146 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



per annum by means of panel work within three years of putting up 

 his plate. 



The corresponding pay of an engineer at the end of his training is 

 £200 per annum, and after a further three years he is lucky if he 

 reaches £400. I have known engineers responsible for the design of 

 high-speed turbo-generators whose remuneration never exceeded £750 

 per annum. 



It is appropriate here to point out that the high pay of the young 

 doctor has a reaction upon the progress of medical research. Every 

 university has a certain number of post-graduate scholarships to offer of 

 about £100 per annum. An engineer will willingly accept one of these 

 for the sake of training in research, though it often entails a considerable 

 sacrifice. As a rule, the medical student will not consider them at all. 

 He asks for £250 to £350 per annum if he is to take up research, and 

 for such scholarships no funds are available. Consequently, the output 

 of original work from the medical schools is small compared with other 

 branches of pure and applied science. 



Charges against the Engineer. 



The conclusions to be drawn from this analysis will be mentioned later. 

 It is necessary to point out that, besides the responsible work which he 

 undertakes and the legal liabilities to which he is exposed, the engineer is 

 called upon to answer certain charges laid against him by the preacher and 

 the press. The first is that he is equally willing to lend himself to works 

 of utility and to works of death and destruction. Remember, however, his 

 dual role. Pure science has nothing to do with ethics ; she recognises no 

 moral obligations whatsoever. The same explosive that releases coal 

 underground can also kill men in battle. The telephone is useful alike 

 in the home and in the front line trenches. The same bacteria may be 

 beneficial in one case, harmful in another. The same principles that 

 bring the stars within our ken also control the range-finder. There is no 

 scientific apparatus that cannot be misapplied ; and to every advantage 

 there is a corresponding drawback. The ear that relishes music is the 

 more sensitive to discordant noise. Not until beauty is seen to be beautiful 

 can ugliness be defined. To the extent that the engineer is a scientist, 

 the use to which his discoveries shall be put does not concern him. But, 

 it will be urged, the engineer on the human and commercial side designs 

 and makes armaments for profit. And if he does, shall he not be credited 

 with at least as much honesty of purpose as the politician who de- 

 clares war and orders the guns ? May he not be persuaded, profits 

 apart, like the Archbishop of York, that 'the great war was a thousand 

 times worth while ' ? These are matters that have nothing to do with 

 engineering per se, but with Man — the embodiment of creed and con- 

 science. The engineer is in such matters exactly on a par with the rest of 

 mankind. 



Again, the engineer is charged with some responsibility for the existing 



