TWENTY-SECOND ORDINARY MEETING. Zo 
being either under the control of the State or of private individuals 
or societies. The jails have been improved materially, but not 
morally. The giant evil of Howard’s time, the indiscriminate as- 
sociation of the prisoners is still permitted in the great majority of 
jails on the continent, whether in the United States or Canada. The 
jails had ceased to be in any sense either deterrent or reformatory ; they 
are, on the contrary, attractive to criminals and to the last degree 
demoralizing to the inmates. They are nurseries of crime, hotbeds 
of vice, where criminals are manufactured at the cost of the country. 
The only remedy for this disgraceful state of things is the introduc- 
tion of the “ Separate System,” a system which had been approved 
by all authorities on the subject, and carried out with marvellous 
success in many jails in England and on the continent of Europe, 
and in some few in the United States. The great merit of the separate 
system is that it stops the corruption and contamination which in- 
discriminate association of prisoners necessarily produces. In other 
words it puts an end to the “ Compulsory Education in Crime” now 
going on in all our jails ; and more than this, it represses crime, both 
by its deterrent and reforming influences. Dr. Meredith recom- 
mended that the separate system be made obligatory in all jails so 
soon as these are fitted for it. 
In answer to a question by the President, Dr. Meredith explained 
that “ Solitary Confinement” was stricter than ‘“ Separate Confine- 
ment,” which latter meant merely separation from injurious in- 
fluences, and not from visits of those who may benefit the prisoners. 
These would be brought together only ander supervision. 
Mr. B. B. Hughes spoke in high terms of the manner in which 
the Reformatory at Penetanguishene was conducted. 
Mr. Douglas hoped that the Legislature would do something to 
remedy the evils mentioned in Dr. Meredith’s paper. 
Mr. Geo. Murray thought that young children should not be sent 
to the same prison as adults. He would endeavour to sift out the 
worse juvenile criminals, and he believed a large majority would 
remain with which we could deal in the way of reformation. 
