Part 53 (1/2)

The first point to be considered is, his relations with the Companies which employed him as their engineer, and with the Directors who formed the governing body.

Mr. Brunel conceived that he was, by virtue of his appointment as engineer, the sole and confidential adviser of the Company in all matters relating to the construction and mechanical working of the undertaking. He did not permit any one to be a.s.sociated with him in the supreme control over those matters which were in his department; and the moment he thought that confidence was no longer placed in him, he was prepared at every sacrifice to resign his office. But, as long as he was supported by the Directors, he thoroughly identified himself with their cause, and he never allowed considerations of health or convenience or pecuniary advantage to interfere with the performance of any service which he could render them. The fearless independence of his position, combined with his absolute devotion to the interests of his employers, was no doubt the secret of the immense influence he acquired, and of the affectionate esteem with which he was regarded by those whom he served.

_On the Direction of Railway Works._

March 4, 1845.

I have well considered the communication which you did me the honour of making on the part of the Government of His Majesty the King of Sardinia with reference to my undertaking the direction of the works of the proposed railway from Genoa to Alessandria, about to be executed by the Government itself....

In the first place I a.s.sume that if the direction of the works be confided to me as the engineer, the same degree of confidence will be placed in me, and the same authority will result from that confidence, as would be the case in England--that is to say, I should be the confidential adviser of the Government in all engineering questions connected with this railway, my communications would in all matters be made direct with the Government, and as long as I continued to be responsible for the direction of the works no other engineer would be consulted or allowed to interfere. Of course I claim no right to direct anything but that which has the sanction of the Government; but I should claim to be their sole adviser on all engineering points (connected with the construction of the railway), and to possess their entire confidence; and also that, if any portion of that full confidence were at any time withdrawn, the fact should be immediately communicated to me; when, after making every possible arrangement to prevent inconvenience to the Government, I might withdraw from the direction of the work. This is the position which an engineer of any standing occupies in this country, whether acting for the Government or for individuals; and I believe it to be as fully essential for the success of the proposed undertaking, and as necessary for the interests of His Majesty's Government as for my satisfaction, that I should be placed in a similar position.

The circ.u.mstance of my being a foreigner, of my being rarely present to meet objections, if any are raised, of the unavoidable frequency of real as well as apparent failures in works of such variety and so numerous as those which occur on this line, of the difficulties which always attend the introduction of novelties and everything connected with a railway, the rapid mode of its construction, the necessity which experience has proved of frequently adopting apparently hasty and hazardous methods to prevent the evil consequences of protracted delays,--all this will be novelty with you as it was a few years ago in England, all these circ.u.mstances combine to render it peculiarly essential to the satisfactory progress of the undertaking that it should be well known to all parties that full and entire confidence is placed in me by the Government.

It will of course also be necessary that all parties acting under me in the direction of the works should feel that their appointment or dismissal depends entirely upon me.

In return for the confidence thus placed in me and the authority given to me, I should of course know no interest but that of the Government. If the Government is willing to appoint me engineer according to this definition of my position, I shall feel pride in the appointment, and I shall devote my best energies to the accomplishment of one of the finest and most interesting works of the day....

_On the Position of Joint Engineer._

October 16, 1843.

The contents of your letter of yesterday take me quite by surprise; the expression you use of joint-engineers.h.i.+p implies a view of our relative position diametrically opposed to the views which I have plainly and unequivocally expressed to you and to the Directors when such a thing as joint-engineers.h.i.+p was proposed to and rejected by me....

You wind up your letter by saying 'we have accepted the duty of joint-engineers,' &c., and you add a postscript requesting me to lay your letter before the Directors: this I should have been obliged to do without any such request. I never accepted the duty of joint-engineer; I have always refused to do so. I thought I had made this very clear both to you and the Directors on several occasions; indeed I often feared that I expressed myself too strongly instead of leaving it capable of misapprehension....

_On the Position of Consulting Engineer._

December 30, 1851.

I shall be happy to act in any capacity (subject to the exception I will further explain) which can be useful to your Company; ... but the exception I have to make is one which perhaps resolves itself merely into a question of _name_. The term 'Consulting Engineer' is a very vague one, and in practice has been too much used to mean a man who for a consideration sells his name, but nothing more. Now I never connect myself with an engineering work except as the Directing Engineer, who, under the Directors, has the sole responsibility and control of the engineering, and is therefore 'The Engineer;' and I have always objected to the term 'Consulting Engineer.' ...

In a railway the only works to be constructed are engineering works, and there can really be only one engineer; and in your case especially, where, as I apprehend, the contractor is part of the company, and has to be treated with consideration, and perhaps less vigorously, at all events differently from an ordinary contractor, considerable management and discretion will be required of your engineer, and a degree of responsibility which I would only undertake if sole engineer. Possibly this is what you meant, and that I alone see the distinction, but it is an important one with which you may not be so familiar as I am.

_On the Position of the Engineer in Relation to the Contractors._

May 26, 1854.

I have in due course taken steps to prepare a report for the Directors on the state of the work, but you must not apply to the contractors for such reports. In the first place, it would lead to ridiculous contradictions, inasmuch as most likely my reports would differ materially from theirs; and also it would reverse the whole order of things. I must alone, so long at least as I am the professional adviser of the Company, be the medium of communication with contractors in all matters which the terms of the contract refer to me. I am very particular about the regularity of all these forms, because, although, while all goes smooth, they are of no consequence, yet if, unfortunately, any little difficulties arise, then it is unpleasant and difficult to alter a previous course.

I would ask, then, that all official communications with the contractors should be made through me, and that, even as regards these, we should confer together before any formal resolution should at any time be pa.s.sed, so as to be sure that it is properly worded, and that no awkward precedent is established.

You may have seen that a great appeal case before the Lords, affecting claims of some hundreds of thousands, has just been finally decided in favour of the Great Western Railway Company after fourteen years of litigation;[190] and this favourable decision was entirely obtained by carefully prepared specifications, and by my not having departed in any single case, in years of correspondence, from the letter and spirit of the contract, and particularly from the fact--strongly commented upon by Lords Cranworth and Brougham--that I had maintained my position of umpire between the Company and contractor. It is, then, as essential to the Company as to the contractor and to me that I should maintain that position.

_On the Relations between the Engineer and the Directors._