The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1908-10-10

on November 8. the speech OF Hon.
VIM. II. Murray on the Torrens land
system. sia,e question No .. vii. be
If interest
Gentlemen; | desire to explain that
system of land registration known as
The Torrens' Land System" sys-
tenn Of registering titles as distin-
guishe6 from registering evidence Of
title such as deeds, which system
brings about our cumbersome, expen-
sive and uncertain abstract system.
The Torrens system had its origin in
Australia in 1854. II first came to the
! United States and received official
notice by Governor Russell, of Massa-
chusetts, where II is in force in its
fullest vigor of any state in the Amer
lean Union; although It is in force in
modified form in the states of Cali
fornia, Colorado. Minnesota, Ore
gon and Washington and by the
Philippine commission and acts o.
congress has been adopted in Hawaii
and the Philippine islands, copy of
which last laws / have in my posses.
sion. Il was extended Throughout. the
German empire by the code OF 1900.
II is also in Denmark, Austria and
Hungaria and most of the cantons OF
Switzerland. the county of Lordon.
England and in most of the provinces
OF Canada; in fact, in my opinion the
law as It Is IN force in the province
OF Ontario is the best on this cont.
nent II is in force in some form
in all OF these states Notwithstanding
the stubborn opposition with which It
has been met by the abstract com.
panies and by land attorneys. When
once understood it is irresistible, be-
cause 1t is the one law. and the only
one with which ! am acquainted, upon
which the richest man IN the state as
well as the poorest in the state unite
their endorsements. II is true 1t is
hurtful to the abstract system and
they fight 1t. II is hurtful to the
land lawyer, and of course, he fights
it: however. for the first generation
It will assist the land lawyer and give
him an increased amount of litigation
that is, until the system Is complete
ly installed. after which a land suit
involving title Is practically unknown.
Suits, of course. will occur to fore
close liens for taxes and for the loan
of money, and also to probate Wills
and estates, but the title is at every
stage known to every citizen who
can read mot so with the abstract
system BY the method OF abstract
ing generally In force in the United
States, everything Is uncertain and at
tended with great expense. ANY
farmer or business man desiring to
purchase land first demands OF the
land owner to procure an abstract,
which usuually costs $1.O0 page with
the minimum price of $500; there is
one page for every transfer, hence
in the course of q hundred years say
there may be 20 or 100 or more OF
these transfers each costing so cents
to sl.00 a page; every step since the
beginning of the sale of that land is
recited in an abstract. A friend OF
mine recently told me OF one abstract
In the state of Kansas that cost him
$1,40O,00 There was an abstract
made out in the City of Mexico short
while ago that weighed 500 pounds
and cost many thousands of dollars.
The next step of the purchaser is to
present that abstract to a lawyer and
retain him TO look Il over and render
an opinion as to the title. The law
yer does so and gives an opinion that
may be good and it may be absolute
ly worthless; the man goes upon the
land. (perhaps it is unimproved) he
builds q home upon il and after he
Is fixed and feels that he is safety
4 L., b1
by; a defect In the title is discovered;
the real owner sued him for posses
sion, he goes into court, is defeated
in the first trial, he sells some Of his
personal property and appeals the
case and hires additional counsel; he
loses again and goes TO the supreme
court where he loses not only the per
sonal property which he had to spend
for attorneys fees and court costs, but
loses his case and his home. This is
not oyerdrawn, hundreds OF occur
rences OF this kind have happened, II
Is not an exception even 10 the rule,
it Is the rule. Again, under the ab-
stract system a man desires to bor-
row some money quickly to save him,
perhaps from financial ruin; he goes
10 Inc Ddnk, the pdih II diiaiu VI 'hN
title. the bank has no certain means
OF knowing especially at the moment
perhaps By reason of not being able
to get the loan when he had landed
security he meets with financial ruin.
Now, the Torrens' system is the re-
verse. It is not a registration of deeds
and evidence OF title. II is an absolute
register of title First, however, the-e |
must be trial TO determine the |
ownership and then all deeds are can.
celled and an except loans OF liens
upon the land; certificate is issued |
to the owner for the decree and after
that there Is never but one outstand- |
ing certificate and that certificate
shows every condition OF title. Any |
man as soon as ne sees the certifi- |
cate and Il is marked "Torrens' Land !
knows that Il Is good, \ is Just fs |
sound and as safe as buying a govern
ment bend; In fact, the Wall Street 1
Journal last spring said That the
Torrens Land Certificate is the safest |
security that could be made by law.
have but recently a letter from The /