§ MR. ADAMasked the Secretary to the Treasury, in the absence of the First 970 Commissioner of Works, Whether he will undertake that no further expense be incurred in making mounds and planting shrubberies between the Serpentine and Rotten Row until the House shall have an opportunity of expressing an opinion on the subject?
§ MR. W. H. SMITH, in reply, said, he was sure the House would regret the cause of the absence of the noble Lord the First Commissioner of Works, especially under present circumstances. As Secretary to the Treasury he had no authority over the Department of Works when that Department had obtained funds for the carrying on of certain works. In this case the funds were voted specially by Parliament last year, and the work had made considerable progress. His noble Friend desired him to point out that the present condition of the mounds was the very worst they could possibly assume—that all the works now required was to be clothed by shrubs, and that the further progress to be made in the next few days would probably remove all the objections which were at present felt. ["No, no!"] He would convey that expression of opinion to the noble Lord at the head of the Board of Works, who, no doubt, would, as far as possible, meet the views and feelings of the House.