The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-02 00:00:00

VACANT GROUND NEAR ST. PAUL'S.

The following letters have been addressed to the Editor
of the Times :

Sir,—ln consequence of the conversation in the
House of Cliamons on the above subject, I request you
to allow me to explain the money part of the question,
which 1 fear, if not explained, may stand in the way
of this important improvement. Sir W. Molesworth,
in answer to the question of Mr. Labouehere, is reported
to have said that the Corporation of London required
60,0001. for this laid, which sum the Government were
not prepared to grant. On this subject I beg to give
the following explanation, which will show that on the
one hand the Corporation of London do not require this
sum of money paid down for the land in question, nor
are the Government asked to pay it on the other, and
that, therefore, there must be some misapprehension on
the subject, which the Committee of Architects desire
to remove.

The improvements in the city of London since the
°losing of the functions of the London-bridge, and its
Approaches Committee have been conducted by a new
committee, called the Improvement Committee ; and,
so far as the new Cannon•etreet is concerned, are
authorised by an act of Parliament passed in 1815,
which gave powers to raise 500,0001. for the purpose,
to widen Cannon-street and Queen-street. In 1850
another act passed, authorising the raising of 300,0001.
additional for continuing Cannon-street westward
to St. Paul's-churchyard. The operation of these
acts is this—that under their authority the corporation
is empowered to pledge its annual income to raise these
sums of money on bond, and it is understood that the
Bank of England makes the advances in such sums as
may be required, and is secured by the corporate seal,
thus authorised to be used.
It is necessary, however, now to explain an earlier
part of the process. In the first instance then, and before
any act is applied for, a plan of the improvement sug-
gested is submitted to the corporation, and after disev.s-
Rion and approval a careful estimate of the cost of pur-
chasing the property, with all its trades and incidents,
including conveyancing and other costs, is prepared. In
addition to this, an estimate is also made of the value of
the surplus property to be sold after the street is widened
or opened, and one total is set against the other. If as,
it is said, is the case in Paris, the new frontages and
surplus land would sell for as much as the cost of the
property, then the power to borrow money would only be
required pending the actual operation; and when the land
was all sold, the borrowers would be paid and the transac-
tion at an end. In England, however, we are not so fortu-
nate, and I believe in the main that those experienced in
such matters all agree that even under favourable circum •
stances the eventual deficiency is 33 per oent. ; and in
unfavourable circumstances, much more. Perhaps no
Case may he quoted as more favourable than that au-
thorised by the act of 1850, whereby a series of obcsure
lanes were obliterated, and a broad thoroughfare, open-
ing in the very heart of London, created. Be that as
it may, such an advantage would probably be more than
counterbalanced by the cost of the improvement of the
eastern pN.rt of Cannon-street, authorised by the first
act of 1845. For the sake of illustration, however, I
assume the 33 per cent, of loss, and the case would then
stand thus :—the original cost of the property and cx-
peases of all sorts, including interest on the advances,
may be taken at 1,200,0001. ; deducting one-third or 33
per cent. deficiency, amounting to 400,0001., and the
remainder, or 800,0001., would represent tho value to be
obtained by the resale of the now frontages and surplus
land. But then it is obvious that the Corporation of
London, who take the risk of the operation, would at the
close of the transaction be the losers of 400,0001., and
have to find it either out of the corpus of their estates,
or to pay it by instalments in the shape of annuities, or
otherwise. This, however, is not intended, and one of
the important tolls, granted originally by charter to the
city of London, and confirmed by acts of Parliament,
provides the annuity for paying off this loss. This duty
is the Coal Tax of ls. id. per ton, which tax expires in
1862, -and is thus divided-9d. goes to the Treasury to
pay for `Vest-end improvements; ld. to the Commission-
ers of Woods and Forests for similar purposes ; and
the original toll to the city of London for paying off
this and similar charges.
If I have made myself understood, it will now be seen
that if the city of London give up this land, represent-
ing a sum of 60,0001., the deficiency must be made up
out of their own funds ; and they propose boldly to take
the chance of this if the coal duty were continued for one
year more, that is to 1863. This reasonable suggestion
is refused by the Lords of the Treasury, and the pro-
bable consequence may be, that "the act of Yandalism"
of covering their land—as it was termed in the house—
may be perpetrated. It is right, however, to add, that
it has been suggested, that the recent enormous prices '
given for the land in St. Paul's churchyard and its neigh-
bourhood would enable the city of London to give up
this sum of 80,0001. without any call upon their private
resources, or without the additional year's duty on coal.
Of course, as the operations under both acts are now
completed, or nearly so, it would be very easy to stove
for a return, and see how the account stands. But in
justice to the city of London, I am bound to say, that
the committee have received more encouragement from
the Improvement Commission than (except in personal
ceurtesies, for which they are very grateful) from the
Government.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
42, Lowndes-square. WILLIAM TITO.

Sir,—l trust you will indulge me with a small space
in your valuable columns for the purpose of making a
few comments on a letter from Mr. Tite, the emi-
nent City architect, and a principal member of the
committee of the Society of Architects, which ap-
peared in the Times of Wednesday last, on the sub-
ject of the abandonment by the corporation of a small
triangular piece of land—less than a quarter of an
acre—in the south-eastern corner of St. Paul's-church-
yard, which, having been cleared of the old buildings
upon it, affords the public a much better view of the
cathedral than they enjoyed before. A very general wish
has been expressed that this opening may be permanent;
and Mr. Tits, who speaks as the exponent of the views
of the corporation, names, I presume with their autho-
rity, the sum of 60,000/. as the value of this triangular
plot, containing by computation 1,060 square yards.
%crely the corporation must fix this price for the sight,
r4,-ailo.t for the site ; for, otherwise, land in that neigh-
de_ Pa would be worth above 250,0001 per acre, in-
Thist buildings which.
piec. e upon it, is monstrous.
ingegood,atland nasty have cost a great deal for build-
but the present va.C'T
a ch'arge e.:7efurants and so on, which constituted
is not in a good sitnulaot
the formation of the new street •
my judgnaent, be far, the vacant piece of land, which'
I was struck by tile
tcsr shops, must, according to
:11r. Tite's letter erteztion in the latter part of
152,14 r, below the sum talked of.
made myself teachingunderstood"— for 3e qut,ition—" If I have
the perusal of it, I had felt ;haetrtt at that stage of
simple case confounded and confuser"`
than this was by the skill of Mr. Tite,raNeT,
saw a very
employed to prepare the way for ral effectually I
4144 been
position that the public should hiveg in erxacratlnt2 pro_
this 1,050 yards of land a year's continuance C.l coal tax, which at present mulcts them to the th
ex-
tent of 200,0001. per annum, and, of course,
increases
year by year. lam rejoiced to learn from 'Mr. Tite's
letter that the Government refused their aid to this
job. I presume they thought that it was the affair of
the millionaires in the city, who were the pcssessors of
land worth, according to Mr. Tito's showing, 250,0001.
per acre, independent of the buildings erected on it, in-
stead of the poor inhabitants of Westminster, Maryle-
bone, Finsbury, the Tower Hamlets, Rotherhithe, and
Lambeth, who would practically feel the enhanced price
of their coals, though they are probably very indifferent
about the proposed improvement.—l remain, sir, your
constant reader,

Join( DAMSON.

A THRIVING TOWN.—On Sunday last, the Rev. Henry
Brooks christened 104 children in St. Peter's Church, in
this town—the largest number ever known in ono day
in the parish,—.Ziverpoel Courier,