Another much disputed clause in the Bill is that which would forbid the imprisonment of anyone under 16. Even Sir Samuel Hoare, author of the Bill, admitted yesterday that there were "young murderers and gangsters" who were "so depraved that one was genuinely afraid to put them in a remand home." He spoke of one young murderer who, having been sent to Borstal had so bad an influence on it, that he had to be removed.
It is difficult to resist the conclusion that the extreme lenience of the juvenile courts has had the reverse effect to that desired. Juvenile crime has increased in recent years by many hundreds of offenders, and every other day the papers report instances of young boys breaking into shops and robbing tills, and doing still worse things. Unregenerate as it may seem, one harks back to the wisdom of Solomon as still the soundest remedy.
Mr. Leigh Ashton, of the Victoria and Albert Museum, who was chiefly responsible for the arranging of the Chinese Art Exhibition at Burlington-House, has completed his great scheme of concentrating an the Chinese art treasures in the huge Garden Court at the back of the Victoria and Albert. Hitherto the Chinese things were all over the place mixed up with other articles of a similar form and period.
In the Garden Court, which measures at least 80 ft. square it will now be possible to see them properly. They form a rich collection, ceramics, metals, ivories, silk and Paintings. There is probably no such single collection of Chinese art open io the public in the world, I was unfortunately unable to goto the private view yesterday, but from what I saw while Mr. Leigh Ashton was at work the display must be very splendid.
Mr. Mills of the Consular Service, who has been home on leave since October, returns to China early next month and will be in charge at Foochow.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.