§
Postponed Resolution considered.
That a sum, not exceeding £82,949, be granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1880, for the Salaries and Expenses of the British Museum, including the amount required for Furniture, Fittings, &c.
§ MR. SHAW LEFEVREasked what arrangements had been made as to the 529 management of the Natural History Collection about to be removed to South Kensington? He hoped that advantage would be taken of this opportunity to make some change, so that the management of that collection might be entirely different from the management of the other collections of the Museum.
§ MR. SPENCER WALPOLEsaid, he wished it to be known exactly how the matter stood. The recommendations made by the Royal Commission were communicated to the Treasury in February last, and were then transmitted to the Trustees of the Museum. The Trustees had carefully considered those recommendations, and had sent in a counter scheme to the Treasury, and the matter was now in the Treasury's hands. The views of those who took a particular interest in scientific matters, and in the advancement of science, had boon taken into consideration; and he thought he might say the future management of the Museum would give complete satisfaction, not only to them, but to the public generally. The hon. Gentleman seemed to think that the department of Natural History was less scientific than the other departments. That was not the case. The keepers of that department were some of the best keepers in the Museum, and the way in which they did their business was such as to give every satisfaction.
§ MR. SHAW LEFEVREdisclaimed any intention of reflecting on the managers of the Natural History Collection.
§ Resolution agreed to.