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SIGNATURE GEORGE C. BOWEN
TITLE TREASURER
WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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<PAGE>
DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP/LOGO/
Suite 3600
555 Seventeenth Street
Denver, Colorado 80202-3942
Telephone: (303)292-5400
Facsimile: (303)312-4000
To the Board of Directors of
Oppenheimer Total Return Fund, Inc.:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of Oppenheimer
Total Return Fund, Inc. (Fund) for the year ended December 31, 1996 (on which we
have issued our report dated January 22, 1997), we considered its internal
control structure, including procedures for safeguarding securities, in order to
determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on
the financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not
to provide assurance on the internal control structure.
The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and maintaining
an internal control structure. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and
judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related
costs of internal control structure policies and procedures. Two of the
objectives of an internal control structure are to provide management with
reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss
from unauthorized use or disposition and that transactions are executed in
accordance with management's authorization and recorded properly to permit
preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control structure, errors
or irregularities may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any
evaluation of the structure to future periods is subject to the risk that it may
become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of
the design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not necessarily
disclose all matters in the internal control structure that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in which the design or
operation of the specific internal control structure elements does not reduce to
a relatively low level the risk that errors or irregularities in amounts that
would be material in relation to the financial statements being audited may
occur and not be detected within a timely period by employees in the normal
course of performing their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters
involving the internal control structure, including procedures for safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of
December 31, 1996.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management,
the Board of Directors and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Yours truly,
/S/DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
January 22, 1997
- ---------------
DELOITTE TOUCHE
TOHMATSU
INTERNATIONAL
- ---------------
<PAGE>
During the year ended December 31, 1996, the Fund adjusted the classification of
distributions to shareholders to reflect the differences between financial
statement amounts and distributions determined in accordance with income tax
regulations. Accordingly, during the year ended December 31, 1996, amounts have
been reclassified to reflect a decrease in paid-in capital of $1,627,613, a
decrease in overdistributed net investment income of $1,080,814, and an
increase in accumulated net realized gain on investments of $546,799.
