§ Mr. HANCOCKasked the Attorney-General whether his attention has been drawn to the remarks of Mr. Justice M'Cardie concerning the expenses of administration by the Public Trustee; and, if so, is he prepared to take such steps as shall be necessary to reduce such expenditure?
§ Sir E. POLLOCKThe Public Trustee Act, 1906, under which the office of Public Trustee is constituted, requires the fees to be so arranged as to produce an annual amount sufficient to discharge the salaries and other expenses incidental to the working of the Act. In the case under notice, the sum involved is £1,000. The beneficiaries are five children, the eldest of whom is 15 and the youngest 3. The trust, therefore, may be expected to last for 18 years, and during the whole of that time will require the most-detailed administration and care by the Public Trustee, and the exercise of considerable and difficult discretion. The total inclusive fee for all this work during all these years would be £75.2406W This amount is barely sufficient to defray the cost incurred by the Public Trustee in the matter, and is in no way unduly high. I do not concur in the observations made by Mr. Justice McCardie.