extensive that he is unable to give the amount of time to probation work that it should require.

Since the date of the examination of the witnesses from Syracuse, several additional volunteer probation officers have been appointed, and the city authorities have taken the first steps toward providing salaries for one or more probation officers.

In Utica the police court has jurisdiction of children's cases and hears them at separate hours from the cases of adults, but in the same room. It is held at 2:30 o'clock each afternoon except Saturday, and on Saturday at 11 o'clock. The number of children brought before the court during the year ending November 30, 1905, was 241. Of this number eighty-six were discharged absolutely, forty-five were adjourned for a period of six weeks or two months; forty-eight were sent to institutions.

There is no probation, as such, but the cases which are adjourned are regarded as in a sense probation cases. In some instances one or the other of two truant officers of the city are asked to "look after" truant children, and the children are requested to bring school reports to the court each Friday afternoon. There are no probation officers. In the course of the year four children were placed under the oversight of volunteers, who were asked to report to the court occasionally in regard to the children. At the end of the period of adjournment, if the reports have been satisfactory, the child is definitely discharged. In the opinion of the judge it would be desirable to have some probationary oversight over children released under the period of adjournment, or, in terms, on probation. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is inactive if it still exists.

In Schenectady, cases of children are heard in the police court, at a different hour from the cases of adults. From January 1, 1905, to December 19, 1905, 63 children were released on probation under suspended sentence. The period of probation is usually one month or two months; never longer than ten weeks.

The agent, in Schenectady, of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society has been requested to act as probation officer, though not formally appointed as such. When the child is released on probation, he is directed to report once a week to the agent of that society. The case is not reported to the judge after the child is placed on probation unless the child does badly, refusing to report or committing some further offense. In such cases the child is brought before the judge and after reprimand and counsel may be again released on probation. Only thirteen children were committed to institutions during the year, and these on account of improper guardianship. In probation cases no record of conviction is entered. When the child reports at the office of the society he brings with him a card upon which an entry has been made by the school authorities each week as to his conduct and attendance, and also an entry by the parents as to the boy's conduct. Upon the basis of these reports, and also the record as to punctuality in reporting, an entry is made upon the card by the society that the child is doing well, or otherwise. The boy's home is visited occasionally, ordinarily not for two weeks after he is released on probation. The agent of the society regards his personal influence with the boys as an important factor in the probation system. An additional agent has been appointed by the society since the probation work was under taken. It is stated that none of the 63 boys who have been placed on probation during the past year have subsequently been committed. There is no volunteer assistance in the probation work.

In Albany children's cases are heard by the police court, at a separate hour from the cases of adults. The probation system has been in use for nearly two years, the probation officers being the agents of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society, and a rabbi, who acts as volunteer probation officer for Jewish children.

In

The children on probation report weekly at the office of the society and are required to bring a report from the school teacher, from employers if employed, and from the Sunday schools they attend. Each Monday the probation officers report to the court showing what children have failed to report or have otherwise violated the terms of their release. No specified period of probation is indicated when the child is placed on probation. The length of the probation rests practically in the hands of the society. A list of those who are to be discharged from further reporting goes to the judge, but the particulars in regard to the individual cases are not submitted unless he so requests. doubtful cases the child is summoned before the judge before being finally released on probation. From February 10, 1904, to December, 1905, 223 children were placed on probation, 216 boys and 7 girls. Of this number, 158 have been favorably discharged as having complied with the terms of probation: 7 have left town; 16 were rearrested; 10 were committed to institutions, and 32 remained on probation at the end of the period. Probably from 50 to 60 per cent. of these 226 children. would have been committed to institutions if there had been no probation system. There is no systematic visitation of the homes. of the children. The agents of the society sometimes visit them. incidentally.

In Troy the conditions are much the same as in Albany, the same agent of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society serving as probation officer since February, 1905. There are no other probation, officers in Troy. From February, 1905, to December, 1905, 102 children were placed on probatión. The number committed to institutions is much smaller than the number placed on probation. There is no fixed period of probation. The child is simply placed under the oversight of the probation officer, being directed to report to him, and remains on probation until the court or the probation officer discharges him from probation. He reports on Saturdays at the office of the Humane Society in Troy. They are required to report for periods ranging from two months to nearly a year, the average period being probably about three months. There is no regular system of visitation of the homes of the children. An assistant in the office of the Humane Society visits some of them when requested by the probation officer. A committee of ladies is being formed to visit the children at their homes. About six children who have been placed on probation have subsequently been committed

In the city of Binghamton the superintendent of the Broome County Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children acts as probation officer for all the courts within the county. The period of probation is usually three months. Of 300 cases coming before the courts from September 24, 1903, to December 18, 1905, 285, or 95 per cent., were convicted, 2 were acquitted, and in 13 cases, complaints were withdrawr. Of the 285 cases convicted, 159 were placed on parole, the parole cases being expected, as a rule, to report weekly.

In the city of Yonkers a salaried official of a charitable society acted as probation officer. His report for the period from March

1, 1904, to September 1, 1905, shows 19 children placed under his care, who at the end of the period were recorded as follows:

Doing well

Doing fairly well...

Rearrested and committed...

13

4

2

At present two probation officers receiving salaries from private sources have been appointed. The appointment of a salaried probation officer is under consideration.

In the city of Watervliet, in Albany county, just across the Hudson from Troy, the recorder of the city, who has jurisdiction of children's cases, has formally appointed the agent of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society as a probation officer. This appointment was made a few months ago.

VALUE OF PROBATION.

This Commission is thoroughly convinced that the probation system is an exceedingly valuable factor in correctional work. Until its introduction there were but three possibilities in dealing with any person convicted of an offense, no matter what the extenuating circumstances or the record of the offender might be. These were (1) to release the prisoner under suspended sentence, but with no oversight by any person whose business it was to keep informed as to the offender's conduct and report the same to the judge; or (2) to commit the offender to a penal or reformatory institution, with all that this implies of association with more hardened offenders, loss of self-respect, and serious handicap for the future; (3) to impose a fine. The probation system offers a fourth possibility-one free from the objections to which as applied to certain cases, each of the other methods is open. It provides supervision of the conduct, employment and habits of