Sir William Joynson-Hieks has liberally interpreted his duties as Home
Secretary, and has made a tour of all the convict prisons and many of the minor prisons. In a remarkable interview published in the papers. of Wednesday he recorded his impressions. One of the most, important of his conclusions was that too many people are sent to prison for trivial offences. He recog- nizes that the purpose of imprisonment begins and ends with reform ; imprisonment that has no purpose but punishment leads nowhere. Now, a short term of imprisonment introduces the prisoner to the undesirable 'atmosphere of a gaol, yet can do little or nothing in the way of reform. It is very likely indeed that a man who has been sent to prison once will return there again. Having lost his character, he has been put out of the way of respectable employment. Sir William's principle, therefore, is that if a man must be sent to prison he must be sent there for a long enough period. That would seem to cut out very short sentences altogether. The most hopeful line, he says, is to concentrate on the young offender in order to prevent his drifting into a life of crime. * * *
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