§ MR. WHALLEYasked the First Commissioner of Works, with reference to the model of the statue of Oliver Cromwell now exhibited in Palace Yard, Whether the site on which it now stands will be permanently appropriated for the statue? He must complain that the Clerks at the Table often struck out of Questions which were handed in the very words that justified their being put. The present Question, as originally framed, stated that the exhibition of the statue of Oliver Cromwell had elicited a manifestation of public opinion. ["Chair!"]
THE DEPUTY SPEAKERsaid, the hon. Member must confine himself to putting the Question. Any statement justifying his putting it was not admissible.
§ LORD ELCHOsaid, he would take that opportunity of asking, whether there was any truth in the rumour recently revived that the condemned statues were to be resuscitated and placed in groups in enclosures in the neighbourhood of the Palace of Westminster?
§ MR. AYRTONsaid, in reply, that the Question of his hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough had been put under some misapprehension. The model of the statue of Oliver Cromwell had been placed within an enclosure in Parliament Square for the purpose of enabling sculptors and others who took an interest in the statues of eminent statesmen to form a judgment respecting the site and other matters. As to what the noble Lord (Lord Elcho) called "condemned statues" he must confess he did not know exactly 1434 where those statues were. There was in the charge of the Board of Works a statue of the late Sir Robert Peel, and a committee of gentlemen would consider what was the best thing to do with that statue, and would make proposals on the subject to Her Majesty's Government. When they did so, it would become his duty to consider what was the right and proper course to be pursued. With regard to the other statues, they could hardly be said to be condemned seeing that they were not yet made. There was no proposal before Her Majesty's Government to erect a great number of statues within enclosures near the Houses of Parliament. Indeed, they had only received a proposal for erecting statues of the late Lord Derby and Lord Palmerston. With regard to the statement that there was a desire to erect a statue in this locality to the memory of Oliver Cromwell, he must confess his inability to form any opinion as to the wishes of the public. All he knew was that his hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey had placed in his hands a subscription list signed by ten Peers temporal, two Peers spiritual, and 110 Members of the House of Commons, for erecting a statue to the memory of Oliver Cromwell. Whether that scheme met with the approval of the public of course he could not say; but if the public were favourable to it, they would best testify their opinion by subscribing to the funds required to carry out the plan. When a definite proposal was made to erect that statue it would receive due attention.
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, he was able to explain the right hon. Gentleman's reply respecting the model of the statue of Oliver Cromwell, by stating a fact within his own knowledge—namely, that the model had been made in compliance with an order from Manchester, and that when Mr. Noble had completed the statue, of which this was the model, it would be sent to Manchester.
§ LORD ELCHOsaid, that by condemned statues he meant those which had been removed from the sites they once occupied. What he wanted to know was whether the public would have an opportunity of forming an opinion as to the sites on which they were to be erected, or whether, when hon. Gentlemen returned to town next February, they might expect to find the statues 1435 finally erected, as this year they found the trees cut down in Kensington Gardens?
§ MR. WHALLEYasked, whether the right hon. Gentleman was prepared to grant a site in the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament for the erection of a statue of Oliver Cromwell?
§ MR. AYRTONsaid, it was impossible to give an answer until a definite proposal was made. An equestrian statue, for example, would require a different site from an ordinary standing statue. In regard to the noble Lord's question as to the other statues, he could only say that the sites had been placed at the disposal of the committee by gentlemen who were desirous of erecting the statues to the memory of the statesmen he had mentioned. They would take whatever course they deemed desirable in regard to the sites for the erection of these statues.
§ LORD ELCHOdesired to have a distinct reply to his question, whether the statues would be erected permanently before the re-assembling of Parliament, or whether the public would have an opportunity of forming a judgment as to the sites and the arrangement of the statues?
§ MR. AYRTONsaid, the distinct answer he had to give was as follows:—The sites had been placed at the disposal of the committee, who were at liberty to take what course they deemed most desirable. When either the models or the complete works were erected, they would be open to the observation of any Member of that House.