“This proposed New York State legislation has been drawn with careful eye to the establishment, here in the Empire State, of a model law for other States. General adoption of such legislation would make proper Federal laws effective and without a perfect understanding between the State and Federal Government as to where responsibility of each begins and ends, no really effective action will be possible to either. “The first step for the Federal Government will be to require the registration of all importers and manufacturers of habit-forming drugs, all wholesale druggists and drug jobbers, and all retail druggists. A similar registration is now required of all those engaged in the tobacco trade. “The regulation of interstate traffic in such drugs will be a simple matter. A system of uniform order blanks furnished to the buyer, and of uniform invoice blanks furnished to the seller on demand, by the Government, can be so arranged that every step of every interstate shipment can be closely followed. “It will be necessary to require that habit-forming drugs shall be shipped in bond; that the importer shall account for all which he imports, the manufacturer for all which he manufactures. “The passage of the law subjecting importations of opium prepared for smoking to a prohibitive tax lost us millions in annual revenue and increased the vice of smoking opium, for it forced the preparation of raw opium for smoking in this country--an art which theretofore had been in the exclusive possession of an ancient Chinese company. Under this law opium prepared for smoking is cheaper in this country than it was before its passage. Let us have no more abortive legislation on this vital subject. “Ninety-five per cent. of the whole nation’s drug evil could surely be avoided by the general adoption in all the States of legislation such as this proposed in New York State, supplemented by such Federal legislation as I have outlined.” A COURSE FOR PRUSSIAN PRISON OFFICIALS AND OTHERS BY AUGUST PLASCHKE, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, PRUSSIA I am very glad to give to The Delinquent information regarding the course of instruction in penology which for the last ten years has been conducted by the Prussian Ministry of Justice. There are three kinds of prisons under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice:-- 1. The local prisons, under the direction of the local magistrate. 2. The county prisons, under the direction of the ranking county district attorney. 3. The large, so-called “special prisons,” of which the “Director” is the executive officer.