The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-25
BOOTH STARTS ON
 PRISON REFORM Wants English Jails Model
 Institutions CRIMINAL IS HUMAN Music Is Most Unique Innovation to Be Tried-A Strange Dis
 ease Babbles the
 Physicians
By PHILLIP EVERETT

Booth, the veteran commander in chief of the Salvation Army is going to make the prisons Of England model institutions for all the world.
 Interviewed about his prison plans the other day the general said:
 T have been spending a good deal of time of late in visiting prisons, and l am more than ever convinced that We could do a great deal more than has yet been accomplished if we remembered that the criminal is human being, and must be dealt with as such. The damnabe heresy firmly held by some prison authorities that there ought to be no such thing as an appeal to emotion in jail ought to be abandoned A man does not lose either heart or soul when he commits crime. Any system which proceeds on that as sumption is doomed 10 inevitable failure.
 Ny whole scheme in a nutshell is this: Treat the criminal as a human being. Give him a mans chance before you de- spair of making a man of him. l would have much more discrimination in passing what I call a punitive sentence on crim- inal. and I would add to the determinate NoNN- tion for as long time as was necessary to prepare the man for earning an honest living when he is set free.
 MT Winston Churchilrs reforms are good so far as they go but they are rather basis on which to build than complete scheme to reform. Wasted in terests and ecclesiastical prejudices are still great impeachment in the way.
 ''I have seen the home secretary, who is greatly interested and who has agreed to let me try what l can do with my three reforms, which are:
 An annual mission in every prison in the country, consisting of one hours special service a day for four days run ming. Catholics and Jews. of course, need not attend unless they wish to. The mis- sion would be conducted by Salvationists for the purpose of touching the hearts and saving the souls of the prisoners.
 "A quarterly musical festival of vocal and instrumental music of one hours du- ration, for the purpose of bringing some melody into the dismal jail and all reas- enable opportunities to be afforded our officers for visiting and exhorting such prisoners as may desire to be taken charge of by the Salvation Army on leav- ing jail By this means they could be pre- pared for freedom and find themselves on their discharge among old friends.
 ''I am a great believer in the power of music as a factor for good,' said the gen. try arii;tEM Mtirh have bands all over the coun-
 letter day for all concerned. Would you
 believe it, l had great difficulty in getting
 the home office to sanction religious
 music. They said at first that the music must be secular. l had to go to the home office to argue it out. I asked Mir. Churchill why he supposed we wanted the musical festival. What we wanted to do was to use music as a means Of touching the heart and rousing the better emotions of the soul"
 Asked if he thought all prisoners might be reclaimed. the general replied:
 T think no one is Justified in declaring that any fellow being is beyond the reach of the grace of God. One of our color sergeants, who is now leading an exem- plary life, was declared by all the author 1ties to be absolutely irreclaimable, that their one idea when he was discharged was to arrest him on some fresh charge as soon as he left the prison precincts. It Is the worst men and women whom we love most and have most faith in There are no doubt many mentally deficient congentally incapable of holding their own in the battle of life For them there should be state retreats. But for bold, capable, keen witted man there is always HOpe. ATlNe a man a chance before give him up.'
 MT. William Stead, who also had a talk with the general in regard to his plans for the future, writes about him:
 Tt is a splendid spectacle to see this white-haired, half-blind octogenar1an chief planning out fresh campaigns, ar- ranging worldwide missionary expedi- tions with all the faith of an apostle and the buoyant confidence of a youth Few men have seen more of the seamy side of human nature. No man has a more unconquerable faith in the suitability of man. In him hope shines bright as a morning star, and a passion for the vel rare of men as warm and ardent as the sun at monday
 Arrangements for King Georges re- views of the officers training corps and the boy scouts on July 3 and are now nearly complete. Both reviews will be | held on the parade ground near Queen 1 Anne's Gate, in Windsor Great park.
 The officers training corps will num- per between 17,00O and 1S000 organized men In mounted troops and five dismounted | brigades. The review will take the form or an inspection by the king and a march, the senior divisions Cuniversities) after | wards advancing in review order.
 As many of the university and school | contingents come from long distances. a camp will be formed on the cavalry ex- ercise ground, where some 5000 cadets will | assemble on Saturday and Sunday, July | 1 and 2.
 On July the Boy Scouts. numbering between 2o0oo and 30,0OO will be under the command of Lieut.-Gen. Sir R. Baden | Powell, the chief scout. The scouts will | be drawn up for a semi-circular rally. and l at a given signal will rally out a semi circle of scouts who have saved life, with whom will be the colonial banners. About 200o Kings Scouts will be near the salm- ing point.
 There is grave alarm in certain West End establishments at the outbreak of a mysterious disease. which, up to the pres ent, has baffled the medical men in at tendance on the patients
 In one leading shop three female assist ants have been isolated and are under strict supervision. but with no definite re- suit up to the present
 The fact, however. that in each case the assistant who has been seized with the disease has recently worn hair imported from abroad has led to a course of in- quiry, which is expected to lead to im- portant results.
 It is known that large quantities of hu- man hair comes to England from China and also that much of this is cut from the heads of women victims to the plague, but 1t was always thought that the process of dsinfection protected against contagion The import of hair from the far east will probably now be forbidden.