THE DECORATION OF THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER. (Hansard, 25 July 1904)

§ * LORD STANMORE
rose to move that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire and report with respect to the unfinished condition of the rooms in the Palace of Westminster appropriated to the service of this House, and their approaches. 1012 He said: My Lords, at this period of the session, and in the absence of many of those who would have supported my Motion but who have already left London, I may as well at once say that should the Government oppose the appointment of the Committee for which I am now moving, as I fear they will do, it is not my intention to put your Lordships to the trouble of dividing. On the other hand, should the Government agree to the Motion I fear that even in that case there could be no practical result, because no Committee could sit with any effect during the short remainder of the session.
As I do not intend to press the Motion to a division, and as I feel that even if it were allowed by the Government there would be no practical result this session, I may very naturally be asked, Why do you bring it forward at all? Well, I do so for two reasons—first, because I wish to keep this question alive, to bring it again to the notice of the Government and of your Lordships' House; and, secondly, because until I hear to the contrary I am, of course, bound to hope that the Government will be convinced by what I consider the convincing arguments which I can bring forward. I shall, therefore, briefly move my Motion I do not know why the Government should oppose the appointment of a. Select Committee. By doing so they seem to imply that to grant the Motion for a Committee would be equivalent to giving a species of sanction to some large outlay of expenditure. Not at all. You cannot tell what the Report of that Committee may be. The Government would have a large share in the appointment of the Committee, and its Report might not recommend any expenditure at all.
But there is a question which, I think, does require some consideration, and upon which a Committee could very properly give advice to your Lordships and to the Government. The original scheme of decoration which was intended by the architect of this great Palace, the original scheme for the internal decoration, was an architectural one. That was subsequently overruled, and, after much deliberation, it was determined that the internal decoration of this Palace should not be of an architectural character, but of a pictorial character, and should consist chiefly of paintings and mosaics. 1013 That second course was pursued for a considerable number of years. It was pursued with less vigour after the death of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, but it was still pursued for some years, until a most unfortunate clamour was raised with regard to what was, I think, the last of any large works going on in this House. I refer to the most unfair, most unjust, and utterly unfounded accusation which was brought against the then Chief Commissioner of Works, Sir Henry Layard, that he was interested in the mosaic works ordered here, a charge utterly baseless, but which made some disturbance at the time.
Sir Henry Layard was succeeded in the office of Chief Commissioner by a gentleman who, whatever other merits distinguished him, certainly was not distinguished by any knowledge or love of art; he rather had a contempt and absolute dislike for it. Under his rule, works were suspended, and from that time very little was done in the way of the prosecution of that second scheme. We have got so accustomed to what we see daily that the actual state of things does not very forcibly present itself to our minds. That state of things is this, that the second scheme for the completion of the Palace has been practically suspended, though not put all end to, and the question arises whether that second scheme is, however slowly and with whatever intervals, to be still pursued, or whether it is to be altogether abandoned, and, if abandoned, whether we should return to the original scheme of architectural decoration for the interior of the Palace, or abandon any attempt to go further, and leave things in the state which may now be called provisional, but which then would become permanent.
I know the objections that will probably be urged against the appointment of this Committee. First of all, there will be objections on the assumption that the Committee are going to recommend large works to be undertaken. There will be the statement that these great decorative works are things which may be undertaken by a powerful despotic Government, but are not in harmony with the democratic tendencies of the day. To that assumption I would give a most unqualified denial, and anyone 1014 who has been at Washington and knows the sums that have bean expended on the adornment of the Capitol will agree with me. Canada, too, has a self governing and democratic Parliament, and yet the Government buildings there are the finest gothic edifices to be found in North America. Then we may be told that this is a matter which this House must not undertake, and that the House of Commons must be consulted. That is perfectly true when you come to a scheme dealing with the whole of the Palace, but this House is fully entitled to consider by way of a Committee what should be done with the rooms appropriated to its own service, and it has a common right with the House of Commons with regard to the approaches.
I quite admit, supposing the Committee were to recommend any considerable expenditure, and the House and the Government were to adopt the views of the Committee, that it would then probably be desirable to move for the appointment of a Joint Committee of both Houses to consider the matter further. But all I am now asking the House and the Government to do is to appoint a Committee to consider first of all the actual condition in which the buildings, has been left for many years past, with manifestly provisional arrangements everywhere; and, secondly, whether the provisional arrangements, which, I confess, seem to me to constitute somewhat of a scandal, should be allowed to continue for ever as permanent arrangements, whether we should proceed with the scheme which was devised some years ago, or revert to the original scheme of the architect. That is the scope which I should propose for this Committee, and that is what I am desirous of pressing on His Majesty's Government, whether a Committee is appointed or not.
The greatest reason that will be brought against the appointment of this Committee will be the assumption that expense will be recommended, and that the great expense which would be involved in finishing all the decoration of the Palace of Westminster, as intended under the scheme of the Royal Commission, is too vast to be entertained. Now, I think that is really more of a bugbear than a reality. It is quite true that if anyone were to ask that the whole of 1015 the decoration of the Palace should be undertaken at once the expense would be enormous and not to be looked at under the present circumstances. But that is not what I am asking. That is not what the Royal Commission originally intended. The course that I am asking His Majesty's Government to consider the advisability of pursuing is this—that they should go on as before, gently, slowly, but consistently and permanently, with the carrying out of the scheme of decoration which is already laid down in the Report of the Royal Commission, and which they will have little difficulty in following.
I do not think we fully appreciate, seeing it every day as we do, how the building looks to a stranger. It has been my fate not infrequently to conduct foreigners over this building, and I have seen them much puzzled and surprised over what they have seen. I am not going to take your Lordships on a pilgrimage through the House, but I will mention one or two instances where wonder is excited. After the visitors have admired Westminster Hall to the full, they come between two empty niches reserved forty years ago for he statues of Marlborough and Wellington, but which are still vacant. They then enter St. Stephen's Hall, and they see there a large number of panels of paper—paper encased in heavy, massive, elaborate, mouldings of stone. A more grotesque conjunction could hardly be imagined. They naturally ask what this means, and are told that these are places for pictures which have never been put there. And in connection with those panels I must tell your Lordships what has been the result of my humble efforts to get them attended to. My noble friend the Chief Commissioner of Works was kind enough to accompany me last year on a pilgrimage to St. Stephen's Hall. We looked at the paper—the dark red paper that then filled these panels; and I pointed out to him the cracks, of which he took most sympathetic notice and the deep abysses of darkness full of cobwebs which were behind them knowing the noble Lord's excellent judgment and taste in all matters of art, I felt rejoiced, and I saw from his evident sympathy that the First Commissioner would do something. I anticipated that 1016 we should see the beginning of mosaic work. But, alas! for the vanity of human wishes and hopes! A few months later I passed through that hall again, and I saw a number of workmen employed busily replacing that red flock paper, that dirty red flock paper, by a clean green one: that was all. As regards its being clean instead of dirty, it is a decided improvement; but as regards anything else, it is, in my view, decidedly the reverse, because it seems to show that the idea of a paper panel is now stereotyped as a thing intended to continue there for ever.
The foreigners whom I am conducting over the building go through the Central Hall into the hall out of which the great staircase ascends to the upper regions. Now, in that hall there is a very fine fireplace and chimneypiece. Those are the sort of things that the architect of this Palace did perhaps better than anything else; and it is a fine bit of architecture, But what do we find? We find this fine chimneypiece, or half of it, hidden from the world by a refreshment buffet covered with sandwiches and ginger beer bottles. On ascending the stairs we find ourselves in the hall which was called when it was built the Hall of Poets, and my friends look amazed when they see the name of Shakespeare in large gold letters on the wall, and below them a rather dingy sheet of red paper. They ask in their wonder, "How does this red sheet represent Shakespeare?" Then they see the names of Scott, Byron, and others with similar sheets of paper underneath, and they inquire how these pieces of paper typify these poets. Then it is explained that behind those sheets of paper are entombed frescoes which once adorned these walls, and which contain painted scenes out of the celebrated English poets from Chaucer down to Scott and Byron.
The noble Lord, the First Commissioner of Works, was kind enough to have these screens removed, and I saw the disentombed frescoes. All of them, with two exceptions, are utterly destroyed. About one, the Shakespeare one, there is a difference of opinion. In my opinion, I must say it appeared to be reparable; that is to say, all except one head was fresh and clear and vivid. One head was gone, but I believe that the head 1017 could be restored by cutting out the fresco and putting in fresh material. But whether that be so or not, what I protest against is the retrogade movement here displayed. If you cannot go on with the work, however slowly, at least do not go back. Do not in a hall which you have already devoted t works of art change those works of art for mere upholstery, and upholstery of a mean and poor description. If these works of art have perished they should have been replaced by other works of art, and other artists, if those who painted them are dead, should have been commissioned to paint scenes from the poets which that hall was intended to commemorate and honour. With the exception of this Chamber and the library, there is no part of the House which is finished. There are great vacant places everywhere, and I cannot see myself that any large sum of money would be necessary to resume the carrying on of the second scheme of decoration. A sum of £1,000 or £2,000 per annum would be enough, proceeding slowly year after year.
I cannot but again call the attention of the Government to the example set them by the City of London. The cloister of the Royal Exchange, like St. Stephen's Hall, is fitted with panels meant for paintings. They proceed just on the slow process that I am recommending, and every year you see another picture added to those in the cloister of the Royal Exchange. Some of them an indifferent some are good, and there are two or three which are really excellent pictures. They go on in that slow way every year, and the Royal Exchange will be finished, I am afraid, long before even the Central Hall of this Palace has its remaining mosaics put up. Why the nation cannot do for the Palace in which its Legislature assembles that which the merchants of the City of London do for their meeting place, the Royal Exchange, I own I cannot see. I do think this subject is one that merits more attention than it has received. We should not merely go on as we have done because we are accustomed to see the unfinished state of things around us, but consider whether the Palace is to be left permanently unfininshed, to be finished in the way intended in the second scheme, or in the way first intended by its architect.

THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Lord WINDSOR)
My Lords, I am afraid I cannot give a reply to the noble Lord on the Cross Benches essentially different from that which I gave at the close of last session on a somewhat similar Motion. I hope the noble Lord will not think that I do not sympathise with a very great deal of what we has said on the subject of the decoration of the Palace of Westminster. It would no doubt be extremely desirable if we could cover the walls of our chief public buildings, where so designed to be covered, with splendid mural paintings and appropriate decorations; but very large sums of money are now being spent upon Government buildings and necessary works, and the necessity for economy in our public expenditure is so well known to the House and to the noble Lord that I do not feel able to press upon the Treasury at this particular time the importance of taking up works which have unfortunately come to a standstill, and which, in spite of what the noble Lord has said, must necessarily involve a considerable expenditure of money.

§ LORD STANMORE
Annual.

* LORD WINDSOR
Yes, I know the noble Lord suggests that the annual expenditure need not be a very large one, and that it might in the process of time enable us to complete to a considerable extent the decorations. With regard to the Motion which the noble Lord has moved for the appointment of a Select Committee, at this period of the session it is impossible for such a Committee to get to work, and in the circumstances I do not think the Government would feel inclined to consent to the proposal, especially when there was little probability of their being able to support the Committee by recommending that the suggestions which they might make should be carried out. Personally, I hope that there may be an opportunity of taking this matter up again, but I cannot tell 1019 the noble Lord that at this moment the Government are in a position to consent to such a Committee being appointed. The noble Lord has made some reference to the cleaning operations which have taken place in the Palace during the past year. I would remind him that they were merely in the nature of ordinary cleaning operations, and the substitution of the green paper in St. Stephen's Hall for the very dirty and cracked red paper which was there before was not intended in any way to set a permanent seal of approval upon that as the form of decoration which was ultimately to remain there.
The noble Lord referred to the refreshment bar at the bottom of the main staircase. I should very much like to see more convenient and more appropriate places for the refreshment bars throughout both Houses than are to be found at this moment, but I very much fear that the number of people who come to the Houses of Parliament has now so much increased that the accommodation which the building provides is really inadequate to enable proper provision to be made for many of these services. I am afraid I can hold out no hope to the noble Lord that that refreshment bar can be accommodated elsewhere. I wish it could. One word as regards the frescoes upstairs. Professor Church, who was called in to advise the Office of Works and the Government on the subject, has repotted that the condition of these frescoes is really so bad that it would be useless to think of spending money in restoring them. I fear that unless this fresco work, this pictorial wall decoration, can be started afresh, it is no use thinking that the frescoes can any longer see the light of day. I regret that I am unable to give a more satisfactory answer to my noble friend. I certainly do not blame him in any way for having brought the subject before the House, and I sincerely trust that at some future time we may see our way to proceed with the decoration of the Palace.

§ EARL SPENCER
My Lords, I rise to say a few words on this subject. I always feel great sympathy with the noble Lord on the Cross Benches when he brings this matter forward, and I do not wish him to suppose that he is alone in this House in feeling strongly on this 1020 matter. I have often thought that the way in which matters connected with pictures and art generally are dealt with in this country is a great reproach. It is only quite lately, although it has been pressed on successive Governments for many years, that an attempt has been made to find a building adequate for the magnificent collection at South Kensington, in which are comprised as fine works of art as are to be found in any museum in the country. In regard to the Palace of Westminster, it does seem a great misfortune that we cannot annually spend a small sum in endeavouring to carry out the pictorial decoration of this House as originally intended. Surely this great country ought to be able to afford some outlay in encouraging art of the best kind in its public buildings, just as much as corporations do in their municipal buildings. At the same time I quite understand that it is impossible at this late period of the session to grant this Committee, and I therefore readily appreciate what was said by the noble Lord the First Commissioner of Works in that respect. I would suggest to my noble friend that if a Committee is to inquire into this subject it ought to be a Joint Committee of both Houses rather than a Committee of your Lordships' House alone. Lord Stanmore referred to the frescoes of the poets, and the First Commissioner of Works, in replying, stated that the best authorities held that they could not be restored. I quite agree with the noble Lord that instead of being obliterated hey should be repainted. I cannot believe that art has so deteriorated in England at the present day that some material cannot be found on which frescoes can be painted. I have ventured to say these few words in sympathy with the noble Lord, whom I do not like to see always alone in pressing these matters before the attention of your Lordships; and I trust that at an earlier period of next session the Government may themselves possibly see their way to take some action in this matter.

§ * LORD STANMORE
My Lords, I do not intend to press my Motion to a division, but I wish to thank my noble friend the Leader of the Opposition for what he has said in support of the Motion, 1021 and to ask leave to mention to the House one detail which I omitted, and which is, I think, rather instructive. Of the frescoes in the Hall of Poets one, and one only, has survived. It is not one of the best, as by the irony of fate is usually the case, but it might as well have disappeared with the others, for the Office of Works, or whoever is responsible in the matter, has thought fit to put up in front of it a huge and hideous erection, something like a sentry box and something like a sedan chair, which is meant for a telephone station. There is a place for everything, but I submit that the place for a telephone station is not in front of the only surviving fresco that remains in the Hall of Poets. I am sure my noble friend (Lord Windsor) whose taste is excellent will agree with me when I say that it is easy to conceive, if You look at that hall, how a telephone station might be so arranged as to be not only not a disfigurement but an ornament to the place.