New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-27
Conference To- Be Held at
Washington Will Hear
What Has Been Done. "
.TORRENS ACTS
IN TEN STATES
Advocates of That System Tell
in Report of Its Many
Benefits.

The value of some system Ot uni
formity in the registration Of land
titles throughout the country has been
recognized and discussed for several
years by many real estate investors
and lawyers. 1t is interesting TO n0se
that this subject has been Ia,seu ~
ono of national Importance by inc
90, ,,is.iorers on Uniform State Laws,
md a renort of what has been accom-
nIisbed toward simplifying land tiIle
acts in the states of the Union VIII DC
presented at the coming twenty-tourIn
annual conference, IN washington
October ID to 10. p.o
Tbe committee, consisting of Eugene
G. Wossie, of Virginia, chairman; Jonn
Fl Wipmore and Nathan W. MacCheS..
new. of Illinois, and Rome q. Brown' OIL
Minnesota, has made a careful STUDY
of the matter. and particularly Win
reference to the cOnvenlences Oh Ine
so.called Torrens act. 1t may not De
generally known that the Iorrens Ia"
has been adopted by the legislatures
of ten states as legal means OF reg
istering titles. They are California
Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, MIN
nesota. New York, North Carolina,
Ohio. Oregon and Washington. The
act was adopted by New York in 1908.
ohio and North Carolina placed 1t on
their statute books last year. In ad-
dition, the Torrens system prevails IN
Hawaii and the Philippines and over
great portion Of the Dominion OF Can
ada.
Although based upon the same fun
demeutal system. the laws IN these ten
states differ widely. A tentative draft
of a uniform act was submitted to the
uniform laws conference last year and
efforts are being made TO secure neces-
sary amendments to the conflicting
state laws in the direction Of greater
uniformity.
In q very exhaustive report at the
conference in Montreal year ago, IN
which many of the cases 20 test the
constituticnality Of the act were cited,
the committee on the Torrens act stat
ed that the tide of Torrens legislation
was evidently rising with irresistible
force.
One of the principal benefits claimed
for the Torrens system by its advocates
is the opportunity afforded to make
land titles as easy of conveyance in
business transactions as registered
stocks and bonds.
In New Jersey an amendment was
enacted in 1903 making it compulsory
to register all lands passing through
the Probate Court. Efforts were made
to defeat this provision, and the courts
finally deci led against it, but solely on
the ground that it had not been prop
erly submitted TO popular vote. The
Legislature then re-cnacted the act in
1907 and it was confirmed by popular
vote in 1910. In no other state has
the TorTens act been the subject OF
such insistent litigation as in Illinois,
haI ing been before the Supreme Court
IN different aspects no less than sixty
one times.
In Massachusetts a special court
known as the Land Court has been esr
tablished for the administration Of the
system. Speaking recently on the sue
cess Of the Massachusetts, law, Judge
Charles Thornton Davis, of the Land
Court, said:
ave have now reached stage where
il is the most conservative element that
seeks registration, the very people who
ten wears ago would have nothing TO
do with il. Land registration, so lar
as this state, at least, is concerned,
must be con 5iiered u success"
d Charles Thaddeus Terry, of this city,
and professor in the law school OF
Columbia University, is president OF
the Conference on Uniform State Laws,
and in addition 10 his work for uni
form wOrkingmen's compensation and
incorporation laws he has made. a thor
{ ugh study Of the legal questions in,
volved in tbs Torrens system OF land
registration.