Excerpt from Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Convention, Vol. 8: Held at Kansas City, Mo., March 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 1912

The Convention was called to order by the President, Richard L. Humphrey.

John Lyle Harrington, Past President, Engineers' Club of Kansas City, delivered an address of welcome on behalf of the Engineering Interests as follows: In the dark ages of industry which extended well into the last century, it was the custom for every member of a craft, trade or profession to guard jealously and to keep closely secret every item of knowledge he or his associates had, in order to secure to himself the whole advantage of it. In addition to patenting an invention, it was common to keep secret every possible detail of the processes employed, and many businesses were based wholly upon secret formulae which were closely held by members of a firm or family, often handed down from father to son, and the utmost precautions were taken to ensure that employees and even associates, as well as competitors, actual and potential, should be kept in ignorance of the methods employed or discoveries made. Even up to the present day it is dangerous in some establishments for an employee to ask too many questions regarding the methods of manu f acture or materials he employs in his work, and in certain lines of manufacture a considerable remnant of this old secrecy remains. Here and there the possessor of a formula has, like the old alchemist, at the right moment dropped his fluid into a molten metal or added his mite to the production of important materials and kept the secret and profits thereof to himself.

But early in the last century the civil engineers of Great Britain met and formed an institute for the purpose of disseminating the knowledge acquired by its individual members; and in the latter half of the century the engineers of this country came to appreciate the advantages of co-operation. The first such organizations were few in number and comprehensive in scope, but gradually important groups working in special lines came to feel that the interests of the broad general organization were too varied to permit adequate consideration of the matters which specially occupied their attention and so they split off and organized societies of more limited scope. With the enor mous development of industries based on the applied sciences special interests so increased in value and importance that the benefits to be derived from close association and active discussions of men engaged in them came to be generally understood, and group organizations grew apace.

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