ANNUAL ADDRESS. III. 



furnaces, it is probable that successful actions could now be 

 brought against most offenders, but whether it would apply to 

 Government Works and steamers is a legal question I am unable 

 to answer. 



I believe the much-debated subject of Land Boiler Inspection 

 has never engaged the attention of this Section. The tendency 

 of legislation in New South Wales appears to diverge somewhat 

 from the direction it is taking in the Old Country, and the 

 question of compulsory registration versus inspection affords a 

 large field for discussion. As a matter of fact, the actual loss of 

 life in the colony by boiler explosions has hitherto been very 

 small, and practically insignificant when compared with that 

 which happens from such causes as lift accidents, falls of 

 unsecured earth, and the use of cheap and defective crane plant ; 

 to which latter class of causes a large and unnecessary waste of 

 life has been attributable. It is held by many thinkers, that 

 some system of registration, under which there would be always 

 a record available, showing the history and condition of every 

 boiler, and of the person responsible for such condition, would 

 effect the same object with less vexatious interference. This, 

 oombined with a registration of the qualification of every person 

 in charge of boilers, so as to be able to absolutely fix the liability 

 if a proper and safe condition was not maintained ; and the 

 conferring of punitive powers on a Board of Enquiry, in the case of 

 accidents, is thought by many to be preferable to an inquisitorial 

 system of official inspection. Of course there are many things 

 to be said about both systems, but may not one ask in the 

 meantime : — Is it not a farce to call those explosions " accidents " 

 which are shown to be the result of using cheap and second-hand 

 boilers, without any previous examination by experts, or the 

 employment of skilled supervision for periodical examination ? 



We have been very much indebted to the University in the 

 past for original research in connection with the strength of 

 materials, but I am not aware if any experiments have been 

 made with regard to the relative amount of deterioration, by 

 oorrosion, which high and low grades of steel undergo, as com- 



