Personal Visitation.
The reports of the Visiting Committees for the year 1918 indicate that there is no loss of interest or effort in seeking to restore men and women to their better selves. In consequence of the quarantine caused by the epidemic of influenza, which resulted in keeping visitors away from four to six weeks, the statistics do not bulk as large as usual.
| Number of reported visits to the Eastern Penitentiary | 337 |
| Number of reported interviews with the inmates | 6,435 |
| Number of reported interviews with the inmates of the Philadelphia County Prison | 3,631 |
| Number of prisoners interviewed at Central Station by Agent | 15,933 |
| Number of discharged prisoners receiving direct aid | 590 |
On practically every Sabbath one or more of our members take part in the religious services in the prisons.
We are convinced that many of those with whom we meet from time to time are victims of circumstances, and also that many of them are defective in mentality and in self control. At some time, we trust the General Assembly will take up seriously the subject of the degenerates who need treatment in accordance with the most approved psychiatric methods. Some of them need institutional care for a much longer time than is indicated by the Court sentence. Here they should be restrained until they are deemed ready to become useful to the community.