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1922. NEW ZEALAND.

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE (REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1922.

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, 1922. 1. The appointment of Mr. E. 0. Hales as Assistant Public Trustee, in place of Mr. J. W. Maodonald, promoted to the position of Public Trustee, was made during the year. Mr. Males was formerly District Public Trustee at Auckland, and has had a long and varied experience in the Office. 2. The present year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Public Trust Office, and the figures appearing in the attached report will indicate how large a volume the business has assumed: in fact, the year is a record one, the new business transacted having amounted to £5,383,460. 3. The progress during the past few years has been particularly marked, as is evidenced by the fact that the value of estates and funds under administration, which in 1914 amounted to £12,282,883, has more than doubled itself in the past eight years, being on the 31st March, 1922, no less than £25,497,779, notwithstanding the fact that the Office has recently transferred to the newly created Native Trustee assets amounting to £2,250,000. 4. The growth in the number of wills on deposit has also been phenomenal. The number held in safe custody on the 31st March, 1922, was 31,839. When it is remembered that on the 31st March, 1914, the wills deposited after forty-two years of Office activity numbered 6,427 only, some idea will be gained of the extraordinary advance in this department of the Office work during the eight years which have since elapsed. Wills are now coming into the Office at the rate of five thousand per annum. Thus the yearly increase in the number of wills deposited now almost equals the total accumulations for the forty-two years up to 1914. 5. These figures do not fully indicate the number of estates which will ultimately come to the Public Trustee for administration, since many wills nominating the Public Trustee as executor are known to be held by private solicitors. Moreover, in many cases where existing wills nominate private executors and trustees, the administration will be transferred to the Public Trustee through executors renouncing administration in his favour. The figures are an eloquent testimony to the growing confidence of the public in the Office throughout the Dominion. The number of new estates accepted during the year for administration was 2,318, of which no less than 414 were completely administered before the close of the year. This is conclusive evidence of prompt administration. 6. The profits for the year amounted to £11,053, notwithstanding the fact that concessions amounting to £57,500 were made to the estates, thereby reducing the profits by that amount. The almost total cessation of the realiza.ti.on of assets seriously lessened the income of the Office as compared with what it would

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