Concentrated on one spot, that being the seat of Government, and with one exception all the Commercial Houses.
The Naval Establishment under ordinary circumstances being small both in point of workmen and the material in store, it is a matter of great convenience that the Dockyard should be near the residence of the workmen, such as Carpenters, Caulkers, and others that from time to time are necessarily hired, and that the Commercial establishments from which those supplies of Stores which are required to be purchased are obtained, should be near at hand.
During the recent pressure occasioned by the fitting out of the large Transport Fleet and the repairs of the Vessels arriving from England, I do not think that the work could have been got through had the Dockyard been situated away from the Commercial establishments.
The value of Building Ground here possessing a sea frontage is increasing yearly, all that is available being now occupied and there is every reason to suppose that in ten years the Naval Yard and the Buildings in it will be worth double the sum for which they are now constructed.
It is therefore quite safe to build whatever is necessary in the Dockyard for immediate use, even on the supposition that the Naval Establishment may be transferred.