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38. The principal staff changes and appointments during the year were the appointments of —- (1) Mr. A. S. Faire, District Public Trustee, Palmerston North, to the position of District Public Trustee, Auckland. (2) Mr. K. A. Henderson, District Public Trustee, Gisborne, to the position of District Public Trustee, Palmerston North. (3) Mr. F. W. Browne, Assistant Controller, Mortgage Division, Head Office, to the position of District Public Trustee, Napier. (4) Mr. P. C. Dwyer, Assistant District Public Trustee, Dunedin, to the position of District Public Trustee, Gisborne. (5) Mr. A. Bell, Director of Training Classes, Christchurch, to the position of District Public Trustee, Greymouth. (6) Mr. C. A. Hendry, Estates Administration Clerk, Masterton, to the position of District Public Trustee, Hastings. (7) Mr. A. 0. Williams, District Manager, Waipukurau, to the position of District Public Trustee, Waipukurau. (8) Mr. D. Ferguson, Assistant Solicitor, Mortgage Division, Head Office, to the position of Assistant Controller, Mortgage Division, Head Office. (9) Mr. E. Collins, First Assistant District Public Trustee, Auckland, to the position of Director of Training Classes, Christchurch. (10) Mr. J. P. White, Estates Administration Clerk, Whangarei, to the position of District Manager, Dargaville. (11) Mr. W. L. Tattle, Clerk, Head Office, to the position of District Manager, Pahiatua. Training of Junior Officers. 39. I have outlined above the necessary requirements of a satisfactory trust officer. It is of prime importance that in selecting officers to be engaged upon the administration of estates there should be found those who will be capable of mastering the difficulties and technicalities of this special work and of adapting themselves to the varying classes of duties they will be called upon to perform. In the problem of finding men who will competently fill the role of trust officers are encountered many difficulties and drawbacks. Attempts to recruit from the ranks of those trained for ordinary commercial duties do not prove altogether satisfactory. A knowledge of commerce and business affairs is undoubtedly of great value to a trust officer —in fact, such a knowledge is to some extent indispensable to the proper conduct of his work ; but the administration of estates involves more than this, and is so far-reaching in its ramifications that a commercial training alone is far from an adequate equipment for the due performance of the manifold duties it includes. A trust officer must be a man fundamentally trained and fitted for the proper administration of estates. It is a technical business. . . Merely because a man has been successful in another branch of business is no sign that he is fitted to take charge of a trust business. On the contrary, sometimes commercial experience gives a knowledge and an attitude that are entirely inadequate for the administration of trusts and estates. Under these circumstances a trustee concern cannot solely rely upon finding outside its own precincts additional staff sufficient to cope with the expanding business, and to fill vacancies which must necessarily, from one reason or another, be constantly arising in a large organization. Thus such a concern must inevitably be forced to take steps in the direction of training for itself staff to meet its requirements. The most suitable source of supply has been found to be from the ranks of the junior members of the establishment, and experience has proved that the result in future years will amply compensate any special attention devoted to their training in the earlier period of their service. Particular care is paid to the selection of juniors, and as far as possible only those who give promise of satisfactory development are appointed. Obviously, factors such as educational qualifications, personality, appearance, and general address are taken into account. The appointees are placed upon a period of probation, during which their progress is under careful scrutiny. They are encouraged to take an intelligent interest in all phases of the Office work,

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