| 5.40 a.m. | Inmates rise. |
| 6.15 " | Drill. |
| 6.45 " | Inmates breakfast. |
| 7.30 " | Chapel. |
| 8.0 " | Labour. |
| 12 noon | Inmates dinner. |
| 1.0 p.m. | Labour. |
| 5.0 " | Inmates tea. |
| 5.40 " | Evening School, Silent hour and recreation. |
| 8.30 " | Inmates locked up. |
MEMORANDUM TO THE GOVERNOR, AYLESBURY BORSTAL INSTITUTION FOR FEMALES.
The object of the Borstal System being, as defined in Section 1(b) of the Act of 1908, that those subject to it shall receive such instruction and discipline as appears most conducive to their reformation and to the repression of crime, the following methods will be adopted for giving effect to it. Under Section 5(1) of the Act, a female offender may be discharged by licence from a Borstal Institution after three months from the commencement of the term of detention, if the Commissioners are satisfied that there is a reasonable probability that she will abstain from crime, and lead a useful and industrious life.
The object of the following Instructions is to provide a test by which the Authorities on the spot, i.e., the Governor and the Institution Board, will be able to judge when an inmate can be licensed. It was the intention of Parliament, in prescribing the minimum period of three months in the case of females, to secure that they should be given a chance of liberty after completing that period, subject to the reasonable probability of their abstaining from crime, but experience has shown that in the great majority of cases a much longer period of detention is necessary to enable any real reformatory influence to be exercised. The responsibility in this matter rests primarily on the Institution Board, and it is only by the closest personal observation of each case from the commencement of the sentence that a true and just opinion may be formed as to the date on which a licence may be properly and wisely granted. The key-note of the system is, therefore, the "individualization" of the inmate. Inmates will be interviewed regularly—those doing well encouraged; those doing badly cautioned, and made clearly to understand that they will not be allowed the privilege of the higher Grades until the Institution Board is completely satisfied that they are doing their best in every way to profit by the opportunities afforded. Each and all members of the staff have a great trust confided to them, which is to raise the young criminal, by personal influences and wise exhortation, to a due sense of duties and responsibilities as a law-abiding citizen. The system will rest primarily on good discipline, firmly but kindly administered. In the obedience which follows from this is the beginning of moral improvement. This being secured, the System admits a wide latitude for trust and confidence in the later stages, whence will spring the sense of honour and self-respect. When this sentiment has been inculcated, the purpose of the Act may be said to be fulfilled, namely, the reformation of the offender, and, incidentally, the repression of crime, for if the criminal habit be arrested at the beginning, the supply of criminals in the later stages of their career is effectively stopped.
E. RUGGLES-BRISE.