The New International Encyclopædia/Wells, David Ames

WELLS, David Ames (1828-98). An American economist, born at Springfield, Mass. He graduated at Williams College in 1847 and at the Lawrence Scientific School (Harvard) in 1851. His early interests were in the natural sciences and he published text-books on physics, chemistry, and geology. In 1864 he won a considerable reputation in politics through an essay Our Burden and Our Strength. In 1865 he was made chairman of a commission to inquire into methods of raising Federal revenues, and in 1866 was appointed special commissioner of the revenue. After his term of office expired he was appointed to membership on several commissions. State and Federal, and he rendered distinguished service in private enterprises, notably in the reorganization of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railway and of the Erie Railway. He was a prolific writer on economics and finance, at first defending the protectionist policy, later becoming an extreme advocate of free trade. His principal works are: Our Merchant Marine (1882); A Primer of Tariff Reform (1884); Practical Economics (1885): The Relation of the Tariff to Wages (1888); Recent Economic Changes (1898).