The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-16 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
(THIS DAY.)

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at Twelve o'clock.
METROPOLIS IMPROVEMENT BILL.
The Earl of LINCOLN moved the second reading of
the Metropolis Improvement Bill
Mr. HAWES greatly disapproved of the Bill, and
protested against the way in which.it was now brought
before the House. There bad been nearly one hundred
alterations made in the Bill, and these within a day or
two. No person could have had time properly to look
over the Bill in the shape in which it was then presented
to the House. If the attempt to carry the Bill further
at that time were persisted in, he should feel himself
justified in moving the previous question.
The Earl of LINCOLN said, since he had had a seat
in that House he had never heard a more unfair objec-
tion taken to proceeding with 'a Bill than that of the
lion. Member for Lambeth, and it was particularly un-
fair, as a preliminary one, coming too from such a
quarter; but of the hundred alterations which the Hon.
Member said had been made in the Bill, there were not
more than six of them but what were merely verbal
amendments. These amendments he (Lord Lincoln) had
had printed and circulated, with a view to the con-
venience of Hon. Members, and in order to facilitate
the business of the House. The Hon. Member
said he was acting with unfairness in asking them
to go on with the Bill. Why late last night,
or rather early this morning—at about half-past twelve
—that Hon. Gentleman had informed him (Lord Lin-
coln) that be had an immense mass of amendments to
propose, and what course did he (Mr. Hawes) pursue in
respect of them ? Why he had not printed one of them.
—(Loud cries of "Hear, hear.") Was not that an un-
usual course ? Now he (Lord Lincoln) would not
charge the Hon. Gentleman with unfairness ; but he
would say that the course he had adopted was a most
inconvenient one, which could lead to no good purpose.
If, however, the Hon. Member thought this a proper
course, and the House chose to sanction it, he (Lord
Lincoln) would not as an individual complain ; but
this he must say, that such conduct entirely pre-
cluded the Honourable Gentleman from indulging in any
censure upon him (Lord Lincoln.) It could not be de-
nied that he (Lord Lincoln), by having his amendments
printed, had afforded an accommodation to the House
which the Hon. Gentleman himself had not been gracious
enough to afford.—(Hear, hear.) Having given the
,1 House every facility in respect to this Bill that he could, he
I indulged the hope that a due consideration would not be
denied to it. Under such circumstances, he should regret,
even for the Hon. Gentleman's own sake, if he should
seriously endeavour to interfere with the progress of a
measure which he (Lord Lincoln) had reason to suppose
would be certainly acceptable out of doors.—(Hear.)
Mr. HAWES said he had told the Noble Lord, three
or four months ago, that be had many amendments to
propose to this Bid; and he had told him so again at a
later period, certainly under the expectation that • the
Noble Lord would have invited him to lay those amend-
ments before him. lie did not do so, and there let the
matter rest. He would accept the invitation of the
Noble Lord, and proceed to state, as precisely as he
could, his general objections to this Bill. He begged to
say, then, that he conceived this Bill neither more nor less
than making war on the whole trade of London. It was,
altogether, of so vexatious a character, that if the public
understood its real character, the Housc, would be inundated
with petitions against it. It involved alterations not only
as regarded the construction of the buildings, but of a
sanatory character of the most extraordinary descrip-
tion ; and like all the other Bills of the present
Government, it was distinguished above all of its other
bad qualities for the enormous amount of patronage it
created for the Government. He trusted. the Noble
Lord would be able to state the real expenses which the
public would have to bear under this Act—an Act of the
most over-reaching and tyrannical character, which ab-
solutely interfered so alike with the rich landlord and
the poor one that neither of them would be able to
alter or improve their premises as they liked.
If the present Bill passed it would have the effect of put-
ting a stop to that desire for building which was so pre-
valent at the present moment, for no party would be
enabled to build engine-houses or other places for rail-
ways, or a small bridge over a fancy piece of water, or
even a wall, unless they sent for a London surveyor, and
asked if he approved of it. If they did not adopt this
course they would be subject to a fine of 5001. ; added
to this, in cases of buildings referred to by the Act, it
required that a good foundation should be found. Was
not that, he should ask, absurd ? Because it supposed
that all architects and surveyors, unless under the sanc-
tion of the Government, were incompetent to perform the
duties of their avocations. All houses of public resort
were all subject to the provisions of the Bill—even
public-houses and school-buildings came under its ope-
rations ; and, added to that, the Bill would have the
effect of taking away votes from those who occupied
charnbers of the value of 101. and upwards. Now, such
a matter was a subject of great consideration, especially
in the City of London. There was another part of the
Bill to which he wished to call the attention of the
House. It was provided that the salaries of the official
referees and registrars should be paid out of the county
rate and he felt bound to congratulate the county of
Kent—that county, which produced hops and apples,
always had the greatest benefits, for while Middlesex
paid 1,0001. to the county rates, and Surrey 300/., Kent
' only' paid 801. In his opinion, proceedings under
the till were by far of too summary a character.
Under this Bill builders were liable' to be called before
justices of the peace, and even workmen were liable to
a fine of 50s. it they acted contrary to the provisions of
this Act. The 43d clause was also very objectionable,
and he hoped it would be struck out. Under all these
circumstances he would ask if this was a proper Bill to
proceed with at such a period of the session? The public
had Slot had sufficient notice of the contents of the Bill,
and he thought it might be postponed with advantage to
the public. He should therefore move the previous
question.

Mr. MACKINNON seconded the motion. He ad-
verted to the recommendations of the Committee for
securing better ventilation and drainage, and stated that
many of these recommendations were omitted from the
Bill altogether. The whole Bill must have originated with
some builder, desirous of putting any unfortunate per-
sons erecting a house to as much expense as possible.
It contained a vast amount of legislation that was totally
unnecessary, and he strongly recommended that it
should be postponed.
The Earl of LINCOLN said he never saw a more
practical illustration of the saying that extremes meet,
than the opposition of the two lion. Gentlemen to the
Bill. The Hon. Member for Lambeth made a slashing
attack on the Bill, and said it went too far, and his
Honourable Friend said it did not go far enough.
He begged to remind his Hon. Friend who had seconded
the amendment, that the recommendation of the Com-
mittee of which he was a member formed the basis of
the Bill introduced by Lord Normanby ; but it was found
so impractical that it was obliged to be abandoned.
There was no provision to prevent building back to back.
He thought buildings of that character might be made
consistent with the health of the inhabitants ; neither
were there many provisions with regard to drainage, be-
cause a Commission was sitting upon that subject now,
the result of which would be that there would be general
legislation on the subject next year. The Hon. Gen-
tleman, the Member for Lambeth, had asked thattheßill
should be postponed. He could not see the advantage
of that, as the subject had been most maturely consi-
dered. Most eminent architects had been consulted, and
therefore there was no further necessity for delaying the
Bill. If the provisions of the Bill were bad, let it be
rejected ; but if good, let it be passed now. It was
not a war on the trade of the metropolis, as the
Honourable Member for Lambeth had said, but
a Bill to prevent the . faulty construction of
buildings, and to promote the health of the metropolis.
He thought he had a right to say that the public not
only understood the Bill, but approved of it. The
sanatory regulations constituted one of the most powerful
arguments in its favour. The Hon. Gentleman com-
plained of the way in which the Bill was drawn, and
spoke of its ridiculous minutenes. Whatever the
Government did, it appeared, was wrong.—(Laughter.)
He had often heard the Hon. Gentleman, who was a
great critic in his way, complain of the vagueness of
Government Bills ; but when a Bill was brought
forward, which he who ran might read, he
made a different sort of complaint. He also complained
of many of the enactments as being too extensive,
particularly that which referred to the British Museum.
This was rather unfortunate, since the trustees of that
institution had themselves requested that it might be
included. The Hon. Gentleman said that if this Bill
had been in existence some time since there were many
public buildings which could not have been constructed.
This was an unfortunate objection, because within the
last few months an accident had happened at the Brick-
layers' Arms, which would have been prevented if this
Bill had been in operation. The Hon. Gentleman com-
plained also that places. of public resort were placed
under supervision. Did he recollect that such a thing
had occurred as a theatre falling down in the metro-
polis ?—(Hear.) Again, the Hon. Gentleman complained
of the patronage given by ibis Bill. He must say
that if any Government was less exposed to observa-
tions of this kind it was the Government then in power.
He would defy the Hon. Gentleman to frame a Bill of
this sort without the appointment of the officers ap-
pointed under the Bill. He had been told that the num-
ber of referees appointed under it was insufficient ; but
he had refused to increase their numbers, and had only
appointed two. It would be their duty to act as arbi-
trators, and to render the stringent enactments of the
Bill as harmless as was consistent with the public safety.
The Hon. Gentleman bad complained of the increase .in
the county rates, but the expenses would be defrayed by
the districts benefited. Every endeavour had been
made to make the appointments as fair as possible. With
regard to the objection to clauses 18 and 19, as no
doubt that Hon. Gentlemen would attack them in
Committee, he should then be prepared to defend them
but the Hon. Gentleman would find that those clauses
existed in the present Act. He considered the principle
of the Bill so good, that he would not detain tke House
longer by defending it ; and he trusted that no further
obstacles would be thrown in the way of the House re-
solving itself into Committee.
After a few words from Mr. MACKINNON,
Mr. TUFNELL complained of the late period of the
session at which a measure of this. importance was
brought forward ; and he thought the lion. Member for
Lambeth was perfectly justified in opposing it. It
affented every building in the metropolis, and was a most
unwarranted interference with the rights of property.
No doubt the surveyors were in favour of the Bill, as it
brought them a vast additional amount of business.
There was no provision whatever to prevent any oneof those
official referees from being the agent of one of the large
proprietors in the metropolis. He was somewhat sus-
picious as to the parties who were to be appointed official
referees. There had been an alteration in the wording of
the clause relative to the qualification of these officers.