388
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 9

the Registrar shall make application to the Magistrate for cancellation of the pension, which, if granted, shall be notified to the Commissioner. Such notification shall be in the form numbered 23; and shall be accompanied by the pension-certificate current at the date of cancellation.

RETURNS:

58. The Registrar shall despatch to the Commissioner, not later than the third day in every month, returns for the preceding month as under:—

(a.) A return, in the form numbered 24 in the First Schedule hereto, of all new pensions granted, indicating therein the numbers that have been allotted to transferred pensions. In the event of no new pensions being granted a “Nil” return shall be forwarded.

(b.) A return, in the form numbered 24A in the First Schedule hereto, of the applications for new pensions investigated by the Magistrate and not granted, giving the reasons.

(c.) A return, in the form numbered 24B in the First Schedule hereto, of the applications for renewal refused or adjourned during the month, and the reason of such refusal or adjournment.

DUTIES OF GOVERNMENT OFFICERS.

59. It shall be the duty of a Clerk of Court, if at the time of the conviction of any person for any offence he has reason to believe that such person is over the age of sixty-five, to ascertain whether such person is an old-age pensioner, and to inform the Registrar accordingly.

60. On the death of any person in New Zealand of the age of sixty-five years and upwards, it shall be the duty of the Registrar of Deaths to whom the death is reported to inquire, and it shall be the duty of the person reporting the death to inform the said Registrar, whether the deceased person was an old-age pensioner; and the said Registrar shall send to the Commissioner of Old-age Pensions notice, in the form numbered 25 in the First Schedule hereto, of the death of all such persons, even though they do not appear to be old-age pensioners.

61. Immediately it comes to the knowledge of any Postmaster that an old-age pensioner has died, it shall be his duty to at once notify the Commissioner of the date of such death; provided that where the death reported relates to a Maori pensioner the notification shall be by wire.

62. It shall be the duty of the Public Trustee to supply to the Commissioner each month the names and addresses of deceased persons of the age of sixty-five years and upwards whose estates have been placed in his hands during the month for administration, and, in the event of any such person proving to have been an old-age pensioner, to supply particulars of the estate.

63. It shall be the duty of members of the Police Force, in addition to assisting claimants in the preparation and investigation of their pension-claims and income and property statements, to render such service as the Department may require. Authority to incur expenditure on any occasion must be obtained beforehand from the Commissioner through the local Registrar. A police officer, where he is not the Registrar himself, or any Postmaster, if he has reason to believe that any pensioner is drawing a pension to which by law he is not entitled, or misspends his pension in drink, shall at once communicate with the Registrar of the district in which the said pensioner is registered; and, likewise, where it is within the knowledge of any such officer that a pensioner is employed at any work, he shall so inform the Registrar, and supply the name and address of the employer. The Registrar shall in such cases as are necessary take action as provided in these regulations.

POWERS OF COMMISSIONER.

64. Except where otherwise specially provided, all powers and functions conferred upon or exercisable by a Registrar under the provisions of the principal Act or any amendment thereof, or under any regulations made in pursuance thereof respectively, shall be exercisable also by the Commissioner.

GENERAL.

65. Every statutory declaration made, and every receipt or other document made or given, for the purposes of the principal Act or any amendment thereof is exempt from stamp duty.

66. Any application for information in terms of section 18 of the principal Act shall be forwarded to the Commissioner, and the search fees prescribed by the said section shall be prepaid in stamps affixed to the application.

67. In every case where the death of a pensioner is reported to a Postmaster or Registrar, the pension-certificate current at date of death, together with any warrant issued in respect thereto, shall be obtained and forwarded to the Commissioner, who shall file the same.

68. In every case where a pensioner is reported to have been committed to a mental hospital, the pension-certificate current at the date of committal, together with any warrant issued in respect thereto, shall be obtained and forwarded to the Commissioner to enable payment to be made to the mental hospital authorities.

69. If at any time a Registrar or Postmaster has reason to believe that the provisions of section 58 of the principal Act are being violated by the impounding of a pension-certificate by any person as security for the advance of any consideration whatsoever, he shall at once furnish the Commissioner with a report on the matter, and the Commissioner shall take such action as will insure the carrying-out of the provisions of the Act.

OLD-AGE PENSION DISTRICTS.

70. New Zealand has been divided into old-age pension districts, with the names and boundaries following, that is to say,—