§ MR. GUESTsaid, he would beg to ask the hon. Member for Bath, Whether it is true that the Dock at Ferry Street, Lambeth, has not been made by the Metropolitan Board of Works, although ordered by the Act 26 & 27 Vic. c. 75; and, if so, the reasons for its not having been constructed; and, whether three docks have been constructed on the Thames Embankment (South Side) for private firms; and, if so, whether they have been made at the expense of the ratepayers?
§ MR. TITEsaid, in reply, that the Act which authorized the construction of the Southern Embankment on the Thames was passed in 1863. It extended the Embankment from Westminster Bridge, opposite the Houses of Parliament, to a point somewhat beyond Lambeth. When it approached Lambeth it interfered with some docks and wharves belonging to private individuals, and also with a public draw-dock belonging to Lambeth. When they were purchasing the property the parish of Lambeth, through their Vestry, applied to the Metropolitan Board to induce them to abandon the re-construction of the dock, and construct a pier for the landing of steamboat passengers instead, and after much negotiation the Metropolitan Board of Works arranged with the Vestry, and these very important improvements were agreed to. They became law by a Bill which passed on the 13th of July last year. That Act repealed the clause to which the hon. Gentleman has referred, and authorized instead the arrangement of which he complained. The trade of two, not three, important potteries was carried on near that point, and particular clauses were introduced for their protection. The Board had endeavoured to arrange in every possible way for their accommodation, and the gentlemen principally concerned were constructing docks for the convenience of their trade at their own expense, not at the expense of the Metropolitan Board.