The Press. FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1886.

Press, Volume XLIII, Issue 6494, 16 July 1886, Page 2

The Press. FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1886.

Mb. Tolb has introduced and got the sanction of the House to the (second reading of what we hope will prove a useful * and valuable measure. We refer to the Fnrst Offenders Probation Bill. The preamble sets forth that it would be conducive to the public interests if first offenders were in certain cases permitted to be at large on probation without suffering punishment. The Bill then, proceeds to enumerate the class of offences which are not to be permitted to come within the meaning of the Act, Buch as murder, burglary, and a long list of others which we need not mention heira An "offender" is defined to mean a person, male or female, whose previous character has been good, and against whom an indictment has not previously been laid or a warrant of arrest 1 for an indictable offence issued, or'convicted of an offence by verdict of; a jury, or by a Court of summary jurisdiction. Members of the police force, to be called Probation Officers, are to be appointed by the Governor, whose duty shall be to enquire into thb j character and offence of every nelson arrested for any first effence, toy the purpose of ascertaining whether the accaaed may reasonably be expected to • reform without imprisonment. They are also to attend the sittings of all the Courts in their distrusts where first offenders are to be' tried, and to recommend to the Cdurt the placing on probation first offenders, and to keep a full record oi\ the results of their investigations. When a verdict of guilty has been returned by a jury against any offender, or; when a Court of summary jurisdiction is satisfied of the guilt, according to' law, of an accused person, instead of the offender to prison, the Judge or presiding Magistrate may direct the verdict of the jury, or the opinion of the Court of summary jurisdiction, to be recorded, and may permit the offender to be placed on E "rotation. The conditions of the berty accorded to a person, released onj probation, in addition to any special conditions which may be imposed by the Court, shall be that he miist report himself where directed within twenty-four hours after liberation, ana thereafter once or dftener in every month where directed. He must reside—that is sleep—-at the address ! notified to the Probation Officer, and most get his living by honest means and regular occupation, the nature and place of which must be approved;of .by the officer. : ;. "When and other conditions, which need not be enumerated here,, are fulfilled, he Bhallat the expiration of the term of his probation be deemed to be discharged as if he had served his sentence. A person on probation may be arrested at the instance of the Probation Officer and brought before the«>Court where he was originally tried, and sent to prison for the period 4>£ his original sentence.. / ;" "■''■ Such' is a brief Bumiaary of the main provisions of the Bill,"Which has been read a second time in the House of Representatives, with the approval, as far as we can ascertain, of the whole House. The object aimed at by the measure is one which should meet with, the approval of the community at large. It is admitted pj most persona who have taken an interest in criminal matters'that we have yet a great deal to learn in connection with the reformation of the inmates of our prisons. It is the duty of society to protect itself against persons who break the laws made for the benefit and wellbeing of the community. But the object also is, if possible, to convert offenders into law-abiding and useful citizens. It is admittedly the case that the society of hardened criminals too frequently starts comparatively innocent persons on a career of crime, which no amount of punishment is ever able to alter. It is most desirable to make an effort to save such people from such a terrible fate, and if a measure of the character now before the Legislature is calculated to have such an effect it is | certainly deserving of serious con- | sideration. A paper laid before the I House some four or five years ago, gives a most interesting account of * the system in . operation in the State of Massachusetts for dealing with criminal and neglected children. In 1870 the Legislature, with a view to more preventative effort, committed the care of juvenile offenders to a special State agency acting as follows: — " Every complaint against every boy or girl under the age of seventeen must, before befng brought into any Court, be first lap in writing before the Stat* Agent, or one of hia assistants,'for feyestigation. When the ease comes into Court (and special portions of the tima in Courts are OTclueively de-

voted to juvenile eases) the agent, or sab-agent, attends personally to act for the State as watcher, counsel, advocate, or prosecutor, according as „the circumstances require. If the jwtaplaint is a first charge against the |p||oder, and for a light offence, nowngfoUoWabut asimpleadmonition or % ,the passing of a suspended sen* tenoe, a small line for costs being, however enforced, if needful, oa' the parents of the child, if not an orphan/* If it is thought that more than this must he done, the child is placed on probation, and the State exercises a BupervisieaV over him, the child beiug really placed in charge of the State Agent,,althp.ugh still residing at home. The agent may also takif tb^ 1 eptire control of the child * him in a reformatory or with foster parents. Both the moral and economical results of the system, wje are""told" are "remarkably satisfactory, " Only one-tenth of the children, sentenced to probation reappear before a- Court in a twelvemonth, a|td very few at all in after years. There were, in 1880, three hundred ffljwer juvenile offenders' under 'State care in Massachusetts than in 1870, notwithstanding the increase of population in the decade. " Two school ships have been given up as reformatories and sold. The number of children in the reformatories aad industrial schools has also diminished by 50 per cent." The criminal and neglected children of the State cost £10,000 more in 1869 than ten years later. Our own boarding-out system is .conceived on the same lines as the one we are describing, and no doubt in! time will show equally satisfactory results. So satisfied are the people of Massachusetts with the system that they have applied the--same principle to-adult'misdemeanants/ It is evident, therefore, that the proposal which Mr. Tolb haß brought before the House is noj mere experiment, and we hope he will be instrumental in placing on the Statute Book a measure which is calculated to have a most beneficial effect on the social condition of the community.