LORD SANDHURSTMy Lords, I desire to put a question to the noble Marquess the Prime Minister, of which I have given him private notice. It has reference to an announcement by the Council of the Royal Academy, which has appeared in the usual channels of information, that the days for the taking in of pictures would be Good Friday, Saturday, and Easter Monday. It can hardly be said that these are convenient days. Some exception might be taken to putting Good Friday to such a use, and on that point it might be interesting to hear what the Chaplain to the Council, the Archbishop of York, might have to say. But there are secular reasons why 1518 the proposed days are objectionable—convenient, if not obnoxious. In the first place, the days chosen are extremely inconvenient for communication and delivery of packages, owing to the general holiday traffic. The proposal interferes very much with the Easter holiday making, which is general for all classes, and especially there are large numbers of parcel porters and others, especially frame - makers, of whom there are very many, and amongst whom there is very great dissatisfaction. It will, undoubtedly, I am told, cause a great deal of work to be done on Sunday. I am informed, also, that the work of taking in will not be over before 1 a.m. on Tuesday, and there is great danger of damage to valuable works of art. The proposal also causes great inconvenience and dissatisfaction amongst a very large number of the artists themselves, because in a great many cases they will be unable to get their works into the Academy until very late. I therefore ask, seeing that the Royal Academy derives its privileges from the Crown, whether Her Majesty's Government would make a protest as to these proposed taking-in days, which are obnoxious to those most concerned, and on many grounds inexpedient, with the view of seeing whether any alteration can be made in them?
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (The Marquess of SALISBURY)I am afraid, my Lords, the Government can hardly admit themselves to be responsible for all the acts of those who have the direction of affairs at the Royal Academy or other institutions which may derive their privileges from the Crown. It would add very seriously to our responsibilities. But, at the same time, the question of which the noble Lord has given me private notice seems, if I may say so, an extremely reasonable question; and if I had been able to do so I should have been very glad to have done what he wishes, namely, to have asked from the Council of the Royal Academy some reason to give to the House for the course they have taken in this matter. But the time was too short, and I have not been able to do so. I feel, however, that the statement of the noble Lord will carry conviction, at all events, to the minds of the Council 1519 that there is primâ facie a considerable difficulty in the particular arrangement they have adopted. We all know that the interval between next Thursday and the Tuesday following is, in addition to its sacred character, a very popular holiday, and a popular holiday is not the best of times in which to get work of this kind done. I believe that representations from the noble Lord will be quite as effective as any made by the Government, and I can only trust that the Council of the Royal Academy will pay attention to the very just considerations the noble Lord has adduced, and will apply what remedy they can. If the period of the Session had permitted, I should have been glad to have given the noble Lord another answer.
*THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURYAs the noble Lord has mentioned my brother the Archbishop of York, whose office as Chaplain to the Royal Academy has always been highly esteemed, I think, in his absence, I ought to say that I am quite sure what his view of the subject would be. There are a very large number, indeed, both of Church people, Roman Catholics, and Nonconformists whose religious feelings would be much injured by the setting apart, as the Council of the Royal Academy seems to have done, Good Friday for such hard work as the delivery of the pictures, and who would feel that numbers of their people were being hindered from taking part in the religious observance of the day. The observance of Good Friday has greatly increased in the last few years, I think, with great satisfaction to people at large. I must thank the noble Marquess at the head of the Government, in the name of my brother and myself, and also of a large proportion of the population, for having stated that he trusts the Council of the Royal Academy will pay attention to the representations of the noble Lord. I hope the noble Lord will persevere in them, and that he will receive from the President a satisfactory reply.