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SIGNATURE GUY NORDAHL
TITLE ASSIS.VICE PRESIDENT
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<CIK> 0000836412
<NAME> THE ZWEIG TOTAL RETURN FUND, INC.
<MULTIPLIER> 1,000
<S> <C>
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<PERIOD-END> DEC-31-1999
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</TABLE>
Report of Independent Accountants
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors
of The Zweig Total Return Fund, Inc.
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of The Zweig Total Return Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") for the year
ended December 31, 1999, we considered its internal control,
including control activities 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 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
fraud may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any
evaluation of internal control to future periods is subject to
the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes
in conditions or that the effectiveness of their 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 one or more of the
internal control components does not reduce to a relatively low
level the risk that misstatements caused by error or fraud 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
internal control and its operation, including controls for
safeguarding securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses
as defined above as of December 31, 1999.
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors
of The Zweig Total Return Fund, Inc.
This report is intended solely for the information and use
of the Board of Directors, management and the Securities and
Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not
be used by anyone other than these specified parties.
February 4, 2000
2
2
