"THE PUBLIC TRUST" AND THE LADY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 532, 12 June 1909, Page 11

"THE PUBLIC TRUST" AND THE LADY.

! " '"'■■■•■■ •■■■•' '".' ; I .-;■'. ' Most women who walk down Lambton Qoay, past the handsome now offices of the Public Trust, pass it without a glance of interest, or if they do, it is to eay casually, "What a fine looking building!" and walk on; little thinkint that the stoutness of its walls typifies the fact that the Public Trust Office stands as n firm defender of many, a New Zealand woman's property, while its handssomo appearance symbolises the prosperity comes to it through its very.Tirtuousness. Behind those walls will soon'be-deposited books bearing the records of. many a. woman's life, .lived under tho supervision.and protection of the State, of adversity often, froii which a little prosperity has been gleaned; records of the trusts committed'by [father or husband to-the State and faithfully'carried ont. For the Public Trust Offico always—the Pnblic Trustee,, during his term. of office—is an immortal trustee—a trustee never tempted to divert to his.own use. the money that has boen bequeathed to some one family, never allured by any wild, speculation, to gamble away tho funds of the widow and the orphan—a Irustee who is bound to.givo;the best.advice to those under his care,, who is always accessible, who takes e'udless'pnins.to bring order out of the chaos that indiscreet guardians may have created, nndto set the ruins of a shattered fortune again on a firm foundation.But a few little stories of the good work done by the Public Trust will-best:give an idea of tho way. it sets to work, and the benefit, it confers on women whose affairs arc left in;its care.-.-' ' .;'.'■.' '' ■■■ .". ■■■■' ■'■'''■ '•■ . . .■: The' first story' concerns a woman, whdse frahdfather had left her, a sum of money sufciont to keep her and her family in mjld comfort, and whose father, broken-down and shiftless,' was always imploring her- to break into the capital for his benofit. He would come to her. with a story of distress, and beg her for fifty or a hundred pounds so pitifully that, though she know hor own family would

suffer, she could not refuse him. Tho money J" , , , " "*> ha °ds of the Public TrusteoT and &2mfc ent .- t0 him and told >' tl » ti7™ Th"'" Eaid " I do »°t "PProve of piLl Th ! money 1S S°ing, "id I nave dont7li '" pay out an y m °ney to your 2tl' 089 , you.yourself sign it fn my presence, and alono in my presence." .J 1 "..'! 8111 was that, whenever the father wheedled an order for a sum of money out of his daughter and took it down to Sg Public Trust Office ho .was told that his daughtor must herself come. It was easier for hfr to excuse hersef from, going down to the office than it was to abstain from signing the order, h? U Wl V, hat the orders were neT< * capital remained intact. The State again guarantees all sums committed to it, and sometimes when tho guarantee cannot be made legally to cover what it regards: as a moral obligation, it has como forward and saved its charges from loss. This was the case when a woman, whoso property had been left by her husband in the bands of the 1 rust, decided to make arrangements for guilder whom she employed failed to insure the house .while it was being built and, ft £l' a3 /S. ,a \ ed ' lt *■* bnrat down; Then the Trustee felt that the agent had been perhaps too complacent in leaving the woman to arrange the matter for herself, and took the loss and responsibility on its own shoulders, a sum was placed upon the estimates, and the money was refunded. ■ There have been many-cases where the money that has been left to a woman in care of a private trustee, has been muddled awav through his inefficiency, and the Court has had' later on, to. step in to save what remained from tho wreckage. This is generally handed ■II 11 "J e S ubhl i TrDstee . who does his best J™. the funds entrnsted to,him. One woman had been left between £4000 and £5000 by her husband who put it into the hands of a ■private firm. They invested it .very foolishly, and when at last she began to see that nothing would bo left to her, the matter was taken to Oourt, and the few- hundreds of pound? that £ e ™>ft, were placed in the hands of the Public Trustee, to be invested to tho best ad. ,™fe., Had the husband left tho money to JnePublio Trust Office from the beginning all the trouble and. the fortune would have been saved.

The Pnbho Trustee, after his long experience of tno business characteristics of women, has no comparisons to make, between them and men. They have just as much business capa- !! r, u ls lno,ined to think, though, of course, they have not had the same experience,. and,

while some are difficult to deal with, others ar ° very capable and satisfactory clients. The Trust Offico deals with various relief funds—several of those who benefit by the Penguin fund; for instance, come under its care— and also many of the , widows and children of those who were killed in the Brunner and the Kaitangata disasters. The Office takes the greatest caro in looking after these small accounts, and,' by the way, it was interesting to

learn, that the board had decided to make a special reduction in the commission charged on the Pengmn fund. Some of the women who benoßt by these. funds havo shown : a splendid spirit in persisting in saving, as much as.-possible for their children, till they are grown-up. Qne woman, for instance, who would have been allowed four shilinge a week for each of her children, refused to take'niore than hnlf-a-crmvn, , unci came later on to' say that sho coujd mnmi'KO'.wi(.hout'«vcn that al lo^ng-.the-miincy;. to accumulate till 'the children wanted to'make a's.t;irt in life Thcroivor. course, another 'side, to this picturo.. There arc .widows who'■nreigrasnuiK, and who shovr not the ltaat epprociatinn of the

efforts made by the Trust Office on their bo. half and, in these cases, the Trustee has to bo satisfied with the goodness of his conscience, ine estates of lunatics come straight to the Pubic Trnst Office, and though the Court mav consider that the wife of a man who has been sent to a mental hospital is quite capable of managing his affairs for'him, once a year the business_comes under the supervision of tho I rust Office. : Many of the women are very grateful to the Trustee for his- guardianship, and he is quite used to receiving visits from some of his charges, who bring their little ones in to introduce to his attention. This is the second of the rewards of the Public Trustee.