Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1903-08-14
Friday, August "a.
DO WE NEED THE ToRRENs SYSTEM

DU We NEED The IUhhENo SIoIEM
At the approaching Virginia Bar
Association which assemblies at the
Hot Springs, Va, on August 81, the
'.Torrens System" of Land Titles will
again be discussed in the hope that the
Virginia Legislature will adopt it.
The act which was before our Legisla- |
ture at its last session, has been printed |
and circulated right freely throughout
the State and has the endorsement OF
large and respectable class of our
lawyers. The system does not COM
mend itself to us as whole. One OF
the objects seems to be to put land
titles in someone whose name Will be |
seen by mere reference to the books
of a court to be created to adjudicate
titles. and so soon as the name Is seen
then all the world shall thereby know
that the person whose name is there
written has THE ONLY outstanding
title which exists to the land. This is
to be accomplished by any person
claiming the land submitting his title
to court which shall, in what seems
to us a very short and perfunctory
way, declare him to be, or not to be,
the real owner. No matter how lnl-
quitons such a decree may be, If In
favor of any individual only ninety
days will be allowed for an appeal
from it, and the reopening of it is made
practically impossible by absent per-
SONS or infants.
Now If such title be decreed person,
and in so doing it be the baldest steal
imaginable, such for instance as some
of the steals which are now going on
in Virginia, under our delinquent tax
law, it makes no difference, the decree
will stand, and the injured parties be
compelled to suffer in silence.
In the second place, no matter how
meritoriOus the law may actually be,
it is an experiment of the gravest char
acter. There are II printed pages OF
the act, they are new to US and may
cost our people millions in court fees,
to say nothing of the millions we can.
not see or which cannot be put into
the list of losses, such as attorneys
fees paid, and individual losses not te
be estimated in the general reconing
There is most astounding PROPOSE
ton in the bill, and that is to practi
eally turn real estate into persona
property, and this to be done ostensi
bly, for the benefit Of the small owner
In the first place as descendants Of
the Anglo Saxon race we have beer
taught, if it did not intuitively exist
with us, to hold land above every othel
character or kind of property. W.
never did want our land put where Il
could be assigned and transferred JUS
as we may do a share of stock or
negotiable note. Had this been thu
case there would long ago have ceased
TO be small holdings, and our lands
would have all been owned by rict
individuals, trust companies, ano
building and loan associations. Ii
every time land owner wanted few
hundred dollars he could run to 9
money lender and hypothecate or sell
his land by merely writing his name
across the back or appending it at the
foot of paper, there is no doubt he
would do so, and later wake up to the
fact that he had been buncoed, and bis
holdings be forever gone. One of the
great safeguards as we now look at 1t,
lie, the fact that our land owners have
certain formalities to go through with
before they can rid themselves of their
patrimony, and this fact often saves
their homes to them.
A young man, for instance, is on a
temporary ''tank up," he wants some
money to continue it, he falls in with
shylock in his maudling condition,
the shylock gives him money and takes
his land-under the Torrens System.
The same young man under our Vlr-
RlAld b1p hoI NC AatihR UlO bd"O
"high old time, he may want money
just as bad as the young man under
the Torrens System. Yet under the
delays incident to our present system.
he would sober up before his entire
estate had vanished, and whilst the
money lender and the bar-keeper
might be less opulent, the owner of
the land would be still a land owner
and yet likely to become more useful
citizen.
This kind of case is simply cited to
show what might happen any day, or
night, with any young man who owned
land, but who had not arrived at the
age of discretion. He indeed might
be celebrating his 81 st birthday. There
would in our opinion, however, arise
cases every day, where persons over
come by temporary misfortunes would
be the prey of harpies in season and
out of season.
We have looked over the list Of
States which have adopted this sys-
tenn. The list is not convincing. Only
six have adopted it, and they may find
they have gotten hold of a very dan.
gerous and troublesome proposition
before they are through with it. Many
States of the Union have adopted laws
we do not have. Some have female
suffrage, others prohibition laws,
The fact that they have them is a Door
argument when we are asked to take
them. We must see and be satisfied
with the merit of all laws before we want
them. For our part We are glad our
people cannot 30 easily get rid of their
lands, and we shall not yet favor law
which makes such a thing easy in
Virginia. We should regret to see