[Under this heading will appear each month numerous paragraphs of general interest, relating to the prison field and the treatment of the delinquent.]

Adult Probation in Illinois.—Illinois has fallen into line by adopting an adult probation law. The measure went into effect on July 1. The law was drafted by a committee of the Civic Federation of Chicago, of which Prof. Charles R. Henderson was chairman. Since opposition had developed in previous sessions of the General Assembly to proposals for adult probation, it was deemed necessary to make the statute enacted this year very limited in its scope.

Another bill which passed and which was supported by the Civic Federation, was one increasing the number of state parole officers from 2 to 7. A general revision of the Illinois parole laws was contemplated by Prof. Henderson’s committee and bills were drafted with this in view, but owing to recent decisions of the Supreme Court, it seemed inadvisable to urge any such legislation at this session.

Reforms Urged by the Howard Association.—The 1910 report of the Howard Association of England makes an appeal for the securing of the following nine reforms before the meeting of the International Prison Congress in London in 1915:

  1. Time allowance for payment of fines.
  2. Young offenders to be allowed to pay fines by easy instalments.
  3. A thorough application of the Probation Act, with the appointment of paid probation officers, responsible to the state and removable by the state.
  4. Probation officers to have power to collect fines.
  5. Restitution for money or goods stolen as allowed by the Probation Act, to be further developed and enforced.
  6. The abolition of repeated short sentences, the folly and futility of which have been so long demonstrated, and the results of which have been so disastrous.
  7. Manual or technical training for young prisoners who suffer from physical defects.
  8. A more thorough classification of prisoners, and to ensure this the establishment of specialized prisons suitable to the age, physical and mental condition of the prisoner.
  9. The adoption of the Indeterminate sentence with the establishment of parole boards and the appointment of parole officers.

Anti-Mugging Bill Vetoed.—The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the police authorities in New York State were able to induce Governor Dix of New York to veto the “anti-mugging” and “anti-third degree” bill recently passed by the Legislature of that State. The proposed law provided that no photograph, measurement, or physical examination of any person charged with a crime should be made by the police prior to conviction, and that no such prisoner should be questioned further than to get information as to his or her identity, except in the presence of a magistrate.

Governor Dix in vetoing the bill declared:

“It is the first duty of the state to protect from criminals the lives and property of citizens. To this end the officers charged with the prevention, detection and punishment of crime should be given ample powers by statute, and should receive the support of all good citizens. This bill hampers the police in securing the most usual and simple means of identification of suspected criminals. It adds difficulty to securing evidence of crime and clews to its detection. It subjects officers of arrest to unnecessary and groundless accusations in case of alleged violence or persecution.”