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moreover, as a knowledge of them tends to stimulate other citizens to emulate the example of the benefactors of the past, a summary of some of the more important of these trusts at present under administration is given : — Kaitangata Relief Fund. —This is one of the oldest funds under administration by the Public Trustee, and has been controlled by him since 1892. As the Kaitangata disaster occurred as far back as 1879, there is now only one dependant in receipt of an allowance from the funds. The Kaitangata Relief Fund Transfer Act, 1892, and subsequent amendments provided that the fund, after providing for the dependants and victims of the original disaster, is to be available for the relief of widows and children of coal-miners who may lose their lives as the result of any subsequent mining disaster in New Zealand. Thus it is always possible that there may be further demands on the fund at some future date. In past years I have referred to the movement which is being made to have passed amending legislation for the purpose of making the balance of this fund available for the descendants of those who lost their lives in the original coal-mining disaster at Kaitangata. At the 31st March, 1930, there was £4,036 Bs. lOd. to credit of the fund. Brunner Disaster Fund. —This relief fund originally amounted to £31,000, and was raised in 1896 by public subscription through New Zealand and Australia for the relief of widows, children, and other dependants of miners who lost their lives in the disastrous explosion which occurred that year at the Brunner Mine. The number of dependants* was large, and the maintenance payments over the intervening thirty-four years have now reduced the fund until at the 31st March last the balance remaining amounted to only £519 17s. sd. There are still fourteen dependants, and during the past year £416 was paid to them by way of allowance. The fund has served a most useful purpose over a long period, and it is a matter of regret that in next year's report it is probable that I shall have to notify the exhaustion of the cash balance. Bobson Relief Fund. —On the 3rd December, 1926, an explosion occurred at the Dobson Mine, Grey Valley, which resulted in the loss of nine lives. A fund was raised by public subscription throughout New Zealand for the assistance of the dependants of these unfortunate miners. The appeal resulted in £2,799 being raised, and this was entrusted to the Public Trustee for administration and investment in the Common Fund. During the year under review the sum of £208 10s. was paid to the six dependants, and the amount at credit of the fund at the 31st March last stood at £2,549 15s. 7d. As is usual in cases of this kind, the Public Trustee makes no charge for his services in administering the fund. Kirhpatrick Masonic Institute for Girls. —Under the will of the late Mr. kSamuel Kirkpatrick, of Nelson, the well-known manufacturer of " K " jam and kindred products, who died in 1925, it was directed that the testator's home was to be converted into a home for orphan daughters of Freemasons of the English, Scottish, Irish, and New Zealand constitutions throughout the Dominion. In pursuance of the terms of the will, of which the Public Trustee is executor and trustee, the income from the residue of the estate is to be utilized for the maintenance and management of this home. The residence has been converted to meet the requirements, and now makes an admirable home for children, which has become known as the Kirkpatrick Masonic Institute. The Public Trustee is solely responsible for the administration of the estate, but is not concerned with the actual management of the home. The Board of Governors elected by the Masonic constitutions receives the income of the estate from the Public Trustee and is responsible for the expenditure upon the general purposes of the institution. In order to facilitate the conduct of the Institute and to make it more useful for the purposes for which it was designed, the Board of Governors is desirous of obtaining certain extensions of their existing powers. Notable amongst these proposed extensions is the power to accept additional bequests and donations of real and personal property from other sources, to be vested in the Public Trustee for the general purposes of the Institute. Accordingly, during the present session of Parliament a private Bill is being promoted on behalf of the Board with the object of giving legislative authority for the proposals which are being entertained by them in connection with the conduct of the Institute.