The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-11-29
SEC'Y JEFFREY'S
REPORT ON WORK
q OF HIS BOARD
What Has Been Accomplish
ed by the Board of
Charities and Pro-
baton
HOW THE STATE CARES
FOR DEPENDENTS
Some Testimonials from the
Practitioners

-
The State Board of Charities and
Probation has made it's biennial re-
port to the governor of the work done
since the establishment of the depart
9ncnt June l, 1917. Discussing the
probation feature of the work of the
board Secretary Jeffrey says:
"At the beginning of the year on
July /, 1917 there were seven hum
dred and thirty probation and parole
cases pending, of which one hundred
and ninety-seyen were adult cases
from county courts, four hundred and
fourteen were adult cases from JUS
tice and municipal courts. There
we're received during the year three
hundred and ninety-one cases, Of
which one hundred and sixteen were
adult cases from county courts, two
hundred and forty-six were adult cas-
es from justice and municipal courts,
and twenty-nine were cases from ju-
venile courts. A total of four hund-
red and eighty-four cases have been
discharged during the year. Fifty
four of the cases, OF approximately
5 per cent of the probationers and
parolers, have been surrendered !;
thirty-six, or approximately 3 per
cent of the total number, have been
delinquent; and there were on hand
at the close Of the year on June 30,
1913, five hundred and seventy cases.
Gas shown above, since the estab-
lshment of this department there has
been an average of six hundred per-
sons on probation or parole all of the
time. Of these more than ninety pei
cent have furnished no trouble or ex-
pense to the state other than the
mere cost of administration. Had
these probationers and parolers been
confined to either Windsor or Rut-
land, where the average cost per week
is about $500 per person in excess Of
what they earn, the expense to the
state for the year would have been
$62,A0000. This is a clear financial
value of the probation system to the
state, about which there can be nc
question.
"To the probationer himself, the
system is also of direct financial bene'
fit, none the less real because not sc
definitely ascertained. A man on pro
baton must, properly support anc
care for his family. If he were con
fined, the family would not only be
deprived of his earning power but
wouldein many gases be actually. de
pendent on public or private charity
"rEhe feature of the probation sys
tenn by which in many cases the pro
; bationer is permitted to pay his fint
in installments OF to make restitution
or for family support by payments
through the probation officer, is o,
undoubted value During the pas
year about $4,000 has been paid int
the department by probationers ant
parolers, and by the department dis
tributed to the benefciaries.
"The greatest value of the proba
ton system is in the effect on th'
prisoner himself. The attitude of
man toward a government which
while holding him to a strict cOmpli
ance with the terms of his probation
permits him to stay with his family
earn his and their support, and as h
is able to make restitution for his of
fense, cannot but be more wholesom
for the state than that of the ma
whom the state places in confinement
not, many times, because he has don
wrong but merely because at tn
time he had not at hand the none
with which to pay fine. The stat
therefore sentences itself to suppor
him for fixed period, leaving hi
family to shift for itself.
'The absurdity of our present prac
tice in, the treatment of habitua
drunkards is most glaringly apparent
Sec. 6573 of the General Laws pro
vides: "A person who, within a pelio
of one year, has been three time
convicted of being found intoxicate
shall be imprisoned in the house Q
correction for period of not les
than six months nor more than on
year. %##There is an alternative pre-
vision for medical treatment at tn
state hospital for the insane, but
the larger number of cases the offend
ef Is cOHllhiCCeu W eAe HouSS VI GU
reetion at Rutland. The approximat
average cost of arresting, trying, COZ
victing, and committing an habitu;
drunkard to the house of correctio
and keeping him there for the ave
age term under the law is about $40
1t is submitted that in such case
the law provided for substantial fir
with an alternative sentence of in
piisonnent in the house of correction
and that the offender should be con
mitted to the custody of the state PR
bation officer with the provision,
necessary, that the fine be paid in il
stallments, all purposes of justice tn;
Continued on page 81