effort has
been made to formulate a code of professional ethics which would help to
right decisions those who cannot reach them unaided.

Standing in the presence of so many of those who have dignified the
profession of engineering, I should hesitate to express my views on this
subject did I not believe that many earnest and right-minded young men in
our active and associate membership will be glad to know what rules of
conduct govern those whose example they would willingly follow, and how
one not a practicing engineer, but with good opportunities of observation
and judgment, would characterize practices which have been to some extent
sanctioned by custom. To those who have yet to win the gilded spurs of
professional knighthood, but who cherish a high and honorable ambition,
my suggestions are chiefly addressed.

An ever present stumbling block in the path of the young engineer is what
is lightly spoken of as the "customary commission"--a percentage paid him
on the price of machinery and supplies purchased or recommended by him.
That manufacturers expect to pay commissions to engineers who are
instrumental in effecting the sale of their products is a striking proof
that the standards of business morality are quite as low as I have
assumed them to be; that engineers do not unite in indignant protest
against the custom, and denounce as bribe-givers and bribe-takers those
who thus exchange services, shows that the iron has entered the souls of
many who may be disposed to resent such plain terms as those in which I
decree it my duty to describe transactions of this kind.

The young man who is tendered a commission will naturally ask himself
whether he can accept and retain it, and may, perhaps, reason somewhat in
this way: "My professional advice was given without expectation of
personal profit other than that earned in my fee, and it expressed my
best judgment. The price at which the goods were purchased was that which
every consumer must pay, and was not increased for my advantage. The
transaction was satisfactory to buyer and seller, and was concluded when
payment was made. I am now tendered a commission which I am at liberty to
accept or to decline. If I decline it, I lose something, my client gains
nothing, and the remaining profit to the seller is greater than he
expected by that amount. If I accept it, I do my client no wrong. If it
is the custom of manufacturers to pay commissions, it must be the custom
of engine