riminal. Thirdly, there are the hardships that the wife and family are
called upon to endure while the bread-winner is in gaol and not earning
wages.

The Probation System seeks to overcome all these difficulties. Instead
of sentencing an offender to a period of imprisonment, the judge
confides him to the care of the probation officer for a period
co-terminous with that which he would otherwise have had to spend in
prison. The minimum period of this sentence is six months, and the
average about twelve months.

In the cases of female offenders and of youths under the age of 18 years
the probation officer is usually a woman; for adult males, a man acts as
officer.

The officers are invested with very considerable authority. It is their
duty to keep the very closest watch over their wards and to report
continually upon their behaviour. They frequently visit the homes and do
their utmost to become acquainted with the conditions of the home and
industrial life under which their wards live. The visits are so arranged
that they by no means imply an official errand, the officers endeavour
to discover the weaknesses of their wards and the temptations to which
they are most likely to succumb, and as far as possible to remove them
out of the reach of these temptations or to strengthen them against
their power. Some officers provide for meetings to be held for those
committed to their charge. Especially is this the case with those who
have the charge over youthful offenders. At such meetings games,
edifying entertainment and instruction are provided. It is also quite
competent for an officer to receive the wages of a probationer. In these
cases, he will give the man's wife a sufficient sum to meet the ordinary
household expenditure, allow him enough for his personal expenses, and
retain a small sum to be returned when the period of probation has
expired. This course is invariably pursued in the case of drunkards. A
drunkard may, upon the authority of the probation officer, be forbidden
to enter a public-house or to enter it during certain hours only, and he
may also be obliged to remain at home after a certain hour. In fact, the
probation officer may make almost any such rules that he thinks best to
be observed by his ward, and there is always the threat of being sent to
prison to discharge his sentence, if he should refuse to behave properly
when under probation.

To have an officer constantly watching over a man may affix a c