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SIGNATURE ALFRED J. RATCLIFFE
TITLE FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
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<NAME> THE ZWEIG TOTAL RETURN FUND, INC.
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
__________________________
To the Board of Directors of
The Zweig Total Return Fund, Inc.:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements and financial
highlights of The Zweig Total Return Fund, Inc., (the "Fund") for the year
ended December 31, 1997, we considered the Fund's internal control, including
controls over safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing
procedures for the purposes of expressing our opinion on the financial
statements and financial highlights and to comply with the requirements of
Form N-SAR, not to provide assurance on internal control.
The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and maintaining
internal control. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments
by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs
of controls. Generally, controls that are relevant to an audit pertain to the
entity's objective of preparing financial statements for external purposes
that are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles. Those controls include the safeguarding of assets against
unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal control, errors or irregularities
may occur and may not be detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of
internal control 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 internal control would not necessarily disclose all
matters in internal control 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 any
specific internal control component 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 and financial highlights 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 internal control, including controls over safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses, as defined above, as
of December 31, 1997.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management of
the Fund and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
/s/ Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.
Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.
New York, New York
February 4, 1998
