years, to order that he should pass a certain period of his sentence in the Habitual Offenders' Division. The object of the Bill was to make better provision for dealing with persons who habitually lead a life of crime. In a Memorandum explaining the Bill it was stated that "in the case of such persons, a sentence of imprisonment has neither a deterrent nor a reformatory effect, and in the interest of society, the only thing to be done with them is to segregate them from society for a long period of time. It may not be necessary, during that period of time, that their punishment should be a severe one. All that is wanted is that they should be under discipline and compulsorily segregated from the outside world. In the case of a conviction for a small offence, _e.g._, stealing a pair of boots, both judges and public opinion would be averse to the passing of a long sentence of penal servitude, such as would be appropriate to a grave crime, however notorious an evil liver the offender may be. The new prison rules have created a new Division of long term convicts, for whom the ordinary convict discipline will be greatly mitigated, and this Bill authorizes judges to relegate habitual offenders, after a brief period of punishment, to that Division, and thereby seeks to encourage in appropriate cases the passing of long, as opposed to severe, sentences." The project, however, did not pass into law, and it was not till five years later, in 1908, that Parliament enacted the very important Statute establishing a system of what is known as "Preventive Detention," it being deemed expedient for the protection of the public that where an offender is found by the Court to be a habitual criminal, the Court should have power to pass a special sentence ordering that, on the determination of sentence of penal servitude, he may be detained for a period not exceeding ten nor less than five years, under a system known as that of "Preventive Detention." In laying before Parliament the Rules for carrying out the Act, the Secretary of State, Mr. Churchill, stated:--