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treaty the German Clearing Office has forwarded to the New Zealand Clearing Office for investigation and settlement 1,474 claims, totalling £210,975, lodged by German nationals against British nationals resident in New Zealand ; but only 283 claims, totalling £16,762, were still outstanding on the 31st March last. Furthermore, of these outstanding claims 240, totalling £7,944, had been finally rejected by this Office. As a result only 43 claims of this description, totalling £8,817, are still under active consideration. The only other class of claim dealt with by the New Zealand Clearing Office comprises claims by British nationals resident in New Zealand against the German Government under the provisions of Article 297 of the Treaty of Versailles, relating chiefly to claims in respect of property in Germany owned by British subjects resident in New Zealand and subjected by the German authorities during the war to exceptional war measures. Thirteen claims of this description, totalling £52,731, were lodged for, settlement, and of them only two claims, amounting to £2,161, remained unsettled on the 31st March last. In the case of one claim an offer of settlement made by the German authorities has been accepted by the claimant, and the claim will be finally settled when a formal award by the Anglo-German Mixed Arbitral Tribunal is secured giving effect to the settlement agreed upon. In regard to the other claim an offer of settlement has been accepted provisionally. As in previous years, a separate report covering the work done during the year ended 31st March, 1926, will be presented to Parliament by the Hon. the AttorneyGeneral, under whose direction the Public Trustee acts in carrying out the special duties associated with the Clearing Office procedure and the control and disposal of enemy property. ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES. Statistics. 37. During the year a total of 3,353 new estates came into the Office. The estates were of the following classification : — ■nt i Value. JN umber. £ Wills estates .. .. .. 923 2,192,811 Trust estates . . . . .. 255 636,905 Intestate estates . , . . . . 625 429,352 Mental patients' estates . . .. 346 406,444 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 1,204 985,935 3,353 £4,651,447 The estates closed during the year numbered 1,984. Of these, 509 were closed within twelve months of their being reported. On the 31st March, 1926, there were 13,087 estates under administration. These are classified as follows : — . Value. JN umber. Wills estates .. .. .. 2,972 8,663,960 Trust estates .. .. .. 2,000 6,110,145 Intestate estates .. .. .. 2,134 1,468,542 Mental patients' estates . . . . 1,233 1,425,557 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 4,748 20,341,276 13,087 £38,009,480 Economic Position. 38. Naturally the interdependence of economic interests affects the working of the Office, which in its operations controls such a large volume of investments and acts in a representative capacity in so many spheres of business activity. It is fitting, therefore, to refer briefly to the financial and economic position in reference to the operations for the year now under review. The prosperity of the Dominion is indissolubly bound up with the success or otherwise of its primary products.

4-B. 9.