sioner is convicted of drunkenness, or of any offence punishable by imprisonment for not less than one month, " and dishonouring him in the public estimation," then, in addition to any other penalty imposed, the Court has the discretion of forfeiting one or more of the pensioner's instalments falling due after the date of the conviction. Further, if the Court is of opinion that any pensioner mis-spends, wastes, or lessens his estate, or greatly injures his health, or endangers or interrupts the peace and happiness of his family, it may direct that the instalment may be paid to any clergyman, justice of the peace, or other reputable person for the pensioner's benefit. It may even go so far as to cancel the pension certificate. And it is bound to cancel the certificate if the pensioner is proved to be a habitual drunkard within the meaning of the Act The certificate must also be cancelled if the pensioner is sentenced to imprisonment for twelve months or upwards for any offence "dishonouring him in the public estimation."
The pension is absolutely inalienable, whether by way of assignment, charge, execution, bankruptcy, or otherwise. The Act does not apply to aboriginal natives who are in receipt of aid from the Civil List, nor to aliens, nor to Chinese, nor other Asiatics, whether naturalised or not, and only to naturalised persons of other countries who have been naturalised for five years.
The Act, which applies, of course, to persons of both sexes, is admitted by the Premier to be merely a tentative measure, and appearances, before it was passed, pointed to the fact that considerable difficulty seemed likely to be experienced in putting it into active operation; that is, if any reasonable amount of care was to be exercised by those conducting inquiries into claims for pensions. A cursory glance at the qualifications necessary for a pension is sufficient to show that a considerable amount of extra
