THE PUBLIC TRUSTEE

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 146, 22 June 1934, Page 10

THE PUBLIC TRUSTEE

A NEW ZEALANDER'S CAREER

The sudden death yesterday of the Public Trustee, Mr. John William Macdonald, C.M.G., at the age of fiftyone, removes a New Zealancler who crowded into his life a large measure of work and achievement. He was still in his teens when Wellington knew him first as a clerk in the Magistrate's Court, and probably few of those who met him there in 1900 realised that in a few years he would be the author of a legal work on compensation, and that, branching into the legal division of the Public Trust Office, he would by 1920 be at the top of the tree. But those who took part in the work of the Courts in the first years of the century would at once have noted that the young man had a capacity for hard work and a certain bluntness; that he was the type who would carefully examine his position, and, having found it sound, would not retire from it. This characteristic —sureness and firmness—was traceable throughout his career. He probed a point, and then stuck to it. His bluntness was appreciated by all those who do not like palaver. STOOD TJP TO THE STORM. Being not one that is prone to bend to storms, the late Public Trustee stood right up to the depression hurricane of 1930 and succeeding years. It is impossible even yet to calculate what toll this hurricane has taken of New Zealand's leaders. The best fighters have been sustaining the biggest wear and tear. They bear the results of it — visible or invisible results. You may see a man wilting under the.stress and strain of tho times—or he may show no sign of the struggle outwardly. But suddenly you miss him. On Wednesday Mr. Macdonald was greeting his friends as usual. On Thursday he was dead. And then it comes to mind that the prime responsibilities of a business involving an investment of over £30,000,000.rested on this one pair of shoulders. Both tho Public Trust and the Public Trustee were outstanding examples of young New Zealand's rapid growth. Tho investments and responsibilities of the office had increased by leaps. Mr. Macdonald's own progress had been such that he became head of the institution while his age was well on the lower sido of forty. But at a fraction over fifty he is dead, when there might have been another two decades of work ahead of him. PECULIAR DIFFICULTIES OF THE TIMES. To guide ono of the largest if not the largest lending institutions in the country is a huge responsibility even in prosperity. In depression it becomes a task of unique difficulty. The conflict between' creditor interest and debtor interest becomes, in "bad times," not so much a conflict between right and wrong as between right and right, both sides being the inno r cent victims of uncontrollable circumstances. To hold the balance "fairly in such cases,. and to' fairly balance private and public interests, is most important and most difficult. The administrator is not helped by sectionalism or party politics. How can-such a trust be carried out, competently and fearlessly, without personal wear and tear ? John William .Maedonald was born in Christchurch, in 1883. His father was the late J. A. Macdonald, of Timaru, and at Thnaru the son was educated. His first venture was in journalism (on the staff of the "Lyttelton Times," Christchurch), but ho soon wont from that to.tho Department of- Justice, which, after givin" him duty in tho Warden's Court at Clyde, put Mm on the staff of the Magistrate's Court at Wellington, where he qualified for the legal profession and got fairly started oil his journey. WRITINGS ON LAW. Between then and his appointment in 1906 to the legal division of the Public Trust Office, he grounded himself very thoroughly in law, including compensation law. His writings on compensation arc "The Wonkers Compensation Act 1908 (N.Z.)" and " Maedonald *s Law Eclating to Workers' Compensation in New Zealand"; the latter is just completed and ready for publication. Ho is also the ■ author of "Intestacy" and 'Eights, Duties, and Liabilities of Trustees Under Wills." - In 1907, a year after his entry to the division of tho Public Trust Office, he was appointed assistantsolicitor. On the retirement of Mr; F J. Wilson in 1909, Mr. Macdonald was appointed solicitor to the Public Trust Office, and in that capacity inaugurated and developed a progressive policy with regard to the legal work which has been an outstanding feature of the Public Trust Office since that time. Further promotion came in 1917, when^he was appointed to the position of Assistant Public Trustee. In that position he played an important part in the reorganisation of the office, rendered necessary by the rapid growth of business and the extension of tho principle of decentralisation of the office work. Mr. Macdonald's appointment to tho josition of Public Trustee in 1920 gave him an opportunity of developing and completing the policies which ho had already assisted to inaugurate. Special duties fell to him to discharge during the war. Under the War EegulatioDs Act he took over in 1916 the duties of Custodian of Enemy Property, and on the termination of the war he assumed tho complementary-, duties of Controller of the New Zealand Clearing Office, established under the Treaty of Versailles. THE FARMER'S PROBLEM. Tho important development in rural finance which was' marked by the passing of the Rural Intermediate Credit Act of 1927 imposed additional duties on Mr. Macdonald. Under the Act the Public Trustee is ex officio constituted chief executive member of the Eural Intermediate Credit Board with the designation of CommissioneT of Eural Intermediate Credit; In this capacity it fell to Mr. Macdonald to carry out the organisation and administration of the new scheme. Mr. Macdonald was also a member of the Government Eailways Superannuation Board, the State Advances Board, the Nativo Trust Office Board, and the Public Debt Commission, besides holding tho position of chairman of the Advisory Committee to tho Board of Governors, which : deals with tho allocation of grants to charities under tho will of tho lato Mr T G Macarthy. Mr. Macdonald had served since 1914 as one of the members of tho Public Service Superannuation Board elected by the Public Service, and since 1923 he had occupied the position of chairman of that board. He was created C.M.G. in the New Year Honours of

Mr. Maedonald is survived by his widow and two daughters, Misses Peggy and Nancy Macdonald.