The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-29 00:00:00

CIRCULAR TO HER MAJESTY'S DOCKYARDS

AT HOME.

Admiralty, Jan. 25, 1849.
Sir,—l am commanded by my Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty to transmit to you a series of minutes,
numbered from 1 to 26, and a sheet containing the new
establishment of the dockyard under your superinten-
dence, as about to be submitted for the approval of her
Majesty in Council.
The minutes embody such of the recommendations of
the committee of revision, which has recently ♦isited
the dockyards, as my Lords have been pleased to sanc-
tion, and they are to be carried out simultaneously in all
her Majesty 's home establishments on the Ist of April
next.

The first five minutes regulate the future working
strength of the dockyards, the admission of apprentices,
the hours of labour. the mode of muster, and the present
amount of superintendence, which my Lords believe to
exceed the legitimate requirements of the service, and
which it is, consequently, their intention to reduce. My
Lords will themselves decide upon the proper mode of
effecting this reduction, and transmit to you further in-
structions upon that head.
The four next minutes (No. 6 to No. 9) assign fresh
duties to the superintendents, the object of which is to
secures _ _

1. A prompter co-operation amongst the different de-
partments of the dockyard ;
2. A proper check:upon the:" demand" for stores;
3. A proper control over their expenditure;
4. A proper audit of the large payments made an-
nually for wages;—
all of which it is their Lordships' 'desire to bring more
directly under your control. The discharge of these
duties will impose upon you some additional responsi-
bility; but, to meet this, my Lords have armed you with
additional powers, and they are satisfied that they require
nothing from you that is not indispensable to the good
management of the great establishment at the head of
which you are placed.
The minutes numbered from No. 10 to No. 14 relate
principally to the charge of stores; but there are two of
them—No. 10, which places all returned stores under
the charge of the store receiver, and No. 13, in which
you will find instructions with regard to the general
survey ordered to commence on the Ist of April next, to
which lam directed to call your especial attention, as
my Lords must look to you for many of the preliminary
arrangements which are necessary to carry their wishes
into effect.

The rensaindear of the minutes refer to separate sub-
jects, with regard to which the orders given are suffi-
ciently explicit to render comment unnecessary ; but
they all form part of that system of improved economi-
cal management which my Lords desire to see enforced
in the dockyards.
You will pay particular attention to the new modo of
keeping the accounts, which is to be adopted in the fac-
tories, metal works, roperies, and other manufacturing
establishments under your orders; to the introduction of
the ten hours' sj stem of work into the smitheries; the
steady application of the principle of partial measure-
ment ; the improvement of the inspectors' day-books;
the better division of labour; and, above all, the prompt
and effectual remedying of those defects in the pre-
sent arrangements for the receipt and stowage of
timber, which the committee of revision has pointed
out as the great source of unnecessary expenditure in
her Majesty's dockyards.
My Lords are perfectly aware that improved economy
depends much less upon the written rules laid down by
the Board of Admiralty than upon the spirit in which
those rules are carried out by the superintendents and
the principal officers of the dockyards. But, after a
very searching inquiry, they have thought it advisable
to lay down certain new regulations, which seem to them
calculated to remedy obvious defects, and to give a re-
gular, and uniform action to all the parts of the exist-
ing system of management. They trust that you will
use wisely the authority thus confided to you, and im-
press upon the minds of all under you the fact, that the
only way to disarm the jealousy with which the grow-
ing expenditure of the naval yards is ♦iewed, is, to sa-
tisfy Parliament, and the country, that these great na-
tional establishments are conducted with the same regard
to economy,—the same honest desire to make promotion
dependent upon merit,—and the same scrupulous atten-
tion to those minute details of management, upon which
the loss or gain of a manufacturing establishment de-
pends, that in all private enterprises have constituted
the secret of success.

I have the honour to be, &c.,
Jan. 25. 1849. H. G. WARD.
P.S. The form of the monthly return adverted to in
No. 8, having been revised and altered in the store-
keeper-general's department, will be transmitted next
week.