During the past year all of the fifty cities of the State of over 10,000 population used probation, except the following six: White Plains, Olean, Glens Falls, Little Falls, Rensselaer and Oneonta. Out of the sixty-two counties in the State, forty-six used probation in their higher courts and thirty-six in one or more town and village courts. The courts in the following cities which used no probation in 1914 reported cases last year: Beacon, Canandaigua, Lockport, Middletown, New Rochelle, North Tonawanda and Ogdensburg. There were no cities which discontinued the use of probation in 1915. Cities showing the largest gains in the number of cases placed on probation were Hornell, Kingston, Lackawanna, Newburgh and Niagara Falls.

The counties of Delaware and Niagara used probation regularly for the first time last year. Counties showing the largest increase in the use of probation in their county and Supreme Courts were Bronx, Dutchess, New York (Court of General Sessions), Orange, St. Lawrence and Steuben.

Counties which reported cases placed on probation from the justices' courts of the towns or villages last year, but not in 1914, were Chautauqua, Chenango, Rensselaer, Essex and Sullivan. On the other hand, four counties, Genesee, Greene, Livingston and Yates, did not place cases last year but did so previously. Counties showing the largest gain in rural work were Cortland, Dutchess, Franklin, Onondaga, Nassau, Suffolk and Orange.

The explanation for all these gains is generally to be found in the employment of salaried probation officers for the first time. The table which follows shows the widespread use of probation in the various courts of the State:

NUMBER OF PERSONS PLACED ON PROBATION DURING THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1915. ARRANGED BY PLACES

CHARGES AGAINST PERSONS PLACED ON PROBATION

The table which follows shows the reported charges against all adults placed on probation during the past year:

CLASSIFICATION OF CHARGES AGAINST ADULTS PLACED ON PROBATION DURING THE YEAR

It is evident that the leading offense for which men are placed on probation is that of non-support. Twenty-seven per cent. of all cases were for this offense. Putting it another way, probation is found to be most applicable in cases where men are brought to court for failure to live up to their family obligations. The number and percentage of non-support cases increased somewhat as compared with the preceding year.

Stealing in its various degrees is the second greatest cause for the use of probation among adults, considering petit larceny, grand larceny and burglary as grades of the same offense. Offenses against property bring more persons into court each year than any other causes and it is natural that a large number of these, in the majority of cases first offenders, should be given a chance to redeem themselves on probation.

The next cause for the use of probation is disorderly conduct followed by public intoxication. These are more or less related offenses. The number of persons placed on probation for public intoxication, as compared with those placed in 1914, decreased from 15.4 per cent. of all cases to 11.3 per cent. If this means that fewer confirmed drunkards are being treated under probation and more by institutional care, these figures are encouraging. The subject of the treatment of persons addicted to the use of drink and drugs is discussed further on in this report.

The leading charge in the cases of women placed on probation is prostitution. The number and percentage of cases placed for this offense is, however, considerably less than it was several years

ago.

The following table shows the charges in cases of children placed on probation.

CLASSIFICATION OF CHARGES IN THE CASES OF CHILDREN PLACED ON PROBATION DURING THE YEAR