§ 42. Mr. BUTCHERasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the provisions of the Act of Parliament establishing the British Museum (26 George II., c. 22), whereby it was (amongst other things) enacted that a general repository should be erected for the reception of the several collections mentioned in the Act and such other collections as with the approbation of the trustees should be admitted into such general repository, which several collections should remain and be preserved therein for public use to all posterity; that the said collections and the said general repository should be vested in the trustees upon this trust and confidence; that a free access to the said general repository and to the collections therein con- 422 tained should be given to all studious and curious persons, at such times and in such manner and under such regulations for inspecting and consulting the said collections as by the trustees should be limited for that purpose; that the trustees should from time to time make such Statutes and rules for the custody, preservation, and inspection of the said collections as to them should seem meet; and whether, in view of the provisions of this Act, the trustees of the British Museum are entitled, in the proper discharge of the duties of their trust, to make a Statute or rule completely closing for an indefinite period of time the British Museum in Bloomsbury, or the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, or the library or any of the collections belonging thereto, and thereby preventing the public use thereof and the free access thereto?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Montagu)In view of the fact that the Government does not feel justified, in present conditions, in inviting Parliament to vote moneys sufficient to enable the trustees to keep the British Museum fully open, the trustees have obviously no alternative but to close the larger portion of the Museum.
§ Mr. BUTCHERWill the right hon. Gentleman answer my question whether the trustees are legally empowered to close the museum without any sanction of Parliament?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat appears to be a point of law. The hon. Member is asking for a legal opinion.
§ Mr. BUTCHERWill the Government take the opinion of the Law Officers as to whether there is any legal power to close the museums without the sanction of Parliament?
§ Mr. MONTAGUIf the hon. and learned Member suggests that there is doubt as to whether we have legal power to refrain from asking power to vote certain moneys, I do not think there is any case to go to the Law Officers. That is what his question amounts to.
§ Mr. BUTCHERWill the right hon. Gentleman inquire of the Law Officers whether the trustees of the British Museum have any power to close the museum without the sanction of Parliament?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI would remind the hon. and learned Member that it has been 423 done in times past and that the answer which I gave to his question records the legal opinion which I have obtained.
§ Mr. BUTCHERWhen was that legal opinion obtained?
§ 43. Mr. BUTCHERasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Trustees of the British Museum have, in exercise of their powers under the Act of of Parliament establishing the British Museum, made Statutes and rules providing that, with the exception of certain rooms to be closed on particular days, the museum shall be open every day excepting on Christmas Day, Good Friday, and any special fast or thanksgiving day appointed by authority, and that the reading room of the museum, Bloomsbury, shall be kept open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on every day of the week except Sunday and except certain other specified days; whether these Statutes and rules have been rescinded or altered; if so, whether this was done or purported to be done at a general meeting of the trustees or at a meeting of the standing committee, and on what date; and whether he will procure and lay upon the Table of the House a copy of the new Statutes and rules, if any, providing for a partial closing of the British Museum, or the library, or any of the collections belonging thereto?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI am informed by the British Museum authorities that the Government having intimated that they do not propose to ask Parliament to provide the funds necessary for keeping open the whole of the British Museum and the Natural History Museum, the trustees, on 12th February, in general meeting assembled, have made regulations, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Incorporation, for admitting the public to such parts of the two museums as the funds placed at their disposal by Parliament will allow, and for closing the rest. I will take steps to carry out the suggestion in the last part of the hon. and learned Member's question.