The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-01-11
COURT Of LAND
REGISTRATION
judue Weaver Tells About the
Work and Suggests
Amendments.

| Judge P. /. weaver in his report or
| the Court of Land Registration for the
eighteen months ended Dec. 81, 1905,
| to Chief Justice F'rear, states that the
court has acquired jurisdiction of H.
1243 acres of land, valued for purposes
of taxation at s1,095 100. More than
100 petitions have been filed. The de-
crees issued in 1906 numbered "a. These
covered house lots of about 905,S2z
square feet, or q acres, and country
property of about 317S acres-fractions
here omitted-a total of 3199 acres. The
total area of titles adjud1cated to Dec.
81 last was 1856 acres.
The assessed value of property regis
tered in the "a DEGREES of 1906, for pur-
poses of the assurance fund. was $422,-
0Ss: from the beginning of the court In
1904 to the end of 1906, $710,540, and Of
property pending registration, $384,620,
the last two sums making the total
of $1,095,160 above mentioned. About
Is acres of house lots and 8424 acres Of
country property, a total of S439 acres,
are pending in court, which with the
registered area make the 1924 acres
risdiction.
Referring to the fact that Al new
petitions were filed in 1906 as against
Y for the preceding period of two
years, Judge Weaver says:
''The failure of the Legislature to ap-
propriate sufficient money to pay the
expenses of the court has caused petit
TONERS to postpone action until new
appropriation shall be had. notwith-
standing the fact that funds are de-
posted by the petitioners to meet ex-
penses, for the greater part. Thus the
number of petitions is less than 1t
would have been had an adequate ap-
preparation been made.
1.-The experience of the past year"
Judge Weaver proceeds, shows clearly
the value of the system in many OF
the particulars mentioned in my last
report.
Street lines are established gov
eminent claims of easements are there
fore defined and settled; government
remnants of land inside of private
grounds are discovered and title ac-
quired and settled; unreleased mort
cages, forgotten, are discovered and
released. pedigrees, not of record, are
established and title proved govern
ment communications in lands are set
tied rather than let the defect appear
on the certificate of title.
1T is important to note again that
| there ought to be legislation to remedy
the evil resulting from the ownership
of a small subdivision of land which
has never paid communication to the
government. Under present law, there
Is no proceeding by which an owner
of a subdivision may get his lot re-
leased from the circumference. This is
a real need in case an energetic gov
eminent should attempt to enforce the
claims Of one-third interest in country
land and one-fourth in city land.
II would recommend that the Act be
amended in certain particulars.
First: The Territory or County
should be allowed to register it's own
title and at a nominal cost.
Second: The section governing ap-
peal should be amended SO that the
issues of fact in the case must be sub
mitted to jury for special findings
of fact on which the judgment Of the
court may be leased.
Third: Persons acquiring title d.
rectly from the government should be
allowed to register title for a purely
nominal fee. If applied for promptly"