At the meeting of the Acting Committee, held September 20, 1917, the Secretary was authorized to issue invitations in co-operation with The Prison Reform League to the wardens and prison officials of the Eastern and Central counties of the Commonwealth to hold a conference on the Glen Mills Farms on the fourth and fifth of October. The consent of Supt. Nibecker, of the Boys’ Department, and of Martha P. Falconer, Superintendent of the Girls’ Department, had been previously obtained. The co-operation of these two officials contributed largely to the success of this meeting, which was the first of the kind held in the State. It was attended by forty persons, a number which exceeded our expectations. It was concluded to form a permanent organization to meet annually and to discuss and formulate methods of penal administration. A full account will be found in the Annual Journal. (See pages 26-37.) EMPLOYMENT OF PRISONERS. Your Acting Committee is favorable to every sane effort to provide employment for prisoners. We have long contended that idleness was the most conspicuous fault in the prisons of this Commonwealth. We believe in these times of stress that it is a flagrant fault to waste an ounce of muscular effort. The conservation of all our resources implies that the 400,000 now confined in the prisons of the United States should be compelled not only to earn their own maintenance but to contribute their fair share for the urgent needs of the nation. They may be employed in the preparation of surgical supplies, in canning fruit and vegetables, and in a great variety of manufacturing industries. To this end we give hearty support to a bill now pending in Congress providing that the resources of all our penal institutions be utilized in such a way that the country may derive the maximum benefit from the labor of those behind the bars. Let them “do their bit.” It will help both them and the general public. The executive order of 1904 forbidding the use by the government of prison-made goods or articles should at once be abrogated. Whatever reason may have been advanced at that time for such an order, surely the present emergency demands every available resource should be conserved. AMERICAN PRISON ASSOCIATION. The meetings of this Association were held this year November 19-23 at New Orleans. There was a good attendance, most of the States being represented by delegates or otherwise. The Secretary of this Society was present as a delegate from Pennsylvania appointed by the Governor and also as a member of the Commission appointed to investigate methods of prison administration. The meetings were both interesting and profitable, and a summary of the proceedings prepared by the Secretary will be appended to this Report. (See pages 93-102.) COUNTY PRISONS.