THE PUBLIC TRUST.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3800, 2 May 1891, Page 2

THE PUBLIC TRUST.

REVELATIONS OF THE COM. MISSION.

lhe Public Trust Commissioners reported to the Government yestorday that, having been at work ior six weeks and having taken a great deal of evidence, they had come to the conclusion that it waa thoir duty to theraeelvea aud lo the Government to the people of the Colony to submit to the Ministers tho full particulars

of the evidence as far as they had gone. They intend, they add, to

pursue the enquiry uutil they arc in a position to send a full report to his Excellency tho Governor. With , this document they have forwarded a packet of printed evidence covering nearly 200 pages. The most sensa-. tional portion of this evidence we hear relates to tho proceeding in the case of personal property of

intestate estates. It appears that officers are in tho habit of attending auctions and buying jeweller* watches, chains, ring*, binoculars,' articles of " bigotry and virtue." From tho head of the office downwards men have in their possession variouß articles thn9 purchased, and there are eases of purchases for their friends outside. The most remarkable part of the story is that there are no inventories kept of these , things. Tha lists when the*

are made up are largely of "etceteras" —"watch and chain, etc." Receipts are not given in detail of property received, and the chief basis for making up the accounts on winding Wip are the auctioneers' account sales of job lots. There is apparently no check of any kinJ. The articles are placed on a table before being sent to auction where the officers may appraise them, and take advantage of the prices given at auction. Those examined do not appear to have any idea that there was anything improper in the practice. There is a story of a piece ot lace belonging to an estate which disappeared mysteriously, was out of the office many months without being missed, and only turned up on enquiry being made by the Commissioner?, who found mention of it in a letter. An officpr admitted that he taken it home to get it valued, tmt had forgotten to bring it back. A bracelet from the effects in the ame estate is missing. It was the estate of a woman whose son claimed as next of kin. He wished to have the jewellery kept, for he wanted the articles as mementos. There was no particular reason to sell, as there was uionfifUlLcredit. In the correspondence it appears that the law as to illegitimate children claiming, which is very clear and precise, was not understood in the office. Some of the officers were buyers of articles at the auction. This practice of buying at auctions has lasted for years. In some .cases the officers attend and bid openly, in others they leave instructions with the Auctioneer's Clerk, in others they do the business through a friend. No

such practices have taken place in the case of real property. For on one occasion, it is in evidence, an agent who was entrusted with the sale of a piece of land came into the office with a transfer to himself, and was properly brought to book and made to return

the property. The management of the business is discovered to be dilatory. There is a case of a life policy which was paid, though the policy had been burnt, on condition that the money remained in the Trustee's office for six years at 4 per ct?nt; but it was two years before the people entitled to the money were notified. The system of i% cumbrous and in efficient. There are about 80 books of different sizes; the great majority of them are admitted in evidence to be useless. Some of them, the chief of the Department, it is said, admits he never even heard of. Between subsidiary ledgers, impressed cashbooks, rough cashbooks, and a miss

of others, there iB confusion, and the •„ book-keeping is said to be slovenly and incomplete. It is understoed to be a case of much labour and little result. These are a few instances. We are informed on authority, which appears good, x>i the kind of thing wEich induced the Commissioners to send the evidence np to the Government. It is said that the feeling is strong in their mind that the work of the office has altogether outgrown the organisation and capacity of the Department.— Times.

[By Telegraph.] (United Press Association.) Wellington, Saturday. In consequence of the revelations afforded by the evidence taken by Jjje Public Trust Commission, the Government have called upon Mr Hammerton (Commissioner), Mr Wilson (legal adviser,) and the Chief Clerk for an explanation. .Both the Government and Commission look upon the practices dis closed in the Public Trnst Office in a serious light, and it was in order to have them stopped that the Commissioners forwarded the evidence op to date to the Government. Besides Messrs Hamerton and Wilson, Mr De Castro, Chief Clerk, ?!► Moginie, Accountant, and Mr Ronaldson, Clerk, were called upon to explain their conduct both in buying articles at auction belonging to the Tnidt Estate and in regard to the administration of certain estates, particularly one in which some v two years elapsed before an ace unt was rendered to those interested. Replies were received to-day, and will be considered by the Cabinet on Monday,