_The Indeterminate Sentence._--In Europe, in view of the sacred character of individual liberty, it is the general opinion that the law courts should have no power to sentence an offender to imprisonment for anything but a definitely fixed term. But this system is in direct contradiction with the object of the punishment. The criminal is to be regarded as an abnormal, diseased individual, whose punishment must last until he is cured. He must for the most part be treated as we treat one suffering from mental disorder, who is committed to an asylum for an indeterminate period. The work undertaken by the State in respect of the majority of criminals is to effect their physical and moral cure. It is therefore absurd on the face of the matter to specify beforehand a precise period within which the cure must be completed. It is quite impossible for the judge, when passing sentence, to determine how long it will take to attain the desired end. When and if that end is attained can be determined only by those to whom is entrusted the administration of the punishment--persons continuously, and for a long period, associated with the prisoner. The duration of the punishment must depend, not upon the offender’s conduct at the time the offence was committed, but upon his conduct after he has been sentenced. When an offender is serving out a fixed sentence, the only thing that interests him is how much of the period he has got through, and how much still remains before him. But when the sentence is indeterminate, it will be his whole-hearted endeavour to conduct himself in such a way, to effect such an improvement, as to obtain his release. At the present day, there is no country in which sentences are altogether indeterminate. Even in the United States of America, where the indeterminate sentence prevails, a maximum term is specified for the prisoner’s detention. The greater this maximum, the more powerful will be the effect of the indeterminate sentence. The younger the prisoner, the more powerful also will be the effect of the indeterminate sentence, for the younger the prisoner, the more has he to expect from life. In America the experience of the working of the indeterminate sentence has been so satisfactory, that there is a general desire that the specified maximum sentence should be completely abolished. But as yet the efforts in this direction have been unsuccessful.