§ 7.28 p.m.
§ THE MARQUESS OF ZETLAND moved, That this House approves the proposal of His Majesty's Government to devote to the purposes of the National Memorial to His late Majesty King George the Fifth certain property in the City of Westminster now vested in the Commissioners of His Majesty's Works and Public Buildings, namely, part of the site now occupied by Number 5, Old Palace Yard, and the sites formerly occupied by Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, Old Palace Yard, 1005 and by Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 3A, Poets' Corner, to the intent that the land comprised therein should form an open space surrounding a statue of His late Majesty King George the Fifth.
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The noble Marquess said: My Lords, I know well that my noble friend the Leader of the House, in whose name this Motion stands, will have the sympathy of your Lordships in the sudden illness of Lady Stanhope, which has prevented him from being present with your Lordships this afternoon. We shall all hope that he may be speedily relieved of the anxiety from which he is at the present time suffering. It therefore devolves upon me to explain to your Lordships the circumstances in which this Motion has been placed upon the Paper. The scheme for commemorating the reign and life of his late Majesty King George V arose at a meeting which was held by the Lord Mayor of London in March, 1936, at which it was resolved that the national memorial to His Majesty should take the form of a statue in some notable setting, and a philanthropic scheme to benefit the whole country, which could be in the late King's name. A national fund was opened, and the Committee decided upon a playing fields scheme, together with a statue to be erected close to the Houses of Parliament. These decisions were, of course, reached under the sole responsibility of the Lord Mayor's Committee. When it came to the actual choice of a site for the statue the advice of the Royal Fine Art Commission was sought, and the site now decided upon has been chosen in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission. That Commission pronounced that
when backed by the Chapter House, curtained by fine plane trees and symmetrically enclosed on either side, the position and setting of the King's Memorial would be unexcelled.
§ The total cost of the scheme as finally settled is estimated at a sum of £125,000. The contribution from the Memorial Fund will be £65,000, and the Government have been asked to contribute a sum of £60,000. The Government have accepted the principle of State participation in the scheme, but they have decided that, subject to the approval of Parliament, their contribution should take the form of a free gift in kind of the State property which is comprised in the site. Particulars of this property have 1006 been given in a Treasury Minute which has been presented to Parliament, from which it will be seen that the estimated value of the site proposed to be given by the Government is, in fact, £60,000.
§ That being so, the object of the present Resolution is to obtain the specific authority of Parliament to the gift. Since that gift is not in cash, the procedure of a Supplementary Estimate would not be appropriate for the purpose. Where gifts in kind are made the rule has been laid down by the Treasury, with the approval of the Public Accounts Committee, that where it is proposed to make a gift of public stores or property not requiring replacement, either of unusual nature or exceeding £10,000 in value, their Lordships will present to the House of Commons a Minute giving particulars of the gift and explaining the circumstances; and that Treasury assent to the gift will not be given until fourteen days after the issue of the Minute, except in cases of special urgency. But, while this procedure, as your Lordships will see, would cover the financial aspects of the present matter, it was not considered to be wholly appropriate, since it is desired to associate Parliament as a whole with the attitude of the Government towards a proposal of such great national interest and it is for this reason that a specific Resolution has been moved, which both Houses of Parliament are asked to approve. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That this House approves the proposal of His Majesty's Government to devote to the purposes of the National Memorial to His late Majesty King George the Fifth certain property in the City of Westminster now vested in the Commissioners of His Majesty's Works and Public Buildings, namely, part of the site now occupied by Number 5, Old Palace Yard, and the sites formerly occupied by Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, Old Palace Yard, and by Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 3A, Poets' Corner, to the intent that the land comprised therein should form an open space surrounding a statue of His late Majesty King George the Fifth.—(The Marquess of Zetland.)
§ 7.33 p.m.
§ LORD SNELLMy Lords, my noble friends desire to be associated with the Motion which the noble Marquess has made, and which we feel will receive 1007 general support. It is, I am sure, your Lordships' wish, and it is in accord with a commendable tradition, that the memory of His late Majesty King George V should be perpetuated by a national memorial as near to the precincts of Parliament as possible, and this Motion will facilitate the exchange of property which will make the project possible. The scheme, as it is now presented, is a modification of the original plan, to which many who had other ideas as to an appropriate site gave a reluctant support. I will not renew the controversy concerning it on this occasion. The site has been chosen, and the statue which is to be erected on it will have a noble and a historical background, and we desire to be associated with the Motion, which we commend to your Lordships' approval.
§ 7.35 p.m.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEMy Lords, I desire to associate myself with the regret expressed by the noble Marquess opposite for the cause which has kept the noble Earl, Lord Stanhope, from making this Motion. It certainly is, I think, with satisfaction, and almost with a feeling of relief, that we all find that His Majesty's Government have been able to come to a definite decision upon this matter. Like the noble Lord, Lord Snell, I have no intention of discussing the differences of opinion that arose as to where the Memorial should be placed; but when it was decided that the westernmost of the two possible sites should be selected two questions arose. In the first place, it was necessary that, in order to preserve the dignity belonging to the object of the memorial, it should be in spacious surroundings; on the other hand, it was not desirable to demolish a large number of the houses immediately ad- 1008 joining it, for, although not of the highest historical or artistic interest, they do represent a standard of modest good taste which has not always been observed in this vast urban congeries which is now London. I hope that the compromise which has been reached by the proposal which the noble Marquess has presented to the House will be found to hold a fair balance between those two considerations which I have mentioned.
I hope also, though with not quite the same confidence, that the site may have satisfied what may be called the moral side of such memorial. Of all the noteworthy personalities which any of the oldest of us can recall, whether belonging to the Royal House or on the roll of statesmen or the roll of warriors, there is not one to whom the call of duty and the obligations of service appealed more strongly than they did to King George V. I should like to think, therefore, that those who, as the noble Lord said, find their way to the precincts of Parliament, when observing this statue in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, will derive from it inspiration and encouragement in recalling the memory of the Sovereign who devoted himself to the welfare of his subjects in a degree that no Sovereign has surpassed.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.