PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1735, 28 April 1913, Page 6

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

WHERE THE PROFITS COME FROM. ____ .IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS. v 'An. interesting section of tho report of , tho Royal Commission set up to inquire • ■ into tho state of the Public Trust Office is ' that which deals with the ;iinnncial position of. the institution., "It is to bo noted," the Commissioners remark, "that tho 'commissions and charges -received do not eqnal tho ofhco ■ expenditure. Taking tho last ten years, tho deficiency has been at the rate o£ £1811 per annum, or a fotaf of £48,140, !. ranging from J1325G in one year To £6241 J in another, tho average for tho past five years being JGS-IBG, totalling for the period £27,432. These deficiencies have always : . been made good out of the surplus intcr- ! ''est earned from the Common Fund, with-j-out which it is obvious that tho office I,would bp carried on onij- at a consider- .; jable annual loss The efficiency is partly : due to thenon-payablo work devolving on the Public Trustees, e.g., the winding up ; rof small intestate; estates, and several ; .. f Btatutory duties for which ho is cither not ' (.remunerated at all or insufficiently so. (■lt is also enhanced by tho gratuitous • I,work which the Public Trustee underj- Itakes in connection with estate?, so us to r . i'keep down charges. "This perhaps would not open, to substantial objection if the Common Fund ; consisted wholly of moneys belonging to the estates which derived the benefit of i. the work. But of recent years Ihe Com3lion Fond has more and moro j;rown to t consist of moneys'which come into tho Public Trustee's hands for investment : .merely, such as sinking funds, superannuation funds, etc. No charge is made for ■ -tho investment of these funds. _ Tho roi "numeration consists in tho profit-interest ■ snado therefrom. But this profit-interest, ; assuming it to be i per cent, on the capital, affords an ample remuneration. Now, having regard to tho annual deficiency which has to be ma<lo good out of tho . profits from.the Common Fund, it; is plain ; that the sinking funds, superannuation ■j -• funds, and other moneys that come in in 1 Uiquid form, are bearing an undue proportion of .the cost of the gratuitous and noni kpayable work done by tho office. It is >mot just that such should be the case." : The Commissioners go on to point out I Wommlssion is seldom earned on mental 'defectives'. estates, with tho result that {profit-interest on investments lias to bear wart of tho cost of managing these es- : States also. ! i i This indicates, the report proceeds, that -vime compensation Should be allowed for nil Government services thus rendered, ' for example, by authorising the Public .Trustee to credit as office profit, a ; suitable jpoTtionj of the three-fourths profit which ; (otherwise belongs to the Consolidated- Revenue uride.- theoffbe Act. Ini the altorna- : tive, it is suggested, there should bo a distinct common fund for sinking funds, ■ cto., and a suitable chargo mado for innesting and managing these funds. "They would thus get all the interest they earned without deduction for maintaining other services of the State, and: the cost 'of these services would become more manifest.". - I "When the principal reduction* in comrimission. and fee 9 was made," the Commissioners remark, "sufficient attention could piot, we think, havo been given to the :■ [foregoing considerations." ; J Under the Public Trust Act, one-fourth tof tho profit goes to the Public Trust ; ' IQffice and the remaining three-fourths to [the 1 Consolidated Revenue of tho DominHon. . From the date of the creation of thd [office to March 31, 1912, the toto.l of the ithree-fourths share accruing to the Govjernmemt was ,£135,980. 1 The Government fLhas drawn'no part of these profits except : yiß,ooo in 1889 and .£20,000 m 1905. Out jlof tho balanco a sum of .£66,813 has,-with i'.the permission of the Government, been [.expended in tho purchase of sites, and the ['• erection and furnishing of offices for the i, Trust, thus leaving in the fund on March '31, 1912," .£31,167. There has been no .ces- , 'ision or surrender by the Government .0 the Public Trust of- the ,£06,813 expended, ' * as mentioned, ot of the lands and offices acquired. 1 The Commissioners remark that in; r_ "theory the Government would be entitled to claim these assets or their value, and iecommend that provision should bo made ■that the money represented by land and buildings should not be withdrawn by the Government, except by the authority of a special Act of Parliament. It is further i-ecom mended that tho whole of the pro- - fits for ten years should be permitted by • statute to go towards the increase of the resorvo funa, which now stands at ,£53,000. At the end of tho period, tho report continues, an opportunity for reviewing the : ' position would occur. ■ "Wo recognise," the' Commissioners state, "that a permanent diversion of : the whole of tho profits; from the Govern- ! iment cannot be -recommended. In the iflrst place, a 9 the common fund pays no i. (mortgage tax, which, if levied on present . .'investments, would amount roughly to i |L£12,000 a year, the Consolidated IJevenue ! |»nay well claim an equivalent sum, out of i the profits. In the next place, the Consolidated Kevoiluc may claim to be fairly (entitled to some return for its guarantee."