Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-04-08
REGISTRATION LAWS.
The Desirability of Uniformity in Such
Laws, and Why We Do Not
Have Uniformity.
Concert OF Action the First Necess.ty-A
Subject Worthy CT Careful oonsid-
Grafton By Our Statesmen.

sregatlon OF results which, IN relation Il
our national existence, the welfare ant
business ct the people, affords q JUS
cause of qualification, even ss 1t chal
lenges history of the world for psraI
lei. Steam and electricity, thel printing
press and the public mails, together with
other potent agencies Of human progress
in the hands of freemen and under the
fostering protection Of enlightened gov.
eminent, nave, in q large measure, uni
fad the entire people of q vast
territory; they have SO blended diverse
nstionalities and brought men separated
by thousands Of miles into daily contac,
of thought and similarity of habit, that
to-day the population OF the United
States is more homogeneous IN character
than was that of ancient Greece, whose
territory could be included within the
limits Of Tom Green county. More than
this, i'll conjunction with the mora
forces Of the age, they have given
to liberty an abiding place with
q nation 80 mighty in external power, q
| people so strong in the internal elements
of moral stability, that today the world
has such guarantee of universal free
dom SIS it never before at any time pos.
sessed. When the empires OF antiquity
grew mighty IN extent they fell to pieces
OF their own weight and for want of the
cohesive quslities and Influences tina;
these latter ages have SO happily supplied.
| II is given to US, and in the history Of our
own republic, To witness the wonder
full spectacle Of country covering
the wide expsnse that lies between dist
ant oceans, and stretching from the
tor1id almost to the frigid zones, with all
its great diversity OF climate of produc-
tions OF social conditions and business
interests, growing stronger in common
national sentiment with each advancing
year.
It will not be gainssid that whatever
tends toward uniformity in the social
and business customs and methods
Of 6 people, aids not only in
creating and Strengthening the ties of 8
common brotherhood, but also In simpli-
flying the transactions of business, and is
matter that commends itself to the
thoughtful consideration OF the patriot
end the business man as well. So closely
are the fiaaEcial interests of the people
of the United States connected, SO init
mstely are they blender, that the dis
cordant systems Of business in the several
states, entail vexation ard confusion &C.
compsnied with pecunisry losses OF seri-
Gus char cter. Aside from the matter Of
| frequent changes of citizenship frcn one
state 10 another, large proportion Of
our people own property Situated in off
ferent states, or that in the movements
of business may be brought within states
other than where the owner lives, ard it
follows that almost every man has n
direct and tangible interest in the laws CT
all the states affecting the title and value
OF property. An important part of these
laws is that which relates TO the registrS-
ton OF title, and which imposes as pen
atty for its nom observance, g loss OF the
property in cases where, by reason OF
such neglect, conflict Of claims may
arise.
compliance with these registration
laws would be comparatively easy, were
they the same in all the states, but they
are not, and their diversity Is cause of
trouble, litigation and loss. Yet there is
no substantial reason why they should
not be the same IN each state. The
statutes of the seversl states In this mat
ter are all founded upon the same prin-
ciple, proceed upon the same theory, ana
relate 10 substantially the same character
of property. The differences are mainly,
almost entirely, in the particulars
of form, method and detail. Unfortu-
nately, however, registration is matter
wherein an almost exact compliance with
forms and details is found to be essen
italy necessary to its proper and eficisnt
operation. While in its general purpose
and effect the Law of registration is con-
sistent with equity, snd effords 8 just and
we'll needed protection TO property rights,
yet it is purely arbitrary in ali
its details - arbitrary in the
sense that specific instrumentalitles
and methods must be selected and pre-
scribed By statute, while other means and
methods of the same general kind would
answer equally well-and in this fact lies,
in large measure, the cause Of the ver-
eity and trouble. Thus, in one stste
deed may be recorded, with right OF pri-
ofisy ever 3 subs quent deed, at any time
within three months; in another state, |
the time is six months, and IN yet another |
it is twelve months. So, IN one state 6 |
justice of the peace may take acknowl- |
edgments without seal, in another, |
he can take them % an eX-ofi;io notary, |
using q notorisl seal, while in other states |
he hiss no authority to take acknowledge |
ments at all. In some states the certlfi |
este OF married woman's acknowledge |
ment must show that she willingly exc
cuted the deed; in others it must more
specifically State that she did SO without |
fear or compulsion Of her husband, and |
in Jet others 1t must further state I
that she then declared that
che wished not to retrsct it.
Some OF the statutes r, 9uire the officer to
explain the deed to married woman,an
others do not; but none OF them, alas,
provide that the woman shall explain the
deed to the officer sufficient to enable
him to enter thereon certificate 10 com
pliance with the law Of the particular
state which controls IS to tbat deed.
A deed of Texas lands was sent by the
writer to be executed by married women
residing IL different states. It was for
wsrded to tie first named grantor,
vita q special reminder that the
several Acknowledgements must COM
ply with the Texas statutes.
At the end of three months II WAS re.
ceived back, and on inspection il was
found that each and every oficer had used
the form Of his own etate, and that each
certificate was fatally defective. a deed
Of Texas bonds was forwarded for execu-
ton to the owner, who resided in ONO.
He returned it with certificate OF &C.
thereto in the OHIO form.
It was sent ssck with state