THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

1999

bonds; and he is held personally responsible for the amount of any defalcation not provided against as required by bond or guarantee.

(c.) Forms of bond are not to be passed from office to office and from hand to hand and filled up piecemeal. Chief Postmasters are to have all bonds written out after having collected for themselves the necessary particulars. When properly filled up, the forms are then to be sent forward for execution. No abbreviations are permitted in filling up forms of bond. All words and phrases must be inserted in full, as, for instance, “New Zealand,” not “N.Z.,” and the proper spaces must be used for the insertion of titles. The witness to any signature must be a person not interested in the instrument signed. When signing a bond it is not obligatory, though it is desirable, that a person should sign his or her name in full or use all the initials. The full name must, however, in all cases appear in the body of the bond.

(d.) A bond for a Postmaster is not to be signed until the Postmaster has actually been appointed to his office; but when a change is to take place the new appointee should be informed as quickly as possible of the necessity of furnishing a guarantee of fidelity, and the bond should be prepared forthwith. When possible, the bond is to be forwarded to the proposed Postmaster a few days before the appointment takes effect, with instructions to have it executed on the day of his appointment—i.e., the day on which he commences duty. When it is not possible to have the bond executed on the day of appointment, the money-order and savings-bank office or the postal-note branch is to be closed temporarily until the bond is executed.

(e.) The Chief Postmaster must record the date of expiry of a fidelity company’s policy and, at the proper time, arrange for the Postmaster to renew it. The certificate of renewal is to be sent to the Secretary for attaching to the policy.

(f.) If, after giving the security of a society, a Postmaster should omit to pay his premium when due, and thereby compel the society to notify the termination of its liability, his salary will, should it be necessary to renew the guarantee, be applied to satisfy the demands of the society.

(g.) Should either of the sureties die, or withdraw his liability, or become bankrupt or insolvent, or should the guarantee society withdraw its security, the Chief Postmaster must immediately require a fresh bond to be given.

DECLARATIONS.

51. (a.) Before any person can be employed in the Department, either temporarily or permanently, the Post officer’s and the Telegraph officer’s declaration must be made; and no person can be permitted to have access to letters, or to perform any official duty whatever, either postal or telegraph, unless both these declarations have been duly made and signed. The declarations may be made before a Justice of the Peace or before a Post or a Telegraph officer specially authorized by warrant for the purpose. The following are copies of the declarations:—

Post Officer’s Declaration.

“I, [Name in full], do solemnly and sincerely declare that I will be true and faithful in the execution of the trust committed to my charge, and that I will not willingly or knowingly open, detain, return, or delay, or cause or suffer to be opened, detained, returned, or delayed, any postal packet which comes into my hands, power, or custody, by reason of my employment in the postal service, except with the consent of the person to whom such postal packet is directed, or in such cases as are or may be provided for by the Post and Telegraph Act, 1908, or by any rules or regulations to be made in pursuance thereof.

“And I do further declare that I will not intentionally read the contents of any postal packet which I may lawfully open, except so far as may be necessary for the purpose of ascertaining the name and address of the writer