§ MR. W. H. SMITHsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, If he has received a Memorial from the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, the Vestry of St. George Hanover Square, and numerous representative bodies of the Metropolis, against building upon Crown Land lately reclaimed from the Thames by the Thames Embankment at the expense of the Rate-payers of London; and whether he will give the Memorialists an assurance that no arrangement shall be made for the appropriation of the site until after the publication of the annual Report of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues?
MR. GLADSTONEThis Question, Sir, as I understand it, does not refer to land which the Board of Works have reclaimed from the river, but to land in the possession of the Crown. I am told that I cannot say absolutely that no arrangement shall be made until after the publication of the annual Report of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, inasmuch as that would throw us over till a very late period of the Session. However, it is possible that nothing may be done until then. Meanwhile, if anything is done, it will be in the shape of a proposal for a Vote by this House, and ample notice will be given, so that all parties will be able to express their opinion upon it.