The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-08 00:00:00

PUBLIC BUSINESS.

The Wakefield and Aberford Road—the West :Midland
Railway—the Bradford, Wakefield, and Leeds Railway
(Amendments)—and the Bristol and North Somerset Rail-
way (Amendments) Bills were read a third time and
passed.

AFFAIRS OF GREECE.
The Marquis of NORMANBY said, as general anarchy
was said to prevail in Athens, it was desirable to have the
deliberate opinion of our own Minister formed on the spot.
He therefore wished to know whether there would be any
objection to produce any despatch that might have been
received from Mr, it3carlett relating to the matter.
Earl RUSSELL said he would look over the despatches,
and see if he could give the noble marquis the information

he required.
SHEEP AND CATTLE (SCOTLAND) BILL.
This bill passed through committee.
STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL.
The LORD CHANCELLOR, moved the second reading
of this bill, the object of which was to remove a large num •
her of acts from the statute book which had become altoge-
ther obsolete. This was a case in which the greatesf con
fidence should be placed in those who drew up this ponder-
ous bill, and he could assure their lordships that he and his
auxiliaries had devoted their best attention to the measure
to insure its accuracy. The bill was of a similar nature to

that introduced by the late Lord Campbell, and which had
been found to produce the moat satisfactory results.
Lord ST. LEONARDS supported the second reading of
the bill, but, while he did so, he did not coincide with the
idea thrown out by the Lord Chancellor, which proposed
the constitution of a body of men to consolidate the de.
cisions of the judges, which would in some respects be
placing a class of persons above their lordships' house.
Lord BROUGHAM also assented to the cecond read-
ing. He said their lordships must take the bill on trust,
as it would be totally impossible for any committee to
inquire into its provisions with any good effect, as the bill
occupied nearly 200 pages, each page dealing with about
20 matters, so that 4,00) subjects were dealt with.
Lord CRAN'WORTII eaid there were only 80 or 90 years
of the statute book that would require revision if the bill
pissed. When the entire statutes were revised, a consoli-
dation of the statute law must follow.
Lord CHELMSFORD suggested that the column of
reasons for the omission of the several statutes repealed in
this bill would be retained for the guidance of the Commons,
when the bill came before them.
The LORD CHANCELLOR would act on this sug-
gestion, on the understanding that the omission of this
column, if it were rejected in the Commons, would not
prove fatal to the bill. With regard to the observations re-
specting the codification of the decisions of the judges, he
begged to appeal from Lord St. Leonards to Sir Edward
Sugden, who had himself been the great codifier of the
judgments pronounced on the bench.
The bill was read a second time.
PUBLIC WORKS (MANUFACTURING DIS-
TRICTS) BILL.
On the motion for going into committee on this bill,
The Earl of DERBY said he did not rise to object to the
bill, inasmuch as he considered it was founded on a correct
principle, and was likely to afford considerable relief to the
distressed districts, but to call attention to the satisfactory
report issued by the Central Relief Committee through the
hon. secretary, Mr. Maclure, so late as yesterday. This
report showed a considerable increase of employment.
Forty-seven local committees had suspended operations.
In the districts in which these committees acted there were
25,690 working full time, and 16,806 on short time, out
of 55,362 operatives in the districts. The report also
showed that 234,642 operatives were at full work in
the mills in the cotton districts, against 192,527
who were at full work in the last week of April;
125,097 on short time, against 129,741 last April ;
and 180,729 out of work against 215,512 last April. Now,
though this report showed a reduction in the numbers out
of employment of about 40,000 persons since April last, a
large portion of the population were still out of employ-
ment. it afforded grounds for considerable apprehension
with respect to the coming winter. He might also state
the efforts made to relieve the distress in Lancashire. Ex-
cluding private charity, which had not been known to the
public, and including the sum of £150,000, which had been
expended in the purchase of clothing and food, which was
relief given in kind, the amount of subscriptions for the
relief of the distress was no less than £1,900,000. (Hear,
hear.) He might now state the scale on which the dis-
tress was and is still relieved, in order that their lordships
might not run away with the idea that the sum in hand was
sufficient, or more than sufficient to meet the distress. He
had reasun to believe that, exclusive of the sum of £BO,OOO
in the hands of the Mansion House Committee, there still
remained available for the purposes of the Central Relief
Committee, including the sum promised but not yet paid in)
something like £600,000. At the same time, the committee
considered it an advantage that the amount expended by way
of relief had been reduced from £90,000 to £53,000 a month.
(Hear.) If, then, the rate:of relief remained at £53,000 a
month, the amount in hand would supply the demand for
twelve months to come. But at the end of that time the funds
would be exhausted, and they could not expect the country
to make such an effort as last year, and the means of the
operatives were now at a low point ; moreover, they must not
take £53,000 as the measure of what would be required,
for there was a large amount of outdoor labour of a tem-
porary nature, and there were many mills at work that
were hot likely to continue during the winter. Therefore
the greatest possible economy must be observed in hus-
banding their resources for the coming winter ; for the
£600,000 would hardly be equal to meet the demands on
it that would arise. Consequently every bill which, like
the present, would enable the districts to engage in
works which would ultimately become profitable, and which
would avoid the serious difficulty the committee had in find-
ing occupation for those who wished relief, was one which,
under the present circumstances, ought to be co
ommeit ndewasd.
He entirely concurred on the principle on which
founded.
After a few words from Earl GRANVILLE,
The house went into committee.
On clause 13,
The Earl of DERBY pointed out that the words defining
the owners whose consent must be obtained before the works
could be carried out did not include life interests.
Earl GRANVILLE said he would attend to this objec-
tion when the report came up.
The bill passed through committee.
PORT ERIN HARBOUR (ISLE OF MAN)
BILL.
This bill was read a second time.
PIERS AND IHARBOURS ORDERS CONFIR-
,
NATION.

This bill was read a second time.
THAMES EMBANKMENT (SOUTII SIDE) DILL.
This bilLpassed through committee.
The Militia Ballots Suspension Bill and the Walmer
Vestry Bill were read' a second time.
PASSENGERS' ACT AMEN DMENT BILL.

_2:his bill passed through committee.
the Oaths Relief in Criminal Proceedings (Scotland)
Bill and the Mutiny (East India) Act Repeal Bill were
read a third time and pasfied.
The house then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—Last Evening,

The SPEAKER took the chair at a quarter past 12 o'clock.

FORTIFICATIONS.

Mr. MASSEY brought up the report of the committee
empowering the bringing in of this bill.
FISHERIES (IRELAND) BILL.

The house went into committee on this bill.
The consideration of tho clauses occupied the remainder
of the sitting.
The house resumed at six o'clock.
FORTIFICATIONS.

Mr. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSEN brought in the
Fortifications Bill, which was read a first timg.
THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

Mr. J. A. SMITH postponed his motion for a select com-
mittee to inquire into the past management and present con-
dition of the Patriotic Fund, without naming a day when
he would bring it on. He had been informed that the Royal
commissioners were about to hold a meeting and inquire
into the matter which he intended to bring before the house.
In consequence of that, he postponed his motion, but he by
no means pledged himself to wait till the Royal commis-
sioners had investigated the matter and reported.
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH THROUGH PERSIA.

Colonel SYKES asked the Under-Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs whether there was a new convention for
the construction of the electric telegraph through Persia,
drawn out by Mr. Eastwich, charge d'affaires at Teheran,
on Dec. 17, 1862, and whether there would be any objection
to lay a copy of the same upon the table of the house.
Mr. LAYARD said there was a new convention, but it
was not signed; there would be no objection to lay it on the
table of the house when it was signed.
SALE OF FORESTAL RIGHTS OF THE CROWN.
Mr. TORRENS asked the Secretary to the Treasury
whether the consent of her Majesty, signified in writing
under the Royal sign manual, in conformance with section
5 of cap. 56 of the Act IGth and 17th Vic., had been ob-
tained for the sale of the forestal rights of the Crown over
the southern and the northern portions of the Forest of
Epping, which were outhcrised to be sold A
by the two Tree..
Bury warrants partieularLed in page 122 of ppendix to the
Report from the Select Committee on Royal Forests, dated
June 9, 1863 ; and, if such written consent had been ob-
tained, whether there would be any objection to laying it
upon the table of the house.
Mr. PEEL said it was necessary only in disputed cases.
Here the right was recognised and undisputed, and the
Treasury warrants were sufficient for the purpose.
THE GODAVERY RIVER.
Mr. J. B. SMITH asked the Secretary of State for India,
whether he had received any communications respecting
the progress of the opening out of the River Godavery since
the date of last published correspondence laid beforerarlia-

ment, viz., May 2, 1862; and, if so, whether he would lay
the same upon the table of the house.
Sir C. WOOD said no report had been receivel 'nee the
last published correspondence.
THE AUGMENTATION OF BENEFICr S BILL.
In answer to Mr, HADFIELD,
Sir G. GREY said the second reading tb., Augmenta-
tion of Benefices Bill would be moved on Thursday.

MR. ROEBUCK AND THE EMPEROR OF THE
FRENCH.
Mr. S. BEAUMONT—who had the following question
on the paper—To ask the hon. member for Sheffield whether
the conference in the paiacc of Fontainebleau, which took

place on Tuesday, the 30th of June, was recorded by any
memorandum made on the same or the following day; and,
if so, to ask the hon. member and the hon, member for

Sunderland, whether (having regard to the assertion in re-

ference to that conference with the French Government had

hought fit to insert in the Illoniteur), they would have any
)bje.etion to lay it upon the table of the house— said he had

received a private communication from the hon. member for
Sheffield, in which he informed him he would not be able to

be down to the house that evening to answer the question,
but that all the evidence in his hands upon the subject

would be adduced on the future discussion of his motion.

OFFICE OF WORKS.
Mr. B. COCHRANE moved the following resolution :
" That the large sums annually voted for public buildings
and and improvements in the metropolis are not etxopetnhre a
satisfactory manner, and that, with a view
on
effi-
ciency of the Office of Works, it should constitutedbeeeas
ins the a
different basis." He said the manytho
sub-
jectbein
being
aed
reasonbeen
he e
shouldhos notshowedl mwwas
ks
eveatrhty,eshaoabrfoadvretfonirocomhtairoigntse,
it was a proof of its necessitty
uponthe
architecturethat
of evilsthe
mi. e
ttrh.noepe
oerrors
ei
thwtochuditc htwhhtahiteehyt
hfheonuptnudto
public
inec
opinion prevailed. Every. o
brought money Government, thad
f
forwardwaspentthiins maoßtioinm!toroe!nearblme manner,
9oanvernd
it was carried,
theos rheee hopedess,end
mitowdiofuyldthebeco,ffitoeecootnlsvidoerrksthsoe
tI
ense
to
ot e
mr de ue
tr etnhge
requirements and necessities of the metropo-
lis. He would begin his complaint with Burlington House.
That property was purchased by the Government in 1852,
for £160,000. In 1855, and every year since, her Majesty's
Government had been asked what they intended to do with
it, and it was but the other night that the present First
Commissioner of Works made a joke about it. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer also told them on a recent occasion
that they must wait until they had come to a decision about
the Kensington Exhibition building, and then he would tell
them what was to be done with Burlington House. They
could all tell what had been dons with it since 1855, and
now it was turned into a kind of foraging berth for volun-
teers to go through their manoeuvres, and throw up embank-
ments on a small scale. The Geological and two or three
other Societies had taken possession of the building, and the
property was entirely lost to the country. The National
Gallery and the Royal Academy were still together, after
repeated committees had reported in favour of their separation
In 1861 a sum of between £16,000 and £17,000 was voted to
put the building in a state to meet the requirements of both,
and now after all they were to be divided. All these unsatis-
factory proceedings arose from the constant change of the
First Commissioner of Works—the average period of his
holding office being two years only—who invariably on taking
office threw over what had been done by his predecessor.
A balance of between £26,000 and £30,000 was left from
the vote for the Duke of Wellington's funeral, with which
it was intended to erect a monument to his memory in St,
Paul's Cathedral. That had not been done, and he bad no
idea of what had become of the money. He was not blam-
ing one particular Commissioner of Works, but only the
system, feeling that every one of them had been anxious to
discharge the duty of the office. In 1838 a committee re-
ported the Foreign office as unsafe; yet, up to this time
nothing had been done towards erecting a new one. The
estimate for the Houses of Parliament was £700,000, but
there had been upwards of three millions spent on them,
and they were considered by many hon. members a disgrace
to the country. Buckingham Palace was estimated at
£240,000, but £1,400,000 had been expended upon it. The
Record-office was in an incomplete state, and the only thing
that made the War-office in Pall-mall reconcileable was the
pleasant view the chief officials had on to the park, which
they did not like to lose. (Laughter.) He mentioned a cir-
cumstance in connection with the erection of a floating or
permanent light for the shipping of Ceylon, as a proof of
how public money was spent. in 1826 a representation was
made that a floating light should be placed on Bass's Rock,
Ceylon ; and in 1848, the Government having made up their
mind that something should be done, wrote to Ceylon for
advice, and in 1854 they got a report, stating that a floating
light was impracticable, and that it should be a permanent
one. In that year a vote for £4,500 was taken for its erec-
tion; and in 1855 £3OOO more; and in 1856 £17,000 more,
with £6,000 for steamers to carry over the materials. In
1857 £B,OOO more were voted; in 1858 £10,000; in 1859
£lO,OOO ; making, together, £54,000 on the £4,500 estimate.
(Hear.) The lighthouse had not been put up, and was, be
believed, now lying on the wharf at Point de Galle, because
in 1861 it was found a permanent lighthouse could not be
erected, but that a floating light must be stationed over the
place where the light was required. (Hear, hear.) In 1860
a vote of £B,OOO was taken for the floating light ; in 1862
£2,000; and this year they had voted £B,OOO ; making alto-
gether very nearly £BO,OOO. And that was the way they
trifled with public money. (Hear, hear.) Since the last
time he brought the subject before the house he had taken
a ride with his right hon. friend the First Commissioner of
Works to the Serpentine, but the only thing hecould admire
there were the water-lilies. The water was a green colour,
and a jet had been put up 8 feet high on the monolith, so
that the water could not flow out of it. Why was it that
thelland at Carlton-terrace had been sold for so small a price
as £30,000 per acre, when they had it upon the authority of
the noble lord at the head of the Government that land else-
where in the metropolis sold for £60,000 per acre ? Why,
also, was the aspect of the metropolis, as regarded its public
buildings, so inferior to that of all other capitals? These
failures were all due to the bad organisation of the Office of
Works. But were they to go on for ever in that way ?
Nearly £1,000,030 was expended every year upon public
works, and since 1847 or 1848 something like £3,000,000
had been spent in connection with science and art. It was
not for him to say what should be done; still he might
point out that if the department were worked by a perma-
nent commission of able men, they never would have wit-
nessed the scene of the other night, for they would have
known what they wanted. His principal complaint was
that the office had not authority enough.
Mr. FERRAND seconded the motion.
Mr. COWPER had no doubt that many of our public
buildings must be most offensive to a person of such well re-
cognised taste as his hon. friend. At the same time he could
have wished his hon. friend had taken the trouble to inquire
into the causes of this evil. He thought ho could show that
in the instances quoted the Office of Works were in no way
responsible. It was true that Burlington House was pur-
chased for a sum of £140,000; that instead of being no use to
the public, the contrary was the fact ; for it had been of the
vary greatest use. Of late years it had been occupied by a
number of the learned societies—by the Royal Society, the
University of London, and the Linnte In Society ; while the
public were thereby enabled to obtain much needful accom-
modation at Somerset House. He quite agreed that the
garden of Burlington House might serve for the erection of
a most splendid picture-gallery; but unfortunately the Office
of Works could not have their own way in the matter, and
it certainly was not owing to them that the site had not
been availed of for the purpose. The National Gallery was
a building of which they had no reason to be proud ; but
then the Office of Works had had nothing to do with its
erection. The blame lay with the Government of the day)
who were unwilling to spend more than £50,000 upon the
building, and that was a sum entirely too small for an edifice
to he erected in such a situation. And it was entirely owing
to the efforts of Lord Monteagle, who was the Chancellor of
the Exchequer of the day, that stone was made to take the
place of stucco itnßtbueckbinugilhdainnig,F such aesaritriwedas.eutNennithdeerr
were the works a
thei‘.f r .
Nash
control
ash u under
rt the
ed ep
directionsel m ent 0
fTthheey .
Sovereignw e ewers executed
and
theby
to the sale of land at Carlton-terrace,
Treasury. Then/ as land;
-
that did not concern the Office of Works,
etotnwldashesoaled..
by the Commissioners of h .
kTnhoeeewleadtgeresthoefmtheressperopuesible
nefowr
were
ee ofssthaatellowt
aenSderthpeenretifnoree.
weeds. efdosr.
the H
artifi-
ciale
i t cer-
tainlywa s
did impossibleno not
oontsoi
consider
ivte
hisnt the
duty
hnp ofsesaitbulreetsoodfenthyethmatetwroitpholii.se.sgretowsthtanefd
manysam same timetheir it wasblie
bHueiluelsien—gsththaney might well wheoll bdeidpronuodt.
building—the Custom House, the Post Office, and the
peActttothe
know There
aw a s
handsomerp Somersetu
Museum of Geology. All these were plain, substantial,
well-arranged, and economical buildings, and very suit-
able for their several purposes. In regard to Public Im-
provements, he thought the conduct of the department
had been very satisfactory ; in proof of which he
might refer to such great improvements as the forma-
tion of New Oxford-street, the projection of the new street
from Blackfriars to the Mansion-house, and the Thames
embankment scheme. The right hon, gentleman having
traced the history of the department, said that until 1832 it
might be said to be quite a subordinate department. In that
year, however, the office was for the first time placed under
a Minister of the Crown, who was assisted by a board ; and
so the department was constituted until the year 1851,
when the existing constitution was adopted. The office had
charge of 120 buildings in England, 24 in Scotland, 17 parks
arid gardens, 80 post-offices, and 41 probate registries' and
he ventured to say there was no department under the
Crown the business of which was more efficiently conducted.
But his hon. friend complained of the want of permanency
about it; well, the secretary Mr. Austin was permanent, and
a most efficient public servant too ; there was a permanent
collector, and several permanent surveyors and assistant
surveyors, and 15 clerks of works. Moreover, the depart-
ment was not dependent upon the official servants con-
nected with the office, for, as occasion required, they had
recourse to the highest professional talent outside. As
architects, they had recourse to Mr. Gilbert Scott and Mr.
Edward Barry, to Mr. Fowler as an engineer; and on the
subject of landscape gardening they received notice from
Mr. John Leslie. When it became necessary to take
counsel with respect to the decay of the stone used for the
Houses of Parliament, they called in Mr, FiuTaday and Sir