The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-26 00:00:00

THE NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES.

Sir E. B. .LYTTON gave nolice of hie intention to
move for leAve to bring in a bil: to provide for the go•
vernim.nt of the territories in North Anitrica betwten
the Pecitic and the Rocky &lbw:thins. (Hear.)
RIG-FAIR ON SUNDAY.
On the motion that the house on its thing do adjourn
to M.,nday,

Mr. K:SEYMER said that two or threes years ago
he had called the attention of the house to the scenes
that took place in Rag-fair on the Sunday, and narrated
what he had seen himself, He should not have brought
forward the subject again had not his attention been
directed to it by the report e f some proceedifigs at the
MansionO-ouve Polite-court, which appeared in the
papers of the 15. h of June. It was stated, "Thomas
Beate was charged with having committed a robbery on
Sunday, at had-past 11 o'clock, in the Clothes Ex-
change, Petticoat-lace, in the neighbourhood of which
14,000 or 15,000 people congregate every Sunday, some
to buy arid sell, and uthera (the great maj irity) to
plunder." The letter statement must be taken with
some qualification. Thieves do not steal from thieves ;
it could only be a minority who went there t) plunder.
The report continued, " It was stated by the police that
it was quite impossible fur the officers to do aaything
all amongst such a mass of people, and that any per-
sons who were so Filly as to carry property about them
in the immediate neighbourhood must be content to part
with it, rind would he lucky if they got away without
being roughly handled and kicked." At the conclusion
of the case the Lord Mayor sai I There is proof of
the existence of another desperate evil. Teat somebody
is culpable for the cent nurnice of so outrageonea viola-
tion of the law as the permission of such a state
of things, on the borders of the oity cf London,
there can be no doubt. I hairs said so frequently
since the comineccement of my mayoralty, hut
there appears to be no symptom of improvement.
On the contrary, the mi,chief seems to be on the in-
ci ease. I commit this prisener for trial at the Central
Criminal Court, where I trust route allusion will be
made to the state of the vicieity of Petticoat-lane by
same high aualority, from whose interposition some
effective regulation way spring." He bad ro rieiore to
re-open the question of Sie I.v tra .c to .ut,iteto
tl,-. con I.rt or ceeeenience of the workirg classes,
de regretted the difective arrangements which ren-
dered necessary Sunday markttieg. This, however, was
not a qu.stion of Sunday marketir g. Perishable arti-
cles of food were the only things nut sold there ; it was
a mere question of NI cc. If a man who felt called en
to preaeh in the open air galste d helfoodi zsn people
round hire, he was taken before a maoistrete for obstruct.
ing the teuroughfaie ; rif an orange woman rested her
bes!tet on the legs she wss ordered to move ou ; yet
Petticoat-1 ire and Hatroe -lane, on Sundays, between
eleven and one, were obstructed to such an extent as to
render it dangerous to go there, and that by the worst
01,11'3 in London. He th eight this was a sufficient jus-
tification for the question of which he had given notice,
viz., 'A 'nether the Secretary of S ate for the Home De-
partment intended to take any sores for the suppression
of the Sunday fair in Hound, itch /
S:r R. CARDEN' said that when Lis attention was
first dravro to the col jeot of Petticoat-lane, he could
not believe such aboriiiiietions existed. Ile took the
earliest opportunity of ii-icing it, and found that every
Sunday some 10 or 12 thousand people congregated
there, and no man could venture int ) the lane without
having his pocket picked or SO:Ild insult offered to him.
!le had already comtnittod three men to Newgate for
stealing watches there, and Lad placed hitnselt i s com-
munication with Sir R &Lytle, to see whether steps
could not be taken to put au end to, or at least to pal-
liate, this evil. The house w s not aware probably that
Petticoat-lane teal peculiarly situated. (Great laughter.)
Petticoat-lane was a very mall street ; but one half of
the street was in Middlesex--(renewed laughter)—aod
the other half in London. He could assure the house
that he did not %vet t ) say anything to cau inlaughter.
(Eleer.) Unless the le lice on both sides of the street
were agreed as to the plate to be pursued, those who were
interfered a ith on one side escaped Ly going over to the
other side. He had no to Lb to interfere with anything
which added to the comforts of the working classes, but
he thought that if something were dons to place matters
oa a different footing it would be a great advati-
tAge to tee people of that locality. Be had beard many
of those who It, pt alisdeclare that they would be very
glad if there were some mincemeat 4 hictt would prevent
in a manual. in which they
them'froin keeping Sunday
did-not wish to keep it. A short time ago there Mama
great uproar with regard to a bill which was brought in
by Leri Ebury ; and he had heard on good authority
that many persons in this district paid men ss. each to
go to Hyde-park on Sunday to assist in the agitation
against
that bill. Sir R chard Meyer) lead told him that
. s •matter. The
law did not see his way to assist him in this a
law with regard teSunday trading war, as they all knew,
in a peculiar state, An action was brought the other
day against a man who opened a photographic institu-
tion on Sunday. He was a tailor during the whole of
the week, and a photographer on Sunday. (Laughter.)
Numbers id shopkeepers defied tine autauritioe. A large
mass of cigar seller.. had their chops open all day long.
Some t f them were fined Sc., but as they made more than
ss. profit, the evil continued. Petticoat-lane was by no
means the only hush y in which a sort of fair was held
on Suolay. Thera wore Fi oiler scenes in the New-cut,
Lambeth ; near the S mers-towu ; in Monmouth--
street:St. and in Riad fr-highway. In all those
lecilities there was a complete fair on Sunday, com-
Mending about 11 o'clock and tsralinating about two.
IL, had thought it right to meeti this matter, because
it was an atiomination which was causing great injury to
the working classes, and which in his opioion the legisla-
ture ought to endeavour to suppress.
IRISH TENANT-RIGHT.

Mr. P. O'BRIEN' wished to ask the Chancellor of the
Exchequtq. whtltvar; ou &It urd sy la t, he i.tated to a de-
pu,a sun tf Irish nictubir, that it y'ai Lis intention to
in, in the n, xt seon of Par:iarne a any meature
to give r fldot to ti,o tn,-aQures tropoed by the present
Chancellor of I eland in 1852 in enTlll, et ou with the
question of lindlOrd apes t liant iu Ireltod ; and wbethor
be was prepared t) Matt d aaitively Lbe intentions of the
Gorernmant in reams to those measures I The
boo.
member cool; la tied at CO Ile hugth of his exclusion from
the deputati,,n referred to in his question unfair to-
w:4l'as one who had taken so prominent a part in con!
neetion with th t nant-r ihtlitunrion in that h_o.Ure,_l!uad
stated that it was chiefly with the via!, of
makognotitht
notice
comp!annt that he had put the question on thel
paper.

THE THAMES NUISANCE.
Mr. 0. STANLEirro,e, i oursuw.ce of tiotice, to call
the attention of the house o h I putrid state of the River
Thames. When questions were pat, he said, on that sub-
j eat on previous occasions, the Government said, in
effect, that they bad now power to help tbena. He need
not tell the house that for the last three weeks the nui-
sance bad been so great that it was impossible for mem-
bers to attend property to their duties in con:mitt.
0!,