§ MR. SELWYNsaid, he would beg to: ask the First Commissioner of Works, Whether Her Majesty's Government intend to accept the offer made by the Society of Lincoln's Inn in 1859, and since repeated—namely, either to give the ground necessary for the erection of Courts for the Vice Chancellors, or to build such Courts at the expense of the Society upon receiving, for a term of years, £4 per cent per annum on the actual outlay on the buildings from the Suitors' Fund, but without any charge upon or guarantee from the National Exchequer?
§ SIR FITZROY KELLYsaid, he wished to ask whether, in case the Government contemplate any measure such as his lion, and learned Friend had alluded to, it was part of the scheme they had in view that one large building should comprise all the Law Courts?
MR. COWPERsaid, in reply, that the proposal made in 1859 for erecting Vice Chancellors' Courts within the precincts of Lincoln's Inn was more for the benefit of the Inn than that of the public, as it would no doubt have enhanced the value of chambers there. It would not be so much for the advantage of suitors at large or the entire legal profession as the scheme proposed by the Commissioners for the concentration of all the Courts of Law and Equity and their offices in one building. It was, he believed, on this ground that the offer was refused by Lord Derby's Government at the time it was made, and it was on the same ground that the present Government could not avail themselves of the proposal of the Society of Lincoln's Inn. The scheme now in the contemplation of the Government had for its main feature, in 1421 accordance with the recommendation of the Commissioners, the bringing together of all the Courts and their offices under one roof, or in immediate contiguity to each other.
§ SIR FITZROY KELLYsaid, he wished to know when the scheme would be brought; forward?