Page:Elizabeth Fry (Pitman 1884).djvu/215

Rh the shame lies in detection, not in sinning. What can be done with such but to deal stringently with them, as with enemies against society? This writer can fully bear out Mrs. Fry's emphatic recommendations as to the imperative necessity that exists for complete separation and classification of the prisoners, in all our penal establishments. Association of the prisoners one with another, only carries on and completes their criminal and vicious education.

There is, however, a general consensus of opinion as to the desirability of reformatory, rather than punitive measures, being dealt out to children, and very young persons. This system has, in almost every case, been found to work well. The authors of The Gaol Cradle, Who Rocks It? and In Prison and Out, have dealt with the problem of juvenile crime—and not in vain. From the latter work, the following paragraph proves that in this matter, as in many others, Germany is abreast of the age:—

In Germany, no child under twelve years of age can suffer a penal sentence Between twelve and eighteen years of age, youthful criminals are free to declare whether, while committing the offence, they were fully aware of their culpability against the laws of their country. In every case, every term of imprisonment above one month is carried out, not in a gaol, but in an institution specially set apart and adapted for old offenders. These institutions serve not only for the purpose of punishment, but also provide for the education of the prisoners, the neglect of education being recognised as one of the chief sources crime.

Mrs. Fry dealt with women principally, and it was only in a very limited degree that she could benefit the children of these fallen ones. Still there can be no doubt that she did a large service to society by taking possession of them and educating them while with their mothers. What that work involved has been fully told