HL Deb 01 May 1868 vol 191 cc1683-5

LORD REDESDALE moved for— Return of the Cost of making and erecting Four Statues recently placed against the Pilasters at the South-west Angle of the India Office, and the Cost of the decorative Painting of the Interiors of the India and Foreign Offices: And to ask, Whether it is intended to allow the East Front of the new Offices on the South Side of Downing Street to be completed on a Line which will render the Demolition of the Front of the present Government Offices in Whitehall necessary, or to require it to be so constructed as to form a handsome Elevation in connexion with those Buildings? The noble Lord expressed his regret that the Government had this year taken so small a Vote as £10,000 to proceed with these works, and added that it was of great importance that the building should be quickly proceeded with. The appearance of the waste ground there at present greatly disfigured the locality. With respect to the statues on the exterior, those in the niches, he understood, were intended to represent Governors General; he might possibly have made out one or two, and perhaps some might be able to detect a likeness; but he could not consider them particularly ornamental. The statues to which his notice referred appeared to be female figures, and they might represent the cities of India; but they were quite uncalled for and far from being ornamental. It would have been much better that the money which they cost should have been applied in completing the building, which he thought was a matter of very great importance. The same observation applied to the large sum of money that had been expended on the interior decorations. There was another point which appeared to have been very little attended to, and was likely, therefore, to lead to a very unsatisfactory result—he alluded to the manner in which the buildings were being carried out in connection with the existing frontage of those in Whitehall. That row of buildings as altered by the designs of Sir Charles Barry presented a very handsome elevation; but it stood on a different line from that of the new offices, and it would require skilful arrangement to connect the new buildings when completed with those already erected. It had been contemplated by the architect that the existing buildings should be pulled down; but, considering the time it took to erect buildings for public offices, it was extremely desirable that those now erected should be rendered available. Any design which might be adopted should be carried out in a manner to secure the ultimate arrangement of these buildings and the widening of Parliament Street in the most efficient manner. Nothing but a design having for its object to connect all the buildings already erected and those about to be erected would lead to a satisfactory result. He regretted that he was frequently obliged to call their Lordships' attention to this subject, and he also felt sorry that all the land necessary for the purposes of these offices had not been purchased some time ago; for he believed that the longer the purchase was delayed the greater would be the sum required to be paid.

THE EARL OF MALMESBURY

said, that, on one point, he could set the mind of his noble Friend at ease, for the cost of the statues to which he referred was only £847, and the cost of the decorative painting of the interior of the India Office was about £190. He had no objection to lay before the House a Return showing the expense of painting and decorating the interiors of both the India Office and Foreign Office. A general scheme was in contemplation for concentrating the public offices. A Report on the subject, which had been transmitted to the Treasury, would be very soon laid before Parliament, when the whole plan would be explained.

LORD TAUNTON

desired to refer to the statues recently placed in Westminster Hall, and said, that, if anything could tend to vulgarize that noble building, it would be the erection of such statues as now stood in the Hall. A Member of the House of Commons had suggested the addition of the statue of Oliver Cromwell to the statues now standing there; but, in his opinion, the best thing to do would be to take away all the present statues.

LORD REDESDALE

said, that, if the cost of the four statues at the India Office was £800, or £200 for each, an expenditure of £8,000 would be required for the whole number of forty statues which were intended to be erected. He thought it would be much better to add that sum of £8,000 to the amount required to be expended for the commencement of the new buildings. The statues were positively unsightly, and, in respect to position, contrary to every principle of architecture.