The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1921, PROBATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 August 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1921, PROBATION.

The decision recently given by the Court of Appeal whereby probation was substituted for a sen.•tence of twelve months’ impiisonpnent for forgery appears to have established a principle which, as construed by Mr. Justice Salmond, entitles a man “to commit one theft or one forgery with safety and remain at liberty.” This naturally raises the question of the object for which the criminal code was intended, whether for punishment of those who commit crimes or for reforming them. Experience has proved that in most of the eases in which probation had been granted it has proved satisfactory, but it would certainly seem a serious matter if all first offenders can claim probation as a matter of course. On the other hand, the tendency of imprisonment to create criminals cannot be ignored, but there is still a middle course possible by consigning first offenders to a prison camp, where they will not be brought in contact with old offenders. There is much force in Air. Justice Salmond’s contention that probation ought to be treated as a special “privilege to be granted on special grounds and in special cases, not a privilege to be granted as a right, and of course in all cases of a certain class.” It may be argued that, if the principle of probation for a first offence of theft or forgery is proper, then it should be applied to all cases of dishonesty, including embezzlement and postal lapses. Apparently there should be some intelligent effort made to standardise sentences in both the Lower and the Supreme Courts. At present some glaring variations .ire frequently being made. The matter is one that might well be considered at a Judicial Conference, for it can hardly be left as it is without giving an incentive to crime. To the lay mind the granting of probation should depend entirely on extenuating circumstances, but if it is to be a matter of right, then the criminal code should be amended accordingly, otherwise the country will be put to an ever-increas-ing expense for convicting first offenders and letting them go free. The essential point to consider is a maintenance of the canon of British justice in which all men are equal under the law.