The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-04 00:00:00

cently laid out there, thus inflicting on the classes for
who,e recreation that park has been opened an incon-
venience infinitely more serious than could be c !used to
the frequenters of the very much larger area of Hyde-
vtrk by the proposed occupation of a comparatively
small portion of it.
14. Lastly, as regards Wormwood Scrubbs, besides
that the distance is a very serious objection, the rights
of the commoners i❑ that locality would prevent its ap-
propriation ; and the commissioners arc advised that it
would be impossible to erect the building there without
risk, as any single commoner would have it in his power
to interrupt the proceedings, and to cause them to be
discontinued at any stage of the work, however ad-
vanced. Similar objections apply to Wandsworth and
some other commons in the neighbourhood of London,
which have been occasionally mentioned as possible
sites.

14 a. As regards Primrose-hill and the Isle of Dogs,
the want of a level space en the former, and the objec-
tionable situation and dampness of the latter, render
them so obviously unsuitable as to make any particular
observations unnecessary.
15. But even could the objections to any of these sites
be removed, or could another and unobjectionable site
be pointed out, the commissioners feel bound to state,
from their experience c f the time, thought and labour
necessarily consumed in the investigation, arrangement,
and preparation of the great mass of detail requisite to
enable them to carry out this extensive work, that they
are fully convinced of the impossibility of now
adapting their plans to any other site, with any reason-
able prospect of being able to complete the work within
the time to which they stand pledged in the face or the
world; and they could only regard a change of site,
particularly if it should involve a change of plan, as tan-
tamount to the postponement of the exhibition till
another year. And the commissioners cannot shut their
eyes to the fact that a postponement of the exhibition
would, under the circumstances, certainly lead to its
entire abandonment,
16. In order to give the Lords of the Treasury some
idea of the consequence of an abandonment of this
scheme, the commissioners would in the first place direct
their attention to the large amount of money already
subscribed towards its completion (which is at press-at
nearly 64.0000, to the number of local committees (now
about 240) which have been called into existence
throughout the country, to the funds now being raised
by subscriptions out of their wages among the working
classes in all parts of the country towards enabling them
to visit au exhibition to which they are anxiously look-
ing forward, and the abandonment of which would be a
great disappointment to numbers; and still more to the
extensive preparations which are now making for the
supply of articles for exhibition. It is within the know-
ledge of the commissioners that several individuals in
this country have incurred several thousand pounds' ex-
pense in such preparations, besides the anxiety which
they have occasioned.
17. But the evils which would result from postpone-
ment, so f ir as this country is concerned, are as nothing
when compared with those which would arise in the case
of foreign nations and the colonies. The plan of the
exhibition has been widely circulated for several months,
and the following states have already signified, through
their respective Governments, that they have appointed
committees or commissioners, consisting of the most
distinguished individuals in those countries, to co-ope-
rate with the Royal Commission in this country:—Rus-
sic, Sweden, Norway, France, Holland, Belgium, Den-
mark, Prussia, Saxony, Austria, Bavaria, Hanover,
Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, Hauge Towns, Spain, the
United States, Turkey, Sardinia, Venezuela, Switzerland,
Nassau, Anhalt, Dessau, &c. Besides which it may
be mentioned that special commissioners have been sent
to this country by France, Russia, and one or two other
states; and that in most cases the Governments have un-
dertaken the collection and the transmission to this
country, at their own expense, of the articles intended
for exhibition, for which, of course, their preparations
are now made.
18. In all the countries which have been mentioned
active preparations for the exhibition are now going on,
and in some considerable expense is known to have been
incurred. The Russian Government has announced that
the goods intended for exhibition will be shipped from
that country in the autumn of this year, and questions
pointing to a similar arrangement have recently been
put by the Government of Denmark. The Austrian
Government have given notice that the Great Exhibi-
tion which was to have been held at Vienna in the year
1851 has been postponed till the year 1852, in order not
to clash with the exhibition in London. All these cir-
cumstances tend to show that the postponement of the
exhibition would be seriously inconvenient to many
countries, and would probably occasion considerable and
natural irritation at what would appear like national
vacillation, besides the certainty of rendering these
countries unwilling to run the risk of a second disap-
pointment, and of deterring them from continuing their
preparations for a later period.
19. These inconveniences would be felt also by the
British colonies. Committees have been announced as
formed at Malta, Ceylon, Nova Scotia, Barbadoes,
Galena, and several of the West India Islands, and it is
probable that others have been appointed elsewhere. In
India most extensive preparations have been made, and
the East India Company have incurred very great ex-
pense by their exertions to contribute to the exhibition.
20. After what has been said, it is unnecessary that
the commissioners should enlarge any further upon the
consequences to be apprehended from the postponement
which would be occasioned by an alteration of the site
of the building. They will proceed to offer a few re-
marks upon some of the objections which have been
taken to that at present proposed.
21. An idea appears to prevail in some quarters that
the occupation of the park is intended to be of a perma-
nent, and not, as has been repeatedly announced, of a
merely temporary character, and the commissioners are
given to understand that, by proposing to construct a
building into which a good deal of brickwork is to enter
they have shown an intention at variance, wish their pro-
fessions. Upon this point they have to remark, in the
first place, that, although the eminent architects and en-
gineers whom they have consulted, and to whom they
have uniformly given instructions to prepare plans suit-
able to a temporary structure, have agreed to recommend
the use of brick and other durable materials, they have
left it perfectly open to contractors to send in their
tenders for the execution of the work in any material
or materials whatsoever, and have notified their readi-
ness to entertain such tenders on the single condition of
their being" accompanied by working drawings end spe-
cifications, and fully priced bills of quantities." It is
probable that some such tenders will be made, and if
made they will be impartially considered; but the
commissioners must protest against the supposition that it
is necessarily more judicious to construct a temporary
building of perishable than of enduring materials. The
first requisite of the building is, that it should be suit-
able for its purpose, capable of protecting
,the valuable
goods deposited in it from injury of every kind, as, for
instance, from the weather, from the effects of the damp-
ness of the soil, from the danger of fire, and so forth,
and that it should be strong enough to avert all risk of
accidental damage. Its next requisite is, that it should
be economical, and in estimating its cost, regard must be
had, not only to the expense of erection, but to the faci-
lity of removal and the value of the materials when re-
moved, as a building may easily be conceived to be
cheaper which should cost 100,000/. to erect, but of
which the material could afterwards be sold for 50,000/.,
than another would be which cost but 80,000/. in the
first instance, but of which the materials should be-
come so far deteriorated as to produce.osly 20,000/. when
taken down. It is the opinion of those who have
devised the plans in the present case that a build-
ing constructed of durable materials will in the end be
cheaper than one constructed of such as are more
perishable; particularly as a considerable portion of the
building, namely, the iron roofing, will be of a kind
which is generally used in the construction of railway
stations, and will probably be disposed of for that pur-
pose after the close of the exhibition, as its temporary
application to the purposes of the exhibition will be of
no-detriment to its being so. An opportunity of testing
the correctness of this opinion will be given when the
tenders are received, as, in addition to the customary
form, it has been required that they should also be sent
upon the understanding that the materials shall remain
the property of the contractor, and shall in fact only be
hired for the purposes of the exhibition. The third re-
quisite of the building is, that it should be at least
seemly, though it may not bo necessary that it should be
highly ornamental. The commissioners trust that it
will fulfil this condition, while they would at the same
time point out that no expense is to be incurred for
merely ornamental purposes, unless it should be
thought desirable to select a dome for covering in
the large space which must necessarily be left in
the centre of the building to suit the internal arrange-
ments. A cheaper mode of covering in this space will
probably be resorted to, and the commissioners have
directed that a special estimate of the cost of the dome
should be laid before them when the tenders are complete,
in order that they may judge of the propriety of sanc-
tioning its erection.
Having offered this short explanation, they can only
repeat once more the assurances they have already given,
that the building is not intended to be permanent, and
that it will be entirely removed, in accordance with the
conditions prescribed by the Lords of the Treasury on
yielding up the site, within seven mouths after the clos-
ing of the exhibition, which cannot be deferred after the
Ist of November, and will probably take place at an
earlier period in the autumn of next year.
22. Another ground of apprehension is stated to be,
lest the park should be injured by the erection of the
building, and the injury should continue after the
structure is removed. This apprehension is, how-
ever, groundless; a small clump of ten trees has
been allowed to be removed; in compensation for
which, it is proposed by the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests to plant another clump elsewhere. It is
not intended to cut down any more than that clump.
As regards the surface of the grouud to be occupied, it
will not only not be injured, but will ultimately be ma-
terih
gra
tors for the ally improved by being drained and freshly sown
contrac
wit ss seed. It will be a strict condition with the
building that they shall. on its re-
moval, restore the ground to its present condition.
23. Some dissatisfation has been expressed at the
prospect of a furnace being erected to heat the boiler
an‘'. drive the steam apparatus. It is, however, intended
to construct such furnace on the principle of consuming
its own smoke, or to burn coke instead of coal, should
that upon the whole appear the best mode of preventing
annoyance. Care will also be taken not to erect any
chimney of an unsightly character.
24. As regards the amount of traffic which will be
occasioned by the transport of materials and goods to the
site, the commissioners have been furnished by the
building committee with an approximate estimate that
it will not in the whole exceed the ordinary amount of
three weeks' general traffic of a single railway station,
and as this traffic will be spread over a period of more
than six months, it is manifest that its amount has been
enormously exaggerated by public estimation.
25. The Queen's Ride, though in the immediate vi-
cinity of the site, will not be in any. degree interfered