MR. SPRING RICE AND THE GRESHAM COMMITTEE.
THERE has been some altercation in the daily pappra as to the cause of delay in commencing the rebuilding of the Royal Exchange; and as both parties have either wilfully or ignorantly mystified the uffilir, it is right to state the facts succinctly and clearly. The Royal Exchange was bequeathed by Sir THOMAS GRESHAM in trust to the Corporation of London and the Mercers Company, as the endowment of the College which he founded. After its destruction in 1666, it was rebuilt by these Trustees, at their expense. After its second and recent destruction, the Corporation of London applied to Parliament for a bill to enable them to raise a certain sum of money for the:purpose of making certain improvements in the neighbourhood ot the Exchange ; thus availing themselves of the opportunity which thedestruction of that
building afforded, to carry on the work of improvement towards which so touch has been already accomplished in that neighbourhood. This application, it must be borne in mind, was not made by the Gresham Trustees; for the Mercers Company were no parties to it, have no control over the money to be raised by it, and are only incidentally affected by it. The duty of the Gresham Trustees is to rebuild the Royal Exchange; to execute which, they neither want nor have asked the sanction of an act of Parliament, or money raised under its authority. The title of the act is "An Act for Improving the Site of the Royal Exchange and the Avenues adjoining thereunto;" and its preamble recites, "that whereas it would be of great advantage to the public if an enlarged site were provided for the Royal Exchange, and the streets and avenues adjoining the same were widened and otherwise improved, be it enacted, that it shall be lawful [not for the Gresham Trustees, but] for the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, to make such spacious and convenient streets according to such plan as they shall think proper ; and shall be approved as is hereinafter mentioned ; provided the plan of the site of the Royal Exchange shall be, in the first instance,
approved by the Trustees of the Gresham Estates." The next clause provides, that "no building shall be placed on the ground now occupied by certain houses in Cornhill and Bank Buildings, without the consent of three Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury ; and that all plans of such improvements and estimates of the hereditatnents required to be purchased shall also be submitted to them."
Soon after the act passed, the Corporation proceeded to do what it required ; that is, they first submitted their intentions to their co-trustees of the Mercers Cornpny ; and having arranged with them as to the site of the Royal Exchange, (with which alone they were concerned,) they sent the ground plan of the contemplated improvements to Mr. SPRING RICE; by whom it was re tained more than a month, without any reply or any notice. At length came an impudent claim to be furnished with a plan and estimate for the new Exchange ; over the erection of which Mr.
RICE demanded to exercise a control and authority, under the clauses we have cited above. This was neither more nor less than to call upon a body of Trustees, who in that capacity had solicited nothing of the Legislature, and one half of whom were no parties
to the bill in any capacity, to surrender the control of their own land—their own funds—their own building—into the hands of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The non-corporate Gresham Trustees might well stare with surprise, and ask what Mr. SPRING RICE had to do with them or their concerns. The result, of course, was a refusal to comply with his silly and insolent demand; and unless that demand be withdrawn, the probability is that the Gresham Trustees will quietly proceed to rebuild the Exchange on their own ground, and that the improvements contemplated by the Corporation will be abandoned. The Ministerial journals have received their cue, and have endeavoured by mystification and lying to shield Mr. SPRING RICE from the attack which he has so richly deserved. That the para graphs were, in substance, manufactured at the Treasury, there is internal evidence ; for circumstances are stated which Mr.
Rice only could have known and supplied. It might be supposed that just now. the Chancellor of the Exchequer had quite enough business of his own department on his hands : but, like Bottom, he must act every thing—Wall, Lion, and Moonshine. Here is a large job in prospect : surveyors, architects, clerks of the works, contractors, and workmen of all sorts, must be appointed : hence Mr. Rica's eager interference with the affairs of the Gresham trust. Then, what a nice little court of appeal on all claims for occupancy in the new building, would be established at the Treasury ! what an ample field for manceuvering, intriguing, and jobbing !—If Mr. RICE and his successors are to have a veto on all the proceedings of the Gresham Trustees, the Exchange will not be rebuilt in twenty years. The Ministerial journals say that certain members of the Committee back Mr. Rice's claim. We doubt it: and for this reason —the Gresham Professors, during the progress of the bill, re quested to be examined before the Committee, thinking their interests and those of their successors might be affected by it : the Committee declined to hear them, on the ground that the bill had nothing to do with the building of the Royal Exchange, but merely with its site and its avenues. But, supposing it to be as the Treasury journals state; supposing Sir B. HALL, who (we know it from his own lips) scarcely ever attended the Committee, chooses to echo Mr. Rice's dictum; we appeal from that opinion to the meaning—object—purpose—words of the act. These speak for themselves.
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