SecProbe.io

<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.txt
<TEXT>
                  JOHN HANCOCK CALIFORNIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
                         JOHN HANCOCK TAX-EXEMPT SERIES
                        JOHN HANCOCK TAX-FREE BOND TRUST
                              101 Huntington Avenue
                           Boston, Massachusetts 02199
December 30, 2004
VIA EDGAR

Brion R. Thompson, Esquire
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Judiciary Plaza
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20549

Re:  Response to Comments - Supplemental Response #1
     Rule 485(a) Filings of October 27, 2004 / December 13, 2004 Correspondence
     John Hancock California Tax-Free Income Fund - File No. 33-31675
     John Hancock Tax-Exempt Series - File No. 33-12947
     John Hancock Tax-Free Bond Trust - File No. 33-32246 (the "Registrants")

Dear Brion:

         The following is in response to our telephone conversations on December
28 and December 29, 2004 regarding your additional comments on the filings and
correspondence referenced above.

Comment #1: Tax-Free Bond Trust - Name of Trust
---------

You reiterated the Staff's comment regarding the fact that the High Yield
Municipal Bond Fund is a series of the Tax-Free Bond Trust may be misleading to
shareholders.

Response: Comment Accepted.
--------

We undertake to change the name of the Trust at the 1st quarter meeting of its
Board of Trustees, currently scheduled for early March 2005. While a new Trust
name has not been determined at the current time, we will ensure that it will
not include any reference to "tax-free" in the Trust name.

Comment #2: Prospectus p. 20 - "Right to reject or restrict purchase and
----------
exchange orders" section

With respect to the disclosure stating that the Funds may cancel a purchase
order, you commented that the Staff was discussing the application of such
provisions. Based on our discussions, you asked that we clarify the language
accordingly. You made a similar comment with respect to the delayed exchange
provision in this section.

<PAGE>

Response: Comment Accepted.
---------

With respect to the provision regarding canceling a purchase or exchange
request, we will revise the second sentence in the section referenced above to
state the following:

         "The funds reserve the right to restrict, reject, or cancel, consistent
         with applicable law, for any reason and without any prior notice, any
         purchase or exchange order, including transactions representing
         excessive trading and transactions accepted by any shareholder's
         financial intermediary."

With respect to the delayed-exchange provision, we will revise the applicable
sentence in the section referenced above to state the following:

         "The funds reserve the right to delay for up to one business day,
         consistent with applicable law, the processing of exchange requests in
         the event that, in the funds' judgment, such delay would be in the
         funds' best interest, in which case both the redemption and the
         purchase side of the exchange will receive the funds' net asset values
         at the conclusion of the delay period."

Comment #3: Prospectus p.21 - Limitations on Exchange Activity Disclosure
----------

Pursuant to Item 6(e)(4)(iii) of Form N-1A, you asked that we clarify the
disclosure to highlight the exceptions to the Funds' uniform exchange policies.

Response: Comment Accepted.
---------

We will add the following language as the second sentence in the first full
paragraph on page 21:

         "The exchange limits referenced above will not be imposed or may be
modified under certain circumstances, as follows."

Comment #4: SAI - Portfolio Dissemination Disclosure
----------

With respect to the Funds' portfolio dissemination policy, you asked that we
disclose the process when the Chief Compliance Officer ("CCO") brings a
potential conflict to the Board of Trustees.

<PAGE>

Response: Comment Accepted.
--------

We will add the following disclosure to the "Description of Portfolio Holdings
Disclosure Policy":

         "When considering a potential conflict, the Board of Trustees of the
         Trust shall only permit such disclosure of the nonpublic information if
         in their reasonable business judgment they conclude such disclosure
         will be in the best interests of Trust shareholders."

The additional disclosure will be added as the last sentence of the second
paragraph. (Please see attached Appendix A.)

Comment #5: SAI - Portfolio Dissemination Policy Disclosure - Website
----------

You noted that Instruction 3(b)(2) to Item 11(f)(2) of Form N-1A requires that
the Funds disclose that portfolio information contained on the Funds' website
must remain on the website until a Fund files its next Form N-CSR or Form N-Q
with the Commission.

Response: Comment Accepted.
---------
The following disclosure will be added at the end of the "Public Disclosure"
section of the portfolio dissemination policy disclosure:

         "The information referenced in (1), (2), and (3) above will be
         available on the website until a Fund files its next Form N-CSR or Form
         N-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

Please see attached Appendix A.

Comment #6: SAI - Portfolio Dissemination Disclosure
----------

You asked that we expand on the disclosure relating to (1) the Board's oversight
function; (2) any on-going relationships to provide portfolio information to
non-affiliated and affiliated parties; and (3) any policies and procedures
relating to the release of portfolio information to any person.

Response: Comment Accepted.
--------
We have revised the portfolio dissemination disclosure to address the points
referenced above. In addition to including general categories of persons who the
policy applies to, we have also included a reference to entities in which the
funds have an on-going relationship to provide portfolio information. The
discussion regarding the conditions and restrictions placed on the use of the
information is located at the beginning of each relevant section, as these
conditions and restrictions will apply to all relationships, both current and
future.

<PAGE>

A copy of the revised disclosure has been attached as Appendix A.

If you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to
contact me at (617) 375-1722.

Sincerely,

/s/Brian E. Langenfeld
Brian E. Langenfeld
Attorney and Assistant Secretary

<PAGE>

                                   APPENDIX E

                               John Hancock Funds

               Description of Portfolio Holdings Disclosure Policy

         General. The Board of Trustees has adopted a policy that governs when
and by whom portfolio holdings information may be provided to investors, service
providers to the fund or market participants. It is the policy of the fund to
provide nonpublic information regarding fund's portfolio holdings only in the
limited circumstances permitted by the policy and only where there is a
legitimate business purpose for providing the information. The policy applies to
the officers of the fund, the adviser, any subadviser, John Hancock Funds, its
affiliates and their employees. This is a summary of the fund's policy. The
Board of Trustees has approved this policy and must approve any material
changes. In doing so, the Board has concluded that the limited circumstances
where disclosure of non-public information is permitted are in the best
interests of the fund. Under no circumstances may any person receive
compensation for providing non-public information regarding the fund's holdings
to any person.

         The Board is responsible for overseeing the policy and has delegated to
the Chief Compliance Officer ("CCO") the responsibility for monitoring the use
of nonpublic information and the fund's and the Adviser's compliance with this
policy. In connection with the Board's oversight of the policy, the CCO will
provide periodic reports to the Board on the implementation of the policy, and
the Board will review at least annually a list of the entities that have
received nonpublic information, the frequency of such disclosures and the
business purpose thereof. In addition, the Board must approve any modifications
to the policy.

         The CCO is required to report any material issues that may arise under
the policy or disclosure in violation of this policy to the Board of Trustees.
If the fund or another party subject to this policy desire to provide portfolio
information that has not already been made public to a Nonaffiliated Person (as
defined below), the Board or the CCO determines if the interests of the fund and
the services providers may be in conflict in determining whether to supply that
such information. If the Board or the CCO determines that no conflict exists,
the Board or the CCO may authorize release of the information. If the CCO
determines that a conflict exists, the CCO refers the conflict to the Board of
Trustees. When considering a potential conflict, the Board of Trustees shall
only permit such disclosure of the nonpublic information if in their reasonable
business judgment they conclude such disclosure will be in the best interest of
shareholders.

         The following defined terms are used in the policy and this summary.

Nonpublic Information. Portfolio holdings are considered Nonpublic Information
until such holdings are posted on a publicly available website which is
disclosed in the fund prospectus or until filed with the SEC via Edgar on either
Form N-CSR or Form N-Q.

<PAGE>

"Affiliated Persons" are: (a) persons affiliated with the Funds, (b) the Funds'
investment adviser or principal underwriter or any affiliate of either entity,
(c) the investment adviser's ultimate parent, Manulife Financial Corporation
("MFC") or any affiliate thereof, (d) in the case of a particular Fund
portfolio, the subadviser to the portfolio, or any affiliate of the subadviser,
(e) the Funds' custodian and (f) the Funds' certified public accountants.

"Nonaffiliated Persons" is any person who is not an Affiliated Person.

Public Disclosure. The Funds' portfolio holdings are disclosed in publicly
available filings with the SEC (e.g. Form N-CSR or Form N-Q). The Funds also
publish the following information on their website jhfunds.com:

(1)      On the fifth business day after month-end, the following information
         for each fund will be posted on www.jhfunds.com: top ten holdings (% of
         each position); top ten sector analysis; total return/yield; top ten
         countries/SIC; average quality/maturity; beta/alpha/r2 (open-end funds
         only); top ten portfolio composition

(2)      The following information regarding portfolio holdings will be posted
         on www.jhfunds.com each month on a one-month lag (i.e., information as
         of December 31 will be posted on February 1): security name; cusip;
         market value; shares/amount; coupon rate; maturity date

(3)      With respect to Money Market Fund and U.S. Government Cash Reserve, the
         following information regarding portfolio holdings will be posted
         weekly on www.jhfunds.com: net assets; seven day yield; thirty day
         yield; % maturing in last seven days; portfolio breakdown by securities
         type; weighted average maturity

The information referenced in (1), (2), and (3) above will be available on the
funds' website until a fund files its next Form N-CSR or Form N-Q with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings to Nonaffiliated Persons

         Subject to monitoring and authorization by the CCO, persons subject to
the policy may provide Nonpublic Information regarding portfolio holdings to
Nonaffiliated Persons in the circumstances listed below. Each Nonaffiliated
Person must agree to keep such information confidential and to prohibit its
employees from trading on such information for personal or proprietary purposes.
In addition, each Nonaffiliated Person must provide certification at least
annually to the CCO stating that they have complied with the restrictions
referenced above. The funds have ongoing relationships with any entities
referenced below.

         Rating Organizations. Nonpublic Information regarding portfolio
holdings will be provided to ratings organizations, such as Moodys, S&P,
Morningstar and Lipper, for the purpose of reviewing the portfolio, the adviser
or, if applicable, subadviser. Generally, this information is provided on a
monthly basis, as soon as practical after the

<PAGE>

end of each month.  The fund generally  expects that it will continue to provide
these  rating  organizations  with such  information.  The Board  believes  that
allowing rating  organizations  to have this information will provide the market
with a rating for the fund and is in the best interests of shareholders.

         Risk Management, Attribution, Portfolio Analysis tools. Nonpublic
Information regarding portfolio holdings may be provided to Factset, BondEdge,
Investools, Salomon Yieldbook, Lehman Brothers Municipal Index Group, Wilshire,
or other entities for the purpose of compiling reports and preparing data for
use by the fund and its service providers. Generally, this information is
provided on a daily or monthly basis, as soon as practical after the end of each
day or month respectively. The fund generally expects that it will continue to
provide these service providers with such information.The Board believes that
having these analytical tools available to the fund and its service providers is
in the best interests of shareholders.

         Proxy Voting Services. Nonpublic Information regarding portfolio
holdings may be provided to IRRC, the fund's proxy voting service, for the
purpose of voting proxies relating to portfolio holdings. The proxy voting
service has regular access to the fund's portfolio holdings in order to
determine if there are any securities held by the fund as to which there is
upcoming shareholder action in which the fund is entitled to vote. The provision
of this information is necessary in order to carry out the fund's proxy voting
policy. The fund expects that it will continue to provide IRRC with such
information.

         Computer Products and Services. Nonpublic Information regarding
portfolio holdings may be provided to entities providing computer products and
services to the Funds (for example, for the purpose of generating compliance
reports or reports relating to proxy voting). These services may require
regular, normally daily, access to the fund's portfolio holdings in order to
provide the contracted services to the fund.

         Institutional Traders. Nonpublic Information regarding portfolio
holdings may be provided to institutional traders to assist in research and
trade execution. This information, which identifies current holdings without a
time lag, is provided on an irregular basis and is normally only used to
identify portfolio positions as to which the fund would welcome bids. The
provision of this information is in the fund's best interest because it assists
the fund in receiving the best possible price on the sale of portfolio holdings.

         Courts and Regulators. Nonpublic Information regarding portfolio
holdings may be provided to any court or regulator with appropriate
jurisdiction. The frequency and time lag depends upon the request. In providing
this information, the fund is merely complying with its legal obligations.

         Other Nonaffiliated Persons or Other Circumstances. Nonpublic
Information regarding portfolio holdings may be provided to other Nonaffiliated
Persons or in other circumstances, if approved by the Board, the CCO or his or
her designee. In determining whether to approve such disclosure, the Board or
the CCO considers: (a) the purpose of providing such information, (b) the
procedures t