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there are opportunities for early advancement, while those boys whose abilities are more mediocre are utilized in the more routine portions of the Office work. By these means the maximum efficiency is obtained from each lad. Instructional classes in law and accountancy have also been carried on in the Auckland District Office with good results. Special attention is paid to the handwriting of cadets. An officer in the Head Office has been appointed handwriting instructor, and all cadets are required to submit periodically specimens of their handwriting for review. Defects in style are corrected, and the boys, where necessary, are required to practise writing until the instructor certifies that the style adopted by them is satisfactory. Qualifications of Officers. 36. It is pleasing to record that the junior staff of the Office continue to show marked interest in their work and in the studies which they are undertaking to fit them to carry out their duties more efficiently and to discharge more responsible duties when the time arrives. It is an exception in the. Office to find a junior officer who is not engaged in the study of law, accountancy, or commerce. The value of these studies to the Office in years to come will be most marked, and every inducement is given to the junior officers to qualify in the professional examinations in law and accountancy. There are now attached to the Office staff eight barristers, fifty-eight solicitors, sixty-nine professional accountants, and three graduates in commerce. REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS, AND MARRIAGES. 37. For some time past District Officers of. the Public Trust Office have been acting as Registrars of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in various parts of the Dominion, but with the increasing number of estates falling in for administration it was found that the duties attaching to these positions interfered with the conduct of the Office business, and arrangements were made with the Under-Secretary of the Internal Affairs Department towards the end of 1924 for the appointment of other Registrars. The transfer has been completed, and the Public Trust Office is no longer associated with the registration work. NEW ZEALAND AND SOUTH SEAS EXHIBITION. 38. In connection with the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition which it is intended to hold at Dunedin towards the close of 1925 the Public Trust Office intends to make a suitable display which will serve to bring the Office under the notice of visitors to the Exhibition. The space reserved totals 400 square feet, with frontages of 20 ft. to each of three aisles. On this space will be erected a model Public Trust Office, containing diagrams and pictures to illustrate the progress of the Office from its inception, and suitable literature bringing under the notice of the public the advantages of administration by the Public Trustee, and the facilities possessed by him for the prompt transaction of all trustee business. An officer will be placed in charge of the Office to answer inquiries. EXPANSION OF ORGANIZATION. 39. No further District Public Trustee or District Manager offices were established during the year under review, but four additional agencies ha ve been opened —one at Fairlie, under the charge of Mr. J. A. Fraser ; one at Rakaia, under Mr. G. S. Hardy ; one at Maungaturoto, under Mr. W. Collins ; and one at Rawene, under Mr. G. T. Clendon. The opening of the agencies at Rakaia and Fairlie involved the abolition of the part-time offices which had hitherto been conducted by the District Manager, Ashburton, and the District Public Trustee, Timaru, respectively. The opening of the agency at Rawene involved the closing of the Kohukohu Agency.

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