TIGHTER REIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 148, 26 June 1939, Page 8

TIGHTER REIN.

MONEY ORDERS.

PERMITS REQUIRED.

OVERSEAS REMITTANCES.

£5 LIMIT IN MEANTIME,

Further tlglrtening of control over New Zealand's sterling funds is reflected in a new regulation announced by the Government to-day. The effect of this is to allow overseas money orders to the

value»of £1 or over to be issued only after a permit is obtained.

•In view of the fact that the privilege of remitting small sums through the I'ost Office without obtaining a permit has been used by some persons in such a way as to evade the spirit of the exchange, control regulations, it has been found necessary to introduce a procedure whereby application* on a prescribed form will lie required for future remittances," said the PostmasterGeneral, Hon. F. Jones, to-day, reports a I'rpss Association message from Wellington. The present limit of £5 wilt be maintained in the meantime, he added. hut each applicant for £1 or over will be the subject, of a special ]>ermit.

'•Applicants will be required to state the purpose for which the remittance'is required, and whether the application is being made on their own behalf or for a third party."'

A statement dealing with smaller an.omits was issued to-day bv the Chief Post Office, Auckland, as follows:—

"Orders for amounts under £1, which are intended as subscriptions to magazines, membership in societies, repayments of small debt*, assistance to relative*, religious and charitable donations, will be issued without delav, provided that in such :-ases a total of *£3 ~r more has not been remitted during the pre vious three months.

"A special form of application for permits will be available at all money order offices. The form provides for a declaration by the applicant of the purpose for which the remittance is desired, the total amount remitted during the previous three months, and whether the application is made in his or her own behalf. If in behalf of another person, the name and address of that person must be supplied."

This is not the first restriction placed on overseas money orders. When conservation of the sterling funds became necessary, one of the measures adopted was to restrict the value of orders issued to each person to £10 and later to £r, a week. The restriction, however did not go to the extent of requiring a special application form to be submitted. It was simply left to the remitter to make his request as usual, and relied largely on him to observe the weekly limit.

How long the a'lthorities will take to consider the applications and how freely permits will | :e issued remains to be seen. With the restriction put into force only to-day. no statement in tins regard could be made.

[See earlier reference on page 15.]