METTRAY.' The reformatory of Mettray is the true parent of all institutions intended -to reform and restore to society, and not merely to punish, juvenile delinquents. Mettray Demetz, a member of the Parisian bar, struck with the evils and hardship attending the committal to prison of young, and, considering their training and habits, scarcely responsible criminals, there to languish hopelessly for a time, and then to emerge worse than when they entered, resolved, in conjunction with the Vicomte Bretignares de Courteilles, to found a school which should have for its object the refor mation of this class of offenders. In 1839 accordingly, the reformatory, or, as it is called, the colony of Mettray, was set on foot, about 5 m. from the city of Tours in France. Thus DI. Demetz, by his assiduous labors and self-devotedness, rendered to France and Europe one of the greatest benefits that could be conferred on society, by proving that, by agricultural and other labors of industry, and well-considered rules of organization and discipline, the neglected and criminal may be trained to take their place honestly and honorably in society. The children consist wholly of orphans,
foundlings, and delinquents, and, in 1872, amounted in number to 792. From the foundation up to that date, 4,287 had been received. The relapses into crime of those who had left the colony amounted only to about 4 per cent. The success of this estab lishment is to be attributed not solely to the excellent training and close supervision at Mettray itself, but to the care which is taken to preserve the link between the authorities and those who have left the colony. A small payment is made by the state for children sent under judicial sentence; the large extra expenditure necessarily incurred being defrayed from charitable contributions from the individuals constituting the "paternal society of Mettray."