The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-03 00:00:00

more convulse the House with his dry humour,
even Mr. WHALLEY'S absurdities come almost as a
relief to the dull decorum of the House of Com-
mons' debates, when they happen to be unenlivened
by the constitutional facetiousness of the aged
farceur at the head of the Government.
It is only to be regretted, however, that
Religion, so called, should be the theme selected by
Mr, WHALLEY for the display—not of his powers
of being witty himself, but of causing wit in others,
or at any rate we may say not of laughing himself
but of illiciting repeated, or as we may actually
call them from their periodicity, sessional
bursts of laughter from others. The sequel to
the annual debate and division caused every
successive session by Mr. WHALLEY'S inevitable
motion in regard to Maynooth College, only varies
in respect to the numerals set down as the re-
sult of that division, Otherwise that sequel
may be said to be stereotyped. This year the re-
sult runs simply thus : Ayes 100, Noes 198—
majority against Mr. WHALLEY'S motion, 98—the
announcement being received with cheers and
laughter.

A lengthened discussion on the various questions
brought before the Committee of Supply on Mon-
day evening gives evidence that members are
anxious to redeem the invariable pledge given on
the hustings by advocating some retrenchment in
the expenditure of public money. The votes for
the public buildings, for the palaces, for the parks,
for the Kensington Museum, were all severely cri-
ticised in turn. The amount asked on each head
certainly appears to be large, and the most unsatis-
factory part of it is that the sums are annually in-
creasing. On some points, such as the parks, the
expenditure certainly results in public benefit, for
the advantages of these open spaces in the neigh-
bourhood of the metropolis are certainly very great.
It must be remembered by the objectors that very
great improvements have recently been carried out
in many of the parks, which have, of course, added
temporarily to the expense. Colonel SYKES gave
his testimony as to the changes for the better made
in Hyde Park, and as his experience as a resident
extends over a period of thirty years, he must be
well qualified to form an opinion. Battersea
Park has been transformed from a mere
grass common into a really beautiful park,
whose pleasant walks and varied trees and
shrubs delight thousands of visitors during the
summer months. It is of course desirable to keep
a prudent check on the expenditure of the public
money, but honourable gentlemen on Monday night
were disposed to be a little hypercritical. With
regard to the public buildings, there was more
ground for complaint. Large sums are annually
given for this purpose, and yet no satisfactory re-
sult is ever attained. The few works which enable
us to claim any sort of architectural excellence for
our modern Babylon are scattered far and wide.
There is no chance of obtaining a really fire view
in London, such as can be seen from the Place de la
Madeleine. Even the fine block of public offices at
Whitehall lose half their effect from taking a wrong
slant. Standing at Charing•cress and looking down
towards Parliament-street, only part of the first
house can be seen, Had they been placed in the
right position, and had the work been carried
on as it might have been, the gazer would
have looked down a fine architectural avenue to the
magnificent old abbey. There is certainly a great
want of unity in our present method, but it is
doubtful whether the defects complained of would
be altogether remedied by the adoption of Mr.
CHILDERS'S suggestion of placing the whole of the
Public Buildings under the control of one Govern-
ment official. It would be necessary to stipulate in
the interests of public taste that the Minister in
question should be selected with more care and cir-
cumspection than is usually shown in the filling up
of vacant posts. Unless some new genius rose up
among the GREYS, RUSSELLS, or ELLIOTS things
would probably not be much mended. Fancy Sir
CHARLES WOOD at the head of such an office-
According to his principles of Indian legislation he
would probably favour the scheme that left most
money in the hands of the Government, and we
should see our public offices and museums appearing
with square brick fronts and slated roofs ! T
doubt,however, some truth in the
complainthemreadis
made
no
of authority created a kind of anarchy. The ellet
by Mr. CHILDERS that the unnecessary subdivoisi.on
Commissioner of Works had not, he said, the gene-
ral control. " The superintendence of the public
works difficult to
and buildings connected with the Govern-
ment was so scattered about that it was
know wham to apply to. Some were under the
control of the Treasury, such as harbours and piers;
railways, which required so much care in their
supervision, were placed under the control of the
President of the Board of Trade, who had functions
to discharge of a totally different character Home
, and
other works were under the control of the
s Secretary. There was such anarchy
in tho dis-
ible s-
charge
charge of their functions that it wa
have an efficient and economical control over them.
He hoped before long some hon. member would take
the subject up, and ask Parliament to consider
whether some change in the present plan of super-
vision of our public works and buildings ought not
to be made. He considered they ought to be con-
centrated under the super intendenc3 of one depart-
ment, which would be more economical than now,
and tend to an improved style of architecture."
If such a suggestion were adopted it would be
very necessary that a man of architectural taste and
knowledge should be put at the head of it. There
is room for such a department among us, for public
taste has been too long neglected. The Go-
vernment, so readily lavish on some points,
are unduly cautious in others, as some extrava-
gant persons endeavour to atone for their general
thriftlessness by petty and inconsistent savings.
The same gentleman who talked very indifferently
of the annual thousands expended on the metro
politan parks, accounted for the unfinished state
of the conservatory at Kew by saying that the
Government did not feel justified in undertaking
a further expenditure of £14,000, If the estimate
were unnecessarily extravagant it should not have
been entered into, but if it bee o more than is
suitable for the proper complAi of the under-
taking the public will scarcely begrudge it. Some
of the honourable members who objected to the
estimates based their n on a wrong foot-
ing. It i 0pp05....0
suffi-
cient means
na because the country has not sUffi-
eE pense ' (which has notln g'
is objected
to.
P_IY, that extravagant expenditure
xcheqzie), that ex, hitherto much affected the
ggerated estimates are to be
jug, and,tancaLra act because " Ireland is starv-
ing,
and unreasonable
kept up at the public
tent. If our northern friends"'wade reduced in ex-
and the Government refusadit7nod I g help
hitherto t her t—oe dtet beat
1.
er
,mtennid
money on the parks and rau e- -a9 out the
there
money, and th—e---1"
indeed, be cause for outcry. aßent"' would
friends of Lancashire have beets
ing grants of the public
humane and sensible proposal of the President
the Poor-law Board has originated with the Govern-
ment, not with the distressed districts, there is
scarcely room for such a remark, even supposing
the national exchequer were shallow enough to give
it foundation. We fully agree with the noble