Henderson Daily Dispatch

72nd Congress Of Correction
Convenes Sunday At Asheville

In the Sir Walter Hotel.
Daily Dispatch Bureau.
by LYNN NISBET

Raleigh, Oct. 13—It was not entirely by chance that the American
Prison Association and kindred
agencies selected North Carolina.
for the 72nd Annual Congress of Correction, which is scheduled to convene at Asheville next Sunday for
a six-day session. This Tar Heel invitation was accepted because of
keen interest on part of officials in
many other states in the North Carolina program of parole, probation
and rehabilitation of prisoners.

North Carolina's overall record in
prison administration is not
much to brag about. There have been
some good
spots and no bad
ones. The current situation also
spotted. The incumbent administration has much to its credit
a great deal which calls for no praise.
Its ability to get competent prison guards at salaries permitted by
the legislature and the budget commission offers a ready alibi but a
real explanation for the number of
escapes and for some other phase
of prison administration. Even
candor compels the statement that
conditions are no worse, perhaps
they are better, now than the average for the past decade or more.

Our state does rank the top in its system of investigation,
recommendation and supervision
when prisoners are up for parole
or pardon after they are released. Few states
of the state have any conception of
the most detailed investigation a simple male prisoner receives
between
imprisonment and his term. Theoretically,
under existing law, the governor is
the sole authority for parole or pardon. Actually in most cases he takes
the recommendation of the commission—investigators who have made
thorough study of the prisoner, his
past environment, circumstances of
his crime, trial and conviction, etc.

Special study is given the case of
every felon true to he is admitted to prison. A representative of
the parole commission is at Central
Prison to greet the newcomer. From
that minute on he is carefully watched. The first interview is the basis for
a card index record on his case
which follows him all the way through. Automatically the prisoner
case is reviewed by the parole commission when he has served one-third of his time, and every six
months thereafter. No petition or application for clemency is required. The odds in the parole commission show
that about half the recommendations for parole are made by the commission on its own initiative. That assures the prisoner without finances
or powerful outside friends
the same consideration accorded to
the most notable inmate of the prison.

In this system North Carolina was
not exactly a pioneer, but our state
has become the model for many
other states.

Much younger in North Carolina,
but older in general prison practice
is
the probation commission. The
main difference between parole and
probation is that parole deals with the convict after he enters prison, while probation looks after him
before he enters prison walls. Presently, the North Carolina probation
commission serves 80 county and
municipal courts, or about to the
local superior courts
in the state.
Probation deals with minor
offenders, who deserve an suspended
sentence and an opportunity to re-
form outside of prison walls.

One of the
16 probation officers
assists the
judge in
domestic and
other cases
which do not involve long terms of imprisonment.

A
as of
North
Carolina
is.
under
the
state
prison population
has increased
more than 50 per cent in the last five years, from
3,700 prisoners
to about
5,500.

The excess
of vacancies in the
guards
as well as from
poor administration.

The Congress
is coming
to North
Carolina
To may
be some
window dressing
in the fact that it is coming
to Asheville
for next
year's meeting
but the men in
charge of the national
organization
are not likely to be fooled
by
such
tricks.