§ LORD SUDELEY rose to call attention to the proposed appropriation of the British Museum at Bloomsbury to the purposes of the Air Ministry, and of its branch, the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, for other public offices; and to move—
§ That this House is of the opinion that the use of the British Museum at Blooms-bury, and of its branch, the Natural History Museum at Kensington, for the purpose of public offices, is undesirable in national interests.
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, I am anxious to call your Lordships' attention to the statements which have been made, that the Government propose to take the 407 British Museum and its branch, the Natural History Museum, for public offices. I am quite certain that this decision of the Government has been arrived at under some misapprehension. I am positive that if they had been able to obtain full information we should not have been obliged to consider the undesirability of what is proposed, which has given rise to so much controversy. I would not have brought the matter forward for one moment if I had thought that it was a case of the exigencies of the war, or if I had thought that there was no other solution of the matter; but feeling as I do that the question has not been properly dealt with, and that there are other very easy solutions, I think that I am bound to call your Lordships' attention to the matter. You are well aware that during the last few weeks there has been very strong feeling aroused among educated men throughout the country. It has given rise to a feeling of horror and indignation that these institutions should have been dealt with in any way. Your Lordships will have seen that all the learned societies throughout the country and all the great authorities have risen in anger, so to speak. They have protested, and they have written strong letters in regard to this matter.
§ There is no doubt that the British Museum, with its Natural History branch, is a great national trust. If there was any doubt about it, its history, its trusts, and its numerous Acts show what position it holds, not only throughout this country but throughout the whole world. It has always been looked upon as a great national trust. It is regarded as a great and magnificent object of fabulous value, which illustrates the history and genius of mankind. It is undoubtedly a great asset for education. It is filled with concrete objects which are immensely required. It is packed with scientific, artistic, and natural treasures, which it is absolutely impossible to replace, and which are of priceless value. I do not know whether your Lordships are aware of the curious number of trustees of the Museum. The three executive trustees are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and Mr. Speaker. In addition, there are a large number of official trustees and of family trustees, and I find that there are no fewer than twenty-two Peers who are also trustees. My Lords, this shows of itself that it is not a mere Government institution.
408§ As to the great character of these two museums, I find that it is desired by the Government that I should not go very fully into particulars; but your Lordships are-aware that in the first place the British Museum has a great reputation for its library and reading-rooms. That great building has a dome which is 140 feet in diameter and 100 feet high, and contains books and pamphlets numbering no less than 5,000,000. There are three miles of book-cases. What I want to point out is the absurdity of suggesting that these buildings should be used for the Air Ministry. It is said, "Why think of the library; that is not going to be used at all?" That is true, but the mere fact of placing the Air Ministry in the adjoining building creates at once a position of danger, by reason of its becoming a war zone, and one which naturally all hostile airmen will at once try to bomb. That places it in a dangerous position.
§ With regard to the Natural History Museum, it has during the last few years done an immense amount of work for the country and for war purposes. It has been, I believe, consulted by fourteen different Government Departments. I will not go further into the question, because I know your Lordships are very anxious to get to other business. I will only say that this is a very serious matter, and I hope, if the Government are going to withdraw or make some alteration in their plans, that at any rate they will give a pledge that this matter shall not be brought up again at so short a notice. There are solutions which ought to be considered. These solutions I will just mention. One is the present Hotel Cecil. That, I believe, is not fully occupied. Then there is a great building which could be very well used—namely, the Port of Authority building on the river Thames. There is a third building which might be used a very great deal, and that is the Bethlehem Hospital, only ten minutes' walk from Waterloo. That building is a very large one, and there is no reason whatever why it should not make a splendid building for the Air Ministry. I trust your Lordships will remember that this is a very grave and serious matter, and I hope the Government will be able to give some definite pledge.
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTON)My Lords, personally I am in much sympathy with a good many of the arguments 409 which have been advanced by the noble Lord who has just addressed us, and I hope to save any other noble Lord from the necessity of either repeating or enforcing those arguments by the brief statement that I am about to make. As regards the British Museum, it has been found possible so materially to reduce the demands for the accommodation of the Air Ministry that it is no longer necessary to appropriate a building of that size. That, I may say in passing, was the sole reason for which the proposal had been put forward to consider that place. Thus it will be possible to locate the Air Ministry under my noble friend on my left (Lord Rothermere) elsewhere. Meanwhile, however, two of the Moors of the new wing of the British Museum have for some time been occupied by a Public Office or for other war purposes. The progressive removal of national treasures to places of greater safety, which is being steadily pursued—as I am sure it will be with the concurrence of the House will enable a still larger space in the Museum to be employed for this purpose, and this space will, with the consent of the trustees and in consultation with the Museum authorities, be utilised for the accommodation for other non-combatant departments similar to those which are already housed in the Museum. The second part of my noble friend's Question relates to the Natural History Museum, a branch of the British Museum at South Kensington. As regards that place, it has been found on detailed examination that any attempt to convert the galleries to Government uses would entail the closing of the building to the public, an extensive re-arrangement of the con-tents and possible damage in the course of removal, the consumption of an enormous amount of labour and material, and very considerable delay. In these circumstances it has been decided that there is no necessity sufficiently urgent to warrant the use of the Natural History Museum for Government purposes.