8.—14

10

correspond with the local districts of the Public Trust Office, except that in some cases one or more of the latter districts have been combined for the control of the Board's operations. In each of the sixteen districts a district board has been established, and one or more representatives of the Board have been appointed, under the designation of " District Intermediate Credit Supervisor," with certain statutory powers and duties apart from these which are conferred or imposed upon them from time to time by the Board. These officers of the Board are in every case the District Public Trustees, and the District Supervisors at the headquarters of each district are, in addition, chairmen of the district boards. In the smaller centres the District Managers of the Public Trust Office act also as representatives of the Board under the designation of " District Officer." There has been no substantial alteration during the past year in the system of local administration. In consequence of the extension of the Public Trust Office organization, resulting in the establishment of additional district public trustee and district manager offices, the Board is now represented by a number of further District Supervisors in place of District Officers and by some further District Officers. The new District Supervisors are those stationed at Waipukurau and Stratford and the additional District Officers are stationed at Dargaville, Pukekohe, Cambridge, Rotorua, Taumarunui, Pahiatua, Oamaru, and Westport. The Board is now represented throughout the Dominion by twenty-two District Intermediate Credit Supervisors and seventeen District Officers. A number of changes in the personnel of the local officers of the Board occurred during the year as a result of staff changes made by the Public Trustee and of the retirement or resignation of officers of the Public Trust Office. ADMINISTRATIVE AND DETAIL WORK. 18. For the administration of the class of finance provided by the Board a thorough knowledge of local conditions is essential, and it is also necessary to keep close touch with, the individual accounts. In a substantial proportion of the Board's business local knowledge and control is provided by the directors of the co-operative rural intermediate credit associations so far as the business is transacted through this medium, but to facilitate the transaction of the other business reported to the Board and to provide that general supervision of loan accounts which the Board is under an obligation to maintain in view of its responsibility to the Government and to debenture-holders, extensive local representation is essential. With this object in view, authority was contained in the original Act for the Board to employ the services of any Department of State in carrying on its business, and from the commencement of the system the Public Trust Office lias acted in the capacity of agent for the Board. Considerable advantages have accrued to the Board from the utilization of the extensive organization and the representation of that office throughout the Dominion, as it has been found possible to avoid the prohibitive expense which would have been involved in establishing and maintaining a separate organization with adequate provision for extension to meet increasing needs in the districts and representation in districts where movements in the direction of utilizing one or other of the lending methods provided by the Act were reported. The principal executive officers of the Board in Wellington have been selected from among the senior officers of the Public Trust Office. In addition, the District Public Trustees act as local representatives of the Board under the designation of " District Intermediate Credit Supervisors," the District Supervisors stationed at the headquarters of the districts acting as chairmen of the district boards. In these capacities the District Supervisors bring to the Board the benefit of the knowledge of local conditions gained and the contact with the farming community established in the course of their Public Trust Office duties. Besides the duties mentioned above, each District Supervisor is ex officio a director of every co-operative rural intermediate credit association formed in his district. In cases where, owing to the distance at which the headquarters of an association is