The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-04 00:00:00

REPORT.

" REPORT OF THE GENERAL COMMIT TEE TO THE GENERAL

ASSEMBLY OF PROPRIETORS OF PRIIRY-LANE

" The theatre batting closed, after a protract, d season, the
Curnmittee have the pleasure to meet the general assembly with
!_heir annual etaternent of the affairs of the Company ; and they
,4re great satisfection its statitig. that hotwithstanding the
gepressed state of the drama, as regards the national
theatres, end the threatened annihilation of the total inte-
;jests of the proprietary of these once noble establishments
,Y legislative enactments, Druty-lAne Theatre has been open
to the public, during the past season, no less that, 223 nights, a
circumstance alike benefietal to the artistes coecerned, as also to
the numerous depende es upon it for their dad) support.
It •
„ gratifying to the Committee to be able to state,
that amidte the wreck of the national drama, her Most Gra-
ee4ns Majesty continues her patronage and support to the theatre
by her visits, both in state anti in private, the ittfluenee of which,
11Pun a concern depeetient upon public favour for suppnrt, can-
not but be of she highest ttepertance tcwerds its suecess, and
test excite ti,e livehest f•eliegs of gta Attie. Her Majesty
Queen Doe aeer has been generously pleased to resume the
occupatien of her private box ; and it is matter for comelatiott,
that since the Legislature of the country has thought proeer to
extend, by their late Act ot Parliament, the powers of the Lord
Chamberlain, and remeve the drama frem tee two national
theatres to Sadl•e's the Yerli•li,e &logo, the Eagle
Tavern, and a host of 'niec- establehmeles, to the number of
iliirtYs Mr. Bonet ha been tnaWed to furnish an entertainment
worthy of the royal patronage and the public at large ; still the
Committee are no-, inset sil•le the diffieultiee which the les•-ce
had to encounter :,not sure, Ur' it: the progress of tie past
season. from various causes ; ne•withstateling which they
have the satisfaetion te state that Mr. Hun has, under
every circumeance, r,. ver ta;led in his punctuality in the
Paetrent of i.e, rent, and tl;t, teemmetee are advised that all
other Blain a u •on him in welting this establishment have been
'net by the same degree f eeuierit vin d••eharge there; f. Again
referring to the late Act of rarienamt, 7 and 8 Vic. chap. 68,
*hereby the chartered teivileet, of the two national theatres,
e
lit'" the credit of which 3)10.0001. have beet, xp oriel. are so
Pitol'aired as to reduce them nearly to the state from which the
be'ea already enumerated have bet•n raised. It must cease to
'f surprise that the Committee ha, e to add
anyaPr i.e many bygone, without the prospect of
the,lurn to their constituents for the capital atertneed by
eost—s erenting the present theatre ; for, in adt::ton to the
of thef" the edifi e, the amount actually paid for Is. security
pri, Patent ri•,hts equalled that of he- rid wa, com-
-40:'" in the fellowitse items t —To Messrs. Sheridan :,nd • tines
to the to corn etsiti'on upon claim% of the late theatte 50.000/.
of oh: e keivent-galrden proptietors 21 0001., and The I'2W. charge
tee. annuity of 3,75C1. entailed upon tee present theatre as
usta e has thereby
bee,ners of the late. An act of the ere -test ir'.l
deli, inflicted upon' the national th,atres, anti most certainly
the dands eompereaien at the hands of those who legislate for
s -ramie and wile are held enough to centeed that they-are
ii)nolding it by legalizing the representat ion of eliaka,eare at ple-
b:" and ptiblic gardens. The fa-e of the Drury-lane patent
ee destroyed the security of the claims of the renters, and the
tiilrees of that body have received payment of 5/. per night for
on nights perfo-manees in the past easoli, instead of the
Itnal amount of 181. 15s. per night.
The repairs to the stage flooring have been effected,
wrierehe ,
phi,, Is now rendered perfect ; but the state of he roof,
the n entails considerable annual expense, is such (according to
to report of Mr. Beazley, the architect of the theatre) as
,Tier,equire a very serious °Why previous to the forthcoming
lert from the funds at pres,-nt in the banker's hands.
to ;The
Committee have to call the attent ten of the assembly
guior-, annual statement of the accounts which have been re-
wh,e'Y audited by Niejer Nay'or, now laid before them, by
past h it frill be seen that the etcome of the p:optietary for the
t 4,1 season,under the several helds. ameunts to 5,15 1. 6s. ;
Thieste... on the other hand. the expo rises Amount to 4,77;1. tie Id.
trete Committee have paid to the eecount of the renters'
of tee.; at their banker's. the cum of 1,1151. for 223 eights
p:tforman ,
at .te lee. night, imfore stated.
threeoln concluding their report, the committee le only to
re' that the season nose ended was the first of a term of
Years leased to %lc with the option of either party
terminatekt,_ it at the end of the first year by giving certain
eota'e• The committee rust they have acted judiciously 1-1
term the
lessee, and hope 'en it. too well satisfied with the
"'• of the agreement et seek to disturb it."
Sir W
sttei , • Cuans moved that the report be approved
,„.a.n)Dted
Alt w •
etteeo, seconded the proposition.
report yVELLs said that prior to the reception of the
tlAtttne- was anxious to offer a remark. He obeerveci
ten had had been a sum of £1,115 paid over to the
no 1 ',a body whom he w4g prepared to contend had
eottZt, claim for such a payment. He for one. it
ofOpiotl however with a great many other persons, was
their ee-lun that the renters ought to take the subject into.
tor& k7illsideration, in order that they and the prr,pme-
Parti. Rut come to such an arrangement as that both
Mr. Gould ,shnuld act awl share together.—(llear, hear.)
fro th"REtiFELL fully concurred in whet heel
yeanir hon. proprietor. :le bad at their nicr,
shout en the liberty to suggen tlut :,11(11
met d be
b adoPted, when h- lyen somi'wlArtt
to sg, hin,, o- ho by the way he regr,Atk,fi.
ou iri the r,,Goi ,!.Tit. day. The new renter, in tact
t gut to proceed,oti go hand in hand with the prOprie-
ens, so
RS to enubte them to meet the ditlietsittce -ete.:cr
tth;oh the theatre existed.--(beat, hear.)
Mr. WARING considered that this qu,si-ion had
most unfairly_ introduced on the present c.ccayion when
the meeting was purely one of the pr praetor; am]
r,ot ot. the renters.

,
.6 , 1,0,

After some further discn,sione—
The CHAIRMAN, in pultii,v, the eleestion that •• the
report be received, approved, and adopted," -, ai,, that
without doubt much of the discus...ion which lee i taken
place had been irregular, but he had ft It that upon this
'titular subject probahly some benefit might arise, if
'e renters were in possession of the feeling:; of the pro-
P>eters —(II . hear.) No
due observance c'e•doubt the subject. with a
, ° observance of regularity, should not have been in-
troi
met v-'„ .astnoc need - that i i . h as it wov a meet-
'cg of a proprietors • d !iut of th, renters. This que,s
t,, the a
I; n• it should be borne in mind, had never been treated
3' the prorietors as one between thems. lves and the
Public but between themselv. s and the renter,. It
was el as
course f r Mr. Whitbread to
Moveear that the hr tter
ate taken when the arrangement was originally made
%weld have been to have turned all their claims ,nto
tares in the new hous e and then there could have lo.n
business
one
tttet of int-resi t • be dealt eith, why rens. as the
• at present stood, there were two bodies whose
interests were of a cenflicene character. The hest plan
WOuld b„
, that an arrangement should be (tome to by
Z,shieh there should be one common and mutual interest.
tto that were done then the renters would be in a 1 osi'ion
take part in the control aid management of the affairs
Of the theatre.— (Hear, h. ar.)
The motion was thtn it, aed carried u eanimeus'y.
l'h
• P dd to the withdrawal, lly
LI, meeting next procee
1 Mt, of six ot the res( nt members of tilt: General Com-
Ib"tee, Who, by the rovis'ons of the Act of Parliament,
astired from P -
the following
)111 that body. The n.i .. nes so drawn were in
e °flowing order :--Sir E. Corlringten, Lord Ot.gley,
Ik'arnther E •sq"' JosephA Arden, E.. the _poi...! of
on toter, ns • t
and the Earl ot 1% eEtmorelaud, ali of whom,
Were emotion ot Mr. Waring, seconded by Mr. Crawcuur,
sanP, -elected
e subeommittee were then appointed in the per
teAc'fihe Earl of (;1-Telall. Sir W. Curti, Bert., It.
It4l .11`, Cabliell Eel J. ' R:onsbottare, &q., and L.
" ti•
, ER q.
''
• )4
C'tic' Naylor was then re-elected auditor.
h,,, •
gip4, r'ain SPENCER, as the meeting was about to break
, that he had b•-en asked by a great many persons
am it was that the ceminittee had aliteved the regular !
Th e4itirnnte drama to leave the boatels of Drury-tette
of
itlitre, and then when or whether it was the intention
Dem: eftenittee or the management to resume those
resent ances Now, as he had been an adviser of the
14
e te,,,, ' nrse
steel uain state the reasons why the house had been exult!.
to
bit,mevoted to musical performances, and to assert it
ik, I.ll;i4t°Pinion, that, if the old plan had been persisted
tette-v:1444,re could not have bet n carried on, eed teen
',Meet thuelllid have been no meney ready with whiell to
become ee'ailn for ground rent, which would in due time
ease eoe,:utle to the Duke of Bea trd. His grace in that
tangeb.,—' not have been paid ; but, under the new ar-
a 80 —,,,,e,n,t5, although they had collected a numerous and
tharier—,,'"u„ Musical company, it was far less expensive
eoeili,' Jormer years, when a manager or lessee was
hteoWlecl to have three companies. Now, there was
to the
yet a distinct company, all of whom were
‘0 the "Y in requisition.—(Hear, hear.)—With ret•pre.t.
seat drama of what was denominated the legal-
ratna b ared to show that the most dis-
asteou. , e was prep . ..
Of big." consequences had arisen from the management
.
Sir ix,
Macready.
did e W. CURTIS thought that this was a subject
.whieh
the I,‘" ot fairly come under the notice of the meeting on
niter ccasion. It would, therefore, be folly to
hiells. °Pon it. There were, moreover, a variety of opi-
teok• nu the question and he might say that he himself
pres,a different view of it to that which had been ex-
Ca ed by i dl
ant e g captain.
the plait; SPENCER thereupon said that he would not
eyer,e,nter upon the detail of the reasons. This, how-
l:pen:le was anxious to prove—that there had been more
tha 'Y received from Mr. Bunn and music in two years
rt durat. had been paid by Mr. Macready during the same
i,,eion of
time. For instance, he found that the Coca-
''t e had received in two years from
lit „inn
1, and Music
.f. 8,000
.aaaeready and Legitimate Drama

Leaving a balance in favour of " Bunn
and Music" of
i
Clis!r then, "Bunn and Music" had yielded far more
jacready and Li gititnate rams."
Planadsz: •n Cunris—Ah, but this difference requires ex-
CRAIIUMAN said the gallant proprietor was not
ve bv correct in the statement he had just made. It was
lor3:trile that the Committee had received a larger amount
!:Ititl.e carom Mr. Bunn than from Mr. Macready ;
ter "" accounted for by the circumstance that the
dtire
undertook to lay out a considerable sum up,.n the
~, Which were required in the theatre. It was the
of the Committee to see that amle justice was
%sett' nut to every one. and therefore ho hart f. It it n—
litooarT,F give this explanation in order that to. erro-
taie(C"Pression should not be creattd in the public
_Tslutnit
IllgltgiA ,living then been voted to Major Naylor (the
-• to the Chairman, the meeting separated.