OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS 



49 



announced that the evening's discussion would 

 be devoted to the question of compulsory legal 

 registration of landscape architects, architects 

 and engineers. He explained a peculiar situa- 

 tion which confronted one of our members, 

 practicing in Oregon, who was compelled to 

 register legally as an architect because the 

 state law was such as to compel anyone using 

 the word architect in their practice to conform 

 to the law afifecting architects. 



Mr. Burt L. Fenner, member of the firm of 

 McKim, Mead and White was introduced as 

 the first speaker. He stated that the matter 

 of registration of architects goes back twenty 

 years. Early laws were licensing laws such 

 as those applied to plumbers and artisans. 

 The laws are now based on educational quali- 

 fications. These laws lead to abuses, regis- 

 tered architects, for instance, giving the use 

 of their name for a remuneration to unregis- 

 tered architects. Mr. Fenner stated that he 

 had doubts if today the majority of practicing 

 architects believe that registration laws are 

 desirable. State after state, however, is adopt- 

 ing registration laws. Architects are there- 

 fore compelled to take an active interest in 

 the matter. Mr. D. Everett Waid, he said, 

 who was present at the dinner, was more than 

 any other person responsible for the present 

 law affecting architects. The law prevents the 

 use of the title arcliitect except by those pass- 

 ing a fairly severe examination. Those in 

 practice previous to the passage of the law 

 were not affected. He felt that there would 

 be no advantage to landscape architects in 

 urging registration laws. 



Mr. D. Everett Waid followed Mr. Fenner. 

 He said his professional experience began as 

 a licensed architect in Illinois where all prac- 

 ticing architects were compelled to have a 

 state license. The first registration law was 

 passed twenty-two years ago. The first ac- 

 tivity of the New York Chapter of the A. I. A. 

 was in fighting the passage of registration 

 laws. Now we have eighteen states with such 

 laws. New York was the eighth state to pass 

 a registration law. He said he preferred the 

 term "registration" to the term "licensing 

 laws." The present law requires a college edu- 

 cation with three years practical education for 

 one to practice under the law without taking 

 the prescribed examination. The right educa- 

 tion law is an encouragement to good educa- 

 tion. 



Mr. Alfred D. Flinn, Secretary of the United 

 Engineering Societies was next introduced. 

 He said the work of the three professions rep- 



resented is so closely allied that they cannot 

 be clearly disassociated. Engineers have been 

 driven to legal registration through self de- 

 fense. Those less experienced than full 

 fledged professional engineers have been most 

 active in advocating licensing laws. The ex- 

 perienced men have been more active in op- 

 posing such laws. He said there is no satis- 

 factory definition of engineering. The gen- 

 erally accepted opinion is that the only valid 

 excuse for passing laws controlling the prac- 

 tice of a profession is protection to life, health 

 and property. There are nine states in w-hich 

 laws have been passed compelling the licensing 

 of engineers. A joint committee of six, three 

 architects and three engineers has been ap- 

 pointed to meet in a few days to consider this 

 problem. 



Mr. Manning read an advertisement which 

 he had cut from a periodical soliciting stud- 

 ents to subscribe to a correspondence course 

 in landscape architecture and qualify for the 

 school's diploma, which would enable them to 

 practice the profession. It was the consensus 

 of opinion that regardless of the misleading 

 effect of such an advertisement and the in- 

 justice which might result from it, it would 

 be inexpedient for the A. S. L. A. to take 

 active steps to combat it. 



February 17, 1920. Annual Boston meeting, 

 American Academy of .\rts and Sciences, Bos- 

 ton. 



Present: Miss Kimball, Messrs. Brett, 

 Brinckerhoff, Comey, Cox, Hubbard, Kella- 

 way, Kennard, F. L. Olmsted, Parker, Pilat, 

 Pond, Pray, Shurtleff, Steele. 



President Olmsted presented a report, which 

 was approved by the meeting, from Mr. Child 

 who was appointed a committee of one to in- 

 vestigate and report on the project, "To Create 

 a National Park and Forest on the Confines 

 of the District of Columbia, and Forest Areas 

 of Prince George, Arundle, and Montgomery 

 Counties, Maryland." This report was fav- 

 orable to the project and included a resolution 

 recommending the creation by Congress of a 

 Regional Plan Commission. A statement on 

 "Suggested Form of War Memorials" accom- 

 panying the report of the Committee on War 

 Memorials, C. M. Lowrie, chairman, was pre- 

 sented to the meeting and it was 



Voted: That this statement and the sub- 

 stance of Mr. Child's report be put in the 

 hands of the Standing Committee on Publicity 

 with the request that they take immediate 



