The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-07 00:00:00

elect Committee on Theatrical Licences
and Regulations.

A paper has been delivered in to this committee by Mr.
Fred. Stanley, solicitor, on behalf of the London Music-hall
Proprietors' Protection Association, in which he states that
he has had experience for the last 17 years in the manage-
ment of music-halls, having been connected with the
" Canterbury Hall" from the time it was first opened,
subsequently became one of the proprietors in partnership
with Mr. Chas. Morton, the originator of the present
system
myself
eosf
tna abulissi
hc -ehdatlhl se ;
„aondxfsuerbdseq,,,
wuheniethly Mlearr.
riMeodrotonn
caonnd-
jointly with him till 1863, when I was anxious to resume
my
becapmrnefseossleinpn; onpnrideltosrolodf mybo inthi to
eknMr e
es ~
establishments.
Morton, on ,
Ipe nwthh oe
repre-
sent p r e s ennet aqr
luye satlilo
fnh(en
pa
rme eplr
iy
e,
ft hailere
stertefcr ett
Ilsetl
principal music-halls
in London, who are members of the society, and am well
acquainted with their views on the present subject. On the
site now occupied by the Canterbury Hall was an ordinary
public-house, called the Canterbury Arms, where a singing
meeting was held once a week, attended by respectable
tradesmen and mechanics. This was called in those days
a "free-and-easy." When Mr. Morton opened the singing
room at the Canterbury Arms it was only capable of hold-
ing 100 people. Subsequently, at the solicitation of the
frequenters of his room, he opened the room one evening
in each week for the admission of his visitors and their
wives. Finding the room then built not large enough,
another larger one was built, which is the present " Canter-
bury Hall," capable of holding 2,000 persons. The total
cost of the present hall, picture gallery, and pictures must
have amounted to at least £40,000. In order to induce
first-class vocalists to sing at music-halls, Mr. Morton
offered Mr. Sims Reeves £1,200 for a month, to sing once
each evening. The next hall was opened byMr. Weston, in
Holborn, and now there are some 23 music-halls in London.
Low singing-rooms have ceased to exist since the estab-
lishment of music-halls. " The Oxford" was opened in
1861, previous to which £35,000 was expended upon it. Mr.
Stanley further states, "During the two years 1 was in-
terested in the two establishments (the Canterbury and
Oxford), we paid £24,828 for salaries of artists and profes-
sional persons, or at the rate of £12,414 per annum, or about
£238 per week. As much as £2O and £3O per week has
been paid for a single performer." " I believe," he
says, "it is impossible to get a comic song written worthy
of the present age. Mr. Morton once offered and paid a
premium for the purpose, but it was unsuccessful." The
music hall proprietors of London do not desire that the
right of performance of stage plays should be entirely
thrown open. They only desire the right of performance of
light pieces, and that the number of performers in a stage
pffhvrpr
ireaeol
easlrm i
neyt
oy. tlashrnebbelieve
thfs shouldoccurrence
be limited, say to five or six persons. It is a
pehriveevrei Iperformance,ontexhgi
gfaeo throttdhftdehws uamet
nsionjTkge fromihyn thedisturbances
ea6etndienjoyment
averaged.
dteetohrli7t nevad
.1%, a
smlekodeeou a
cplace
ep
euwo spentsi
frnhi
scti
oahlnsthe
np wit-
nessingl halls music
oenii
....cs
i
1862 the number of persons who paid for admission to the
Oxford was 384,982, and in 1863, 428,448 or at the rate of
8,239 per week. Music hall proprietors frequently expend
more than their receipts for admission in the cost of the
entertainments which they produce. They expend a por-
tion of their profits on refreshments, and therefore if the
privilege of selling refreshments be taken away, the prices
of the entertainment must be considerably higher, or its
quality lower, or music halls cannot be carried on at a pro-
fit. The present systeni of licensing I consider bad. I think
the tribunal for granting music and dancing licences is un-
satisfactory. It is composed of a vast number of gentlemen
who are appointed magistrates by political influence. There
is no appeal from the October sessions. There is a good deal
of private influence used in matters of licences. I have no-
ticed that at times there is a disposition to grant licences
freely, and at other times the feeling of the bench has been
quite the reverse. No reasons are given for the decisions ar-
rived at. The present law defining stage plays is veryobjec-
tionable. At the Canterbury Hall a constable is provided
from the police station, and paid for by the proprietor, in
order to have some person in authority in case of need. Mr.
Morton applied to have a policeman allotted to him at the
Oxford, but was refused by the police authorities. I consider
that the restriction on the performance of stage plays
should be partially removed. It is advisable to proceed by
steps ; first, the restriction should be partially removed,
which will give an opportunity hereafter of ascertaining
whether it will be advisable to remove eventually the re-
striction entirely. It -is advisable that a new tribunal
should be appointed for the purpose of granting licenses
for music-halls and of hearing complaints against the pro-
prietors. It should ba composed of at least two persons ,
who should be high in authority, inasmuch as the pro-
pertyto
etheeatreprloperiveertorths
ethraaaat tihee.
under their control represents great wealth. It is
ihN, eol Lords ; undesirable Chamberlain
l l anddesirable
thhoneunlpfdt
proprietor
haver
aptriaetethremaatrekeshapopuhldeabeuentufrnereda
licence and conform to the law. So, also, if it be required
to turn a music-hall into a theatre, there should be an ap-
peal from this new tribunal to one of the superior courts
upon points of law, but not upon matters of discretion.

SUICIDE OF
A BETTING MAN.—A man named
Samuel Birchall, an engine-driver in the service of the
Midland Railway Company, committed suicide in Leeds on
Monday by poisoning himself with opium. Deceased was
55 years of age, and had been in the employ of the company
for about twenty years. lie was strongly addicted to the
turf, and has recently suffered heavily from horse-raeing
3131Afootnnerddaaayyn absence from Leeds of abouteoantiesoases
ninetwuhr
d,
dmaymwy ai,e suffering
netsiklisustn ehrdr.een 1
vV3 fsorai
bthoonudr
frolic
his family on Friday
hhee
swaaids itehaatsti:ete
had
,continuedtakbeynsthomoi.net
jtouhairinyegaa,t,it,oantd, e
tOihte.
gt ss in everyevey stage,a e
sdescription,
.conAstvipera--
dhswti niihecsiaeettt ddie:dioefc a ituffhi:enreen iFtdffseteoehinccoeett 'w_fodripnacsheenidwe;lsmedwewrhe.denoheadneac assneiEwtrTalahlemvnoteut.hordudereeeutr
returned
sairnesdeelentesaldfordeyonerirwu.i(aetigni norrenteeevrdi tdodeoioicniuhgenaaseisll
strikelybt
(indigestion),
Iwerehinoi): stomachbeing per_
.AD ENT I— Dyr,
rePsi
Revalenta aggravatedmabaincad
it:: but t
had perfectlybeen
con-
sidered --
a . s
eeatqinouidne 1 ,sleitdr:vseeirr e
di Rhioi tcnkbhs,ypE wl3dalari
n,suy :ut:
thousands
hro consumption,
eustjaha lasts
nr t'do
as—cough,s at
ons
fc, i a
asgthma, also diarrhoea,
Food,al bd cur-
able
e by Du
hopeless,
puo
ev
,leßedsva.
.esr.brvr
aye:
bhimlicriouosrnrhesosid, ste 1f
inituenzanoises in the head complaints,
a and
d e diphtheria,
arf 1:a tule n c y , nervousness,
purities, eruptions,
ndt
hraoenpc syy,
0,
rc raatm p
sea,s rheum rheumatism,
gout,oo im-
purities,
hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleepless-
aen'ehaeesitd, acidity, pstisti,olsheesaratnbdurnsickheadache,n debility,i
sinking fits, bronchitis, scroesfuslae,vteightnnepsrsegof
pains in the pit of the stomach and between the
shoulders, &c. We quote a few :—Cure No. 46,276. 111rJames
Roberts, timber merchant, of Frimley, Surrey, of 30 years'
diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and p ar-
tial deainess.—Cure No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobi, of ex-
treme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings; low spirits, and
nervous fancies. —Cure No. 1,771. Lord Stuart de Decies, lord
lieut. of II atertord, of many }ears' dyspepsia. —No. 49,839.
Fifty years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness,
asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness, and
vomiting—Maria Joly.—Cure No. 51,816. The Rev, James
T. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfolk, of indigestion and torpid-
ity of the liver, which had resisted all medical treatment.
In tins, 11b, 2s 9d; 21b, 4s 6d ; 51b, uls ; 121 b, 22s ; 241 b.
10s.—Barry Du Barry and Co., No. 77, Regent-street, London;
also Phillips, tea dealers, 8, King William-street; likewise
at 61, Gracechurch-street ; 4, Cheapside ; 49. BlehoPsgatf:
street Within ; 63, 150, and 298, Oxford-street;
54, Upper Baker-street; 103, Tottenham-court" ;..
Upper-street, Islington, N. ; Harvey. Notting-hill; o
nom, ,
Strand,
54,
Brothers, 65, High-street ; and Stubbs. Queen's
-terrace, St.
Lulate.—Beware of spurious buitations,
John's-wood, London; and all respectable grocers and che.

A ):,'q
7,-.. - - "o•
til a s
dilly-1,640 there was hstween the ammuri illioviiA
by the public and that derived from the Govern.
Imerit allowance and the payments by friends of the
boys. In the former it was only £153, while in the
latter it was very:nearly £3,000, going, indeed, a
long way towards defraying the whole charge of
the institution. It was gratifying to know that of
the 297 boys who had left the ship only 21 had re-
lapsed into the evil ways from which it was the ob-
ject of the institution to reform them. The Mar-
quis of Westminster briefly seconded the _motion,
expressing the warm interest be took in the success
of the society. The Rev. Sydney Turner, one of
the visiting committee, while bearing testimony to
the useful action of reformatories and ragged
schools, deplored the increase of juvenile crime
which was now taking place in London and Liver-
pool. Throughout the country generally there had
been a deer-ease; but in those two centres the increase
last year was far beyond the ratio of increase in the
population, thus showing that more reformatory
agencies. were required. He mentioned that 77 per
cent. of the boys sent forth from the ship were
doing well, and explained that the reason the Mid-
dlesex magistrates did not support the society was
because they had a reformatory of their own at
Feltham ; but then it should be remembered that
offenders over 14 years of age could not be sent to
that school, while here they would be received up
to 16. The motion having been unanimously passed,
Mr. Stephen Cave, M.P., in proposing a vote of
thanks to the chairman, took the opportunity of
stating that the desire of the committee was to make
the ship self-supporting, and that if it were used a
little more by the authorities it soon would be so.
Mr. Robert C. Hanbury, M.P., seconded the motion,
and promised to moot the question on the Middle-
d sex bench. Sir John Pakington, in acknowledging
the compliment, recommended that the bad state of
the ship and the necessity for its immediate repair
should be forthwith brought under the notice of the
Board of Admiralty, who, he was persuaded, would
render some assistance in the matter.
S