208 president's address. — section h. 



we should rieei to the cccasion. Can any reasonaDle and thought- 

 ful man among us be satisfied with the present position of his 

 profession in relation to the community or witli the methods and 

 practices which apply generally to the work of his profession ? 



Let us consider shortly some aspects of thefe. We may take 

 first the education and training of those who come intO' our pro- 

 fessions. Is their knowledge of science what it should be? Has 

 their preparation for their life's work been conducted on scien- 

 tific lines ? 



It is at the beginning that the big mistakes are most often 

 made. Should there not be some definite means for preventing 

 those who have no reasonable chance of success from starting on 

 a course of training ? 



At present many young men choose the profession of engineer 

 or architect on the flimsiest of reasons without any knowledge as 

 to whether they are fitted for either. 



Should it not be the duty of the State or some organization tO' 

 prevent this promiscuous entry, and turn unsuitable candidates 

 at the earliest stage in seme direction where they have a better 

 chance of success ? 



In the future, more than in the past, the progress of a State or 

 nation will depend upon the way it applies its raw material both 

 in human and in lower forms to the best advantage. With men 

 ab with materials there is too large a proportion of second and 

 third grades and not enough of first grade. This is largely due 

 to our system, or rather want of system. To obtain greater effi- 

 ciency we must weed out those who are unsuitable and improve 

 those who are suitable. 



There are three ways in which aspirants to our prolessicns are 

 educated and trained. There are the battlers, who try to pick 

 up what knowledge and training they can by their own effort only. 

 These fill our offices with plodding assistants, who mostly learn 

 one part of the work and so get into a groove and stay there as 

 hacks. A few oif them by sheer native ability rise into the pro- 

 fession and hold their own, but acquaintance with tliem shows how 

 much better they might have done if they had received proper 

 training, and of the rest, many might have been made more use- 

 ful members of the community by a reasonable amount of coan- 

 pulsory technical education. Instead of leaving such training to 

 the inclinatiom, the whim, or the accidental surroundings of the 

 individual, there oaight to be compulsory training for those who 

 do not voluntarily obtain it. 



Another method of entering our profession is by articles. .With 

 this system results are very irregular. Before entering into ar- 

 ticles intending pupils should be tested to determine whether there 

 is reasonable prospect of their attaining proper qualifications. 



