21 
side by side with the ordinary workman—in fact, if he 
is to get real benefit by his work, he becomes for the 
time being, for months and years, a workman himself, 
and it is only by contact of that kind that one can really 
set to know what manner of men these are. 
Speaking from my own personal experience, I can 
safely say that during the time I worked at the bench, I 
gained a much truer knowledge of the British working 
man than I could possibly have obtained in any other 
way. It may be thought that the young engineer who 
receives his complete training in the college, and afterwards 
becomes at once a paid employee, will, in his younger days, 
as a paid employee, have similar opportunities of coming 
into close contact with the workmen ; but this is not so. 
He has been placed in a position of superiority: he is the 
master, or the representative of the master, so to speak, 
and therefore his presence at once acts as a check upon the 
natural impulses of the workmen, and it is impossible for 
him to come into such friendly relations with them as are 
at once brought about when he is working side by side 
with them. From this point of view alone, therefore, I 
feel that it would be a great mistake to abandon in any 
way the practical training which has always been insisted 
apon in this country, a practical training which can be 
gained only in the engineering workshop, or in the field. 
Sir John Fowler himself pointed out how advantageous 
it was for the young man who intended to become a civil 
engineer to pass at least one year, or even two years, in a 
good engineering workshop, and no doubt he had in his 
mind some of the ideas that I have just been express- 
ing, when he made this suggestion. 
But though [I hold that we should adhere to the 
position we have always taken up in this matter. I still feel