In 1898 a
petition was presented to the London County Council requesting that
body to found and endow a permanent opera-house "in order to promote
the musical interest and refinement of the public and the advancement
of the art of music." The petition bore the signatures of two hundred
leaders of public opinion, including the chief members of the dramatic
profession. In this important document, particulars were given of the
manner in which the State or the municipality aided theatres in
France, Germany, Austria, and other countries of Europe. It was shown,
that in France twelve typically efficient theatres received from
public bodies an annual subsidy amounting in the aggregate to
L130,000. The wording of the petition and the arguments employed by
the petitioners were applicable to drama as well as to opera. In fact,
the case was put in a way which was more favourable to the pretensions
of drama than to those of opera. One argument which always tells
against the establishment of a publicly-subsidised opera-house in
London does not affect the establishment of a publicly-subsidised
theatre. Opera is an exotic in England; drama is a native product, and
has exerted in the past a wider influence and has attracted a wider
sympathy than Italian or German music.
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