The Review, Vol. 1, No. 8, August 1911

Now I am well aware that objections will be raised to any such scheme of combining probation and parole work in the same set of officers. Let us look briefly at certain of the objections that may be offered. (1) Naturally many institutional authorities will probably desire to appoint their own parole officers, and to have them directly responsible to the institution. Should a personal desire, however, be allowed to stand in the way of efficiency? Should not that method of appointment be followed which will bring about the best results? (2) Another objection that may be raised by some institutional authorities is that parole officers should be attached to particular institutions in order to understand properly the institutional methods and aims. What is the benefit of such knowledge, however, if the parole officers are traveling about and can see the persons on parole so infrequently that they cannot apply the knowledge? (3) Again, the institutional authorities may contend that the standards of probation officers in judging whether persons on parole should be recommitted are less strict than those of traveling parole officers. Any such difference of standard, if it exists, is more than offset by the advantages of having local officers. At any rate it is a matter which could be adjusted by properly educating the probation and parole officers. In the long run the standards of the probation officers are probably just as likely to be right as those of the parole officers. (4) In the next place a critic might ask what would be done with females on parole. Of course we all recognize that girls or women on either probation or parole should be placed under officers of their own sex. If the local paid probation officers were all men, and there were cases of girls or women on parole, the situation could be met in the same way as if there were females on probation; namely, by securing a paid woman probation officer for part or whole time service, or, if that were impracticable, by enlisting the services of one or more women volunteers. (5) Another objection would be the fear that children on probation or parole would be harmed by being mixed with adults on probation or parole. The problem of separating children on parole from adults on parole is no more difficult than that of segregating children on probation from adults on probation. Likewise the keeping of parole cases apart from probation cases is only a matter of administration. Where there are enough children either on probation or parole to warrant the employment of officers exclusively for children, this should be done.

Wherever the parole work is being well done by officers devoting themselves wholly to parole cases, or by private agencies, I would not advise any change; but in most places very positive advantages would probably accrue from using local probation officers for both probation and parole cases. In New York State we have made a beginning in the direction of such a union of probation and parole. The Legislature of 1910 authorized probation officers to serve as parole officers, and a number of institutions have begun to avail themselves of the services of probation officers.

Fifth, benefits corresponding to those of state supervision over probation officers can be had through state supervision over parole officers. Regardless of whether parole work is carried on by probation officers or by special parole officers, the state should exercise general oversight over their work. For the sake of economy, co-ordination and efficiency this oversight can well be vested in the same state body that supervises probation officers. In this connection it may be mentioned that Governor Dix of New York State has recently recommended that supervisory authority over parole officers be conferred upon the State Probation Commission, and that its title be changed to that of State Probation and Parole Commission.

The probation and parole systems have come to stay, but they must so improve their operations as to be able to stand the most rigorous examination by both friendly and hostile inquirers. The increased financial support which both systems need will come only as the systems prove that they are succeeding as they should. I doubt if the parole system can stand the scrutiny and cold analysis, which will some day be brought to bear on it, unless it operates through local officers. The most hopeful way of getting faithful, competent local parole officers in most places would seem to be through the use of probation officers. With proper state supervision over both systems there would seem to be every reason to believe that this scheme of combining probation and parole supervision can be worked out in a practical way, and to the advantage of each system.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Read at the National Conference of Charities and Correction in Boston in June, 1911.

[2] The nearest approach in New York State to the desirable restriction of the work of parole officers to a small area, is found in the parole work of the House of Refuge on Randall’s Island. Most of the boys paroled from this Institution live in New York City. Many boys from this institution, however, are paroled to other parts of the State: and in such instances the institutional parole officers may be unable to visit them oftener than once in three months or so.

EVENTS IN BRIEF

[Under this heading will appear each month numerous paragraphs of general interest, relating to the prison field and the treatment of the delinquent.]

_Adult Probation in Illinois._--Illinois has fallen into line by adopting an adult probation law. The measure went into effect on July 1. The law was drafted by a committee of the Civic Federation of Chicago, of which Prof. Charles R. Henderson was chairman. Since opposition had developed in previous sessions of the General Assembly to proposals for adult probation, it was deemed necessary to make the statute enacted this year very limited in its scope.

Another bill which passed and which was supported by the Civic Federation, was one increasing the number of state parole officers from 2 to 7. A general revision of the Illinois parole laws was contemplated by Prof. Henderson’s committee and bills were drafted with this in view, but owing to recent decisions of the Supreme Court, it seemed inadvisable to urge any such legislation at this session.

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_Reforms Urged by the Howard Association._--The 1910 report of the Howard Association of England makes an appeal for the securing of the following nine reforms before the meeting of the International Prison Congress in London in 1915:

(1) Time allowance for payment of fines.

(2) Young offenders to be allowed to pay fines by easy instalments.

(3) A thorough application of the Probation Act, with the appointment of paid probation officers, responsible to the state and removable by the state.

(4) Probation officers to have power to collect fines.

(5) Restitution for money or goods stolen as allowed by the Probation Act, to be further developed and enforced.

(6) The abolition of repeated short sentences, the folly and futility of which have been so long demonstrated, and the results of which have been so disastrous.

(7) Manual or technical training for young prisoners who suffer from physical defects.

(8) A more thorough classification of prisoners, and to ensure this the establishment of specialized prisons suitable to the age, physical and mental condition of the prisoner.

(9) The adoption of the Indeterminate sentence with the establishment of parole boards and the appointment of parole officers.

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_Anti-Mugging Bill Vetoed._--The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the police authorities in New York State were able to induce Governor Dix of New York to veto the “anti-mugging” and “anti-third degree” bill recently passed by the Legislature of that State. The proposed law provided that no photograph, measurement, or physical examination of any person charged with a crime should be made by the police prior to conviction, and that no such prisoner should be questioned further than to get information as to his or her identity, except in the presence of a magistrate.

Governor Dix in vetoing the bill declared:

“It is the first duty of the state to protect from criminals the lives and property of citizens. To this end the officers charged with the prevention, detection and punishment of crime should be given ample powers by statute, and should receive the support of all good citizens. This bill hampers the police in securing the most usual and simple means of identification of suspected criminals. It adds difficulty to securing evidence of crime and clews to its detection. It subjects officers of arrest to unnecessary and groundless accusations in case of alleged violence or persecution.”

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_National Probation Association._--This is the new name of the National Probation Officers’ Association. The change was decided upon at the fourth annual meeting of the organization in Boston in June. The membership of the association includes probation and parole officers, judges and others interested in probation and parole. Judge George S. Addams of the Cleveland Juvenile Court is president for the ensuing year, and Arthur W. Towne of the State Probation Commission, Albany, is secretary-treasurer. Next year’s meeting will be held in Cleveland during the week of the National Conference of Charities and Correction.

The association has published a directory of probation officers in the United States, which shows that there are about 900 such officers working under salary. It also has in preparation a handbook on juvenile court procedure and probation. This is being written by a committee of which Bernard Flexner of Louisville is chairman. The portion of the handbook, relating to investigating the cases of children brought before juvenile courts, was printed in preliminary form and discussed at the meeting in Boston. Following are extracts from this part of the handbook:

“For intelligent disposition of any case a judge must have in his possession the essential facts regarding the life and history of the child before him, and it must be ascertained that these facts come from a reliable source, known to the court. Whenever paid probation officers are employed, the investigations should be left to these officers. An investigation, to be entitled to the name, must include first, an interview with the child and, second, a visit to his home, including an interview with his relatives. That is certainly the minimum standard for adequate investigation. To it may be profitably added the investigation of the school record; of the employment record in the cases of older boys or girls, and of church and neighborhood associations.”

“The business of investigation is one of the most serious defects in our juvenile court system. There are very few courts whose investigations are systematic, uniform and impartial. Cases are often rushed through and the facts learned afterwards. Many cases are decided on partial evidence, many of the most significant facts cropping out after the child has been disposed of by the court. It is better, if necessary, to keep a child in detention a few days longer and to continue the case, if by that method a painstaking investigation takes the place of a hasty, slipshod inquiry.”

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_A Drugless Institution._--Warden Simpson of the Jackson prison is reported in the Detroit Journal as declaring that he has succeeded in practically abolishing the illicit use of drugs in that institution. “It was the greatest evil I had to contend with on my arrival,” he says. “Dope was present in large quantities, there were numerous drug fiends and they were all disabled by its consumption. The gateways of this traffic were numerous--through the mails, by express, by trusties and visitors, and free men, such as teamsters, having access to the shops and yards. All this has been stopped by proper supervision and guarding, resulting from the organization of the official force. All visiting is now conducted over a table, with an officer sitting at the end, and a partition running under the table, so that no drugs can enter in this way. Visitors are no longer conducted through the shops and yards, and the inmates work with better results under this plan, as before they naturally regarded themselves as curiosities, to be placed on exhibition at a slight remuneration to the state.”

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_Col. Scott’s New Position._--Governor Dix of New York has recently appointed the well-known penologist, Col. Joseph F. Scott of Elmira Reformatory, to succeed Mr. C. V. Collins, resigned, as superintendent of state prisons. Col. Scott was formerly superintendent of Concord Reformatory in Massachusetts, and has been the efficient head of Elmira since 1903. His appointment is for a term of six years. The institution under his charge are Sing Sing, Auburn, Clinton and Great Meadow Prisons; the hospitals for the criminal insane at Dannemora and Matteawan, and the State Farm for Women at Valatie.

Col. Scott’s appointment followed an official investigation of the prisons, which was made by the Governor’s office. Col. Scott has named John S. Kennedy as warden of Sing Sing, William J. Homer as warden of Great Meadows, and John H. Mealey as warden of the new State Farm for Women. Dr. Robert B. Lamb has resigned from the superintendency of the Matteawan State Hospital, and a civil service examination has been held for the purpose of filling the position; but the appointment has not yet been made.

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_Farm for Convicts in Mississippi._--The State of Mississippi, according to press dispatches, is planning to establish a 22,000 acre farm to be worked by convicts. Mississippi is undergoing a great awakening as to its agricultural possibilities, and it is expected that this farm will not only serve the purpose of benefiting the criminals placed on it, but will also tend to educate the public by bringing it to a fuller realization of the possibilities of agriculture. Part of the tract to be worked is cut-over timber lands. The principal crops will probably be corn, potatoes, melons, oranges and sugar cane.

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_American Institute of Criminal Law._--The American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology will hold its annual meeting in Boston on August 31 and September 1, meeting in connection with the American Bar Association. The secretary of the Institute is Harry E. Smoot, 31 West Lake Street, Chicago, Ill.

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_Compensation of Persons Held as Witnesses._--The following editorial concerning the obligation of the public to persons who are held in jail as witnesses appeared in a recent issue of the Worcester Gazette:

“In Springfield some time ago, one Guiseppi Ferreri was charged with murder. Two witnesses of the crime alleged, Antonio and Joseph Galetto, were held as witnesses. To assure their presence at the time of trial, these two witnesses were required to furnish bonds in $1,000. Being poor, they were unable to do this and are now languishing in jail. There they will stay for months, perhaps, separated from their families, and friends and denied the privilege of earning a living.”

“What has happened to these two men is likely to happen to anybody. They are in jail not because they committed a crime but because they are supposed to have seen one committed.

“‘It is nothing less than outrageous,’ says The Boston Post, ‘that two men can be imprisoned for months simply because they saw somebody else commit a murder.’ We subscribe to the statement. Undoubtedly the ends of justice sternly demand the retention of such witnesses. It is necessary for the wellbeing and protection of the community that hard and fast measures be taken for the prosecution of murderers.”

“But why should any two men or any one man, be made to bear heavy burdens to the end that justice may be done. Not these two men but all society will be benefited if a conviction is brought about. Then why should not the burden incident be distributed and borne by society as a whole rather than by two of its members?”

“If it is deemed wise to keep these two witnesses in durance, if their privilege to earn a living is taken from them by society for society’s benefit, then society owes them something. It owes them compensation for the time they give in the service of society. They are not criminals but laborers worthy of their hire.”

“Clapping innocent people into jail is serious business. And witnesses thus detained, like innocent people falsely imprisoned, should receive pay from the state for the service done in one case and damages for the injustice committed in the other.”

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_Swimming Pool for Convicts._--Additions are being built at the State Farm for vagrants at Bridgewater, Mass., and, according to the Boston Herald, one of the features of the new building will be a swimming pool.

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_Nevada Convicts to Build Roads._--As the result of recent legislation, convicts in Nevada are to be put to work constructing roads. The Washoe county commissioners, according to a press despatch, have requested 50 convicts to work on the highways in that county. The state is to pay one dollar per day for each convict engaged on good roads work, and to furnish the implements and all the necessary materials. Each convict who does the work assigned to him is to receive twenty-five cents a day, as well as a commutation of sentence. The prisoners will live in tents and be under constant guard.