The Express.
London, England, 1853-03-07 00:00:00

TO CORRESPON DINTS.

• ...coed editlea el " Tie Ilapeeaa. aemainiai rtu make meadeVe
Uasette." pabliskai .ea, Tuesday sad Mem 5404 ia time
ke. !oat.
• •eetueemeate intended fee faerme..Leades regalia pspit.
moat be at tM Mot, It, SomereaMeme, If Tao o'elook . tM
dm of rialimatioa.

RIOR WATER •T LONDON BRIDGE.
Tuts Dav—lirtsiaL O. 13e....—.-Lltimms. 01. 4846
I.w. atiow—M•raieg. 11. 13a....—..A1mn0i5. 11. Ma.

LONDON, MONDAY, MARCH 7.

Tim " Peers of England—pillars of the State "
are now chafing over Lord Citaswouries scheme for
reforming our land laws. The plan is small enough
in its WeV, but the public have nevertheless a very
considt rible interest in the decision to be arrived at.
The arguments in favour of a general Register of
Deeds lie in a narrow compass. They have never
perhaps been more concisely or more comprehensively
Mated than in the following passage, from the Report
of the Real Property Commissioners of 18,10 :—" In
all eii iliscd countries the title to land depends in
great measure on written documents, and Me pur-
-1 has, r 6 oks and is empowered by the law to look for
proof at the seller's right beyond the fact of his,
possession. It is obvious that a documentary
title cannot be complete unless the party
to whom it is produced can be assured that no docu-
ments which may defeat or alter the effect of those
which are shown to him are kept out of sight. It
follows that means should be afforded by the law for
the manifestation of all documents necessary to com-
plete the title, or fur the protection of purchasers,
against the effect of any documents which, for want
of use of such means, have not been brought to their
knowledge ; in other words, that there should be a
General Register."
It would be impossible to express in fewer words
the principles upon which a general Register of Deeds
is grounded, or to intimate more clearly the objects
it is intended to @observe. As long as the law em-
powers (or rather compels) s purchaser of landed
property to look for proof of the seller's title beyond
the mere fact of possession, and to have that proof
formally set forth in written documents. there
would seem to be an irresistible cogency in the
reasoning which would impose on the State
the correlative duty of providing for the
purchaser a ready means of assuring him-
self that no document is in existence that can
defeat or alter the title offered to him, and to afford
him when he accepts a conveyance prompt and easy
means of securing the title which he takes. The
security, then, of the purchaser of real property,
snider the existing state of the laws affecting land, is
the primary object of a registration of deeds ; les-
sening the cost of land transfer is a secondary con-
sideration, although it is obvious that any measure
which diminishes the expense of that investigation
which is necessary for security, must incidentally
cheapen the price of conveyancing.
The main question, then, to be decided with regard
to any scheme for establishing a centralised Registry
for Deeds is this: will it so materially contribute to
the security of those who purchase or deal with land
as to make it worth while to run the risk of the

certain expense and the probable inconvenience with
which its introduction will be attended? It is on
this question that Lard ST. LEONARD'S is in such
strenuous opposition to the opinion of his brother
law lurds, to the recommendations of the Real Pro-
perty Commissioners, and to the convictions of asreat
majority of the advocates of law reform. This is not

thi plaio for callousing in detail the arguments
which on Thursday night he adduced in support of
his owe views, and which, u Lord CAMPBELL with
perfect truth remarked, had been for some time fami-
liar to all students of that celebrated text-book est
the Law of Vendors and Purchasers which formed