Presidential Address 1878. John Frederic Bateman

2 ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. of Sect. IT. of the Bye-Laws, as Students of the Institution :- JOHNFRANCIS ALBRICHT, ALBERT FRAQNFOIS LOUISALLIMAN, CHARLES HENRYBARRATT, WIL1,IAM HENRYBARRETT, JANEST’REMBATII BOASE,REGINALD PELHAM BOLTON, ALFRED Box, JOSEPHPRENDER- CAST COP, ALEXANDERSmwAw FORBES,ERKEST HALL HEDLEY, TVILLIAM INGLIS, GEORGELLOYD, JOSEPH WILLIAM PARRY, FREDERICK REILLY,RICHARD COTTON ROWLEY, DUKINFIELDHEXRY Scorr, ARTHUR SACKVILLETHOMSON, AUGUSTUS WORTHISGTON TOPP, CIIABLES ARROW- SMITH WALSH,THOMAS HENRY WILLIAMS, and OTWAP EDWARD WOODHOUSE. Mr. BATEMANaddressed the Meeting inthe followingterms, on takingthe chair for the first time, afterhis election as President :- THEduty of addressing the Institution becomes constantly more difficult oneach election of a President.Nearly everysubject which can be supposed to be of interest to the profession has been treated by mypredecessors. The Society was established in 1818 by five devoted men, only one of whom still survives. In 1828 a Royal Charter was obtained, incorporatingthe Society underthe presidency of Nr. Telford, who retained the office till his death in 1834. On his decease, Mr. James Walker was elected President, and, after ably contributing to the growing influence of the Institution, he resigned the post in 1845, having held it for ten years. The addresses of these two gentlemen were such as befitted an infant Institution struggling into importance, and gradually assuming a position which is now at once thopride of the members andthe admiration of the world. They were addresses pregnantwith sound advice and great encouragement. When Mr. Walker resigned, thenumbers were as follows :- Honorary Members ......... 35 Members ............. 177 Associates ............ 285 Graduates ............ 55 - Total ........ -552 They arenow :- HonoraryMembers ......... l6 Members ............ 979 Associates ............1,701 Students .............- 493 Total ........3,189 Downloaded by [ Syracuse University] on [15/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 3 Mr. Walker was succeeded by Sir John Rennie, who held the distinguished position for three years. Since his retirement from the office, a new President has been elected every two years; and I need hardlysay t,hat they have all been amongstthe most distinguished members of the profession. Since Mr. Walker'stime, therehave been sixteen different, Presidents,and as many addresses. Most of these have been principallystatements of the various importantengineering works executed in different parts of the world duringthe preceding twoyears, and observations on theexisting position of the profession, but some have exhibited a distinctive character. Thus, Sir John Kennie in 1846, gave a condensed history of engineering up to that date. This is now thirty-two years ago, during which period, the progress of the profession and of the coustruc- tion of works of utility have exceeded all previous anticipation. No more beneficial service could be rendered than a continuation of' that history to the presentperiod, but neither time norinformation will enable me to perform the task. Mr. Stephenson in 1866 summarized the statistics of English railways to that time; and Mr. Locke followed with a description of those in France. Mr. (nom Sir John) Hawkshaw alluded briefly to the electric telegraph,to the speed of steamers, to armour-platedships, to gunnery, and to iron cylinders asfoundations for bridges. Mr. McClean dwelt on the material prosperity of the country which had been produced by the construction of public works, especially railways. Mr. Fowler, in 1866,offered some admirableremarks on the education of Engineers. Mr. Gregoryprincipally devoted himself tomilitary engineering, to gunnery, armour-plating, steamers, and railways for military purposes. Mr. Vignoles, in 1870, gave an interesting and jnstructive history of ancient engineering, particularlyof early hydraulic engineering, and then a tolerably complete statement of engineering education as pursued in France, and concluded by many amusing incidents of his early professional life. These are but a few of the able addresses which have been delivered ; and in omitking allusion to others, it is not because I think them in anydegree inferior to those I have mentioned, but because they are not quiteof such a distinctive character. It will thus beseen that nearly every subjectwhich comes within the range of the profession has already been dealt with; some S:! Downloaded by [ Syracuse University] on [15/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 4 ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. perhaps hardly to the extentwhich their importance demands; and most are capable of further elucidation bythe rapid progress which has been made in every branch of the profession, and by the enormous extension of engineering works in all parts of the world. When Mr. Stephenson described the railways in Great Britain and Ireland in 1856, he stated that the sum authorized by Par- liament to be raiaed for railway works amounted at the end of 1854 to 52368,000,000, of which $286,000,000 had actually been raised. Now, from official railway returns, it appears that the amount of capital authorized for the construction of railways in the United Kingdom up to the 31st of December, 1876, was 55741,802,322, of whichthere had been actually raised 5682,085,851 sterling, considerably more than double the amount in Mr. Stephenson’s time. At the endof 1856, Mr. Locke stated that the lengthof railways in France for which concessions had been granted was 7,030 miles, of which 4,060 miles had been opened. Xow--or rather at the beginning of 1877-the length of lines in France opened to the public was 12,715 miles, besides which 3,i37 miles were in course of construction or had been authorised by concessions, making B total of 16,452 miles, also considerably more than double what it was at thetime of Mr. Locke’s address. All this and muchmore has been done in engineeringwork since the time when Mr. Telford told our ex-President, Mr. Harrison, that he had made a great mistake in choosing Civil Engineering for a profession, for there was nothing to do, and the sooner he turned his attention to somethingelse the better. Mr. McClean referred to the great increase in the prosperity of the country which had resulted from the introduction and extension of railways. His address was delivered in January 1864, and he compares the year 1815, before the great extension of engineering works, with 1856, just forty years subsequently, and after railwayshad greatly developed the resources of thecountry. He showed that the income available for taxation derived from land had notincreased, while that from houses had increased nearly 300 per cent., and the net profits from mines, quarries, ironworks, canals,railways, &C., had increased upwards of 1,200 per cent. The net profits he stated at upwards of .S18,000,000. Since the year1856, the increase has been very great. It is difficult however to compare amounts, in consequence of a difference in the mode of arrangement ; but I may mention that, for the year ending Downloaded by [ Syracuse University] on [15/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 5 31st March, 1876, the assessment on quarries, mines, ironworks, gasworks,waterworks, canals, fishings, and market-tolls, being a portion only of what was included in Mr. McClean’s S18,000,000, amounted to $28,840,851 ; the assessment on railwapin lthe United Kingdom to 5226,215,203 ; and the gross assessment on the investments mentioned by Mr. McClean to 532,636,312. Mr. McClean also referred to theproduction of coal and iron, and other minerals. The production has enormously increased since his address. The quantity of coal exported to foreign countries is now between 14,000,000 and 15,000,000 tons per annum, and its declared value nearly ~10,000,000sterling. The coals brought to London alone by railway, canal, and sea,exceed 8,000,000 tons, andthe grossproduction of theUnited Kingdom is nearly 132,000,000 tons per annum. These few general remarks will show how largely the engineer has been employed, and how much his labours have contributed to the development of the wealth and prosperityof every country in which they havebeen carried on. I will now proceed to matters of more personal interest to each member of the Institution. There is considerable individuality in the practice of most of our members. Circumstances to a great extent control our opera- tions. Early engagements or opportunities do much towards fixing a man’s future career. Some men have been principally engaged in the construction of railways, others in hydraulic engineering, many inmechanical construction. Some have devoted their energies to thedevelopment of the electric telegraph ; others to gas-lighting, to armour-plating, to naval architecture, or to artillery; while not a few may be considered as purely scientific men, investigating the strength of materials, the lawsof motion, the phenomena of light and heat, and the thousand other questions which have a bearing on practical engineering. It is, in fact, the combination of theory andpractice which makes the successful engineer. Engineering is butthe embodiment of practical wisdom,-“ the :conjunction,” as Bacon calls it, “ of con- templation and action.” It was thought, combined with practice, which enabled Watt to perfect his invention of the steam engine, now little more than one hundred years ago. It was thought and praclice which, in the hands of George Stephenson, ledto thesuccessful application of the locomotive engine. Thoughtand practice produced the electric telegraph. Indeed, though practical wisdom may be said to be the Downloaded by [ Syracuse University] on [15/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 6 ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. parent of almost all successful undertakings, it is especially due to the combination of sound theory withsuccessful practice, and to the practical wisdom which is the result, that engineering owes its present high position, and has been able to contribute so largely to the material prosperityof the world.

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