670 REPORT— 1880. 



As to the total cost of tlie IGO manufactoiies of tlie 

 several dockyards, figures were given sliov^-iiig tlie average 

 yearly cost from 1861 to 1867^8 (7 years) liad been aLout . £1,500,000 



That in 1868-9, when Mr. Seely's Committee had re- 

 ported and approved the adoption of the author's plans to 

 give complete control over these great establishments, the 

 total cost was reduced to ....... 1,116,014 



And from 1869-70 to 1878, the vearly cost had been 

 about ; . . . . 800,000 



Or a reduction j'early of 700,000 



A considerable proportion of this was .shown to be distinctly attributed to the 

 reforms introduced, by which excess cost at any yard was clearly shown in detail of 

 ' labour,' ' material,' and ' general expenditure,' and extravagant yards and manu- 

 factories, and factories called to accomrt, and for the future obviated. 



The system introduced into the Admiralty by the author was described in detail, 

 hy which the three previously apparently unconnected sets of accounts — 1. Navy 

 Estimates and Parliamentaiy Finance Accounts ; 2. Ship-building, Repairing and 

 Dockyard Expense Accounts ; 3. Manufacturing, Factory, and Engineering Estab- 

 lishment Accounts ; were connected and made into one great account through the 

 instrumentality of his Retabulations of the Navy Estimates, Appropriation Ac- 

 counts, and surpluses and defects on the grants, and by modifications of the ships' 

 and manufacturing accounts. 



It was explained fully how, by means of the author's scheme of separate rate- 

 book of prices for each manufactory and dockyard ; by treating each as a separate 

 establishment also with respect to the indirect and incidental expenditure, in 

 accordance with his proposals, great economical results had been obtained, by enabling 

 comparisons of cost in detail of labour, materials, and general expenditure to be 

 systematically and correctly made, and excess cost detected and checked. 



This was largely supplemented and aided by his annual lists of differences in 

 the cost of similar nianufactures — at the 160 manufactories, factories, Szc, of H.M.'s 

 se^'eral dockyards, by which every manufactory and dockyard had to account for 

 all such excess cost in the detail stated ; of ' labour,' ' material ' and ' general expen- 

 diture,' and it was shown that this had been done whilst, at the same time, a great 

 saving in clerical labour had been effected. 



Figures were given to show that about 5,000,000/. of yearly expenditure in detail 

 of shipbuildmg and manufactory had thus been brought under strict control, and 

 that the saving thus — through unwise expenditure being prevented, and due economy 

 in material and labour being uistituted — was about 600,000/. yearly. 



4. Eeport of ilie Antliropometric Committee. See Reports, p. 120. 



SATURDAY, AUGUST 28. 



The Section did not meet. 



