THE PUBLIC TRUSTEE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 215, 11 September 1925, Page 4

THE PUBLIC TRUSTEE.

I COMMENTS ON HIS EEPORT. (By ACCOUNTANT.) The report of the Public Tru3t Office for_ the year which ended March 31, 1925, is a voluminous document, which awakens a. variety of feelings. The Public Trustee lias a very satisfactory report to make from the Department's point of view. The business has grown immensely, the profits have increased in proportion and even more, and. the expenses are less 'than those of live years back, when the business was much smaller. All this is legitimate matter for congratulation, . and the Public Trustee may be admitted to have a right to pliime himself on the results of his administration. He does so indeed somewhat loudly, and denounces vigorously those who iast.year criticised the Department The Public Trustee is a great official; he fills a liigh position as the controller of a Department which has £35,000,000 of deposits public and private in his charge, and the manner in which he deals with his critics does not exactly inspire confidence. From the public point of view it is impossible to avoid one or two misgivings. He speaks with pride of the Common Fund and the advantages it offers of permitting the use of a portion of an estate pending the realisation of the whole. This is a definite benefit. AH this, however, applies to advances of a few hundreds, and one wonders what will happen when a Government loan of a million or more falls due. Will the Public Trustee find it necessary to I realise on securities as the Commisl sioners of Sinking Funds must do, and if so, will not the Common Fund be hampered ? There is nothing mysterious in the business which the Public Truetee carries on except the results. It would be interesting to know why the profits, which were £10,691 in 1921 and £11,----053 in 1922, jumped to £58.700 in 1023, and were £65 r 542 and £90,522 in the two following years. There is another, feature of the report which deserves attention. About twothirds of the Department's funds are invested in mortgages. " The .. Public Trustee takes credit to himself for stepping into the breach when other lending institutions fought shy of mortgages. This Department and the Advances to Settlers have between them supplied most of the money which has been invested in this %vay. Is it wise for the Government to stand so strongly upon the maintenance of present values? With the return to the gold standard it is generally anticipated that prices will fall. The Government is now engaged in cleaning up the mess made by soldiers' settlements. .Is there any possibility of the business being repeated? ; n. , ■ . The legal profession' may or 'may not take the trouble of looking , through the Public Trustee's report. Whether they do so or not they would be well advised to coneider whether the growth of the Department is due in any way to the feeling that legal charges are unduly high. Some few years since the rate of commission on land changing hands was advanced, and at the same time the change in the value of money meant that a property realised fifty per cent jnore than in pre-war times. The increased rate on the increased value may have time, but the justification has ceased. At present the charges simply act as an inducement to an unduly large proportion of young men to. enter the profession. • Firms of good standing would probably welcome a return to the old rates, and would almost certainly. profit thereby.