Jan. 31.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 387

for the renewal of the pension shall be treated as a new claim and given a new number.

40. In order to facilitate the prompt furnishing of the statement, the Commissioner shall forward to the Registrar each month a blank form of statement for each pensioner whose income-year expires during the following month, together with a list of the same in the form numbered 20 in the First Schedule hereto; and the Registrar shall, immediately prior to the close of the income-year in each case, despatch the said form of statement, together with a circular in the form numbered 21 in the First Schedule hereto, to the last known address of the pensioner. In the event of the pension having been transferred to another district, the statement shall be forwarded for attention to the Registrar of the district to which the pension has been transferred.

The aforesaid lists on Form 20 shall be duly returned to the Commissioner when all statements referred to therein have been issued.

41. Where the income and property statement is furnished by a Maori pensioner, there shall be indorsed thereon a certificate by a Government officer, as prescribed in the case of a pension-claim.

42. In order to facilitate the investigation of income and property statements furnished by Maori pensioners, it shall be the duty of the Registrars of Native Land Courts, the Public Trustee, the Native Land Purchase Officers, and any other officer having any knowledge thereof, to supply to the Commissioner, in so far as the information relates to those Maoris who are believed to be pensioners, particulars of the acquisition or disposal of any lands or moneys belonging to such pensioners.

43. The Registrar, before submitting the statement to the Magistrate, shall issue the form lettered J in the Schedule hereto, and shall satisfy himself, where necessary, with the forms at his disposal, that the contents thereof are correct; and, where a pensioner has received income during the income-year to which the statement relates, he shall obtain a certificate on Form G of the amount of income earned, without which the statement shall be deemed to be incomplete.

44. In every case where it has been reported by the police that a pensioner mispends his pension in drink, the Registrar shall, at the time of the investigation of the income and property statement, draw the attention of the Magistrate to subsection (c) of section 35 of the principal Act, and oppose the renewal of the pension.

45. The statement shall be dealt with, investigated, and disposed of in the same manner, mutatis mutandis, as in the case of the pension-claim, and for that purpose the provisions of these regulations, and the forms thereunder relating to the investigation of pension-claims, shall apply, with all necessary modifications:

Provided that the Magistrate shall, in respect of each investigation, even though the application has been rejected, forward to the Registrar a certificate in the form numbered 22 in the First Schedule hereto, and the Registrar, after noting the purport thereof in the Old-age Pension Register, shall immediately forward it to the Commissioner, who shall file the same.

46. The Commissioner shall, in respect of each such certificate received by him, provided the certificate shows the pensioner to be entitled thereto, and having regard to the provisions of the principal Act and any amendment thereof, issue a pension-certificate in accordance therewith to the Postmaster of the post-office where the pension is payable, who shall issue it in exchange for the expired certificate.

47. Where at the granting of the renewal of a pension any alteration takes place in the amount of the property previously owned, the Registrar shall supply the Commissioner with particulars and the reason for such alteration on the form numbered 22A in the First Schedule hereto.

48. Where, at the investigation of any application for the renewal of a pension, it is found that by reason of excess of property or income the pensioner is no longer qualified to receive the pension, or has drawn any pension in excess of the amount allowed by law, the Registrar shall make application to the Magistrate, in terms of section 48 of the principal Act, to have the pension-certificate then current cancelled forthwith; and the Registrar shall, in the event of any instalment having been collected subsequent to the receipt of such excess of property or income, call upon the pensioner to make refund of such instalments so collected.

49. The income and property statement required to secure the continuance of the pension granted to an inmate of a mental hospital shall be in the form numbered 19A in the First Schedule hereto, and shall be signed by the Superintendent of the institution, and shall in every case be accompanied by a certificate from the Public Trustee as to the property owned and any income derived from the estate of the pensioner. The statement shall be dealt with as in the case of any other income and property statement.

50. Where, on the application for the renewal of pension by a Maori pensioner, the Magistrate recommends that an allowance be made to the pensioner out of the moneys appropriated for Native purposes under “The Civil List Act, 1908,” he shall issue a certificate of refusal of renewal in the form numbered 22 in the First Schedule hereto.

INQUIRIES UNDER SECTIONS 45, 46, AND 48 OF THE PRINCIPAL ACT.

51. When a Registrar has reason to believe that any pensioner is not lawfully entitled to the pension he is drawing, or is drawing a larger or smaller amount of pension than that to which he is by law entitled, he shall at once inform the Commissioner by wire, and shall report fully in writing by first mail his reasons for so believing; and the Commissioner shall forthwith, if necessary, stop payment of the pension, and at his discretion decide what action shall be taken. If the case is deemed by the Commissioner to be one for reinvestigation by the Magistrate, he shall instruct the Registrar to arrange for an inquiry at the next sitting of the Old-age Pensions Court, and to give the pensioner due notice to attend such inquiry.

52. Every such inquiry shall be disposed of in the same manner, mutatis mutandis, as in the case of a pension-claim, and for that purpose the provisions of the principal Act and of these regulations and the forms thereunder relating to the investigation of pension-claims shall apply, with all necessary modifications. The decision of the Magistrate shall be notified to the Registrar in the form numbered 23 in the First Schedule hereto, the contents of which shall be duly noted in the Old-age Pension Register, and the form forwarded to the Commissioner by the first mail.

53. Where, as a result of any such inquiry or by any other means, it is ascertained that the pensioner has been paid in excess of the amount to which he was by law entitled, or that the pensioner or any person is guilty of fraud and liable to the penalty provided by section 50 of the principal Act and where it is decided by the Commissioner to institute proceedings in the Magistrate’s Court, the said proceedings, in the case of an action for recovery of pension overpaid, shall be by plaint, as provided by “The Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1908,” and in the case of a prosecution for fraud shall be by information laid in terms of “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908.”

54. All proceedings under these regulations shall be taken before a Magistrate alone, and the Registrar shall represent the Department in every case, unless it shall otherwise be decided by the Commissioner.

55. No Court fees shall be payable in connection with any proceedings before a Magistrate under these regulations.

56. All moneys received by way of refund, either with or without Court proceedings, shall be paid into the Public Account at the nearest branch of the Bank of New Zealand, or, in the absence of any such bank, into the Post Office Account at the nearest post-office, and the Registrar shall forward the bank or post-office receipt to the Commissioner without delay, giving particulars of such refund.

CONVICTIONS AND SUSPENSIONS.

57. Whenever a pensioner is convicted of drunkenness, or of any other offence dishonoring him in the public estimation, or when any instalment of pension is forfeited by the Magistrate, notice of such conviction or forfeiture shall forthwith be given to the Registrar in the form numbered 23 in the First Schedule hereto, which shall be duly noted in the Old-age Pension Register, and forwarded to the Commissioner by first mail.

Where a conviction for drunkenness is recorded for the first time against a pensioner, the Registrar shall arrange for the appointment of an agent, and on the issue of a warrant to such agent the Commissioner shall give notice to the paying office to pay to agent only.

Where a second conviction for drunkenness is recorded against a pensioner during the currency of any pension-certificate, the Registrar, provided no order had been made at the time of conviction, shall apply to the Magistrate for the suspension of the pension as provided by section 12 of the Amendment Act, 1908, and, in the event of any such order of suspension extending beyond the expiry of the pension-certificate then current, the said certificate shall be surrendered to the Registrar, and forwarded to the Commissioner with a notification of the suspension.

Where a further conviction for drunkenness is recorded against the pensioner during the currency of a certificate, and no order has been made at the time of such conviction,