REFORMATORIES. By the Acts 17 & 1S Vict. cc. 86 and 169, .nd 20 & 21 Vict. cc. 48 and 109, various provisions are made by which nagistrates may send juvenile offenders to reformatories, instead of to ?rison, there to be detained for certain periods, at the discretion of the nagistrate before whom the young delinquent is charged. The eformatories must be inspected and certified by a government nspector before they are legally entitled to receive juvenile offenders ender the Acta referred to. Parents who have sufficient means are hound to pay a certain amount towards the expense of maintaining heir children while detained in reformatories. Several reformatories or adult criminals, both male and female, are likewise in operation. In i856 an institution called the Reformatory and Refuge Union was stablished in London, for the purpose of promoting the extension of •eformatory operations. From a statement published by this Union, it appears that there were at the commencement of 1860, in England and Wales, 57 reformatories, with accommodation for about 4500 inmates ; n Scotland 17, with accommodation for 1840 inmates; and in Ireland 3, with accommodation for 680 inmates. The accommodation indicated Dy these figures does not show the actual number of inmates at the ime referred to, as many of the houses were only partially occupied.
The reformatory best known, and on the largest scale in this country, is that of the Philanthropic Society at Red Hill, near Reigate, Surrey.
The founder of the Philanthropic Society, Robert Young, commenced his efforts on behalf of the children of criminals in 1788. He took in succession four small houses at Hackney for their reception, and placed in each a mechanic or artisan to instruct them in useful labour. The society was incorporated in 1S06, and increased in importance and in usefulness. For the last eleven years its extensive operations have been carried on at Red Hill, where the society's farm occupies an area of about 240 acres. By the Act of Incorporation, the objects of the society are defined to be the children of convicted felons, or children who have themselves been guilty of criminal practices ; and of late years admissions have been principally of the last class, especially juvenile offenders sentenced to detention under the Act 17 and 18 Viet. c. 86, and 19 & 20 Vict. c. 109. To be eligible for admission, the boy must be under fifteen years of age, of sound bodily health, and capable of receiving mental instruction and industrial training. By
special arrangement, this institution receives juvenile offenders from the eastern division of the county of Sussex, from the counties of Surrey, Somerset, Notts, Salop, Lincoln, Montgomery, and Oxford ; from the Isle of Ely ; from the boroughs of Nottingham, Hastings, Brighton, and Reading ; and from the city of London. In consideration of the voluntary subscriptions received from the public, a limited number of boys are received into the establishment free of charge. The number of boys under the society's care at one time is usually about 260 ; they are divided into five sections or " families,' each with a separate house, and a master or " father." This plan was adopted from the system so admirably carried out at Mettray by M. Demetz, although, the families at Red Hill being larger in number than those at Mettray. the control of the master is not so effective. The sepa ration of the families, however, is so well kept up that, except at chapel, many of the boys never see each other. The boys learn and work alternately, half of the number being at school while the other half are employed as shoemakers, as tailors, as assistants in the dairy, in hrickmaking, or at farm-work. Each school has a playground attached. There is also a bathing-pool, which, under proper regu lations, is frequently used. The boys generally enjoy good health. The establishment is made to produce as much for its own support as possible : thus all the shoes, clothes, &c., required for the boys are made in their own workshops; grain, potatoes, and garden-stuffs are raised on the farm ; the dairy supplies the milk and butter required, and is in such repute that the surplus produce is in great demand in the neighbourhood. Bread is made on the establishment. It is pleasing to visitors to observe the excellent feeling which prevails between the boys and the masters and the officers of the institution. The conduct of the boys at chapel is exceedingly decorous : in giving the responses, and in accompanying with their voices the neat little organ placed in the chapel, they manifest a gratifying amount of earnestness. Forty-five of the boys were confirmed by the Bishop of Winchester in May, 1859. The disposition of the boys may to some extent be judged of from the circumstance that, of 159 boys who were out on leave during 1859, only 4 did not return to time. Nineteen deserted the school during the year. Five had to be committed to prison.