The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-04 00:00:00

AIPE;iiiAl PAR LIA 11E NT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.)
REGISTRATION OF ASSURANCES BILL.
The LORD CHANCELLOR moved the second read-
ing of this bill, the object of which he explained to be to
put an end to insecurity of title. He would gladly
enhance the transferable value of land. It was not his
intention by it to change the manner by which land as
a
species of property could be dealt with, but only give
more facility to its transference. Property in land was
very different to any other species of property, and in
the
transfer of it the vendor had all sorts of difficult opera-
tions to go through before he could effect a sale. The ven-
!lorhad it thrown upon him to prove a negative, and though
he did not mean to say that there were many cases of
'rand under this state of things, yet without some mea-
sure of this sort, no security could be obtained. If such
a Measure had been passed 20 years ago, when the first
report of the Commissioners was published, he had no
Idoubt that incalculable benefits would have resulted from
t* (Rear.) The outline of the bill was this. He would
suppose a man to purchase an estate—say Bellenden Park
for 5,000/. After that the man married and made a
settlement of the property on his wife, to be held by her
on his demise, and after her death by their son. Now,
i_ the present law, in the event of the son wishing to
ad' or raise money on that land, he should produce in-
numerable deeds and documents to prove his title. It
;.W.ould be also necessary to examine into the question as
whether any money had been raised, by mortgage or
°therwise, on the property during the lifetime of the
*vendor's father ; and further, to ascertain if a deed of
aPPointment bad been executed by him. The family
solicitor might be applied to on the subject, and he might
answer "no." But he also might add, that "deceased
:was some time in York, where he might have executed
such deed of appointment without the knowledge of his
family ;” so that they would be entirely dependent on
sthe honesty of the father, who was the original purchaser.
°w, all that would be obviated by the present mea-
sure ; for, instead of overhauling title-deeds and heaps
o documents, they need only
-apply to the registrar, in
case of sale or mortgage of the property, when the title
could be easily ascertained ; as, also, every pecuniary
circumstance connected with the property. (Hear,
hear.) That was the scope and object of the measure
then before their lordships ; and without such a measure,
e believed perfect security, in cases of purchase and
tale of landed property, was impossible. (Hear, hear.)
'el:m-1 the very dawn of modern civilisation, in the time
of Henry VIII., the registration of deeds had been.
kore or less recognised. In the reign of Henry VIII.
an act was passed for the " enrolment of bargains and
.841,"." Again
i in the time of the Commonwealth, and
-11usequently, n the reign of Charles 11., the principle
Was recognised. In the reign of George I. three ridings
of Yorkshire and a portion of Middlesex were brought
Mader the operation of the system. Attempts were
made towards the close of the 18th century to extend
aYstem ; but nothing was done until the reign of
101eorge IV., when the noble and learned lord (Lord
Mugharn) made his great speech on law reform, which
Zfas followed by the Lord Chancellor of the day attaching
the Great Seal to a commission constituted to inquire as
,what amendments could be made in the law, particu-
larlyas regarded that important subject— real property.
That commission consisted of some very eminent men,
hoe
from the common law bar, two from Chancery, and
ge of
invest most excellent conveyancers of the day.
they gated the subject very minutely and made
venal reports. In their second elaborate report they
.°linnended unanimously this system of registration as
psystem necessarily the foundation of all real and
ractical improvements." They added these remarks,
inadequate estimates will be formed of the
V° of the present system iv n considering the cases
ere loss arises to purchaseror mortgagees. It is a
an,,naideration of the greatest importance, and one which
iriesents the existing evil in the strongest light, that, in
su transactions respecting the sale of real property, the
abppressian of title is treated as a risk to be apprehended
urcl guarded against." In that report the establishment
Hengeneral registry was recommended as the . founda-
se 11 of every improvement ; and he believed it was in con-
(-I.clnence of that report that his noble and learned friend
i;fizn'el. Brougham, we believe), who had not at the time
en la office,
had introduced a bill into the House of
thu m„,—'u
ns•That bill had not been proceeded with, al-
4, Ugh a committee of the other house had unanimously
411:pved of the principle on which it proceeded. His
tvbiLe, ,and learned friend had introduced another bill,
Tbsen uad been thrown out by a considerable majority.
th fact was, that great opposition bad been offered to
f„: Measure thronghout the country, and had been of-
lunecl mainly by solicitors, acting, he believed, for the.
fla°,B,,t Part, from perfectly conscientious motives, and in-
rthiled by a sincere conviction that the bill, instead of
11-aeu;Ying existing evils, would greatly aggravate them.
coe -‘u•
4o not wonder thatwond they
er shthat ould entertain such a
"lotion. He did not persons who had
e t
0 ef"Y investigated the subject should come to the
daliT,-41siml that the measure would be attended with
gelt which there were no advantages to counterba-
p It had been said that it would lead to the ex-
g°Bl,-,,,1.ef family transactions, and that persons would
ell•r'sit g •int -those deeds from a feeling of improper
money Buot if parties really wished. to invest their
uponl,lll purchasing property, or in advancing loans
have there could be no reason why they should not
taccess to the deeds by which the title to the pro-
."3' was regulated ; and as to the fear that persons
,g/lt examine those documents from motives of mere
N
riosity, he believed that' such an apprehension was un-
'o Unded, and that people seldom or never looked over
deeds without some Justifiable reason. It had also been
said that there would be a risk of losing those docu-
raents. But that risk would be entirely removed by en-
abling parties to register, not the deeds themselves, but
copies of them. In the year 1846 there had taken
Place some proceedings bearing upon that qu ion. At
that time the corn laws had been abolishe nd many
Persons thought that measure would very pr jildicially
affect the landed interest,
.and that some measure ought-
to be adopted for the reef of that interest. A com-
kittee of their lordships' h
house,_the had consequently been
appointed to inquire into burdens on land, and
p Ily into the system of local taxation. That
Z)1111:11Lecia
did not consist
were many of those
of
wormers,
theoretical law
and among
its members
ng their lordships most conversant with the wants
,°
rid the general condition of the landed interest. He
Would name a few of these members. There were Lord
Ite
u,esdale, Lord Colchester, the Duke of Richmond, the
Slnte of Buckingham, the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord
Manley (at present Earl of Derby), the Duke of Buc-
a„e,.n\eh, the Earl of Malmesbury, and other practical
guao/ities on questions relating to landed property.
In their report they declared that " the marketable
'value of real property was seriously diminished by the
process of the transfer of land, and that a regis-
4sof the titles of all real property was essential to any
,
''n-IPt to simplify the system of conveyancing.". Some.
mars, later a commission had been appointed to inquire
141:0 that subject. That commission had consisted of the
Lord Langdale, of three barristers, namely, Mr.
of ettenden Rer,Mr. Colston, and Mr. Humphrey ; and
ioi.,-"° eminent solicitors, in order that every important
Th"'rest might be represented throughout its inquiries.
handeY had carefully investigated the question, and they
come to the conclusion that without a registry it
Ind be idle to speculate on any other reform in respect
k„l'eal Property. They h
had made their report in t e
-Iner of the year 1850 ; and in the year 1851 his noble
ofd (\learned friend the present Chief Justice of the Court
luCzneen's Bench had, as the organ of the Government,
thet°Unced into their lordships' house a bill carrying out
aft,,relemnmendations of the commissioners. That bill,
to having been read a second time, had been referred
Ilia select committee, which, after having sifted the
beirtino to the bottom, had suggested what they had
tle,,,e'ved would be improvements in the measure ; and
laa,,i-Lsuggestions having been adopted the amended bill
lio,iB"een read a third time, and passed their lordships'
tad unanimously, or at least without any division. It
Pe been sent down to the other house, but at so late a
ha„.°' Of the session, unfortunately, that it could not
,„ been discusled there, and the measure had cense-
Ireutly. be en lost. Then came the year 1852. The Go-
newtntent had been changed early in that year ; and the
41,4 Administration had not thought proper to deal with
well subject. He did not blame them for that. It was
kea,, ".°wn that they had had many other important
higb":,nires of legal reform to consider ; and besides,
.their
Who t' legal functionary, his noble and learned friend
to tb''ad Preceded him as Lord Chancellor, was hostile
in question. As soon as he (the Lord
Liehaai-Slicohran "e
) hadb had the honour of receiving the Great
direhad occurred to him that he ought at once to
koa-u" his attention to that subject, and to take up the
Neell„re, 'which their lordships had already sanctioned,
(10in2.-„ne should find some very strong reason for not
noniiru:'°- The bill, as it had been referred to the selectld
bave ittee of their lordships in the year 1851, would
lions carried out the recommendations of the commis-
kiatry in their integrity, and would have settled the re-
Nin't,,,°l4 the basis of' a general map of the whole
fi•„-J on the large scale as well as he could recollect,.
,Twie"p'nelles to the 'mile, Two of the commissioners,
he had thought that such a map would not afford
vge e048:8211‘ode ofattaining the objects of the ; but
the mode
that for his part he believed that it would
eowevbest plan if it should be racticable. It appeared,
twee er, that the formation of the map would cost be-
thou 2,000,0001. 2,000,000/. and 3,000,000/. ; and it had been
tostpgonilte:,hat if. it were proposed that the bill should be
ouid u until the map should be made, the public
4,11 t ecrY naturally think that there existed no serious
b-°enA°.f proceeding with the contemplated reforms.
that um not wish that they should expose themselves
'l3 the 'lnPutation ; and as the map was not
.essential
°a it °Peration of the bill, while it might be engrafted
..,et e,lP...aftey, and
profwhle every private proprietor might
Lnolin.i,:u4P drawn his own property, it had been
the 6.4 b advisable not to . insist on the formation of
hii as °lap
, the indispensable basis of the measure.
gbaiiite 'e endeavoured to make their lordships ac-
nict to d with.the nature of the bill he felt that he ought
ceeuurn.eoMit notice the main objections which had
aourea,t6rin_apinst it. He could not but feel that among
ti Which of persons the real objection to it was
od it was certainly entitled to very great weight,
th' •
ls—that, in spite of the great and almost
was
'4B 0, 'ling array of authority in its of
there
llob "e ve distinguished ••
le un, authority opposed. to it—his
4.Zr(leh:illeeeal!'ned friend, his predecessor in the office of
hi o tlicm There were, no doubt, many people
a 110bleg that no person was more capable than
dud and learned friend of forming a correct
1,01, better uyon the matter, and that they could not
1,: err ior tnan accept his ecision with respect to it.
influe dahi byould not however, he felt assured,
Ject a neeU any such reasoning, and would not
rteeoluill Measure which came before them with so many
,11131:10seeltdattlens in its favour, merely because it
.was
ght 3: his noble and h armed friend, however high
I.lt gaidot Avh-I "it were the respect for his abilities and attainments.
actual objections to the bill. It was
dle lira Place, that it was impracticable, because