OF THE ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING SOCIETIES Vol. II OF ST. LOUIS A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Interests of the Engineering Profession in St. Louis ST. LOUIS, MO., AUGUST, 1923 POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF THE ENGINEER. By EDWARD E. WALL Water Commissioner, St. Louis, Mo. No. 8 The summary dismissal of Director Davis of the Reclamation Service has justly aroused universal indignation among the members of the engineering profession. Undoubtedly the action was taken for political reasons and an engineer was the victim because he and his methods and policies were in the way of schemers with political influence and because he, his friends and associates and the fellow-members of his profession have no political influence. The votes of engineers have no political weight because every engineer regards his life and obligations as a citizen as something in no way related to his career as an engineer; a thing that may be neglected and even ignored entirely in the pursuit of the higher ideals of his profession. Consequently, if he votes at all, he usually does it in a perfunctory way or, if his interest is aroused sufficiently through the clever advertising done in the daily press, he forms his conclusion after a cursory view of the situation or on the advice of some friend or acquaintance who probably is as ignorant of the real significance of the issue as himself. In this the engineer is no worse than the average citizen in any other profession or business. But the engineer is in a position decidedly different from men following other pursuits, in that he and his fellows must do the building and provide the facilities for supplying the world with most of the conveniences and luxuries of life, as well as the greater part of the necessities, thus necessarily coming into direct contact with the public at more points and meeting them under a greater variety of circumstances than falls to the lot of other men. He becomes the servant of the public in municipal, state and national governmental activities and, perforce, becomes a part of the political machinery of successive administrations. He should, by virtue of the character of his work, be thoroughly acquainted with the needs of the community in which he lives, as well as familiar with its resources, possibilities and sentiments. No set of men should be better able to pass on local matters of policy than the engineers who live in the place. They, certainly as well as any others, should be able to pass on the qualifications of men in office and those aspiring to office. Entered as second-class matter, February 11, 1916. at the post-office at St. 1912. August 24. Louis, Mo., under the Act of the Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized August 23, 1918. We But their opinions, valuable as they might be, in reality have no political weight, and will never have until engineers, individually and collectively, make their voices heard-first in local public affairs. need not then bother about recognition of the engineer in state and national affairs, for that will follow of itself. As soon as members of town councils or aldermanic boards find that engineers have votes and know how to use them to the best advantage, just that soon will the engineer become a factor to be reckoned with in the government of his town or city. Then the local members of the legislature, the district congressman, members of the state administration and even the lordly senator will recognize that the engineer has influence politically and pay heed to him accordingly. As it is he is only one of the nondescript crowd, unorganized and voting at random, so that resolutions and letters of protest from his societies and organizations can be courteously answered by secretaries whose business is diplomacy and the incident closed without causing the administration the slightest concern. Haply, some day, the engineer may come to a realization that his obligations to his city are not farther down the line than second to his duties to his profession and maybe he will finally come to the broader view that the two are so closely related that separation is not possible. TO RESUME. Associated Society meetings will be resumed on September 5th with a get-together evening of an informal nature. It is planned to have the St. Louis "Weather Man" tell us how he got through the sum mer. On the 19th, the A. S. R. E. will have charge. Mr. Leslie Smith will discuss the Modern Trend of the Ice Industry in the Public Service. The Mechanicals take hold on the 26th. A talk on Aviation, preceding the National Air Meet, will be the feature of the evening. A banker will give his views on the Financing of Engineering ! Projects, on October 3rd. Engineers' Club in charge. The Electricals are planning a talk on Radio by Prof. Glasgow of Washington University for the meeting of October 17th. A party of some sort will wind up the month of October. Hydrographic Work in the State of Missouri will be the subject for November 7th, with the Civils sponsoring the meeting. On the 21st, the Miners plan to have a talk on the Mining of Zine Ores. For December, the only thing in sight at this writing is an entertainment and dance. "CHARTER VIOLATED BY CITY HEADS WHO DRAW OUTSIDE PAY." The above headline in half-inch display type appeared in the St. Louis Star of July 18th. The accompanying article attacked by inference the integrity of six engineers of high standing in St. Louis, men who have for many years given their best in the service of the city Recitation was made of specific cases where these engineers had visite! other cities to advise on engineering matters, for which advice they received pay. We are offering no apology for the acts of these men and engineers require no assurances of the triviality and unfairness of the implications. Unfortunately, a portion of the community, uninformed as to the duties and functions of the engineer, is prone to take the stuff at its face value. For the enlightenment of this element, we review the matter here. The engineer prepares himself for the practice of his profession by an arduous period of training. Because of the magnitude and complexity of the field, his schooling can, perforce, embrace only the fundamentals. His later work is generally along the lines of an adopted specialty. The mastering of his specialty gives the engineer his standing in the community and the profession, and fixes his value to society. The municipal engineer, because of his public position, is constantly being called upon by citizens for gratuitous advice. This advice he gives freely. His files are full of letters and telegrams from persons outside the city asking for opinions on all sorts of subjects. Оссаsionally one of these requests is accompanied by a proffer of remuneration. If the engineer can do the work without detriment to his regular duties, he very properly accepts the commission and the pay. The basis of the attack referred to is the provision of the City Charter requiring all city officers and employees with few exceptions to devote their "entire time" to the duties of their offices. What is meant by "entire time?" Eight hours a day? The law specifically mentions. this period as a day's work for municipal employees. Some city engineers work only eight hours a day. Many of them put in considerably more than eight hours, and holiday and night work under emergency is common. Is the city engineer, for some reason, expected to give twenty-four hours a day to his duties? The city ordinances provide that a department head may grant leave of absence to an employee at his discretion. For such leave the employee is entitled to pay. Common sense dictates that the employee may do as he pleases with his leave. Practically all outside work handled by city engineers is done under authorized leave or outside of working hours. Consequently it would seem that the charter has not been even technically violated. Nothing has been published to indicate that the city's business has been neglected by any of the engineers mentioned, or that the city has suffered any loss through their brief absences on the occasions referred to. On the contrary, their outside work has been of great value to the city in advertising the superiority of civic conditions here as compared to those in other places. Likewise the experience gained by them from their work done elsewhere, has benefited the City of St. Louis through broadening their views and giving them a view of their home problems from another angle. In every way the city has been the gainer in these transactions. The City of St. Louis should consider itself fortunate in having in its employ engineers of ability and reputation whose work is recognized and whose advice is sought. To accuse these gentlemen of unfaithfulness to their trust is picayunish in the extreme. ALL IN THE FAMILY. Mr. L. R. Bowen, Engineer of Bridges and Buildings of the Department of the President of the Board of Public Service, has just completed a tour of inspection of municipal hospitals in western cities. The study was made in connection with the program of extension of St. Louis hospitals contemplated under the bond issue. Mr. L. W. Wallace, Executive Secretary of the Federated American Engineering Societies, writes commending us for the publication of our article entitled, "Is the United States Technical Service in Danger?" Dean Perley F. Walker of the School of Engineering of the University of Kansas, a member of the Coal Storage Committee of the F. A. E. S., co-operating with the National Coal Commission, visited St. Louis on July 20th and conferred with the local committee. He expressed himself as being very favorably impressed with the thoroughness with which the local work is being handled. Mr. J. D. Robertson is chairman of the St. Louis committee. Col. E. J. Spencer has been elected vice president of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy. Mr. Douglas Rolfe will act in the capacity of engineer for the Kansas City Bridge Co., on the construction of the hurdle dikes for the new St. Louis Water Works on the Missouri River. The Year Book. The Year Book is out. No effort has been spared in an attempt to make it accurate, but mistakes will creep in. Members are requested to notify the secretary in writing of any errors coming to their attention. All such communications will be filed and corrections made in future issues. Mr. Chas. S. Butts, Engineer of the Department of Public Utilities. has compiled a complete history of garbage disposal in St. Louis. Persons experiencing irritation over brief delays in present-day collections, may obtain surcease in looking over this record of the good old days. Mr. Ralf Toensfeldt represents the American Society for Municipal Improvements on a joint committee named by the American Standards Committee, for consideration of standard specifications for cast iron gas pipe and special castings. Our champion committeeman is Mr. A. P. Greensfelder. His latest job is to represent users of construction equipment on a joint committee of the Associated General Contractors, made up of manufacturers and users. A QUANTITY SURVEY BUREAU FOR ST. LOUIS. The Master Builders' Association of St. Louis announces the organization of a Quantity Survey Bureau along the lines recommended in a report approved and adopted by the American Institute of Architects, the Federated American Engineering Societies, the Associated General Contractors and the American Society of Civil Engineers. The object of the Bureau is to eliminate the present duplication of effort and expense in the purely mechanical operation of taking off quantities of excavation, concrete (plain and reinforced), brickwork |