OcTOBER 1, 1897. ] 
organization in a code of professional ethics 
which shall be worthy, unifying and eleva- 
ting. 
One step further in this direction is also 
of importance, namely: Provision for such 
instruction in the law of contracts as will 
enable the engineer to discharge with con- 
fidence his professional obligations and 
protect the interests of his employers. 
For, it is not only necessary that he should 
have the scientific and technical knowledge 
to adapt the forces of nature to the projects 
in view, and exercise good judgment as to 
the best means of doing this, as well as 
have the ability fully and clearly to set 
forth his plans in a manner to carry con- 
viction to those seeking his services; but 
it is also equally necessary that when en- 
trusted with the responsibilities of actual 
construction he should be able so clearly and 
explicitly to set forth the rights and obliga- 
tions of all parties, that disputes and legal 
difficulties may not arise, such as often are 
more costly and troublesome than errors of 
design. The place to obtain the necessary 
legal knowledge of specifications and con- 
tracts is during the professional engineering 
course. 
It has been urged by some'that economic 
design, as dependent upon the market price 
of materials, labor and power, should also 
find place in the engineering course, but 
the consensus of best opinion seems to draw 
the line here between education and prac- 
tice. While the attention of the student 
should undoubtedly be drawn briefly, yet 
pointedly, to the economic limitations under 
which commercial work is done, the attempt 
to make designs under such limitations 
should be mostly left to the time when 
judgment has ripened and the complex con- 
ditions of practice are better known by ex- 
perience. In fact, almost no undergraduate 
work can usefully reproduce competitive 
conditions, and the attempt to do this must 
usually be regarded with distrust. The aim 
SCIENCE. 
507 
of teaching is not an object lesson under 
business conditions, but thorough instrue- 
tion in underlying principles, especially 
those theoretical and scientific principles 
which cannot be correctly estimated by the 
layman. 
It will be noticed,in all the matters in 
which I have attempted to reflect the 
Opinions which are current in the papers 
that have been presented to this Society and 
published in its proceedings, the movement 
and tendencies which I have sketched ean 
be traced, all of them, to a single source, 
namely, to the position of influence and re- 
sponsibility which the professional engineer 
has but recently come to occupy. That 
position is what it is to-day in the esteem 
and respect of the public largely through 
the wise efforts of the managers and instrue- 
tors of the engineering colleges. Their 
work in moulding and directing the engi- 
neering education in the future will, I am 
persuaded, be no less important than im the 
past. That such guidance shall continue 
to be wise, its progress healthful, and 
costly mistakes be avoided, will be materi- 
ally assisted by the deliberations and diseus- 
sions of this Society. 
The valuable report of the committee 
on entrance requirements, now in your 
hands, is an important piece of work, taking 
rank beside the other great educational re- 
ports upon the various phases of secondary 
education which have attracted such gen- 
eral attention during a few years past and 
have influenced so greatly the work of the 
preparatory schools as well as the require- 
ments of the colleges. 
I regard it as a happy omen that we are 
met to hold this meeting so early in our 
history here in Toronto, thereby expressing: 
our interest in the promotion of engineering 
education as a branch of applied science, 
confined by no geographical boundaries or 
limitations, as well as our conviction that 
some of the most vital elements of human 
