July 21, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



71 



It may also be interesting to compare the 

 receipts and disbursements per institute 

 member during the past five years, in which 

 the membership has increased from 1,260 

 to 3,460. 



Our next concern is with the officers of 

 the societies and the method of nomination 

 and election. A truly national society 

 should draw its membership from all parts 

 of the country and should afford represen- 

 tation in its officers and on its administra- 

 tive committees to the membership at large ; 

 in other words, should select its officers as 

 far as possible with a view also to geograph- 

 ical distribution. It is admitted that this 

 is difficult, owing to the opportunities af- 

 forded to practising engineers by large en- 

 terprises whose administration, technical as 

 well as financial, is located in the important 

 commercial centers, hence the important 

 groups of members in the large cities. 

 From these are drawn the majority of the 

 officers, such selection being emphasized by 

 the necessities of the central administration 

 of the society. Such tendencies, however, 

 are apt to operate to the disadvantage of 

 available candidates for the important posts 

 of honor within the gift of the societies who 

 may happen to be stationed some distance 

 away from headquarters, and to keep the 

 institution on the plane of national stand- 

 ing it should also have a care to broad geo- 

 graphical distribution. This end can best 

 be accomplished by providing for a nom- 

 inating committee selected according to a 

 geographical distribution into approxi- 

 mately equal groups of members, each geo- 

 graphical district consisting of, say, 300 or 

 400 members, and upon these, in consulta- 

 tion with a number of past officers, would 

 rest the selection of the official nominees, 

 with provision also for the filing of such 

 nominations as may be made directly by 

 the general membership. This procedure 

 was introduced by the American Society of 



Civil Engineers several years ago. Such a 

 plan would provide geographical represen- 

 tation and at the same time discourage un- 

 seemly electioneering and circularizing for 

 the coveted posts of honor. It is thought 

 by some that our own institute could with 

 advantage modify its own procedure in 

 this direction. 



We would add further that the election 

 once accomplished, the officers-elect could 

 again, with advantage to the interests of 

 the institute, take office at once at the close 

 of the annual meeting, or at latest as the 

 last act of the annual convention. The 

 supercession of the retiring president and 

 officers and the installation of the new 

 should be an official function before a gen- 

 eral institute meeting, a deficiency of our 

 present method of procedure, which now 

 allows four months to elapse after the elec- 

 tion of the new officers before they actually 

 take office, and within three months or at 

 most four months after taking office the 

 active canvass for their successors already 

 begins. It will be admitted by all with 

 experience in the administration of profes- 

 sional societies that it is most desirable to 

 eliminate all tendencies to political agita- 

 tion in connection with the election to the 

 honors within the gift of the membership, 

 concentrating all efforts on the advance- 

 ment of the professional standing of the 

 society and the interests of its members. 

 It would also seem to be of advantage to 

 have the fiscal year coincident with the 

 calendar year ; this would bring the annual 

 meeting less close to the annual convention 

 and, spreading it over several days, would 

 secure a larger attendance of the out-of- 

 town membership for the annual business 

 meeting and the annual banquet or other 

 functions could be held at this time. The 

 annual meeting as held at present is not 

 markedly distinguished from the other 

 monthly meetings, and there is usually only 



