Sir—Referring to the article in The Review for July, regarding “Parole in Maryland,” the reporter of the Baltimore American, from which paper this was taken, drew a great deal upon his imagination and as a result did not make correct statements.
Probation has been in service in Maryland for several years, but its use has grown very rapidly during the past two years under the new system instituted by the supreme bench. The mention made of $600 having been collected year before last by the Association and the probability of $5,000 being collected this year referred entirely to non-support cases. The practice of the courts has formerly been to order the husbands to pay their wives direct, but as the system worked very badly this is being gradually changed to a great extent by the courts ordering that the alimony be paid through this Association; a great improvement has been noted under the new arrangement.
The earnings of our probationers last year amounted to about $40,000. This was ascertained by carefully kept records from reports made monthly by the probationers. One can easily see the importance of this work to the city and state if viewed only from an economic point of view.
Charles D. Reid,
Executive Secretary.
Transcriber’s Note:
Final stops missing at the end of sentences and abbreviations were added. Four misspelled words were corrected. Words may have inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged. Obsolete and alternative spellings were left unchanged.