The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-28 00:00:00

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The Trafalgar, 120, was taken into dock at Chatham yes-
terday for the purpose of undergoing the necessary altera-
thins to convert her into a 91-gun screw steamer. She will
be furnished with machinery of 1,000 horse-power.
Major Le Merchant Tupper, in command of the A troop
of Royal Horse Artillery, yesterday arrived in garrison,
Woolwich, from Canterbury ; and Captain R. Gabbett 3rd
battalion B battery, from Eastbourne, returned to head-
chargeyy likewise, and are under orders to take
of batteries for the Welsh and Irish coasts.
The gentlemen cadets of the Royal Military Academy,
Woolwich, yesterday went threugh a series of mortar prac-
tice, firing 21 rounds of 8, 10, and 13-inch shells, which
were fired with much accuracy.
The Admiralty yacht Banshee left Woolwich yesterday
morning for the purpose of joitiino: the Royal squadroa about
to escort her Majesty scruss the Channel.
Lieut.-Colonel Eardley seper:ntendent of the
Royal gun factories, Woolwich, has been granted a tempo-
rary leave of absence. The duties of the.depart merit wit' he
conducted for the present by the captain instructor of artil-
lery, Captain Ilaultain.
The Melpomene, 51, screw, was taken into dock at Porta'.
mouth yesterday, to be fitted and brought forward for sea
service.
The Dauntless, 31, screw frigate, and the Sidon, 22,
paddle steam-frigate, have had their defects remedied, and
have been taken out of the steam basin at Portsmouth, and
laid up in ordinary.
The Vulcan, iron screw steam troopship, is to be taken
into dock at Portsmouth to-day for repairs.
The Bacchante, 51, screw frigate, being built in Ports-
mouth dockyard, is to be ready for launching about the end
of the year.
The Russian squadron at Spithead are making good their
repairs and filling up with coal.
N 0.4 dock in Portsmouth dockyard is about to be length.
cued 40 feet.
The Industry, 2, Iran steam storeship, Master !Hodges,
sailed from Portsmouth yesterday for the westward.
The Dee, paddlewheel steam stereship, Master Com-
mander Thomas C. Pullen, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday
from the eastward with boilers and machinery, and gunboat
in company.
Lieutenant Henry Fairfax has been appointed to her Ma-
jesty's ship Diadem.

the other way. Were the Royal Albert to meet the Bre-
tagne in a sea-way, both ships full of coals, the Royal Albert
would have the advantage, as she carries her lower deck-
ports nearly a foot higher than the Bretagne. This is a
great point. Mr. Lindsay gives the dimensions of the
basins, dockyards, &c., all much larger than ours ; and he
observes that the French may whirl down 100,000 men to
Cherbourg, but unless they command the Channel, and have
a different class of ships, they cannot come to England. As
far as commanding the Channel goes, Mr. Lindsay is
quite right; but as to his opinion of their ships, be is
quite wrong. The French build, and indeed always did build,
as fine ships as ours ; and some of the best ships we had last
war were taken from the French, or copied from them. And
Mr. Lindsay never saw a finer two-decked ship than the one
launched the other day at Cherbourg. Mr. Lindsay then
comes to the point. He observes :—" France never built
those arsenals unless they inttnded building ships to put
into them, and we cannot shut our eyes to the great fact
we have seen, that there is one thing in which we are defi-
cient." He says :—" We have abundance of seamen, we are
a maritime people, but in the hour of emergency we have
had a difficulty in obtaining seamen to man our ships ; but
lam happy to tell you this evening—for I think it is the
only difficulty we have now to contend with—that the
' Government are now zealously devoting themselves to the

luxuries ; that they are rather medicines than comforts; that
such children's ideas of enjoyment are much better realised
io the closenese, dirt, and disorderly freedom of the common
lodging-house; and were the dietaries better than they are,
and the buildings finer, few boys would stay to enjoy them
at the price of digging, trenching, brickutaking, and stock-
keeping, in all weathers, at all seasons, with the Scripture
regulation in full force—if a man will not work, neither
should he eat. Wherever the labour test is steadily carried
out, and restrictive discipline as to dirt, disorder, quarrel-
liege and had language regularly enforced, all fear that the
reformatoty will be seductive to thecluldren themselves may
be safely thrown asiee. With respect to its attractions to the
parents, I shall have occasion to speak presently. But I am
fully confident that the instances in which the boy or girl
thinks the reformatory school a place of privilege, or wishes
to remain in it for the physical comforts or advantages it
affords, are very rare. The frequent endeavours to desert
from the schools and return to the haunts and habits of their
previous life, which give the superintendents of reformatories
so much anxiety and trouble, are of themselves sufficient
proofs of this.
The reformatory acts have operated very beneficially on
the internal discipline and management of the schools certi-
fied under them—placing the children under legal detention
and restraint, investing the managers and superintendents
of the schools with clear and definite powers of custody
and control, and making reformatory agency a recognised
part of the social system, and those engaged in it directly
and distinctly responsible to public opinion and subject to
inquiry. They have already done away with much of the
looseness, and irregularity, and insubordination, that used
to be met with. A manly, straightforward, and strengthen-
ing tone pervades the discipline, far more useful and just to
the young offender himself than the sentimentality and pet-
ting and indulgence that might formerly be often complained
of; much more order and obedience are found in the school,
and much more activity and exertion in the field
and workshop than was the case a year or two ago.
The superintendents have more experience in their dnties,
and are more equal to them, and inspire more confidence in
those those who employ them and overlook their proceed-
ings. Their management is more systematic, and mere kind-
ness superseded by intelligent and gentle firmness. It must
be acknowledged, however, that there is still room for im-
provement, and reason to wish for it, in several institutions.
The supply of really efficient masters and mistresses is still
inadequate, and some have still to be retained who are but
ill-suited to a work which, to be well done, requires so large
a combination of religious earnestness, sound judgment,
kindly temper, and steady perseverance in its agents.
Some serious drawbacks exist also in the construction and
arrangement of the reformatories themselves, especially of
those first opened. With such a class as they contain corpo-
ral punishments are not very effective or advisable. They
may be advantageously resorted to occasionally for such faults
as indecency, lying, and impudence ; but, as a general rule,
the boyshas been too familiar with blows and rough usage
at home to make him care muck for the cane or the strap
in the school, and his passionate and violent impulses
are much better dealt with by a few days' solitary confine-
ment on bread and water. Hence two or three cells, placed
so as to be secluded andinaccessible to the boy's companions,
and at the same time directly under the master's supervi-
sion, and in easy communication with him, are essential in a
reformatory. It is again of great impertence that the mas-
ter's apartments should be so placed as to enable him to
have a ready and easy oversight of the boys in the school-
room and yard by day, and in their sleeping rooms by night.
The kitchen and store-room also and the cells for correction
should be shut off from the common entrance and passage
used by the boys. The neglect of simple things such as
these has caused many efficient masters to be greatly hin-
dered or harassed, the boys being often able to elude their
vigilance or defy their authority.
Another obstacle to the success of a reformatory will
always be an insufficient staff. Where the master is over-
tasked as to the amount and variety of the work imposed
upon him, he cannot adequately discharge his duty. No
one man, however willing or earnest, can be always doing
or attempting to do everything. To expect the same officer
to manage and teach and look after the employment of
thirty or forty boys from morning till night, without relief,
exercising general vigilance, and yet attending to each par-
ticular exigency as it arises; instructing in the school-room,
looking after the meals, inspecting the clothing and bedding,
keeping the books and registers, directing and sharing in
the out-door labour—is to impose a burden of toil and re-
sponsibility that no man can successfully bear, for at least
any length of time. An adequate staff, dividing the moral
and the industrial training, and the domestic and external
management fairly between the officers employed, is a fun-
damental requisite.
Considering the amount which the Treasury now allows
for the care and maintenance of the children in these schools,
I think that the Government, acting as the trustees for
the due application of the grant, have a right to require
that suitable superintendents, and an adequate number of
them, be employed. I have pressed this on the attention of
the managers of those reformatories which have appeared
to me to be defective on this point, and in most cases I have
had the satisfaction of finding my views entered into and
acted on as far as circumstances would allow. I feel bound,
indeed, to say that all the suggestions which I have thought
it my duty to make, as to the better organisation and ma-
nagement of the schools under my inspection, have been met
with readiness by their founders and directors. The spirit
of kindly unostentatious earnestness with which these gen-
tlemen are actuated seems to give every reason for antici-
pating a continuous and successful progress to the great
social work they have undertaken.
The educational state of the reformatories is at present
more directly under the control of the Committee of Council
for Education. I shall confine myself to saying that in the
majority of them mental training is comparatively little
attended to. Managers generally look upon labour and
industrial exertion as more powerful reformatory instruments
than school instruction. These are no doubt the great es;en-
tials, yet we have no right to neglect the other; and I hope
that in time all children under detention %ill be taught to
read, to write, and to cypher correctly, and will be instructed
in so much of economic science as may make them under-
stand the duties and relations of the labourer and mechanic
to his employers, and the true conditions of their own wel-
fare and success in industrial life.
The religious instruction given in Protestant reformatories
is usually superior to the secular and general teaching. The
teachers in most cases believe the Bible as well as teach
from it. They are mostly earnest, and in many cases intelli-
gent, Christians, with much seriousness of character and
considerable individnal'kexperience ; able to be the interpre-
ters of scripture, and to interest the minds and feelings of
their scholars in it; not merely lecturing on its geography
or history, but opening its practical meaning, and leading
them to realise for themselves its intimate relations with
their. own daily habits and pursuits. Where such is the
case, the result is easily seen in the brighter aspect, the
more refined and respectful manner, the more steady and
earnest conduct of the children.
I have already alluded to the industrial training. There
can be no doubt that in most reformatories this is both real
and satisfactory. I cannot he'p hoping that the example
given in reformatory schools may ere long produce an effect
on our workhouse and common schools. It seems a just
cruse for regret that the advantages of the practical train-
ing by which boys and girls are led and used to working
habits, and so brought up to " eat their own bread" and
" work with their own hands the thing that is good,"
should be confined to that class which, by personal miscon-
duct, or by parental or social neglect, has become amenable
to the penalties of crime. Out-door labour is found more
effectual as a reformatory instrument than sedentary and in-
door occupations, and I think that, on the whole, it is found
quite as remunerative. With reference to the profits of
school farms and workshops, no considerable returns have
as yet been realised, nor, so far as my experience enables
me to judge, are likely to be. The cost of superintend-
ence and instruction must always bear heavily on the
profits of the children's labour. By the time that
are well instruct d and have become practically
useful, they are, in most cases, old enough, or have been de-
tained in the school long enough, to make it advisable to
discharge them and place them out in the world ; and while
very frequently a considerable return might be realised from
a few for whom profitable employment would naturally pre-
sent itself, this is reduced and almost neutralised when num-
bers have to be dealt with, by the necessity of finding and
inventing occupation, and, in fact, employing the majority
in practically useless and unremunerative woak. The ex-
penditure and industrial profits and net cost per head of
those reformatories which have been long enough in opera-
tion to make their results practically available will be found
appended to this report. The returns and financial state-
ments which have been furnished to me for 1857 vary, how-
ever, so much as to the form they are drawn up in, and
the items they embrace, that they can scat cely be made the
basis of any accurate conclusions. This is especially the case
with regard to the accounts of profit and loss on the industrial
departments. Estimates of the value of work done, or even
of produce consumed, are apt to be very loose, and the
item of "stock in hand" is one that particularly requires
an impartial vigilance. I hope that I shall be suc-
cessful in the end, in inducing all reformatory mana-
gers to adopt one uniform system in keeping and stating
their accounts, ;to make them up in all cases to the same
date, to exclude all rough estimates of value, to charge ac-
curately all supplies of vegetables, timber, labour, &c.,
which the schools may have from the farm or estate they are
situated on, and not to be satisfied with anything but a re-
gularly balanced account, showing the ordinary expenses
for maintenance, superintendence, repairs, clothing, Sec.,
distinct from the extraordinary items of building or outfit
on discharge. The auditor of the Redhill farm school (Mr.
Moxote) has placed the book-keeping and accounts of that
institution on a very clear and satisfactory basis. They
afford, I think, a model that might well be generally fol-
lowed; and I add, therefore, the annual statements of re-
ceipt and expenditure of both the school and the farm at
Redhill for 1857 to this report.
At present it is very difficult to pronounce with any accu-
racy what ought to be the average cost per bead in refoor
tories, and what really is the industrial profit or losws
of
frnt
no
farmin or trades carried on there. As :yet I
instance in which a reformatory has made of
f tnePareasury
being self-supporting, independent, that
s often even of
allowance, or large voluntary subscri y Itkpnol,oacb to
ohneeutsmhiollsitntghpaterb
rbeoatlhi stage eptrhoefir of
child detained in the school, after 31 hoots,waseebPketeillpnedtrt bee
expenses
a ctohof
materials and instructors, or,
manure, extra labour, Sm. 'raireformatories are occa-
lfe Pa :c of rent, seed,
heave enough o to employ all
as to take in washing, and to h
self-supporting.
sionally more productive; whereGr that is, they are so situated
ehllaammearwareretutrhaast
ainpspteitaurttioonbse arreealtiosebde,
ftohtemirdolidnerwihnimohatmeso.
But I think that in such cases it will also be found-Ist,
and which are sometimes spoken of as nearly.s
That the employment of the inmates supplied from some
particular source, or carried on under some exceptional and
special circumstances, from which no general inference can
be drawn ; and 2nd, That the inmates are mostly above 16
years of age, are not detained under any legal restraint or
compulsion, and are subject to a far more lax and indulgent
discipline than would suit a certified reformt I hope,
roy.
however, that the cost of reformatory institutions will be
gradually lessened, both by their greater industrial produc-
tiveness and by more economical management. I think
there is reason to expect that as the reformatory system be-
comes more familiar and more practically understood, the
schools in which it is carried on will be less expensive. The
mere feeding and clothing of the child is not the most costly
part of his detention, Most reformatories defray these ex-
penses for less than four shillings a week. It is in the con•
scant superintendence and moral discipline that so much ad-
ditional cost is incurred. A single act of desertion may entail
at once half the expense of the child's board for a year, in
the charges for apprehension and recovery. A rough, undis-
ciplined spirit among the children will entail in waste,
disorder, damage, attempts to abscond, Sec., as much as
would maintain three or four additional inmates. Hence it

is that so much depends on the moral condition of the school,
and therefore on the influence and efficiency of the master
or mistress in charge of it. As teachers and superintendents
rise in the scale of experience and ability, and as the schools
become more and more settled, and a wholesome tone is
more and more developed in them, the extra sources of ex-
pense may be expected to decrease, and their total cost,
therefore, to be gradually diminished.
But, on the other hand, the expedses attendant on the
disposal of inmates on their discharge will become greater
as the number entitled to their discharge increases ; and the
managers of reformatories will find themselves calle I on to
provide considerable funds to defray these, if they wish to
make the work they have done permanent and complete.
There is no doubt that a large proportion of juvenile crime is
the result rather of the offenders' circumstances than their
dispositions. Their relations, their homes, their early
made
asso-
ciations, the haunts and connections they have been
familiar with, produce the greater part of the depravity and
vice which the reformatory has to cure or eradicate ; and if,
after two or three years' better training, the child, still young
and impressible, is put back among the same people and
under the same corrupting influences which produced its
perversion at the first, it can scarcely be expected to escape
from depravation again ; and though it may not appear iu
the list of our juvenile convicts it will swell the ranks of the
adult class, and all we shall have done by reformatory in-
terference will have been to postpone or interrupt the pro-
cess of its moral ruin and social mischief for a time. Nothing
can meet this difficulty but foresight and exertion on the
part of the managers and supporters of the reformatories
themselves. Many of the children under their care, espe-
cially in agricultural districts, may be advantageously placed
with the farmers or other employers of the neighbourhood ;
sometimes the relatives andconnexions are of a more respect-
able character, and can safely undertake the care of them ;
but often, and particularly as regards young offenders from
large towns, permanent separation from their old haunts and
companions until the age of manhood is indispensable, and in
such cases emigration offers the best method of provision.
The managers of the. Redhill School have for many years
acted sn this principle, and with great success, and I am glad
to report that the committees of several other schools are
adopting the same system. Emigration, however, involves
heavy charges, and however economically carriedon, must
considerably swell the expenditure of the reformatory which
resorts to it. The reformatory acts make no provision for
the costs of this or any other method of disposal. As, how-
ever, no epeccial limits are assigned to the amounts that may
be contributed from the rates for' care and maintenance,"
there seems no reason why these should not be made liberal
enough to enable the managers of the schools to defray some
portion of the costs of ultimate provision from them. Enlist-
ment in the army and engagement in the navy or the mer-
chant service, afford excellent means of providing effectually
for boys when fitted by age and constitution for these lines
of life. Many lads have been enlisted from reformatory
schools during the year, many have also gone to sea. The
reformatory school ship " Akbar," at Liverpool, shows in its
remarkable efficiency and success how well adapted the
training and discipline of a well-ordered ship are for lads of
a more resolute and adventurous disposition. I hope that
before long a similar establishment will be completed for the
south of England.
The expediency and social value of the reformatory school
system are essentially enhanced by the operation of that
most just and wholesome provision of the Reformatory Acts,
under which the parents of delinquent children are liable to
contribute to their maintenance in the schools in which they
are detained. I was instructed by Sir George Grey on my
appointment to make this a special object of attention, and
the results of the few months during which the law has been
put systematically in force afford considerable ground for
expecting some pecuniary advantage, but still greater moral
benefit from its action. The amount of inquiry and corre-
spondence, and the necessity for continued vigilance and
pressure upon the parties contributing, make this branch of
my duties both laborious and difficult, and some time must
still elapse before the principle of parental responsibility can
be said to have been generally and effectually enforced. As
it is, during the year 1857, authorities for proceeding were
applied for by me from the Secretary of State in 395
cases, and the amount of contributions obtained under these
was—
For the quarter ending June 30
September 30 83 5 6
December 30

question."
I am glad to hear it ; but, I regret to add, that the com-
mission has done nothing except examine half a dozen
witnesses, and then adjourned till November.—I remain,
sir, your obedient servant,
Merehistoun, August 23, 1858.

CHARLES NAPIER.

REFORMATORY SCHOOLS.

FIRST REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR.
TO THE RIGHT HON. S. H. WALPOLE, M.P., SECRETARY
OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT.
Office of Inspector of Reformatories,
15, Parliament-street, June 30.
Sir have the honour to report upon the condition and
operations, of the reformatory schools under my inspection
in Great Britain during the year 1857.
The schools cansist of two classes ; those certified under
the 17 and 18 Vict. c. 86, and those sanctioned under the
17 and 18 Vict. c. 74.
The first of these two classes will form the chief subject of
my report, as being by far the most numerous, and as being
also more directly under the supervision of the Home-office,
in virtue of the allowance made by the Treasury for the
care and maintenance of the young offenders detained in
them. The schools sanctioned under the 17 and 18 Yid. c.
74 (Dunlop's Act) are wholly in Scotlan, and are for the
most part only more organised Ragged odr Industrial Feed-
ing Schools. They come more naturally under the inspec-
tion of the Committee of Council.
The present being my first report, and, indeed, the first
collective or specific report that has been made upon the
subject of the certified reformatories, I propose to make
some general remarks upon their state and progress before
giving any description of them, or criticism on them, indi-
vidually. I have myself been so recently appointed to
inspect them, and the most of them have been so lately
opened, and are still in many points so imperfectly orga-
nised, that I feel it would be s j
carcelyust to report minutely
on their arrangements, or expenses, or results. Their further
development and my own further experience will enable me,
I trust, to present next year a more detailed and accurate
view of their internal working, and their economical and
industrial condition.
1. ENGLISH CERTIFIED REFORMATORIES.
The number of these on the 31st Dec., 1857, was 40-10
having been certified and opened in the course of the year
1857, 17 in the course of 1856, 10 in 1855, and seven in 1854.
Saltley, near Birmingham, established
the first reforma-
tory that applied for a certificate under the act, being cer-
tified in August,lBs4. Mr. Barwick Baker's school at Hard-
wicke, near Gloucester, and the Kingswood school, near
Bristol, were next opened in October. The Newcastle refor-
matory began in November. Miss Carpenter December ; .
Joseph Sturge opening hisfarm school at Stoketnear Brims-
grove, and the committee of the Birmingham girls' reforma-
tory establishing their institution (now removed to Smear-
wick) in Camden-street, Birmingham, in the same month.
In 1855, reformatories were certified as follows :—ln April,
for Devon and Exeter; in May, for Cumberland and for Lei-
cestershire; in July, for Norfolk; in Sept., for Berks ; in
Nov., for Hants; in Dec., for. Cheshire and for the West
Riding of Yorkshire. The home in the east, and the Catho-
lic reformatory at Brook-green, Hammersmith, both in
Middlesex, were also certified in the autumn of this year.
In 1856, certificates were granted to the Akbar school
ship at Liverpool, and to the Northamptonshire boys' refor-
matory, in January; to the Toxteth-park girls' school at
Liverpool, and the Suffolk boys' reformatory, in March ; to
the Sunderland Industrial School, in April ; to the Castle
Howard Reformatory (Yorkshire, N.R.), in May; to the
School of Discipline for girls at Chelsea (London), the Wor-
cestershire Reformatory for boys; and the -Allesley farm
school for girls (near Coventry), in June; to the Philan-
thropic farm school at Red-hill, in September ;to the West
Riding Refuge for Girls at Wakefield, in October; to the
Warwickshire Reformatory, in November ; to the Essex and
the Wiltshire Reformatories, in December.
Catholic Reformatories were also opened In the course of
this year at St. Bernard's Abbey, Loughborough, and at
Market Weighton, Yorkshire, E.R., for boys; and at Arno's-
court, near Bristol, for girls.
The following are the reformatories certified in 1857 :
Dorsetshire, in January; Bedfordshire, in April; Norfolk,
(Catton) ; Liverpool, girls (Mount Vernon-green), and the
North-Eastern at Netherton (near Morpeth), in June ;
Beauchamp Lodge, Hammersmith, Catholic girls, in July;
the North Lancashire, in Sept. ; the Manchester and Sal-
ford, in Oct.;the Hertfordshire, in Nov.; the Leeds and the
Rescue Society's Home for Girls, at Hampstead, in Dec.
It will be seen by the dates in this summary that the refor-
matory school movement has gone on in a course of gradual
but steady development; its promoters advancing with care
and caution in their work, as they obtained greater experi-
ence, and were encouraged to proceed by the success of pre-
vious efforts. Ido not think that any movement has been
characterised by a greater mixture of earnestness of purpose
on the one hand, and practical good sense and discretion on
the other.
The number of inmates of the certified reformatories on
Dec. 31, 1856, has been returned to me as—
Boys, Protestant, 838; Catholic, ....210
Girls, ~ 83 ; ), 41
Total — 1,172

The [Omissions for the year were—
Boys, Protestant, 778 ; Catholic, ....216
Girls ~ 100; , ••• 59
Total — 1,153

The discharges for the year—
_ Boys, Protestant, 418 ; Catholic, 15
Girls, 3
23 ; „
Total — 459
Making the number of inmates on the 31st Dec., 1857
Boys, Protestant, 1,198; Catholic, 411
Girls, 160; ~ 97
Total - 1,866
In general, the operation of the certified reformatories is
strictly local. Being mostly founded by the efforts of indi-
viduals or associations in particular counties or boroughs,
they usually confine their admissions to the young offenders
of the district or town they pre connected with; and only
receive children from other localities in the way of exchange
or mutual assistance, when it is desirable to prevent the
aggregation of too many from one neighbourhood in the
same school. Some counties and boroughs have made ar-
rangements with reformatories in neighbouring er ether dis-
tricts to receive their juvenile offenders, contributing to-
wards the rent and staff expenses of the school, either by
voluntary subscription or by aid from the county rate (under
the provisions of the Act 20 and 21 Vict. c. 55). Thus, Ox-
fordshire subscribes to the Berks reformatory ; Sussex,
Kent, Somerset, and Surrey to the Redhill farm school ;
Derbyshire to Kingswood; Staffordshire is Saltley, &c.
Some few counties are still without either reformatory
school or association. They are but few, however, and even
its these there arc signs ormovement, which indicate that
ere long their magistracy will also recognise the principle
that the helpless and neglected boy ought to be dealt with
differently from the responsible man, and that the child is
as much and as justly an object of reformatory education as
the adult is of punishment.
As a rule should evidently advantageous that each county
or borough deal with its own criminals. More efforts
will be enlisted in the support of the school, more responsi-
bility felt as to its management, more interest awakened in
its moral surcess, more facilities given for the disposal of
the children when discharged, if the school be the centre of
a certain circle, and has a direct co
locannexion with the magis-
trates and employers of a distinct lity.
in
the other , the case cf large cities, the aggre-
On
gation of a number handof young criminals from the same neigh-
bourhood in one schoo
u l at
ts most injuriously—renewing old
e depraved tone and the vi sous
associations, keeping p
feelings and habits which it is the object of reformatory
treatment to suppress, and impeding most seriou;ly the
growth of better impulses and motives. lam quite satisfied
experience that, in reference to such large
from my past ex
of population as are collected in London, Liverpool,
masses
manchester, sce., it is far wiser to make such arrangements
with the managers of various distant reformatories as will
secure the dispersion of a large proportion of the young
offenders to be dealt with, than to attempt to deal with
them when concentrated in one large local institution.
The condition of the
cetheir discfirtified reormatories as to their in-
ternal arrangements, pline, and the industrial
employment of their inmates, is generally good.
Considerable differences exist in the extent and character
of the buildings, and the qualifications of the superinten-
dents. But though in some the school-rooms and dormi-
tories are of higher pitch and larger area (so as to afford
more space and secure better ventilation), and the masters'
apartments more comfortable, and the masters themselves
of a better standieg as to manners and intelligence, the
general characteristics of them all are simplicity, plainness,
and practical utility. A single roosn; about 35 feet long and
18 broad, with walls of plain brick whitened over with lime,
floor with tiles or concrete, and warmed by a common stove
or open fireplace, serves for school-room, meal room, and,
in wet weather, for work and play room. The dormitories
are generally unplastered and ceiled roughly under the
rafters of the roof. The yard for exercise and recreation in
the play hours is open and unpaved. An out-building or
shed is fitted with a bath and a trough for washing. No hot
air or hot water pipes are found even in the cells of correc-
tion; very few have even the convenience of gas. The chil-
dren are usually at their work (the boys in the fields, the
(*iris in the school-rootn) by six o'clock. They work about
eight hours, and are in school for mental instruction about
three hours per day. The field work and other labour,
though not always carried on as methodically and skil-
fully as I could wish, is usually real, and eutails a full
amount of hard practical exertion ou the boys engaged
in it, and to town-bred lads peculiarly, a considerable
degree of self-denial and endurance. Many boys have said
to me, " I would rather be in prison than there; I should
have more to eat and less to do." It must, indeed, be
remembered, with respect to the class from which tbe
great majority of our young criminals come, that airy romp,
separate beds, cleanliness, and good order, meals served
with decency, instruction and exercise at regular hours, are no