He feels strongly that England is following the lead of America, slowly but surely, in the development of the parole system, though no legislation has as yet been passed in this direction. “We are getting tired of judges inflicting very long sentences--practically life sentences,” he says. “There is a constant agitation always going on behind the scenes to get sentence commuted. Again and again the Home Secretary--whom I know and respect--has to reconsider the sentences prisoners are serving. This puts him in a delicate position. He has to consult the judges who passed the sentences. If the Home Secretary commutes the sentence it is a snub to the judge. “What we want in England at each prison is a board, consisting of the governor, chaplain, doctor, a representative of the Home Office and one or two visiting justices. They should have the power of releasing on parole any prisoner whose condition warranted that concession. But the American Board of Parole is not comprehensive enough; it is too much in the hands of one or two.” The mercantile element in some of the American State prisons came in for some adverse criticism, but in the matters of greater space, better buildings, better equipped workshops, greater variety and volume of work and more recreation and education for the prisoners, the American State jails, said Secretary Holmes, are superior to the English. But in the construction and appointment of the local county jails he thinks the advantage lies with the English models. _“Twice Born Men;” A Brief Review_--Prisoner’s aid workers will do well to read Harold Begbie’s book, “Twice Born Men.” It is a striking psychological study of men who have sounded the depths of human degredation and misfortune. Its chief practical value to those who are dealing daily with all sorts and conditions of men, will be in throwing light on a checkered past which is often only partly revealed by the applicants themselves. The reader may feel that the author holds a brief for the Salvation Army and its work. One might suppose that he was unconscious of any other religious work being done, except for the fact that he specifically discredits the efficacy of the ordinary prison chaplain’s work. It is probably true that the average chaplain might not have sufficient patience with the particular type of man with whom Mr. Begbie deals in this book. We cannot forget, however, that this is only one of many varieties of human experience, and the average prison chaplain might be far more effective than any one else with the larger number of men whom the Army might regard as “Hopelessly Good,” but who nevertheless need the regenerating and sustaining power of religion.