PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE (REPORT RELATING TO THE).

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1897 Session II, H-11

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Sess. 11.—1897. NEW ZEALAND.

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE (REPORT RELATING TO THE).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Public Trustee to the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer. Sir,— Public Trust Office, Wellington, 17th July, 1897. In compliance with your request I have the honour to report upon the Public Trust Office I took charge in the middle of September last year, and have therefore had time to master the details of the office business and the system upon which it works. Speaking generally, I find that the staff both at the head office and at the various agencies is zealous, trustworthy, and most anxious to promote the good of the service and to study the best interests of the office and its clients, and I am glad to bear witness to the satisfactory way in which the members of the staff endeavour to carry out their duties. The salaries are not, perhaps, in some instances adequate, but are probably as much as the office can at present afford to pay. Promotion is of necessity slow, owing to the fact that vacancies do not often occur, and consequently an officer is kept in an inferior position and at a low salary when he is quite capable of taking a higher position with an increased salary. The business of the office is divided into classes, e.g., wills, lunacies, intestates, Native affairs, &c, and a clerk is placed in charge of each class, with such subordinates as may be necessary, and is responsible for the business connected with his branch, and every effort is made to so educate the members of the staff that they will be competent to take more responsible positions as vacancies occur. The system of book-keeping is so simple that any lad of ordinary intelligence and education should have no difficulty in picking it up. It is eminently suited for the peculiar business of this office, and it enables each branch to act as its own ledger-keeper, thus saving the expense of a staff of book-keepers pure and simple. The building in which the head office is situated at Wellington is most inconvenient. When I took charge I found the officers spread in rooms separated from each other, some on one floor and some on another. So far as is possible they are now concentrated, although overcrowded, but the public office is still on a different floor to mine, that of the correspondence clerks, and the solicitor to the office. The result is that it is difficult to maintain that supervision over the office that is desirable, and it is impossible to economise the time and labour of the staff. Further than this, there is no opportunity for the clerks having charge of the different branches to see people privately; and the consequence is that, no matter what the person's business is, whether in connection with their dead relatives' estates or with an estate being administered under the Convicts Forfeiture Act, or under the Lunatics Act, that business must be discussed and done at a public counter in the presence of any persons who may be waiting in the office. The rent lam paying is £475. With interest at its present low rate it would pay the office to either build or acquire a building of its own. As the law stands at present the office funds could not be invested in the purchase of land, and, in order to build, either Parliament must provide the money or grant its sanction to the Public Trustee investing from the office funds the necessary sum. I have made inquiries, and believe that a sum of £11,000 would be ample to acquire and furnish an office suitable in every way to the business. One drawback under which the office labours is the necessity for centralisation at Wellington of the administration of the estates which are in the office. It certainly does seem absurd that a small intestate estate of a person dying at, say Invercargill, or Auckland, must of necessity be administered from Wellington. This is, however, unavoidable. The discretions and powers vested in the Public Trustee are personal to himself, and he alone, therefore, can exercise them, and to decentralise the business of the office would necessitate an alteration by Act of the whole basis upon which the office exists. It would be quite possible to devise a workable scheme by which the colony should be divided into districts, each of such districts being placed under the administration of an officer who should, with regard to estates within his district, have all the powers and authorities which are now vested in the Public Trustee, leaving the control of the Trust Office funds to be dealt with by the Public Trustee himself as at present. If this or any such scheme were carried into effect it would be necessary to remove the responsibility of administering estates from the Public Trustee and placing it upon district agents. The Public Trustee's duties then would be confined to dealing with the general finances of the office, and exercising a supervision over the district agents similar to that exercised by the chief officers of a bank over the bank's branches. I—H. 11.

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That some scheme of decentralisation must be created is, I think, obvious, and I am therefore doing my best to prepare the present agents and the head office staff to carry out any scheme which may be devised. As a further instance of the roundabout way involved in doing business under existing circumstances, I may mention the administration of the West Coast Settlement Eeserves. The office has. a very excellent officer as its Native Eeserves Agent at New Plymouth. If a tenant or a Native wishes to communicate with the Public Trustee as his landlord or trustee, as the case may be, and go to the Eeserves Agent, the latter is obliged to refer the matter to me at Wellington. I, in turn, write to the Eeserves Agent, who then communicates with the person who saw him. More often the tenant or Native writes direct to the Public Trustee, who then has to send to the Eeserves Agent at New Plymouth for a report, and on receipt of the Eeserves Agent's reply the Public Trustee is in a position to reply to the writer to him. The anomaly of this state of affairs is made patent when the fact is borne in mind that the Eeserves Agent was probably resident within, at the outside, a few hours' journey from the person in question, and had all the necessary information) on the spot, whilst in Wellington there was not sufficient to deal with the matter. That this state of things was in the past unavoidable there is no doubt; but the system of dealing with the West Coast Settlement Eeserves is now so well established, and runs so smoothly, that I think you might well consider whether the time is not ripe for establishing the office which manages the reserves at New Plymouth or Hawera in the midst of the reserves. I cannot do this, for the reason already mentioned : that I am a trustee, and therefore cannot delegate the duties incidental to that position. I have endeavoured to minimise as much as possible the inconvenience to both Europeans and Natives forced upon me by the existing state of affairs, by giving the Eeserves Agent an officer from Wellington to assist in the clerical work, so as to leave him more time to move about the reserves, and be available for those who wish to bring matters under his notice, and also by opening for him an office in Hawera, at which he attends as a rule at least once a week. In spite of the fact that the market rate of interest has fallen, the office has managed so far not to reduce the rate paid to its constituents. The accounts show a steady increase both of business and profits, and I hope that the rate of interest allowed by the office will be maintained. As you are aware, Parliament is constantly placing fresh duties upon the office. These duties the office welcomes; but it frequently happens that the office has no power to make any charge for the work involved by the action of Parliament, and the result is that the estates placed in the office have to pay for this work, with which they have nothing whatever to do, and the Government is unable to reduce the charges in connection with the administration of estates as prescribed by the existing Order in Council. Again, no means exist by which the office can make any charge for the administration of public or semi-public charities. As instances I may mention the Brunner Belief Fund, with reference to the administration of which the office does not charge one penny;, and again, another trust, in which certain almshouses are vested in and managed by the Public Trustee, but for which the office gets no remuneration. This class of cases can be dealt with by Order in Council, and in future no such trusts will be accepted without the costs incidental to> their administration being provided. In the past this was not such a very important matter, because the rate of interest earned by the office was so much greater than that paid by the office. Now, however, the difference between these rates of interest is so small that the matter becomes one of importance. Of the former class of cases I may quote as instances the duties imposed by " The Lunatics Act, 1882," where a private committee is appointed ; the Foreign Insurance Companies Act; the Civil Service Act; and " The Native Land Court Act, 1894." Under the Lunatics Act it is the duty of the committee of an estate to send certain accounts annually to the Public Trustee. The Public Trustee goes through these accounts and fixes the fee to be paid for his work. This fee, however, is not paid to the Public Trust Office but into the general Public Account of the colony. Under the Foreign Insurance Companies Act a very considerable amount of work is thrown upon the office for which there is no power to charge anything, and the same remark applies to the Civil Service Act. By section 133 of " The Native Land Court Act, 1894," provision is made for certain moneys being paid to and distributed amongst the Native owners by the Public Trustee. By subsection (b) of that section no charge is to be made. The work under these Acts is, therefore, really paid for by the private estates which are placed in the office. This I cannot think was the intention of Parliament. Whilst on this subject I would ask you to consider the advisability of this office being placed in a position to do and charge for such legal work in connection with the office as the Public Trustee thinks advisable to undertake. Persons wishing to appoint the Public Trustee their executor frequently apply to the office to prepare their will; and, again, persons are beginning to take advantage of those provisions of the law which enable the Public Trustee to act as attorney. It is,, of course, open to the office to prepare the will, or power of attorney, as the case may be, but no charge can be made for doing so. It would, I think, be a matter of economy and convenience to the public, and of advantage to the office, if provision existed by which such documents could be prepared and paid for at a rate to be fixed by Order in Council. There are, moreover, many cases of persons, to whom every pound is of importance, who borrow money from the office upon the security of land under the Land Transfer Act, and there is no reason why in these cases the office should not prepare the mortgage, which is a common form, and be paid for doing so at a schedule rate. My predecessor last year dealt so fully with the general matters pertaining to the office that it is unnecessary for me to do more than to continue the various tables set out in his report. The office accounts which are laid before Parliament fully explain the financial position of the office. Attached is a draft of an Act amending the law with reference to the question of charges, which I have referred to. I have, &c, James C. Maktin, The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer. Public Trustee.

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An Act to amend " The Public Trust Office Consolidation Act, 1894," " The Lunatics Act, 1882," " The Foreign Insurance Companies Deposits Act, 1894," and " The Native Land Court Act, 1894." Be it enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : —■ 1. The Short Title of this Act is " The Public Trustee Empowering Act, 1898." 2. The following subsection is hereby added to section thirty-one of " The Public Trust Office Consolidation Act, 1894 " : — " To an amount not exceeding twelve thousand pounds in the purchase at Wellington of the necessary ground and building, or in otherwise providing the office accommodation and furniture required by the Public Trustee and the Public Trust Office and the officers thereof : Provided that the approval of the Office Board be obtained to the expenditure of any money under the provision of this subsection." 3. The following paragraph is hereby added to section four of " The Foreign Insurance Companies' Deposits Act, 1894 " : — " Every foreign company shall pay to the Public Trustee for the issue of such certificate a fee of five pounds five shillings, and a like fee of five pounds five shillings for each grant of a renewal of such certificate, which fee shall be paid to the Public Trustee before he issues the certificate or grants a renewal thereof, as the case may be." 4. Section fourteen of the last-mentioned Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the words " upon payment to the Public Trustee of one pound one shilling and," after the word " deposited," in the third line of subsection one. 5. Section two hundred and fifteen of " The Lunatics Act, 1882," is hereby amended by the excision of the words "into and form part of the Consolidated Fund," in subsection (b) thereof, and the insertion of the words " to the Public Trustee " in lieu of the words excised. 6. Section one hundred and thirty-three of "The Native Land Court Act, 1894," is hereby amended by the excision of the words, " without any deduction or charge whatsoever," and by the insertion of the words, " after deducting therefrom the costs and charges of the Public Trustee as prescribed by Order in Council," in lieu of the words excised. 7. The Public Trustee is hereby authorised to prepare wills of which he is appointed executor, mortgages, and transfers of mortgages, powers of attorney, and such other deeds and documents as he may consider advisable, and to charge therefor such fees as may be prescribed by Order in Council. 8. All moneys received by the Public Trustee under the provisions herein contained shall form part of the funds of the Public Trust Office.

The Revenue and Expenditure of the Public Trust Office for the Three Years, 1891, 1892, and 1893; for the Fifteen Months ended 31st March, 1895; and for the Years ended 31st March, 1896 and 1897.

Year ended 31st December, 1891. Year ended 31st December, 1892. Year ended 31st December, 1893. nfteen Month ended 31st March, 1895. Year ended 31st March, i 1896. I Year ended 31st March, 1897. Expenditure. Salaries Commission to agents Clerical assistance and auditing ... Legal expenses Stationery and printing Miscellaneous Royal Commission Unauthorised Deficiency in realisation of mortgages Balance, being excess of revenue £ s. a. 5,146 19 10 1,327 18 4 £ s. d. 4,872 7 4 1,457 18 4 £ s. d. 5,858 3 3 1,466 5 10 £ . s. a. 8,571 15 11 1,348 8 8 £ s. 7,438 8 538 4 d 1 1 £ s. d. 7,719 6 10 739 2 10 539 15 2 93 11 2 306 16 5 1,681 4 9 2,280 6 10 726 17 3 1,006 4 8 38 1 4 122 4 5 2,652 11 11 1,596 7 8 789 0 11 I 984' 7 4 519 13 6 323 3 1 3,566 2 4 410 11 8 690 19 4 1 990 8 0, 4,523 19 0 261 13 542 8 506 2 3,508 10 O 7 4 7 278 13 0 503 6 0 379 0 6 3,390 1 3 373" 4 7 412 19 6 1 1211 7 89" 3 7 1,717 7 9 2,041 6 8 340 4 9 1,272 4 8 180 7 4 1,940 4 3: 1,162 11 8 1,221 11 4 Bevenue. 12,103 9 9 14,252 4 4 15,132 6 7 19,229 11 1 15,242 14 10 14,500 12 8 Commission and charges Interest in excess of amount credited to properties Miscellaneous Balance, being excess of expenditure ... 5,470 15 4,308 11 352 6 4 5 6 5,912 14 6,177 7 250 12 2 7 7 5,299 15 8 7,369 10 9 2,027 6 11 7,197 9 10,163 6 1,868 15 1 i 6,513 11 7,560 7 1,168 16 3 2 5 6,898 15 6,376 5 1,225 12 5 2 1 1,971 16 6 1,911 10 0 435 13 3 12,103 9 9 14,252 4 4 15,132 6 7 19,229 11 115,242 14 10 14,500 12 8

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Income of the Public Trust Office Year by Year, from 1890 to 31st March, 1897, inclusive

Capital Funds of the Public Trust Office, and how Invested.

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Year ended 31st December, 1890. Year ended 31st December, 1891. Year ended 31st December, 1892. Year ended 31st December, 1893. Fifteen Months ended 31st March, 1895. Year ended 31st March, 1896. Year ended 31st March, 1897. Intestates Wills, Trusts, Sinking Funds, &c. Eeal and Lunatics .. Native Reserves West Coast Settlement Reserves Miscellaneous £ s. d. 1,604 7 7 £ s. d. 1,723 0 6 £ s. d. 1,695 18 8 £ s. d. 1,341 5 3 £ s. d. 1,615 7 7 £ s. d. 1,494 15 9 £ s. d. 1,642 6 9 1,967 10 3 362 11 4 865 12 8 1,849 18 10 503 5 11 615 4 3 1,872 15 1 513 15 6 492 2 9 1,871 7 4 477 19 9 682 14 8 2,275 10 1 839 1 9 731 0 4 1,555 17 9 524 5 5 628 5 6 2,115 12 0 545 0 1 336 0 2 575 0 7 100 6 2 587 3 5 192 3 5 743 3 8 594 18 6 711 11 3 2,242 4 4 1,264 17 2i 2,340 7 7 1,569 8 6 1,909 14 9 1,345 11 9 1,939 16 9 8,124 7 6 6,376 5 2 14,500 12 8 13,569 14 3 Interest 5,475 8 7 3,595 12 5 5,470 16 4 4,308 12 5 5,912 14 2 6,177 7 7 7,327 2 7 7,369 10 9 9,066 4 6 10,163 6 7 7,682 7 8 7,560 7 2 Total income Total expenditure 9,071 1 0 8,469 0 0 9,779 8 9 11,751 0 0 12,090 1 9 14,001 0 0 14,696 13 4 15,132 6 7 19,229 11 1 17,289 6 10 15,242 14 10 14,902 15 0

On 31st Dec, 1891. On 31st Dec, 1892. On 31st Dec, 1893. On31sfc March, 1895. On 31st March, 1896. On 31st March, 1897. The capital funds of the Public Trust Office amounted to Of which the amount held in cash at the credit of the Public Trustee's Account was £ £ £ £ £ £ 523,269 567,062 615,663 668,937 774,533 858,638 17,920 15,961 21,326 12,101 16,960 16,664 Leaving a balance invested of ... 505,349 551,101 594,337 656,836 757,573 841,974 The investments consisted— Of those made by the Public Trustee out of the common fund, and amounting to Of those made for the Public Trustee for estates, and amounting to Of those made by other trustees of properties afterwards transferred to the office 252,279 208,188 408,231 96,072 406,220 144,198 358,296 259,279 492,788 206,629 588,483 205,942 44,882 46,798 43,919 39,261 58,156 47,549 505,349 551,101 594,337 656,836 757,573 841,974 The capital funds invested were applied to investments — In Government securities of the colony, to the amount of In local-body securities, to the amount of ... In mortgage of real estate, to the amount of... In fixed deposits, to the amount of... In companies, to the amount of 188,608 2,067 253,070 60,319 1,285269,608 2,067 276,393 1,449 1,584 300,108 2,067 289,680 630 1,852 295,108 1,839 354,933 444 4,512 319,108 1,839 432,455 354,108 1,839 482,206 4,'in 3",821 Total 505,349 551,101 594,337 656,836 757,573 841,974

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Number and Estimated Value of Estates in the Public Trust Office. The following was the number and estimated value of estates in the Public Trust Office on the 31st December in each of the years 1890 to 1893, and on the 31st March in each of the years 1895, 1896, and 1897.

The Government Loans to Local Bodies Sinking Fund, placed under control of Public Trustee by section 5 of "The Government Loans to Local Bodies Act Amendment Act, 1892" [opened on the 9th December, 1892]. Transactions in this account have been as follows:—

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Number of Estates. Class. On 31st Dec, 1890. On 31st Dec, 1891. On 31st Dec, 1892. On 31st Dec, 1893. On On 31st March, j 31st March, 1895. 1896. On 31st March, 1897. Wills and trusts (including Sinking Fund Accounts) Intestate estates Real estates Lunatic estates Native reserves West Coast Settlement Reserves Unclaimed lands 288 343 354 371 392 447 466 752 109 137 99 293 794 114 181 100 293 845 117 202 101 293 • 868 117 271 102 293 850 113 335 103 293 812 91 434 107 293 52 781 86 510 112 293 86 Totals .. 1,678 1,912 2,022 2,086 2,236 2,334 1,825 ,lue of Bstat< is. Class. On 31st Dec, 1890. On 31st Deo., 1891. On 31st Dec, 1892. On 31st Dec, 1803. On 31st March, 1895. On 31st Marcb, 1896. On 31st March r 1897. £ 418,047 £ 415,160 £ 442,671 £ 543,239 586,814 £ 673,478 £ 744,742 Wills and trusts (including Sinking Fund Acc'ounts) Intestate estates .. Real estates Lunatic estates Native reserves West Coast Settlement Reserves Unclaimed lands .. 75,305 23,496 32,918 340,869 349,462 83,381 24,190 34,913 344,692 350,289 81,650 22,706 40,380 346,499 350,839 84,436 23,465 51,278 348,500 400,000 80,287 22,462 72,706 350,000 450,000 86,132 14,686 73,995 350,000 600,000 8,662 88,751 11,161 88,133 355,000 600,000 10,376 1,240,097 1,252,625 1,284,755 1,450,918 1,562,269 1,806,953 1,898,163 Totals

Amounts rece ived by t lie ;ee During the Year eruiea 31st March. From Consoliaatea Fund. From Land Assurance Fund. From Interest. Total Eeoeipta during each Year. ,893 .894 .895 .896 .897 £ s. a. 14,000 0 0 20,528 19 7 11,406 13 7 13,384 18 0 14,960 1 10 £ s. a. 7,015 11 9 4,494 1 5 3,802 4 6 4,461 12 7 4,986 14 0 £ s. a. 1,058 16 0 2,148 0 7 2,958 3 3 3,651 3 11 £ s. a. 21,015 11 9 26,081 17 0 17,356 18 8 20,804 13 10 23,597 19 9 Totals 74,280 13 0 24,760 4 3 9,816 3 9 108,857 1 0

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Statement showing, Year by Year, from 1886 to the 31st March, 1897, the Capital of the Public Trust Office, and how invested, and the Income and Expenditure of the Office.

(1) Including £2.280 on account of expenses of Koyal Commission. (2) Including £1,596 on account of expenses of Royal Commission, and £1,717 on account of deficiency on realisation of mortgages. (3) Including £2.041 on account of deficiency on realisation of mortgages. (4) Including £3iO on account of deficiency on realisation of mortgages, and £470 for unauthorised expenditure. (5) Including £1,272 on account of deficiency on realisation of mortgages, and £13 for unauthorised expenditure, and £822 for Assurance and Reserve Fund. (6) Including £180 on account of deficiency on realisation of mortgages, and £89 for unauthorised expenditure, and £290 for Assurance and Reserve Fund.

Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation, not given; printing (1,575 copies), £5 10s.

By Authority: John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington.—lB97. Price, 6d.]

Capital of the Public Trust Office. Income of ublic Teust Office. Invested Total. Invested in Total Expenditure of In Cash. In Investments. Total. Yearly I Increase in [ For Specially. Total J Common , General and I GovernSpecial. ! ment Securities. Localbody Securities. Mortgage of Freeholds. Shares Com- TotaL panies. Commission, Charges, &c. Surplus Interest Officf,. Amount. Common Fund. L By Public Trustee. By Former Total. Trustees. Deposits. on Investments. Total. Year ended 31st Dec, 1886... £ 6,983 £ 267,526 £ 274,509 £ 32,455 £ 182,610 £ . 72,366 £ 12,550 £ 84,916 £ 267,526 £ 151,336 £ 1,907 £ 114,183 £ 100 £ £ 267,526 £ 7,097 £ 2,884 £ 9,981 £ 8,995 1887... 8,315 301,226 309,541 35,032 194,261 87,190 19,775 106,965 301,226 172,336 1,907 126,978 5 301,226 6,178 3,735 9,913 8,406 1888... 14,254 366,886 381,140 71,599 204,857 113,649 48,380 162,029 366,886 220,436 1,607 144,783 60 366,886 7,208 4,012 11,220 8,653 1889... 964 462,782 463,746 82,606 216,943 195,592 50,247 245,839 462,782 219,208 2,274 181,107 59,792 401 462,782 8,528 5,799 14,327 9,145 1890... 14,966 478,895 493,861 30,115 198,622 232,486 46,787 279,273 478,895 199,208 2,174 215,909 60,001 1,603 478,895 6,081 3,080 9,161 8,469 1891... 17,920 505,349 523,269 29,408 252,279 208,188 44,882 253,070 505,349 188,608 2,067 253,070 60,319 1,285 505,349 5,471 4,308 9,779 011,751 „ 1892... 15,960 551,101 567,061 43,792 408,231 96,072 46,798 142,870 551,101 269,608 2,067 276,393 1,449 1,584 551,101 5,913 6,177 12,090 ( 2 ) 14,001 1893... 21,326 594,337 615,663 48,602 406,220 144,198 43,919 188,117 594,337 300,108 2,067 289,680 630 1,852 594,337 7,327 7,370 14,697 ( 3 )15,132 Fifteen months ended 31st March, 1895 Year ended 31st March, 1896 Ditto, 1897 12,101 656,836 668,937 53,274 358,296 259,279 39,261 298,540 656,836 295,108 1,839 354,933 444 4,512 656,836 9,066 10,163 19,229 ( 4 )17,289 16,960 757,573 774,533 105,596 492,788 206,629 58,156 264,785 757,573 319,108 1,839 432,455 4,171 757,573 7,682 7,560 15,242 f) 14,902 16,664 841,974 858,638 84,105 588,483 205,942 47,549 253,491 841,974 354,108 1,839 482,206 3,821 841,974 8,124 6,376 14,500 (")13,569