hat the Government plans for
separate entrances and separate staircases were absolutely futile and
ridiculous for keeping apart these two dangerous classes in a single
building. The Government gave way on the point of providing a separate
building for the reformatory girls; and the committee, with the
exception of Dr. Stirling and Mr. James Smith--our two strongest
members--were reappointed. The official staff was increased by the
appointment of clerks and inspectors, many of them women, who have
always given every satisfaction, and who justify the claim made that
women's work is conscientious and thorough.

More departments were gradually added to our sphere of action. The
separate trial of juvenile delinquents was strongly advocated by the
council. Miss Clark and Mr. C. H. Goode were particularly keen on the
introduction of Children's Courts. In this reform South Australia led
the world, and in the new Act of 1896, after six years of tentative
work, it became compulsory to try offenders under 18 at the Children's
Court in the city and suburbs, and in the Magistrate's room in the
country. The methods of organization and control vary in the different
States of the Commonwealth, but on one point the six are all
agreed--that dependent and delinquent children are a national asset and
a national responsibility, and any forward step anywhere has every
chance of being copied. The result of Children's Courts and probation
has been that, while the population of the State has greatly increased,
the committals to the Gaol and for penal servitude have steadily
decreased, and the Boys' Reformatory has been reduced to one-third of
the number in earlier days. There are, of course, many factors in all
directions of social betterment, but the substitution of homes for
institutions, and of probation carefully watched for summary
punishment, are, in my opinion, the largest factors in, this State. The
affection between children and their foster parents is often lifelong;
and we see thousands who were taken from bad parents and evil
environments taking their place in the industrial world, and filling it
well. The movement in South Australia initiated by Miss Clark spread
from State to State, and the happy thought of the President and
Secretary of the Council that I should write an account of
"Boarding-out and its Developments" as a memorial of her great work
bore fruit in the legislation of the United Kingdom itself. A letter I
received f