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JOHN HANCOCK CALIFORNIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
CLASS A AND CLASS B SHARES
SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS DATED MAY 1, 1995
Investment Objective and Policies
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The Fund's investment policies have been revised to allow investments
in unrated bonds comparable to BBB, and up to 20% of total assets to be
invested in bonds rated BB/Ba or equivalent. The paragraphs under this section
numbered (1) and (5) are deleted in their entirety and replaced by:
The Fund pursues its objective by investing in:
(1) Bonds which, at the time of purchase, are rated within one of
the five highest ratings by Standard and Poor's Ratings Group
("S&P") (AAA, AA, A, BBB or BB), Moody's Investor Services
("Moody's") (AAA, AA, A, Baa or Ba), or Fitch Investor Services
("Fitch") (AAA, AA, A BBB or BB).
(5) Unrated bonds, notes and commercial paper that in the opinion
of John Hancock Advisers, Inc. ("the Adviser") are, at the time of
purchase, comparable in quality to the rated obligations of the same
types described above. The Fund may not purchase an unrated
obligation which would cause more than 25% of its total assets to be
invested in unrated debt obligations. Not more than 20% of the
Fund's total assets will be invested in bonds rated lower than BBB
or, if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality, in the opinion
of the Adviser.
The "ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND" section is amended as follows:
Dianne Sales-Singer is the Fund's portfolio manager and is responsible
for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Ms. Sales-Singer has been
with the Adviser since 1989. Prior to joining the Adviser, she was
employed at Bear Stearns & Co., Inc.
July 3, 1995
5300S 1/96
