198 PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS—SECTION J. 
so that the returns obtainable from the traftic will bear the best: 
possible proportion to the interest on the capital invested, 
added to the working expenses. He should also possess a 
thorough knowledge of surveying as applied to railways, and 
be able to prepare the working plans and sections of the 
line, showing necessary works, such as grades, curves, embank- 
ments, cuttings, tunnels, culverts, viaducts, and bridges. He 
should be able to design these works in detail, as well 
as the permanent way, including the switches, crossings, 
signals, and the various appliances which are necessary in order 
to ensure that the traftic may be carried over the line in a safe 
and economical manner. He should also be able to design the 
roadside and terminal stations to meet the requirements of the 
goods and passenger traffic. The railway mechanical engineer 
should be thoroughly acquainted with the design, manufacture, 
and repairs of locomotive engines and rolling stock, including 
the special appliances and machinery which are necessary for 
the economical performance of this class of work. 
In a similar manner, we might detail the order of operations 
in connection with the construction of roads, sewerage works, 
water supply, harbour and dock works—z.e., we should have, in 
the first place, the preliminary surveys, in order to decide the 
location of the works, and afterwards the design, construction, 
and maintenance of the works in question. 
In Mechanical Engineering we have a complex matter to deal 
with, and one which is daily becoming more comprehensive in 
character ; but it is clear that every mechanical engineer should 
possess a thorough knowledge of the chief constructive processes 
which are used in the manufacture of engines and machinery, 
and of the various natural forces and agents, such as heat, 
electricity, steam, air, and water. Do we provide efficiently for 
the acquisition of the knowledge referred to by merely articling 
a young man to an engineer, without having first educated him 
to understand the various works with which he is brought in 
contact? The whole civilised world has answered in the negative 
in establishing special engineering colleges all over Europe, 
America, and England, or engineering. schools and departments 
in connection with existing universities. 
Hence, you may be certain that the carefully drawn up and 
complete schemes of scientific and technical education, the result 
of the thought and discussion which has been devoted to the 
subject in Europe and America, and which is becoming daily more 
recognised in England, is the best course for us to adopt here in the 
colonies. That it is to some extent recognised in the colonies is 
shown by the establishment of engineering schools in connection 
with the universities of Sydney and Melbourne, and that the 
system has already been successful is proved by the number of 
important positions held by engineering graduates of both 
universities, 
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