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fied compensation for engineers something similar, at least, to that advocated by the Engineers' Council Committee. The sooner such a classification is put into effect, the sooner will the engineering profession have done its part to stabilize its own profession and put it on the new after-the-war working basis.

Such a classification is not only of benefit to the individual himself, but also the executive who has to handle engineers. All executives have had a strenuous time in the last five years handling the heavy turnover of labor and the strain is bound to be much greater in the future if the same conditions begin to loom up in the engineering part of any organization.

The executive in general will, therefore, welcome, I am certain, a standard classification for engineering service such as will keep the individual engineer satisfied during the heavy construction period which is rapidly approaching us.

I think, also, that the matter of pride should be given some consideration in the handling of this matter. During the five years gone by the engineers simply have taken what they could get because there was no demand. Now, however, when the pendulum has swung the other way the engineers cannot pride themselves as being real men, able to do big things, if they cannot even bring about conditions in their own profession such that the income of the individual engineer is large enough to meet the present conditions.

I had in my office the other day a man who is considered one of the foremost engineers in the country.

This man has a method of equitably handling the public utility matters. The proposition in itself sounds feasible enough, but this engineer is not large enough to have the public at this time accept his views.

I talked with him and found out that he was doing nothing at all toward assisting in the proper organization of engineers so that as a body the engineering opinion would bear some weight with the public.

Public opinion is five years behind the times and the breach between public opinion and the thoughts of the men thinking as of today is too great for any one engineer to settle.

What we need is organization so that the engineering profession as a whole can give an opinion that will have some weight with the public,

One thing is sure, and that is that engineers must change from the way they have been doing things in the past as far as organization is concerned. I know of no other profession which accomplishes so little as a whole to direct public opinion as the engineers. The reason for this is that in the past each engineer has prided himself as being an independent unit thinking absolutely for himself, shifting for himself and not paying much attention to the other fellow.

The result is, that in the solving of the big questions of the day, we look to combinations of capital, labor and agriculture, while the engineers, each as a unit for himself, stand divided and produce no result.

The license law under which we are operating at present here in Michigan will aid a great deal in training engineers to stand together to solve as a whole, not only compensation matters, but also the large business problems of the day which need the best brains in the world.

You are not going to get very far, however, gentlemen, in having the opinion of the engineer bear weight in these huge problems unless the engineers as a whole properly co-operate so as to have an opinion which has back of it the force of the engineering profession.

Now the important question is, What can this society do to aid in putting across this matter of proper classified compensation?

You must admit that at the present time this society, reorganized as it is on a broad basis, can handle this proposition much more easily than it handled the Engineers' Registration Law under the old-society.

You were successful in putting that across and this success should serve as a stimulant to put the present proposition across, because they are both parallel propositions.

In view of the registration law we now have a central bureau where the experience of each engineer is listed and he is given credit in his title according to that experience.

Now, is it not logical that after we have a standard classified registration of experience that the compensation covering this experience should also be in a standard classified form?

These two propositions are so closely related, and in view of the fact that we have one over with it will only take a small effort to put the other across.

I feel that as far as fact and investigations are concerned that this society can well consider the report of the Engineering Council and do all we can to assist the council in carrying its investigations to a successful end.

After these investigations are completed it then remains for this society to establish the classified compensation rate here in Michigan.

There is no other society in Michigan that is nearly as well equipped as the Michigan Engineering Society for properly waging a campaign of education on this matter of compensation.

The fact that it is the Michigan Engineering Society behind it will have a big effect of causing the public to accept the proposition as it comes to them.

After this campaign has been waged, this society should serve as the Michigan bureau for the central organization of the Engineering Council in order to give engineers the proper ammunition to use in appeals for proper compensation.

In closing, I simply want to repeat that this great movement should not be thought of merely as a means to get more compensation for the individual engineer, but instead it is a movement to quickly stabilize the entire engineering profession to meet and properly cope with the present-day after-war activity.

Society News

THE National American Association of Engineers Membership

Campaign started September 15th and closed October 30th, 1920. During this period there was an influx in the association of 3,735 engineers, including all grades. The total number of engineers handing in applications in the state of Michigan was 216, including 116 students-the most of these students coming in through the University of Detroit, who, at the present time, boast of 106 members. The total membership in the state of Michigan is now about 800 members, of all grades, while the total national membership now amounts to about 25,000 members.

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Pontiac Club, under the guidance and zeal of Mr. C. K. Redfield, its president, has grown to a thriving organization and is now circulating a petition for a Chapter Charter. Chapters are now working under charters in the following cities: Muskegon,

Saginaw, Flint, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Port Huron. Petitions for Chapter Charters are being signed in Jackson and Grand Rapids.

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Due to the unstable business conditions throughout the state and nation this fall, the influx of new members has not met with our anticipation; however, with the prospects bright for an opening up of business the early part of 1921, we believe that our hopes in bringing in the majority of engineers in the state of Michigan will be attained in the early spring.

There are many things of vital importance to the society which it behooves the profession to study and discuss, giving comments and decisions for the benefit of the public and the engineering profession. Co-operation on the part of each engineer in these problems and undertakings will mean much toward placing the engineering profession on a higher standard in the eyes of the public.

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A meeting is called of the Council of the Michigan Engineering Society, State Assembly of the American Association of Engineers, to be held in Lansing, Mich., Friday, December 10th, 1920, at 12 o'clock, noon, at the City Hall, at which time the important work of nominating officers for the society for 1921, together with the budgeting of expenses for chapters and state to take care of the coming year, will be discussed. There will also be reports of committees in regard to their accomplishments and activities, at which time, also, a tentative program of our annual convention, which is to be held in Detroit, January 25, 26, 27, 1921, in the County Supervisors' room, Wayne County Court House, will be discussed and worked out in full. Headquarters Burns Hotel. Rates $1.50 per day and up.

The list of councilmen chosen by the various chapters and districts in the state of Michigan, so far as their names have arrived at the secretary's office, are:

Saginaw David Nicol, Court House, Saginaw, Mich.

Flint: Fred W. Fisch, City Engineer's Office, Flint, Mich.;

H. S. LeDuc, 220 Newal St., Flint, Mich.

Ann Arbor: Prof. L. M. Gram, U. of M., Ann Arbor, Mich.; Prof. John H. Bateman, U. of M., Ann Arbor, Mich.

Detroit: Patrick W. Keating, 501 Ford Bldg., Detroit, Mich.; Warwick Ray, 1551 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Mich.; E. M. Bangham, 221 Union Depot, Detroit, Mich.

Port Huron: John Dennis, State Highway Dept., Port Huron, Mich.; W. W. Cox, 1128 Wall St., Port Huron, Mich.

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Upper Peninsula: K. I. Sawyer, Jenks' Block, Ishpeming,

Grand Rapids: T. O. Williams, Court House, Grand Rapids,

Bay City: C. C. Van Marter, Box 187, Essexville, Mich.
Cadillac: C. F. Boehler, P. O. Box 38, Cadillac, Mich.
Kalamazoo R. H. Steketee, 222 Pratt Bldg., Kalamazoo,

The names of the councilmen from Lansing, Muskegon and Jackson have not been sent in up to this time.

Convention Notes

The State Programme Committee are laying plans for a bumper attendance at the 1921 session. The program has not been definitely decided upon in detail.

The welcome address at the convention will be given by Mr. John Lodge, President of the Common Council, of Detroit.

The opening address will be given by Governor-elect Groesbeck.

Address, L. K. Sherman, President, A. A. E.

Address by our president, W. W. Cox.

Paper on Wayne County Planning and Index, by Mr. Jas. Gibbons, Supt. of Tract Index, Wayne County Auditor's Office. R. C. Bailey, address on "Chapter Activities."

Paper on Lake to Gulf Waterways, by Gardner S. Williams. Industrial Films, by the Pease Blue Print Company on the Art of Blue Printing, together with many other features, which at this time can not be definitely tabulated.

The business session is of great importance. Many topics of vital interest in the future policies of the Association will be discussed, together with the activities of committees.

There will be the usual banquet which follows the last session. At the convention there will be annual reports from several of the Societies to be distributed among our members.

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