till at last he lay, a helpless giant, alongside the boat, and deftly Bartley struck the gaff into him just below the gill covers, securing the fish literally by the chin. Even then the tarpon had no strength left to struggle, and whilst I leant my weight over on one side of the boat, Bartley hauled him in over the other side, and the sight of this silver king lying there gave me a moment of more triumphal feeling than perhaps any that I had hitherto experienced in all my fishing career.

It took us nearly three-quarters of an hour to get back to the yacht, rowing against the tide, and when we weighed him, my tarpon scaled 160 pounds, measured 6 feet 7 inches in length, 40 inches in girth, and was the biggest fish of the season up till then.

After the capture of this fish, there were only a few more days left to us of as pleasant a three weeks' fishing as I have ever known. We each caught several tarpon, though none of greater size, and we delayed our departure as long as possible, but the last evening came all too soon, and it was with real regret that we said good-bye to the yacht, to our guides, and to the tarpon in the pass.

HUGH V. WARRENDER.

ON THE PRISON TREATMENT OF

JUVENILE OFFENDERS

I Do not presume to speak with any authority on the prison system of this country, a subject for the proper understanding of which a long and practical experience with its various features would be

necessary.

However, as one of the officers imprisoned after the Jameson trial in Holloway, I was enabled to obtain a practical personal knowledge of the interior of a prison.

During the seven months of my detention it was possible for me to form an opinion, at least with regard to one aspect of the prison system. I refer to the custody of juvenile offenders while on remand or awaiting trial.

Unconvicted prisoners receive special treatment. Under the existing law they are subjected to cellular treatment; that is to say, they are confined to their cells during the twenty-four hours, except that they are allowed one hour's exercise and spend some twenty minutes in chapel.

No injury may result from this system so far as adults are concerned, but I maintain that it is entirely inapplicable to juvenile offenders, and, indeed, contrary to humanity and common-sense. In the case of the young (i.e. boys under sixteen years of age), a differential system is urgently called for.

The mere fact of incarceration for twenty-four hours with closed doors in a prison cell has an injurious effect on young boys. I am most anxious to avoid any appeal to false sentiment, but it is no exaggeration to say that very few nights were spent in prison without our hearing the sobbing of children who were passing many solitary hours in the gloom and confinement of a prison cell. I am well aware that many of the more hardened offenders were quite capable of resorting to this means of exciting compassion, but I have reason to know that frequent cases occur of genuine terror being caused in youthful minds by the very severe ordeal of solitary confinement in the dark. I cannot believe that in such cases no better means can

be found of securing the safe custody of children who may have committed for the first time offences possibly more worthy of commiseration than severe punishment. Should the period of detention on remand extend-as I have known it to do-over several weeks, it is hardly possible to exaggerate the injury that may be done to a boy of decent character.

In less hypersensitive days most of these cases might have been dealt with by a few judicious strokes of the birch-rod.

It is the opinion of many conversant with prison discipline-and I, for one, fully share it-that it is an evil for a boy under remand and unconvicted to enter a prison at all.

The law, however, very properly demands his safe custody. At present there are only two ways in which this end can be attained: (1) By detention in a prison.

(2) By detention in a workhouse.

Of the disadvantages of the former I have just spoken.

Section 19 of the Industrial Schools Act 1866 empowers a magistrate to remand children under the age of fourteen to a workhouse pending investigation of their cases.

The chief objection to this course lies in the fact that facilities do not exist in workhouses for the proper isolation and custody of boys charged with offences.

It would be very beneficial to the boys, as well as desirable from a prison point of view, that juvenile offenders (i.e. boys under sixteen years of age) should be sent to a semi-penal establishment instead of being remanded to a prison.

This establishment should be devoted solely to this purpose, and be worked on the cubicle-dormitory system, with constant supervision.

Such a system would be good for the boys, as it would prevent their becoming acquainted with prison life, which-under the present régime soon destroys any self-respect they may have.

It would also be otherwise desirable, as it is most difficult, without a special staff, to classify and deal with boys of so great a variety of disposition and temperament during the comparatively short time which they spend in prison on remand.

It is very satisfactory to know from the following statement by the Home Secretary in reply to a question by Mr. J. M. Paulton, M.P. (Bishop Auckland), that already measures have been taken to modify the present system.

An experiment is now being tried at Holloway by which the ordinary discipline for unconvicted prisoners is mitigated in the case of those that are under sixteen. The modifications are, briefly, that the cell doors are left open, under, of course, proper supervision; more time is allowed for exercise, and the exercise itself is more varied; special arrangements are also made for their instruction, and generally for giving them occupation. I hope that it will be found possible very

shortly to extend these modifications to other prisons also; at all events, the experience that will be gained will be valuable in passing rules for dealing generally with the matter, which I am anxious to do' (Hansard Parl. Rep. May 3, 1897).

So impressed was I with the defects of the system-which I am glad to know from the above is being inquired into-that I made it my business to study the French system of dealing with juvenile offenders. It is well known that public opinion in France is very sensitive as to the treatment of criminal and vagabond children.

It may be of interest to publish the notes which I made in France as showing what attempts are made in other countries to find a solution of the difficulty of keeping children or young persons in safe custody without subjecting them to the moral danger and stigma of ordinary imprisonment as applied to adults. Mention is made, incidentally, of the treatment of juvenile offenders of the female sex in France, but I have no personal experience of this matter in our country.

It will be noticed that the remand division of the Enfants Assistés is an institution which attempts to deal with the question of juvenile offenders who are as yet unconvicted it is, therefore, particularly worthy of consideration.

To obtain a comprehensive view of the French system, I followed step by step the process of dealing with juveniles in Paris, from the moment of arrest until they are finally disposed of, by discharge, by a sentence of imprisonment, or by being placed in situations in the country or elsewhere, where they may obtain a fresh start in life.

I did not confine myself to visiting the various police stations, houses of detention, depots, &c., where juvenile offenders are confined at the various stages. Through the kind assistance of Mr. Spearman, who is resident in Paris and thoroughly acquainted with the officials and working of many public departments, I was enabled to interview the directors of these various establishments, and to be present at the examination by the juges d'instruction of boys and girls brought before them.

My best thanks are due to Mr. Spearman for his valuable assistance in making these inquiries.

For the sake of clearness I shall first enumerate without comment, in their proper order, the several stages of arrest and examination through which the child passes. I shall then deal with each stage in detail, giving such notes and explanations as seem necessary.

Finally I shall summarise those points which are particularly worthy of note.

I have avoided giving statistics and figures, as not coming within the province of these notes, but if desired there will be no difficulty in supplying these details.

I

Actual procedure in dealing with juvenile offenders in Paris, from the moment of arrest until final disposal of case.

(1) Poste.-The first step on arrest is to take the offender to the poste or district police station. The stations are under a commissaire de police, who is empowered (a) to discharge; or (b) to send on for disposal.

These district police stations are cleared three times daily, the inmates being sent out, after preliminary examination by the commissaire, to the Central Police Station (Dépôt Central, près de la Préfecture).

(2) Central Depot.-On arrival at the Central Depot, children are placed in a part of the depot entirely reserved for them. From the depot they are brought daily before

(3) Le Petit Parquet.-This step is purely formal. No caseeven should the child have been arrested flagrante delicto-is dealt with finally at this stage, but is passed on to

(4) Le Juge d'Instruction.-Here the first real investigation commences. The magistrate decides whether the youthful offender shall be (a) discharged or handed over to its parents; (b) sent before a court to be tried; (c) otherwise dealt with.

(5) La Petite Roquette (and Nanterre).—To avoid the detention of children in the same prison as adults, during the time necessary for investigation, they are sent from the juge d'instruction to a house of detention (La Petite Roquette) entirely set apart for boys; in the case of girls to the special quarter of the female prison of Nanterre.

(6) Enfants Assistés.-The juge d'instruction, should he think fit, may immediately order the transfer of the child from La Petite Roquette or Nanterre to the establishment of the Enfants Assistés (Rue Denfert-Rochereau). This power is very freely used by the juge d'instruction.

II

How these various procedures are carried out will be seen from the following details.

(1) Poste.-Although the police stations of Paris are provided with cells, these are not made use of in the case of children. As a rule juvenile offenders are placed in the outer waiting room, where they are under the eye of the constables on duty. At night they are provided with mattresses, which are placed round the sides of the reception room.

The commissaire de police, who is at his office from 9 A.M. till 10 P.M., deals immediately with the cases of children between those hours. The offenders are either discharged or sent on to the