10 JANUARY 1936, Page 19

CONDITIONS IN PRISONS

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I am unable to accept Mr. Penrice's invitation to enter Brixton Prison as a debtor—but were I sent there I should know that I could appeal in respect of any grievance : (I) to the Governor, (2) to a visiting justice, (3) to the Justices' Committee, and finally, to the Home Office Prison Commission. This last I know personally to be both humane and enlightened.

The visiting Justices fulfil the condition of being generally " non-legal."

I regret that Mr. Penrice should incorporate in his letter an ex parte attack on the medical officer, who, of course, cannot