The proprietors of music-halls in London are in a panic.
The power of renewing or refusing their music and dancing licences—that is, of shutting or keeping them open—has been vested by Parliament in the County Council. The County Council has appointed a Committee of Inquiry, and the Committee relies mainly on the evidence of one of its own members,—a Mr. McDougall. He has visited many of the music-halls, and finds that their conductors tolerate indecorous dances, suggestive songs, and the presence of crowds of loose women. The Committee will, therefore, recommend the with- drawal of several licences, and the cleansing of the whole system.. Mr. McDougall may not be the proper person to entrust with suchpower, and the system of inquiryis absurd as compared with the one maintained in the case of the theatres. The Committee, however, is not responsible for that, and is to be commended for its effort to protect public decorum. The fair thing to do will be to renew the licences for a year with an emphatic warning, appoint a Visitor for the music-halls who knows the distinction between indecency and vulgarity, and then, if his orders are not attended to, revoke licences without mercy.
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