preliminary training, and so far as the degrees are concerned, the only
one that has any right to carry weight, because it is a measure of
accomplishment, is that which is granted by this Society to its
corporate members. The schools, in their general mix-up of titles,
certainly befog the public mind. It is as if the medical schools, for
instance, should issue degrees at graduation for brain doctors, stomach
doctors, eye and ear doctors, etc. Very wisely, it seems to me, the
medical profession and the legal profession, with histories far older
than ours, and with as wide variations in practice as we have, leave the
variations in name to the individual taste of the practitioner, in a
manner which we would do well to copy. The Society itself has adopted
very broad lines in admission to membership, classing as civil engineers
all who are properly such; and there is good reason for the serious
consideration of the term at this time, as we cannot fail to recognize a
tendency in State and other governments to legislate as to the right to
practice engineering. It was owing to the introduction of a bill
limiting and prescribing the right to practice in the State of New York,
that a committee was recently appointed to look into this matter and
report to the Society. This report will be before you for action at this
meeting.

As to the manner in which engineers individually perform their work, no
criticism would properly lie, and in fact it is fortunate that our work
speaks for itself, for, as a body, we say nothing. We are no longer,
however, found working for the greater part of the time on the outskirts
of civilization, and it becomes necessary, therefore, for us to change
with changing conditions, and to use our Society not only for the
benefit of the profession as a whole, but for the benefit of the members
individually. Whether one of our first steps in this direction should be
along legislative lines is for you to determine. For myself, having been
confronted with legislation recently attempted in New York, I am
convinced that we shall have legislation affecting our members, and this
legislation should properly be moulded by some responsible body like our
own Society. If we do not take the matter up ourselves it is likely to
be taken up by other associations, and from past experience, it would
seem as though it might be carried on along lines that would tend to
ridicule our desire for professional standing.

The Society i