§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
THE DUKE OF ST. ALBANS, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that in 1849 a Bill prepared 1645 by a Select Committee of the House of Commons was passed, by which a Commission was appointed to inquire into rights and claims and into certain alleged unlawful inclosures in Waltham Forest—which included Epping and Hainault. The Commissioners reported in the following year that there were difficulties in the prosecution of the inquiry; but in 1855 Hainault was disafforested. In 1865 fault was found in the House of Commons with the management of Epping Forest by the Commissioners of Woods; and in 1866 Mr. Gladstone, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, transferred the forest to the Commissioners of Works, with a view to its preservation as a place of public recreation and enjoyment. In the same year the Metropolitan Commons Act was passed, for the purpose of preserving commons within a radius of 15 miles of Charing Cross, and power was given to the Metropolitan Board of Works to provide funds for the maintenance of such commons. Negotiations were opened with the view of enabling the Board to deal with Epping Forest; but, owing to changes of Government and the pressure of important matters, nothing was then done. Last year Her Majesty, in reply to an Address voted by the House of Commons, expressed Her concurrence in the desirability of preserving open spaces in the neighbourhood of the Metropolis, and promised to consider how effect might be given to that object. This Bill had accordingly been prepared, which, while protecting the rights and claims of the lords of manors and others connected with the Forest, and securing them compensation for any loss they might sustain, would enable Commissioners to prepare a scheme for the preservation of the wastes of Epping Forest for public recreation. That scheme, however, would not take effect until it had been submitted to the approval of Parliament; and any parties who felt themselves aggrieved would have an opportunity of appearing before a Select Committee. The selection of Commissioners — the Assistant Inclosure Commissioner, two gentlemen of property in Essex, and Mr. Locke, M.P.—had been acquiesced in by the Members for Essex, and they would report within two years, when it was hoped a scheme would, be prepared which, while respecting the rights of the parties interested, would preserve for 1646 the dense population of the East-end those lands to which the public had hitherto had free access.
§ Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House To-morrow.