Standing in the presence of so many of those who have dignified the profession of engineering, I should hesitate to express my views on this subject did I not believe that many earnest and right-minded young men in our active and associate membership will be glad to know what rules of conduct govern those whose example they would willingly follow, and how one not a practicing engineer, but with good opportunities of observation and judgment, would characterize practices which have been to some extent sanctioned by custom.  To those who have yet to win the gilded spurs of professional knighthood, but who cherish a high and honorable ambition, my suggestions are chiefly addressed.

An ever present stumbling block in the path of the young engineer is what is lightly spoken of as the “customary commission”—­a percentage paid him on the price of machinery and supplies purchased or recommended by him.  That manufacturers expect to pay commissions to engineers who are instrumental in effecting the sale of their products is a striking proof that the standards of business morality are quite as low as I have assumed them to be; that engineers do not unite in indignant protest against the custom, and denounce as bribe-givers and bribe-takers those who thus exchange services, shows that the iron has entered the souls of many who may be disposed to resent such plain terms as those in which I decree it my duty to describe transactions of this kind.

The young man who is tendered a commission will naturally ask himself whether he can accept and retain it, and may, perhaps, reason somewhat in this way:  “My professional advice was given without expectation of personal profit other than that earned in my fee, and it expressed my best judgment.  The price at which the goods were purchased was that which every consumer must pay, and was not increased for my advantage.  The transaction was satisfactory to buyer and seller, and was concluded when payment was made.  I am now tendered a commission which I am at liberty to accept or to decline.  If I decline it, I lose something, my client gains nothing, and the remaining profit to the seller is greater than he expected by that amount.  If I accept it, I do my client no wrong.  If it is the custom of manufacturers to pay commissions, it must be the custom of engineers to receive them; and there is no reason why I should be supersensitive on a point long since decided by usage.”  This is false reasoning, based upon erroneous assumptions.  Why do manufacturers pay commissions?  Is it probable they make it a part of their business policy to give something for nothing?  Is it not certain that they expect an equivalent for every dollar thus disbursed, and that in paying the engineer a commission they are seeking to establish relations with him which shall warp his judgment and make him their agent?  It may be urged in the case of reputable manufacturers that they yield to this custom because other manufacturers