§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYsaid, that he wished to ask, after the decision of that House last week in reference to the Wellington Statue, Whether the Government have decided upon the course which they would adopt? There were a great many schools of thought as to what should be done with the statue; 1265 but none, he believed, who wished to leave it as it was. He was told that a Vote of £6,000 had been taken in the House of Commons for the erection of a new statue. It was obvious that that would not be sufficient in the present state of the statue to do all that was required. He wished to know what action Her Majesty's Government intended to take; and, whether they proposed to ask for a further Vote from Parliament to carry out the intention which had been expressed?
§ THE EARL OF REDESDALE (CHAIRMAN of COMMITTEES)said, he would like to know who had paid for cutting off the head?
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, he understood that there would be no further application to Parliament beyond the Vote which had been sanctioned. The present statue would be removed by the military authorities to Aldershot, where it would be erected upon a suitable site. The cost of the removal of the statue would be borne by the fund to be raised by the Prince of Wales's Committee. With regard to the Question put by the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Redesdale), he had to say that his right hon. Friend (Mr. Shaw Lefevre) was very sorry indeed for what had happened. The taking of the statue to pieces was begun early next morning after the Vote. Out of deference to their Lordships' decision, his right hon. Friend had sent early in the morning to the military authorities to stop the taking of the statue to pieces; but the men from Woolwich were already at work, and he could not stop them in time to prevent the head being taken off.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYASKED whether the cost of the decapitation was to be borne out of the Prince of Wales's fund?
§ [No reply.]