speculation. The man who fails to deliver what he has bought, to meet his
paper at maturity and make good the certifications of his banker, loses
at once his business standing, and is practically excluded from business
competition; but if he keeps his engagements and is successful, the
public is kindly blind to the agencies he may employ to depreciate what
he wants to buy or impart a fictitious value to what he wants to sell.
Viewed from this standpoint, it may be questioned whether the accepted
standards of business morality are not, after all, those fixed by the
revised statutes.

In so far as the engineer is brought in contact with the activities of
trade, he cannot fail to be conscious of the fact that serious
temptations surround him. Such reputation as he has gained is assumed to
have a market value, and the price is held out to him on every side. It
should not be difficult for the conscientious engineer, jealous of his
professional honor, to decide what is right and what is not. He does not
need to be reminded that he cannot sell his independence nor make
merchandise of his good name. But as delicate problems in casuistry may
mislead or confuse him, it is to be regretted that so little effort has
been made to formulate a code of professional ethics which would help to
right decisions those who cannot reach them unaided.

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