The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-07-04

holding land has. ever characterized
EngIish-speaking people. Over against
this is the more modern idea of land
speculation, and, perhaps, the neces-
sity of converting this class Of prop
erty into a ready asset for trade and
commercial uses. All the necessities
of the earlier conditions were reason
ably met by the established order re-
s~pecting titles and transfers. The lat
ter demands more perfect assurance
of little, greater facility Of tranSfer
and a substantial reduction of ex-
penses in transactions affecting realty.
1t is proposed to meet these demands
in North Carolina by the introduction
of the TorrenS system of assurance,
registration and transfer. This was
brought before our people in 1909 by
Representative Robert r. Gotten, Of
Pitt county, who introduced a legis-
lative bill to provide for the settle
ment, registration, transfer and as
surance of titles to land, and to estab-
ljsh the court of land registration,
with jurisdiction throughout the
State" This bill received such scant
favor that [ believe it went off upon
adverse committee reports without a
vote.
Mr.. Gotten, however, secured the
passage of a resolution authorizing the
appointment of a commission to in
vestigate the subject and report to
the General Assembly at it's succeed
ing session. No compensation was
provided for this commission not
even its and, except as an
agency for keeping the agitation alive,
it was of little value. | say this as
one of the commission and without
any intention of rejecting upon the
gentlemen who composed it. \ ma
jority of the commission reported IN
IA L'ar of an 96ontatiOn of the TOrronS
system for use in this State. Follow
ing the report, Mr.. Gotten, nod ad-
vanced to the Senate, introduced a
new bill in that body, emitting the
court feature. 1t was also introduced
in the House by Representative ON
nor. Many of the cruditieS and de-
fective features of the earlier bill
were corrected in this later one, which
had many admirable features, yet
bore the marks of haste and INSULT
Cient consideration. This bill passed
the House, but failed in the Senate.
The farmers who constituted a ma
jority in the House in 1903, escaped
with little criticism for their defeat
of the bill of that year, but the law
yers Of the Senate, who are credited
with the defeat Of the bill of 1911,
have been less They have
been widely and sharply criticised.
Indeed, the past two and a half years
vi d OGullC III SUN iAASS1o-
ure of public appreciation of the
movement, particularly among farm
ers and bankers, as will justify in
sistence upon some action at the next
session of the General Assembly. Our
profession must Of necessity be largely
responsible for at least the technical
details Of such legislation. or respon-
sibie for the more serious conse-
quences almost certain to result from
the crude legislation Of unlearned and
unskilled lawmakers. il we withhold
assistance. The work will demand
professional skill Of high order. and
it is fitting that we begin early to give
the subject that consideration u TO
the large interests involved.
What is It.
The system is quite simple in its
general features. The difficulty, as |
have just indicated. will arise in ar
ranging the details and creating a
working plan in harmony with estab-
iished law and procedure. Briefly. 1t
consists in a judicial ascertainment
of title to land under clearly defined
boundaries. This is made good
against the world by making parties
TO the proceeding all persons known
to have any interest or connection
with the land. by notice to all adjoin-
ing owners. and a public notice ad-
dressed ito all whom it may con
Germ" This adjudication with the de-
scription Of the land is admitted to
Registration under the guaranty OF
the State. This guaranty does not,
however. inure to the benefit of the
adjudged owner CHS title is made
good against the world). but to the
reimbursement Of any person who
may have been improperly deprived
Oh his land or any interest therein
under the proceeding. To cover this
The State charges a small fee upon
every such guaranty. in some States
one-tenth of one per cent Of the value
Oh the registered property, to create
d 1und from which the payments are
made q may note that / have not
heard of any instance where this
Cilarge has proved inadeQuate.) A