This address delivered by Winifred Hoernle is the fourth in the series of the Hoernle Memorial Lectures. This is the first public statement on the report of the Penal Reform Commission, on which Mrs. Hoernle served. Her report consists of terms of reference and recommendations with comments to the problem of crime-prevention and the measures taken in dealing with those offenders. The social order and the racial caste structure which exists in South Africa is considered to have a positive effect on the problem with crime and its treatment therof. The conditions of the penal institutions are addressed and some future plans of their structure and the way they should function are taken into account.