The Dominion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1926. THE SOCIAL DELINQUENT

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 46, 18 November 1926, Page 10

The Dominion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1926. THE SOCIAL DELINQUENT

So long as crime and punishment were connoted terms, society did not advance very far. lhe individual who fell ftom gtace became the reject of the community, and carried the bar sinister through life till the end of the chapter. Society still considers that those who break its laws should be punished, and that the punishment should fit the crime, but it has accepted the dictum of enlightened opinion that the reforrh of the social delinquent is as impoitant to the community as his punishment. From this standpoint society has made an appreciable advance in the treatment of the wrongA further step in the direction of reforming the delinquent is put forward bv Mr. Hawkins, late Controller-General of Prisons and Chief Probation Officer, who suggests that the probation system should be entirely separated from the prisons? His idea is that the probationer-prisoner is a subject for the attention of social lefoimative institutions rather than for the prison authorities. He proposes that four full-time probation officers should be appointed to act in conjunction with such experienced institutions as prisoners societies, the Salvation Army, and certain well-known individuals who have made a special study of this kind of social service. A good deal of criticism was directed against the probation system when it was inaugurated. Society, so long accustomed to the idea that its best protection from the wrong-doer lay in his effective sequestration, experienced for a time a feeling of insecmitv in the comparative degree of liberty which it was proposed to extend to individuals who. it considered, should he kept M ell undei lock and key. This attitude has long since disappeared, and public opinion bv this time is no doubt prepared for a tui.thei instalment of prison reform. At. the same time, the .public will demand that whatever may be done in the direction of advanced reformative treatment for-the social delinquent must be rigidly safeguarded against abuse and privilege. The rock upon which thp British judicial system is built, and whjch has inspired the confidence of the public and the admiration of foreigners, is -its positive and adamantine impartiality irrespective of wealth or rank. “Hat Justitia. coelum mat let justice be done, though the heavens fall”—is its inherent principle. Against privilege, the probationary system, no less than the judicial system, must lie armour-proof if it is to inspire confidence. Within the prison system, the gaol and its subsidiary institutions. with their inescapable routine, is the obedient and unquestioning agent, of the Bench. To detach completely from this system an important reformative function and transfer it to a different form of control is to invite some inquiry as to the guarantees proposed to be provided, against abuse. The recent action of the Prisons Board in releasing certain internees from custody has laised a good deal o'f criticism, and in consequence of charges made the Government has decided to hold a magisterial inquiry. This in the circiim.tt.nces is a wise and proper step. There is a tendency in some quarters to regard the Prisons Board as being above criticism. This is a mistaken view, lhe board has very great powers, and it owes a responsibility to the community to justify its policy and actions. e believe that it has rendered valuable service, and no doubt it has an answer to the criticisms which recently have been levelled at it. In the public interest that answer should be given. ;* . ,