The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-11-27
NEED PAROLE MAN
Governor Hodges Has q Kansas
Penal Plan.
Follow Up and Look After Re-
leased Inmates.
STEER AWAY FROM THE EVILS
Parole Officer Would Keep Men
in Good Company.
Governors Idea to Aid Prison
Reform in Kansas.

kansas needs a parole officer, alb
solutely Independent of politics. to fol-
low up and personally look after men
released from penal institutions" de-
clared Governor George H. Hodges
today. ITO accomplish it's purpose
our parole system ought to be backed
up by the work of such an officer
with ample powers to aid men in their
struggle to reinstate themselves as
useful members of society"
AS things now stand, says the gov
ernor, the real usefulness Of the
parole system is impaired by lack OF
facilities for getting at the real facts
regarding individuals committed for
punishment before and after they have
been in prison. Prison officials, MEM
bers of the state board of corrections
many other official duties to permit
them to study cases before paroles
are granted as they should be studied,
or to give paroled prisoners adequate
erty has been given them. With
prison population of nearly 500 at the
penitentiaryf such q. task would, be-
lieves Governor Hodges after two
years of personal study of the situa-
ton, take the best efforts of a first
class official unembarrassed by any
sort Of political influence.
The state parole officer should
have ample funds for getting about
over the state and authority to name
local representatives where needed"
continued the governor. These lat
ter assistants might be juvenile court
officers or other local functionaries
already employed in correctional
should have latitude in selecting his
assistants SO they might be chosen for
their special fitness.
Parole Law Weak. 81
"A parole system that practically
throws man, handicapped with a
prison record back on an unsympathe-
tic society to take his chances of find
ing means for an honest living, is in
complete. 1t leaves off right where 1t
should begin. There ought to be work
for every man who wants it, and if the
state wants to make good its principle
OF prison parole it should stand ready
to hold up the man who starts out to
make over his life after a term in the
penitentiary or reformatory. ?
I'VE are compelled to take back too
many men for parole violations who
slip and fall from the disbursement
from the states prison. Most paroles
| are violated through drinking. The
parOled man who can not get back
| into good society has no difficulty in
finding his way into bad. With moth
ing at his side to steer him away fron1
it the chances of his drifting into evil
company amount almost to a certainx
| ty. The state of Kansas should .proy
vide the support that will hold him
straight until he is able to go ahead
by himself
Would Help Prison Reform.
Were such a system Of effective
help for paroled men in existence"
continued the governor. Il am con-
WINGED that it would exert a powerful
influence inside the prison walls. If
a man knew to a moral certainty that
his release would guarantee him a
| chance to go back to useful place in
society it would give him an added in
centive to qualifying himself for pa
role after he has been committed to