55

8.—9

Coal-miners' Relief Fund.—ln terms of the Coal-mines Act, 1925, the Public Trustee administers this relief fund, which is provided by a levy on the mine-owners, calculated at the rate of id. per ton of coal produced. At the 31st March, 1928. there was at credit of the fund the sum of £26,156 lis. 2d., but by the 31st March, 1930, this had, through heavy calls, been reduced to £24,180 6s. 7d. The following is a comparison of the transactions for the past two years : — 1928-29. 1929-30. £ s. d. £ s. d. Balance at 31st March, 1928 .. 26,156 11 2 Balance at 31st March, 1929 .. 25,471 310 Add contributions and interest .. 6,258 4 9 Add contributions and interest .. 6,235 17 8 32,414 15 11 31,707 1 6 Deduct relief granted to miners Deduct relief granted to miners and dependants, plus adminis- and dependants, plus administration expenses .. .. 6,943 12 1 tration expenses .. .. 7,526 14 11 Balance at 31st March, 1929 .. £25,471 310 Balance at 31st March, 1930 .. £24,180 6 7 Thomas George Macarthy Trust. —This generous trust continues to extend considerable benefits to charitable and educational objects throughout the Wellington Province. In terms of the will of the testator, for the present one-half of the net income from the estate is to be applied for such charitable and educational purposes and institutions in the Provincial District of Wellington, in such manner and in such proportions as a Board of Trustees nominated in the will shall decide. This Board of Trustees has now been incorporated by the Thomas George Macarthy Trust Act, 1912, under the name of the Board of Governors of the Thomas George Macarthy Trust. On the termination of certain annuities and other interests the whole of the income from the residuary estate will be available for such purposes. The trust has now been in operation for seventeen years and during that period the handsome sum of £153,027 has been allocated to charitable and educational purposes as specified by the testator. The following table sets out the yearly allocations since the inception of the trust: — £ £ 1913 .. .. 2,530 1923 .. ..9,350 1914 .. ..7,325 1924 .. .. 10,125 1915 .. ..7,070 1925 .. .. 12,040 1916 .. .. 6,880 1926 .. .. 13,600 1917 .. ..5,790 1927 .. .. 14,500 1918 .. .. 5,112 1928 .. .. 15,000 1919 .. ..6,545 1929 .. .. 14,500 1920 .. ..6,785 1921 .. ..6,860 £153,027 1922 .. ..9,015 = The Board of Governors has, on a number of occasions, congratulated the Public Trustee on the care and efficiency with which the trust continues to be managed. It is a matter of public interest to know that the Thomas George Macarthy Trust Act, 1912, contains an important provision empowering the governing body to accept and to administer other trusts for charitable and educational purposes in accordance with the provisions of the instruments constituting the trusts. Thus it will be seen that persons desirous of doing so may utilize the services of a permanent and responsible body, such as the Board of Governors is, and ensure that by entrusting the distribution of the available funds to that permanent and responsible body such distribution will be made to the best advantage, and the deserving objects within the scope of the trust assisted and fostered as far as possible in accordance with their needs from time to time. The provision made in this Act resembles what is known in the United States of America as the " community trust " or " permanent charity organization." During the past year two citizens of the Dominion have availed themselves of this special and very useful provision. The first of these was Mr. Henry