The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-04 00:00:00

SMITHFIELD MARKET.

(Fi om the _Herald.)

Mr. Stafford ob,erved, that " before the

Legislature determines to alter the whole system of
supplying► two millions of our feliow•subjects with
fresh meat, the plan to be substituted, as well as the
system to be abolished, should undergo the most
careful examination."
Even were this remark not commendel to our
minds by its obvious good sense, the lesson it contains
might be learned from observing the wretched
failures which have already taken place ; among
which the Islington experiment claims a prominent
rank. All persons who have had any experience in
such matters will testify, that to destroy an old
market is not very difficult, but that how to create a
new one is one of the as yet undiscovered secrets of
human life.

In the great question, then, which has been re-
cently raised, and which, we trust, may be brought
to some decision in the approaching session, it is of
the utmost importance to try well the ground before
us. That is, not rashly to begin by assuming that
" Smithfield is a nuisance which must be utterly
abolished," without having well considered, and
adopted after mature deliberation, some plan which
gives reasonable promise of a preferable substitute.
No man of ordinary pOwers of reasoning can give
even an hour's attention to the question of the Lon-
don meat market, without perceiving that the
question of position is so much the principal one,
that it might almost be described as the sole point
at issue. Clearly, the present controversy is entirely
governed by it. If the great meat market of the
metropolis ought not to be placed in or
near the centre, then Smithfield, in its preset
form, and in all possible shapes of improvement, is
is at once condemned. But if, on the other hand, the
decision is, that the market ought to be in a central
part of the metropolis, then, assuredly, the Corpora-
tion of London has the advantage of possessing and
tendering to Parliament the plan, the only plan, which
is at present extant, and against which it is in the
highest degree improbable that any rival scheme,—
central like itself,—will ever be brought forward.
Now, in order to find our way, by degrees, to a
reasonable judgment on this question, let our readers
ponder, with us, for a few moments, the following
simple diagram :

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Here we have a rough sketch of things as they are,
and as they have been in times past. Let it be con-
sidered for a few moments.

The principle on which it must be defended is, that
a central position is the fittest and best for the pur-
pose of a great beast market. Smithfield, it will be
seen, while it obstructs no great thoroughfare, lies
just to the north cf the City, and is within a few
minutes' walk and twenty minutes' " bullock-drive"
of every part of the City proper. To all the rest of
the metropolis it is central. It nearly touches the
foot of Holborn, from which a straight road of two
miles leads through all Bloomsbury and Marylebone.
Westminster is nearly as accessible. From Holborn-
bridge to Blackfriars is not half a mile, and thus
Lambeth and Southwark are at once reached. 'sling •
ton is about one mile of straight road up St. John-
street ; and to Whitechapel it is little more than the
same distance. If, therefore, it be wise to fix the
market in a central situation, it seems quite beyond a
question, that somewhere near its present site must be
the fittest place. For it is quite certain, that in no
other central spot, but that which the Corporation
has pointed out, can it possibly be placed, except
Parliament is prepared to vote some millions of money
to clear the ground.
But now let us contrast, for a moment, this plan,
with one of the latest of the counter-projects, put
forth by those who have land to sell, and who want a
good price for it. It is proposed to clear the market
altogether out of the metropolis itself, and to place it
somewhere about Hornsey or Highbury. Let this
scheme also be set forth in a diagram, thus :

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