The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-20 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 20, 1853•

LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN? RAILWAY.

NNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN,
That the next HALF-YEARLY GENERAL MEETING
of the proprietors of the LONDON and SOUTHWESTERN RAIL-
WAY COMPANY will be held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-
street, London, on WEDNESDAY, the 16th day of February, 1553,
at Twelve o'clock precisely, when the directors will submit a report
on the affairs of the company during the preceding half-year, a divi-
dend will be declared, and the general business of the company tran-
sacted.

And Notice is hereby further Given, that at this meeting an elec-
tion of directors will take place, and that there are four vacancies in
the direction occasioned by the resignation of the Right Hon. the
Earl of Morley, and of Thomas Smith, Esq , and by the retirement,
under the provisions of the " London and South-Western Railway
Amendment Act, 1847," of John Lewis Count Eyre and Mattttew
Uzielli, Esq.
The two retiring directors, John Lewis Count Eyre and Mathew
Uzielli, Esq., are re-eligible, and offer themselVes for re-election ac-
cordingly; and George Best, Esq., Charles Castleman, Esq., Thomas
Williams Helps, Esq., Edward John Hutchins, Esq., M.P, Sir Ray-
mond Jarvis, James Gilbert Johnson (Captain; Royal Engineers),
Alexander Kay. Esq., and William Philip Snell, Esq., have also seve-
rally declared their intention, according to the provisions of the Acts
of Parliament regulating the company, to become candidates for
election.
The books of the company for the transfer of shares will be closed
on Wednesday, the 2d day of. February, and remain closed until
Wednesday, the 16th day of February, 1853, both days inclusive.
By Order of the Board of Directo*s,
A. BULKELEY, Sec.
York-road Offices, 16th January, 1853.

THE THEATRES.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE TIMES.

Sir,—lf the newspapers have been deprived of their
privileges in one respect, many of them have well as-
serted them in another, for, while all approve of my
circular and coincide in my views, many have showered
upon my devoted head every kind of anathema that can
well be conceived for daring to promulptc them. This
is only what I expected, and was quite prepared to re-
ceive, but I fancy it will not be until my next new piece
is produced that I shall be really able to judge of the
perfect impartiality of a portion of the pfess ; for, as the
Spectator of Saturday remarks (arid I thave no doubt
truly), " what the reporter loses in privege perhaps the
public may gain in truth and pungency',—an admission
which enables me to meet Puncles question of " What
do you think of the critics, Mr. Mathews ? Are they
the style of men to be• cajoled into saying what they
don't think by a nightly order ?" and to answer, upon
the authority of the Spectator, "• Yes, Mr. Punch, I
think many of them are."

However, as you observe, sir, the " controversy be-
tween the theatres and the press is substantially settled,"
and I will, therefore, say no more on the matter, but
merely beg to thank you sincerely for the leading article
in the Times which so ably espoused my cause.
The object of my present intrusion is to reply to
another leading article of yours on the subject of the
extra shilling charged at the Lyceum box-office for book-
ing places, and to the letters with fictitious signatures
which are daily inserted in the Times, complaining of
the Lyceum, and only of the -Lyceum, for sanctioning
such a custom. Why only the Lyceum. ?
I have really no more to do with this question than
any other London manager, it being not a particular,
but a general custom and have theref ' ied a whole
week in the hope, that ,One- 7 '1
I,ofttitt'
have • taken up the cudgels instead of myself— the
manager of the Princess's Theatre especially, against
whom the accusation should have been made, in-
stead of against me, of " having_ been addressed once
before on the point, and having failed to convince either
his opponent or the public" (the charge you refer to,
no doubt, being the case brought forward in the county
court by a nobleman, who had paid for booking his place
in a stall). But as they seem to consider me the knight
errant who is to fight their battles while they stand pru-
dently aloof, I once more make myself "food for pow-
der."

It is rather singular that the Lyceum should be
selected as the point of attack, and that your correspon-
dents "Americus," "A Surgeon," "G.," and " Denta-
tus," should allude to no other theatre, since it happens
that I have been the only manager who has attempted
to do away with the obnoxious custom. During my two
first seasons I abolished it altogether, and paid the box-
keepers and seatkeepers myself; at a loss of 700/. ; but
finding that the public did not in any way value the sac-
rifice, but paid the extra shilling as before (only with the
important difference to me that it went into the box-
keepers' pockets instead of into mine, I bearing the ex-
pense and they taking the money), I returned to the old
custom.

The truth is, sir, the fault is with human nature, and
not with the managers of theatres. Every man likes to
get an advantage over his neighbour, and, if he can do
so for a shilling, he doesn't hesitate to disburse that sum,
particularly when it also insures his individual comfort.
I may even venture to assert that he does so with more
satisfaction at the Lyceum than any other theatre, be-
cause his place is there kept for him the whole evening,
instead of only till the end of the first act of the first
piece, as at other places. He can therefore dine as late
as he pleases, and still be sure of finding his seat unoccu-
pied. Is this worth paying extra for or not ? There
lies the whole question.

Allow me to ask you, sir, whether you have ever seen
the painted board of "Engaged" hooked on to a first-
class railway carriage ? Is the extra halfcrown to the
guard (though against the law) ever refused to be given
or received ? and would not any man (I should for one)
prefer paying an extra shilling for a kept seat in a rail-
way carriage rather than be subject to the present
scramble and confusion in the attempt to get a seat atall ?
It is of course a matter of opinion, and nothing more.
It is a mistake, however, to suppose that " a tax of is.
is levied on every person who buys a ticket for 55." The
custom of the Lyceum is, that Is. extra shall secure
places for six persons, 2s. for 12, &c., while other the-
atres, I understand, charge ls. for every four ,persons, so

that your case of the " bookseller who does not charge
6s. for a ss. book, because ordered beforehand," is not
quite a case in point ; but I think you will find a better
at Charing-cross or the Regent's-circus. You aro there
charged 6d. for the carriage of a parcel, and then have
to pay 2d. for booking it. Do you object to that ? Nay,
do you not put a penny stamp upon a letter, and expect
that for- that-sum it will reach its destination 4 and yet,
if you wish to insure its safe delivery, are you not charged
6d. for its registry ? These payments are matters of
choice ; so is our extra shilling. May I. not even ask
whether, down to the very pew•opener of your parish
church, doorkeepers of all sorts have not been remark-
able, from time immemorial, for the possession of "itch-
ing_ palms ?" _

--As to the proposition that "every seat," even in the
pit, should be " a reserved seat as soon as it is paid for,"
I can only say I should like to hear how it is to be done.
I should like to hear any device by which the first pro-
miscuous rush of 700 holiday people on "boxing-night,"
who have been packed like biffins from four o'clock
in the afternoon in the pit-passage, is to be con-
trolled and conducted in an orderly manner to their
"reserved seats." There is generally so total an absence
of reserve of any kind on such occasions that I wish to
know who would undertake the task. llriareus himself,
with even 600 additional hands, would fail in the attempt.
You say that our theatres are more unfairly conducted
than those of any other country. Did you ever try to
get a box on the first night of any new opera or play at
any of the Parisian theatres, and did you succeed in
doing so under, at least, double the usual price ! Do
not the theatres throughout Italy invariably increase
their prices with their attraction ? And do not the
American managers actually sell their tickets by auction
under the porticos of their theatres whenever they have
a "star" of peculiar brightness to be gazed at? Do we
do this ? You will in justice admit that we do not.
Nor is it true that the prices of admission to the En-
glish theatres are exorbitant as compared with those
paid on the Continent. Take Paris, the greatest thea-
trical city in the world. At the Gymnase, Vaudeville,
and Vari4tes the price of admission to the stalks d'or-
cltestre, stalks de balcon, and premieres loges, is sf.
Surely the Lyceum may be considered equal in rank to
those three theatres, and the price of admission to the
boxes is only ss. If, however, you wish to secure your
stalls at either of the above-named French theatres, you
must pay one franc extra--the price of a secured' seat
thus becoming 6f. instead of sf. At the Palais Royal,
equally, the price of admission to the same places is 4f.
—becoming sf. when the places are secured.
Remember besides, sir, that we do not receive, as the
foreign theatres do, large sums of money from the
Government, almost equivalent to our rent. Our
theatres are all private speculations, and the endeavour
of every manager is, of course, to get back his outlay
in the best way he honestly can. I pay a rent of nearly
4,000/. per annum for the Lyceum ; my expenses are
upwards of 600/. per week, and my charge to the public
is as small as I can possibly afford. When that public
hkes to come to me (which I am happy to say it very
often does) it "pays its money and takes its choice.'
When it is not inclined to come to me, I have never
found that it scrupled in the least to stay away.
I NZ, Sir, your obedient servant,
Lyceum, Jan. 17. C. J. MATHEWS.
I need not, I presume, further allude to the letters of
the gentleman who laments the "extravagant outlay of
15s. for seats, ss. for cab hire (which, at any rate, is not
my doing), and ls. for booking," or of the " Surgeon,"
who goes to the play " once in five years," or to those
of "Americus" and "Dentatus," whose statements are
simply untrue (why do they not give me their real names
and addresses that I may investigate their complaints
openly ?) ; but, in return, beg to offer you one among
several letters I have also received :

pro c eeevde nt
ei lig
takes'visit
" The box turnkey of the Lyceum is informed that ' One
whot
tshtaeantdrse,naondno:.ifise,nssae'nBwlentoinnieafew
,
pos-
session of any seat he chooses, and will be prepared to
knock down any scoundrel who shall attempt to prevent
him. ".A.NGLICus."
This, sir, perhaps suggests at once the readiest and
most effectual mode that can be devised for summarily
endinc, all further discussion, and, at the same time,
afford' an opportunity for the quiet and orderly visitor
to make choice between the extra shilling and security,
or the choice of a pugilistic encounter with the un-Eng-
lish "Anglicus."—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,
C. J. K

or to represent him as any special incarnation of the
system under censure. The manager of the Lyceum
has become the Richard Roe of the proceedings,
simply because the proceedings were originally opened
by himself.

The present argument of our accomplished correspon-
dent can be put in a very few worth. He regards the
extra charge as a charge paid for security. It insures
the seat,—that is to say, ,it renders it certain that what
has been paid for will be actually forthcoming. Now,
is this worth the consideration given for it, or not ? Is
it worth while to avoid scramble, confusion, or failure,
and to secure comfort and certainty by the payment of
this premium? "There," says Mr. Mathews, "lies the
whole question." The disbursement is entirely optional.
A man may have security and comfort for 6s. or uncer-
tainty and discomfort for ss. He may take his choice,
as he pays his money. "It is, of course, a matter of
opinion, and nothing more." Su- thinks one of the most
liberal of our London managers.
We hope our reply may not be thought rude, but we
are compelled to observe that this argument rests entirely
on that very vice of professional dishonesty against Which
we remonstrate. Very likely what is obtained for 6s. is
so far preferable to what is obtained for ss. that the
difference, in result may be well worth the difference in
outlay ; but what can justify the existence of this differ-
ence to begin with ? Why should a seat for which there
has been already paid the whole price demanded by the
tariff be made so insecure and so uncomfortable as to
require a further outlay ? The box-office is opened for
the sale of -boxes and box seats are advertised at ss.
The officer is perfectly acquainted with the availability
of every seat in the house. He tells you immediately
what seats are engaged and , what are open. He
sells you one which is particularly specified, which is
confessedly vacant, and which consequently becomes
yours. A seat, therefore known to have no previous
lien upon it, and purchased at the full price demanded,
is conveyed to the purchaser for the evening ; and we
desire to know what possible pretence can be producible
for making this seat so uncomfortable and uncertain
that 20 per cent. premium must needs be given for ren-
dering it what it ought to be already ? If, in short, the
seat which Mr. Mathews sells for 6s. is nothing but a
seat which the buyer may reckon sitting in, what is that
seat which he sells for ss. ? We do not deny that the
advantages he describes may fairly be worth a shilling,
but what advantage ought any box seat to have over
another box seat which has been fairly paid for ? Whose
fault, and whose discredit is it, if scramble, confusion,
chance, or favour renders a place honestly purchased so
unsafe that a premium is well bestowed in securing the
goods for which the money was laid down ? Railway
directors used to make second-class customers "uncom-
fortable" in order to drive them into taking first-class
tickets, and exactly in proportion to the "discomforts"
thus escaped might the result be described as "worth
the extra shillings ;" but did this justify the practice on
the public •
Exactly the same remarks might be offered on our
correspondent's humorous description of his pit visitors
on a boxing-night, or any other night of particular at-
tractions. Cannot so keen an observer detect that all
this violence, confusion, and pertinacity are the neces-
sary incidents of the system in use ! Why are 700
human beings "packed like biffins" for two hours and
a half in a close passage ? Why do they rush and tumble
over each other when the doors are at last opened ?
Because they know that nothing less will get them
the seats for which they have paid their money. Because
they know that any number of applicants will be ad-
mitted without any reference to the capacity of the house,
and because they know that when 500 sittings have been
sold to 600 purchasers, it is customary to let those pur-
chasers determine by fighting which hundred shall be
excluded. Half the money which Mr. Mathews reckons
on saving in a single night by the concessions of the
press would mark, number, and define every seat in the
pit of his theatre. As much more would provide a
metal ticket far every one of these seats. Now, does
Mr. Mathews fancy that, if these tickets could be peace-
ably bought, and if it was well known that every ticket
would infallibly secure its own seat, and no other, people
would waste two hours of their afternoon in preparing
for a scramble ?

In point of fact, however, our correspondent himself
cuts the ground from under his own feet by admitting
that he once attempted to abolish at least one of the
usages referred to. They are, in reality, all of a piece.
They all rest on the assumption that a box seat is not
bought when a box seat is paid for, and that the whole
legion of servants employed about a theatre may law-
fully gather their own peculiar perquisites in helping a
visitor to that admission for which his mere ticket is
held quite insufficient. The box office-keeper takes his
shilling for really selling what he sells, and the box-
keeper takes another shilling for actually delivering
what was bought. Each thinks, that as the cus-
tomer would never get his goods except by his in-
tervention, he has a right to his compliment for
aiding the bargain. Nay, in the case which we in-
correctly attributed to the Lyceum, and to which
Mr. Mathews refers, the premium was actually demanded
for securing a stall, or, in other words, for reservine,
reserved seat ! But can these things be justified ? Is it
any wonder that people rebel ? Mr. Mathews obliges us
with the declared intention of a certain correspondent of
his, and asks the public to choose between the expedient
thus suggested and the easy payment of is. But we do
not think the contrast either fair or successful. It is for-
tunately very " un-English" to take the law into one's
own hands, and "Anglicus," we trust, may think better
of his pugnacious resolution ; but it is equally " un-Eng-
lish" to purchase justice by a bribe, and we are really of
opinion that if any person disturbed in the occupation of
a non-engaged seat were to call in a policeman the box-
keeper might be made to suffer. We trust, however, that
extremities so alarming may be averted by timely adjust-
ment, and that, as the whole amount now allowed to be
gleaned in perpuisites is less, by our correspondent's
own showing, than one-fifth of that which he gains by
another arangement, be will not lose so very suitable an
opportunity of taking the sense of the public once snore.
We freely acknowledge that he has truth on his side in
imputing much of the wrong to " human nature." It is
unfortunately too true that thoughtlessness in some cases,
and selfishness in more, will induce men to buy " an ad-
vantage over their neighbours," and this laxity of con-
science must always operate to the damage of good regu-
lations. The right course, however, in our humble opi-
nion, is not to legalise and encourage such dealings, but
as far as possible to check them. Let every servant of a
theatre be paid by the management, be bound to do his
duty fairly, and be discharged in case of offence proved.
Let the managers adjust their tariffs, like all other deal-
ers, by the terms of trade, but let every seat once bought
at its fixed price be producible for the purchaser without
further tax or trouble.