The purposes of probationary and parole oversight, as well as the duties of probation and parole officers, as has already been intimated, are substantially alike. Whether a person is on probation from a court, or on parole from an institution, the same kind of inquiries must be made from his relatives, friends, neighbors and employer in order to ascertain whether his conduct is satisfactory; and the same sort of moral influences and constructive measures must be brought into play to overcome his evil habits and to inculcate ambition, right motives and proper conduct. Both probation and parole officers should maintain the same sort of friendly, helpful attitude toward those under their care, and should use similar case methods. When we pause to consider the resemblances of these two systems, and that practically the same things are being done by these two sets of officers, does it not suggest the possibility and desirability of a closer relationship between the two systems? The query naturally arises--Why not use the same officers for both duties? This brings us to the principal question which this paper will discuss: Should the relationship between probation and parole officers be one of entirely separate and independent action, or one of co-operation; or should both probationary and parole oversight be carried on by the same set of officers? This question has not received the attention it deserves. Persons interested in the extension and improvement of probation, and those interested in the development of parole, have been so much occupied in establishing and strengthening the one system or the other, that they have not taken time to be sufficiently concerned about the desirable relationship between the two systems. The probation system in most places has developed, under permissive legislation, more or less sporadically, as a local experiment or expedient. The probation officer, or officers, in any one court have usually had no legal or organic relation to the probation work in other parts of the state. Like Topsy, the probation system has just “growed.” State-wide uniformity and co-ordination have been an after-thought. As for the parole system, its growth has been equally uneven, sporadic and for the most part without any comprehensive, well-articulated plan. One institution and then another has gradually adopted parole methods and employed parole officers, but without much, if any, regard for other parole systems or for the probation system. Year by year these two systems have grown up side by side, and the numbers of probation officers and of parole officers have increased. There are now nearly 1,000 paid probation officers in the United States, and the number of parole officers is probably in the hundreds and still multiplying. It is undoubtedly only a question of time before both of these systems will come into general use throughout the country. Is it not pertinent,