VENTILATION OF THE HOUSE.

HC Deb 16 March 1852 vol 119 cc1147-50

LORD ROBERT GROSVENOR

begged to ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he was able to hold out any hopes of relief to the sufferings of the Members from the present state of the ventilation of the House. He did not think that he was expressing a sentiment that was likely to create much discussion when he declared that the present condition of the House in respect to ventilation was most scandalous. He hoped that hon. Members would bear with him while he offered a few remarks on a subject which could not be of interest to them all. He did not believe that in all England there was to be found another public edifice in so wretched a condition with regard to ventilation as the House of Commons. Really, if something were not at once done for the relief of the Members in this respect, some fatal result would inevitably follow. Anything like the state of the House on Monday night he had never experienced. He consulted a number of Members in all parts of the House to ascertain whether the feelings of prostration and exhaustion which he had himself experienced were peculiar to himself only, or whether they were of general prevalence; and he found that there was not a Member to whom he applied whose sufferings were not as great, if not greater than his own. Some declared that, on taking their seats in the House, they were conscious of a burning sensation of the most painful description around the head; others said that they felt a swelling in the temples; others that they experienced a kind of nervous fever; and some complained of a terrible sensation, resembling that which distinguishes a fit of apoplexy. [Laughter.] Hon. Gentlemen might laugh, but he would tell them that this was no laughing matter. It was a question of life and death. Finding this dreadful state of things on the floor of the House, he went up into the gallery on the right of Mr. Speaker, in the hope of being able to obtain a little fresh air; but, after being there four or five minutes, the breeze changed into a gale of wind, and came with such violence from the direction of the gallery over the chair, that he was compelled to fly with all precipitation to avoid the consequences of exposure to such a blast. He ran over to the gallery on the left of the chair, in the hope of there obtaining a refuge; but the transition was from the frying-pan into the fire, for so dreadful was the stench in that gallery, and so offensive the escape of carbon and hydrogen, that he had nothing for it but to take up his hat and run out of the House. Another hon. Member also desired to put a question in the same terms, with regard to the Committee rooms, for it was not the House alone, but the lobbies, the Committee rooms, and every part, which exposed those passing through or remaining in them to the most serious injury to health. Now, he wished to know how long was this state of things to continue? Was it to see them extinguished, or were they to extinguish it? He had every desire to discharge his duties conscientionsly towards his constituents; but it would be out of the question to expect any Member to do so so long as the House remained in its present condition. Human nature could not endure it. If some effective measure were not at once introduced for the relief of Members in this particular, loss of life would be the inevitable result.

MR. WILSON PATTEN

wished also to put a question to the First Commissioner of Works upon the same subject. Hon. Members were at the present moment suffering most dreadfully from the state of the Committee rooms in regard to ventilation. He himself sat four days in every week in one Committee room, and the Members of that Committee felt it totally impossible to protect themselves. They had tried all sorts of experiments; they had removed the chairs and tables; they had sat by turns in every part of the room, but still were exposed to the same annoyances. He therefore begged to ask the noble Lord (Lord J. Manners) whether the Committee rooms were included in any directions given to Dr. Reid as to the ventilation of the House?

LORD JOHN MANNERS

was sure his noble Friend (Lord Grosvenor) need not have given any reason for his question, since every hon. Member must have felt equally with himself the necessity of a speedy remedy, if one were possible, to the present bad ventilation of the House. Immediately before the adjournment of the House it would be remembered that a Resolution was passed calling on Dr. Reid to report on the subject. That report, he understood, was completed, and he bad expected to have received it that afternoon, but it had not yet been placed in his hands. His first official act had been to carry into effect the resolution of the House to which he had referred, and to give every facility to Dr. Reid for the prosecution of his inquiries, and for carrying out the remedies which he proposed. He (Lord J. Manners) feared, however, that what had been done could not be said to be in the least degree satisfactory. The hon. and gallant Member for Westminster (Sir De L. Evans) had moved that another professional gentleman, Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney, should be ap- pointed to report on the subject, and to suggest a remedy. He (Lord J. Manners) had in consequence given instructions that every access should be given to Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney to every part of the buildings connected with the House of Commons; and so far as he could assist that gentleman he should be most happy so to do. When, however, his noble Friend asked him whether he could hold out any hopes of relief to his and their common sufferings, he was asking a question to which he (Lord J. Manners) could not take upon himself to give an answer. The same remarks applied to the question put by the hon. Member for North Lancashire (Mr. W. Patten). Every inquiry that could be made should be made, and it would rest with the House what course they would take after this was done. It was impossible for any person in his position to answer a question which seemed to baffle the most scientific men; and he should only therefore repeat, that every facility should be afforded for those inquiries which were now in course of prosecution, and which he trusted would have the effect desired.

Subject dropped.