1917-1918 - ALSA Becomes a Landowner

    Probably one of the reasons for these economy measures was the fact that some of the Association’s investments had begun to turn sour. Payments on the mortgages in which the surplus funds of the organization had been invested were falling behind, and the amount overdue on principal and interest was growing each year. In 1917, the Association had to foreclose on one mortgage and thus became the owner of a farm west of Edmonton. For several years after 1917, these property investments were a continual source of trouble to the Council and, in the long run proved to be definitely unprofitable.

During the later was years, both the land surveying business and the general economy of the province appear to have been at a low ebb. The 1917 and 1918 meetings were poorly attended and the proceedings, judging from the minutes, were sadly lacking in interest and enterprise. At the 1917 meeting no papers were presented and the only novel feature of the meeting was the adoption of a by-law to provide for the recognition of non-active membership. The 1918 meeting was almost equally dull. The only relief from routine business was afforded by the presence of Mr. Louis Fontaine, an old-time Dominion Land Surveyor who had become an ALS in 1912, who apparently travelled all the way to Edmonton from Levis, Quebec, for the purpose of promoting the use of what was alleged to be a more permanent type of survey post which he had designed. This invention consisted of a solid iron bar which had an enlarged point in the shape of a double cone. After this bar was driven into the ground, a hollow piece of pipe, split at the lower end for part of its length was fitted to the top of the bar and driven down around it. When the pipe came into contact with the cone-shaped end of the bar, the split end of the pipe would spread open and form an anchor, making it impossible for anything less than a steam-hoist to extract the post. It was claimed that this post was being successfully used in Manitoba and Quebec.

The meeting appointed a committee of three members to make a practical trial of Mr. Fontaine’s post and report to the next Annual Meeting. A year later the committee reported that “the post had been tried under varying conditions, but it proved to have the disadvantages of being expensive, cumbersome to carry in quantities, difficult to drive in frost and even in hard dry ground, and not so difficult to pull up as one might think. It might be useful on some occasions, but your committee does not think it could be recommended for general use.”

In 1918, the Council had become somewhat exercised over the prospective sphere of activity of mine surveyors, for whom qualificational standards had recently been laid down by the provincial Mines Branch, and of the professional engineers, who were then organizing a provincial association and trying to get a professional act passed by the Legislature. Two committees were appointed to make further inquiries and report to the annual meeting. It was ascertained that mine surveyors had no authority to carry out legal surveys, and that Alberta Land Surveyors could become qualified as mine surveyors by passing an examination based upon a correspondence course provided by the Calgary Institute of Technology. This seemed to satisfy everybody, but there was less equanimity over the proposed professional engineers act. There was a lengthy discussion of the committee’s report at the 1919 meeting which resulted in the adoption of a long-winded resolution criticizing a number of features of the act which were thought to infringe upon the rights and functions of the land surveyor. This resolution authorized the Council to engage legal counsel and take whatever action might be appropriate to protect the rights of the surveying profession, but the professional engineers shortly afterwards withdrew their proposed act and the problem thus disappeared for the time being.

Back - 1916 - Town Planning

Forward - 1919-1920 - A Protest over Pay Scales