ertain
stigma to the man, but even so, it is not indelible nor nearly so great
as that which the prison leaves behind it. To make this disadvantage as
small as possible, the officers wear no uniform and, within their
prescribed area, work among the convicted and unconvicted alike.

The type of officer required is not easily found. Of humane instincts,
and yet a firm disciplinarian, well educated, competent to give good
advice and able to gain the affections and confidences of those amongst
whom they work, is the type of person required. The ex-soldier or the
ex-policeman is just the man who is NOT wanted. The advantages of this
system Miss E. P. Hughes thus sums up:--

Firstly.--Instead of a few highly-paid officials and many badly paid
warders, you have a number of independent, well-paid probation officers,
chosen for their knowledge of human nature, and their skill in reforming
it.

Secondly.--Far greater adjustment of treatment to individual cases.

Thirdly.--The stigma of the prison is avoided, and while great care is
taken that the prisoner shall be strictly controlled and effectively
restrained, his self-respect is carefully developed.

Fourthly.--The family suffers less. The home is not broken up, the wages
still come in, and if the prisoner is a mother and a wife, it is, of
course, most important that she should retain her position in the home.

Fifthly.--The prisoner does not "lose his job," nor his mechanical
skill, if he is a skilled workman. "I was told that six months in prison
will materially damage this in many cases." He does not lose his habit
of regular work.

Sixthly.--He has one intelligent friend at his side to give him all the
help that a brother man can. And this friend has the unique
opportunities for studying his case, and has also an extraordinary power
over his environment.

Seventhly.--Good conduct and a capacity for rightly using freedom is
constantly rewarded by a greater freedom.

Eighthly.--It is far cheaper than prison. The prisoner keeps himself and
his family, and one officer can attend from sixty to eighty prisoners.

=The Elmira Reformatory.=--"The New York States Reformatory at Elmira"
is the official designation of this institution. It was established in
1875 and had for its first superintendent a Mr Z. R. Brockway.

Mr Brockway had from the age of nineteen years been working in an
official capacity among prisoners, and his religious beliefs led him to
acknowledge that