Ulact i r (' Si/sfciii ill F. mil neerl iKj f'o/Ief/es. — fV/ii/sir<ii//t. '2fi'i\ 
course in all engineering colleges ara just as truly profes- 
sional studies as are those given in schools devoted to theol- 
ogy, law, and medicine. Those who follow the last named 
professions have certainly not excelled the engineer, if they 
have equalled him, in the task of promoting the happiness, 
welfare and morality of mankind; nor can it be proven that 
success in either of these professions requires deeper study, 
higher intellect, more experience with men and things or bet- 
ter balanced judgment, than is needed for the successful pre- 
sentation of engineering projects. Why, then, does the pub- 
lic at large hold the engineering profession inferior to the 
others just mentioned'? I answer, because we ourselves have 
set them the example and they accept the engineer at our own 
valuation. Educators have, tinconsciously, perhaps, but none 
the less truly, proclaimed their own conviction of the inferi- 
ority of an engineer's mental needs and ecpiipment by the in- 
troduction and continued retention of 
II. Non-essential Studies in Enyineerimj Courses. 
This mistake naturally arose from the fact that the early 
engineering schools or courses were planned in the now clearlv 
erroneous assumption that their training must include a so- 
called liberal education, or else prove itself to be the equiva- 
lent of the classical courses then in vogue. Further, most of 
these eai-ly engineering courses were grafted into older insti- 
tutions, under control of a literary or classical faculty, men 
whose very training and success in their chosen lines unqual- 
ified them to perceive that the study of engineering, if prop- 
erly conducted, affords just as rigid, logical and powerful a 
mental training as can be obtained through the study of any 
other subjects whatever. 
The engineering faculty, and they alone, are the parties 
(competent to formulate the list of studies for engineering 
students, and their decision in such matters must be final, if 
engineering courses are to be freed from driftwood and bar- 
nacles. 
fff. The Xdfnnil Sequence of Studies must fm ()l)st'rreif . 
It is objected by many (1) that under the elective system 
the student will receive only a disorganized course, and (2) 
he will finally graduate with a training which is insullicient, 
because it lacks both depth and comprehensiveness. Neither 
