The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-02-28

sened for a long time to come and
any measure or measures that can be
passed by the present Legislature for
the benefit and uplft Of this eighty
two per cent Will be old-fashioned
Democracy because it benefits ma
JOrlty. Now there are four measures
in which this eighty-two per cent are
'rectly concerned, to-wit; First, A
Statewide stock, law Second; The
TOrrens System of I.and-registrat on.
Third: Farm-life schools. Fourth;
The salary-system Of county govern
ment. The passing Of these four
measures is absolutely demanded by
the most progressive farmers in this
State. You may cry back TO the
farm all You want to, but unless some
OF the burdens that now afflict farm
life are | fted, your call will be in
vain. Before ambitious young men
can be persuaded to stay upon the
farm, farming must be lifted to the
dignity of a business and placed upon
an equal footing W tn every other
business. AS it is now it is we'll
known to all men that the owner Of
the soil is discr minated against by
| law and custom. In a business VEN
ture in which a loan is negotiated, the
owner of land, compared with the
owner of stocks and bonds, is placed
at a very great disadvantage. loan
| to the farmer often costs him twice
as much as similar loan to owners
| Of gilt-edge securities. This state of
affairs ought to be remedied. 1t is
nothing but just and right that it
should be- In asking for a square
| deal for the farmer, I am asking for
nothing more than he is justly en-
| titled to. No law or custom should
allow any class Of our c tizens to live
at the expense Of the other without
giving due compensation. To bring
about this result and to free the
~ n ~fr
iniquitous mortga ge-system, we must
place upon our statute book what is
| known as the TOrrens System of
Land-registration We farmers in
asking that this measure be enacted
into law are not asking for any spe-
| ciaI favor whereby we may have the
advantage Of other men, but we are
only asking it because It gives US a
| square deal in the business world and
we are Justly entitled to that. The
owner Of real estate registered under
the Torrens Act will find his credit
at any bank just as good, and that q
| loan can be as cas- ly obtained and at
as little cost, as the owner Of stocks
| or bonds or any other gift-edged Sc
curity Why shouldn't it be be? Isn't
real estate the most indestructible Sc
curity earth? Yet from time i'm
memor al, it has been. and is now
| q .scriminated against. Isn't it fact
| that under the present system of reg
istering land titles that the owner Of
said land ndS it almost impossible
ito borrow dollar at any National
bank Yet, the bOndholder obtains q
loan easily. Now according to sound
reasoning which ought to be the more
valuable as a security, real estate or
bonds, which are, in their nature, a
mortgage on real estate or something
akin to it Which ought to be the
more valuable as a security, The
thing itself or the essence of the
thing?" ooh well'' certain lawyers said
to me not long since, the Torrens
System works as beautifully as you
say it does pray tell US what becomes
of q widows dover rights or the
r ghts of married woman, as, under
the statute, ther rights must be
irespected?" 2" SO to try to eliminate
their prejudices I wrote to the great
est lawyer in the State, Chief Justice
Walter Clark, for his p:nion, and his
reply is as follows.
5. H. Hobbs. Esq,
Dear Sir:
Yours received The TorrenS system
has been in use many years in the States
of Australia, ia New Zealand, and in sew
eral of the most advanced States of this
Union. 1t in nowise affects dover rights,
or the rights of married women.
This System, in short, consists in mans
title to land being investigated by State
authority, and approved once for all
Thereafter land passes like stock IL
railroad or a bank simply the certificate
being returned TO the Registers office OF
the county and the certificate being
issued to the purchaser of the whole o. Il
part of the land as the case may be. If
part Of the land only is sold certi
fscate is issued to the purchaser Tor that
part, and back to the seller for tie part
,ins old.
The advantages of the System are that
ii saves the expense of recording and prov
ing deeds, that il avoids the expense -