THE EARL OF MEATHasked the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, Whether it was necessary that Piccadilly Circus, one of the principal sites of the Metropolis, should be disfigured by rough balks of timber supporting an unsightly wooden railing placed round a small paved space in the centre of the Circus; and, if so, how long Piccadilly Circus was likely to remain in this apparently uncared for condition? He supposed that the balks of timber were kept in their present position to show that the Metropolitan Board had not given the place up to the public. It was a pity that this spot, and others elsewhere, should be surrounded by unsightly hoardings when temporary railings could be set up on certain days in the year to prove that there had been no dedication to the public. He was aware that the Metropolitan Board, as regarded its health, was in a very unsatisfactory condition, and that it was often the case that a man in extremis looked upon mundane affairs with different eyes from a man who was strong and vigorous. At the same time, he hoped the noble Lord might be able to assure their Lordships that although the life of the Board was not likely to be very prolonged, it would act as private individuals were supposed to act in that condition, and that it would set its affairs in order so as to transmit them to its successor in a satisfactory state. He might add that, although the Board had been the object of much hard hitting lately, yet he was certain that there were large numbers of the public who felt that they owed a debt of gratitude to the Board for all it had done in the way of improving the Metropolis, especially for its two greatest works—the main drainage of London and the Thames Embankment.
§ LORD MAGHERAMORNEsaid, he had to thank the noble Earl for his kind recognition of the services of the Metro- 234 politan Board of Works, which had been, and were now, being unduly, and he might say most atrociously, assailed in many quarters. He confessed that there were subjects which he would not allude to, because he saw present the noble and learned Lord opposite (Lord Herschell), who was the head of the Commission which was investigating them, and he would not have touched on the subject at all had not the noble Earl done so; but he should not be worthy of his position as Chairman of the Board, which he had held for 18 years, if he did not say that he considered the great bulk of his colleagues to be as noble and as straightforward men as any in either that or the other House of Parliament. He said that fearlessly, and he defied anybody to prove the contrary. When he was asked whether, when they retired, they would hand on to those who should succeed them everything in the best possible form, he answered, "Yes, we will do it." They would stick to their work and hand it over to those whom Parliament might select to succeed them. As to the special point of the noble Earl's Question, he could only say that the Board was now considering what should be done with the vacant site in Piccadilly Circus. The balks of timber, which the noble Earl did not seem to think pretty—and he agreed with him—had been placed there for the purpose of reserving the control of the Board over the place, it being undesirable to subject it to the unfettered discretion of the Vestry. Their reason for thus acting was this. Their Lordships were all aware that wherever there was an open space there were all kinds of ideas as to what should be done with it, and many suggestions had been made and many plans proposed for the adornment of this site. One proposal was that a statue or fountain should be erected; another that an artistic lamppost should be set up; and a third that the place should be planted with trees. Another fanciful suggestion was very curious—namely, that a retiring room should be built underneath it, but this idea certainly did not find favour with his colleagues. He thought the Metropolitan Board might be proud of its West End streets and of the communication at this particular point; and they were anxious, if they were to die—and it seemed they were to die— 235 but be that as it might, they would like as long as they were given the power in their own days to put something, or let somebody else put up something, which would be a credit to the Metropolis, in what he considered to be one of the best spaces of London. There were so many different suggestions that the matter required careful consideration. They were giving it that consideration, and he hoped before they were extinguished that they should be able to give an opinion and a decision on that important question, and he would assure their Lordships that they would be guided in their decision by the desire that the adornment of this fine site should be a credit to the Metropolis.