Going value

Engineering and economics were not supposed formerly to have any close or intimate relation, and prior to the last decade the realm of engineering was popularly understood to lie within the confines of applied natural science. But the decade just completed has witnessed a very important change in the early point of view, brought about almost entirely by the new problems which have sprung into existence with the rapid development of our public utilities. The engineer is now called upon to aid in the solution of the broad question of regulating our public service corporations, and there he rinds himself in contact not only with the law but that more interesting field of political science or economics, and almost of necessity he must absorb a good deal of both. A very able attorney once remarked that a successful engineer could never hope to evade the lawyers or the witness chair, and now perhaps we can go farther and say that sooner or later he will inevitably meet the political economist, in substance if not in form.