BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-03-26
sANJUAN, MARCH u
Public Records.

Public Records.
The startling disclosures, which yesterd.y y
stirred this entire community, concinsiveiy
prove that the present system OF recording
and registering public documents 10 ridicul-
sasly imperfect, irregular and unjust. !.
The very idea Of official court reeord
bsips In the possession Of any lawyer j
sufficient to'negative any good ELECTS wnlcl
might be caused BY the existence Of tnes
courts. The further possibility OF tnoe
records being 90 handed about % 70 cies.
plblie scandal snd distrust, conciuslvei
proves that this system Feeds immsaiaS
fsctiication. Is
It seems TO have been the common En;.
tiee IN the, Courts Of this islsnd to "a"
attorneys ON application therefor, which
te their private chambers doeu9., hs;n =
were pnIlio records, many cfnt cf m.ttsrs M 2
Anal sdjadications in imRSsnlv real title
sua ethers furnishing tszd to land held
many property owner at Almost any time
By then 1T IN said this nsture can b.
enaeisl oocumsa;so s 0 Of the lawyers througa-
1V0DA seA s@c ~
cat The isla9| was that these documents
Tne p19n to lawyers if they undertook
co1ia De personally responsible for them.
70 20. eecQ that these documents might be oi
aeefalue to others than the attorneys in
.1Ssted, never seemed to have occurred to
>.he Authorities.
The result has been that wEen persons
GsAsr than attorneys sought for permission to
viss these documents they were generally to
DO found in some lawyers ofite. The scan.
daloas doings of the Lass few daysis directly
. sec .ss ssssssss sn1UIaI documents or the
insular courts Of law. And it ID indeed
TemarkAbie that no greater scandal has re
suited from this irregular practice. To take
documents which are tie property Of the
people, subject 70 inspection BY everyone
and anyone, and TO place them in the sole
possession Of an attorney for either Of the
interested parties certainly amounts to the
most irregular and reckless procedure and
practice which We have ever heard Of.
These documents were permitted to pass
beyond the coptrsl Of the officials, and the
saly guarantee the people had that public
records, would not be altered or destroyed,
was the word Of honor given BY the attorney
In question, Il ID . we'll known fact that
sttOrney6 - . rule are not possessed of any
more honor than the average citizen, in fact
II can bs truthfully be said, that in the SER
tiee Of nnserupulous clients even attorneys
may lose same Of their honor, in desire to
b sucesgful.
One cen Judge the awful results which
might have come from this practice, by con-
sideriAg the fact that in many cases these
records farnish the only evidence Of title to
many large tracts Of land ON the island, and
70 much personal property. The removal
Of theae documents ag0uld mean ru netion
and irremediable loss to many nnfortunates
whose right Of title depended on them.
Putting these documents into the personal
charge Of persons interested In their supres.
sion 10 surely pu:tinga q premium on theft
szd dishonesty.
Il see1as amazing that this pratice could
have been permitted to continue ~ long 80
is did. In the States it 10 hard tv ind .
single Coast, no matter hog small, where st.
tornsya o. other people may enter and
remove OF tale away documents which have
bssome public records. The records sreR bo-
weTsr always open to any one sho may desire
% sse them, aGd NJ one 10 denied the right.
In New York and many other states there
b rule that no ink or pens can be used or
carried into any room shers public doom. |
meats are kept for public examination. Not
that the grsas majority Of people scho come
10 sse papers are dishonest, but to provide |
Againss. tie Dishonesty Of the one man In . |
nillion, Who might happen to come along |
At any sima. 30
In cases whore men have been detected In |
extracting pnblis records. and taking them |
nuay, O. esen In changing single letter Of |
. eublie document, the Courts in the states |
have q q ynls imposed the ssyerest penal |
tiss whish The law permitted them to. And
tkie IN. good sesson. IL izz IN imperative |
Aseessity for the good sf the community /
hat al doeumenta which aflsct the rights OF /
ladiyiduse o. bodies ofindiyidaAls, should
- ksps ire ard clear iron any alterations
which might sfest those rights.
It b now time bsfors farther damage is
acns, O. further scandal created, for the au-
|koaiEes % mnka new rules for the record
|ne and preservation OF the public records.
E'hsse documents should be open to the
public n ail times, bat no man shall have
- remove any Of them from tks
Dnblie AIes. The records while affsctine the
'igkh u Individuals become public propsrt,
D reassn Of The fact that thsy furnish tks
Iuthorisiss with basis upon Whiek tol
|sstrmins ths fslatioaj and tho rights Of
|i<Is6nA 5ssss s II
hExpsdienteaN and othsr documsr g piled
il foo1s an1 in closets, In harem soaren
ssh1ony without respect 10 order Of any
md, md handed % loosely that any oas
nIrkt 1ntsg sad tsks them has besn ilei
IL n judicial recording and prsssrvatiouI
{ iosunsnts IN The vaai us courts pe hare I
1>eso1. In ne Federal Oonrt tkin h dif ]
'Fsnk 4 ssii 'hs's might giys 'hsjadlsi.l /