Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-09-18
PROBATION IN BAY STATE.
Officer James p. Ramsey of Lowell
Tells About System There.

been Ill Portland for a few days on
official business and while there is look
ing into the probation system as it is
worked in Portland. Mr. Ramsey is Il
great enthusiast on the probation ques-
ton and is All ardent worker i'll the
Bay state. In company with Geo. w.
Grover probation officer in Portland
and i'll other places. LII talking with a
reporter, he said:
Il was very glad when / heard that
Portland had established a probation
system i'll her courts. and | am all the
| more pleased when | find that it is
working SO nicely and that you have
such an efficient officer in charge of it
| as Mr.. Grover who is meeting with the
| same success that has followed the sys-
tenn Ill every city where it has been es-
tablisheu which cannot help but be the
| result with man behind the work that
takes an interest in his labors.
The probation question originated i'll
massachusetts and from there has
spread TO all the New England states
| except New Hampshire and | under
| stand that there is a movement on foot
to have it established there at the next
meeting of the legislature. 1t is also
| i'll force i'll the central states and 1t is
| successful everywhere. Since we have
had the system in our state. we have
been visited by representatives from
Austria. Germany and Japan who have
| come over here to look into the system
with the idea of introducing it into
| their respective countries. They have
| all been highly pleased. l have made Il
visit to Glasgow, Scotland, myself.
| The judges i'll that country are very
| enthusiastic over the system and they
are investigating the question. Since
my return from there | wrote an out
| line of the system here and the COM
| mittee of judges in Scotland put the
| substance of it in circular and sent 1t
| throughout the country. There Is no
| doubt but what they will introduce the
| system there.
Everybody that meet asks me the
| same question us to the success of pro-
| baton. There is only one way that l
| can answer and that is that it is the
grandest thing that WAS ever introduce
| ed into the courts. The object of pro-
| baton is to reform those who have
gone astray and to give them Il chance
of starting along the right path rather
than to give them a Jail sentence and
| thus to discourage them. Prison bars
| have never reformed anybody and they
never will. If young man comes be-
| fore the court for the first time on
| charge of drunkenness or even a more
serious offence, a Jail sentence is the
| worst thing that can be done for him.
| He will hold Il record of having been
| convicted in an open court and from
=, Il cole hn
gone and he will go down hill. Give
him L chance to reform and in the ma
icrity of cases he will take advantage
Of it and will straighten up and be as
good Il citizen as the rest of us.
"In my position, I have to deal with
| the more serious cases, those of lar
| ceny, breaking and entering and those
| that come before the higher court.
From figures that l have compiled
| from my own experience | have found
| that IS per cent of the men that have
| been probatcd have permanently re-
| formed within two years time. OF the
drunk cases in the lower courts l have
| found that 90 per cent have reformed.
That is more than the Jail has ever
| Strengthened out. In Il number of cas-
| es | have put men on probation that
have appeared III appealed cases from
| the lower courts on charges of drunk
| cunesS. | have seen fit to give these
men chance for the reason that dur
ing the time that they We're waiting for
! their trial they have been at Steady
| employment and have kept straight.
Look at the other side Of the question.
What would happen if Let these men
appear and be disgraced? They would
go to Jail. When they came out they
would be disgraced; their courage
would be gone and they would cOntin-
ue to be poor citizens.
81 have had cases where | have kept
men straight for 4 year under the syS-
| tenn during the time that they were
under probation and at the end of that
time they you'd break out and go to
drinking again. People would point to
| them and enquire what good the pro-
| baton system did them. The answer
| to that question is that the system
kept them straight at least for Il year
! and during that time they were support
| ing their families. We do not claim that
we can reform everybody. That is i'm
possible under any system, but we can
| reform a large number as has been
proven.
"In the state Of Massachusetts there
are 81 probation officers, one for every
| court in the state and they all report
| the same success that | am able to do.
Previousto the system being established
we had the same system that you have
| had here, that of suspended sentences.
The suspended sentence way of doing it
| is all right as far as il goes but it
does not go far enough. When a man
receives Il suspended sentence, he is
| thrown out on his own resources to
| look after him and is more apt to fall
down in his good resolutions. That is
why the probate officer should be
| called the probation guardian for that
| is just what he is. Further than that
| he is lay attorney. as he is in a posi-
| ton to look after the interests of the
poor man who appears in court the
same way as the attorney who looks
| after the interests of the moneyed man.
Il could cite many instances of the
| grand results that have been attain
| ed by the system where men and wo-
| men have been brought back to lives of
good citizens from those of degenera-
1 nin