The Viceroy at Foothow who is also acting as Superintendent of the Arsenal otates that after the construction of the ironclad vessel which was given over to the Viceroy Li last spring, the establishment has been chiefly engaged in building two gunboats, the Kuangyi and Kuangping, for the Canton Government. The former vessel would be ready within a month for her trial trip and the latter had received all her principal fittings and was rapidly approaching completion, Work was very slack in all the workshops connected with the arsenal, and it was thought a pity to employ skilled artificers drawing high pay in performing miscellaneous jobs. Another gunboat, the Kuangting, was being built for the Canton Government, her hull, as reported by the late superintendent, having been put together nearly a year ago. Since then, however, the Viceroy at Canton wrote to ask that her construction should be deferred for the present. Over 13,000 days' labour had already been spent m her and more than a third of the total materials had been purchased. Rather than stop her construction at such an advanced stage, the Viceroy proposes to have her completed during the present slack season and to take her over on behalf of the Fukien Government. Should the Canton authorities still require a gunboat, the Arsenal guarantees to build them a suitable substitute. This arrangement, while providing employmentter the Arsenal, will prevent the materials belonging to the Canton authorities from lying indefinitely unused. As regards the expenditure upon her crew and current outlay generally, the matter will be arranged by the Reorgani tion Board who may have to draw upon the allowances allotted to the Fupo and Shénkang.
21st November.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.