The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-22 00:00:00

A FEW WORDS to the MEMBERS
OF AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND OTBEIIS
INTERESTED Is LAND.
Gentlemen,—The Act which allows; a free trade in
corn has pssed. It tr,,iy be regarded by you with dif-
ferent reefirTs—by many as tl-.0 hat hinger of ruin, by
sonic as the commencement of state of things;
hut it is now the law of tie land, and it cannot be sup-
posed that a measure sanctioned by the leaders of the
two great parties in the State will be repealed without
a trial, evtn if temporary circumstances did not greatly
favour this view.
But there is a point to which you can immediately
direct your efforts, and which, I think I shell be able to
show; you you may reasonably hope to carry; We are
to have free trade in the produce of the lane—let us
also have free trade in the land itself. You ail know
that the buying and selling of land is at present any-
thing but free ; you all know the expense and delay
which now embarrass all dealiros in land. Is it nut
worth y( ur while to consider whether these must be sub-
mitted to as inesitable evils ; or whether, by taking the
proper pains, you cannot materially lessen them ? I
need hardly say that if this can be done, you, as the
owners of the land, will be benefited, and that every-
thing that gives greater facility to the transfer of land
will enhance its value. If you can buy land more easily,
or sell land more easily, or borrow money more easily
on your land, this is a direct benefit to you, for per-
sens interested in land usually wish to buy it, or to sell
it, or to enjoy it and to render it available for their ne-
cessities.
What, then, is the state of the law as to land ? Is
it clear, and sirnpie, and easily understood, or is it diffi-
cult to comprehend ? You know, if you are wise men,
that you know nothing about it ; that the law relating
to it, so far from being simple or easily comprehended,
is the most difficult branch of our jurisprudence ; that
many lawyers profess not to he well acquainted with it ;
and that this responsibility is thrown on a comparatively
small number even of the learned profession. Now, I
think you will agree with me that this is not as it should
be ; the laws relating to property should be few and
simple. Intricate and difficult questions will no doubt
arise in civilized states ; but the familiar transactions,
the sale and the mortgage, should be easily understood
and easily performed. We know they are so in person-
alty, in produce, in ste;ck, in the funds. Is it absolutely
necessary that the purchase and mortgage of land should
be so difficult and so expensive as they now are ? The
law as to suits and actions may be hard and vexatious,
but then few people after all go to law, but almost all are,
more or less, interested in land.
What spell then binds the land of this country? We
cross over to Belgium, to Prussia, to France, and we
find that the transfer of land in those countries is nearly
as easy and simple as that of stock in the funds. The
Government of those countries demands a larger sum in
the shape of stamp than in England, and this may or
may not be a proper mode of raising a revenue; but, so
far as relates to the acts of the parties, the expense and
delay are very inconsiderable. This has been brought
out in a striking way in making purchases of land for
railways, of which the same persons are directors in
England and in France or Belgium. Now, what is the
result of this increased facility of transfer? We find
that land is more valuable in France, in Belgium, and in
Prussia than in England, it fetches more in the market;
and money can be borrowed on land at a much easier
rate there than here; and it is not unreasonable to attri-
bute this, at all events, in part to the difference in the
law. It; then, land is susceptible in one country of a
ready transfer, and not in another, there is something
wrong in the law of the country in which it is impeded,
and I hope to show you what it is in our law which
occasions this lots and inconvenience to the holders of
land.
The primary rules of our law relating to real property
in this country are all founded on the feudal system.
The policy of that system was to restrict alienation, and
in some cases actually to prohibit it. It looked upon the
traustcr of land with disfavour, and it was only by slow
degrees that land was emancipated from its most ri-
gorous rules. Many of them have been evaded after a
clumsy fashion, and indeed the history of the law
down to the present time is a series of struggles to evade
them; but to this day, on every alienation of freeholds,
the rules established by the feudal system must be borne
in mind, and in the alienation of copyholds these are in
full force. The spectre of feudality still haunts the
land, clanking its chains, and rising at the most unfore-
seen moment to scare the lawful owner from doing what
he will with his own.
Let it be remembered that down to the end of the
reign of Henry VIII. no one could will his freehold
lauds, and that down to the 55th of George 111. no one
could will his copyhold lands, without a previous sur-
render; and down to the , first year of the Queen no one
could will his customary lands without a previous sur-
render; that so late as the reign of King William IV.
an entail could not be barred except by a fictitious suit
called a fine or a recovery; that down to the fourth year
of the reign of her Majesty two deeds were usually em-
ployed instead of one in the most simple dealing with
land; that down to the commencement of this year those
useless phantoms termed "outstanding terms for years
were in full activity; and that now, according to the
established practice, before an acre of land can be
sold, its history for the last sixty years at least must be
told

But lam sure I need not say any more as to this.
You all know by woeful experience the present state of
the law as to real property, and it is sufficient to say,
that if its present rules are strictly carried out, they
render many small interests in land absolutely unsale-
able. The only way of dealing with these is to dispense
with ceremonies considered necessary in larger sales,
and to take them on trust, without any inquiry as to
title at all. How then can this state of things be re-
medied ?
I conceive we should all endeavour to obtain-
1. Simplicity and uniformity of tenure.
2. Easy, cheap, and expeditious modes of transfer.
3. Shorter and more simple deeds.
4. A greater certainty as to time in completing the
sale and mortgage of land.
5. Some mode of shortening inquiry as to title.
In order to gain these desirable objects, let me direct
your attention to one or two points which will help us in
obtaining them :-
1. A general map of the country should be made.
This exists in every civilised land, and greatly facilitates
and simplifies all dealings with land. Several recent in-
vestigations, as the Tithe Commutation, the Inclosure of
Commons, and in Ireland the Ordnance Survey, will be
found serviceable as to this. A state-map would assist
other changes, but it would be exceedingly useful as a
measure by itself.
2 A general registry of titles should be established.
This will, when once it comes into effectual operation,
shorten both deeds and title. This also exists in every
other civilised country, and even in an imperfect form in
Scotland and Ireland.
3. Proper consideration should be given to the whole
subject by competent and unprejudiced persons employed
by Government.
You will see that the times favour the chance of ob-
taining your reasonable demands in this matter. In
Scotland there is a strong desire to get rid of entails, for
here the feudal law presses on the land eves more
severely than with us. In Ireland the whole law of
tenure is in a confused and unsatisfactory state, and en-
lightened persons are demanding 'laws which will facili-
tate the transfer of land, as a panacea for many of her
present heavy troubles.the House of Lords unanimously reported last session in
favour of r a
thoroughrevlisnionEongfltahned a Committee of
present system of
conveyancing." A little exertion, then, is alone wanting.
For who is to oppose you ?
The landed interest will not oppose any measure for
the benefit of the land. The mercantile body have
always been fond of investing their savings in the pur-
chase, and of lending their moneys on the security of
land. Even the lawyers are beginning to find out it is
not their interest to thwart measures which will multiply
all dealings in land tenfold. The present Ministry will
not withstand a strong and earnest appeal to them. All,
then, that is wanted in this juncture is, that the appeal
should be made. All that is
wanted is a little exertion.
Let us, at all events, insist that these matters should be
fully inquired into, and if this inquiry results in raising
the value of your land to the price that it fetches on the
continent, you will perhaps have the less reason to regret
the present crisis, which will have enabled you to carry
the measures to which I have referred.—l am, gentlemen,
your most obedient servant,
Lincoln's Inn, October 21.

JAMES STEWART.

cyFaTteurunnjoi7coacnartorrdeMr Acame
down
THE RELEASE. THOMAS
NOTT.—On Tuesday
from the Hoir
of Correction, e-office to the Rouse for the
liberation of Thomas Nott, who was convicted at the
Clerkenwell Sessions, on the 30th of last month, for
stealing a quantity of linen and wearing apparel, on' the
16th of the same month, from the house of Mr. Still, a
tailor, in Lucas-street. The Governor a the House' of
Correction, who behaved with great humanity to Nott,
after his innocence was made apparent, gave him half-a-
crown on leaving the prison. On the same day, Mrs.
Nott, the wife of the innocent man,r received 10s. from
Mr. Ellis, the chief usher of the Thames Police court
who had been directed by Mr. B allantine to relieve the
I), who said that
gentleman, and
family weekly, while Nott remained in prison. Yester-
day Nett called at the Thames Police-court, and re-
ceivednn e n. twotb n
in sovereignsbad been fromleft
byM ra. Bb
humane
r °Jae'. in
the other was from the poor-box fund, placed at the dis-
posalsl ed the magistrates
of
the
m agistra tesNott expressed his gratitude,
' advice as to what should be
and
a
done with the girl Evans, who had been the cause of his
imprisonment. Mr. B. roderip referred Nett to Sergeant
Harris, of the K division,
who was the first to expose the
conduct of the girl, and said the Court would render him
every assistance. The worthy magistrate, at the same
time, expressed the deepest commiseration for the un-
fortunate man, and said he was much to be pitied.
He should not lose sight of him, and in the course of a
few days, some further assistance would be rendered.
NEW HALL AT TIIE MANSION-HOUSE render
some
days past a number of workmen have been engaged at
the Mansion-house, for the purpose of constructing a
new entrance hall, the present one having been found,
by the present hospitable Lord Mayor, too confined for
properly receiving his numerous guests. The prepara-
tions having been completed, yesterday was appointed
for laying the foundation stone, the ceremony having
been performed by his Lordship, assisted by Alderman
Moon. The new entrance will be a very capacious one,
situate about five or six yards from the present hall.
THE BUTCHERS' CHARITABLE INSTITUTION.—The
eighteenth anniversary
.festival of the members and
friends of the above institution took place last evening at
the Freemasons' Hall, when about 190 gentlemen sat
down to a very sumptuous repast ; amongst whom were
B. B. Cabbell, Esq. (chairman) Mr. Alderman and
Sheriff Challis, Mr. Sheriff Kennard,
.C. Pearson, Esq., &c.
Lord Palmerston has, in the kindest manner, ap-
pointedtho Rev. Dr. Wolff, whose recent and humane visit
a son of
thetoikikhator:meluesrtksblieipfrienshthm recollection of oure Foreign Office,
readers,