The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-02-04

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astonishing by those who not aware Of the man
ner in which they have been executed lift posi-
Bile to obtain any Of the cases in which the
names OF the parties, the designations Of the tracts
Of the patents have been written ensures
and often in very different hand and ink from the
rest Of the instrument Very little will be hszarded by
saying that if these alterations affect the validity
OF these documents, whenever subjected to Judicial in
vesiigaon, that then very large number Of patents,
instead of being legal evidences oftte al tho best
but official memoranda that the parties therein
named, are entitled 10 that description Of title.
This practice of issuing erased and altered patents
also greatly tends destroy that intrinsic evidence of
title which patent is intended to convey to the pub
lics and il sbeeved that these alterations are SO com
mon, that person may take patent and alter il in
several places, in whatever manner he peases as to
the name, tracts, or dates and yet that upon its pre-
sentaton to the officers they will not without compa
ring IL withthc papers in the be enabled to say
whether or not il is genuine document. And still
it is expected that persons who have The Of
making these examinations receive these mutt
lated parchmenls indsputable evidence of individu
al rights
Not only has the character and appearance of many
poets, but others have been scratched the place
for signature, owing to the necessity Of erasing the
Recorders name, when improperly signed for him by
those who made them out that it is said that officer
positively refused to sign them until he was expressly
required to 10 so by the Commissioner and that SINH
lar ones in his absence, signed by the officer
temporarily dscharging the duties Yet all these go
to swell the number annually reported Congress
being titles issued by the General Land Office to the
purchasers Of the public domain If such the pa
tents which have been sent out of the office the cha
racter Of the retained records, may be concctured
| The issuing of such documents can only be defend
ed on the ground that they should 20 out Of the office
in this manner, rather than that the Government
should lose the 20 25 cents which it would
give the party correctly engrossed title to his land
in lieu Of defaced and altered one; or, because the
additional time which would have been required for
more careful engrossment, must have prevented the
Office from annually reporting, by few hundreds the
same number of patents which have been issued in
consequence of making the apparent test of merit to
consist of the amount and the neatness and cor
rectness Of the work prepared. Upon the score Of
true economy however the system is erroneous when
take into consideration the time and labor involved
and in altering those which have been and will vet
have TO be returned from the District offices for that
purpose. 1t is thought that in this, as in many other
transactions Of life the truth of the proverb, the
more haste the less speed" will be exempIfed
The great moving of this mode of doing bust
ness may well be imagined 10 have been founded if
not upon desire to press the work with undue ra-
pdity, in order that great show Of business might be
made with view Of attracting attention and elcitinr
appreciation, at least upon the supposon, as will ap-
pear by Document No l05 House of Reps st ses-
sion, 10th Congress- pages 81 and 80 in particularly
that promotion was prize attainable only by him,
who by writing early and late himself or otherwise
could show that he had oustrpped in the and shed
more ink IN the service Of his superior (woud that we
could say for the credit Of the Office the benefit of
the patentees,) than any of his fellow aborers
The truth of these suggestions must be apparent
when in commenting on plan proposed by the Com
missioner by which |" discretionary power was TO be
vested in him to add to and take from the grade of
salary, provided by law his will and pleasure" and
in support of which plan the Commissioner in,imated
that such had been his construction Of the law and
practice under it, and to his course IN this respect was
to be attributed the 'unerampicd amount ofbusiness
done IN The office" as also "Me superior neatncss and
accuracy ehe rork," the officer whose peculiar pro
vince 1t is to superntend this branch of the duties of
the Office felt himself bound to declare to Congress
through the medium ofthe Secretary Of the Treasury
that "he former efttese propositions may be readily
admitted, so far lie araste Of paper and parchment
is concerned but as 10 the latter more faacous idea
nerer entered The head Of man. The rery rererse has
been, and must necessarily be- the effect as mo-
ment reflection will suffice TO convince And here
it is than OF Justice to saw that as
shown by that Document the Recorder has always
been opposed to allowing patents of the character
which has been described, 10 90 from the Office he
having always contendcd that neatness accuracy and
legibility should be particularly attended to-
These are thought to have been the causes of these
Objectionable features in much of the work which has
been sent out of the office and while it is hoped that
the amount of labor performed will always be consi-
dered as of the standards of merit il is trusted
that the period is coming when neatness legibily and
accuracy will be restored to their proper pre- eminencc
and when the titles given by the Government may be
at least equal in all these essential particulars othose
which an individual would not feel ashamed to tender
to his assignee
1t is stated that in cases where the papers upon
which patents are issued, showed the creation Of a
trust, tina, those patents have been so granted as to
vest unqualified estate in fee in the trustees named
and their heirs and assigns tenants in common with
out even specifying the Cestque use"that in others
where lands had been purchased in co-parinership.
they have been granted TO A. B. "and Company."
and to their heirs and assigns, without furnishing the
means by which the Of all the parties in into
rest could be asceranod and that have occurred
where property belonging to minor heirs has been