§ MR. MELLYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If his attention has been drawn to the conflicting regulations which controlled the public amusements on the first day of Lent, and whether he is aware (1) that the Theatres of the Metropolis, holding the Lord Chamberlain's licence, were prohibited from giving dramatic performances on Ash Wednesday; (2) that the Music Halls in the county of Middlesex were virtually prohibited from opening by the terms of their licences as granted by the Middlesex magistrates; (3) that the performances usually given in these Music Halls took place at the Drury Lane, Adelphi, Gaiety, Alfred, and Standard Theatres; (4) that the Music Halls in the county of Surrey were open in accordance with the terms of their licences, as granted by the Surrey magistrates, and were exceptionally crowded on that evening; (5) that 1023 the Licensed Victuallers' houses where music and singing takes place, the admittance being free, were also open; what grounds there are for the distinctions thus drawn by the different licensing authorities; and, whether he has under his consideration and will be prepared to bring in a measure in the present Session to remove a prohibition thus unequally applied by various authorities to the persons who provide amusements for the people?
MR. BRUCEsaid, in reply to the first Question of the hon. Member, that all theatres within the jurisdiction of the Lord Chamberlain were prohibited from giving dramatic performances on Ash Wednesday; and, in reply to the second Question, that the hon. Member was rightly informed that the music halls in the county of Middlesex were prohibited from opening by the terms of the licences granted by the Middlesex magistrates; but some of those places of amusement were, nevertheless, kept open on that day. In reply to the third Question, he had to state that some of the theatres named were kept open on Ash Wednesday, but for musical performances only. In reply to the fourth Question, there was nothing in the terms of the licences granted to the music halls in the county of Surrey to prevent their being kept open on the day in question, and some were open; but he had been informed that they were not exceptionally crowded on the last occasion. In reply to the fifth Question, he had to say that licensed victuallers were not exempted from the obligation of taking out a licence for music and dancing. He could give no reasons for the distinction drawn between the practice of the authorities in Middlesex and those in Surrey; but it was a proof of the inconvenience that resulted from having a different system in force on the two sides of the river. He thought it probable that in the course of the present Session, when a measure would be brought in with reference to licensing, hon. Members would have an opportunity of expressing their opinions upon the matter.