August 24, 19 16] 



NATURE 



521 



the club on problems connected with the future of 

 British eng^ineering. About Easter, 191 5, a com- 

 mittee was appointed to bring- together some of 

 the suggestions which had most commended 

 themselves to the club in the course of these 

 debates. The committee met weekly during- the 

 summer of 191 5, and in November last presented 

 its report to the club. This report was unani- 

 mously adopted. 



A number of members of the club then 

 formed themselves into a "Council for Organ- 

 ising British Engineering Industry," and pro- 

 ceeded at once to secure the support of 

 engineering- firms in the neighbourhood of 

 Manchester. At the present time, almost ever}- 

 important engineering concern in the Manchester 

 district, and all but very few throughout South- 

 East Lancashire, have promised their support to 

 the movement. Moreover, the professional 

 societies which have been approached by the Coun- 

 cil have replied sympathetically, and have, for the 

 most part, promised their active co-operation. 



The time has come for the extension of the 

 movement so as to make it of national dimen- 

 'sions. Steps have already been taken to extend 

 its activities to the Midlands, where influential 

 support is assured. Meanwhile, the British 

 Engineers' Association has been moving in a 

 similar direction. The fusion of the two move- 

 ments appears to be imminent. When that 

 fusion has taken place, the process of organising 

 British engineering industry should proceed more 

 rapidly still. 



The report which led to the establishment of 

 ;the Council for Organising British Engineering 

 Industry began by pointing out that the develop>- 

 ment of British engineering export trade had been 

 highly unsatisfactory for some years, while Ger- 

 many had been making rapid progress. The 

 report suggested that Germany's success had 

 oeen due "to education, to co-operation, and to 

 organisation in manufacturing and selling, backed 

 up by adequate financial support; in Britain, on 

 :he other hand, education" had been "unsystem- 

 atic, organisation weak, and co-operation between 

 competing firms almost non-existent." The com- 

 mittee concluded that every British engineer ought 

 how to realise that his British competitor in some 

 markets must be his friend and ally in others ; and 

 that, in short, the time had come for the federation 

 of British manufacturing engineers so as to 

 organise the industn.-. The report proceeded to 

 describe in outline the association of manufactur- 

 ing engineers which the committee would like 

 to see formed. The co-ordination and develop- 

 ment of education and research were given 

 prominent places among the functions of the pro- 

 posed association. 



Since the adoption of the report and the 

 establishment of the Council, the question of 

 pngineering education and research has continued 

 i-"© receive attention. In evidence given on 

 lehalf of the Council to the Board of Trade Com- 

 jTiittee on the Iron, Steel, and Engineering Trades, 

 l^pecjal emphasis was laid upon the Council's view 

 NO. 2443, VOL. 97] 



that, without the co-operation of engineering 

 manufacturers in the education of engineers and 

 without a great increase in the volume of 

 engineering research, no amount of organisation 

 could place the British engineering industry on a 

 permanently satisfactory basis. The Board of 

 Trade asked for further particulars of the Coun- 

 cil's proposals in regard to education and 

 research. The Council accordingly appointed a 

 committee to repK>rt further upon this matter. 

 The following is a summary of the committee's 

 recommendations, which have been approved by 

 the Council and forwarded to the Board of 

 Trade : — 



1. The organisation of British engineering indus- 

 try, by the federation of British manufacturing 

 engineers, for purposes which include education and 

 research. Such a federation should co-operate with 

 governing bodies of schools and colleges, as well as 

 with education authorities, in providing a satisfac- 

 tory system for educating engineers ; with universities 

 and colleges in testing and research ; and with the 

 Government in conducting a central research institu- 

 tion specially equipped for investigations with which 

 existing research laboratories are unable to cope. 



2. The co-ordination of the existing means for 

 educating engineers and, in particular, the provision 

 of an adequate and more uniform system of scholar- 

 ships. To this end, the number of local education 

 authorities for the highest education should be much 

 reduced, correspondingly larger areas being assigned 

 to each. 



[This recommendation was supported by an appen- 

 dix showing the number and value of the university 

 scholarships at present offered by various local 

 education authorities. It appeared from these figures 

 that a candidate's chance of winning such a scholar- 

 ship largely depends upon the particular town in 

 which he happens to live.] 



3. That a large number of " junior technical schools " 

 be established for the education between twelve and 

 fifteen of bojs who intend to become apprenticed to 

 engineering trades. 



4. That all apprentices under eighteen \ears of age 

 be required to attend part-time classes for, say, eight 

 hours a 'week during works hours; but that this be 

 subject to certain exceptions in the case of young 

 people who continued in attendance at secondary or 

 junior technical schools up to at least fifteen years of 

 age. 



5. That the instruction given to trade a.pprentices 

 in these part-time classes be reformed so as to relate 

 it more closely to the apprentices' everyday work and 

 so as to include what are known as citizenship sub- 

 jects^ — for example, economic histor\- ; and that, where 

 a sufficient number of apprentices is emploved by 

 the same firm, such classes be conducted in that 

 firm's own works and by the works staff. 



6. That the specific education given to future 

 members of the highly trained staff be provided in a 

 university or college of university rank for the 

 majority, who should be enabled to continue their 

 studies up to twenty-one or twenty-two years of ap:e; 

 and in a "senior technical school" for the minority, 

 who may have to enter engineering works at eighteen. 



7. That boys who are to study engineering in a 

 university should carr>- their study of mathematics 

 and physical science to a higher stage before leaving 

 school, and that, in general, the education of a boy 

 at school, instead of being entrusted (as in some 

 modern secondary schools) to six or seven specialist 

 teachers whose business it is to advance his know- 



