§ MR. W. H. SMITHasked the First Commissioner of Works, If it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to proceed with a Bill, for which plans have been deposited, under which it is 1522 proposed to obtain powers to take a plot of ground in St. James's Park upwards of 350 feet in length, and from 50 to 70 feet in depth, for the erection of additional offices for the Admiralty; and, if the Bill is to be proceeded with, when it will be introduced?
§ MR. AYRTONsaid, in reply, that the Bill to which the hon. Gentleman referred was in course of preparation, and he hoped it would be introduced before Easter—if not, immediately afterwards. He could not, however, accept the assumption on which the Question seemed to be based, that it was intended to take special powers by Act of Parliament to build over the whole of the land. The land, of course, was part of the property of the Crown, and part, therefore, of the ordinary resources of the Crown for the purpose of carrying on the government of the country, and was quite available for building offices, if necessary, to carry on Her Majesty's Government. The object of the Bill, however, was more especially to obtain some land which belonged to private individuals and possession of Crown land in the occupation of private persons. It was not intended to build over the whole land described in the deposited plan, but within the limits of that land on plans to be hereafter settled.