125 
THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
ducting the correspondence, collecting the returns of labour and material 
into such a form that audit may be rendered easy ; for compilement of 
the Store Ledger upon the basis of the Storeholders' books, who should 
attend at the conclusion of the day's work; and the work will be facili¬ 
tated by the Store Ledger being divided into books on printed form 
corresponding to the divisions of the arsenal. 
An arsenal should form no department of account. The Store Ledger, 
an account of material and labour expended, with the necessary account 
of the wages, &c., of the employes, and the expenditure of cash for con¬ 
tingencies, should be all that ought to be demanded from such an 
establishment. 
The Administrative Department is that which should compute the 
prices of stores, for it alone is in possession of all the information which 
can form the basis of a proper investigation. The result of any attempt 
to do this by a lower authority is merely empirical. The Administrative 
Department is that which should examine store accounts, and exercise 
such supervision that economy and efficiency are combined, and neither 
sacrificed to the other; the supreme financial authority controlling the 
whole, through the agency of the Financial Secretary. 
Concluding Remarks. 
In treating this large subject, I have desired to deal with it in a prac¬ 
tical rather than in a theoretical spirit. I might have glanced at the 
systems of foreign nations,* but in these matters I do not think we should 
gain by the imitation of a foreign model. I might have attempted to 
detail machinery and processes of manufacture, and essayed to describe 
the grand triumphs of human skill achieved in our factories; or, led 
away by the charms of the subject in its pictorial aspect, I might have 
tried to paint in words— 
“ The roof ribs swarth, the candent hearth, 
The ruddy, lurid row 
Of smiths, that stand—an ardent band— 
Like men before the foe.” 
I have, however, preferred to treat the subject in its most prosaic 
light, and have been guided by a consideration of what is most probable 
rather than of what is only remotely possible. 
I cannot but feel how imperfectly I have treated a subject which is 
full of interest to artillery officers, and to those of other branches of the 
service who desire to rise above the immediate routine of military life. 
I am consoled by the reflection that no effort, however humble, can be 
contemned by soldiers who are seeking to perfect themselves in every 
branch of the art of war. We cannot all be great generals, or great 
administrators, but we can all try to develop our powers to the utmost, 
so that we may make the highest use of our respective talents, to the 
safety and honour of our country. 
March 14, 1872. 
* Those who are interested in the matter will find a complete account of the French system in 
Yol. 1, “ Cour d’Administration Militaire,” by Vauchelle; and of the Prussian system some account 
is given in “ Die Verwaltung des Norddeutschen Bundesheeres,” by A. Froelich, of the Prussian 
Intendantur, 
