The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-12-07
SUCCESSFUL
PROBATION
S5 Per Cent. Of ParOled Pris-
OnerS Become Good Citizens.
Judge Franklin Forts Practical
Address Before New England
Society of Orange, Contains En-
couraging Statistics for the Hu-
manitarian.

A meeting Of the New England So
ciety of the Oranges was held on
Saturday night
Judge J. Franklin Fort made an
address on The Treatment of Crimes
in New Jersey and the Reforms Most
Needed IN Our Penal System. He said
tnat the old idea of retribution in the
treatment of criminals has gone, and
instead thereof has come the idea Oh
reformation. In the last revision OF
the criminal statutes all crimes had
been classed as high or simple mis-
demeanors. The penalty for high
crimes WAS seven years and for simple
ones three years. In special crimes
the penalty had been fixed, as for
murder in the second degree at thirty
years Imprisonment ana others in
proportion.
AT present in New Jersey there were
2, 600 criminals, OF whom I. 100 are in
the ssate prison, 395 in the penitentar-
les of Essex and Hudson counties and
the remainder in the county jails OF
the state. This was about TO 1000 OF
the population in the penal institu-
tions of the state.
In the old days no parole, suspen-
sion of sentence or indeterminate sem
tence existed. Parole came into use
only short time ago, following In
the line of the ticket-of leave system
of England. In this state. out OF 10E
criminals SO had kept their paroles
aud had become good citizens, The
parole was conditional pardon. A
convict sentenced to, say five years.
after one year was paroled He must
report once in SO often, not leave thu
state and become good citizens Thb
system caused him to become useful
to the state and to his family.
During the last ten years had grown
up the probation system. 1t began in
Massachusetts, and had extended to a
number Of states The system was
this: When man was convicted, in
stead of sentencing him the court said
"This is your first offense, Now y0u
may go in charge of the probation
officer. He will visit YOU once week
or once month, for period of three
years. or you must visit him and re-
port. = The man is practically in
ustody all the time and can he arTea-
ted at any time. Since the law went
into effect in Essex County on April
I /, 1900. some seventy persons havB
been placed in the custody of the pro-
| baton officer. but two have defaulted.
Two results are accomplished First,
| the man himself is reformed, and, Sc
cond he is enabled to take care of his
family and earn living. Judge
Fort said he believed there is nothing
today so beneficial in bringing about
the reformation of thousands of young
men as this probation law.
Another institution in this state
which it is hoped to have in operation
in year is the reformatory at Rah-
way, where first offenders from Is to
80 years of age will be sent. They
VIII be taught there, educated and
kept away from criminals in state pri-
son.
Judge Fort alluded to the Indiana
law i'll relation TO indeterminate sem
teDces where the criminals were sent
to the reformatory, and the board
of governors had control, being at
liberty TO discharge the man after
compile ing the minimum time fixed
by statute, or hold him to the maxi
mum time. This Judge Fort thought
was an admirable provision il it
/ could he carried out by angels, but
| he donbted if it was constitutional,
1 for it tt OK from the court the power
of deciding a mans punishment.
Judge Fort alluded to the change
that had been made in most of the
penal institutions of the country, VIZ,
the abolition of the striped clothes
and of the lock-step Both these were
unnecessary humiliations for the con-
victs, and the best authorities in penal
institutions were opposed to them
except as matters of discipline and
punishment. The judge closed by
giving an account of the conditions
existing in the great Lonvain prison
in Belgium, which he recently listed,
and also the new prison i'll the out
skirts of Paris, the latter of which
was almost palatial i'll its appoint