REGISTERING ENGINEERS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18187, 25 September 1924, Page 8

REGISTERING ENGINEERS.

BILL P3SSES COUNCIL, OPINION NOT UNANIMOUS. (special to "the raias.") Wellington, September at. An interesting discussion arose in the Legislative Council to-day when the Engineers' Registration Bill came up for consideration. The Hon. B. Moore said v it .appeared that the Bill would bring into existence another Board of considerable power. The Board would have power to reject anyone wishing to become ft member of the Association, He would like to know what reasons there wero for the establishment of a Board of this nature. He thought the Council should he somewhat careful that it did not bring into operation Boards that would ninko- their professions or associations eloso corporations. There wore a number cf men working for local bodies who might not i>uss an examination, but were doing useful work. He did not know whether in passing the Bill they were not preventing these men from acting in that' capacity in future. The Hon. "W. Earnshaw said there were men in New Zealand who were better qualified than some who would come in under tire Bill. The Hon. J. 13. Gow differed from the preceding speakers. He thought that "the Bill was on right lines, and that it had been needed for a. long time. The money wasted in New Zealand through the employment of unqualified persons could not be computed, but it must amount to a huge sum. Some of the men referred to by Mr .Moore h?.d become capable, but many had failed after inflicting great expense on the country. He hoped the Council would pass the measure, which he thought was in the best interests oi 1 the community. The Hon. Sir Francis Bell said the Bill made provision for tho imprimatur to be attached to the name of the qualified engineer. It did not prevent anyone practising what was called engineering. The men Mr Moore spoke of might continue «» long as they did not call themselves registered engineers. There was nothing «.t all which could constitute a close corporation, but if the public wanted an engineer they would be able to see that he had the recognised qualification endorsed by the State. Some care had been taken to make sure that the imprimatur should not bo placed on an inexperienced person. Civil engineering covered the various branches of engineering members had in mind. The Hon. C. J. Garland welcomed tho Bill. He said that in the past an enormous amount of money had been squandered through lack of knowledge; enough money to build a road from the North Cape to Bluff. In Committee the Hon. J. Barr moved to alter Clause 7a, -which provides that no person slwiJ! bo registered who is loss than 34 years of age, bv making the age 21 years. This was defeated bv 21 votes to 7, and the Bill was passed.