B.— 9

1903. NEW ZEALAND.

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE (ACCOUNTS OF THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1903.

Laid before the General Assembly in pursuance of Section 36 of " The Public Trust Office Consolidation Act, 1894."

The Controller and Auditor-General to the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer. Sir,— Audit Office, 18th June, 1903. I have the honour, in accordance with the provisions of section 36 of " The Public Trust Office Consolidation Act, 1894," to transmit to you the attached balance-sheet of the Public Trust Office for the year which ended on the 31st March last, and to report that I have examined this balance-sheet, and found it to be correct, subject to the following remarks : — The investment of the moneys amounting to £500,000 paid to the Public Trustee under section 8 of " The Bank of New Zealand and Banking Act, 1895," continues still to be accounted for as a special investment, though such moneys arise under an instrument giving no direction as to investment, and are therefore, by the force of section 29 of " The Public Trust Office Consolidation Act, 1894," moneys of the common fund, any investments from which cannot lawfully be made on account of or belong to any particular estate; and the estate account has not been credited with the rate of interest determined by the Governor in Council as payable to the estates whose moneys form the common fund. I have, &c, J. K. Warburton, The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer, Wellington. Controller and Auditor-General.

The Public Trustee, on looking into the matter of this £500,000, came to the conclusion that it was not a common-fund investment. The Solicitor-General has confirmed this view. For this reason it appears in the balance-sheet as a special investment. (See Appendix to Journals of House of Bepresentatives, 1901, 8.-19 c, and Beport of the Public Accounts Committee, 1902, 1.-llF.) B . j. Seddon.

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