§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether his attention has been called to the Correspondence between the Secretary to the Admiralty and the Secretary to the Treasury relating to the proposed extension of Basin and Dock accommodation in the Royal Dockyards, from which it appears that an expenditure of more than £2,500,000 at Chatham and Portsmouth is in contemplation, of which sum not more than £90,000 has been provided for in the Estimates for the current year; and whether it is the intention of the Government to propose any plan to this House for providing for the remainder of the contemplated expenditure; if so, when such a proposal is likely to be made?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, in reply, that his hon. Friend was quite aware of the history of the undertakings at Chatham and at Portsmouth, but the meaning of his question was in one respect not quite clear. If his hon. Friend meant to ask whether there was any plan on the part of the Government for a deviation from the system of providing year by year by Votes of that House for the expenditure of the year, he could only say that there was no such plan in contemplation; but it had long been felt in the public departments, and especially at the Admiralty, that a great disadvantage and waste of public money arose from attempts to limit the formation 1604 of contracts to the sums provided for by the House of Commons from year to year. The Government were anxious, if possible, to avoid that waste, and with that view they intended to submit to the House a Bill which, if adopted, would enable the Government in respect of the works at Chatham and Portsmouth, and possibly at other places, to enter into contracts extending beyond the Vote of the year, with a view to greater economy of the public money.