DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY.* 



Henry W. Farnam, Chairman. 



The work of this Department has now reached the point at which its 

 progress depends mainly upon the amount of time which the collaborators 

 are able to devote to finishing, with the materials and means at their com- 

 mand, their respective contributions to the economic history of the United 

 States. Though no one of them is able to give his entire time to the work, 

 several have taken partial leaves of absence during the past year and are 

 planning their regular work for the coming year so as to have more time for 

 the work of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The additional appro- 

 priation of $12,500, which was granted last year at our request, will enable 

 us to push the completion of the work in hand more rapidly, and there are at 

 least three of the divisions whose subjects are so well advanced that we can 

 hope for a conclusion of their work within a comparatively short time. 



In view of this fact, the writer respectfully calls the attention of the Trus- 

 tees to the desirability of making plans for a permanent organization of this 

 Department. As pointed out in last year's report (see page 70, Year Book 

 for 191 1 ) the Contributions to American Economic History are in the nature 

 of preliminary work. The present organization, which is well adapted to 

 this particular task, would not be effective in a permanent department, which 

 should be able to command the services of a regular force of salaried experts. 

 While the collaborators would be exceeding their functions, if they were to 

 suggest plans for such a future organization, the Chairman feels confident 

 that they would be glad to respond to any request that the Trustees might 

 make with regard to the matter, and, either as a body or in collaboration with 

 other economists, block out the framework for a permanent organization. 

 The establishment of a permanent Department of Economics and Sociology, 

 coordinate with the other departments of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 

 ington, need not be delayed until the completion of the present undertaking, 

 which could well be carried forward independently of, though in harmony 

 with, the new department. 



Details of the work of the past year as reported by the heads of the 

 several divisions are given below. 



Division I.— POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION. 



Prof. Walter F. Willcox has arranged to have his work at Cornell Uni- 

 versity reduced to half its usual amount during the coming year, in order 

 that he may devote more time to the work of his division. The time which 



* Address, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. (For previous reports see 

 Year Books Nos. 3-10.) 



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