THE "PALL MALL" SENSATION. Ghastly Picture of London Immorality.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 116, 22 August 1885, Page 5

THE " PALL MALL " SENSATION. Ghastly Picture of London Immorality.

The sensation of the week has boon the publication by the " Pall Mall Gazotte " of a eories of articles dealing with certain phases of the social evil, avowedly with the intention to influence the House of Commons to pass the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, sanctioned by the House of Lords, though, as a matter of fact, the Government exhibited its willingness to assist the passage of certain portions of the measure not likely to provoke strong opposition. Heralding the crusade with the preliminary announcement that the purists had better not peruse the next few numbers of the paper, the "Pall Mall Gazette" succeeded in exciting the curiosity of the public to an extraordinary degree ; but the realistic description given respecting the results of a special inquiry into the mpst shocking i features of metropolitan vice aroused an intense feeling of indignation, though a number of prominent philanthropists, including the Rev. C. H. Spureeon and several ! bishops and members of Parliament, sup- ] ported thepaperonthegroundof theabsolute necessity of arousing public attention to the question. The paper had an enormous sale, although it was prohibited at Smith and Willing's railway book stalls. Several clubs, including thoßef orm and Athenreum, refused to admit the paper. The police arrested numerous newsvendors for selling obscene literature in the streets, and the city authorities threaten to prosecute the "Pall Mall Gazette. " Questions also were asked in Parliament, but the Government have not at present indicated any disposition to interfere. The street leading to the office of the paper was thronged with applicants to purchase copies, and the police were oompelled to interfere to prevent disorder. Men and women and children of both sexes eagerly competed to obtain early copies, many being sold as high as a shilling a-piece, the average price being at least double the ordinary rate. The editor, before commencing the inquiry, sought the countenance of Sir W. Vernon Harcourt, who deprecated interviewing the police ; but the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, Cardinal Manning, and several other well-known philanthropists warmly approved of the scheme. General Booth appears to have afforded most valuable aid to the Commissioners. The editor of the " Pall Mall Gazette " alleges that the ghastly details respecting the traffic in young children are unexaggerated, and courts the fullest inquiry. It threatens that disclosures may be made whioh will shake the very foundations of our social order. It will be necessary, the paper says, to subpoena Princes of the Blood, prominent publio men, a»id Cabinet Ministers. The "Pall Mall Gazette" impugns the integrity of the police, alleging that numbers of them countenance the traffi.Q.

Prizes to the value of £577 are offered at the Fire Brigade Demonstration, to be held at Napier in January next, . ". -