PROBATION WORK

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 11960, 15 October 1924, Page 2

PROBATION WORK

IN REDUCING CRIME. WpF.RTE,NCE OF A "WELLINGTON OFFICER. Mr T. P. Mills, of the Presbyterian Orphanage, and probation officer, was the principal speaker at the Wellington Rotary Club yesterday, when he threw some interesting light on the work of a probation officer. 1 Rotarian J. Hislop was the chairman for the day, and in introducing Mr Mills said he liad 60 boys and 40 girls in his car© at the Presbyterian Orphanage. Mr Mills said he had been six years in charge of the juvenile work and for three subsequent years had habitual criminals. For tne last eight years he had been in charge of probationers proper. la "America habituals wore called men on parole, and he would like to see another word than probationer applied to those young people who had broken the law for the first time. It savoured of wrong doing, and very often it was only devilment. The prison population of New Zealand was smaller than it was ten years ago, but the probationers had increased. The work in New Zealand was practically honorary, but in America they were paid four or five hundred dollars a year to carry on probationary work. They were doing work "there, but they could not speak of its success until it had been in force for some years. It did do good, as in many cases probationers usually made good afterwards. In recommending a, man for probation the difficulty wae to sum him up, but he could not say that one had ever had a grudge against him because he had not recommended probation. Prison life was not what it was, and inebriates who had suffered prison had come out to feel the benefit of clean living. THE PROBATION ACT. The Probation Act of 1920 was different to the preceding one, as it gave the probation officer more power, and enabled Erobation to be extended to other than ret/offenders. Failures in New Zealand were pbout 5 per cent., in Amerioa a little over 10 per cent., but there probation was given to wife deserters, part of their earnings being taken and handed over to the wife and family, and he felt .that the results achieved by doing so were far better" than putting a man .in gaol. Employers could help the work of the probationer officer considerably by finding temporary, or even permanent work for some of these men, for when they had honest congenial work it was frequently the making of them. (Applause.) / - Hearty thanks were aceorded Mr Mills for his- address, the chairman, Rotarian J. Hislop, adding that the work showed the true Rot.arian spirit.