§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)I beg to ask the hon. Member for West Derby, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether a bust of Oliver Cromwell, presented by a private individual, will be removed from its present position until a proper site has been found for the statues of statesmen erected by the desire or at the cost of the nation; and, if he will say by whose authority the bust, being the gift of a private individual not being a Member of this House, was placed in its present position.
§ MR. VICTOR CAVENDISH (Derbyshire, W.)The statues of statesmen in the Central Lobby were the gifts of private individuals, and are upon precisely the same footing in that respect as the bust of Cromwell is. This bust was presented to the House of Commons and accepted on its behalf by the Leader of the House; and it was placed in its present position by arrangement with the donor, under the instructions of the First Commissioner of Works. It is not proposed to remove it to another site.
§ MR. MACVEAGH (Down, S.)Who was the donor of this bust?
§ MR. VICTOR CAVENDISHI believe it is generally known who it was.