West Riding Branch Summer School At Scarborough
| Published date | 01 October 1935 |
| Date | 01 October 1935 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455053500200207 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
29
WEST
RIDING
BRANCH
SUMMER
SCHOOL
AT
SCARBOROUGH
FORTY-FIVE
probation
officers,
the
chairman
F
of
the
Leeds
Probation
Committee,
several
Justices
of
the
Peace,
a
Justices’
Clerk
and
some
Home
Office
officials
attended
the
first
Summer
School
organized
by
the
West
Riding
Branch
of
the
National
Association
of
Probation
Officers.
The
Summer
School,
which
covered
the
week-end
20th
to
22nd
September,
was
held
at
Cober
Hill
Guest
House
near
Scarborough.
Mr.
W.
H.
Davey
officially
represented
the
Home
Office
and
it
is
worthy
of
note
that
this
was
the
first
Summer
School
of
the
Association
to
be
honoured
by
having
magistrates
in
residence.
The
Earl
of
Feversham
who
was
to have
received
the
guests
and
opened
the
School
was,
unfortunately,
prevented
from
attendance,
and
sent
Mr.
H.
E.
Nor-
man
from
the
Whitehall
offices
of
the
Association
to
convey
a
message
to
the
gathering.
Mr.
J.
H.
Ogram,
Chairman
of
the
West
Riding
Branch,
opened
the
School
and
presided
throughout
the
ses-
sions.
The
first
session
of
the
School
was
devoted
to
a
lecture
by
Councillor
L.
J.
Edwards,
B.A.
(Staff
Tutor,
Leeds
University),
on
the
&dquo; Theory
of
Punishment,&dquo;
the
lecture
being
followed
by
discus-
sion.
The
full
text
of
Councillor
Edwards’
address
will
be
published
in
the
next
issue
of
&dquo;
Probation.&dquo;
The
second
session
was
devoted
to
an
address
followed
by
discussion,
&dquo;
Probation
from
a
stipen-
diary
magistrate’s
view
point.&dquo;
Mr.
J.
R.
Mac-
donald,
stipendiary
magistrate
of
Hull,
kept
his
audience
entirely
interested
for
an
hour.
He
said
that
the
stipendiary
magistrate
saw
probation
from
the
other
side
of
the
Bench;
saw
it,
not
as
many
of
his
law
colleagues
did
at
irregular
intervals,
but
as
a
matter
of
daily
routine
in
the
Courts.
For
the
system
with
all
its
possibilities
he
had
the
highest
respect
and
felt
that
busy
City
Courts
would
find
it
impossible
to
get
through
their
work
without
the
pro-
bation
officers.
Probation
was
one
of
those
experiments
that
had
proved
themselves
to
be
so
well
worth
while
that
we
all
found
ourselves
asking
why
we
have
never
thought
of
it
before.
In
dealing
with
juveniles
the
system of
probation
was
of
course
indispensable
yet
sometimes
he
could
not
avoid
the
thought
that
a
touch
of
the
cane
might
have
had
beneficial
results,
in
any
case
he
was
careful
to
avoid
the
possibility
of
a
boy
appearing
to
his
friends
as
a
hero
through
being
let off
too
easily
after
an
offence.
For
this
reason
he
always
looked
upon
a
breach
of
probation
as
a
very
serious
thing
and
usually
gave
salutary
punishment
without
further
delay.
Mr.
MacDonald
said
probation
should
not
be
re-
served
for
youthful
offenders.
On
one
occasion
he
had
heard
a
Judge,
dealing
with
an
old
man
with
a
lengthy
record,
declare
that
it
was
too
late
for
pro-
bation.
But
it
was
never
too
late
for
probation.
Frequently
he
found
himself
wishing
there
was
some
sort
of
alternative,
a
sort
of
half
way
house
between
probation
and
prison,
and
he
had
found
himself
wondering
whether
something
in
the
nature
of labour
camps
should
be
devised
to
meet
this
need.
The Humber
bank
needed
building
up
all
the
way
down.
It
might
be
done
by
offenders
who
would
have
to
work
hard,
but
would
not
be
forced
to
work
-they
would
simply
have
to
be
told that
if
they
did
not
work
they
would
starve.
He
knew
such
a
scheme
would
be
difficult,
but
he
attributed
much
of
the
work
he
got
in
his
Court
to
the
lack
of
two
things-
work
and
discipline.
They
would
get
both
in
Mac-
Donald’s
labour
camp.
Mr.
MacDonald
said
that
probation
was
invaluable.
If
probation
officers
put
only
one
per
cent.
of
offenders
on
the
right
path,
their
work
was
ustified ;
but
they
succeeded
in
far
greater
percentage
of
cases
than
that.
In
conclusion
he
gave
a
word
of
advice
to
proba-
tion
officers
about
relationship
with
their
probation
committees.
&dquo; Don’t
be
afraid of
your
Probation
Committees
&dquo;
said
Mr.
MacDonald.
&dquo; If
you
keep
your
Probation
Committee
members
informed
of
the
difficulties
of
your
work
they
will
like
to
help
you.
Especially
would
I
make
this
recommendation
in
reference
to
the
overloading
of
cases.
In
the
case
of
Hull
I
found
my
officers
far
too
heavily
loaded
and
now
desire
to
take
steps
to
relieve
them.
A
proba-
tion
officer
is
like
a
surgeon,
he
can
only
undertake
to
deal
successfully
with
a
certain
number
of
cases;
overloading
might
spoil
the
whole
of
his
work.&dquo;
At
a
fellowship
service
on
Sunday
morning
Mr.
Fred
Sturge
gave
an
inspiring
address
on
the
value
of
:each
individual
life
and
related his
remarks
both
to
the
present
state
of
tension
in
European
politics
and
to
the
daily
work of
the
probation
Officer
in
deal-
ing
with
offenders
who
came
before
the
Courts.
The
last
session
of conference
was
occupied
by
Mrs.
M.
K.
Rowntree,
J.P.,
of
York,
whose
subject
was
&dquo;
Some
Thoughts
on
Probation.&dquo;
Mrs.
Rowntree
said
that
we
could
get
an
approxi-
mate
justice
only
if
we
dealt
with
offenders
individu-
ally.
To-day
we
thought
not
to
make
the
punish-
ment
fit
the
crime
but
to
make
it
fit
the
criminal.
If
it
was
not
for
the
Probation
Act,
she
would
not
want
to
be
a
magistrate
for
a
day.
&dquo;
We
magistrates
often
feel
we
are
working
in
the
dark
with
our
hands
tied,
because
we
know
so
little
of
what
we
are
doing,&dquo;
she
said.
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