SURVEYORS' DIFFICULTIES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 105, 3 May 1912, Page 5

SURVEYORS' DIFFICULTIES.

*O THE EDITOH. Sir, — I ,sco in your issue of date that there seems to be some doubt as to the cause of the scaroity of' surveyors here in New Zealand Apart from the fact that better remuneration may be got in some other countries, and which entice surveyors elsewhere, tho chief reason is that a , surveyor is required, if ho wonts a license, to pass an examination which is quite out of proportion , with tho work that is required of him. Of course, it is necessary to know something about Euclid, algebra, trigonometry, and astronomy; but ' why bring in fauch subjeots as forestry, geology, physics? - A man sent to work on unexplored ground js supposed to be able to give an idea of what it is like, what it could bo used for, the nature of the soil, trees', climatic conditions, etc. Any ordinarily , intelligent man, with a little experience, can make a report of this kind without having to burden his brains, in the iirst place, with a wholo' lot of superfluous and useless knowledge,' utterly of no practical vats in his particular sphere. Those examinations comprise for the most part a whol© lot of, catch questions intended to puzzlo the brains' of men, and the answers to which- are of no ' working ' value. Thcro are a few who do .pass these examinations — superior intellects, maybe, who have a turn for mathematics and for solv- : ing Chinese . puzzles — but what does it advance tho colony in tho matter of having tho land surveyed ? En passant, most men who pass (5 "per cent, of candidates, perhaps) forget -in a. few months' time most of the superfluities they had gained, | retaining only the solid, praotioal knowledge, requiring, as I heard it said, no "high faluting," but straight,, honest business. T.bero fcro . plenty of unlicensed men in the . country who possess a thorough, practical knowledge of all kinds ;of land, road and railway surveying, self-taught, some of thorn, who, in sjiito of useloas acquirements, can hold their own, and, yea, do better work tnd in quickei time- than- many who are authorised. What ought to be done to forward tho. business of survoying lands that require tec bo opened up is not to wait until men- can pass tho preposterous examinations (it takes some of them several years to get -through with on©), but for the Survey Department, to engage men of proved merit, whether licensed or not, to do the work. I reckon the department could put their, hands pii a good many ; men of that class, and give them a license say, of tho second olas3.' Call the licenses of passed men first-class, and call tho licenses of 'proved" assistants second-clam, giving tho latter the samo privileges, but barring them practice in other countries und in 'the higher branchos of surveying-. The whole, or nearly, of New Zealand has been trigged, and very little of this class, of work -is now required I reokon that the iji^n who have • passed the unlicensed assistants', examination (a short, practical, one), and who >have, cay, ten years' actual practice, will fill the bill, and there need' not be the shortage of ! surveyors complained ot. -1 am. etc., ' , .. ARPENTAGE. '30th April