Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-04-20
SAYS PROBATION
IS NO 'CURE-ALL'
Gascoyne Tells Convention That
Judges Should Judicious-
Iy Apply 1t.
Especial to the Evening star. J

Especial TO the Evening start
ASBURY PARK. April 20,-Proba
ton Officer John j. Gascoyne, of Es-
sex county. presided today at sec
ton meeting of the thirteenth annual
convention of the New Jersey Con-
ference of Charities and Corrections.
Mr. Gascoyne spoke on Probation
and Courts He said in part:
Probation is serious thing; 1t is
a dignified substitute for imprison-
ment. method of dealing with peo-
pie who are brought before the court.
| The person who is committed to the
care OF the probation officer must be
made to understand that he is under
the authority of the court and that he
must live UP to the rules and regula-
tons that are laid down by the court
for the probation officer to enforce.
Probation does not consist of
merely suspended sentence and me-
chanical reporting as to the doings
of the offender upon whom sentence
is suspended; it is the newer form of
correction, whereby an effort is made
by the court through the probation
officer acting as the agent thereof to
teach and direct the unfortunate one
not alone into better path of actual
living, but into n better conception
and understanding of his moral duties
and relation to society. Therefore the
spirit of probation is the entry into
the home. in which the surroundings
of the individual under consideration
may be ascertained with view of
getting a grasp of the whole situa-
ton, thereby ascertaining the causes
of delinquency. which will enable the
court to apply proper remedies.
Two Points of View.
There are two rather Numerically
opposite points of view when we en-
deavor to account for the divergence
of their life history from that of ordi-
nary citizens. One point of view
raises the question as to the original
gifts bestowed by heredity upon this
| particular individual; ii raises the
| question of his own responsibility for
| his acts. In the last year or two
there has been a great deal more said
| and thought upon this subject of
heredity in relation to the subject of
| crime generally and it seems that the
part that heredity plays has been
greatly underestimate by many of
us. 1t also is perfectly true that in
the course of the last few years we
| have been passing through our courts
and placing upon probation or COM
hitting to penal and reformatory in
situations, releasing upon parole and
fearreSting and recommitting q very
considerable number of people whom
We should have recognized as not re-
sponsible for their actions, who can
not be successfully dealt with by pro-
baton or reformatory or imprison-
ment, for whom there only remains a
kindly custodial care. To the extent
that heredity is the controlling factor,
that points only and directly to GUS
todial care.
Urges Change of Environment.
Now the otner point of view, a
point of view which all share to some
extent, but which is held in an ex-
IRENE degree by some, calls attention
to the part which social conditions
play in the production of crime, en-
phasizing this as a fact that "hard
times always fills the PRISONS" it
points to many individual cases in
which evil associations have led to
the commission of offences; it points
out the wrongs of those who become
Juvenile delinquents, and there is a
tendency following that line that
after all it is not so much the indi-
vidual, ii is not so much the natural
ouuWorking of that group of charac-
teristics impaired by birth, as it Is
among which we live and the ele-
ments that make up our growth.
Now, if that be true and to the eX-
tent that this is true, we are not to
look to cuStodial care, but to a change
in the environment, not necessarily a
change to different environment,
but to change the surroundings and
influences under which the particular
person lives and moves and has his
being.
Does it not seem that in medicine
we still greatly underestimate the
overwhelming Importance of correct
diagnosis? No doubt all of us can
recall instances in which skilled ply
sicians have prescribed courses of
treatment which subsequent knowl-
edge proved totally useless because
based on mistaken diagnosis of very
simple ill., Correct and accurate di-
agnosis of the situation of each per-
son under the care of the probation
officer would seem to be his supreme
duty, the first and greatest and most
difficult duty to perform and the one
which In the long run will determine
individual usefulness as n probation
officer and will determine eventually
the place that probationers Will hold
in the future development of society.
| should emphasize, therefore, in set
ting out the imortance of clear think
ing on the subject of probation, the
fact of recognizing that not all per-
sons are suitable for probationary
treatment, that probation is not a
substitute for the prison or the re-
formatory except Uncertain cases, that
probation is simply an added form of
treatment, from which to choose the
particular thing that is best for the
particular Individual
Walter w. Whitson, general secre-
tary of the Bureau of Associated
Charities, of Orange, was another
speaker today. He chose for his topic
advantages Gained Through the Co
operation of the Probation Officer and
the Charitable Organizations"
He told of the advantages gained
through cooperation of the probation
officer and the private charitable or
CARNATIONS. and he said in part:
II come to the probation section of
this conference as a representative oil