The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-09 00:00:00

Mr. WILLIAMS wished to bo informed what the o:

ginal estimate for the building was.
Mr. COWPER, in reply, said £200,000.
Mr. CO N INGHAM must say that the plan did not ap-
pear to him to be satisfactory.
Mr. BALL thought they could not agree to such a course
as his hon. friend suggested with respect to the postpone-
ment of this vote. They had all agreed that the expense of
the building would be £200,000, and was it because of fear
of increased expenditure in the carrying out of the work
that they were now to be called upon to postpone the vote?
He thought the arguments adduced were not very logical,
and he hoped the committee would agree to the vote, and
the more especially so, after the pledge the First Minister
had given them that the works should be carried out with a
strict attention to economy.
Lord J. RUSSELL said it was obvious that neither
the Government nor his right hon. friend the First Com-
missioner of Works could give any such pledges as some
hon. members required them to give in relation to the
proposed internal arrangements of the new Foreign-
office. In the original plan it was proposed that sitting
and sleeping apartments should be provided in the new Fo-
reign4ffice for the Foreign Minister and his family, but, on
further consideration, that thought was given up, on the
ground that it was not desirable to incur increased expense
in the plans for such an object.
Mr. H. SEYMOUR thought the House of Commons
should have the plans laid before them so that they might
seleet the best design. He denied that it was necessary
that an expenditure of £230,000 should be incurred for the
erection of a Foreign. office ; and many members who had
now left the house thought that that sum would not only
be applied to the building of the Foreign-office, but to that
also of the Indian-office, and of another department. What
said the committee that sat on that subject, and to which
his hon. friend the member for Liskeard (Mr. Osborne)
drew attention a little time ago ? The very first thing they
said was that £90,000 would be sufficient for that purpose.
But according to the present plan a sum of £230,000 was
asked for. Mr. Pennethorne, who erected a beautiful
structure in Jermyn-street—a structure which every one
admired—offered to construct the Foreign-office for a sum
of £60,000 ; but his offer was not accepted, and:it was pro-
posed to give more than twice as much to Mr. Scott for his
plan. He did not think the House of Commons would be
performing their duty as guardians of the public purse un-
less they looked narrowly into those calculations. The
committee had a right to be critical or. this subject, because
the Government, when trusted in former times in similar
matters, had led the country into expense far beyond what
the original plan and estimates wore. He thought they
shouldatshni
dodebfr oaetosentt otmaotnetcdahonantstsheoenf tbteo the proposed vote until they saw the
plans before them, and the elevation, the internal arrange-
ments, anfdorthteheLrnamentation, Every one condemned the
plan of Mr. Scott, but the Government were bound hand
gentleman.s tdealingarvni
to.lh'ehmt
arrangement
matter.m
wmoi tutlede
bviee,hr eteonmopotastyttthcAoi
innrg:
p.c owsstoitbufthlotdor
nhgeiosv
eorn biindulging trouble,
and then' take the best plan.
Lord PALMERSTON said if hen. members were re-
solveddbuuligl
ti nagt
all.in c r semy skonne thew
that F Foreign-office
rieti gwna-ao
mc-e
genius or ingenuity of man to invent or
construct anything that could not be criticised. With re-
gard to the elevation, ile really thought that after the dis-
Clit4fou that had taken place that hail WM added Iwo%