§ Mr. WILMOTasked the First Lord of the Admiralty to what extent machines have been substituted for hand clerical labour in his Department; and what is the estimated annual saving deriving from the substitution, allowance being made for the purchase and/or renting of machines, maintenance thereof, and material used in connection therewith?
Sir B. EYRES MONSELLMechanical appliances are in use to the fullest extent possible in connection with the preparation of cost accounts at the Royal Dockyards and the Royal Naval factories and are in use at other establishments where they can suitably be employed. In the main, the introduction of the machines has been associated with entirely new systems of accounting, and no estimate can be given of the saving of clerical labour involved, there having been no substitution of mechanical for clerical methods merely to produce the same results.