacture.
3. Industrial Organizations in the Stove Manufacture.

At the Seminary of Economics:

The Forces in Industrial Consolidation. Mr. V. Custis.
Railroad Reorganization. Mr. S. Daggett.
The Specialized Literature of Economics: Periodicals, Dictionaries, and the Like. I. German Publications. Professor Taussig.
II. English and American. Professor T. N. Carver.
The French Corn Laws from 1515 to 1660. Mr. A. P. Usher.
The Meeting of the American Economic Association at Chicago. Professor Taussig.
Trade Unionism and Politics. Mr. Ray Stannard Baker.
Social Problems of American Farmers. President Kenyon L. Butterfield, of Rhode Island College of Agriculture.
Wool-growing in the United States. Mr. C. W. Wright.
Public Opinion as a Factor in Industrial Consolidation. Mr. V. Custis.
Marx’s Theory of Value. Mr. F. W. Johnston.
The Atchison System. Mr. S. Daggett.
Wool-growing in the United States since 1860. Mr. C. W. Wright.
The Negro in Boston. Mr. J. Daniels.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1905-06, pp. 456-457, 460-1.

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1905-06

Lecture. Followers of Karl Marx. Professor T. B. Veblen, of the University of Chicago.

Lecture. The Diffusion of Economic Knowledge. Professor Simon Newcomb.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Railroad Reorganization, The Philadelphia and Reading R. R. Mr. Stuart Daggett.
The Railway Rate Situation. Mr. C. A. Legg.
Stages of Economic Growth. Professor E. F. Gay.
The Finances of Boston, 1820-1860. Mr. C. P. Huse.
The Intendants and the Organization of the Corn Trade in France, 1683-1715.
Mr. A. P. Usher. Collateral Bond Issues. Mr. Thomas Warner Mitchell.
The Earlier History of the English Post-office. Mr. J. C. Hemmeon.
The Meeting of the American Economic Association at Baltimore. Professor Taussig.
The Organization of a Cooperative Business. Mr. E. A. Filene.
The Development of English Trade to the Levant. Miss G. F. Ward.
The Telephone Situation in Great Britain. Mr. A. N. Holcombe.
Characteristics of Railroad Reorganizations. Mr. Stuart Daggett.
The Distribution of Socialistic Sentiment. Professor T. B. Veblen, of the University of Chicago.
Transportation in Modern England, to 1830. Mr. W. Jackman.
The Dutch-English Rivalry, with Special Reference to Fisheries. Mr. H. L. Drury.
Recent History of the Glass Manufacture in the United States. Mr. D. F. Edwards.
A Discussion of Distribution. Mr. F. W. Johnston.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1906-07, pp. 536-7, 540.

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1906-07

Lectures on Municipal Ownership. Major Leonard Darwin, of London, England, gave a series of lectures on Municipal Ownership: —

1. The Main Issues connected with Municipal Ownership. The Regulation of Private Trade. Municipal Ownership and Local Taxation.
2. English Municipal Statistics. The Probability of Profit-Making by Municipal Ownership. Municipal Management.
3. Municipal Corruption. Wages under Municipal Ownership. The Direct Employment of Labour by Municipalities.
4. Municipal Ownership without Direct Employment. Municipal Ownership and Socialistic Ideals.

Through the courtesy of the National Civic Federation, a series of five public lectures on Socialism and the Allied Social and Economic Questions was given by W. H. Mallock, A.M.

Lecture. The New Interstate Commerce Act. Professor F. H. Dixon.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Impressions of Sociological Study in Foreign Countries. Mr. J. A. Field.
Field Observations on the Tobacco Industry. Mr. S. O. Martin.
The Financial Policy of Massachusetts from 1780 to 1800. Professor Bullock.
The Financial Policy of Alabama from 1819 to 1860. Mr. W. O. Scroggs.
The Finances of Boston, 1820-1860. Mr. C. P. Huse.
Some Aspects of the History of the English Mining Classes. Dr. G. R. Lewis.
Some Aspects of the Early Railway Era in Great Britain. Mr. William Jackman.
Land and Capital. Professor Fetter.
The Theory of Interest. Professor Fetter.
The Beet-Sugar Industry in the United States. Mr. M. H. Salz.
The Recent Tariff History of Canada. Mr. W. W. McLaren.
Commercial Education in American Universities. Mr. F. V. Thompson.
The English Board of Trade during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, and its Records. Mr. J. R. H. Moore.
The Cotton Manufacture in the United States since 1860. Mr. M. T. Copeland.
Some Discoveries in Economic History. M. le vicomte Georges d’Avenel.
A Course of Instruction in Business Management. Mr. H. S. Person.
Bank Reserves in England, Canada, and the United States. Mr. F. S. Mead.
A Journey into the Tobacco-raising Districts of the West and South. Mr. S. O. Martin.
Sketch of the Legislative History of Massachusetts Business Corporations. Mr. W. E. Rappard.
The English Fisheries, 1500-1800. Mr. H. L. Drury.
Municipal Ownership of Telephones in Great Britain. Mr. A. N. Holcombe.
Researches in a Manufacturing Suburb. Mr. E. L. Sheldon.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1907-08, pp. 431, 437-438.

 

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1907-08

Under the auspices of the Department of Economics, Dr. Victor S. Clark gave two lectures on Australian Economic Problems: —

1. Railways: History and Administration.
2. Railways: Description and Statistics.

Dr. Clark also gave two public lectures: —

1. State and Federal Finance in Australia.
2. The Tariff Policy of Australia.

At the Seminary of Economics:

General Principles of Railroad Reorganization. Dr. Stuart Daggett.
The Silk Manufacture. Mr. F. R. Mason.
The Silk Manufacture and the Tariff. Mr. F. R. Mason.
Certain Phases of the Theory of Population since Malthus. Mr. J. A. Field.
The Commercial Use of Credit Instruments previous to 1724. Mr. A. P. Usher.
The Conduct of Public Works in English Towns in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Miss S. L. Hadley.
The Growth of the Knit Goods Industry. Mr. M. T. Copeland.
The Foreign Trade of England during the Thirteenth Century, especially with regard to the Italian. Miss G. F. Ward.
A Statistical Survey of Italian Emigration. Mr. R. F. Foerster.
The Meetings of the Economic and Sociological Associations at Madison. Professor Carver and Mr. J. A. Field.
The Canadian Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. Mr. W. W. McLaren.
Factory Labor in Massachusetts: Legislation and Economic Condition, 1810-1880. Mr. C. E. Persons.
Tax Administration in New York City. Mr. Lawson Purdy.
The Recent History of the Standard Oil Company. Mr. H. B. Platt.
The Wool and Woolens Act of 1867. Mr. P. W. Saxton.
The Causes of the Rise in Prices since 1898. Mr. H. L. Lutz.
The Corn Law Policy in England up to 1689. Mr. N. S. B. Gras.
Agrarian Conditions in Southwest Germany from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Century. Mr. H. C. Dale.
The Land Policy of Australia. Dr. Victor S. Clark.
Proposed Old Age Pension Legislation in England. Mr. R. M. Davis.
The Anthracite Coal Roads and the Coal Companies. Mr. E. Jones.
The Greenback Movement, with Special Reference to Iowa and Wisconsin. Mr. C. O. Ruggles.
Fibres and Fibre Products. Mr. B. S. Foss.
A Study of the Population of Cambridgeport. Mr. A. J. Kennedy.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1908-09, pp. 450, 455-6.

 

 

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Charles F. Dunbar Obituary by Taussig, 1900

In this posting I first provide links to six successive editions of Charles F. Dunbar’s textbook on the theory and history of banking (four of which revised and expanded posthumously). 

Next, following President Eliot’s memoir from the last posting, I append here the obituary for Charles F. Dunbar written by Frank W. Taussig published February 3, 1900 in the Cambridge Tribune.  

Another memoir (written by Edward H. Hall) regarding Dunbar was published in vol. 14 (1900-01) of the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, pp. 218-228.

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Dunbar, Charles F. Chapters on Banking, privately printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Zero edition, 1885. Eight chapters printed for the use of classes in Harvard University.

Dunbar, Charles F. Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press.

First edition, 1891. Added introductory chapter, chapter on combined reserves or the system of Clearing-House loan certificates and one on the Bank of Amsterdam.

Note: title shortened for second through fourth edition to The Theory and History of Banking.

Second edition, 1901. Enlarged and edited by O. M. W. Sprague.

Third edition, 1917. Enlarged by Oliver M. W. Sprague to include three new chapters on Foreign Exchange, Central Banks and on the Federal Reserve System.

Fourth edition, 1922. With chapters on foreign exchange and central banks by Oliver M. W. Sprague and a supplementary chapter presenting the record of the Federal Reserve System by Henry Parker Willis.

Fifth edition, 1929 With supplementary chapter presenting the record of the Federal Reserve System by Henry Parker Willis. Revised and in part rewritten with additional material by Oliver M. W. Sprague. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

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Charles Franklin Dunbar.

Charles Franklin Dunbar, professor of Political Economy in Harvard University, died at his house, on Highland street, on the night of Monday, January 29. He had been ill for some weeks, but his friends had not thought the end would come so soon.

Professor Dunbar was born July 28, 1830, and graduated from Harvard College in 1851. Among his class-mates were Professors Goodwin and Langdell, and Dr. S. A. Green; and, among those whom death has already carried away, Professor W. F. Allen of the University of Wisconsin, General Francis W. Palfrey, and Messrs. George O. Shattuck and Augustus T. Perkins of Boston. Professor Dunbar studied law after graduation, but in a few years became connected with the Boston Advertiser. To that paper he gave some of the best years of his life. He became editor-in-chief in 1862, and so was in charge of the paper during the greater part of the civil war. While always independent in his judgments, he was a fervid supporter of the Union cause, and many of his editorials rang through New England like a trumpet blast. In 1869 the paper changed hands, and Professor Dunbar resigned as editor and disposed of his interest. He was invited shortly to accept the professorship in Harvard University, and after two years spent in travel and study in Europe, assumed the duties of the professorship, in 1871. For the rest of his life he was in active service, and a resident of Cambridge through these thirty years.

Professor Dunbar’s sagacity and tact led to his selection for important administrative offices. He was dean of the Faculty of Harvard College from 1876 to 1882, and was the first dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Harvard University when that body was organized in 1890. He remained its dean till 1895. From 1886 to 1896 he was editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, established by the University in the first named year.

Professor Dunbar was distinguished by solidity of learning, sanity of judgment, independence of views, and scholarly thoroughness in probing to the bottom every subject he took up. His favorite topics were banking, currency and financial administration. He was interested alike in the history of these subjects and in current problems connected with them. Probably no man was better equipped by attainments and by justness of views to give advice on the financial questions which have been before the American community for the last thirty years. His writings on them gave but fragmentary indication of his attainments. He published a compact volume on the “Theory and Practice of Banking,” [sic, correct title is “The Theory and History of Banking”] which, though brief, is the best book on this subject in the English language, and in some respects perhaps the best in any language. To the Quarterly Journal of Economics he contributed frequent articles on financial subjects, and on some questions of theory; and he had abundance of material for others which he had planned but unhappily was not able to prepare. His administrative duties absorbed a large share of his strength, and stood in the way of the execution of his literary plans.

Professor Dunbar was a member of the Massachusetts Historical society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was at one time president of the American Economic association. His reputation abroad was at least as high as it was in the United States: among economists the world over he was known as a scholar of the first rank.

An easy and graceful writer, he was also a clear and attractive lecturer, with a remarkable faculty for the consecutive and systematic exposition of difficult subjects. The weakness of his voice was the only obstacle which ever stood in the way of the interest and easy comprehension of his lectures. With small classes of advanced students he was at his best, and no one who came in contact with him under such circumstances failed to cherish feelings of admiration and affection far him. Staunch in his own opinions, open-minded as to those of others, free from all vanity or ostentation, strong in his affection for those with whom he came into close association, he left a memory which will be cherished by his associates and former students.  F. W. Taussig.

Source: Cambridge Tribune, Vol. XXII, No. 48 (February 3, 1900), p. 4.

Image Source: From cover of the 1885 copy privately published Chapters of Banking.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Biographical memoir of Charles F. Dunbar, 1900

Only a few days after Harvard’s first professor of Political Economy died on January 29, 1900, the President of Harvard himself, Charles William Eliot, read the following memoir of the life of Charles Franklin Dunbar before the Massachusetts Historical Society on February 8, 1900. The memoir was published in The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine‘s June, 1900 issue and reprinted along with biographical sketches of other “Sons of the Puritans” in 1908. Page numbers for the 1908 reprint of the memoir have been placed within square brackets below.  The account of Dunbar’s Harvard career begins on page 75.

_______________________

CHARLES FRANKLIN DUNBAR

By Charles W. Eliot

[59] Charles Franklin Dunbar, born at Abington in July, 1830, was of Scotch descent, as his sandy hair and complexion, his shrewdness, reticence, and quiet humor plainly testified. He was much interested in his family descent, and gave no little time to tracing it both in Scotland and in Massachusetts. In one of his journeys to Scotland he visited the chief seats of the Dunbar Clan in Morayshire, and found reason to believe that from and after the year 1400 Dunbar was one of the prevailing names in that region. The first Dunbar in Massachusetts was Robert Dunbar of Hingham, who said of himself, in a deposition he made in court in 1659, that he was a servant of Mr. Joshua Foote when Mr. Foote lived in Boston. By a series of careful investigations Charles Franklin Dunbar established the strong probability that this Robert Dunbar who was held to the services of Joshua Foote for a term of years as early as 1655, and possibly as early as 1652, was one of Cromwell’s Scottish prisoners taken at the battle of Dunbar in 1650, [60] or at the battle of Worcester in 1651. It is certain that some of the prisoners taken at the battle of Dunbar were sent to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1650-51, after having endured frightful sufferings which killed three quarters of the prisoners originally captured. Robert Dunbar, who died in Hingham in 1693 at about sixty years of age, was therefore, in all probability, of very tough fibre.

The father of Charles Franklin Dunbar was Asaph Dunbar, who was born in 1779 and died in 1867. Charles was Asaph’s youngest child. He had three brothers, all of whom filled out a reasonable span of life, and two sisters, one of whom died in infancy and the other at the age of twenty-one. The father’s business was making boots and shoes, and Charles’s three older brothers grew up in that business in Plymouth County, but while still young went away to New Orleans to sell there the goods which their father manufactured. One of these three brothers returned to New York to establish himself there in the same business. Charles was the only one of the brothers who received a liberal education. He was sent to Phillips Academy, Exeter, — probably because he had always shown a strong desire to read and an aptitude for study. The [61] success with which he accomplished the academic course at Exeter determined his being sent to Harvard College, where he graduated with credit in 1851. The fact that he was sent to Exeter at thirteen years of age determined his subsequent career; and he always felt unbounded gratitude to that ancient academy, a gratitude which he expressed by serving it for many years as a member of the board of trustees. At Harvard College he won the respect and friendship of scores of young men, many of whom have come to the front in one way or another during the forty-eight years which have elapsed since he graduated. Some of them were associated with him in after life; and he always retained their warm regard and admiration.

After leaving college he went for a time to his brothers in New Orleans; but soon came back, first to New York and then to Boston, applying himself steadily to business. A threatening of serious trouble in the lungs obliged him to abandon this indoor occupation; whereupon he bought a farm at Lexington, and entered cheerfully on the quiet out-of-door life of a farmer, for which he developed a strong taste and aptitude. Here he soon recovered his health and strength; so that he took up the study of the law at the [62] Harvard Law School, and in the office of Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, and was in due course admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1858. Practice coming to the young lawyer but slowly, he had ample time to write for the Boston Daily Advertiser, and, finding this occupation congenial, he became within a little more than a year editor and part owner of that influential newspaper. In this enterprise he was supported and helped by the occasional labors of a group of young men whom he had known at Exeter and in College; but he himself gave his whole time and strength to the paper. He remained in the position of editor for ten years, — all through the Civil War, and through the early years of reconstruction and gradual pacification. During the Civil War he personally wrote every editorial article in any way related to the war which appeared in that newspaper. The Advertiser became by common consent the leading paper in Boston, and no newspaper since has exercised the same influence in this community. His position brought him into contact with a large proportion of the leading men of the time in eastern Massachusetts, — with merchants, manufacturers, politicians, soldiers, lawyers, and preachers. He wrote, of course, constantly on military [63] events and prospects; but the subjects he best liked to deal with were financial, economic, or political, — such as the war loans, tariffs, and banking acts, the suspension of specie payments, and the measures taken to collect a great internal revenue. The amount and the quality of the work he did in the ten years between 1859 and 1869 were remarkable, considering that he began this work at twenty-nine and ended it at thirty-nine years of age. At thirty years of age he was wielding an influence which would now seem almost impossible of attainment at that age.

A few citations from his editorials will suffice to give an idea of the elevation of their tone, and of their moderation, judicial quality, and prophetic insight.

As early as July 4, 1861, he thus defined the objects of the war for the Union, and the spirit of the Northern people: —

“We are fighting now, as eighty-five years ago, to defend a cause in which the grandest principles of government and the highest interests of man are involved. Our people now as then have thrown aside all remembrances of old divisions, and have united in an enterprise which they believe to be just and holy. Life, fortune, and sacred honor [64] are again pledged to the support of the patriotic declarations with which the second war for liberty has been undertaken; and again has Congress assembled, prepared to forego the ordinary topics of political strife, to forget as is believed all tests save the one question of fidelity to country, and to take counsel in singleness of heart for the one great object.”

Immediately after the heavy defeat of the Union troops at the first battle of Bull Run, he wrote, July 23, 1861: —

“We said at the outset that this reverse had temporarily defeated the scheme for advancing through Virginia. Let no man to-day whisper the thought of abating a jot of our vast undertaking. Taught by one reverse the nation will rise above its misfortune, and press on in its just and holy cause. The people who have poured out their blood and treasure so freely will be kindled to new efforts. … Our present misfortune will disclose to all the true secret of our weakness, and will teach all that the advance for which some have so long clamored is not to be accomplished in a single effort. With a full knowledge on all hands of the nature of our undertaking, and with such further preparation as must now be made for this grand enterprise, we can doubt its final success as little as we can doubt the justice of the cause in which [65] it is undertaken, or the wisdom of the Providence which rules all things for our good.”

He early foresaw the fate of slavery as an institution. Writing on the last night of the year 1861 a survey of the events of the year, he made this prophetic utterance a year before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued: —

“It leaves our own people with renewed courage, united beyond all hope in support of the government in a most trying case, and fully ahve to the importance of closing the war at once. It also leaves the majority with an unshaken resolution to confine the war to its proper objects, and to sustain the President in the firm and conservative course which he has pursued through the ten months in which he has held office. At the same time, the year has demonstrated to our whole people the great fact, that in the designs of Omnipotence the South has been led through its own folly to write the doom of slavery. Heavier and heavier are the blows which descend upon that institution, and more and more significant are the proofs that the South built upon a weak foundation, when, within this very year, it announced slavery as the cornerstone of its fabric, political and social.”

Near the close of the year 1862 Secretary Chase communicated to the Committee on Ways [66] and Means the draft of a bill to provide the necessary resources for the prosecution of the war. The second section authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow nine hundred million dollars in any of the modes heretofore authorized for making loans. The bill also contained the details of the national bank scheme. Mr. Dunbar’s comments on this bill are in part as follows: —

“The most important feature of this bill, so far as regards the immediate emergencies of the country, is the second section, and this it seems to us has been well conceived. . . . Should this power be granted by Congress, we trust that the secretary will use it with liberal forethought. Armed with full powers, he will be able to feed the market with such securities as are most popular, at times when prices are favorable. Unrestricted by needless trammels, he can avail himself of the most favorable proposals which may be suggested from time to time by those who have money to loan, or who can present well-considered plans for meeting the wants of the Treasury with the least cost to the nation.”

Of that very important part of the bill which related to the establishment of the national bank system he speaks as follows, in his few words [67] showing that he had a clear vision of the wide scope and far-reaching consequences of the project:—

“It has been taken for granted that this measure will provoke a violent opposition, which, nevertheless, as yet has not manifested itself in any very definite shape. It is nowhere denied that the Secretary’s plan insures several very decided advantages; it looks rather to the establishment of a sound currency for the country upon a permanent basis than to any immediate results. If it be said that it will be time enough to legislate to this end when we have got out of the war and the financial difficulties incident thereto, it may be answered with at least equal force that the necessity of reform will then be less generally apparent. ‘Why don’t you mend your roof ?’ asked a traveler of a negro in whose leaky hut he had taken refuge during the shower. ‘Cause it rains’ was the answer. ‘But why don’t you mend it at some time when there is no rain ?’ ‘Cause then it don’t leak.’ This sort of logic will hardly justify Congress in refusing a careful attention to Mr. Chase’s plan, notwithstanding the statement paraded in advance, that ‘the majority of the Ways and Means are hostile to Mr. Chase’s scheme,’ and that ‘this sentiment of disapproval cannot possibly be changed.’”

[68] After the great victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, July 3-5, 1863, Mr. Dunbar wrote as follows on the 8th of July: —

“We speak of these events as of extreme political importance, because they have now for the first time fairly established the ascendency of the national power over the rebellion. Hitherto the struggle has been often a drawn game, and even in our moments of success has left the military strength of the rebels so formidable as to keep their hopes alive. The handwriting is now on the wall in characters which the rudest may read, warning the rebels that henceforth theirs is a hopeless cause, and that from this time their efforts must decline. We may now, at any rate, count upon the moral effect of defeat and loss of faith in their cause, and may hope for the appearance of those discontents and divisions to which despondency gives rise, and which precede the final ruin of a cause which, like the rebellion, has no root in sound principle.”

Looking back on this statement after an interval of thirty-seven years, we are struck with its absolute accuracy.

In his review of the year 1863, on the 31st of December, his comments on the Proclamation of Emancipation illustrate the perfect balance of his judgment: —

[69] “The most distinctly marked event in the conduct of the war for the year, however, is unquestionably the Proclamation of Emancipation issued on the 1st of January, 1863. Of this measure it can now be said, that it has equally disappointed its advocates and its opponents. It has failed to effect the dissolution of the rebel power which was so confidently predicted as certain to be its instantaneous effect, and has left the actual work of emancipation to be performed by the steady advance of military operations. On the other hand, it has failed to make that disastrous division among the loyal which was predicted by many of its opponents. The mass of the people have acquiesced in it as a military measure taken in good faith. But we must remark, they have done this the more readily since on independent grounds the policy of emancipation has gained favor in the popular mind rapidly during the year.”

Speaking of the extraordinary sales of 5-20 bonds in the summer and autumn of 1863, he writes as follows: —

“Throughout the country these bonds have been eagerly sought, with the noblest demonstrations of confidence and affection towards the government in defense of which the money is contributed. The success with which the government now deals with a debt of great magnitude has inspired the country [70] with faith in its ability to cope with the future, heavy as are the burdens promised by the Secretary of the Treasury.”

How far-seeing is the following paragraph, which occurs in the same review of the year 1863: —

“The feelings of the French Emperor towards the United States had long been suspected, but were first fully appreciated by our people when his designs in Mexico were fairly unmasked, and when he announced his deliberate design of erecting a throne in that country to be occupied by a prince nominated by himself. It was immediately perceived that France had created for herself upon this continent an interest adverse to that of the United States. The occupation of the Rio Grande by our forces, however, together with the established certainty that the Emperor will for the present find enough to do in dealing with the Mexican people, who do not accede to the fiction that Maximilian is their choice, has finally quieted all fears as to the course of France for the present.”

In his review of the year 1864, Mr. Dunbar wrote as follows: —

“Never has the struggle seemed so gigantic as in this year, never have the contending forces so [71] convulsed the continent with their efforts, or so appalled the spectators of a strife as terrible and unrelenting as the of the elements. Indeed, this is an elemental strife, which we have seen approaching its climax and crisis, — a strife which, in the words of a philosophic observer who was lately among us, is waged ‘not only between Aristocracy and Democracy, between Slavery and Social Justice, but between ferocious Barbarism and high Civilization.

“It is only when we view the contest in this light that it is possible to realize completely the futility of such efforts at pacification as that which has characterized this year, and which was defeated by the will of the people a few weeks ago. These raging elements are as far beyond the reach of all such attempts to quiet their agitation as is the tempest which purifies the physical atmosphere. The forces have long been gathering, they are in the full height of their sublime power, and are not to be stayed until the mission assigned to them by Providence is accomplished. A great political party thought otherwise, and sought by months of carefully studied effort to still the contention by premature peace; and it finds itself to-day shivered to atoms, and its candidates swept aside like chaff and forgotten. The judgment of the nation and its will have risen to the height of the occasion, and have settled irrevocably the devotion of this [72] people to their grand task to the very end. In its moral aspects, then, the result of the election has been the great event of the year and of the war.”

Mr. Dunbar was often called upon to express the strongest emotions of the people under circumstances of tremendous excitement. After listening all day to the rejoicings in the streets of Boston over the surrender at Appomattox, he wrote at night an editorial in which two out of the four paragraphs are as follows: —

“Four years ago this morning we were obliged to say in this place ‘we do not seek to pierce the gloom which now seems to overspread the future.’ Four years of that future as they have enrolled themselves have shown many another crisis, or agony more acute, but none of gloom so depressing as settled on us all in that week of uncertainty. This day is the anniversary of the humiliating correspondence between General Beauregard and Major Anderson, in which he demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter as a foregone necessity. To-morrow is the anniversary of the day on which he opened his fire. These four years have called upon the nation to show its steadfast endurance. They have called for that loyalty to institutions which does not seek to pierce the gloom of the future. They have bidden the nation stand firm on the eternal principles of its government, [73] and trust God to give it victory, when for victory the time had come. Through that gloom, or the flushes of hope which at one moment or another varied it, the nation has stood firm, and at last the end has come. . . .

“Such are the moral advantages of the victory. They make a nation so strong that war in its future is wholly unnecessary, — it seems hardly possible. This nation is just, — it can be as generous as it is just. It has no entangling foreign alliances, it need have no petty foreign jealousies. God has shown it His mercy in a thousand ways, and now that He blesses it with Peace, it has His promise that Peace shall lead in every other angel of his Kingdom.”

At the close of the year 1865 he wrote as follows, prophesying a period of discussion and evolution which has not yet ended: —

“The year, we may trust, is the last in the succession of years which by striking and exciting events compete for the leading place in our annals. The period of great deeds is perhaps over; we now have remaining questions of magnitude to be debated and settled, or to be suffered to work towards their own solution by process of time, and not concentrating their fierce interest into single great transactions, of which we have known so many since 1860. The question as to the future [74] of the freedmen is not to be settled by the turn of any crisis, but by many discussions, the long-continued operation of opinions, and the progress of immigration, of industry, and of ideas. Financial questions, of which we have so many of importance, are as little to be determined by any special action, but cast their shadow far over the coming years. The foreign questions, of which the closing year leaves us a supply not trifling in importance if scanty in number, are as little likely, we may hope, to assume such form as to bring back the unhealthy excitements which have long been familiar, but will rather relapse into the ordinary course of international litigation, or be settled by causes and influences which in power are far above the counsels of emperors. In short, we now enter in public matters upon a period of discussion; and if results appropriate to this method of action are wrought out with half the skill and power which we have seen displayed in the marvelous twelvemonth now ending, we shall find our prosperity and happiness, and our development in all that ennobles a people, settled on a foundation more solid than our fathers ventured to hope for.”

During his administration the Advertiser as a property increased greatly in value; so that when in 1869 Mr. Dunbar found it necessary again to pay attention to his health, and to give [75] up work for a time, he sold his interest in the newspaper for a sum which amounted to a competency for himself and his family. This was really a value which his own mental gifts and moral character had imparted to the newspaper. There is no more satisfactory way in which a man can earn a competent support for his family before he is forty years of age. All through his life Mr. Dunbar was a careful, frugal, and successful man of business, although he gave but a very small portion of his time to that side of life.

In order to recover from the nervous exhaustion which he experienced in 1868, he made two journeys to Europe, the first alone, but the second with his family. I had come into the Presidency of Harvard College in 1869, and one of the first measures which the Corporation resolved to prosecute with vigor was the establishment of a Professorship of Political Economy, and the selection of an incumbent for the chair. Mr. Dunbar being well known to all the members of the Corporation, the appointment was offered to him in 1869, and he gave a conditional acceptance to take effect two years later. A quiet life in various parts of Europe restored his health and gave him opportunity, [76] for the prosecution of studies which prepared him further for his new function; and In 1871 he took up the work of his professorship, to which he thereafter steadily devoted himself for more than twenty-eight years.

Professor Dunbar was the first Professor of Political Economy that Harvard University ever had. That great subject had previously been one of the numerous subjects assigned to the Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity. Professor Dunbar announced for the year 1871-72 a course prescribed to Juniors on Rogers’s “Political Economy” and Alden’s “Constitution of the United States,” two hours a week for half a year, and an elective course in Political Economy for the Senior Class, based on Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations,” Bowen’s “American Political Economy,” and J. S. Mill’s “Political Economy;” but these courses were announced under the head of Philosophy. The elective course was attended by seventy-five Seniors. The next year his elective course appears under its proper heading, — Political Science, — the description of the course being altered to the following: J. S. Mill’s “Political Economy,” McCulloch on Taxation, Subjects [77] in Banking and Currency. Professor Dunbar also conducted in 1872-73 a required course for Juniors in Political Science, two hours a week during half a year. That year he used as textbooks for the Junior’s Fawcett’s “Political Economy” and the Constitution of the United States. In 1873-74 Professor Dunbar had for the first time the assistance of an instructor, because the required course in the Elements of Political Economy was transferred from the Junior to the Sophomore year, — on its way to extinction, — so that this required course had to be given that year to two large classes. Under Professor Dunbar’s elective course, Bagehot’s “Lombard Street “appears for the first time. In the next year Professor Dunbar gave, in addition to the prescribed Political Economy, two elective courses parallel to each other, one being preferable for students of History. The rapidly increasing number of students in the department made it desirable to offer these two parallel courses, so that neither class should be too large. One hundred and thirty-one students chose these electives. In 1875-76 Professor Dunbar was conducting three progressive courses: the prescribed elementary course, a first elective course on J. S. Mill’s “Political Economy,” [78] and the Financial Legislation of the United States; and an advanced course on Cairns’s “Leading Principles of Political Economy;” and McKean’s “Condensation of Carey’s Social Science;” and the number of students attending his course was steadily increasing. In the following year Professor Dunbar became Dean of the College Faculty, an administrative position which he held for six years. The prescribed course in Political Economy for Sophomores now disappeared. The elective courses were fully maintained. Professor Dunbar had some assistance in the elementary elective course, because of the necessity of devoting a good deal of his time to the administrative work of the Dean’s office. His assistant in the year 1877-78 was Mr. Macvane, now Professor of History in Harvard University. The next year his assistant was Dr. James Laurence Laughlin, who had the title of Instructor in Political Economy. In 1880-81 another course in Political Economy was added to the two already given, Professor Dunbar working in all three courses, but being assisted in the first two by Dr. Laughlin. The most advanced elective under Professor Dunbar was based on Cairns’s “Leading Principles of Political Economy,” [79] McLeod’s “Elements of Banking,” Bastiat’s “Harmonies Economiques.” In the year 1882-83 Professor Dunbar took leave of absence in Europe. His work was carried on by Dr. Laughlin and a new instructor, Mr. Frank W. Taussig, now Professor of Political Economy in Harvard University. A new half-course was added this year, — a course on the Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, Germany, and Russia. The next year brought considerable expansion to the Department. Professor Dunbar returned to his work; Dr. Laughlin was made an assistant professor; and Dr. Taussig offered for the first time a course on the History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. The number of courses offered by the Department suddenly expanded to four courses running through the whole year, and three running through half a year. Economic History appeared for the first time as part of the instruction given by the Department, Professor Dunbar having charge of the course. It was in that year that the plans of Professor Dunbar for the development of his department in the University became apparent to the academic world. Dr. Taussig soon became an assistant professor; Dr. Laughlin was [80] promoted to a full professorship at Cornell University, whence he was subsequently transferred to the University of Chicago; and a series of young men, all selected by Professor Dunbar, were brought forward in the Department as teachers. The number of teachers and courses increased until, in 1894-95, this Department, called Economics since 1892-93, employed three full professors, one assistant professor, and three instructors, and the number of courses had risen to six full courses and seven half-courses. In 1899 the lowest elective course in Economics was opened to Freshmen; so that the Harvard student thenceforth had access to that subject in all the four years of his college course. For the present year, 1899-1900, courses were announced which gave employment to three full professors, one assistant professor, and six instructors. In the academic year 1898—99 the choices made of courses in Economics numbered 1263.

Such was the development given in twenty-eight years to a subject which certainly should be second to none in value or dignity at an American university. At every step of the process it was Professor Dunbar’s sagacity, sobriety, and fairness which commanded confidence [81] and secured success. He thus made, in the course of twenty-eight years, as it were with his own hands, a complete collegiate instrument for training young Americans in Political Economy, the first such instrument ever constructed. If it should occur to any one that this growth was made possible by the general atmosphere at Harvard, the answer would be that Professor Dunbar had much to do with determining the quality of that atmosphere.

In 1886 a timely gift of a fund of $15,000 from one of Professor Dunbar’s pupils enabled the Corporation to establish the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published for Harvard University. They took this step by the advice of Professor Dunbar, and on the condition that he should edit the Journal. He acted as editor for ten years, and in that time established the position of the Journal in this country and in Europe as a valuable medium for economic discussions and researches. The subjects of some of the articles which he wrote for this Journal will indicate the wide range of his studies: In 1886, “The Reaction in Politics;” in 1887, “Deposits and Currency,” and a note on Ricardo’s Use of Facts; in 1888, a notice of an old tract entitled “The New-Fashioned Goldsmiths,” [82] a tract which appears to have been the source of the generally accepted statement as to the origin of private banking in London in the seventeenth century. In the same year appeared “Notes on Early Banking Schemes “from his pen, and an article on “Some Precedents Followed by Alexander Hamilton.” At the end of this last paper, after a learned review of the system advocated by Hamilton, and of the sources of the measures which he recommended, Professor Dunbar said in conclusion: “No statesman could have a greater task set for him, and political science can hardly have in store any greater triumph than this application of the experience of other men and other nations.” In 1889 he wrote for the Quarterly Journal an article on the Direct Tax of 1861, the conclusion of which was, “The direct tax provided for by the Constitution has at last been discredited as a source of revenue, and it has also been too prolific of misconception and confusion to have any Influence henceforth as a practical measure of finance.” A single sentence from an essay he published in the Journal in 1891 on the academic study of political economy admirably expresses the true conception of the function of an instructor in any moral [83] science: “That the student should learn to reason truly is of far more consequence than that he should perceive and accept any particular truth, and the real success of the instructor is found, not in bringing his students to think exactly as he does, — which is unlikely to happen, and, indeed, unnatural, — but in teaching them to use their own faculties accurately and with a measure of confidence.” In another passage in the same essay, speaking of the conditions under which an instructor may or may not be silent concerning his own beliefs, he says, “There are few men whose weight of authority is such as to compel any extraordinary caution in the declaration of their minds.” Those two statements are highly characteristic of Professor Dunbar’s habitual attitude towards his own students.

One may easily trace through all the activities of Professor Dunbar as a teacher and writer the effect on his mind of his ten years’ work as the editor of a daily paper during a period of startling and far-reaching military, financial, social, and political events; but it is interesting to observe that commercial and economic questions began to engage his attention some years before the war. Thus we find in the North American Review an article by him on the Danish [84] Sound Dues written as early as 1856, when he was twenty-six years of age. His services as a university teacher grew naturally out of the studies and interests of his early manhood.

Professor Dunbar was Dean of the old College Faculty for six years, from 1876 to 1882, and the first Dean of the new Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1890 to 1895. He therefore gave a large amount of administrative service to the University. As an administrative officer he was prompt, efficient, and wise. One peculiarity he had which was rather trying to some of the many students and parents of students with whom he came into contact, — he was sometimes too reticent and silent. He would listen patiently to a long tale in which the narrator felt great interest, and take it all in, but hardly utter a word in reply. Sometimes, however, after his interlocutor had despaired of getting an answer, he would give a concise but comprehensive reply which showed how sympathetically he had apprehended the whole subject under discussion. Ordinarily patient and cautious, he was entirely capable of quick decision and prompt action. On a reconnaissance he was circumspect and thorough; but when he once made [85] up his mind how the land lay and how the adversary was intrenched, he moved on the position, in the safest possible way, to be sure, but with energy and persistence. As a rule, his aspect was serene and mild; but on occasion his face could become set, and from his blue-gray eyes there came a steel-like gleam dangerous to his opponent. In his judgment of others he was gentle, unless he became satisfied that some man he had been observing did not play fair, or was untrustworthy at the pinch; then he became stern and unrelenting. It was these qualities which made him the successful journalist that he was at thirty years of age. The Faculty was always afraid to take a step of which he did not approve, and seldom did so, unless his occasional infirmity of silence had concealed from them his opinion. They felt in him a remarkable sagacity combined with quick insight and unwavering disinterestedness; and they found him to be uniformly just. If he now and then betrayed a prejudice, they felt sure that he had good grounds for it, and were much disposed to share it with him. Every one who has seen much of the world will perceive how rare a combination of qualities was [86] embodied in this modest and retiring man, and will understand how great a loss the University has suffered in his death.

In addition to the solid satisfactions Mr. Dunbar derived from his forty years of professional work, he had great delights in his domestic life. He married, soon after leaving college, Julia Ruggles Copeland, of Roxbury, and he survived his wife only two months. Five children were born to them between 1855 and 1862, of whom three sons and a daughter survive their father and mother.

I have already mentioned the life of the young family at Lexington. When he became editor of the Advertiser, he moved, first, to Roxbury; but finding the inevitable exposures of returning to Roxbury from his office late at night (often after the omnibuses had ceased to run) too great for his strength, he moved to a small house on River Street, at the foot of Beacon Hill. This house was comparatively sunless, and, though close to Beacon Street, had no outlook whatever. It was a great Relight to him and his wife and his growing children to establish the household in 1872 in a spacious house on the hill which rises north of Brattle Street, Cambridge, not far from Elmwood, [87] a house which commanded a charming prospect, and was surrounded by fine trees. He had earned the luxury of fine prospects, abounding sun and air, and garden grounds, as product of the work of his own brain. His tastes and habits were simple, but refined. Luxuries and superfluities had no charm for him. He was fond of driving and sailing, but needed no elaborate equipment for obtaining these pleasures. He valued these sports mainly as means of getting into contact with the beauties of nature by land and by sea. He had the natural healthy enjoyment in food and drink, but always preferred simple things to elaborate, and was displeased by extravagance or excess.

In 1886 he bought the larger part of Bear Island, off Mount Desert, the smaller part being already occupied by the United States as the site of a lighthouse; and here he built in 1893 a cottage for the summer occupation of his family. When visiting friends on the neighboring shore of Mount Desert, he had often marked the beautiful form of this island, and admired the exquisite views it commanded in several directions. In deciding upon the site of his house on this island, it was his chief care to avoid impairing the aspect of the island from [88] the neighboring shores, — a thoughtful result which he perfectly achieved. All his life he had great pleasure in carpentering. He always had a carpenter’s bench in any house he occupied, and delighted in good tools and in using them with skill. He could build with his own hands fireplaces, corner buffets, desks, tables, and other pieces of furniture. At Bear Island he built a large boat-house with chambers in its upper story, doing most of the work with his own hands, after the heavy framing had been put up. He enjoyed thinning the woods which covered the northern shore of the island, and studying the flora and fauna of his isolated kingdom. A thrifty little spruce, looking as if it could easily resist all the ice and snow, all the gales, and all the droughts of that northern clime, a single graceful birch, a mountain ash loaded with red berries, or a clump of ferns, sufficed to give him great enjoyment. With reading and writing interspersed, such pleasures filled his summer days so completely and so happily that he seldom wished to leave his island. Friends came to stay with him; but he seldom cared to go far from his cottage, unless on a sail or a drive with one of his neighbors of the main island. There was no road on his island, [89] and hardly a path, except little tracks between the hummocks and ledges; and there were no sounds, except the beat of the waves on the rocky shores, the singing of birds, and the rushing of the wind through the trees. One of the peculiarities of the climate of the Maine coast had singular charm for Professor Dunbar. On almost every summer evening near sunset, there falls a great calm and stillness. No matter how boisterous the day may have been, near sundown there comes a widespread, profound silence, unspeakably grateful to such a temperament as his. The hills of Mount Desert, in full view from his island, reminded him of the similar hills built of primary rocks which his Scottish forbears had looked on in far-away Morayshire.

Outside his family circle his intimate associates were not numerous; but his friendships were intense, and his rare and concise expressions of affection were overwhelmingly strong. As I look back on this completed life, it seems to me filled with productive labors and large services from which came deep satisfactions. Grave trials and sorrows hallowed it; but its main warp and woof were both made of innumerable threads of happiness and content.

[90] In his religious convictions he was a Unitarian, and he valued highly that simple and optimistic faith; but his mind was hospitable to all forms of theological opinion, while he was strenuously averse to ecclesiasticism and aestheticism in religion. Simplicity, cheerfulness, duty, and love were the articles of his faith, and human joy and well-being their natural fruit.

 

Source: Sons of the Puritans. A Group of Brief Biographies. Boston, American Unitarian Association, 1908. Sketches reprinted from The Harvard Graduates’Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 32 (June, 1900), pp. 469-484.

Image Source: The Harvard Graduates’Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 32 (June, 1900), Frontspiece. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Examination Questions. Economics Courses, 1912-13

 

 

For the academic years 1912-13 through 1915-16 there are complete (or at least nearly complete) sets of examinations for many departments, including economics available at hathitrust.org. In this posting we have final examinations for all economics courses but three for the 1912-13 academic year. Since courses are only identified in these collections by number, I have provided the course titles, instructors’ names and course registration figures available in the annual Harvard Presidential Report for that academic year.

The three courses for which no final examination questions (perhaps the grade was not even determined by examination) were:

Economics 13. Statistics. Theory, method, and practice. Professor Ripley. (6 Graduates, 1 Senior, 3 Radcliffe: Total 10)

Economics 24. Topics in the Economic History of the Nineteenth Century. Professor Gay. (4 Graduates, 1 Senior: Total 5)

Economics 33 1hf. Tariff Problems in the United States. Professor Taussig. (5 Graduates, 3 Seniors: Total 8)

FINAL EXAMINATIONS
1912-13

Economics 1. Principles of Economics
Economics 2a lhf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century
Economics 2b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States
Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises
Economics 4a 1hf. Economics of Transportation
Economics 4b 2hf. Economics of Corporations
Economics 5. Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation
Economics 6a lhf. Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems
Economics 6b 2hf. The Labor Movement in Europe
Economics 7. Theories of Distribution and Distributive Justice
Economics 8. Principles of Sociology
Economics 9. Principles of Accounting.
Economics 11. Economic Theory
Economics 12 lhf. Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation
Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848
Economics 16. The History of Modern Socialism
Economics 23. Economic History of Europe to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century
Economics 31. Public Finance
Economics 32 2hf. Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions

 

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Economics 1. Principles of Economics.

Professor Taussig and Dr. E. E. Day, assisted by Messrs. Heilman, Jones, Burbank, Crosgrave, and Eldred.
1 Graduate, 21 Seniors, 93 Juniors, 307 Sophomores, 21 Freshmen, 38 Other. Total 481.

 

[p. 38-39]

ECONOMICS 1

  1. To what extent and in what manner do the following contribute to the formation of capital: (a) a government loan; (b) the stock exchange; (c) commercial banks; (d) the corporate form of business organization?
  1. Explain “margin of cultivation.” Distinguish between the intensive margin of cultivation and the extensive margin of cultivation. What is the relation between (a) the margin of cultivation in agriculture and the price of a bushel of wheat; (b) the margin in gold mining and the value of an ounce of gold?
  1. Assume that a monopoly produces a commodity under conditions of constant cost. What determines the extent to which the monopoly price will be above the price which competition, if existent, would establish? Illustrate by diagram.
  1. The rentals from a New York office building amount to $50,000 a year. The building is worth $200,000. To provide for insurance, depreciation and such fixed items, $10,000 is expended annually. The current rate of interest upon investments of equal security is 5%. What is the value of the land?
  1. What is “dumping “? What induces it? To what extent is it dependent upon (a) monopoly conditions; (b) tariff barriers?
  1. Explain briefly why (a) the rates of wages are generally higher in the United States than in Germany; (b) higher for plumbers than for unskilled laborers; (c) for domestic servants than for women employed in shops and factories. Suppose a socialist community apportioning wages on the basis of equality of sacrifice: would these differences persist?
  1. How are the wages and the number employed within a particular industry affected, immediately and ultimately, by the invention of labor-saving devices in that industry?
  1. Explain: (a) railroad rebates; (b) over-capitalization; (c) public service industries; (d) “reasonable restraint of trade”; (e) stoppage at the source.

 

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Economics 2a lhf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.
Professor Gay, assisted by Dr. M. T. Copeland.
16 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 5 Other. Total 99.

 

[p. 39-40]

ECONOMICS 2a1

  1. “The effect of Peel’s measures of 1842-1845 was to demonstrate how much the trade and industry of the country might be encouraged by the readjustment of fiscal burdens.” Explain.
    Is a similar readjustment needed in England at the present time? Why or why not?
  1. (a) How was the capital for the construction of railroads prior to 1870 obtained in the different European countries? Why?
    (b) Why was the railroad policy of Prussia modified after 1870? With what results?
  1. Compare the organization of the wool manufacturing industries in England, Germany, and France at the present time, explaining to what the differences are due. How far are these differences typical?
  1. Compare the English and Belgian methods of relieving the recent agricultural depression.
  1. In which industries have Kartells been formed in Germany? Why? Compare with the movement for combination in England.
  1. Explain the statement in regard to English agriculture that “after the middle of the eighteenth century the two revolutions, the industrial and the agricultural, which are indeed only manifestations of the same scientific and commercial spirit, go hand in hand and supplement one another.” Does this statement apply also to Germany? Why or why not?
  1. Discuss briefly —

(a) English ” Friendly Societies.”
(b) Pitt’s Sinking Fund.
(c) Zollverein.
(d) French shipping subsidies.
(e) Charter and line traffic.

 

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Economics 2b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States.
Professor Gay, assisted by Dr. M. T. Copeland.
18 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 50 Juniors, 27 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 6 Other. Total 124.

 

 

[p. 40-1]

ECONOMICS 2b

  1. “The most important feature of life in a newly settled community is its commercial connection with the rest of the world.” Why? How is this illustrated (a) by the history of the American colonies and (b) by the history of the West?
  1. What were the causes for the decline of the American merchant marine? What attempts have been made to assist its recovery? With what results?
  1. Compare in its main features the economic history of the decade 1830-40 with that of the decade 1880-90.
  1. Compare the conditions which stimulated industrial combinations in the ’90’s with those which resulted in railroad combinations in the ’70’s.
  1. Within the last twelve months the New England Cotton Yarn Company, the U. S. Finishing Company, and the International Cotton Mills Corporation have each undergone reorganization. What was the earlier history of these companies and how far did that history foreshadow the necessity for such reorganizations?
  1. If you were to establish a mill for manufacturing silk goods at the present time, how would the conditions which you would meet in that industry differ from those which confronted a silk manufacturer forty or forty-five years ago? Why have these changes taken place? How far are they typical of the general industrial development of the United States during this period?
  1. (a) Comment on the following statement, which was made in a speech in Congress in 1846. “It is a protective tariff which gives to American industry the only effectual guaranty that it will not be brought down to a level with the degraded labor of Europe. It furnishes the only security that our standard of wages is not to be measured by the cost of production in those countries where the life of the laborer is but an incessant struggle for bread.”
    (b) Judging from the history of the years 1893-1900, as well as from present conditions, is the present year more or less opportune than 1909 for a downward revision of the tariff? Why?

 

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Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.
Dr. E. E. Day, assisted by Messrs. Ise and F. E. Richter.
3 Graduates, 31 Seniors, 67 Juniors, 16 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 1 Other. Total 119.

 

[p. 41-42]

ECONOMICS 3

  1. What factors favored the monetary rehabilitation of silver in the United States during the 70’s? Which of these factors are still operative? Explain the disappearance of the others.
  1. What banking abuses were most common in the United States early in the nineteenth century? When and how, if at all, have these since been eliminated?
  1. What is the relation between the Bank of England rate and the London market rate of discount when (a) funds are abundant; (b) funds are relatively scarce? In what ways does varying the Bank rate accomplish the protection of the English banking reserves?
  1. What is meant by a free gold market? Are the following such: London; Paris; Berlin; New York? In each case, why or why not?
  1. How will the rate of sterling exchange in New York be affected by: (a) a crop failure in the United States; (b) hoarding of specie in Europe; (c) a slump on the New York Stock Exchange; (d) a banking panic in this country?
  1. “The call-loan market . . . furnishes to the banks of the country under the present organization of banking, their only means of mobilizing their reserves, of liquifying their assets, and of securing flexibility in their lending power.” Explain and criticize. How, if at all, should this feature of our system be changed?
  1. In the equation of exchange given by Professor Fisher, what is the relation of M, M’, V, and T (a) during a period of rising prices; (b) during a period of settled prices?
  1. Describe the crisis of 1873 with reference to: (a) its general antecedents; (b) its more important causes in the United States; (c) its final outbreak in this country; (d) the territorial extent of the reaction; (e) the severity and duration of the subsequent depression.

 

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Economics 4a 1hf. Economics of Transportation.
Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Crosgrave.
6 Graduates, 2 G.B., 36 Seniors, 85 Juniors, 24 Sophomores, 3 Other. Total 156.

 

[p. 42-3]

ECONOMICS 4a

  1. Compare the lease with stock ownership as a means of combination, stating the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  1. Show how recent interpretation of the Federal law may conceivably affect the status of railway traffic agreements.
  1. State very briefly the point raised in the following cases: —

(a) Portland Gateway.
(b) Illinois Central car supply.
(c) Alabama Midland (Troy).
(d) Orange Routing.

  1. Have any of the above points been since corrected by legislation; if so in what manner?
  1. Give reasons for the following differences in net capitalization per mile of line:

Union Pacific $65,000         Reading $170,000
Pennsylvania    86,000        Erie            170,000

  1. What particular circumstance materially affects the success of Government ownership and operation:

(a) In Germany?
(b) In Italy?
(c) In Switzerland?

  1. What is the present attitude of the Federal courts toward the proper basis to be used in the determination of reasonable rates?
  1. How effective practically has been the ” Commodity Clause” of the law of 1906?
  1. To whom properly belongs the surplus earnings of a railroad over and above a rate of return requisite to provide an adequate supply of new capital for future development? State your own view, but set forth your reasons fully.

 

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Economics 4b 2hf. Economics of Corporations.
Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Crosgrave.
6 Graduates, 20 Seniors, 86 Juniors, 15 Sophomores, 3 Other. Total 130.

 

 

[p. 43-4]

ECONOMICS 4b

  1. Why was the dissolution of the “Tobacco Trust” more difficult than that of the Standard Oil Company? Explain fully.
  1. Indicate certain differences in the eye of the law between monopolization and restraint of trade.
  1. Herewith are two balance sheets of companies A and B respectively. Comment upon them, contrasting one with the other. Which apparently denotes the greater financial stability?
Co. A
Assets Liabilities
Plant $3,500,000 Preferred Stock $5,000,000
Merchandise 1,800,000 Common Stock 15,000,000
Bills Receivable 700,000 Accounts Payable 600,000
Cash 1,400,000
Good-will and Patents 13,200,000
$20,600,000 $20,600,000
 

Co. B
Assets Liabilities
Factories $15,000,000 Capital Stock $65,000,000
Securities owned 18,000,000 Debentures 15,000,000
Merchandise 20,000,000 Surplus 3,000,001
Accounts Receivable 30,000,000
Franchises and Good-will 1
$83,000,001 $83,000,001

 

  1. Name, with briefest possible description in each case, and in order of seriousness, at least five distinct forms of unfair competition in trade.
  1. Do all the foregoing forms of unfair competition affect thgeneral public as well as direct competitors? Does this factor apparently influence the attitude of the courts?
  1. What was the essence of the U. S. Steel Bond Conversion plan? What became of it?
  1. Contrast administrative and judicial forms of controlling monopoly, pointing out the merits of each.
  1. Outline the plan of reorganization of the National Cordage Company. Was it typical of industrial reorganizations in general?
  1. What are the three leading objections to the so-called “holding company “?
  1. Outline what most appeals to you as a feasible plan for dealing with the existing trust problem. State concisely in definite propositions covering all points at issue.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 5. Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation.
Professor Bullock.
6 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Other. Total 25.

 

[p. 44]

ECONOMICS 5

  1. Explain and discuss critically the methods employed in the taxation of land in Germany, France, Great Britain, Australia, and the United States.
  1. Compare the general property tax with the general income tax, considering both the theory and the practical operation of these taxes.
  1. Compare the French, Prussian, and British systems of direct taxation.
  1. Compare the British system of indirect taxation with those of France and the United States.
  1. Discuss the taxation of mortgages in the United States.
  1. What changes in the taxation of personal property have recently occurred in the United States?
  1. Compare the British, Prussian, and Italian income taxes. .
  1. Outline what you consider a satisfactory theory of the just apportionment of public charges.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 6a lhf. Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems.
Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Crosgrave.
3 Graduates, 44 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 2 Other. Total 72.

 

[p. 45]

ECONOMICS 6a

Answer the first five briefly

  1. What is sabotage?
  1. What is the ” extended ” closed shop?
  1. What is the principal practical difficulty in the “general strike”?
  1. Is it met by the adoption of any positive policy in France by the “syndicates”?
  1. In the syndicalist programme what is to be the unit in the reorganized state?
  1. Contrast collective bargaining under sanction of the law with its adoption by private arrangement; (a) from the point of view of advantage to the employer; (b) from that of the workman.
  1. What are the four main features of the New Zealand legislation. (Each in a sentence.)
  1. What is the principal demonstrated weakness in the above legislation?
  1. What are three disabilities of the individual workmen in negotiating a wage contract?
  1. Wages for women in domestic service and in manufactures seem out of line with one another. What main difference helps to explain this?
  1. What is the present condition of affairs respecting the closed shop in the United States? Outline the course of events for two decades.
  1. How does the law of conspiracy enter into the decision by courts in labor disputes? How has Great Britain settled it?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 6b 2hf. The Labor Movement in Europe.
Asst. Professor Rappard.
5 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Other. Total 30.

 

[p. 45-6]

ECONOMICS 6b

Arrange answers in order of questions. Students who wrote theses will omit the first three questions.

  1. Enumerate five of the effects which Engels says the Industrial Revolution had on the manufacturing population of England. What were Engel’s chief sources of information?
  1. How does Sombart distinguish between (a) Rational Socialism (Utopian Socialism and Anarchism) and (b) Historical Socialism?
  1. What effect, according to Marx, does machinery have

(a) Upon real wages?
(b) Upon nominal wages?
(c) Upon “relative surplus-value”?
(d) Upon “absolute surplus-value”?

  1. Why is it customary to mention the English enclosure movement in dealing with the history of labor in Europe in the 19th century?
  1. What were the historical relations between the doctrines of Godwin, Malthus and Darwin?
  1. What was Chartism? Saint-Simonism? Which was more radical? More socialistic? Give reasons.
  1. Write a biography of Marx (300 to 500 words).
  1. Compare the views of Marx and Vaudervelde on ” Capitalist Concentration.”
  1. Give chapter headings of a thesis on “The Socialist Movement in Germany, 1860-1890” in six or more chapters.
  1. Distinguish between (a) Socialism (b) Anarchism (c) Syndicalism.
  1. “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs … To every laborer the entire product of his labor … At first sight, these two formulas are absolutely contradictory. We believe, however, that it is possible and necessary to reconcile them and to complete each by the other.” — Vaudewelde.
    How does the author do this? What practical suggestions does he make for arranging distribution in the socialist state?
  1. What difficulties does Skelton think a socialist state would encounter

(a) In administering the government?
(b) In determining what commodities should be produced?
(c) In distributing wealth?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 7. Theories of Distribution and Distributive Justice.
Professor Carver.
3 Graduates, 7 Seniors, 13 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 1 Other. Total 25.

 

[p. 47]

ECONOMICS 7

  1. Explain and illustrate the principle of marginal utility and its relation to the value of consumers’ goods.
  1. Explain and illustrate the law of variable proportions and its relation to the value of the factors of production.
  1. Discuss the various criteria of justice in the distribution of wealth.
  1. Explain and illustrate exactly what you understand by self-interest.
  1. How would the single tax probably affect the demand for labor? Would its effect probably be stronger on unskilled than on skilled labor? On skilled labor than on business talent?
  1. How do mechanical inventions affect the demand for capital and for different grades of labor?
  1. Describe one communistic society, giving some account of its origin, the causes of its success if it succeeded and of its failure if it failed.
  1. Outline a program for raising the wages of all the lower grades of labor.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 8. Principles of Sociology.
Professor Carver.
10 Graduates, 41 Seniors, 74 Juniors, 18 Sophomores, 4 Other. Total 147.

 

[p. 47-8]

ECONOMICS 8

  1. What, in your opinion, is the ultimate test of progress? Give your reasons.
  1. Compare the views of Buckle and Peschel as to the influence of geographical surroundings on religion.
  1. What is the relation between the institution of the family and the institution of property?
  1. What place has the genius in social progress? Give your own opinion and state the views on this question of authors whom you have read.
  1. Outline the leading forms of waste labor and of waste land, giving briefly the reasons why each form of waste exists at the present time.
  1. Compare the views of Mill and Ross as to the limits of social control.
  1. What, according to Ross, is the relation of resentment to social order?
  1. What are the reasons for the existence of the ballot? How far would these reasons justify the extension of the ballot?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 9. Principles of Accounting.
Asst. Professor Cole, assisted by Mr. Eliot Jones.
7 Graduates, 8 Graduates of Applied Sciences, 62 Graduates of Business School, 147 Seniors, 50 Juniors, 2 Sophomores. Total 276.

 

[p. 48-50]

ECONOMICS 9

Save one hour for the last question. It will count as one-third of the paper.

  1. Show by journal entries what should be debited and what credited for the following transactions:

(a) Granting a discount to a customer, for early payment of a bill, so that, though the amount of the bill was $100, he pays but $95.
(b) Paying a lawyer $50 for trying to collect a bill that proves uncollectible, and writing off the debt ($250) as bad.
(c) Collecting $75 as full payment, including interest to the amount of $17, for a debt previously written off as bad.
(d) Giving a friend whose credit at banks is not very good, because he is a new-comer in town, and for whom, therefore, you do not wish to endorse notes, your own note for $1000, with the understanding that he will discount it at a bank, and taking in exchange your friend’s note (for the same amount and time) which you intend to keep until maturity.
(e) Discounting at a bank your friend’s note mentioned in (d), because you find his credit has improved in the public mind and you need the money. [Discount $7.]
(f) Returning to the manufacturers, as unsatisfactory, goods billed at $500 and bought to be sold at $650.
(g) Delivering goods from the store as part payment of clerks’ wages, and allowing 5% discount to clerks. [Retail price $50, clerks’ price $47.50.]
(h) Issuing a stock dividend of $50,000.
(i) Selling a new $2,000,000 issue of stock for $2,100,000. [Corporation’s books.]

  1. A bond table gives the value of $10,000 of bonds for January 1 as $10,366.27, and for July 1 as $10,323.60. On the latter day you collect $250 interest. What entry shall you make for the interest?
    Assuming that the valuation of the bonds was determined on a 4% basis, how could you prove the correctness of the July 1 valuation if you knew that the valuation for January 1 was correct?
  1. Define and discuss the purpose of the following: —

(a) a machine rate,
(b) a life-insurance reserve,
(c) a national-bank redemption fund,
(d) a stores ledger,
(e) a machine ledger,
(f) a controlling account.

  1. Would expense burden enter into a plan of cost accounting for (a) a department store, (b) a hospital, (c) a college, (d) a gas company? Explain briefly how, or why not, in each case.

Remember in solving problems that time and confusion are often saved by the use of journal entries as guides in determining which accounts are affected.

  1. The balance sheet a year ago was as follows: —
Plant $125,000 Capital Stock $140,000
Accounts Receivable 33,000 Bills Payable 10,000
Merchandise 19,000 Accounts Payable 24,000
Cash 5,000 Surplus 8,000
$182,000 $182,000

An abbreviated tentative income sheet for the year just closing gave the following figures: —

Wages $85,000 Other Expenses $71,000
Materials 54,000 Gross Income 240,000

No items relating to the care of property were included in the “other expenses,” and they are now to be provided for. Such items are found on the debit side of the trial balance as follows:—

Depreciation $5,000 Replacement $4,000
Repairs 8,000 Additions 12,000

Supposing the only changes in the balance sheet are those caused by the items shown above (profit or loss and care of property) and that cash absorbs the net effect of changes not otherwise indicated, show the income sheet and the balance sheet for the new year.

  1. Prepare such a tabular statement or statements as an accountant should give to his employers or clients for a business yielding the following figures on three trial balances (of ledger balances) taken at the times indicated.
Trial balance at the opening of business, Jan. 1, 1912 Trial balance, Dec. 31, 1912, before the books are closed Trial balance at the opening of business, Jan. 1, 1913
Dr. Cr. Dr. Cr. Dr. Cr.
Capital Stock $200,000 $200,000 $200,000
Bills Payable 30,000 40,000 40,000
Accounts Payable 35,000 37,500 37,500
Surplus 7,000 7,000 9,000
Dividends declared 10,000 10,000
Real Estate and Plant $135,000 $137,500 $137,000
Accounts Receivable 88,200 80,200 80,200
Goods in process 17,000 17,000 20,000
Finished Goods 25,000 25,000 23,000
Raw Materials Inventory 15,000 15,000 35,000
Raw Materials 57,000
Wages 7,000 52,000 2,000
Taxes 200 2,300 200
Insurance 1,000 2,200 1,000
General Expenses 7,500
Sales 113,200
Cash 8,000 2,000 2,000
$289,200 $289,200 $397,700 $397,700 $298,700 $298,700

If you give more than one statement, prepare one at a time, and leave the reconciliation between statements until all are complete.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 11. Economic Theory.
Professor Taussig.
20 Graduates, 1 Graduate at Business School, 4 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Other. Total 31.

 

[p. 50-3]

ECONOMICS 11

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions]

  1. Explain the connection between

(a) the rent of mines;
(b) Carey’s doctrine that the total rent received by land-owners is less than interest on the total investment for improving land;
(c) the earnings of barristers or opera-singers;
(d) the earnings of ” successful ” business men.

  1. “Men are not equal. . . . Those capable of organizing and leading industrial enterprise are in a minority, and are indeed few; hence they can put a price on their services which would be impossible if there were many. Their services are not worth more on this account, but they can get more for them. Because the community needs their services, and cannot perhaps get along without them, they can, if they like, put ” famine prices ” on the commodity (organizing and directing talent) which they have to sell; while, on the other hand, those who have only labor or physical skill, though they are just as necessary, are many, and hence can about as readily be taken advantage of as the others can take advantage.” What have you to say? Can the ” famine prices ” be justified?
  1. (a) “There are, in fact, few no-rent men in actual employment; and the reason for this is clear, since work involves a sacrifice, and it does not pay to incur the sacrifice unless the earnings be a positive quantity. In those times and places in which child labor has been employed, with little regard for the welfare of the victims, labor that was not at the no-rent point, but very near it, has been pressed into service. But, where the sacrifice entailed by labor is, in some way, neutralized by a benefit that work confers, labor which creates literally nothing may sometimes be employed. Lunatics or prisoners may be kept at work, in order that they may secure fresh air and exercise, even though the amount of capital that they use, if it were withdrawn from their hands and turned into marginal capital, would produce as much as it does when it is used by them. In such a case the product imputable to their labor is nil.
    The existence of any no-rent labor enables us to make the rent formula general and to apply it to every concrete agent of production.”
    (b) “The productivity of any capital, whether human or external, will differ with the capital. Men differ in quality, i. e., in productive power, as truly as lands or other instruments differ. Some men have a high degree of earning power and some have not.
    Some men can work twice as fast as others. Some men can do higher grades of work than others. The result is that we find men classified as common manual laborers, skilled manual laborers, common mental workers, superintending workers, and enterprisers.
    Just as we can measure the rent of any land by the difference in productivity between that and the low-rent, or no-rent, land, in exactly the same way we can measure the difference in productivity between men. There is no grade of workmen called the “no-wages men,” but there would be such a grade if it were customary for their employer to pay for their cost of support (as the employer of land pays for its cost), so that only the excess above this cost were to be called wages.”

Compare the two trains of reasoning; give your opinion; and state by what authors the passages were written.

  1. “If the proprietor of superior land were to say, ‘I will take no rent for it,’ this would not make wheat cheaper. The supply would not be changed; for the same quantity would be raised, the marginal amount raised on the no-rent land would be needed and would be bought at the former price, and all other parts of the supply would command the same rate. … It is a striking fact — but one hitherto much neglected — that similar conclusions apply to the product of every other agent ” [capital and labor]. Do similar conclusions apply? Who do you think is the author of this passage?
  1. What three grounds explain, according to Böhm-Bawerk, the preference for present goods over future? Which of them does he conclude to be the most important? State Fisher’s criticism; and give your own opinion on the controverted question.
  1. “In the present condition of industry, most sales are made by men who are producers and merchants by profession. . . .For them, the subjective use value of their own wares is, for the most part, very nearly nil. … In sales by them the limiting effect which, according to our theoretical formula, would be exerted by the valuation of the last seller, practically does not come into play.” — Böhm-Bawerk.
    What is the ” theoretical formula “? and what is the importance of the qualification here stated?
  1. In what sense are the terms “demand” and “increase of demand ” used in the following passages:

(a) “The democratization of society and the aping of the ways of the well-to-do by the lower classes have greatly increased the demand for silk fabrics.”
(b) “The lower price of sugar after 1890, when sugar was admitted free of duty, at once caused an increase of demand.”
(c) “The cheapening of a commodity may mean an increase of demand such that the total sum spent on it will be as great as before, even greater than before.”

  1. Explain the essentials of Veblen’s theory of crises, and state wherein you think it most tenable, wherein least so.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 12 lhf. Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation.
Professor Carver.
2 Graduates, 1 Radcliffe. Total 3.

 

[p. 53]

ECONOMICS 12

  1. Explain verbally, and show by means of an outline, the relation between private and public economics and the main subdivisions of each.
  2. Into what main departments would you subdivide the subject of economics if you were going to write a general text book for college classes. Give your reasons.
  1. What are the characteristic methods of reasoning, methods of collecting information, and methods of exposition in economics? Mention examples, or give illustrations of each. What are the special advantages of each? To what class of problems is each especially adapted?
  1. Comment upon the following: —

“The economist may thus be considered at the outset of his researches as already in possession of those ultimate principles governing the phenomena which form the subject of his study, the discovery of which in the case of physical investigation constitutes for the inquirer his most arduous task; but, on the other hand, he is excluded from the use of experiment.” (Cairnes, pp. 89-90.)

  1. What, according to Warner, are the characteristic methods of determining the causes of poverty? What are the merits and defects of each method? Give illustrations.
  1. Comment upon the statement that “political economy depends more upon reasoning than on observation.” Is this the same as saying that the greatest present need is for sound reasoners rather than for close observers? Would either statement apply to all possible conditions and to all classes of problems?
  1. Discuss Clark’s reasons for describing capital as a sum of money.

 

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Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.
Professor Bullock.
7 Graduates. Total 7.

 

[p. 54]

ECONOMICS 14

  1. What significant analyses of economic structure and functions were made by the mercantilists?
  1. Discuss the development of economic opinions as reflected in the writings of Hales, Bodin, Montchrétien, Mun, Petty, Boisguilbert, Cantillon, Vanderlint, and Hume.
  1. Explain the structure and purpose of the “Wealth of Nations,” and give a brief analysis of the doctrines of the first two books.
  1. Discuss the treatment of the subject of population by Aristotle, the Schoolmen, Cantillon, Smith, and Malthus.
  1. At what points did the economic theories of Ricardo differ from those of Adam Smith?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 16. The History of Modern Socialism.
Asst. Professor Rappard.
4 Graduates Total 4.

 

[p. 54-5]

ECONOMICS 16

  1. Fill out the blanks in the following table according to the Marxian phraseology and theory.
Con-stant capital Vari-able capital Rate of surplus value Capital con-sumed Indi-vidual rate of profit Value of commo-dities pro-duced Cost price of commodities prod-uced Average rate of profit Price of com-modities Deviation of price from value
90 10 50% 20
80 20 50% 10
70 30 50% —
  1. “The theory of value which Marx presents is a variation of the familiar labor-value doctrine.” Discuss.
  1. State the Marxian theory of rent.
  1. What is meant by the Bernstein-Kautsky controversy? State three of the principal points involved, with the arguments advanced on both sides.
  1. What, according to Skelton, are the distinctive features of Utopianism? How does Shelton classify the Utopian doctrines?
    What, according to Skelton, are the two “quite distinct interpretations” of which the Marxian materialist conception of history is susceptible?
  1. “In spite of himself, Marx was the last of the classical economists.” How does Shelton justify this assertion?
  1. “Had the third volume of ‘Capital’ appeared at the same time as the first, little would have been heard about ‘exploitation’ from socialist platforms.” Why not, according to Skelton?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 23. Economic History of Europe to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century.
Dr. Gray.
4 Graduates, 1 Radcliffe. Total 5.

 

[p. 55]

ECONOMICS 23

  1. Discuss the origin and early expansion of capital in Italy, the Low Countries, Germany and England. (One hour.)
  1. Compare the development of copyhold in England with that of Meierrecht in Germany. In what way were agrarian conditions in southwestern Germany different from conditions in the north-west at the beginning of the sixteenth century.
  1. Trace the growth of the mercantile system in England. Has Cunningham’s treatment any bias? Explain.
  1. Describe fully four of the following documents: —

Notularium Johannis Scribae.
An English Pipe Roll.
Royal licenses to export English wool in 1273.
De institutis Lundonie.
Chrysobullium Alexii I.

 

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Economics 31. Public Finance.
Professor Bullock.
6 Graduates, 1 Junior. Total 7.

 

[p. 55-6]

ECONOMICS 31

  1. How far does the present British system of taxation conform to the maxims of Adam Smith?
  1. How far does the present French system of taxation conform to Smith’s maxims?
  1. How far does the present Prussian system of taxation conform to Smith’s maxims?
  1. How far would the single tax on land values conform to Smith’s maxims?
  1. Compare the general property tax in Switzerland with the same tax in the United States.
  1. What changes in the general property tax have occurred in the United States in recent years?
  1. Discuss fully the opinions of Leroy-Beaulieu or Eheberg concerning the income tax.
  1. Discuss fully the opinions of Leroy-Beaulieu or Eheberg concerning the inheritance tax.

 

________________________________________

Economics 32 2hf. Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions.
Professor Carver.
8 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior. Total 11.

 

[p. 56]

ECONOMICS 32

  1. What are some of the larger characteristics which distinguish rural from urban life?
  1. Where would you draw the line between large scale and medium scale, and between medium scale and small scale farming, and what are the principal advantages and disadvantages of each?
  1. Exactly what is the distinction between intensive and extensive farming, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
  1. To what system of culture does the horse as a draft animal belong, and what are some of the characteristics of that system?
  1. Where do we find the larger percentage of tenancy in this country, where land is highly productive or where its productivity is low? How would you explain the situation?
  1. Give your ideas as to the function of the middle-man, and to what extent and how that function may be performed by the farmers themselves.
  1. What are the advantages of diversified farming as compared with specialized farming?
  1. Give your ideas as to how country life may be made more attractive to men and women of education and culture.

________________________________________

Sources:

Harvard University Examinations. Papers set for final examinations in history, history of science, government, economics, philosophy, social ethics, education, fine arts, music in Harvard College. June, 1913. Cambridge, MA.

Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1912-13, pp. 57-58.

 

 

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Economics General Examination. Lauchlin Currie and Harry D. White, 1927

Few characters in the history of economics are quite as titillating as those who serious historians have concluded indeed passed confidential materials to the Soviet Union, namely, Lauchlin Currie and Harry Dexter White. Before they grew up to be card-carrying members of the economics profession, they too were once graduate students. Here from the Harvard General Examination for the Degree of Ph.D. we have their respective examination committees, academic histories, subject fields, and thesis subjects/advisers.  

Lauchlin Currie received his Harvard Ph.D. in 1931 with the dissertation “Bank Assets and Banking Theory.”

Harry Dexter White was awarded his Harvard Ph.D. in 1930 with the dissertation “The International Balance of Payments for France, 1880-1913.”

________________________________

 

From:
Division of History, Government and Economics, Examinations for the Degree of Ph.D., 1926-27, pp. 10-11.

 

21. Lauchlin Bernard Currie.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, April 11, 1927.

Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Burbank, A. H. Cole, Usher, and Wright.

Academic History: St. Francis Xavier College, 1921-22; London School of Economics, 1922-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. B.Sc., London, 1925

General Subjects.

1. Economic Theory.
2. Economic History since 1750.
3. Public Finance.
4. International Trade and Tariff Policy.
5. History of Political Theory.
6. Money, Banking, and Crises.

Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.

Thesis Subject: Monetary History of Canada, 1914-26. (With Professor Young.)

[…]

23. Harry Dexter White.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, April 14, 1927.

Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Dewing, Elliott, Monroe, and Usher.

Academic History: Columbia University, 1921-23; Stanford University, 1924-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-.   A.B., Stanford; A.M., ibid., 1925. Instructor in Economics, Harvard, 1926- .

General Subjects.

1. Economic Theory and its History.
2. Money, Banking, and Crises.
3. Economic History since 1750.
4. Economics of Corporations.
5. History of Political Theory.
6. International Trade.

Special Subject: International Trade.

Thesis Subject: Foreign Trade of France. (With Professor Taussig.)

 

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC7000.70. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. Folder “1926-27”.

Image Source: Laughlin Currie and Harry D. White from Harvard Class Album 1934.

Categories
Harvard

Harvard. Ph.D. General Examination Fields. Charles Beardsley, 1904

Historians need to deal with “missing values” in their archival work on a daily basis. For instance in the Harvard Archives there is a box with the promising title “Examinations for the Ph.D.” What you find in that box are officially printed lists of candidates (with their respective academic histories) and their general examinations by academic year in which the examiners and thesis advisers are identified together with the six fields covered in the general examination as well as the “special subject” field and the thesis subject. That is the good news.

The bad news is that these printed lists suffer significant gaps in coverage. In this box we find information 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. This gives me hope that perhaps in some departmental folder (not necessarily in the economics department) there still are copies of some of those missing listings to fill in the gap and/or extend the range of the examination lists.

This posting provides us the general examination information for Charles Beardsley, Jr. who it turns out 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).

________________________________

 

From:
Division of History and Political Science Examinations for the Degree of Ph.D., 1903-04, pp. 1-2.

 

  1. 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.).

(A) 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.)

(B) Special Subject: Tariff Legislation and Controversy in England since the time of Adam Smith.

(C) Thesis Subject: “Huskisson’s Tariff Reforms in England.” (With Professors Taussig and Gay.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC7000.70. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. Folder “1903-1904”.

A catalogue of the doctors of philosophy and of science and of the master of arts and of science of Harvard University, who have received their degrees after examination, 1873-1898, p. 68.

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

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Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Coursework of Frank W. Fetter for A.M., 1923-24

Frank Whitson Fetter (born May 22, 1899 in San Francisco, CA; died July 7, 1991 in Hanover, NH). A.B. from Swarthmore College (1920), A.M. from Princeton (1922), also A.M. from Harvard (1924). Ph.D. from Princeton (1926). His father was Princeton economics professor Frank Albert Fetter.

During the course of his career Fetter taught at Princeton, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Dartmouth.

The 1942 copy of his A.M. course transcript below matches an undated transcript (or report card) from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for the academic year 1923-24 found in the same folder at the Duke Economists’ Papers Project.

 

____________________________

[Course titles and instructors]

From Economics Group I, Economic Theory and Method

11 Professor Taussig — Economic Theory.

 

From Economics Group III: Applied Economics

37 1hf. Professor Persons — Commercial Crises

39 2hf. Asst. Professor Williams — International Finance

 

From Economics Group V: Course of Research in Economics

20 Professors Taussig, Carver, Ripley, Bullock, Young, and Persons — Economic Research

 

From History, Group IV. American History

17a 1hf. Professor Turner—The History of the West.

39 2hf. Professor Turner—History of the United States, 1880-1920.

Source: Harvard University Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College for 1923-24. History, p. 103; Economics, p. 107.

____________________________

Harvard University
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

24 University Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts
November 30, 1942

Transcript of the record of Mr. Frank Whitson Fetter
1923-24

 

COURSE GRADE
Economics 11 (1 course)

A
Economics 20 (1 course)

A
Economics371 ( ½ course)

A
Economics 392( ½ course)

A minus
History 17a1 ( ½ course)

A minus
History 392 ( ½ course)

A

Mr. Fetter received the degree of Master of Arts in June, 1924.

The established grades are A, B, C, D, and E.

A grade of A, B, Credit, Satisfactory, or Excused indicates that the course was passed with distinction. Only courses passed with distinction may be counted toward a higher degree.

 

[signed] Lawrence S. Mayo
Associate Dean

 

Source: Duke University, Rubenstein Library. Frank Whitson Fetter Papers. Box 50, Folder “Student Papers, Transcripts, grades, Harvard University (1923-1924).

Image Source: (ca. 1937) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.