The manner of meeting the prisoners is in a kindly spirit, approaching them not as convicts, but as men, the consequence of which is, that the entrance of a member of the Committee into a cell proves, with rare exceptions, a source of real satisfaction to the inmates; confidence being by this means established, an avenue is opened to their better feelings, and on being inquired of, they freely give a history of their past lives, and state what were the immediate influences under which the crime was committed, which resulted in their being confined in a felon’s cell. The information thus obtained, has fully convinced us, that a very large proportion of the vice existing, and of the crimes committed, if traced to their root, will be found to spring from Intemperance. It must be remembered that this baneful influence is not limited to those individuals who commit crimes while under the immediate effect of the intoxicating draught, nor even to such, and those who by their ruinous habits, have brought themselves into such a state of destitution and degradation, that their necessities present strong temptations, and at the same time their sense of the obligations of integrity and the rights of their fellowmen, is so weakened, that the fatal step is easily taken. But to these two classes must be added the children of such, who, growing up under the influence of the evil example of the parent, feeling the degradation which he has brought upon his family, and suffering from the destitution which he has entailed upon them, and at the same time, being without the benefit of any sound moral and religious instruction, and permitted to roam the streets in idleness, without the knowledge of any business, are easy victims to the attacks of the tempter. When will the proper authorities of the land, by the enactment of suitable and effective laws, lay the axe to the root of this giant evil?