Star.
London, England, 1817-02-22 00:00:00

.LICENCING ON PUBLIC 110U4LS.

Sir S. ROM ILLY presented a rt tttion, signedby
a great nus.ber of persons resid,ng in or neat White
Heise Lane, in the district of the Toter H .octet,;,
complaining of the conduct of tlw MAeistrates with
respect to ti e granting public-house iicer,s a. All
he should do at pre,ent, would be to mere that Viis
petition shf.uld lie on the table, but it the Gtittlentan
who mnvA for the appointment ef the Police Cem-
mitre last year should bring forward e motion for
reviving that Committee, and if this should be ac.
ceded to by th: Horse, he sh:'uld then mov, that 'he
petition be referred to it.' The present o,ttion was
signed by 230 rt!rfintis living in or neer W to Horse
Lure. 'Dory complained that- the Magistrates had
refused to k:OPSe a -house which had heel' belt for
public-howe, and which was eiated to be much
wanted in that situation. The boost in q iestion was
one of a very superior description, and one tint likely
to be resorted to by low company. A formal Ap-
plication had been ntade.for a license. but ;his Lad
been refused, and in consequence the inhabitonii
were put to the inconvenience of fetching Citer herr
from houses at a very considerable distance. While
their wishes were thus opposed by the Magistrates,
licenses had been granted and renewed to many
houses in the disttict, against which the most
serious comelaints had been made. It was not easy
to reconcile their refusal of a license to the partial.
'gar house in XVliite Horse Lane for which it had
been solicited, while such extroardinary facilities for
obtaining licenses had been afforded in other places.
He however would not enlarge on this subject, 's the
Magistrates complained they had not yet haJ proper
opportunity for entering upon their vindication, ad
it was impossible now to go into the whole of t:4
case. The question which it involved, however,
el-
peered to him of moment, net as it affected the i:r! •
viduals presenting this petition, but as a part ei cost
Police system. In this view, to him the subject
peared to be one of very great importanc'.
,conduct of the Magistrates must have a great cffest
on the morals of the lower classes, and it was there.
fore necessary to the well being of society Chi the
decision should be such as could in be called is
question. But in the present cafe, where was their
consistency f In the neighbourhoed of Whi:e Hers:
Lane, there was tle.i.i.lsirc nrmse within half a mi:e
of that for which a license bad been demanded, r 1
the application had been dismissed, though in sore
parts of the same district licenses continued to tt
granted and renewed, till the number br-carne
peat that one house in every twelve was a publis-
house. In Gravel-lane every eigh h how? Wai
public house, and in one put of Norton Fllgate, •77
its immediate vicinity, it was calculated thet Ortre
was one to every seventy-three persons of tlt't p..p.•
lour neighbourhood. These too were Mouses d
worst description, which were resnrsei to by 1ct...e.,1
thieves, and prostitutes of the lost et order. But r'':•
withstanding these thine's wete known, Cie M. z•
trews did out object to continue their licens• c. gr.
Gifford, who was at the head of the Police in the:
disttict, had himself borne testimony to the g!.41
misconduct of the Magistrates, which was sne,:, a
these matters, that he had given up all hopes of g
any good by complaining of disnreerly see, ani
usually kept away on tic licensing day, in the
viction that no compiaints made against them w,u d
be attended to. Mr. Alnkland, another of the !lagte
trates, had also stated the course it ;Issued ;n twit cites
to be productive of incalculable mist.liia. He ilict
read part of Mr. Gifford's evidence, which set firth
the inutility of complaining of those receptacles
thieves and prostitutes scud flash-houses, to tie:
Magistrates. ;3 nue of these Magistrates, it sioiwil
seem, were brewers and preprieors of pl,blic-houtte
or had relations that were st.cli, and were thus into,
ested in granting licenses to these honors. AnloFF
those who granted them, there was one rrrson *l4
had twelv.: public-houses t.i its own, and will rg"
ceived the rents of ten others, and thus had ac 10•
terert in the licensing of tvrenty.two homes In !i•
di.itict. Mr. Gifford had stated that six convict, oh
had been given against one house, yet, notwithstrid'
ling these, though its character remained the Sine'
its license had been renewed. It was matter of!'
tonishmeat, t:tat with all the detects in cur Polier