The Express.
London, England, 1865-04-06 00:00:00

action by a person or persons •
oonveying the meaning by sire
Under the existing law, lib
no celled, are regulated by the Loan °imams=
in London and the ',Tuition of the Peace in the
country. No theatre can be opened in the metro-
polis without a Loan Oanniasaars's license, nor
in the country without a magistrate's limes. All
dramas produced in any part of the kingdom must
be examined and approved of by the Loan Cain-
maxim's licenser of plays before they can be
legally performed, and the safety of the public is
supposed to be provided for by certain rules which
are laid down from time to time by the Loan

and the Justices.

While the drama, which even in its lowest tonne
is an intellectual entertainment, lithos surrounded
by all kinds of restrictions, and, as far se London
is concerned, is only allowed to be doled out by a
few favoured theatrical monopolists, the liberty to
establish " twopenny hops,"" sing-songs,"" gaffs,"
and other lower forms of amusement, is practically
unlimited. The dramatic license is only granted
under an Ant known as the 6th and 7th Vier.,
while the music and dancing Hoenee is granted
under an Act known as the 25th of King Gsowni
U. The first Aot has been used cautiously by the
magistrates, and stingily and protectively by many
successive Lord Chamberlains, while the second
Act has been used so liberally by the Justices in
town and country, that few assembly-rooms, w-
alled literary institutes, muaio-halls, circuses, tea-
gardens, and (mantra; are pining for want of music
and dancing linemen. As long as the proprietors
of these latter places provide entertainments which
may or may not be low and degrading, but which
must not be unquestionably dramatic, they are
allowed to trade in peace, with an occasional re-
buke on licensing day ; but the moment they show
a disposition to perform any play, from Suaxs•
amuse to F►TZBALL,they atoms the banded opposi-
tion of their the►trical rivals, and find that they
want the choicer dramatic lingoes.
The promoters of Mr. Local's Bill are not
bound. to break their backs by fighting for a great
principle, and in an age of expediency and par-
liamentary tactics they have doubtless acted wisely
in preparing a small measure. Any Member who
thinks—as many Members do—that the LORD
CHAMBERLAIN is an anachronism, that he has used
his arbitrary power capriciously and against the pub-
lic interest, that his licenser of plays is as much •
nuisance as a censor of public speaking and public
printing would be, can teat the feeling of the House
by one or more amendments. All that Mr. LINKE
will ask for in this Bill, at the second reading on
the 26th instant, will be for liberty to perform a
licensed play in a certified building. The Bill is
an enlargement of the Act known as the 25th of
King Grows IL , and if it should become law, it will
give the Justices of the Peace throughout the
country the power of granting dramatic licenses
with the ordinary music and dancing license.
Those who prefer a superfine court dramatic license
in London may still go to the LORD CHAMBERLAIN
for it if they choose, but those who are content
with a good strong serviceable dramatic license
may get one on application to the licensing magi-
strates. The licensing system is not attacked in
any way by this Bill, and the promoters have pro-
bably acted wisely in not tilting at • system which
has been regarded with almost superstitious awe
by the strongest Governments. We have only a
draft of the Bill before us at present—a conden-
ration of which we give in another column—and
we shall therefore reserve further discussion of its
merits until the eve of the second reading.

Tne cautions reply which Government returned
the other day to a question intended to elicit
a pledge against the Arctic expedition now under
discussion in scientific and naval circles,will be ap-

proved by all who can view the subject free from
the prejudice of dogmatic ignorance. It will enable
those who are best qualified to guide our deter-
mination to continue their inquiries and dabbers-

tions without being trammelled by being placed at
the outset in a position of antagonism to the au-
thorities. It is satisfactory also to find that
Government is so far conscious of the value of the

proposed exploration that it does not meet its ad-
vocates with the preliminary cui bona demand, nor
suggest to them the infinitely higher practical im-
portance of ascertaining the bearings and sound-
ings of a coral reef in the Chinese seas. The
scientific interest of the exploration is, indeed,
so thoroughly recognised by all competent persons
that it forms no element of the discussion which is
now proceeding. And its critics may be properly

reminded that scientific interest is not synonymous
with the motives of childish curiosity. The laws
of nature, which are the subjects of scientific re-
search, have all a practical bearing on the comforts
and conveniences of life. No fact is isolated, and
no law of nature deduced from the observation of
facts has failed to be of use, in some shape or
other, to mankind. It is possible, however, that
the mere circumstance of the constant admission,
by all scientific authorities, of the intrinsic value
of the information a now Polar expedition would
yield, may aid its opponents in getting up the cry
that it would be productive of no benefit commen-
surate with its perils. So we shall ask our readers
to follow us for a little, while we take the
illustration that is most interesting to us all

just at present, and point out how it may
chance that the explanation of the present ex-
traordinary season, and a reasonable anticipa-
tion of what sort of weather our farmers and gar-
deners may in consequence expect during the
coming summer and in future years, are quite
possibly some of the secret, which are now locked
in the icy caverns of the North, and which the
bold adventurers who penetrate to them may bring
home for our wonder and profit.

At the very root of the question whether we
can reach the North Pole at all lies the unknown
fact whether the sea in that region is frozen or open.
Captain &MUSD OSBORN believes it to be frozen,
and therefore accessible by sledges ; others believe
it to ha open, and therefore penetrable by ships.
Under the former conviction the proposed line is
by the west coast of Greenland, as far as naviga-
tion extends, and thence over ice to the Pole. I
I Bet the holders of the latter idea would
rather push to Spitzbergen, which is always
accessible in summer, and thence trust to
find an opening through the fringe of ice to admit
them to the open sea which they think flows
round the Polo. And both parties have strong ar-
guments by which they support their theories. A
wide unfrozen sea has often, by the farthest ex-
plorers, been observed aa far as the eye could
reach to the north, while the ice had closed in on
the south. We shall offer no opinion on the ques-
tion. Butthe.proposed expedition would probably,
whether or not it reached the Pole, settle for us
this one point, whether there is ice or water
around it. Whether the sledges failed because of
water, or the ships because of ice, we should learn
whether there was water or ice. And the infor-
mation would be of incalculable value to na, what-
ever might be the fact ; for it would tell us whither
flows that wonderful stream of warm water which,
inning from the Gulf of Mexico, is known as the
Gulf Stream, which brings to our shores some per.