CORRESPONDENCE.

Mt. Lebanon Prison, Syria.

... This prison is located in Bate-id-deen, where the governor-general and all the government officials reside. There I had an interesting call on the governor of Mt. Lebanon, Yusuf Pasha Kusa.

I found him a very fine, polished gentleman, promising that he will help to put a check on the drinking habit of his country, and he gave me the privilege of visiting the prison and meeting all the prisoners. It was a great opportunity after the iron bars were opened and the kind-hearted warden let me in. The prisoners gathered around me in great curiosity, as they had never seen a woman in the court before. There were two hundred and seventy-five (275) men prisoners. There were Arabs, Druzes, Christians of all sects. The prison is a round building with dark rooms around and an open court in the center—four or five in every room. They are required to furnish their own beds, clothing and food, except they receive a portion of bread (about one and one half pounds) each day. They gathered around me and were very eager to hear what I had to say. For an hour and three quarters they listened very attentively, and at last they showed their appreciation by promising to live better lives. At the close of my speech one of the prisoners asked the privilege of speaking, which was granted. He said: “We want our friend to know that not every one of us is a criminal, some of us are here through lack of justice. If we were in a Christian country, under Christian and just laws, many of us would not be here.”

The poor prisoners who had no friends to supply them with any food have been living on bread and water, and I was allowed the privilege of providing half of a sheep. They were very grateful for it.

This will show you how prisoners live in a non-Christian country. Then I thanked the Lord for the Pennsylvania Prison Society, that is bettering the lives of the prisoners.

Respectfully, Layyah A. Barakat.

January 19, 1911.

A Kind Word from Bulgaria.

Sofia, Bulgaria, May 2, 1910.

I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of the copy of the Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy (January, 1910), published by the Pennsylvania Prison Society. I have read it with great interest and much benefit, especially the paper of Rev. J. F. Ohl on “The Administration and Needs of a Modern State Prison”; the excellent address of Mr. Frederick Howard Wines on “The Indeterminate Sentence, the Parole and the New Criminology”; and the articles by the Secretary on “County Prisons” and “Pentonville Prison, London, England.” I appreciated the memorial of Rev. Samuel J. Barrows, whom I knew for many years.

With the highest respect, Dr. D. Minkoff.

Humane Officials.

A few days ago I went to your city to secure the release from Central Police Station of a young lady about twenty-one years of age, who had been in Philadelphia but a few months. She had been accused by her employer of stealing. Whether so or not, the judge, Hon. David S. Scott, and the officials did not seem to believe it. That very efficient officer of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, Mr. Fred J. Pooley, telegraphed her brother in this county to send some one to Philadelphia to look after her interests. I went and found that Judge Scott had the right idea of treating uncertain cases of first offenders. He told me that he always gives the prisoner the benefit of doubt, and so metes out justice that supposed offenders might have a chance to reform, if guilty, and not be made hard-hearted criminals. In this case he turned the young lady over to me, and I took her to her home, where a heartbroken father and mother awaited her.

I want to congratulate your city upon having such just and humane officials as Judge Scott, Reserve Officer Runner, Matron Cooper—the right woman in the right place—and Mr. Pooley is moving in the right direction in helping to save accused criminals. His is a great work, and no better man could be found for the position.

William G. Kerbin, Attorney-at-Law.

Snow Hill, Md., Sept. 22.

—From The Philadelphia Record.

A Striking Contrast.

Westmoreland County is one of the prosperous and wealthy counties of Pennsylvania. An evidence of its ability to spend money for public improvements is its splendid courthouse. This cost a million and a half. It is a magnificent structure, rich in its art work and furnishings, and spotlessly clean. Few county officers in the United States are more comfortable and luxuriously housed.

Within a block or two of this fine pile stands another county building. It is the jail. What a contrast! Here, too, human beings are found, not, however, for a few hours of the day, but by day and by night, for weeks and months and years. But was there no thought for their physical well-being when this jail was built? Is there none now for their bodily and spiritual health? Not only is this jail an example of an altogether faulty type of prison construction, but as at present conducted it is unclean, and therefore unsanitary; it is shamefully overcrowded; young and old, first offenders and hardened criminals, are allowed to congregate indiscriminately in the corridors; no attempt at classification or reformation is apparent, and thus the history of many another county jail is repeated in the midst of a community that by reason of its Christian character, intelligence, and wealth ought to be among the first in penal reform.

It is still true that many county jails are a blot—a very dark blot on our civilization. When will reform begin where it ought to begin, namely, at the bottom of our penal system?

An Official Visitor.