The Washington herald., 1920-11-20
Expert Engineers as Public Servants.

"yHEN the history OF the year 1920 comes
NV to be written by chroniclers and interpre-
tiers of its important events they will say
mar the formation in this city of the Engineering
council OF the Federated American Engineering
Societies was epoch marking. Conceived during the
war, born during period of reconstruction it has
within 1t even child among Institutions a
power that statesmen, politicians taxpayers and
pam toik must reckon on as henceforth important.
3 The 100000 persons who are affiliated with this
newly constituted council are experts as compared
with ordinary civilians public officials. As hu-
man beings, taxpayers and democrats they are
weary OF the unnecessary costs, the bureaucratic
iyrannies and utilities and the nonrepresentatve
methods OF carrying public business. They
learned their lesson during the war while aiding
the government to function That which they then
learned they are bound all their fellow counrymen
shall know If the latter profit by the instruction
and advice well and good But as for the engineers
they out to fight to the bitter end TO conserve
national wealth, facilitate cheap and swift transpor-
taton OF goods and passengers pacify warning capi
tai and labor, coordinate governmental machinery
and make the proved facts of applied science count
Tor, more with the average American citizen than
the imaginative eloquence of the political orator
the subtly perverted instruction of the hired jour
nalist-
In 1869 Charles w. Eliot became president of
Harvard University, the first with scientific
training that had been thus honored. His inaugural
had considerable dynamite IN it which afterward
ploded to the CONSERVATION of the traditonaists,
clerical and classical But in this declaration of
Eews, full OF provision, he said that one of the
ultimate tests of his countrymen and their democ-
-acy would be in their acceptance or rejection of
slhe expert as adviser 1t has taken nearly fifty
ears ior a body OF scientific experts to decide to
organize on a national scale, to outline positive
constructive platform and to camp down under
SHE walls OF Congress and the abode of the Presi-
dent and say: I'VE have come to stay. We mean
busincss. Quit your dabbling with chimeras, magin-
ng>. and empirical methods. What are the facts
.oi Eic: We know. Stop. Look Listen"
Di course the projectors of this plan and the
rgIzers OF this council understand that executives
nd legislators may now assert the old Ameri-
rau political doctrine that any fill any job
,nd that the way to learn is to do, matter what
III costs the country during the process of education
But the engineers ready to side with them.
For has not Prof. Charles Haskins, Harvards emf
historian after period of being the adviser of
the President at the Peace Conference and of COM
bat with European savants, just said to the officials
OF the Association of American Universities, that
the government lacks trained men competent to
deal with its present and coming international
relations. Whether we decide on a cooperative or
on d combative attitude toward other nations, we
must have specialists serving the important
departments: and when we find them must pay
them living wages If nothing more. Now arc
mot even doing that and the seepage of ability out
of the government officials ranks goes mournfully
on, a combination OF Congressional ignorance, con-
tempt and penurousness