,,american ,,society ,,of ,,civil       
,,engineers  ,,instituted #aheb         
,,transactions  ,paper ,no4 #aagh       
,,address ,,at ,,the #db;,d ,,annual    
,,convention1 ,,chicago1 ,,illinois1    
,,june #ba,,st1 #aiaj4  ,,by ,,john ,a4 
,,bensel1 ,,president1 ,,am4 ,,soc4 ,c4 
,e4     ,i know that to some of my      
audience a satisfactory address at a    
summer convention would be like that    
which many people regard as a           
satisfactory sermon--something soothing 
and convincing1 to the effect that you  
are not as other men are1 but better4   
,while ,i appreciate very fully1        
however1 the honor of being able to     
address you1 ,i am going to look trouble
 in the face in an effort to convince   
you that1 in spite of great individual  
achievements1 engineers are behind other
 professional men in professional       
spirit1 and particularly in collective  
effort4  ,whether this1 if true1 is due 
to our extreme youth as a profession1 or
 our extreme age1 is dependent upon the 

point of view2 but ,i think it is a fact
 that will be admitted by all that      
engineers have not as yet done much for 
their profession1 even if they have done
 considerable for the world at large4   
,looking backward1 our calling may      
properly be considered the oldest in the
 world4 ,it is older1 in fact1 than     
history itself1 for man did not begin to
 separate from the main part of animal  
creation1 until he began to direct the  
sources of power in ,nature for the     
benefit1 if not always for the          
improvement1 of his particular kind4 ,in
 ,bible history1 we find early mention  
of the first builder of a pontoon4 ,this
 creditable performance is especially   
noted1 and the name of the party        
principally concerned prominently       
mentioned4 ,the same thing cannot be    
said of the unsuccessful attempt at the 
building of the first sky-scraper1 for  
here the architect1 with unusual        
modesty1 has not given history his name1
 this omission being possibly due to the

 fact that the building was             
unsuccessful4 ,if an engineer was       
employed on this particular undertaking1
 the architect had1 even at that early  
stage of his profession1 learned the    
lesson of keeping all except his own end
 of the work in the background4  ,the   
distinctive naming of our profession    
does not seem1 however1 to go back any  
farther than the period of #agfa1 when  
that ,father of the ,profession1 ,john  
,smeaton1 first made use of the term1   
engineer1 and later1 civil engineer1    
applying it both to others and to       
himself1 as descriptive of a certain    
class of men working along professional 
lines now existing and described by that
 term4  ,remarkable progress has        
certainly been made in actual           
achievements since that time1 and ,i    
know of nothing more impressive than to 
contemplate the tremendous changes that 
have been made in the material world by 
the achievements of engineers1          
particularly in the last hundred years4 

,this was forcibly impressed upon me a  
short time ago1 while in the company of 
the late ,charles ,haswell1 then the    
oldest member of this ,society1 who1    
seeing one of the recently built        
men-of-war coming up the harbor1        
remarked that he had designed the first 
steamship for the ,united ,states ,navy4
 ,the evolution of this intricate mass  
of mechanism1 which1 from the very      
beginning of its departure from the     
sailing type of vessel1 has taken place 
entirely within the working period of   
one man's life1 is as graphic a showing 
of engineering activity as ,i think can 
be found4  ,our activities are forcibly 
shown in many other lines of invention  
and in the utilization of the forces of 
,nature1 particularly in the development
 of this country4 ,we1 although young in
 years1 have become the greatest        
railroad builders in history1 and have  
put into use mechanical machines like   
the harvester1 the sewing machine1 the  
telephone1 the wireless telegraph1 and  

almost numberless applications of       
electricity4 ,ships have been built of  
late years greatly departing from those 
immediately preceding them1 so that at  
the present time they might be compared 
to floating cities with nearly all a    
city's conveniences and comforts4 ,we   
have done away with the former isolation
 of the largest city in the country1 and
 have made it a part of the main land by
 the building of tunnels and bridges4   
,in all our work it might be said that  
we are hastening1 with feverish energy1 
from one problem to another1 for the    
so-called purpose of saving time1 or for
 the enjoyment of some new sensation2   
and we have also made possible the      
creation of that which might be deemed  
of doubtful benefit to the human race1  
that huge conglomerate1 the modern city4
  ,there has been no hesitancy in       
grappling with the problems of ,nature  
by engineers1 but they seem to be       
diffident and neglectful of human nature
 in their calculations1 leaving it out  

of their equations1 greatly to their own
 detriment and the world's loss4 ,we can
 say that matters outside of the known  
are not our concern1 and we can look    
with pride at our individual            
achievements1 and of course1 if this    
satisfies1 there is nothing more to be  
said4 ,but it is because ,i feel that   
engineers of to-day are not satisfied   
with their position1 that ,i wonder     
whether we have either fulfilled our    
obligations to the community1 or secured
 proper recognition from it2 whether1 in
 fact1 the engineer can become the force
 that he should be1 until he brings     
something into his equations besides    
frozen figures1 however diverting an    
occupation this may be4  ,one may wonder
 whether this state of affairs is caused
 from a fear of injecting uncertain     
elements into our calculations1 or      
whether it is our education or training 
which makes us conservative to the point
 of operating to our own disadvantage4  
,we may read the requirements of our    

membership and learn from them that in  
our accomplishments we are not to be    
measured as skilled artisans1 but the   
fact remains that1 to a great extent1   
society at large does so rate us1 and it
 would seem that we must ourselves be   
responsible for this state of affairs4  
,our colleges and technical schools are 
partly to blame for the existence of    
this idea1 on account of the different  
degrees which they give4 ,we have a     
degree of civil engineer1 regarded in   
its narrowest sense1 of mining engineer1
 mechanical engineer1 electrical        
engineer1 and by necessity it would seem
 as if we should shortly add some       
particular title to designate the       
engineer who flies4 ,in reality there   
should be but two classes of engineers1 
and the distinction should be drawn only
 between civil engineers and military   
engineers4 ,as a matter of fact1 fate   
and inclination determine the specialty 
that a man takes up after his           
preliminary training1 and so far as the 

degrees are concerned1 the only one that
 has any right to carry weight1 because 
it is a measure of accomplishment1 is   
that which is granted by this ,society  
to its corporate members4 ,the schools1 
in their general mix-up of titles1      
certainly befog the public mind4 ,it is 
as if the medical schools1 for instance1
 should issue degrees at graduation for 
brain doctors1 stomach doctors1 eye and 
ear doctors1 etc4 ,very wisely1 it seems
 to me1 the medical profession and the  
legal profession1 with histories far    
older than ours1 and with as wide       
variations in practice as we have1 leave
 the variations in name to the          
individual taste of the practitioner1 in
 a manner which we would do well to     
copy4 ,the ,society itself has adopted  
very broad lines in admission to        
membership1 classing as civil engineers 
all who are properly such2 and there is 
good reason for the serious             
consideration of the term at this time1 
as we cannot fail to recognize a        

tendency in ,state and other governments
 to legislate as to the right to        
practice engineering4 ,it was owing to  
the introduction of a bill limiting and 
prescribing the right to practice in the
 ,state of ,new ,york1 that a committee 
was recently appointed to look into this
 matter and report to the ,society4     
,this report will be before you for     
action at this meeting4  ,as to the     
manner in which engineers individually  
perform their work1 no criticism would  
properly lie1 and in fact it is         
fortunate that our work speaks for      
itself1 for1 as a body1 we say nothing4 
,we are no longer1 however1 found       
working for the greater part of the time
 on the outskirts of civilization1 and  
it becomes necessary1 therefore1 for us 
to change with changing conditions1 and 
to use our ,society not only for the    
benefit of the profession as a whole1   
but for the benefit of the members      
individually4 ,whether one of our first 
steps in this direction should be along 

legislative lines is for you to         
determine4 ,for myself1 having been     
confronted with legislation recently    
attempted in ,new ,york1 ,i am convinced
 that we shall have legislation         
affecting our members1 and this         
legislation should properly be moulded  
by some responsible body like our own   
,society4 ,if we do not take the matter 
up ourselves it is likely to be taken up
 by other associations1 and from past   
experience1 it would seem as though it  
might be carried on along lines that    
would tend to ridicule our desire for   
professional standing4  ,the ,society is
 to be congratulated on its present     
satisfactory status4 ,the reports show a
 very satisfactory financial condition1 
and you may note a continuing increase  
in membership that is extremely         
gratifying4 ,this1 after having nearly  
doubled in the last seven years1 still  
shows no sign of diminishing in its rate
 of increase4 ,it may be said1 also1    
that we have in the ,society an         

excellent publishing house1 where the   
members have an opportunity to secure   
technical papers published in the       
highest style of the art4 ,we have in   
general in the officers1 a number of    
men1 who1 within the prescribed limits1 
labor for the benefit of the members1   
but we also have constitutional         
limitations to the activity of our      
governing body1 so that the voice of the
 ,society is never heard1 or1 at least1 
might be compared to that still1 small  
voice we call conscience1 which is not  
audible outside of the body that        
possesses it4  ,now1 in these days1 when
 the statement that two and two make    
four is accepted from its latest        
originator as a newly discovered truth1 
a little extension of our mathematics1  
to take into our estimate people as well
 as things1 is what we principally need1
 and it would be a good thing1 regarded 
either from the point of view of what   
the world needs or the more selfish view
 of our own particular gains4 ,at the   

present time it would seem as though our
 world had thrown away the old gods     
without taking hold of any new ones4    
,private ownership as it formerly       
existed is no longer recognized2        
individual action in almost any large   
field is to-day hampered and curtailed  
in a manner undreamed of twenty years   
ago4 ,in fact1 our whole scheme of      
government seems to be passing from the 
representative form on which it was     
founded1 to some new form as yet        
undetermined4 ,whether all this is1 in  
our opinion1 for good or for evil1 is of
 no particular concern4 ,the matter that
 concerns us is1 that we have left our  
old moorings1 and that1 to secure new   
ones1 new limits are to be set to the   
activities of men along lines which     
concern us1 and that1 therefore1 it is  
necessary that those who by education   
and training are best fitted to consider
 facts and not desires1 should guide    
society as much as possible along its   
new lines4 ,i consider that we as a     

profession are particularly trained to  
do this by our consideration of facts as
 they exist1 and ,i think it will be    
recognized by all that we are not in our
 work or activities bound by any        
precedent1 even if we do learn all that 
we can from the past2 and that we are by
 nature and training of a cool and      
calculating disposition1 which is surely
 a thing that is needed in this time of 
many suggested experiments4  ,to be     
effective1 however1 we must be cohesive1
 and thus be able to take our part not  
as the led1 but as leaders1 convincing  
the people1 if possible1 that all the   
ills of our social system cannot be     
cured by remedies which neglect the     
forces of creation1 and that the best   
doctors for our troubles are not        
necessarily those whose sympathies are  
most audibly expressed4  ,in the recent 
discoveries of science our ideas as to  
the forces of ,nature must be greatly   
enlarged and our theories amplified4    
,recent discovery of radium and         

radio-active substances shows at least  
that much of our old knowledge needs    
re-writing along the lines of our       
greater knowledge of to-day4  ,with this
 increase of knowledge it would seem as 
though those who devote their lives to  
the exploitation of natural forces      
should take a position in the future    
even more prominent than in the past1   
and it will undoubtedly become our      
function to help the world to that ideal
 state described by our greatest living 
poet of action1 when he speaks of the   
time to come1 as follows3      ,and no  
one shall work for money1       ,and no 
one shall work for fame2     ,but each  
for the joy of working1       ,and each 
in his separate star2     ,shall draw   
the thing as he sees it1       ,for the 
,god of the things as they are4