MOTION FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION. (Hansard, 18 May 1866)

§ MR. BAILLIE COCHRANE

said, he rose to move that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that Her Majesty be graciously pleased to issue a Royal Commission to inquire into the constitution of the Metropolitan Board of Works, the Office of Public Works, and the Office of Woods and Forests, with the object of seeing whether some means may not be devised by which the improvements of the Metropolis may be carried out in a more comprehensive and economical manner, and with greater unity of purpose. He said, that if anything would show the necessity for a full discussion of this subject, it was the debate which had taken place that evening. He believed hon. Members were unanimous in admitting that the present system for the management of metropolitan improvements was extremely defective, whatever difference of opinion might prevail among them with respect to the best mode of remedying the evil. The subject had been brought before the House twice during the present Session; once by the hon. Member for the Tower Hamlets, and afterwards by the noble Lord the Member for Huntingdonshire. A Committee, which had recently inquired into the Metropolitan Local Management Act, after alluding to the imperfect operation of that measure, expressed their belief that the time had arrived when it was necessary to deal with the subject in a comprehensive and permanent manner. Every Session there were discussions in which every one concurred that nothing was more undesirable than the present state of things, and was it not essential that some 1195 remedy should be devised? If the Government would grant a Royal Commission he was prepared to suggest a plan which would, in his opinion, meet the great evil of which they all at present complained. He claimed upon that occasion the sympathy and support of the Chancellor of the Exchequer who was universally recognized as one of the highest authorities on all questions of taste, and who a few years since thus characterized the present mode of conducting our metropolitan improvements— Vacillation, uncertainty, costliness, extravagance, meanness, and all the vices that can be enumerated are' united in our present system. The money of the country is wasted; and I believe such are the evils of the system that nothing short of a revolutionary reform will ever bring them to an end. The late Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, on the same occasion, described the state of the metropolis to be inferior to that of the Continental cities. Such high authorities were unnecessary, for it was impossible for any one to walk about London and not be immediately struck with the deficiencies of this great metropolis. Up to 1832 there were different Boards, but no organized system. In that year the Board of Woods and Forests was established, but up to that time a ridiculous system prevailed, and but little money was expended in improvements. In 1851 the present arrangement was arrived at, by which the Woods and Forests was separated from the Board of Public Works, and even then the system did not work well; and in 1855 Lord Llanover (then Sir Benjamin Hall) brought in his admirable Act for the management of the metropolis, and established the present Metropolitan Board of Works, and he must say that that Board, with Sir John Thwaites at their head, had done their best towards improving the metropolis. The state of the metropolis at the time that Act was brought forward was incredible. Streets were divided by different parishes, and there were continual quarrels at the different Local Boards about paving whether with big or large stones or with wood, so that they never were paved; and whether streets should be watered in the morning or in the evening, and so they never were watered. There were at that time 250 Local Acts in existence with reference to the management of the metropolis, and 300 different bodies managing the metropolis with 10,500 paid function- 1196 aries, and for every £100 spent in improvements £150 were spent in salaries, dinners, &c. That Bill was introduced and carried, and even under its operation we unfortunately found that by one clause all the streets were to be swept, and the parishes were to undertake to keep the pavements clean; by another sweepers were to be appointed at crossings, and paid by the parishes; by another all the dirt was to be taken away before a certain period of the day; and by another clause, that if these things were not done the parties were to be subjected to a penalty; but, unfortunately, no mention was made by whom the fines were to be imposed. He believed the Metropolitan Board of Works had very little control over the vestries in these matters; but some central control was what was wanted, the division and sub-division of the metropolis into so many Boards being most unsatisfactory. And the result was obvious to every one, and rendered it absolutely necessary that there should be some different organization. He understood that a Committee was now sitting on the Metropolis Local Management Act, and he hoped they would ultimately be able to devise some mode of bringing these vestries under much greater control than at present existed in these small matters. It was in the interest of economy, health, and morality, that the present state of things should not be permitted to continue. Before entering into the main remedies that he should propose he would point out where the evil arose from the want of organization in the metropolis. The population of the metropolis doubled itself every forty years, and therefore they might in the next forty years expect that it would amount to between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 of people, and therefore it was absolutely necessary that they should accept some system of centralization for the metropolis—