Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-04-30
LOCAL CHARITIES HEAD
ADDRESSES BIG CROWD

may be given an opportunity to 10
gain his lost place in society, main
tain his dependents, and get the hAbi
Of right living. There are now Al
probatinncrS under the secretary
care.
A parolcr is one who having serve,
his minimum sentence ut Il penal in
stitution is granted II conditional par
don by the Governor and placed il
the custody of the Board of Charitic
and Probation upon parole varying
in length from q few months to life
There arc now 20G parolers that arc
under the charge and oversight OF
this board.
$50 successful has been the pro-
baton and parole system that the last
Legislature authorized the sale OF
our House of Correction. We nave
found a better way. The GIT per
sons who nave been found guilty OF
crime and are now under our care
cause US little trouble. If these had
been committed and continued in the
House Of Correction or the State
| Prison they would have cost the state
in addition to their earning power in
prison more than 81 200 each week, or
more than $G4 900 annually. During
the past II months these people have
paid into the department for restitu-
ton, fines, costs and support more
than $4,000. In addition to this they
have maintained their families, which,
in many instances, would have been
public charge. The average week.
ly wage earned by our probationers
and parolers amounts to nearly $1O,-
900, or more than half a million dol
lars annually"
After giving specific instances of
how the system made men and wonn-
en- of the parolers, Mr.. Jeffrey relat-
ed how he went to one of the judges
in the interests of a young man
charged with crime. After going over
the case carefully the judge said, 81
don't know very much about these
matters; you see the greater part of
AeA}ooCioil Iltts W wv Will pIOpcICy
rights, and we have to leave these
matters largely to the recommended
tons of the states attorneys" Mr..
Jeffrey said he went out of the pres
ence of the judge with the hope that
the day would soon come when hui
man beings might have property
rights.
Secretary Jeffrey said that one of
the duties of the Board was to in
spect the poor houses of the state and
he then described the startling con-
ditions that were found in one of
them. He also referred to the way
the children were treated in the Rus
sian orphanage in Windsor county
and called attention to the fact that
the last Legislature had amended the
law so that children would get better
care from their thoughtlcss attend
ants.
Hundreds of cases have been re-
ported to US where children were liv-
ing under conditions and circumsta &C
es SO degrading, so immoral, so UNI
sanitary as to seriously affect their
future welfare.
'Thc true object of all human en-
deavor is to build up Il higher civ
ilization, q higher type of people, and
to this end we require that every boy
and girl shall be educated; not in the
interest of the individual child, but in
the interest of the community. Life,
liberty and property are more secure
in an educated community"
Secretary Jeffrey said in the past
20 months the board had taken
charge of 100 children and of these
II were given hospital treatment. He
then gave specific cases of startling
conditions that were found in the
state and how severely it was nee
essary to deal with them.
"The courts commit dependent and
neglected children to our Board. We
find them homes. We supervise and |
care for them, and out of thett waste
bits the process of reconstruction is
commenced and the results are high
ly gratifying"
"Not long after the institution of
the board we began to find defective,
dependent children; little folks who,
from one cause or another, were ply
sically untitled to grow into maturi-
ty, and if pegmitted to grow would
become a burden not only to them
selves but to the community. There
were no available funds for the care !
of this class of cases. So I went to /
Gov. Groham, and we inaugurated a
He sent out letters to the
charitably disposed of our state, and
as a result more than $4,000 was
quickly and generously donated for
the relief of this class of cases. More
than 20 have been taken to our hos
pitfalls and received the best surgical
care possible. And let me say to you
in fairness to the physicians and sur
geons of Vermont, that up to this
time no surgeon has refused to oper-
ate upon these cases, and no surgeon
has ever made charge for his SER
vices. Here in st. Johnsbury a half
dozen cases have been treated.
at would be unfair for me to close
without saying to you that every pro-
posed amendment to the laws which
was presented at the last Legislature