7

8.—9

Securities held by the Public Trust Office on the 31st December, 1893.

J. K. Waebueton, Public Trustee. E. F. Waeeen, Accountant. Examined and found correct except as stated in the report herewith. James Edwabd FitzGeeald, Controller and Auditor-General. 6th June, 1894.

The Conteolleb and Auditob-Geneeal to the Hon. the Colonial Teeasueee. Sib,— Audit Office, 7th June, 1894. I have the honour to enclose herewith my report on the balance-sheet of the Public Trust Office for the year 1893. I have, &c, James Edwabd FitzGeeald, The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer. Controller and Auditor-General.

Eepoet on the Balance-sheet of the Public Teust Office foe the Yeae 1893. I eegeet that I have again to report that, owing to the unsatisfactory manner in which the accounts of the Public Trust Office are kept, I am unable to certify to the accuracy of the balancesheet without taking exception to errors it still contains, notwithstanding the correction of the numerous mistakes in the accounts to which attention has been called by the Audit Office in the course of the past year. Out of 347 Audit queries on the past year's accounts, a considerable number of which affected the figures in the balance-sheet, in 320 instances the errors have been admitted and corrected. Of the remaining twenty-seven, eleven are still unanswered. Of the errors in the balance-sheet pointed out in my report last year, the whole have been adjusted in the accounts of the present year. It cannot, therefore, be said that the objections raised by the Audit Office have been idle or unnecessary. Nor can the above figures fail to indicate the unsatisfactory manner in which the accounts of the Public Trust Office are kept. In the accounts of any other Government office, including the Treasury and the Government Insurance Office, which are subjected to a similar vigilant scrutiny, mistakes and errors such as those here pointed out are unknown, nor would they be found in the balance-sheet of any of the principal local bodies in the colony. Objections are taken to the following entries in the balance-sheet under review : — 1. The balance-sheet states the cash receipts for the year to have been £433,828. The total cash received, however, was only £226,376. The difference is accounted for by Treasury bills which were renewed on maturity, but where no cash passed. The result is that cash receipts are represented to have been £200,000 in excess of those of former years, which was not the fact. 2. In the Expenses Account, — (1.) A sum of £17 10s. is charged as agent's salary, a part of which should have been shown as salary of an officer employed in the head office, in effect diminishing the apparent cost of the latter.

Nominal Value. Cost Price. Treasury bill No. 23 Treasury bill No. 30 Treasury bill No. 31 Consolidated stock debentures Nos. 920 and 921 Consolidated stock debenture No. 835 Consolidated stoek debenture 841 Government Loans to Local Bodies, debentures Nos. 852 to 866 Government Loans to Local Bodies, debenture No. 713 Immigration and Public Works Loan, 1870, debentures Nos. 4 to 11 Immigration and Public Works Loan, 1870, debentures Nos. 1921 to 1925 General Purposes Loan, 1873, debentures Nos. 32 to 35 General Purposes Loan, 1873, certificate No. 74 Kaihu Valley Railway Company (Limited), debentures Nos. 6 to 27 Borough of South Invercargill Loan, debentures Nos. 11 to 20 Borough of Masterton Gasworks Loan, debentures Nos. 1 and 2 Dunedin Waterworks Loan, debentures Nos. 1137 and 1143 Dunedin Waterworks Loan, debentures Nos. 1032, 1033, 1044, 1074, and 1075 .. City of Dunedin Mortgage Bonds, Nos. 552 to 555 Wellington Trust, Loan, and Investment Company (Limited), shares certificate.. New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limited), shares certificate National Mortgage and Agency Company of New Zealand (Limited), shares certificate Northern River Steam Navigation Company (Limited), shares certificate Wellington Gas Company (Limited), shares certificate National Bank of New Zealand (Limited), shares certificate Bank of New Zealand, fixed-deposit receipts Mortgages .. .. .. .. .. .. . • £ s. d. 15,000 0 0 153,400 0 0 59,000 0 0 10,000 0 0 10,400 0 0 11,000 0 0 15,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 800 0 0 500 0 0 400 0 0 800 0 0 22,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 200 0 0 100 0 0 500 0 0 200 0 0 350 0 0 185 0 0 £ s. d. 15,000 0 0 153,400 0 0 59,000 0 0 10,000 0 0 10,400 0 0 11,000 0 0 15,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 672 0 0 500 0 0 340 0 0 696 0 0 23,100 0 0 1,000 0 0 200 0 0 104 0 0 535 0 0 228 0 0 350 0 0 185 0 0 182 0 0 87 10 0 300 0 0 747 10 0 629 19 8 289,680 10 11 182 0 0 87 10 0 300 0 0 747 10 0 629 19 8 289,680 10 11 Total .. £593,462 10 7 £594,337 10 7