§ MR. HUMErose to ask the right hon. President of the Board of Trade, whether, by the rule established by the Royal Commissioners for the Great Exhibition, all British and Foreign Exhibitors were to be admitted at the opening free of charge; or, if not, what line had been drawn amongst the exhibitors? He knew that the House had interfered but very little in this important exhibition; but it was extremely desirable to know that the Commissioners had acted with perfect fairness in all their arrangements, consistently with overcoming the difficulties they had had to encounter. He had been requested by a deputation, last night, to put this question to the right hon. Gentleman; and he hoped the right hon. Gentleman would be able to give such a satisfactory answer as would remove the jealousies of all parties, and 354 place the matter on its proper footing. A petition on this subject was forwarded Representation to Her Majesty, and doubts had arisen whether it had been submitted to Her Majesty; but he understood that it had reached Her Majesty, and had gone to the Commissioners, who were the proper parties. He wished to give the right hon. Gentleman an opportunity of explaining how the arrangements had been made, and of satisfying the House that every attention had been paid to furthering the great objects of this Exhibition.
§ MR. LABOUCHERESir, the petition to Her Majesty to which the hon. Member has alluded was presented to Her Majesty by my right hon. Friend the Secretary for the Home Department, and was, by command of Her Majesty, referred to the Commissioners charged with the conduct of this Exhibition. The question to which my hon. Friend has adverted relates to the gratuitous admission, without any limitation, of all the exhibitors, at all times, to the Exhibition. That question was considered most maturely by the Royal Commissioners; and, with every desire on the part of the Commissioners to deal in the most liberal manner with those who have contributed, by the exhibition of their goods, to the splendour and success of this Exhibition, the Commissioners came to the unanimous opinion that it was impossible, consistently with the objects of the Exhibition, to allow that gratuitous admission. When I state to the House that the number of exhibitors amounts to no less than 15,000, I think the House will perceive that it was quite impossible, consistently with the great objects of the Exhibition, to give those exhibitors admission at all times to the Exhibition. I believe that 600 or 700 of their number have taken season tickets, and these will, of course, with the rest of the public, be admitted at all times to the Exhibition. Arrangements have also been made in reference to all those whose contributions amount to anything considerable, in point of value or extent, to enable them to be present in the Exhibition, for the purpose of attending to their own goods. Beyond this it was impossible to go. I believe there have been about 20,000 tickets sold, and it is obviously impossible to admit an indefinite number of persons, for, capacious as the building is, it would be impossible to admit so large an additional number. I must also recall to the recollection of the House that, though we are eminently in- 355 debted to the exhibitors themselves for their exertions for the success of this Exhibition, yet there have been many other parties throughout the country who, by giving liberal pecuniary contributions, by acting upon local committees, have given their time and money to ensure the success of the Exhibition, and it was felt that the only way was to lay down a rule that no person should be admitmitted who did not pay. The Commissioners had applied that rule to themselves, and laid down a rule that no Commissioner should be admitted unless he purchased a ticket like other parties; and I think it must be felt that they could not have acted in any other way. Perhaps, however, I may take this opportunity of stating that it is the intention of Her Majesty to visit the Exhibition on one of those Saturday mornings on which the general public will be necessarily excluded in consequence of the arrangements of the Exhibition—it is Her Majesty's intention to visit it for the purpose of inspecting the articles exhibited more fully than She would be enabled to do on the occasion of a State visit. The exhibitors of those articles will naturally be desirous of being present on that occasion. They will accordingly be admitted, and will have the gratification of showing to Her Majesty the articles which she would wish to inspect particularly. I trust that this will be satisfactory to them, and also that the House and the public generally will feel that the Royal Commissioners have acted throughout the whole of this matter with the view of doing justice to all parties, by promoting the success of the Exhibition.