both. The child's home may be visited by several different officers with a short time intervening between each visit, in order that the report of one officer may correct any temperamental errors in the report of another.

Very recently the society has placed a woman probation officer at the service of the court, her salary being guaranteed to the Society by the Women's Clubs and other women's organizations of Brooklyn.

The entire number of children brought before the court in 1905, was 3,307, of whom 2,981 were boys and 326 girls. Of this number 1,856 boys and 217 girls were convicted.

victed were dealt with as follows:

Those con

742

The 626 placed on probation are accounted for at the end of the year as follows:

Rearrested and committed to institutions..

116

Sentence suspended indefinitely after a satisfactory period

of probation

391

Remained on probation at the end of the year....

119

Total...

626

In Buffalo the Juvenile Court was organized in 1901, as a division of the City Court. This was the first separate children's

court in this State, and the first important development of probation work for children in this State was in connection with this court. The justice, Hon. Thomas Murphy, who has presided continuously in the Children's Court since its establishment, has taken a great interest in the development of probation work, and is entitled to high praise for having led the way in the movement for juvenile probation in this State.

A large number of volunteer probation officers have been appointed, but up to the present time none receive salaries. Some of these volunteer probation officers are the salaried agents of charitable societies; others are professional or business men; two are attendance officers of the Educational Department, and there are a number of ladies. Recently a police officer has been detailed to serve bench warrants for the arrest of juvenile offenders released on probation who are reported by the proba tion officers as violating the terms of their probation. The probation officers, as a rule, require the children to report to them once a week at first, and subsequently diminish the frequency of the reports. The children are put on probation for a term of three months, renewable in the discretion of the court, and if they do not violate the terms of the probation they do not appear again in court. The probation officer files a report at some subsequent time, stating the conduct of the child, and a report is then entered at the court that the child is definitely discharged from further supervision. On this point Judge Murphy testified as follows:

“Q. For what length of time do you ordinarily place a child on probation in the first instance? A. Three months is the time, but after that the privilege is in the probation officers to renew it as long as they see fit.

Q. At the end of those three months, is a report made to you about the offender? A. Not necessarily; the probation officer discharges them when he feels they should be discharged, and a report is filed with the secretary (of the court).

Q. Does that involve any action on your part confirming that? A. No.

Q. Not if there was a suspension of sentence at the outset? A. It is supposed that when sentence is suspended they are placed on probation.

Q. That suspension of sentence remains how long? A. As I look upon it, it is practically a discharge, when he is discharged.

*

Q. Would it seem to you that it would be wise for each of these cases to come back to you for your knowledge and action when the discharge takes place; that it should be your act, based on the statement of your probation officer? A. It might have a little more effect; I do not think it is necessary. I think there are results we have obtained with the plan we have followed; I think they have been satisfactory.

Q. Suppose a child does not report regularly, as he is instructed to do by the probation officer; what happens then? A. He is sent for; the police department is notified to bring him in.

Q. Notified by you, or directly by the probation officer? By my clerk.

A.

Q. Then what happens? A. They are supposed to bring him in. I do not know that they always have done it, but they have been notified.

Q. Then you talk with the boy? A. Oh, yes, and give him another chance; everything is done; they are sent away only as a last resort."

There was some effort to district the city, dividing it at least into an East Side and a West Side, in each of which there was a Catholic man having the older boys and a Catholic woman the girls and younger boys; a Protestant man for the older boys and a Protestant woman for the girls and younger boys, besides whom there was one Jewish officer, two attendance officers from

the Department of Education, a Polish officer, who is a practicing lawyer, and several others. All Polish children are placed under the care of the Polish probation officer, but there being a large number of such children it has not been possible for him to give them as much attention as is desirable.

There is extreme reluctance on the part of the judge to commit to an institution-so much so that in many cases children are placed on probation several times in succession. A number of probation officers testified that children reported by them either to the clerk of the court or directly to the police department as violating the terms of probation had not been apprehended.

In Rochester the Children's Court is presided over by the judge of the Juvenile Court, who is also a police justice. It is held in a separate room, though in the same building as the police court, the records being kept by the clerk of the police court. A special statute was enacted in 1905 in relation to the Juvenile Court of Rochester, but has not as yet gone fully into effect. Children placed on probation are placed under the care of the agents of the Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The salaried agent of the society has been appointed a probation officer of the Juvenile Court, and also some sixteen volunteers, most of whom are connected with the society or are clergymen. These volunteer probation officers reside in different portions of the city and the children are expected to report to them instead of reporting to the central office of the society. From January, 1904, to December, 1904, 151 children were placed on probation on this plan. A card is given to the probitioner and the probation officer notes on the back of the card each visit made to him by the child. The usual term of proba

tion is three months. It is sometimes extended. There is no stated period of visitation by the probation officers at the homes of the children, but they are expected to visit from time to time. They do not make any reports to the society or to the court in regard to their visits to the home of the child, unless the surroundings are unfavorable or the child does badly, when these facts are reported to the society or to the court. The child does not return to the court after being placed on probation unless he does badly. The volunteer probation officers meet, perhaps once in six months, to confer in regard to the work.

In Syracuse there is a separate Children's Court in the same building as the Police Court, presided over by the police justice. Few are placed on probation. Of 168 children who appeared before the court from January 1, 1905, to December 1, 1905, fifty were committed to institutions, about ten were discharged as not convicted, and the remainder (about 108) were discharged. Of these some twenty were placed under probation. They are not placed on probation for any particular length of time. The probation officer for children is Mr. Fillmore Smith, agent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Mr. Smith was appointed as probation officer some two years ago. The children are required to report weekly for a fortnight, and when there seemed to be occasion therefor the requiring of weekly reports has been extended to a period of six or even nine months. The original period of probation is stated by Mr. Smith to be three months. The cases are not usually reported to the judge unless they do badly. The homes of the children are visited in some cases, but not as a uniform practice. If visited, it is usually an incidental visit paid on account of other reasons. The other duties of the probation officer are so numerous and