MR. GOLDSMIDasked the First Commissioner of Works, Whether he can give the House any further informa- 627 tion with regard to the arrangements for the completion of the monument to the Duke of Wellington?
§ MR. AYRTONreplied, that the arrangements respecting the Wellington monument had been transferred from the Board of Works to the Treasury. If his hon. Friend, therefore, would put the Question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer he (Mr. Ayrton) had no doubt that his right hon. Friend would be able to answer it.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, in reply, stated that arrangements had been made for the completion of the Wellington monument. The matter, however, was one of considerable difficulty, because, according to the Papers laid on the Table, it was by no means an easy matter to deal with. Mr. Stevens, who had been employed in the affair, was a gentleman, no doubt, of great ability, but certainly not a good manager of pecuniary transactions. It was therefore felt necessary to put an end to all pecuniary matters with him. After making the best inquiries they could on the subject, the Government were advised, considering how much had already been done in connection with this monument by Mr. Stevens and the peculiar aptitude of that gentleman for the work, to continue, if possible, his services as the artist of the monument, but to transfer the pecuniary transactions connected with it to a gentleman who had given great satisfaction in carrying out several important contracts. The Government proposed, therefore, to enter into a contract with that gentleman for the completion of the monument. There would be no considerable increase in the expenditure, and he had great hopes that in a very short time—say in a year or two—the monument would be completed. He could assure the House that the Government would do all in their power to expedite the completion of the work, and to secure its being worthy of the illustrious person whom it represented.