SUPPLY.—MISCELLANEOUS ESTIMATES. (Hansard, 11 August 1857)

MR. W. WILLIAMS
said, this was an entirely erroneous description of the Vote. It was high time that a stop should be put to the expenditure which had been going on for some time in clearing away the houses round Buckingham Palace. Upwards of £100,000 had been expended in the purchase of leases of Crown property. He was sure that Her Majesty, if the matter were fairly represented to her, would not consent to throw this expense on the country. But the whole blame rested on the Commissioners of Works, who, wishing to curry favour with Her Majesty, proposed all manner of improvements, and Her Majesty, not knowing the money which they would cost, of course gave her consent. Although he had no desire to curtail the comforts of Her Majesty, he must decidedly object to this Vote.

§ SIR BENJAMIN HALL
said, it was clear that the hon. Gentleman had not read the Parliamentary paper which gave a full account of all these proceedings, and that he knew nothing at all about the matter, and that his assertions were utterly groundless. This vote was to carry out 1457 an Act passed in 1853 for the purpose of effecting these improvements; and it was stated at the time that a sum of £30,000 would be required. No money had yet been voted, as the property which had been sold had paid all the expenses. Though this was Crown property it was not the property of the Executive, but was part of the hereditary revenue of the Crown, which had been handed over to the nation by the Crown in exchange for the civil list. It was managed by the Land Revenue, Commissioners, and might return to the Crown at a fresh succession, and it was the duty of Government and the Parliament to maintain this property unimpaired. An agreement had been made between the Land Revenue Commissioners and one of his predecessors that the property in the neighbourhood of the Palace should be taken by the Commissioners of Works at a valuation of £78,260, and that at the completion of the improvements such an amount of property should be restored to the landowners which, including that portion to the Palace, should amount to a similar sum. If the hon. Gentleman would look at the accounts he would see that about £27,000 of this had been paid back, and that £51,360 remained to be paid. This Vote of £27,000 was required to complete the improvement, and when it was completed an account would be taken of the difference between the value of the property handed back to the Land Revenue Commissioners and of the property before the improvements began, and that difference would have to be voted and paid over in land and buildings to the Land Revenue. The cost of the improvements to the public would appear in the two sums of £27,810 now proposed to be voted, and the sums which would be paid to the Land. Revenue Commissioners after the valuations had taken place on the completion of the improvements.

MR. W. WILLIAMS
observed, that he had very little faith in the accounts. In the history of this country there had never been an expenditure so extravagant as that sanctioned by the Government in the present year. The Civil Service Estimates had risen from £2,000,000 under the Duke of Wellington, and £4,000,000 under Sir R. Peel, to £7,465,000.

§ SIR HARRY VERNEY
said, he wished to know whether it were in the power of the Chief Commissioner of Works to exercise any control over the height of the houses built in London.

LORD JOHN MANNERS
remarked, that the hon. Member for Lambeth (Mr. W. Williams) had objected to the increase in the Estimates. In some respects he agreed with him, but he thought that each Vote should be discussed on its own merits, and that the hon. Member was not justified in urging a general increase as an argument in invidiam, against the present Vote. After the explanation given he thought the Committee could have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that this was a proper Vote.

MR. W. WILLIAMS
said, he opposed the Vote on the ground that the sum now asked for was not to go for Pimlico Improvements, but for the purchase of the leases of Crown property.

§ SIR BENJAMIN HALL
said, the hon. Gentleman was again incorrect in his statement.

COLONEL KNOX
said, that after the expression of confidence in the Government which they had heard from him that night, the hon. Member for Lambeth (Mr. W. Williams) ought not to detain the Committee by wrangling about matters concerning which he, according to his own confession, knew nothing.

§ SIR BENJAMIN HALL
explained that no Vote had been taken for the works included in this estimate.

§ MR. NICOLL
said, that something like £1,000,000 had been expended on a building which all admitted to be an abortion in an architectural point of view. If the Vote had been for the purpose of providing proper accommodation for drawing-rooms and levees, there might have been some grounds for it; but he understood the object of it to be merely the widening of the road and the clearing of a space in the neighbourhood of Buckingham Palace. With a war in India and with so gloomy a prospect around, such an expenditure was not to be justified. He protested against it.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
stated, that this sum was required to pay for land which had been purchased under the authority of an Act of Parliament passed a year or two ago. The land so purchased would be sufficient for the site of the two offices which it was now contemplated to erect.

§ MR. HENLEY
said, that if the Government was, as he understood, already under contract to purchase this land, he should 1459 not object to the Vote, but he thought it would have been better before buying the land to present to Parliament plans of the buildings proposed to be erected upon it, and an estimate of the expense.

THE CHANCELLOR, OF THE EXCHEQUER
said, he would engage that before anything definite was done in the way of building, plans should be submitted to that House. It would also be necessary to ask for a further Vote of money before any progress could be made with the erection of these offices. All that was now wanted was means for acquiring the land.

MR. W. WILLIAMS
contended, that the Committee ought to have been furnished with an estimate of the intended outlay before anything was done in the matter. True, the right hon. Gentleman had referred to an Act of Parliament on the subject; but they all knew that such Acts often were passed at two or three o'clock in the morning, without hon. Members knowing much about them.

LORD JOHN MANNERS
asked if it was necessary to take this Vote during the present year?

MR. WILSON
said, that the Register House was now too small for the business of the country, and that an addition was necessary.