MISCELLANEOUS. 241 



and upon what site ? Much has already been written in some of the daily and 

 ■weekly press, upon the assumption that a new building is to be erected If such 

 18 the fact, the Society of Arts would do well to take immediate steps to secure 

 auitable designs for the building they will require. The experience gained by the 

 Royal Commission, and for which it paid so dearly in 1851, must surely be re- 

 membered by them. The work then done in haste was highly creditable to the 

 skill, ingenuity, and perseverance of the contractors : but at what cost was it 

 effected ? Why, £35,000 above the contract price is stated to have been allowed 

 to Messrs. Fox, Henderson & Co., the original contract being to erect the build- 

 ing designed by Mr, Paxton for £19,800. Surely, such a result will be 

 sufficient inducement to the Society of Arts to at once set about obtaining 

 designs and contracts for the required building. Where, then, is the Ex- 

 hibition building to be placed ? Government will certainly not allow a 

 second Crystal Palace to be erected in Hyde Park. Is Battersea Park to be the 

 site ? We would hope not ; as although a fine building placed on the banks of the 

 Thames would form an interesting object to those who pass up and down that 

 river in the steamboats, we much doubt if the land is suited to receive so large a 

 building as will necessarily be required. To form an imposing object, it must be 

 on the river bank ; if placed on the flat portion of the park, all picturesque and 

 architectural effect would be lost, at the same time that che foundation would be 

 unsound and exceedingly wet. Moreover, is Battersea Park a desirable site for an 

 Exhibition in point of accessibility ? We think not. The great majority of the 

 English and London population reside north of the Thames, and our railways com- 

 municating with the seats of industry in the Midland and Northern Counties of 

 England have no connection with the south side of that river, nor are there many 

 direct approaches for the ready carriage of goods through the metropolis to it. 

 Is the new Palace proposed to be built at Muswell Hill a speculation, in anticipa- 

 tion of the possibility of its being opened in 1861 as the successor of the Exhibition 

 in Hyde Park ? If so, we fear it also is far too inaccessible. Are Victoria, or 

 Regent's Park, Primrose HiU, the proposed site for the Finsbury Park, available ? 

 Regent's Park or Finsbury Park are far more accessible than the others, but is the 

 Government to be called on to aid the Society of Arts to obtain a site, or will the 

 Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 lend their land at Kensington for the 

 time being for such a purpose ? If the latter can be obtained we believe it pos- 

 sesses many points in its favour. There is an identity of locality in the minds 

 of foreigners and the British public at once effected ; it is accessible from many 

 leading thoroughfares — it is not far distant from our railways, and if any of the 

 plans for uniting the London and North- Western, the Great Western, and North 

 London Railways with those on the south side of the river, which are are already 

 deposited and advertised to be brought before Parliament next session, can be 

 carried out, — and some such plan must be carried out, — the goods from our great 

 seats of industry might then be delivered at once, by means of a short branch line, 

 on to the grounds of the Exhibition itself without delay, and at a diminished cost. 

 We would urge on the attention of the Society of Arts the above considerations. 

 The year 1861 is not far distant, and if tim.e is lost in settling the design of the 

 building, or the site on which it is to be built, it can ouly be at a greatly iacreased 

 eost on its ultimate completion. 



