8.—9,

1933. NEW ZEALAND.

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE. (REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1933.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly in accordance with Section 47 of the Public Trust Office Amendment Act, 1913.

Pursuant to section 47 of the Public Trust Office Amendment Act, 1913, I have the honour to lay before Parliament the attached report on the working of the Public Trust Office for the year ended 31st March, 1933. 1. The report reveals that the facilities made available by the Public Trust Office continue to be utilized to a very large extent by the public, as is demonstrated by the figures relating to the Department's business, and in an interesting survey by the Public Trustee the special points of appeal possessed by the departmental system of administration and constituting in themselves convincing reasons for its continued popularity are traversed. Of these features of administration by the Public Trustee none is more highly valued by present or prospective clients than the assurance that their property will be adequately protected from avoidable loss or diminution, and, as there is a particular need at the present time for such conditions of security, it is to be expected that the ground gained by the Public Trust Office in the past will under existing conditions be consolidated and that further solid progress will be made. 2. The figures set out in the Public Trustee's report relative to the new and the existing business of the Office reveal the magnitude of its operations and the extent to which the community has had recourse to its services. The new business accepted for administration during the year alone amounted to £5,650,839, representing the aggregate value of 2,748 estates, and the aggregate would undoubtedly have been much greater had values been maintained on the higher levels of past years. 3. The value of the estates and funds under administration as at the 31st March, 1933, was no less than £59,757,449, as compared with £59,132,512 a year previously, an increase of £624,937. Large as this total is, it is again evident that but for the fall in the value of most classes of assets a much larger increase would have been shown. For this reason the aggregate value of the business in hand at the close of the year represents a much greater increase than is disclosed by a comparison with the corresponding figures for previous years. Notwithstanding this, the present total is the largest recorded in the history of the Public Trust Office.