persons defaulting in the payment of fines, and in the majority of these cases the officers have exercised supervision over them during the period of time allowed the defaulters to meet by instalments the amount of the fine. Only five cases proved unresponsive, whilst thirty two have already met or are now meeting satisfactorily their responsibilities to the Court. In all cases Probation Officers have been able to proffer constructive advice and encouragement and to make arrangements calculated to assist defaulters to meet their obligations and to protect them against future indiscretions. In addition to the benefit gained by the defaulters themselves the use of this system results in a saving of public funds by reducing the number of persons committed to prison and by the receipt of the amount of the fines which otherwise would not have been paid.
54. The number of current probation cases was 240 at the end of the year as against 200 on 31st March, 1958. 110 of the 137 terminated cases were satisfactory, whilst eighteen cases were charged with new offences and nine cases cannot be traced. These figures show that 80% of cases completed satisfactorily their period of supervision on proba- tion. (See Appendix 12).
55. Voluntary supervision has been exercised over nineteen males and eight females referred to the Probation Officers by the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, Magistrates, Sections of the Social Welfare Depart- ment, and various Welfare Agencies. As these cases receive the same standard of supervision as probation cases, the total number of cases actually under supervision on 31st March, 1959 was 267. (213 males and 54 females).
56. In order to maintain satisfactory supervision over their cases the Probation Officers have paid a total of 3,893 visits to the homes of probationers and conducted 4,451 office interviews. In addition, in order to assist the Courts to determine appropriate sentences, the Probation Officers have made 1,973 social investigations into the family and social background of offenders which has necessitated their making 1,686 home visits and holding 3,316 interviews at the office.
57. Of the total number of 1,740 males and 233 females who have been the subjects of social investigations by Probation Officers, 366 males and 100 females were referred to welfare agencies likely to pro- mote their successful rehabilitation. Particulars are at Appendix 13.
58. The Remand Home continues to deal with three distinct cate- gories of juvenile offenders: (a) those on apprehension by the police
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