18 FEBRUARY 1922, Page 23

The State Childrelis Association, in its Report for the year

1920-21, endorses the views of the Howard Penal Reform League on the evils of sending adolescents from sixteen to twenty-one to prison (under the imperfect " modified Borstal " system) for short terms of a month or less. Last year no less than 453 girls and 4,211 boys received such sentences—sentences whose only effect is, the Association consider, to destroy the culprits' self-respect. The Report also deals with the detention of young offenders who are awaiting trial, with the boarding-out of Poor- law children, and with the reform of the adoption laws.