Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-09

number of these bills upon unsuspect-
Ing tradesmen in small towns. He was
trailed through several states before
he was finally captured and brought
to court. It happened that the Judge
before whom he was tried was an old
man and unusually lenient. The Gull
prit was sentenced to q year. A few
later, q young boy in that state
was brought before the same court
charged with counterfeiting a 50-cent
piece. A new Judge was in charge
who believed in severe measures, so
this boy, for his first offense, was CIV
en- Ave years for the same crime for
which the older offender received only
a light sentence.
The Parole System.
The parole system is already in op-'
GRAFTON in many American prisons.
The governor of a western state has
gone to the length OF sending men pa
rolled on their honor to distances Of 30
miles or more to work upon the road
or some other public work. At first
this leniency was greatly exploited.
but 1t has developed within the past
few months that, in at least one case,
a party Of paroled men were unworthy
of the confidence reposed in them. A
counterfeiting plant was discovered
in the woods back Of where they were
making a ROAD. and they had induced
some outside men to take charge Of 1t.
This Is an unusual occurrence, how
ever, and must not be used against
the entire parole system.
The parole, as utilized in the federal
prisons Of the country, has proved pro-
ductive only of good and it's success
is credited to the fact that the paroled
prisoners, while not under guard, are
visited frequently and regularly. Dur
ing the past year there have been 400
federal prisoners released on parole
and only six of these have violated it.
to the reports presented
from the state institutions in which
the parole is in use, about Is per cent
violate It. Yet this Is a good showing
and one that proves its value, II given
under certain limitations. In the fed
eral prisons man will be paroled on
ly after careful investigation. 1t must
be known that he is going into certain
employment, and some responsible
man acting as "First Friend" must
guarantee his good conduct. In addi-
ton to this, constant surveillance
is kept as long as may be deemed de-
sirable. 1t is felt by the more con-
prison officials that to allow
a man or a number of men to go out
side Of the prison limits on their honor
alone, is taking too great a risk for
the safety of the community, as well
as placing strong temptation before
the prisoners themselves. There are
many cases or record, however. in
which it has worked out satisfactorily
The Probation System.
The probation system Is similar to
the parole. in that it permits convicted
persons to live outside Of the prison
confines so long as they are properly
employed. excepting that 1t applies to
persons before they are committed,
giving them an opportunity to escape
This is the system which
has been so successfully used in the
Juvenile courts for delinquent chill
dren and 1t has been tried with good
results for large number Of adult
Offenders. The greatest difficulty about
its general adoption Is the probation
officers who would have to be provided
to carr yit into effect From an eco
nomic standpoint It Is especially good,
as the offender. working outside Of the
prison, is entirely self-supporting in
stead of being tax upon the state.
The utilization Of convict labor for
roads and other public works is a mat
ter calling forth great variance OF
opinion. 1t has been done with excel
lent results in a number Of states. In
Georgia. especially in Fulton county,
there is system of public roads built
by convicts. which has become the
pride Of the state. The same may be
said OF Virginia, where it was arranged
that counties desiring to improve their
roads should furnish the raw material
and the state would supply convict
labor. It has been found. however,
that In many instances the cost of
conveying prisoners some distance to
the work. and OF maintaining guards
over them while at work. was more
expensive than to hire outside labor
crs. There are several other objec-