The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-07-04
A PLEA FOR TORRENS land TITIF SYSTEM
Being me Address delivered June 30tl1 By Thomas M. PHnan
Before The STATE Bar Association at Lake Toxawav

134 - t~ti+i Il SIAN III y II
vas delivered from the vendor t. the
Nendcc. passing through the hands or
the witnesses. The delivery OF i turf
vas a necessary solemnity 10 ahli
a conveyance anong our axo ances-
tors. At some time or other there was
q progression from these primitive
forms n ceremonies to written con-
Veyances. With their premises. habcn-
DUN, tehendum. r~eddendum. conii-
non, warranty. covenant. conclusion
ana seal. Not many Of us know Just
when these originated. but we all
know that they remain u the present
time, without ma <riaI change ia form.
The conveyance of today must nave its
repetition of all these archisms and
occupy from one to half dozen pages
OF the public records. One writer
says. in this connection: '"To live under
q system which IS said perhaps in
accurately to have been originated
by Norman lawyers under William the
C~onqueror may be picturesque, but the
commercial requirements OF city life
demand that progress shall not be i'm
pedcd by such an a~ntiQuated relic"
We may add that the requirements of
country life at this time are little iG
any behind those of the city.
The accumulation of records is no
trifling Inconvenience or expense.
Vance county. my home. was organ
lied in 1891. 1t is one of the smaller
counties Of the State. 1t has a popu-
iatiOn OF not quite 20, 600. Its deed
and mortgage records now number
eiChty-SeVen volumes and seven in
dexes, and the rate Of increase is
greater each succeeding year. Cen
tlemen from older and larger counties.
e. e. Halifax in the east. with more
than two hundred volumes, and Meek
lenburg in the west. With.
~lunleS can tell a more appalling tale
Of the vast stOrehouseS of records
which burden our State and threaten
an intolerable future for real-estate
lawyers and their clients. | think /
may safely venture the suggestion that
there are not a dozen registry vaults
in the State. ten years old With ade-
quate capacity for the records of the
mex ten years. Not. only in the mat
ter of storage is there Inconvenience
and expense attending such accumu-
lations Of records, but the cost. labor
and difficulty Of Investigating titles,
and the multiplied possibilities Of mis-
tax and oversight are serious prob
lens. growing more embarrassing
every year. I recall a typical case in
my own experience. illustrating one
Of these burdens I had occasion to
pass upon the title of a small lot, Of
insignificant value. 1t CHANGED to ave
passed through the hands of a gentle
man who deals largely in real estate.
To locate this lot among his various
acquisitions, / ran down. through in
dex and record. at least a hundred
items. Add to such difficulty the eex-
| perience of missing links in the chain
Of title. lost records, Irregular records
conveyances on the border land of the
law-gOOd or bad. according to the
humor Of the court. temporary laws
in force for a short time and repealed.
and the examination of titles, becomes
3 veritable pitfall for the unwar law
yer. an unceasing hazard to the lender
and investor, and a constant expense
to the owner.
There exists. however, a condition
more serious than the mere incOnVe-
nience and expense which / have been
discussing. 1t is the insufficiencY Of
our records. In more han thirty
years Of fairly active professional life
/ believe / have never seen a perfect
record title to any piece OF land in
North Carolina. Facts of vital conse-
quence do not appear of record. and it
is often practically impossible to es-
tablish them by any available proof.
| was engaged SOME years G to ex-
anime certain court records outside
my county. under which title was
claimed to a valuable piece of land.
1t had belonged to several brothers.
of whom some were minors Guard
ianS ad Item or next friends had been
duly appointed for these. It also hap
pened that one was non cOmpOS and
confined as such. He was not repre-
scented by guardian or mex friend. and
his condition did not appear The title
was accepted. The property is now
worth probably 81, OO0, 900. and a law
suit over this interest would likely in
volve $3.50, 900. a most common and
notorious condition largely affecting
titles in this State consists in the de-
fective description and boundaries of
land. A few weeks ago a gentleman
instructed me to prepare a deed. i
was not satisfied With his survey n
insisted upon its Verihcation. A little
later he reported that it was not cor
rect. The surveyor had failed to take
into account a link missing from his