In the year 1829, the Acting Committee, by Act of Assembly, were appointed Official Visitors of all prisons in the Commonwealth. Our Society was the only one having such duties until the year 1903, when, by another Act of the Assembly, the privilege was granted to the Acting Committee of the Catholic Society for the Visitation of Prisoners. OFFICIAL VISITATION. While many members of our Visiting Committees have been zealous in their endeavor to open the door of hope to the prisoners, and to stimulate them to higher ideals of life, the general conditions obtaining in the prisons have also claimed attention. It is a prescribed function of the Visiting Committee of any prison, whether State or County, to note the “condition of the buildings ... the discipline and management,” and to make report of their observations. Great discretion and a full understanding of the situation are essential in publishing the results of such comments and observations. In the early history of our organization, there were so many abuses prevalent in the management of prisons that by far the larger part of the activities of the Acting Committee consisted in the effort to remedy the evils of management. These efforts were eminently successful in those days of emergence from medieval methods; and while we all rejoice in the very great amelioration of conditions, it must be confessed that penal improvement has lagged behind all other agencies for betterment. If we compare our educational system, hospitals, transportation methods, agricultural development--any field of human endeavor--with our correctional institutions, we are overwhelmed by the extreme lack of corresponding progress. PERSONAL VISITATION. The reports of the Visiting Committees for the year 1918 indicate that there is no loss of interest or effort in seeking to restore men and women to their better selves. In consequence of the quarantine caused by the epidemic of influenza, which resulted in keeping visitors away from four to six weeks, the statistics do not bulk as large as usual. Number of reported visits to the Eastern Penitentiary 337 Number of reported interviews with the inmates 6,435 Number of reported interviews with the inmates of the Philadelphia County Prison 3,631 Number of prisoners interviewed at Central Station by Agent 15,933 Number of discharged prisoners receiving direct aid 590 On practically every Sabbath one or more of our members take part in the religious services in the prisons.