The Home Secretary has published a letter, which he addressed
on September 16th to the magistrates of Manchester, on the imprisonment of children. It is a sufficiently clear statement of what he wishes and intends. Sir William Harcourt finds that about 6,800 children under sixteen are sent to prison every year ; that many of the charges are "trivial," such as throwing stones, breaking windows, obstruct- ing thoroughfares, threatening people, and bathing in canals ; and that boys are constantly reconvicted for more and more serious offences. Imprisonment has only deprived the prison of its terrors. He also finds that the moderate fines inflicted are made very severe upon the parents by excessive costs, fre- quently six times the nominal amount. He is, therefore, strongly of opinion that a substitute must be found for imprisonment, and that it will be found in moderate whipping, and detention in strictly-managed industrial schools,—a suggestion which comes from Manchester. We agree heartily, with the reservation that the parent should pay something for the boy's keep, if it be only 2s. a week ; and that if costs are abolished, fines should be revised. They are at present so moderate, that without the coats they will not deter; and deliberate mischief will, in country districts, rise to a social nuisance. The Home Secretary forgets a little too much that punishment in this world is meant to deter, as well as reform.
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