THE FISHING INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1919, Page 9

THE FISHING INDUSTRY.

POST AND TELEGRAPH AMENDMENTS. (By Wire—Own Correspondent). Wellington, Oct. 6. The, Fishing Industry Promotion Bill introduced to-night aims at empowering the Minister for Financo to borrow, at his discretion, sums of money not exceeding £25,000 in any financial year for Uie assistance of the industry, which is defined as including sea fishing, fresh water fishing, the cool storage of fish, its preservation by canning or otherwise, fine 1 any other industry or business declared by the Governor-General-in-Coun-cil to be auxiliary to the fishing industry. Loans, not exceeding.in anv one cr,se £SOOO. may be granted by the Minister for Marine, out of the money so raised for any of the purposes prescribed by the Bill To assist in the administration of the measure the Govern-ov-General-in-Council may appoint an advisory board of three persons to be known as the Fishing Industry Promotion Board, which is to have such ad. visory or consultative powers as may be conferred upon it by the authority of the Bill, when enacted, while its particular duty shall be to investigate and report upon all applications for loans as authorised by the preceding clauses of the measure.

The P. and T. Amendment Bill introduced into the House to-night is very largely a Departmental Bill. Some of the clauses affect the public in such matters as registration of letters but not very materially. The one quite new clause is as follows: Where the whole amount standing to the credit of a depositor in the Post Office Savings Bank at the time of his death does not exceed oi.e hundred pounds and probate of the will of such depositor, or letters of administration of his estate, is or are not produced within such time as the Postmaster ■ General thinks reasonable, the Postmaster General may, in his discretion, without requiring probate or letters of administration, pay the amount or any part thereof to any of the persons following: That is to say (a) any person vhc has paid the funeral expenses of the depositor; (b) any person, being a creditor of the depositor; (c) the widow or widower of the depositor; (d) the personsi entitled to the estate of the depositor under the statutes of distribution; (e) any person entitled to take out probate or letters of administration; (f, 1 any person undertaking to maintain the children of the depositor; (g) the public trustee. In making any pavment au aforesaid the Postmaster General shall have regard to the rules of law, regulating the distribution of the estates of persons dying intestate, but he may. nevertheless, if he considers that injustice or undue hardship would result from the observance of these rules, make such ptiyment otherwise than in accordance therewith. All payments made pursuant to this section shall be valid as against all persons and no liability shall attach to the Postmaster General or the Government of New Zealand in respect of i'ueh payment, Before making any payment under this section, the Postmaster General majs require the production of (-roof to his satisfaction of the death of the depositor.