BUSINESS ECONOMICS.

The Modern Industrial System.
1.Describe the three-field system of agriculture.Page [2].
2.What were the significant characteristics of a manorialsociety?Page [2].
3.What is said to justify the institution of privateproperty?Page [4].
4.What is competition in modern industrial life?Page [4].
5.Why has the name “capitalistic production” been appliedto modern industry?Page [6].
6.Compare the domestic system of industry with thefactory system.Page [7].
7.What are the fundamental conditions of our economiclife?Page [8].
The Agricultural Resources of the United States.
1.What has been the policy of the Government in itsdisposition of the public domain? Illustrate.Page [9].
2.What has been the unique and characteristic featureof the land policy of the United States?Page [9].
3.What has been the result of the land policy of theUnited States?Page [10].
4.What was the first effort toward the solution of farmingin the arid soils of the West?Page [10].
5.Explain what is meant by dry-farming.Page [11].
6.How do the farms of the United States compare insize with those of European countries? To what isthis difference due?Page [11].
7.What does the movement of the population from thefarm to the city indicate?Page [13].
8.What change in method is agriculture undergoing inthe United States? Give the reason for this change.Page [14].
9.Discuss the cereal production of the United States.Page [15].
10.Upon what question does the future of the cottonproduction depend?Page [17].
11.What movement is now put forth to aid in the preservationof our forests?Page [18].
The Mineral Resources of the United States.
1.Into what groups may the natural resources of a countrybe divided? Illustrate.Page [19].
2.What two answers are given to the problem of theconservation of a limited supply of resources?Page [20].
3.What steps have been taken towards stopping thedevastation of our resources?Page [21].
4.What estimates are given as to the amount of coalin the United States and as to how long this supplywill last?Page [22].
5.What is the most favorable situation for iron deposits?State reasons.Page [24].
6.Where is the most wonderful iron-mining region inthe United States? What makes it such a remarkableregion?Page [24].
7.Of what importance are the precious metals? Whatis the practical problem confronting American gold-miningcompanies at present?Page [25].
8.To what use was copper put in Homeric times? Whathas caused it to rise to the front rank in recent years?Page [26].
9.How does the present-day application of water powerto machinery differ from its application prior to 1890?Page [28].
Capitalistic Production.
1.What five causes does the census report give for therapid industrial development in the United States?Page [30].
2.Give Carroll D. Wright’s definition of a factory.Page [31].
3.Illustrate the two meanings which “division of labor”may indicate.Page [32].
4.Show how the subdivision of labor brings about theextension of labor-saving machinery.Page [33].
5.Name the economies of a large-scale production.Page [36].
6.What improvements have made large-scale productionpossible?Page [36].
7.In what lines of business is there little or no developmenttoward large-scale methods? State the reasons.Page [37].
8.What is meant by standardization? What are theadvantages of such a system?Page [38].
Trusts and Monopolies.
1.Enumerate the phases through which combinations forthe purpose of fixing prices, have passed.Page [40].
2.What is the advantage of the corporation?Page [41].
3.Give a brief history of the trust movement.Page [42].
4.What economies are secured by a combined or federatedindustry?Page [43].
5.Name some of the savings which are peculiar totrusts.Page [44].
6.Give an illustration showing the profits of a successfultrust promoter.Page [45].
7.What is the effect of industrial combinations uponcompetitors? Upon producers of raw material?Page [46].
8.Explain the two phases of the relation between trustsand labor.Page [47].
9.What conclusion as to the power of the combinationover prices, does the Industrial Commission reach?Page [48].
10.From what two sources do the evils of combinationcome? What remedies have been suggested to meetboth classes of evils?Page [50].
Speculation and Crises.
1.How does the speculator reduce for the merchant thespeculative risk attaching to price fluctuations? Illustrate.Page [52].
2.What social value lies in the service of the speculator?Illustrate.Page [53].
3.Explain the difference between legitimate speculationand illegitimate speculation (gambling).Page [54].
4.What is a crisis?Page [55].
5.Discuss the immediate occasion of a crisis.Page [56].
6.What is W. S. Jevons’ theory as to the causes ofcrises?Page [58].
7.Explain the over-production theory which is givenas a cause for crises.Page [58].
8.What is the credit theory of the cause of a crisis?Page [59].
9.Where is the true explanation of a crisis to be found?Page [60].
10.Is it possible to prevent the recurrence of crises?Page [60].
The Modern Wage System.
1.Give some beneficial results and some abuses of thefactory system.Page [61].
2.Name five points which Mr. Hobson gives to show that,in the transition to the factory system, the positionof the laborer has been one of increasing dependence.Page [62].
3.How does President Hadley define wages?Page [63].
4.Describe the systems of labor which preceded themodern wage system.Page [64].
5.How has the extreme individualism of Adam Smith’stheory been modified?Page [65].
6.What are the three peculiarities of the sale of labor?Page [66].
Labor Organizations and Collective Bargaining.
1.Why have labor organizations grown more rapidly inthe United States and England than on the Continentof Europe?Page [69].
2.What are the two types of trade unions in the UnitedStates?Page [69].
3.Describe the two most important national organizationswhich have been in this country.Page [70].
4.What are the methods by which labor organizationsmonopolize the labor market?Page [71].
5.Why do labor leaders object to piece work?Page [72].
6.What are the two arguments in favor of shorterhours put forth by the trade unionist?Page [73].
7.What is the economic justification of the shorterworking day?Page [74].
8.Give illustrations where unions have directly limitedthe amount of output.Page [75].
9.What is the attitude of the majority of the employersin the United States toward collective bargaining?Page [77].
10.What erroneous ideas exist as to the purpose of labororganizations?Page [78].
11.Describe the method of settling an industrial disputeby conciliation. Why is the principle of arbitrationfast going out of favor?Page [79].
Women and Children at Work.
1.Describe the evils of the early factory system in England.Page [80].
2.Are the women crowding the men out of their occupationsand taking their places?Page [81].
3.What is the most important reason for the low economicposition which woman occupies in the industrialworld?Page [83].
4.How does George L. Bolen justify the employmentof women?Page [86].
5.How can the evil arising from child labor be cured?Page [87].
6.What obstacles have been in the way of efforts toimprove labor conditions by legislation?Page [88].
7.Name, and give examples of, the two classes intowhich the factory acts may be divided.Page [88].
8.What has been accomplished in the United States inthe way of labor legislation?Page [89].
Unemployment and Insurance.
1.Classify the unemployed.Page [91].
2.What are personal causes of unemployment?Page [92].
3.Name some industrial causes of unemployment.Page [93].
4.In what does the remedy for the normal unemploymentin modern industry lie?Page [95].
5.Suggest some methods of alleviation of the evils ofunemployment.Page [96].
6.State briefly the common law doctrine regarding liabilityfor accident.Page [98].
7.What have foreign countries done toward placing theburden of industrial accidents upon the industry itselfand not upon the laborer?Page [99].
8.Describe the establishment of compulsory insuranceagainst sickness and old age in Germany; in GreatBritain.Page [100].
Machinery and Industrial Efficiency.
1.What three evils are charged against machinery?Page [101].
2.How does the reabsorption of labor displaced by machinerydepend upon the demand for an article?Page [102].
3.How may machine methods cause irregularities inwages and employment?Page [104].
4.Show the need of a system of industrial educationin the United States.Page [107].
5.Describe the system of industrial education which existsin Germany.Page [107].
6.How does the English system of industrial educationdiffer from the German?Page [108].
7.What is the character of the industrial schools of theUnited States?Page [108].
8.How have the people of the United States been aidedin their industrial development?Page [109].
9.What two obstacles have been met by the movementfor better industrial education in the United States?Page [109].
Profit-Sharing and Co-Operation.
1.Name the three principal methods of profit-sharing.Page [110].
2.What is the economic theory of profit-sharing?Page [111].
3.What are the objections against the profit-sharingsystem?Page [112].
4.Why is the system of profit-sharing comparativelylimited?Page [113].
5.According to President Hadley, where is there morechance for the success of profit-sharing?Page [113].
6.How does co-operation differ from profit-sharing?Page [114].
7.What are the reasons for the lack of success of co-operationin this country?Page [115].
8.Describe the methods of the Rochdale Society.Page [115].
9.How does producers’ co-operation differ from consumers’co-operation?Page [116].
10.Give three examples of successful productive co-operationin the United States.Page [116].
11.Enumerate the advantages of co-operation.Page [116].
12.What is the ultimate ideal of enthusiastic co-operators?Page [117].
13.Discuss the defects of co-operation.Page [117].
Problems of Distribution.
1.What are the three great problems of economic society?Page [119].
2.Define functional distribution; personal distribution.Page [119].
3.What views are given as to whether functional distributionis actually governed by natural law?Page [121].
4.Discuss briefly the distribution of rent.Page [122].
5.What is the socialists’ idea as to the profits which abusiness manager receives for his services?Page [123].
6.State three theories which have been developed toexplain the distribution of wages.Page [124].
7.How was the wealth of the United States distributedin 1893?Page [125].
8.Are the poor becoming poorer?Page [127].
Saving and Spending.
1.What is the relation between saving and spending?Page [129].
2.What is the real goal of all rational economic endeavor?Page [130].
3.Give the arguments which are put forth condemningluxury.Page [132].
4.What arguments are put forth to show that luxuryis an indispensable stimulus to progress?Page [133].
5.What is the attitude toward luxury taken by economists?Page [133].
6.What is meant by “a socialization of luxury”?Page [135].
7.Give an illustration of a waste in consumption dueto lack of knowledge and training.Page [135].
Money and Banking.
1.What determines the value of money?Page [137].
2.Give the attempts made in the United States to createa slow, steady inflation.Page [139].
3.State three arguments in favor of bimetallism.Page [139].
4.Where can we find a sufficient answer to the argumentsin favor of government paper money? Statethe answer.Page [141].
5.Of what does the money of the United States consist?Page [141].
6.What essential quality of good bank money do banknotes lack? Explain.Page [143].
7.Enumerate the suggestions which have been made asto a new basis for the issue of bank notes.Page [143].
8.Name two other problems connected with the bankingsystem of the United States.Page [144].
Transportation and Communication.
1.Describe the three kinds of discrimination.Page [147].
2.How do the state commissions differ in power?Page [148].
3.Explain the monopoly character of express companies.Page [149].
4.Show the importance of the internal natural waterwaysof the United States.Page [151].
5.What problem is offered by our canal system?Page [151].
6.Show why the causes for the decline in tonnage ofAmerican vessels are economic rather than political.Page [152].
Taxation and Tariff.
1.What is John Fiske’s definition of taxes?Page [154].
2.What rules of taxation were laid down by AdamSmith?Page [154].
3.What is the benefit theory of taxation? How doesthis theory fail?Page [155].
4.What is the faculty principle of taxation?Page [155].
5.What measures have been suggested as to how tomeasure ability? Give the objection to each.Page [155].
6.What are the arguments supporting progressive taxation?Page [156].
7.Where does the Federal Treasury derive its revenue?Page [157].
8.What tax is the main reliance of the state and localgovernments?Page [158].
9.Describe an ideal system of taxation for the UnitedStates. What is the advantage of such a system?Page [159].
10.What is the character of the considerations in determiningtariff policies?Page [160].
11.Explain the home market argument in support ofprotection; the wages argument.Page [161].
12.What is the doctrine of comparative costs?Page [162].
13.How do free traders answer the home market argument?The infant industries argument?Page [162].
The Functions of the Government.
1.Name the economic functions of the Government.Page [163].
2.What is the theory of anarchism?Page [165].
3.Explain Herbert Spencer’s theory of extreme individualism.Page [165].
4.What is the theory of government most generally heldby economists and writers in the United States?Page [166].
5.In what country is the culture state theory very generallyheld? Explain the theory.Page [167].
6.What does the view known as state socialism advocate?Page [167].
7.Give Professor Ely’s definition of socialism.Page [167].
8.Explain the cardinal and distinctive element of socialism.Page [168].
9.Enumerate the socialists’ criticisms of our presentmethods of production.Page [168].
10.What do socialists urge as bases of distribution?What basis do socialists of today agree is the best oneto meet the requirements of justice?Page [170].
11.What were Henry George’s arguments against privateownership of lands?Page [171].
12.What is the real issue as to the municipalization oflocal public utilities?Page [172].
Economic Progress.
1.What improvement has been made in the condition ofthe working class in the United States? In GreatBritain?Page [173].
2.What factors have aided in the enormous expansionof production?Page [174].
3.Give two reasons why labor has not profited moreby the great increase of wealth.Page [175].
4.State some lines along which reform is needed.Page [176].
Manufacturing.
1.How does the word “manufactures” as it is ordinarilyused today differ from its original meaning?Page [180].
2.What conditions have made western Europe and theeastern part of the United States great manufacturingsections?Page [183].
Modern Manufacturing Systems.
1.What new occupations did the factory system develop?Page [186].
2.How did the use of steam affect the location of factories?Page [187].
3.What factors made the price of silk so high beforethe nineteenth century?Page [188].
4.Why is Gary, Indiana, an advantageous location fora manufacturing center?Page [189].
5.How is it possible to operate by water power, a factorylocated a hundred miles from a waterfall? Givetwo examples.Page [190].
6.Illustrate the use of electricity in a typical modernfactory.Page [192].
Use of Machinery in Manufacturing.
1.Describe the first machine used in the making of yarn.Page [193].
2.Enumerate some of the machines invented in theeighteenth century.Page [195].
3.How did the invention of machinery affect the importationof cotton?Page [196].
4.Show the need of machinery in the iron and steel industry.Page [197].
5.Describe the earliest process of making pig iron.Page [198].
6.What is the Bessemer process of making steel?Page [201].
7.What have been the causes of the great developmentof the iron and steel industry?Page [201].
8.What is the difference between English and Americansteel works?Page [202].
Development of the Factory System.
1.State reasons for the early development of the factorysystem in England.Page [204].
2.Why was the United States slow about developingmanufacturing industries?Page [205].
3.Why is any comparison of the value of the manufacturesof the United States with that of other countriesdefective?Page [210].
4.Name an article which is the product of one factorybut which becomes the manufacturing material of another.Page [211].
5.What factors have contributed toward making theUnited States the world’s greatest manufacturing nation?Page [212].
6.How can it be judged as to whether the value of manufacturesof a country is in excess of the consumingcapacity?Page [214].
Capital in Manufacturing.
1.Show the part capital plays in building up a company.Page [214].
2.What are the advantages gained by having a businessin the hands of a company or corporation?Page [215].
3.Compare the durability of gold with that of otherproducts.Page [217].
4.What was the amount of capital employed in manufacturingindustries in 1850? In 1905?Page [218].
5.How did the Census of 1905 differ from previous censusesin the matter of manufacturing establishments?Page [219].
6.How does the growth in capitalization rank with thatof the other important branches of manufacturing?Page [220].
Trusts and Combinations.
1.What principle was the cause of the origin of the moderncompany or corporation?Page [222].
2.Explain the provisions of a pool.Page [223].
3.How were the defects of the pool overcome?Page [224].
4.What are the advantages of a trust or combination?Page [225].
5.What has been the effect of trusts on prices? Onwages?Page [226].
6.Name and classify according to product the companiesof which the United States Steel Corporation wasformed.Page [228].
The Iron and Steel Industry.
1.What was the number of establishments for the ironand steel industry in the United States in 1880? In1905? What does this show?Page [233].
2.What method was used by the early Germans forextracting the iron from the ore? By the Englishin 1700? By the early American colonists?Page [236].
3.Why was coke used in the smelting of iron ore inEngland much earlier than in America?Page [238].
4.How did the development of railways aid in the preservationof our forests?Page [239].
5.What is the puddling process? Why is it necessary?Page [240].
6.What process took the place of the puddling process?Page [241].
7.What is steel? How is iron obtained by the Bessemerprocess made into steel?Page [245].
The Textile Industry.
1.What is the most important of the textile industries?Page [247].
2.Compare the value of textile manufactures in the principalcountries of Europe during the period from 1800to 1896, inclusive, with that of the United States duringthe same period.Page [247].
3.Define textiles. How are they made?Page [251].
4.What were the so-called “Manchester cottons”?Page [254].
5.Who invented the spinning jenny? What was its use?Page [255].
6.Up until the invention of the water frame, why wasthe making of cloth entirely from cotton impracticable?Page [256].
7.What was the spinning mule? By whom was it invented?Page [257].
8.What is the purpose of the cotton gin?Page [257].
9.What factors have made cotton the most importanttextile?Page [258].
10.Why is the cotton industry moving toward the South?Page [262].
Manufacturing Industries of the United States.
1.Why was manufacturing neglected by the early settlersof the United States?Page [263].
2.What manufactories sprang up in the nineteenthcentury?Page [266].
3.Name the four greatest producers of manufactures forexportation.Page [270].
4.When was the largest growth of agricultural exportsin the United States? Of exports of manufactures?Page [272].
5.What articles are the chief requisites of manufacturing?Page [272].
6.How do you account for the rapid growth of copperas an export of manufacture?Page [277].
7.Illustrate the fact that the United States does notneed to invade foreign markets with its manufactures.Page [278].
8.Distinguish between the gross value of the factoryproduct of manufactures and the net value of the same.Page [284].
9.Compare the growth of the exportation of manufactureswith that of the production.Page [286].
10.Under what head does the Bureau of Statistics classifyboots and shoes; flour; salted meats; illuminatingoil; pig iron.Page [287].
Concrete and Steel.
1.How do concrete and steel supplement each other?Page [322].
2.Of what is the standardization of concrete applicationsindicative?Page [323].
3.What is a corrugated bar?Page [324].
4.Give an example showing the durability of the Hennibiqueconstruction.Page [326].
5.What advantages over the wooden bearing pile hasthe concrete bearing pile?Page [327].
6.How may the resistivity of usual concretes be reinforced?Page [329].
7.Explain the use of wales in reinforcing a water front.Page [331].
8.How are the bearing piles of a wharf in the tropicsmade?Page [332].
9.Enumerate various uses to which concrete has beenput in construction. Pages 333, 334.
10.What is the problem of the concrete telegraph pole?How may this be overcome?Page [336].
11.How is the Corell tie made? The Percival tie?Page [337].
12.What part does steel play in the construction of theGatun Locks of the Panama Canal?Page [337].
13.Give an illustration of the use of steel for moldingconcrete.Page [339].
Chemistry and the Industries.
1.Why has it been necessary to put industry on a scientificbasis?Page [342].
2.Why is chemistry so closely related to the industries?Page [343].
3.Tell in your own words the story of the developmentof the soda industry.Page [344].
4.Name three important industries which grew out ofthe soda industry.Page [346].
5.Give an example of how science has led the way forindustry.Page [348].
6.What are the great achievements before the chemistryof the future?Page [350].
The Producer-Gas Power Plant.
1.What was the drawback to the early development ofthe gas engine?Page [353].
2.Why was the suction producer not practical?Page [354].
3.What led to the introduction of the pressure producer?Page [355].
4.What is the advantage of the down-draft producer?Page [355].
5.What is the ideal relative efficiency of the producer-gasplant and the steam plant? The actual relativeefficiency?Page [360].
6.What defects in producer-gas plants were learnedfrom the inspection in 1908?Page [364].
7.Where are the producer-gas plants of England located?Page [366].
8.How can the price of power developed from fuel bekept down?Page [369].
Efficiency in Shop Operations.
1.What is the reason for the failure of many cost systems?Page [371].
2.Upon what does the efficiency of a workman depend?Page [372].
3.What should be used as a standard for the measurementof time?Page [373].
4.When should a bonus begin?Page [375].
5.What effect does the giving of bonuses have on theefficiency of the foreman?Page [375].
6.What advantages are gained from having proper timecards for the workmen of a concern?Page [377].
7.To be successful, how should efficiency methods beintroduced?Page [379].
The Bridge between Labor and Capital.
1.What is the chief cause at the bottom of all labordisputes?Page [380].
2.When and how was the labor problem brought about?Page [381].
3.What three methods of solution are proposed for thepresent problem of distribution?Page [382].
4.In your opinion which method is the best?
The Unemployed.
1.What is the central cause of the want of employment?Page [385].
2.Show the evil effect of ill-advised charity upon theunemployed.Page [387].
3.What does the practice of giving old-age pensions indicateas to the fairness of the distribution of the returnsof production?Page [387].
4.Name three ways in which the problem of the unemployedcan be reduced.Page [389].
5.What are the effects of ignorance and indolence uponsociety?Page [391].
6.If employment were remunerative, what would be theresults?Page [393].
7.What lines of industry should society court?Page [396].
8.What are the evils connected with industrial corporations?Page [397].
9.Summarize the remedies for the want of employment.Page [401].

INDEX

BUSINESS ECONOMICS