ENGINEER AND SOCIETY.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 138, 28 June 1937, Page 6

ENGINEER AND SOCIETY.

"In its purest form, engineering is the greatest instrument of civilisation that the world has ever seen. in the sense that it continually tends to promote a closer contact, a greater intimaey, and therefore a more profound understanding between individuals and nations," says Professor William Cranap, D.Sc., M.I.E.E. " Three-fourths of the work of the gngineer is devoted to the development of communication. Roads, canals, bridges, railways, harhours, ships, motor-oars, aeroplanes, telegraphs, telephones, television — all these and many more are humanity's hyphens. Their natural eSect is to foster friendliness and dissolve differences. Left undisturbed by the politician, the scaremonger, and the patriot, the engineer would demolish the- Tower of Bahel and render war impossible. "Build a Channel tunnel; then Calais and Dover beoome neighbours and Anglo-French understanding ensues in all senses. Place transmitters in the- trenches with receivers and televisors at home; then war becomes unthinkable. The very first thing that a government does on going to war is to seize and control every means of communication and every engineering device that might otherwise serve to unite. the combatants. , "And this ironical madness still exists; for only a few weeks ago I received a letter from an old student, which contains the following sentence : ' The torpedo works where I am at present working is very busy. We are producing these instruments of war for most of the European nations, and, as far as I can gather, the works will he up to full capacity for several years.' Yerily for the promotion of peace and understanding, engineering easily outclasses every religion; and for battle, murder, and sudden death it has no equaL" — — - i