666 



■SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 305. 



promotion of scientific research upon the 

 other, I ask your hearty cooperation and 

 assistance. An institution, like an indi- 

 -vidual, must grow in its experience, in its 

 appreciation of truth, in comprehension of 

 the meaning of art and of science and of 

 life, if it is to minister to a growing civili- 

 zation. The inspiration which shall stand 

 back of this growth must rest, in large 

 measure, upon your zeal and your efibrt. 



Alumni of the Institute : To each of you 

 has been mailed an invitation to this gather- 

 ing. These missives have gone to every 

 country and to every climate. Some are at 

 this moment being borne on the backs of 

 men or in snow-sledges to the interior of 

 Alaska, to be read months hence amid the 

 winter snows. Some will be read in the 

 tropics, under the glare of a summer sun. 



Your alma mater would gladly have wel- 

 comed each one of you this day to her fire- 

 side, though the fare be frugal and the feast 

 modest. Since this cannot be, let her invi- 

 tation carry at least this suggestion : How 

 farsoever from her halls your path may lead, 

 it can never take you beyond the circle of 

 her afi"ection. 



The institute is proud of the men it has 

 sent forth, and she counts upon their loyalty 

 and their devotion. She invites your coun- 

 sel, your suggestion,your friendly criticism, 

 your help. And while she listens with will- 

 ing ear to every voice which rings true, she 

 asks you to remember that no greeting so 

 thrills her as that which comes up from one 

 of her own children who is doing a man's 

 work in the world. 



Students of the Institute : In a more real 

 sense than any other body you are the In- 

 stitute of Technology. As such I salute 

 you to-day, and assure you not only of my 

 earnest wish for your advancement and 

 your success, but also of my wish for your 

 friendship and for your help. I prefer to 

 think of such an institution as that in 

 which we work together, not as an empire 



governed by the few, but as a republic in 

 which faculty and students alike are charged 

 with the government of the whole body. 



I congratulate you on taking up the study 

 of engineering, using that term in the broad- 

 est sense. There was never a more oppor- 

 tune time to enter such work, nor was there 

 ever a period in the history of our country 

 when the trained engineer had open before 

 him so attractive a field. 



This is the day of the trained man, and 

 to him the responsibilities and the rewards 

 will go. To the American engineer a whole 

 series of new problems of the highest inter- 

 est have in recent years been presented. 

 Eailways are to be built, canals are to be 

 cut, a whole empire of desert land is to 

 blossom under his hand. The Pacific Ocean 

 and the countries which border upon it are to 

 be the theater of an enormous development. 



Cables will be laid, cities will be devel- 

 oped, the tropics will be subdued. In all 

 this development the engineer, the trained 

 engineer, is to play a r61e that he has never 

 yet played since civilization began. The 

 next quarter-century is to belong preemi- 

 nently to him, and in all these world prob- 

 lems and world enterprises you are to share. 



May I hope that in your preparation you 

 may bear in mind as your ideal of an engi- 

 neer, not only one who works in steel and 

 brick and timber, but one who by the 

 quality of his manliness works also in the 

 hearts of men ; one who is great enough to 

 appreciate his duty to his profession, but, 

 likewise, and in a larger and deeper sense, 

 his duty to a common country and to a 

 common civilization. H. S. Pritchett. 



ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN THE UNITED 



STAIES AT THE END OF THE 



CENTURY* 



There is no reason apart from custom 



why any special significance should be at- 



* Address of the President of the Society for the 

 Promotion of Engineering Education. 



