The old man was being cross-examined by an eminent counsel. The latter had used him rather hardly, and the old man was beginning to look a little the worse for wear, when the lawyer said :— "You say you are a doctor? 'f "Yes, sir; in a way I am." ^~" "What kind of a doctor, may I ask?" "I make 'intments, sir. I make 'intments." "Oh, ointments. And what may your oint ments be good for?" "It's good to rub on the head, to strengthen the mind, sir." "What effect, for instance, would it have if I were to rub some of it on my head?" "None at all, sir; none at all. You must have something to start with, you know." The lawyer curled up a little, and the old man felt proportionately better.
NOTES. Although it is not usual for the patient to prescribe his own medicine, it is natural that he should feel considerable interest in it, especially when his malady is criminological, and the medi cine a long term behind the bars. In " The Star of Hope," the new periodical edited by the con victs at the Sing Sing State prison, some of them have been discussing the long sentence, invariably reaching the conclusion that it is a bad thing. The discussion reveals the fact, however, that the inmates of the State prison have advanced further than some who live outside, in considering the sentence a means of reform rather than a pun ishment. Convict No. 440, for example, who writes in the issue for August 12, shows that the long sentence is a survival of the old idea of re venge, while the parole system aids the convict to what all convict writers profess to desire — reformation. He writes : — "I put the question to all fair-minded men, does it require ten or fifteen years to reform a man? No. If he does not reform in a year, there is no reform in him. I say to society, give him a chance. Manifest an interest in him through applied efforts in a beneficent direction. "The greater portion of the men who return to prison have left the prison doors behind saying that ' I committed the crime, the commonwealth has punished me, so I owe the State nothing.' They go in search of work, but the doors of so
ciety are closed against them. With little money, no results in their efforts to procure work, they become despondent and discouraged. In such an environment they resort to crime, and prison is the result. "If the State would . . . pass a parole law, there would be a great decrease in crime. For example, under such a law, if a man sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment, after serving two years be paroled under the conditions that, if he violates his parole, he will have to return to prison and serve the eighteen years on the old sentence in addition to his new sentence, I dare say, not five per cent would return. To-day eighty per cent of the men who leave the prison walls return. "Ignorance has a great deal to do with increased prison statistics. Education is what men need and require who have criminal tendencies. "There are many men here to-day who did not even know or realize the penalty for the crime they committed. For one out of the hundreds behind prison walls, I hope that our legislators and other public officials will come to our rescue along the line we have feebly noted, which will result not only beneficially to the State, but to our mothers, wives and children." The police and the magistrates have long been accustomed to treat juvenile law-breakers less severely than they treat older criminals, acting from their own sense of justice rather than in obedience to specific law. Now, however, the legislature of Illinois has taken the step of estab lishing a court to have special cognizance of crimes committed by or affecting children. " The Ameri can Lawyer" (New York) describes it as follows : "By the provisions of the law, no child under twelve years of age can be held in a police station. A room for the detention of children must be pro vided. The law also enacts that under the age of twelve there shall be no arrests, but that the child shall be brought into court upon summons, and if the parent or guardian of the child ignores the summons he may be arrested for contempt of court. In the case of neglected children without parent or guardian the offender may be taken in charge by an officer and delivered by the court to a probation officer. "The court is empowered to provide for both dependent and delinquent children (by the former being understood children not guilty of offenses,
