Annual report of the Director of the School of Mechanic Arts of the Franklin Institute for the season of 1910–1911

✍ Scribed by Wm.H. Thorne

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1911
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 33 KB
• Volume: 171
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-0032
• DOI: 10.1016/s0016-0032(11)90849-7

✦ Synopsis

Additions to membership since last report, 6. The Paper of the evening entitled "Engineering as Related to the Structure of the Body Politic" was presented by Mr. John C. Trautwine, Jr., of Philadelphia, who spoke, in part, as follows:

Without engineering, human co-operation, upon a large scale, is impracticable.

War was probably the first conspicuous instance of such co-operation, and, in warfare, engineering has always been the chief reliance. Indeed, until a little more than a century ago, "the engineer " meant "the military engineer." There was no other.

With the appearance of the steam-engine, practically a century ago, co-operation first became a notable feature of industrial life. The steamengine b[ought into being the modern corporation, which is now rapidly bringing all non-governmental industry within its bailiwick.

As a result of this, the community is being (for the most part unconsciously) schooled and trained in the all-important art of organization, and 'being converted from art unorganized mob into a drilled and correspondingly efficient industrial army.

Concurrently, our governments, city, state and national, are forced, in the protection of the individual against the domination of this growing power, to assert their authority and to assume ever new and stronger powers, at the same time, enormously extending their own industrial activities.

This must result in the eventual assertion, by the people, of their control over all industrial operations, with resulting benefits (to rich and poor alike), with which any private and exclusive individual wealth is as incomparable as it is with that already brought to us by our operation of our public streets, parks, schools, post-office, etc.