Num. 9. 489

SUPPLEMENT
TO THE
NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
OF
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1913.
Published by Authority.

WELLINGTON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1913.

Regulations under the Military Pensions Act, 1912.

LIVERPOOL, Governor.
ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government House, at Wellington, this 5th day of February, 1913.

Present:

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL.

PURSUANT to and in exercise of the powers in this behalf conferred upon him by the Military Pensions Act, 1912 (hereinafter referred to as “the said Act”), His Excellency the Governor of the Dominion of New Zealand, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said Dominion, doth hereby, for the purposes of the said Act, make the following regulations, that is to say.

———

REGULATIONS.

INTERPRETATION.

1. In these regulations “income-year” means the year ending one month prior to the commencement of any pension-year.

PENSION-CLAIMS.

2. Pension-claims shall be issued only to or on behalf of bona fide applicants for a pension, and shall be delivered to the Examining Officer of the district in which the applicant resides. Pension-claims shall be in the form numbered 1 in the Schedule hereto, or, in the case of an applicant who at the date of his application is in receipt of a pension under the Military Pensions Act, 1911, or of an old-age pension, shall be in the form numbered 2 in the said Schedule.

3. Where a pension-claim is signed by a Maori applicant, or by any applicant who is the owner of Native land, there shall be annexed a statement setting forth particulars of any customary rights or interests held in any block of land, whether under defined legal title or Native custom, and such statement shall be deemed to be part of the pension-claim to which it is expressed to refer; and there shall be indorsed thereon a certificate by a Government officer, to be given without fee, that the contents thereof were fully explained to and appeared to be fully understood by the applicant.

4. The Examining Officer shall, upon receipt of an application, forthwith proceed to verify the statements of the applicant, and shall transmit the claim, accompanied by his report as to the eligibility of the applicant, to the Commissioner for investigation and determination.

5. The Commissioner shall keep a Claims Register, in which all claims forwarded to him shall be recorded.

6. In connection with the investigation of pension-claims the following provisions shall apply:—

(a.) If in the course of investigation evidence is required on any specific matter, the Commissioner, or any person authorized by him, may inquire into the same, and for the purpose of such inquiry free access shall be given to—

(1.) The registers and records of any State Department or office:

(2.) All real and personal property of the applicant, and all books, vouchers, and documents relating to such property, or to the income of the applicant.

(b.) The powers of inquiry and search hereby given shall be limited to specified applicants for pension, and shall not be construed as authorizing any general search or inquiry.

(c.) It shall be the duty of all officers of the aforesaid Departments and offices, and of any bank, insurance company, or other corporation carrying on business in New Zealand, and of all officers of the Post Office Savings-bank, and of any other Government Department which receives investments of money from the public, and of any private individual, to make true answers to all questions, and to afford, without fee, all such information as may be reasonably required for the purpose of prosecuting such inquiry as aforesaid.

(d.) The Commissioner may, in his discretion, accept as testimony for or against the claim—

(1.) A statutory declaration made by any reputable person who therein declares to what he knows of his own knowledge to be true; or

(2.) Any other documentary evidence, whether strictly legal evidence or not; or

(3.) The spoken evidence of any reputable person who deposes to what he knows to be true; or

(4.) The knowledge or observation of the Commissioner himself.

(e.) The valuations for the time being appearing in the general valuation roll under the Valuation of Land Act, 1908, shall, so far as the same are applicable, be used for the purpose of assessing the value of the property of applicants for a pension.

A