_The Reprimand._--Some contend that it is in many cases sufficient for the court to administer a suitable reprimand. But, owing to the peculiarities of the child-psyche, the influence of the reprimand is extremely fugitive. A child so readily forgets. It has not as yet any accurate conception of honour, and completely fails to understand that it is dishonoured by the reprimand. As in the case of any other punishment, the reprimand can as a rule only be administered after the offence has been proved, and the offender sentenced; hence, there is so long an interval between the act and its punishment, that the reprimand becomes quite ineffective, and is in fact no more than an empty formality. Moreover, there are objections on principle against utilising the reprimand as a method of punishment, so that its use is possible only in exceptional cases. _Flogging._--Many persons consider that in the case of certain offences, especially such as betray the existence of a rough disposition, a flogging is the best punishment. But the fact that England, which holds the leadership in the movement for child-protection, continues to employ flogging as a punishment, and the fact that Denmark introduced flogging as a punishment only a few years ago (since then, however, abolished), prove nothing. For the reasons given in an earlier chapter, flogging must be regarded as an excessively noxious method of punishment, and must not even be employed as a disciplinary measure in reformatory schools and prisons. _The Conditional Sentence._--The nature of the conditional sentence is that, conviction having been effected, the sentence is passed, but does not take effect, unless the offender commits another punishable offence; should he fail to do this, he is, by many legal codes, still classed as a non-punished person. The conditional sentence is distinguished from a conditional pardon by the fact that in the case of the latter the punishment is disallowed, not by the court, but in virtue of the right of pardon vested in the higher authority of the government. The conditional sentence is of dubious value in the case of juvenile offenders, because young persons very readily forget; and in the event of their committing a second offence, they now incur a double punishment. Considerations of jurisprudence compel us to regard the conditional pardon also as a measure of dubious value.