The Express.
London, England, 1849-04-27 00:00:00

feasible title was one difficulty, but there wifosettigre:dohil;semelthrinitpoinurtibeiestattthefottlty
netted with the payment into the Court of Chung and ai
pet Unsinary impanel. He had endeavoured to abate these 0
evils by resorting to a nurse which undoubted'
•V was are '0
mew, which had been suggested by several gentlemen, 'ad
awczfu"labli"eancttilonsaluidwillaillirenbisobse nperflisrl'innoedrin.deworedthiticheinmew°Dflaim. oautliltdderseuabhedinbr
the Court of Chancery, unfettered by the rules of procedure •
now existing, and without the expense arcing from fees, and
also without that antiquated system which could not be
mediately removed from the court. This noun wes net 1
without precedent, and in every case in which it was tried it
seemed to have succeeded advantageously. The preeedent
with which he was mist familiar was that of the West India • 1
commission. (Hear.) That commission had had t, dietri-
hate 20,000,000 i. among the owners of the West India
estates, aid they had bad to perform duties analogous to •
thou which would have to be discharged in Ireland.
They had had to inquire who were the real owners, beams •
the compensation was to Le given to the owners according to
the extent of property, and they had performed their duties
not only without blame, but with great rapidity and little
expanse, and had given great satisection not only to those
whose rights they adjudicated upon, but to the country as •
large. He proposed to appoint a commission in Ireland, to
consist of two paid commissioner and a secretary—that they
should form a net of rules for their own guidance—that the..
rules should be submitted to the Privy Council in Ireland,
and that when sanctioned by that council, and laid upon
the table of the house, they should have the same
force se if embodied in the act. These rules might be varied
and altered; and when the commission was est.blished fn '
this manner, it would be their business to proceed to the
principal duty they would have to perform, and they would
be fettered from imposing any fees whatever on suitors. In
considering the importance of this cemtnission and their
duties, he did not propose to appoint it permanently, or foe
more than a very short period, in order to:ste how it pro-
greased ; bat parliament, if necerieary, might prolong ite
existence. He proposed that it should deal with matters
pertaining to its proviuce in all cases of appl Cation made
within three years; but it might be necessary that it should
last some time longe r—perhaps for a period of two years after
the final application for a sale should be made. He would
invest it with all the points the Court of Chancery
now possessed for the production of titles, 'out he
did not propose that it should have any Amnions
or duties to perform, except where applications were made.
But wherever applications were made by the owners cr 10-
cent:waivers of estates in Ireland, the commissioners should
thereupon proceed to a preliminary inquiry ; and forthwith
after that inquiry to sell the property. When tie y sold a
property they should have full and complete power te sell it
in such manner and portions as they might deem beneficial,
just as that power was now exercised by the Court of Chan-
cery. It was proposed that the conveyance sht tad be in the
form specified in a schedule of the act, and should so vent the
promrtyiin the purchaser as to give him a good and indehasi-
ble title, that that conveyance should in fact form the TA
of his title, beyond which it would not be necessary to step
at any future time. (Hear, hear.) It was proposed also that
the commission should have the same power of putting the
purchasers in possession of the land as a sheriff now had
in the execution of a writ of possession, and that it should not
be necessary to bring actions of ejectment. (Hear, hear.)
So far then as the measure related to the putties: r he
should be put in possession se soon asjpossible, and by a
title so simple as to render eviction upon title at
any future time impossible. (Hear, hear.) It wes
proposed that the ]purehase-money should be pia
into the Bank of Ireland in the name of the commissi mere,
and should be disposed of and divided amongst tee various
persons entitled to it forthwith' and without any del ‘y. It
was considered impolitic) to keep. the money for any length
of time, as that would be introducing a new element in the
relation between metgegee and mortgagor, and peeing the
former in a position which he convected f tr. There-
fore was it deemed incumbeat on the commission to divide
the proceeds of the sale of the property at once. Now
in several eases there would be doubt as to the parties
truly entitled to the money, and in their taw
the commissioners must proceed to investigate sod
determine the rights of persons respecting the pro.
petty. Respecting several of the persons there would
be no question, and those persons would receive their
money at once. But as there would he questions as to
who were entitled to particular incumbrancis, a part of the
money would be set apart to satisfy that claim, and the rest
of the money divided as he had stated. It was thorn.
cally, although scarcely practically, possible that the lend of
some person unknown, or not present in court, might be
disposed of by sale; but it was thought sufficient to guard
against so remote a possibility, by trusting to the scrutiny
and close investigation of the commissioners. It was not in-
tended to retain any fund as a security spinet the contingent
possibility of dipotong of the property of somebody of
whom the court knew nothing ; for although titles in Ire-
land were not generally what were called good marketable
titles, yet there was not much difficulty in ascertaining ill
whom they were vested. The commissioners would, there-
fore, proceed to adjudicate upon matters with tolerable
security that they would not dispose of the property of any
person who was not heard before them. He said this more
confidently, because in the case of the West India commis-
sion there was not, he believed, a single instance in the large
estates examined into andldisposed of, at an amount
reach-
ing many thousands, of any person whatever having com-
plained of the manner in which his property was cliepered of,
or of the money having been wrongly paid. If, however,
such a case should arise, lie supposed it possible that parlia-
ment would deal with it ; but there was not sufficient probs.
bility of its arising to justify them in fettering with • pro-
vision on the subject the measure he was about to introduce,
and which he was sure the house felt to be essential towards
effecting the regeneration of Ireland. (Cheers from both sides
of the house.) For the purpose of adjudicating upon die-
puted cases, the commissioners should have the power of
sending such cases for the opinion of the courts of law, or
directing an issue to be tried by law, the'expense of litigation
being confined to the particular parties interested. The
commissioners would have this advantage in a great many
cams of this description already examined into by the Court
of Chancery; as it would be the duty of the commissioners to
consider themselves bound by the judicial decision of the
Court of Chancery, and as they would also have the power
of adopting any preliminary inquiry which might be found
in the Court of Chancery not finally completed. There must
be a species of coneurrentjuriedietion between the commission
and the Court of Chancery. As the government were creating
a special tribunal for the purposes aimed at by the
bill, they considered that it would not be effectual unless
they completely vested in it all the functions and powers
possessed by the Court of Chancery. They accordingly pro-
posed not only that it should not be prevented from acting
in uses now pending in the Court of Chancery, but that it
should have power to act also in all cues where decrees for
sale had already:been made but not yet carried into effect.
It was proposed that those decrees should be carried into
effect by the commissioners; that where proceedings for
sale were pending in the Court of Chancery, and application
was made to the commissioner themselves to effect the sale,
the Court of Chancery should cease to take further measures,
so far as related directly to the sale of the property. But in
all matters relating to, the suit it was to be in the power of
the Court of Chancery to decide whether they thought it
better to go on with or suspend them until the sale wee
effected. The commissioners were n , except when
application was made to them, to interfere with the proceed-
ings of the Court of Chancery, but when they did interfere
they would have full joriedction, and the power of the
Court of Chanceey, duringsuch period of interference, would
be stayed. It was thought necessary to grant an appeal
from the commissioner', and in that respect the government
were adopting the precedent of the West India commission.
For this purpose they would give to a certain number of the
privy council in Ireland, to be selected by the Lord Lieu-
tenant, the form of a judicial committee. Many members of
the judicial committee in Ireland were men of great legal
eminence and ability, and amply competent to form such a
court of appeal. It was proposed by a provision in the bill
that the appeal should be so far restricted that the commis-
sionen should have the power of saying whether the case
was a fit ease for an appeal. The experience of all einem'
acquainted with the proosedinge of our courts of justice
lawgin them that no one was:more desirous that there should
he an appeal where there were reasonable questions of
doubt, than the judge who tried the MUM. (Hear, hear.)
In frivolous eases therefore, introduced for the purposes al
delay, the decision of the commissioners &garnet appeal should
be final. These were the general provisions and objects of
the commission respecting the functions of which he did not
deem it necessary to go at greater length into the details, se
they would come more properly before the house after the bill,
which would be distributed in a few weeks, had been exa-
mined by hon. members. The beneficial effect of the
commission would be, forthwith to give te every
acre of land sold under it a better title a
title which could not be questioned beyond the date of
the certificate of sale. It would be a great misfortune if,
after a lapse of some 30 or 40 years, estates thus emancipated,
he might say by this commission, should fall back, into the
ewe confusion they were now in, with this difference, that
they would have 30 or 40 years of additional iucumbranees.
Tear Tear, hear.) The better to provide agamst this, it wee
,
to introduce a measure respecting judgments,whith
would prevent them from being assignable at law, or attempt
by some other provision to reduce them to a better systems
so that they might not be a species of permanent charge on
property, as at present—(hear, hear)—for a common mods
of raising money was by a bond, confessing juAtotesis
which judgment was registered, and created a general in-
cumbrance upon the whole of the property. In addi-
tion to that, the government had for some time been con-
sidering whether it would not be possible to introduce as
improved system of registration in Ireland. (Hear, hear.
He could not say that any measure upon that subject would
be introduced this session, as the commission now sitting sea'
it had not yet made their report, although it was espeeted
they shortly would ; and it wm the feeling of the govern-
ment that they could not effectively legislate for Ireland if
they did not first release the land from its pr.sent inns-
brances. (Hear, hear.) But once that were dine, they cone
sidered it essential that steps should be taken to prevent it
front again failing into the same state. (lieu, bear.) The
advantage of the present measure would not merely be the
freeing of the land from its present incunilxr.d st. te. The
direct and immediate object of it, and which be believed to
he the great motive of her Majesty's government in bringing
lii
forward, was, what the right hon. baronet had alluded to
!ha suggesting tonne • measure of this destrietin, that it
might create opportunities for the iofirn of c..pital 010
s.nd to be wholesomely expended in the due employment
of labour. It was desirable to afford the greatest security sad
relief to all incumbrancers, not making thim liable to refund
or repay that which they were paid under tie commission:
and trusting to the commission to dispose of the
justly, he hoped and believed they might re oonebly ere
that the result of the measure would be the edlectual sale of
incumbered estetes, the bringing Onto the market a huge
quantity of land, and the 2.1 e of that Ma
beneficially, whether fen the real or misdeal Owners.