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at the present time ?—I think so. I think we shall be very glad to sell them all under such arrangements. 119. At their present value ?—Yes. 120. The Chairman.] Their fair market value to-day ?—Yes. 121. Mr. Maslin.] Are balance-sheets prepared of each trading concern carried on by the bank ?-—I believe so. 122. Can you give any information as to how the balance-sheet of each trading concern is compiled ? Is stock taken of each concern ?—I would prefer you to ask Mr. Foster, who has full particulars, and will no doubt give you all the information you want on the subject. 123. Have the trading concerns been written down by any considerable amount ?—I could not give you the particulars. I think it would be better to leave the reply to a question of that kind to Mr. Foster. 124. You are aware that they have been written down, I suppose, in a general way ?—lt is a large question, for which I would require a considerable amount of information to enable me to reply so as to give the Committee a reliable idea of what has been done. 125. Would you give that information, so that we may know how much has been written off the trading concerns since they first came into the hands of the bank ? —I will try to get the information, but I believe the Committee will be able to get it at once from Mr. Foster. 126. In the report, 1.-6, of last year there is this paragraph: " There is a deficiency of £467,077 in the Estates Company against which no assets exist, and a further deficiency of £44,601 in trading concerns and properties outside New Zealand." How far did this sum consist of trading concerns —the £44,601 ? It says trading concerns and properties ? —We have a batch of trading concerns, and they have been affected by the writing down, but in the information given there as a writingdown of trading concerns there is a large amount to write off. Some are written clean out of existence, such as the Fiji property. You could get the information from Mr. Foster, and I could get it, but it would be repeating what you want. 127. How do you write an account out of existence in the bank, or how do you write them down ?. It would be a very simple process when you have arrived at the determination to do the thing?—lt is very simple indeed when you have got the money to do it with. 128. I would like to know the procedure by which you write an account down, or write an account off ? What book-keeping entries do you get ?—Well, if you ask the Government Auditor he will give you the exact process. 129. But still, as a business-man, you know how this writing-off is done ?—As a business-man I would credit the account with the amount I have written down. 130. Do you consider that any further loss is likely to be made on the trading concerns, or have they been written down sufficiently to avoid further loss ?—I think, substantially, they will come out at what they stand at now in the books. There is a possibility of some gain on several of them. 131. I want to ask a question in respect of the second £1,000,000. Was the whole of the second £1,000,000 in liquid securities, as provided for by the Act of 1894 ?—I am not able to give you the particulars. 132. Ido not want particulars: I only want the facts?—l could not give the facts without getting them out from the books. The investment was spread over a considerable time, and it was made in a variety of securitities. 133. I suppose you have a list of such securities?— The bank has a complete record, no doubt, connected with the investments. 134. Did the investment of this second million for 1894-95 result in a loss to the bank ?—I am not able to say. 135. Was there any profit to the bank resulting from the investment of the second million?— I am not able to say. 136. The Chairman.] You mean you do not know ?—I do not know the current details of the bank's arrangements. It is quite impossible that I should be familiar with them. 137. Mr. Maslin.] Did it earn 4 per cent., the amount you were paying on the second million of debentures? —I do not know without reference. 138. Did you not report to the meeting of shareholders in Wellington that you were making a loss on this second million ?—Probably that was the result at that time. 139. The Chairman.] Are you aware that the directors made such a report to the shareholders —that they were making a loss ? —I have not a distinct recollection, but it is very likely that a statement of that kind was made. 140. Mr. Maslin.] Have these investments made of the second million been realised, and is the money now in use in the bank's general business ?—I think it is. I think they have been realised, and have been used by the bank to very much better advantage. 141. The whole of the investments have been realised?—l think so. 142. You mean with the exception of the £150,000 of New Zealand Consols?—We have been using the money to pay off the costly debentures of the Estates Company. 143. Then, that £150,000 is the only security which remains in the hands of the bank as an investment of the second million ?—I could not say that. There are probably some other investments, but I could not give the amount. 144. I understood you to say that you had realised on the whole of them, but I knew that the £150,000 was not realised. There is only a small balance of the million outside the £150,000 that is still invested outside the business of the bank ?—You see the second million is placed at the disposal of the bank, and becomes part of the funds of the bank besides the other deposits. I cannot tell you, and I do not think it would assist you at all to know where it begins and ends. It is current business.