§ The works vote is so compiled as to comprise contributions to subsidized docks and the cost of of all the establishments in connection with the Works Department at the Outports; and including these services, the amount asked for in 1888–89, compared with that granted in 1887–88, shows a reduction of £92,000. This decrease is due partly to no sums being required for the subsidy of Colonial docks, and partly to an adherence to the rule laid down last year by the Board, under which, it was decided to fully utilize existing accommodation before approval is given to an extension of buildings.
921§ The final payments to the dock companies at Esquimalt and Hong Kong, on the completion of their undertakings, have been made. The first will accommodate a vessel of the "Northampton" or "Nelson" type, and the second will dock any vessel in Her Majesty's Navy.
§ Provision is made for the commencement of the erection of barracks on Whale Island, Portsmouth, which will replace the old hulks now occupied by the Gunnery Establishment.
§ The necessary accommodation for torpedo boats at Portsmouth, Chatham, Malta, Esquimalt, Hong Kong, and Bermuda, is practically complete; that required at Gibraltar and the Cape is in course of construction.