uccess. The only collegiate training one of the most
distinguished American engineers of the last generation had was a
general literary course followed by a law course. Further, a
considerable number have successfully practiced engineering, after
only a general college education, and this in recent years when
engineering curricula have become widely differentiated. Examples in
other lines of business could be cited to show that a knowledge of
technical details is not the most important element in a preparation
for a profession or for business. The all-important thing is that the
engineering student shall acquire the power to observe closely, to
reason correctly, to state clearly, that he shall be able to extract
information from books certainly and rapidly, and that he shall
cultivate his judgment, initiative, and self-reliance. A student may
have any amount of technical information, but if he seriously lacks
any of the qualities just enumerated, he cannot attain to any
considerable professional success. However, if he has these qualities
to a fair degree, he can speedily acquire sufficient technical details
to enable him to succeed fairly well.

The chief aim of the engineering college should be to develop the
intellectual power that will enable the student not only to acquire
quickly the details of practice, but will also enable him ultimately
to establish precedents and determine the practice of his times.
Incidentally the engineering college should seek to expand the horizon
and widen the sympathy of its students. In college classes there will
be those who are either unable or unwilling to attain the highest
educational ideals, and who will become only the hewers of wood and
drawers of water of the engineering profession; but a setting before
them of the highest ideals and even an ineffective training in methods
of work will prepare them the better to fill mediocre positions.

The nearly universal engineering college course requires four years.
The field properly belonging to even a specialized curriculum is so
wide and the importance of a proper preparation of the engineers of
the future is so great as appropriately to require more than four
years of time; but the consensus of opinion is that for various
reasons only four years are available for undergraduate work--the
only kind here under consideration. Hence it is of vital importance
that the highest ideals shall be set before the engineering students
and that