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Rev. Frank Rule, Probation Officer, Christchurch. During the year ended 31st March, 1925, the work of caring for the delinquents who find their way to our Courts has been continued with varying success. The men who take their probation seriously and co-operate with the Probation Officer are those who get the greatest benefit. Only a small percentage are troublesome and need severe measures. It is being more clearly recognized that the Probation Officer is the friend of those whom the Court puts in his care. This year I have two who formerly were in my care, and who have been brought under the gracious provisions of the 1920 Adt for a second time. It is an interesting study in psychology to watch these men taking a grip of themselves and struggling to get on their feet. Just when men are burdened with the feeling that it is impossible for them to make good, then is the time the Probation Officer gets the chance to cheer them up and encourage them to keep on till a better day comes. When a man is married and has a family to support, if restitution is to be paid, then great patience has to be exercised. It is a very fine testimony to the judgment of those who administer our laws that so few fail to meet the financial obligation imposed upon them by the Court. I think I ought to report that in this probation district the Judge, Mr. Justice Adams, Mr. H. Y. Widdowson, the Stipendiary Magistrate, and his colleague Mr. W. Wilson, all give sympathetic consideration to any recommendation your officer makes. From these gentlemen I get much help and encouragement . PVom the Christchurch Citizens' Benevolent Association T. get much help to tide many needy ones over their difficult times. The following will show the numbers dealt with since last annual report : Reporting at the commencement of the year, 80 ; admitted to probation during the year, 71 ; transferred from other districts, 11 : a total of 162. Forty-two completed their terms and were discharged ; transferred to other districts, 18 ; defaulted, 3 ; convicted and sent to prison, 6 ; died, 1 ; remaining onreportinglist. at end of year, 92. Rev. F. 0. Cumming, General Probation Officer, Dunedin. I have pleasure in submitting another annual report of the probationary work as carried on in the Dunedin district. The result of the past year has been in many respects very gratifying. The number placed on probation during the year has been greater than that of 1924 both with regard to first offenders and those released upon probation by the Prison Board. It is pleasing to state that the year's v ork has been most satisfactory. I find that quite a number of the men whose probationary period has ceased still desire to keep in touch with the Probation Officer, seeking his help and advice in many matters. Then, it is pleasing to record the great assistance and encouragement I receive from Mr. Justice Sim and the two Stipendiary Magistrates, Messre. J. R. Bartholomew and H. W. Bundle. This also applies to the police and Court officials, who give me the greatest assistance and take a kindly interest in my work as Probation Officer. This you will understand is decidedly encouraging to me. I think I should make special mention of the. young probationers released from the Borstal Institution, where there is no doubt they receive excellent training, and as a result come out to face the world, of temptation and old companions with new ideals ; and it is marvellous to see how these young fellows rise up in many instances to fill positions of trust and honour. I would like to state, and do so without hesitation, that the shepherding of these young men is a great privilege, and it is very satisfactory to the Probation Officer to see them carry out, as they mostly do, the terms of their release upon probation. One thing I would strongly recommend is that the advice of the Probation Officer might be sought before some of these young men are released, as to whether it is advisable for them to be returned to their homes or the district where they got into trouble. It must be remembered that many of them come from homes that are decidedly anything but helpful to a young man making a restart in life. In past years I have spoken highly of the probationary system, and as the days go by my conviction becomes strengthened in the fact that it is a magnificent chance given to these young men to make good. Another matter worth recording is that there is not much difficulty in placing these young men in very satisfactory positions. The days when an ex-prisoner was set an impossible task to retrieve himself are gone, for in the prison system of to-day there is given the great ideal of hope, and this means much, for as a man comes to the Probation Officer he knows that everything within reason will be done to further create the hope which came to him in prison. He is helped back to honest employment and a real fellowship with the community. We should never forget the fact that there is good in every man if only we readily seek it, and this the Probation Officer endeavours to do. It was necessary during the year to cancel several licenses for breach of probation, but this has been the exception and not the rule. One last word, and it is this : Our probation system is humane, helpful, and reformative. Mb. C. G. L. Pollock, General Probation Officer. Invercargill. I have the honour to submit the following report on the operations of the Offenders Probation Act for the year ended the 31st March, 1925. During the year under review the work has progressed steadily, and full advantage has been taken of the beneficent provisions of the Probation Act by both the Supreme and the Magistrates' Courts. In the majority of cases those admitted to probation plainly show by their actions full appreciation of the sympathetic treatment meted out to them by the Courts ; and the results obtained demonstrate that the course adopted has been in the right direction. In dealing with human nature with all its frailties accentuated it is hardly to be expected that endeavours after reclamation should show 100 per cent, of success. There have been failures ; but when the past history of every individual listed on the register is known, it becomes surprising that so many of them have made good despite their handicaps. The few who did not rise to the opportunity offered them were those whose chances were overweighted by their antecedents. Thus, one of the defaulters had grown up in an unfavourable environment, had entered on a criminal career at an early