_Manual for Probation Officers in New York State. State
Probation Commission._ Albany 1913, J. B. Lyon Co. Free.
The State Probation Commission should be sincerely congratulated upon
this most valuable manual. Although it is technically limited to New
York State, its usefulness will extend far beyond those limits. Its
principal merit lies probably in the fact that it is a well-indexed,
complete compilation of all the laws pertaining to probation in that
State. The presentation of the material in its analyzed form is an
invaluable addition. The laws are cited both in statutory and in
chronological order. Separate chapters are devoted to the discussion
of the provisions pertaining to the appointment and compensation of
probation officers; of court procedure and practice; of the duties,
powers and methods of such officers. Facsimiles of the forms of
records used, are also taken up in a separate chapter, similarly the
history and functions of the Commission. In the appendix, among other
interesting material, there is also a statistical statement of the
growth of the application of probation in the State.
In a book so full of merit as to opportuneness, thoroughness and
analytical qualities a few suggestions are perhaps even more
justifiable than in a work of fundamental weaknesses. It would seem,
for example, that a chapter presenting the most important phases
of the work in a continuous story-like form, comprehensible to the
ordinary layman, would have increased considerably the reading circle
of the book, and made it available as propaganda material. In the
statistical appendix several improvements could be made. In Table 1,
for example, the totals for any year of all persons are not indicated;
in Tables 2, and especially 3, the development by years is not clearly
presented; in Table 3 it would be very interesting to show the change
in the relative percentages of “improved,” etc. The gaps in the tables
are not satisfactorily explained, and in Table 6, giving the number
of probation officers holding appointments, the totalling of the
individual years is a decided statistical fallacy. Such faults are,
however, of vanishing importance, compared with the immense usefulness
of the work.
The manual may be had by all interested persons on application to the
State Probation Commission, at the Capitol, Albany. N. Y. P. K.