The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-21

soon as it was whispered in a factory that a certain man had been in prison his fellow workers would brand him as a thief, and before long the report would reach the superintendent. Then, with no one to speak for inn, the boy usually would find himself without a job
 To make the plan work successfully the detectives had to have the co-opera- tion of a number of reputable employers who were broad minded enough to be willing to give the scheme a trial isl their own factories. As soon as such a man was found the detective rounded up three or four young men who had recent ly been released from prison and asked , them whether they would be willing to take a regular job and stick to it. The understanding was that once q week they should report to the police exactly as if they were on probation until a sufficient time had elapsed to prove that no fur ther trouble would be had with them.
 No Complaints Received.
 Although four weeks is not long enough to form a positive estimate of how the plan is succeeding. still 1t is en- couraging to know that there has not been single complaint up to the present time regarding any of the six men for whom employment has been found. The success of the undertaking. according to Captain Lafkins, depends solely upon the men who can give employment if they are so disposed, for at the present rate the demand for jobs soon will be in ex- cess of the available opportunities.
 As yet there has been no chance to dis cover how widely the plan may be ex- tended In dealing with other classes of criminals. So far it has had to do only with men convicted of small burglary or petty thefts of other sorts But the de- tective bureau is willing to be of ser vice i1 finding employment for men of higher intelligence as well, men who have been convicted of embezzlement for example All dealings with the de- partment are, of course, treated con- fidentally
 or course many people have been try ing to take advantage of the bureaus offer to secure jobs. One woman ia New York wrote Captain Lafl1ins a personal letter the other day requesting him to find employment for her five sons, all of whom are out of work The Jersey City detectives think they have enough to do to handle the cases which will come to their attention on their side of the river but thcy see no reasea why the police of other cities should not take up the scheme
 The conditions in Jersey City seem to b particularly well adapted to the suc- cessftll operation of the plan. But in many cues, eSpeclallY those in the west which are of about the same slze as Jer- ssy City Captain Larl1ins thinks the sys- tenn could be followed to advantage
 Tho detective chief was asked whether he would try to obtain employment for women who came out of prison. With them, he sail, the case was somewhat different. Most of the arrests of women were made on the complaints of persons in whose houses the girls worked and fr1r1 y-rbo1l ha1 ptn tl,f the house. As soon as the lost property was recovered these persons were unwil- ling to press charges against the thieves This was the only type of female crim- iaal corresponding to the kind of men for whom he is obtaining employment