lord justice cherry

8/3/2019 Lord Justice Cherry

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1911.] [ 435 ]

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS, 1910--11

JUVENILE CRIME AND ITS PREVENTION.B Y LO RD JU STICE CH ERRY .

[Read Tuesday, January 24th, 1911.]M Y first duty to-night is to thank the members of the Statis-tical Society for the high honour they have conferred uponme in electing me, for a third time, their President. I learthat during my first two years of office I have not dischargedmy duties as satisfactorily as I should have wished to do ;my only excuse being that my official and Parliamentaryduties as Attorney-General took up so much of my time, andcaused me to be so frequently absent from Dublin, that I wasunable to give that attention to the Society's interests thatis due to it from its Presiden t. I hope, however, during thepresent year to make up in some respects, at all events, formy delinquencies in the past.The subject which I have selected for my InauguralAddress, viz., " Juvenile Crime, and its Preven tion ," is abranch, and I think the most important branch, of the subjectof Prison Reform, which has recently attracted so much atten-tion . The pub lication during last summer of the adm irableseries of articles in the Times newspaper on " Prison Life andAdministration," and the meeting of the International PrisonCongress at Washington during the autumn, have bothcontributed to attract the attention of the public to thematter ; and the time is therefore propitious for an appeal 1 oall who really desire an im provem ent in our social conditio: sto really inte res t themselves in this sub ject. I t is a difficultand unattractive problem to deal with, and we need for itssolution the best brains that are available, as well as theactive assistance of very many more people than now canbe got to give their help towards the amelioration of the lotof those whom youth and inexperience have led into crime.Although the work may be laborious, and even dis-heartening, as it must often be, the result to be attained isso beneficial to the community that it is worth our while togive far more attention to it, and to devote far more publictime and public money to its promo tion th an either the Stateor private individuals have been willing to give in the past;


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436 - Juvenile Crim e and its Prevention. [Part 9 Lfor I am firmly convinced that if we could get rid of juvenilecrime, as by a proper treatment of the criminals I am equallyconvinced we can do, we should rid society once and for allof th at hideous pest, the habitua l criminal. If the recordsof any such criminal be examined, it will be found, I think,in almost every case that his first imprisonment was in earlyyouth for some trifling offence, and that his subsequent careerin crime was due pa rtly to the degrading effect on his ch aracterof the ordinary prison discipline, and partly to his inability,from ignorance, and want of opportunity, to obtain honestemploym ent on his first release. I have every hope, andby that I mean a real expectation and belief, not a mereconventional expression of desire, that by careful reformatorytreatment of every case of juvenile crime, combined withproper means being adopted to secure honest employment forthose who have gone through it, we can, in time, entirely getrid of the criminal class, as a class, in our large cities.This hope is encouraged by an examination of the effectsof what has already been done to substitute a reformatoryfor a merely vindictive treatment of criminals, and especiallyof young criminals. We now recognise, wha t our gra nd -fathers did not, that harsh and cruel punishments have verylittle, if any, deterrent effect, and that, on the contrary, theytend to brutalize the minds of those who are subjected iothem in such a manner as to more than counterbalance anygood effect they may produce through fear of their repetition.Flogging in the army was only abolished in 1879. Floggingin the navy was perm itted un til a few years ago. The un i-versal testimony is that the conduct of the men in bothservices is now very m uch b ette r tha n it was when floggingprevailed ; bu t if we read the debates in Parliam ent uponthe subject at the time when it was proposed to abolish it,we will find the most doleful prophecies as to the result upondiscipline of depriving the authorities of the power to inflictit. One can scarcely now realize the cruelty and heartlessnesswith which young criminals were treated until the middle ofthe last cen tury . I read a sho rt time ago in one of the Timas'extracts which appear daily from the paper published at thecorresponding date in the last century, an account of theexecution of a young girl for stealing a piece of ribbon toadorn her ha ir. The " culprit " was described as beingextremely pretty, and as having excited the commiserationof the onlookers in consequence ; bu t there was no t in thecomments of the newspaper writer the slightest censure ofthis barbarous outrage.In 1833 a boy was sentenced to death for stealing two-penn yw orth of pa int. He was no t, it is true , executed.Hu man itarianism had made some progress at th at time ;


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1911.] By Right Hon . Lord Justice Cherry. 437but as late as 1843 an anecdote told by the late Lord B ram pto nin his memoirs shows that the brutal cruelty of the past hadnot, even then, disappeared.M r. Haw kins , as he then was, on his first circuit, visitedthe town of Bedford. His lodgings were opposite the co un tygaol, and he describes how one evening, when seated at hissittingroom window, he saw the large gates of the prison openand a common country cart come ou t. In it, laid upon straw,was a rough wooden coffin, and behind the cart, with theirhands on the back-rail, walked a man and a woman in deepdejection. The coffin, he afterwards ascertained , conta inedthe body of their only son, a lad of sixteen, who had beenexecuted tha t morning for setting on fire a hay rick. W hata respect and admiration for the law these two poor peoplem ust have felt on tha t day !We canno t now read of acts such as these without ash u dder ; bu t our ancestors, who sanctioned them , werefirmly convinced of the ir necessity. W hen one hears now -a-days fears expressed that the increased leniency in punishingcriminals may encourage crime, one has only to point outth a t, far from doing so, it appears to have th e ve ry oppositeeffect. So far, every step which has been taken to m itigatethe severity of punishment, and to substitute a reformatoryfor a vindictive treatment, has resulted in a diminution ofcrime an d_ a reduction in the num ber of prisoners. Thefollowing table, taken from the last Report of the GeneralPrisons' Board for Ireland, of the reduction in the numberof prisons in Ireland within a period of little over thirty yearsa reduction which has been rendered possible by the dimi-nution that has taken place in the number of prisonersis avery satisfactory indication of improvement in this respect" The number of prisons and bridewells," says the report," under the control of the General Prisons Board on 1st April,1878the date when the local prisons and bridewells weretransferred to the Board and now is as follows :

1878. 1910.4 Convict Prisons, 1 Convict Prison.,, 1 Jo int Convict and Local Prison .38 Local Prisons. 15 Local Prisons.95 Bridewells. 6 Bridewells.

" To the list for 1910 are to be added two institutions of areformatory nature, which have during recent years beenestablished un der the control of the Board, viz. :1 State Inebriate Reformatory at Ennis in 1899.1 Borstal Institution at Clonmel in 1909."


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438 Juvenile Gri?ne and its Prevention. [Part 9 1 ,

Reformatories and Industrial Schools.The first step taken in the United Kingdom to improvethe method of dealing with youthful offenders was the estab-lishm ent of Reform atory Schools. These were originally ofa purely voluntary character, and supported altogether byvo luntary contributions. They were recognised by theGovernment for the first time in 1854. By an Act passed inthat year (17 & 18 Vic, c. 86) power was given to the HomeSecretary to gra nt a certificate to any such sc ho ol; andthereafter it was provided that children under sixteen con-victed of any criminal offence might, after the expiration oftheir sentences, be sent at the public expense to one of theseschools for a period not exceeding five years . W ith theparsimony which has always been displayed by Governmentin this country in relation to everything connected withsocial reform, the same Act contained provisions for recoveryfrom the parents of such children of the expense of theirm aintenance. B ut I should think very little money has beenobtained for the support of the institutions in this way.Reformatory schools were first recognised in Ireland in1858. And under the Irish Act (21 & 22 V ic , c. 103), whichoriginally established them , and the Act of 1867 (31 & 32 V ic ,c. 59), which was subs titu ted for it, the deten tion in areformatory school was provided in the same manner as inGreat Britain, as an addition to the punishment awarded forth e offence. This has been altered by the Children's Act,1908, one of the main objects of which is to abolish imprison-m ent of children a ltoge ther ; and b y the 57th Section ofthat Act (8 Ed. VII , c. 67) it is provided that in every casewhere a youthful offender is sent to a Reformatory schoolhe shall not in addition be sentenced to imprisonment.In addition to providing for children who had actuallybeen convicted of crime, the legislature, by two Acts, that forGreat B ritain passed in 1866, and for Ireland in 1867 (30 & 31Vic , c 25), took steps for the protection of children who wereliving under such circumstances as would naturally lead themto crime, by recognising, as in the case of Reformatory Schools,Industrial Schools for the reception of children found begging,or wandering without any settled place of abode, or destitute,or frequenting the company of repu ted thieves, and pro -viding for the detention of such children and their instructionin these schools under the same management as the Reforma-tory Schools. In taking this step , Parliam ent applied thewise maxim that prevention is better than cure.It is impossible to exaggerate the good effect which has beenproduced in the reduction of juvenile crime by this twinsystem of Reform atory and Ind ustr ial Schools. The lat ter


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1911.] By Right Hon. Lord Justice Cherry. 439sha ve been par ticu larly successful in Ir el an d ; an d th e com -binat ion of voluntary effort and private management, withState regulat ion and part ial supporta rather dangerousexperimenthas been completely justified by the result .The next step which has been taken by the State for theprevention, by reformatory treatment, of juvenile crime isth e intro du ction of w ha t is called the B orsta l sys tem . Th iswas f irs t suggested by the Inter-Departmental Committeeon Prison Administration presided over by the present PrimeM inister, M r. Asq uith, when Ho me Secretary, in 1894. T h a tCommittee reported inter alia :

(i.) T h a t 16,000 sentences invo lving imp rison me nthad been imposed upon youths under 21 during thepreceding year.(ii.) T h a t th e av era ge bo y was ra th er worse thar>better in his character and disposition after serving asho rt sentence of imp riso nm ent ; and ,(iii.) That the age between 16 and 21 was that atwhich criminal instincts were usually formed.From these facts, which were ascertained alter carefulinvestigation, the inference was obvious that the old systemof punishment was manifestly useless and bad, and that acom plete cha ng e was necess ary. This invo lved a carefulinvestigation, not only of the circumstances of the particularcrime for which the sentence was imposed, but an examinationof the previous life, character, and surroundings of the criminal,and the application of a strict disciplinary and reformatorytreatment calculated to turn him into a useful member ofsociet y. Th e appl ication of thi s tr ea tm en t is in itselfsufficient punishment to the boy, being naturally distasteful,in the first instance at all events, to one who had acquiredidle and pernicious habits.In practice, the theory resolved itself into an attempt, inthe first place, to improve the boy's mind by education (madeas interesting as possible), skilled work, and, as a reward forgood conduc t, l iberty to pa rt ak e in he alth y games ; and

in the second place, to encourage self-discipline much morethan was possible in the ordinary rigorous prison treatmentb y a gr ad ua l increa se of lib ert y as a rew ard for willingobedience.The Committee condemned in the most unqualified mannerthe subjection of youthful prisoners to the same rigid system ofprison discipline as that applied to older men, and recom-mended the creation of a special class of prisoners, to be called" juvenile ad ul ts ," com prising those who were over th e ageof sixteen years (and, therefore, not eligible for reformatories ) rbut under the age of 2 1 . These prisoners, i t was recommended,


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440 Juvenile Grime and its Prevention. [Part 9 1 ,should receive special training and separate treatment of thekind I have just mentioned, with the aim of forming goodcharacter, and thus enabling them to earn an honest livelihoodafter the expiration of their sentences.

Borstal Institutions,Social reforms move slowly in this country, and it was no tun til fourteen years after the repo rt of this excellent Com-m ittee, when its chairman h ad become Prime M inister, th a tany legislative step was take n' to carry out its recommenda-

tions, although, by departmental action, much had beendone in the mean time. By the Prevention of Crime Act,1908, provision was made for the establishm ent of w ha t arecalled " Borstal Institutions," that is to say, in the words ofthe Act, " places in which young offenders, w hilst de tained,may be given such industrial training and other instruction,.and be subjected to such disciplinary and moral influences aswill conduce to their reformation and the prevention ofcrime"" (Section 4). The Act provides that in lieu of a sentenceof penal servitude or imprisonment, a sentence of detentionin a Borstal Institution for a term not less than one year, normore than three years, may be imposed by any court, pro-vided that the convicted person

(a ) Is between the ages of 16 and 21.(b ) Has been associating with persons of bad charac-ter, or has acquired criminal habits ; and ,(c) Is of sound physical health and good mentalcondition.Four such " Institutions" (they are never called " Prisons ")have been established in Englandone at Borstal itself, oneat Lincoln, one at Feltham, and a fourth now at Aylesburyfor wom en. In Ireland a small " In sti tu tio n " has beenestablished at Clonmel.The class of persons to be dealt w ith in these ins titutio nsis , I should say, one of the most difficult to manage of allclasses ; strong, active, young criminals, who must,-to qualifyfor admission, have actually acquired criminal habits, orhave associated habitually with persons of bad character, yetthe success of the experiment has been truly marvellous.The system pursued is simply to substitute for the punitivetrea tm en t of the o rdinary gaol intellectual, m oral, and religiousinstruction, accompanied by hard, healthy work, strict dis-cipline, and (for those who qualify by good behaviou r)reasonable am usem ent. There are three grades for B orstallads(1) the penal, (2) the o rdinary, and (3) the special. Thenewcomer enters the ordinary grade, and according to his


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1911.] By Right Hon. Lord Justicz Cherry. 441subsequent conduct in the institu tion gpes up or down. Iffound to be incorrigible even in the penal grade, he may betransferred for the remainder of his term of detention to anordinary prison (Sect. 7), and this has sometimes to be done,but fortunately not very often.As an indication of the suecess of the system in the homeof its origin, Borstal itself, I may mention that when theTimes' correspondent, to whom I have already alluded,visited the place, he found that out of between 200 and 300inmates there was not one in the penal grade.The inma tes are not pamp ered in any way. The rulesare strict and the discipline severe. The work is as ha rd asit would be in gaol, so that there is no danger of making aBorstal Institution, from the outside point of view, an attrac-tive residence in any w ay for young criminals. B ut theentire absence of a purely p unitive trea tm en t, and theencouragement of self-respect, self-discipline, and habits ofindustry among the inmates have a most beneficial effect.The Times correspondent thus describes the system as he sawit in operation :

" The youthful criminal comes to his downfall throug hover-energy of some kind, never thro ug h the lack of it. Thisfact the autho rities know. Hence, in Borstal they havecreated the atmosphere and practice of continuous vigorousdoingwhich strikes a visitor the moment he enters, andremains in his mind afterwards. M erely to see the lads drillis a revelation of what can be got out of material which would,for the most part, be promptly rejected, apart from actualphysique, by the Arm y. The instruc tor of the gymnasiumis as strict and smart as need be, and puts his pupils throughas thorough a course of Swedish gymnastics as if they weresailors of the Fleet. How they run and jum p and vau lt andswing to the word of com mand . A newcomer m ay tryshirking the work for a time, but drill never. An houreach day at least he is in perpetual motion, honest perspira-tion bespangling his brow, his chest expanded, his musclesbraced, his nerves at full tension, his attention caught andheld in a vice, and every ounce of him in play.

"The hours of work and the routine of labour do not differm aterially from those of ordinary prison life. The day sta rtswith the physical drill at 6 a.m., then breakfast ; the hoursof work are from 7.30 a.m. to 12 noon, and 1.30 to 5.30 p.m.It is a revelation to anyone accustomed to ordinary prisonvisiting to see these Bo rstal boys. It is no t only the briskenergy they put into their labours, so ruefully observed byour newcomer, that is so refreshing, nor their greater freedomof action. I saw one lad ha rd at it with a pick righ t awayfrom all supervision, tackling his job with the trained skilland concentration of a highly-paid navvy. That which


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442 Juvenile Crime and its Prevention. [Part 9 1 ,makes Borstal unique in prison life is the difference in thecarriage and bearing of its inmates from prisoners living underordinary conditions in gaol. It cannot be said tha t the reare any angelic faces at Borstal. In contou r and in featurethey are as coarse and dour as those of other criminals, buttheir expression in nea rly every case is entirely different. Theshifty eyes have grown steady, the sullen brows and lips areclear. Heads are held er ec t; they walk withou t a slouch.They come in as crim ina ls; they are tainted , generallyspeaking, with the tain t of early crime the w orst tim e, whencrime has most power. They leave B orstal in most cases,after one, two, or three years under the hand of the law,better men than when they entered it ."When the youths leave the Borstal Institution on theexpiration of their sentences, they are taken in charge bythe Borstal Association, a voluntary society of ladies andgentlemen, who endeavour to find work for them . Th is theygenerally succeed in doing, and in most cases with the bestresults. I have been in comm unication w ith a friend inEngland, much interested in the working of this Association,he has furnished me with accounts of several boys who havebeen completely reclaimed by this treatment, and are nowleading stead y, industrious lives. One of these accounts isso remarkable that I cannot do better than give it in full,as I have received it (om itting the name for obvious reasons) :

" A B was a fellow from the M idlands, who beganstealing at the age of ten, and had been convicted thirteentimes by the tim e he was tw enty . He had been birchedtwice, served six different sentence's of one month each, twoshorter sentences, and two more of three m on ths each. Atthe end of it all he was an idle and undisciplined boy, withhis face set toward Dartmoor and penal servitude. At th ispoin t he was sent to B orstal for two yea rs. Here he foundstrict discipline and ha rd work. Two years under suchinfluences made him a different fellow." I t is now nearly twelve m onths since he came o ut fromB orstal. He has been found w or t by the Bo rstal Associationas a bricklayer, having learnt the trade in B orstal. He earns7d. an hour, is in good lodgings in London, and under thefriendly supervision of the Association's agen ts. There seemsno reason now why he should relapse. He is happy, awayfrom bad companions, and his foreman says he is a splendidworker."

Another instance of successful treatment given me bythe same correspondent is that of a youth not actually in aBorstal Institution, but sentenced to penal servitude, andsubjected to a similar reformatory discipline during his.


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1911.] By Eight Hon. Lord Justice Cherry. 443deten tion at Dartm oor for four yea rs. He was dischargedto the care of the Borstal Association in October, 1905, andwas found a place on a farm in Sou th Wales. He has stayedthere ever since, improved his position, having a good postin th e adjacent collieries. He now ac ts as agent for th eAssociation in these parts, and has found work and lodgingsfor a num ber of the B orstal boys. He has married, got a nicehome, and boys go there to stay with him.

Modified Borstal Treatment.In addition to the provision of separate institutions forthe treatment of the juvenile offenders, who have been livingam idst criminal surroundings, a system of special trea tm en t ofyouths committed for ordinary offences, and serving theirsentences either in local prisons or in convict settl em en ts,has been introduced, by departmental regulations, both inEn glan d and Ireland. The system is known as the " modifiedBorstal," and is based upon exactly the same principles.

I ts results so far have been most encouraging. The samecorrespondent of the Times describes the system as in opera-tion at Dartmoor, among youths sent to penal servitude, asfollows:" They are all at D artmo or w orking in parties quite sepa ratefrom the adu lt convicts. Their occupations are often out ofdoors as well as in. One m eets them everywhere, greatstrapping fellows most of them, bronzed by the sun, erect and

muscular, of good carriage. Th ey sing in the choir at chapelwith m uch vigour. Th ey can perform g reat feats in thegym nasium . Th ey are in charge of the stable, and m ightilyproud are they of the great Shire horses they lead and grooman d feedhorses that do Da rtmo or credit. These horsesare bred on the estate, are of the best blood, and are in perfectcondition and fettle, in hands which care for them lovingly,though they once strangled the life out of a human being.I t is, therefore , a fine hea lthy life for lads ; and as full privilegesfor good conduct and diligence are givenand the disciplineagainst idling and breaking of rules is strict and severetheyare mostly well-behaved."

When it is remembered that all the youths in Dartmoorhad either been convicted of very serious offencessome ofthem even of murderor frequently convicted of compara-tively trivial ones, it is certainly remarkable that the specialtrea tm en t should have produced such good results. Thefollowing record of a " typ ica l case " i llu str ate s the difficultmaterial with which it is necessary to work, and, incidentally,4


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4 . 4 4 Juvenile Crime and its Prevention. [Part 9 1 ,the evil of short sentences in the case of juvenile offenders, amatter about which I shall have a few words to say later on :

" A. B. Twenty-one years old w hen convicted. Sen-tence, five years. M ember of a very dangerous gan g. H iscrimebreaking into a house and stealing plate with others.H is record ten previous con victions; the first crime com -m itted when he was less than twelve years of age. This is abad case ; yet e ve n 'ait er he had ha d seven convictions, hewas only sentenced to nine m on ths' imprisonment for burglary .None of the former sentences exceeded three months each.If that lad had been detained and trained earlier for a coupleof years, he would not be a convict now."

The Borstal System in Ireland.Although the Borstal system did not receive legislativesanction until the passing of the Prevention of Crime Act,1908, it had been, as I have said, in operation both in Englandand Ireland, under departmental regulations, for some yearsprior to th a t date . In 1906 portion of Clonmel Prison was setapart for the purpose, and last year arrangements have beenmade for the conversion of the entire prison into a BorstalInstitution, by transferring the ordinary prisoners to otherneighbouring prisons, where fortunately there is ample accom-modation for them.Juvenile adult prisoners from all over Ireland are now inevery case brought to Clonmel, if sentenced by the Court todetention in a Borstal Institution, or if an ordinary sentence

of imprisonment has been imposed of sufficient length togive hopes of successful reformatory treatment.While the juvenile adults are in detention in Clonmel,they are given every possible inducement to reform. Theyare, as may be found suitable to their capacity, instructedin carpentry, gardening, painting, tailoring, and shoemaking.They can avail themselves of a good library, consisting ofbooks of the best kind in history, biography, travel, etc.,which are selected by the chaplains and visiting justices.There is an efficient schoolmaster, and the boys up to andincluding the third standard of the National Boanl receiveinstruction daily in the schoolroom. W hen the boys arereceived into detention, they are generally destitute of anyuseful knowledge, and when leaving they all show a verymarked improvem ent. There have been instances of yo uthsentering the Institution unable either to read or write, who,when leaving, were able to communicate with their friendsby letters well an d intelligibly written . The inmates goregularly th rou gh physical drill, which has been very satis -acto ry in healthful developm ent. There is a recreation


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1911.] By Right Hon. Lord Justice Cherry. 445room where boys in the special grade meet every eveningfor an hour, and indulge in games of chess, draughts, etc.There are also lantern exhibitions illustrating lectures oninteresting subjects, while the chaplains look after the spiritualwants of the boys in the most zealous manner.

Since the passing of the Prevention of Crimes Act, 1908,there is power to discharge a youth sentenced to detentionin a Borstal Institution before the expiration of the period forwhich he was sentenced, that is, at any time after the expira-tion of six months, if the Prisons Board are satisfied thatthere is a reasoable probability that the offender will abstainfrom crime and lead a sober and industrious life. There havebeen several of these licenses already granted, and in not asingle instance has it been found necessary to bring back tothe Institution any of the boys liberated in this manner.Before a licence is granted, careful inquiry is made as to theboy's previous history, and as to whether some person cannotbe got who will take an interest in his welfare.

Prisoners' Aid Societies.A Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society was established in.Clonmel at a public meeting held in M ay, 1906, principally*- with the object of assisting prisoners trea ted in the local gaolunder the B orstal system. A Comm ittee of M anagement wasappointed, the President being Richard Bagwell, Esq., D.L.,the Vice-President, the Earl of Donoughmore, and the othermembers the Visiting Justices, together with the chaplains,

governor of prison, and some local gentlemen. At the fourthann ual meeting in M ay last the title of the Society was changedto th at of " The B orstal Association, Ir elan d," the gaolhaving been in the m eantime converted into a BorstalInstitut ion , all the inm ates of which are regarded as beingin detention and not as prisoners in the common acceptationof the term.This Committee acts as the English Borstal Associationsdo in assisting the boys after their discharge to obtain workand supervising them for a limited time as far as it is possibleto do so. R eports are from tim e to time received by theAssociation as to the conduct and careers of the licensees.The result, I am happy to say, has been as satisfactory inIreland as in England . It is best state d in the w ords oflast ye ar's re po rt (1909-10) of the Association :

" Since the establishment of the Borsta] system in Clonmel137 you ths have been com m itted, of whom 46 are still indetention, 4 were transferred for misconduct to the ordinaryprison and the remaining 8y were discharged.


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446 Juvenile Crim e and its Prevention. \Part 9 1 ," I t is pleasing to be able to sta te th at 50 of the 8j are

doing well. As to 9 no definite information can be obtained ,owing to emigration and other causes, bu t in these cases itmay be fairly assumed there are no grounds for complaint.It is known that 5 at least have entered on careers in whichit would be prejudicial to them if their previous histories wereknown. One young m an joined the M erchant Service, and asit was an occupation he most desired (having been previouslyat sea), he is likely to get on well. Five of the prisonersdischarged have married, and are now industrious and res-pectab le mem bers of society. The percentage of reformationsto discharges may be taken roughly as 63, which, consideringthe previous history of the boys and their unfortunate sur-roundings, should be regarded as highly satisfactory."It is almost unnecessary to say that this great scheme ofprison reform could not have been carried out without thecordial co-operation of the prison autho rities. There are nomore convinced supporters of the reformatory system th an SirEvelyn Ruggles-Brise, President of the English Prison Com-mission, the actual originator of the Borstal Institution, andM r. J . S. Gibbons, Chairman of the General Prisons Board ofIreland. The latte r is indeed an enthusiast on the subject,and desires to carry the scheme much further. At the recentInternational Prison Congress in Washington he proclaimedhis prison programme in the following terms :" Every gaol,every prison ," said he, "s hou ld be a reformatory. Our objectshould be first to make our gaols and prisons perfect asreformatories, and then to have them emptj~.)J Neither of

these experienced officials is a believer in the existence of acriminal type of humanity, beyond the reach of reform, asis suggested by the pessimistic theory of the Italian writer,Lom broso. Each takes the opposite view that criminalityis , in most cases, at all events, the creature of circumstancesand environment, and that by proper treatment at an earlystage it may be completely eradicated.An essential feature of the new system is the provision ofassistance to youths when discharged from the Institutionsin obtaining honest employmen t. W ithou t this they willalmost certainly relapse into crime, and all the benefits of thetraining will be lost. This work can only be done effectivelyby voluntary societies.The Prevention of Crime Act, 1908, however, gives legis-lative recognition to these societies, and enables Treasurycontributions to be made towards their expenses (Sec. 8).These contributions are, however, insufficient for th e p rop erdischarge of the work, and I regret to say that the subscrip-tions received by the Clonmel Borstal Association fromvo luntary sources are entirely inadequ ate.^ The Com mittee


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1911.] By Right Hon. Lord Justice Cherry. 447very naturally complain that although the boys assisted comefrom all parts of Ireland (mostly from the two Jarge citiesof Dublin and Belfast), the responsibility of helping themfinancially on their discharge falls almost altogether on localsubscribers. I thin k th a t if the existence of this Society wasmore generally known tha n it is, it would receive, as itcertainly deserves to do, more general pecuniary support.In England" this branch of prison reform has been takenup m ost energetically by the present Home Secretary, M r.Churchill, not only as regards youthful offenders, but in thecase of all con victs. In his speech to the House of Commonson the 20th of Ju ly last he gave an outline of his proposalsin the following term s :

" The proposal I am able to make to the House is thisthat we should establish a new central agency of a semi-official characterhalf official members representing theauthorities, and half the representatives of these prisoners'aid societiesthat will combine official power with what Ithin k is essential the hum an touch ; th a t there should bean indiv idual s tudy of every case ; th a t all convicts shouldbe distributed by the central agency between the differentprisoners ' aid societies of the different denominations andthe different charitab le societies ; t ha t the whole business ofpolice supervision shall be absolutely suspe nd ed ; th atthe old system of ticket-of-leave shall come to an endcom pletely. So th at , except in the case of refractory persons,who are quite beyond the charge of these different societies,the convict, when he leaves prison, will have noth ingmore to do with the police. He will be dealt with entirelythrough the agency of these societies, working under thecentral body, whose only object will be to do the best for theconvict. I am very glad to be able to say tha t the Chancellorof the Exchequer has been good enough to assign 7,500 forthe development of the methods by which to enable prisonerson their release from penal servitude to take their place inordinary life."

The new central agency is now actua lly a t work, underthe management of two most enthusiastic prison reformers,M r. W. G rant Wilson and M r. Alexander Paterson It istoo soon, of course, to speak of results, but everyone mustwish it success ; and I think th at we in Ireland may reasonablyclaim that its labours may be extended to our country.Short Sentences.

Another essential feature of the reformed system, somepeople may be surprised to hear, is the entire abolition of


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448 Juvenile Crime and its Prevention. [Part 9 1 ,short sentences. In the opinion of nearly all prison ad -m inistra tors there is no chance of the success of any re-formatory treatment of youths unless they are subjected toit for at least a yea r. In the opinion of all prison reformersno sentence of less than this duration ought ever to be imposedon a youthful offender. " Short sentences, tak en as a wh ole,"says the Times correspondent, whom I have so frequentlyquoted , " are the curse of our prison sys tem , the despair ofits administrators, and one of the most powerful, if not themost powerful, of the aids to crime."

At p resen t, -chiefly on supposed grounds of hum anity andleniency, a very large proportion of youths sent to prison aresent there for very short terms, sometimes only for a fewdays. Prison loses its terrors for these boys. Their cha racteris gone. Their self-respect, if they ever had any, is gone too.They are released before they have had time to forget theirold associations, and go back at once to crime. Frequentlythese short sentences are imposed for the most trivial offences,general rowdyism, playing games in the streets, etc., etc.Some magistrates fail in the most lamentable manner torecognise the evils of familiarising a boy with the inside ofa prison. The Children's Act of 1908 has now fortuna tely pu ta stop to the evil as regards the younger class of offenders.It is now illegal to commit any child under fourteen years ofage to prison under any circumstances whatsoever. It isalso illegal to imprison any " young person " between the agesof fourteen and sixteen , unless the Court certifies t h a t he orshe is of such unruly or depraved character as not to be afit subject for othe r tre atm en t (Sec. 102). B ut the heads ofthe prison administration both in England and Ireland areof opinion tha t we should even go further th an th is. Theycondemn, in the m ost unqualified term s, the en tire " shortsentence " system. The following ex tract from the lastReport of the Irish P risons' B oard is wo rth consideration :" We have in previous Annu al Reports frequently referredto the inutility of very short sentences of imprisonment.Last year the number of prisoners committed under sentenceof 7 days or less represented 41 per cent, of the total numberof convicted prisoners committed during the year."Now that the punitive side of prison treatment is beingsubordinated so mu ch to the reformatory side and tha tprisoners are made so comfortable in prison, these shortsentences hav e little or no de terren t influence. The resultis that those on whom an adequately, long sentence wouldprobably have a deterrent effect, or a reformatory effect fromthe influences brought to bear on them, come back to Prisonso frequently that they spend a longer aggregate time in prisonthan if longer sentences were inflicted in the first instance.


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1911.] By> Right Hon. Lord Justice Cherry. 449" Fu rthe r, no less tha n 10 per cent, of th e to tal num ber ofconvicted prisoners are committed under sentences of 4 days

or less. It would appear to be a m at te r for considerationwhether many of the offences which have heretofore been dealtwith by such short sentences might not be more suitably dealtwith under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907, by dis-charging the offender cond itionally on his entering into arecognizance with or w ithout sureties to be of good behaviou rand to appear for conviction and sentence when called on."I would venture to suggest that short sentences of im-prisonment should be entirely abolished in the case of juvenileadu lts, certainly in the case of girls. If the offence committedbe slight, either a fine should be imposed (if it can be pa id)or the offender should be placed in charge of a probationofficer or some disciplinary autho rity . If he is reca lcitran t,and refuses to subm it to au tho rity, he should then be sentencedto at least a year's detention, either under the Borstal systemor the ordinary reformatory treatment for juvenile adults.I am glad to think that such is the view of the present HomeSecretary ; to judge by his speech of the 20th of July last,which I have already quoted . I trus t th at he will take anearly opportunity of giving legislative effect to his opinionon the matter, and I am convinced that the extension of theChildren's Act in this directioncertainly in the case of girlswould have a most beneficial effect.

Conclusion,We have travelled a long way on the road of Prison Reform

since the days of Joh n Howard and E lizabeth Fry ; a longway, even, since the first estab lishm ent of Reform atories ;and it is encouraging to think that every step in the progresshas been accompanied by a diminution in the amount of crimecom mitted. It may be an exaggeration to say in every casetha t " Force is no rem edy," b ut certainly, in the case of theyoung, it is a very inferior remedy, which should be used onlyin the last resort. Indiscriminately applied, w ith ill-tempered and vindictive feelings, it does far more harm thangood. Patie nt and persistent effort to reform the youngerclass of offenders has been proved by experience to be far moreefficacious than plank beds and solitary confinement; andthe main object of all punishment ought to be to reform thecriminal and deter him and all others from crime. Thosewho initiated the Reformatory School system were on rightlines. Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise, the present head of theEnglish Prison Commission, in starting the Borstal Institutions(for it is to him that the credit is due for this reform) wasmerely developing the older system . All further progressshould be in the same direction. It is to the young we should


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450 Juvenile Crime and its Prevention. [Part 91 >look first. It is with the young th at we have most chance ofsuccess. If the age of those subject to reformatory tre atm en tbe gradually ex tended , as I think m ay safely be done, a tim emay come even in the lifetime of many of us in this room to-night, when the high walls, the sunless cells for solitary con-finement, and the plank beds of modern prisons may beregarded with the same feeling of horror as are the rack andthe thumb-screw, the cat-o'-nine tails, and other instrumentsof torture which are now exhibited only in our museums,but which were tho ug ht by our ancestors to be as necessaryfor the suppression of crime as we now consider our modernprisons to be. M uch ha rd work mus t, however, be done beforethis result can be achieved.

lord justice cherry

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