, 1872-11-30

deed. or mortgage, together with. date Of filing,
ana perhaps the volume and page OF the record
Inns Is all that the indexes may be depended on
to show: Nothing more. and what is this all
Eorth2 and what practical use can be made Of it 2
How are titles to be established merely by such
/ a,aemoranda! OF what use is it to know that q
decd has been given to some one unless Wa
! lnow it's contents, and how executed7
AND even the Items, as given, are not always
! reliable. 1t ls common practice in these
indexes to designate as '.war1antee deed"
! grantor, as well any deed, short Of full cove
nant warrantee, which contains any covenant at
| MI. These books-,are no guide in this respect.
| At the best, they show no more than q simple
chain Of paper-titlo. Nor we're they ever in
tended for anything more than to aid the COM
piler in the examination Of the public records,
by directing them where to find any particular
instrument so as to learn its contents.
| All of the special matters and tho essential
| features in each conveyance, those things which
| impart to it and determine its real vatue are
seldom OR never mentioned IN those books
rarely do they give the boundaries or dinen-
saons OF any irregular parcels; scarcely ever the
tui names Of all the parties, II more than one Of
each; no statement At the special covenants con-
tanned; nor OF the liens or encumbrznoes re-
cited nor Of the particular estate conveyed; nor
Wheher the grant is made by virtue Of any CON
tract OF agreement, or under any will NOR what
prescribed in q trust deed or mortgage. Or in
what manner power Of sale shall be exercised.
No notice is taken of these matters. They
were al left to be sought for in tho records.
ANY defects ID matters OF date, uames, Or
description Of parties, description Of 1ands or Of
the estate conveyed, or In mention Of homestead
waiver; any failure in the mode cf execution,
suoh as omission of tho ses1 to signature, alb
BY his marx, non-identidcation Of grantor by
the acknowledging officer, omission OF nota1y's
seal, or, in faGt. any mention whatever Of the
mode Of acknowledgment, or whether acknowl-
edged at all, none OF these matters are noticed
in the abstract-books. And yet what opinion
can be formed Of tho validity Of any deed in
which these things are unknown?
In tho ''ahstracts Of title" furnished from
these ';oa Offices 0efqrs fore @s re these items were
Since the ire, they are altogether Omitted
in their abstracts, except in cases where these
items have been preserved in Impressions taken
from former abstracts. That is, the abstract
books furnished key 10 z1e public records 80
long as they existed. since those are destroyed,
they are q key to nothing, because there is moth
ing by which to verify them.
Again these books, such ~ they are, are fun
OF figures, characters, symbols, contrAotions, and
abbreViatiors, adapted for convenience, which
have meaning to their complers but, to the
unlnlt1Rted and uninstructed, they hare no sig-
MITIGATION, or their meaning x-ls only in con-
lecture and no Court can recognize them, or
give them any definite construction, c-aless
supported by testimony. Shall We have
GLOSSARY appended to the books 2 or who shall
act as standing interpreter to the Courts, when
these books shall become evidence under tho
.statute7 And who will commit his title to the
chances Of such testimony7
Besides, although these three sets OF books
have common origin yet, as they are the result
in fact, contain many items OF information rela-
tvs to the instruments recorded which are
wan ting in the others. And. as each item is Of
so1s value, in the event Of purchase the county
nation compreheuded in the several sets.
And q new and complete set should be
insisted on, as q condition of the purchase,
which shall be made to include everything found
in each and al Of these sets of books. The ab-
stract men themselves admit that It would now
be quite impossible, since the loss Of aoma Of
these sets By the fire, to furnish complete ab-
etract from any one Het alone; and hence the
necessity. In this way, also, the regular busi-
noss Of these trms would suffer no material
nor their means OF living be des- |
troyed, by the sale Of sEoh copy Of their books
and no such price as half million Of dollars
could be thought Of for copy, except on the
ground Of speculating on the public misfor
tunes.
So far as providing the means for Investigate !!
ing titles ia concerned tEelie abstract Offices have
something. OF moro real and permanent vafue |
The fire has destroyed this also. It has been
The uniform practice OF these Offices to take q
copy, By impression, Of every abstract Of title !
issued from the office. Probably every parcelof
and within tho city limits, well Is in The sub
divisions made within the county, and much
more besides, has, at some time, been examined
y some one or all Of these offices, and abstracts
made, showing the result Of snoh examinations
from The public records. many OF them down to
very late period. In case the Impressions OF
;hese have been preserved from the fire.
n Their eopy-boohs, ; they Topla bo Of
books now offered for sale, since these CONTAIN
he precious information which thot:, books
AVE failed to preserve, why not mako those
;opfes the object OF purchase by the county?
Tie statute makes them evidence; thus every
me whose title is affected by them, will reap
substantial benefit from real abstracts Of all the
mentioned in them.
But let us pay no half million OF dollars for
hat which is sure to disappoint every one who
rusts to it, and which will tend to unsettle titles
ather than confirm and establish them.
II. T. STEELE.
CHICAGO, Nov. %, 1879.
GENERAL NEWS ITEMS