LAND RI-:(;iSTK.\ri(»N IN MOZAM IMOTK. 417 



Siinilarl}- in the Portuguese Colony of .Moz;unl)i(|ne. lej^is- 

 lation relating to land previous to that of 1909 contained no pro 

 visions as to the organization of the geometrical cadastre and 

 ignored modern tendencies as to guaranteeing the securit)- of 

 immovaljle property, this leading to ever-increasing difhculties 

 which only began to be solved by the law of 1909. 



Celerity . of the Survey Works and the resultant Ijenefits, 

 which the Central (jovernment is- trying to pay attention to, 

 depends, however, on the ecitiilibrium between the revenue and 

 the expenditure that must l)e distributed over other no less im- 

 portant services. 



With its limited resources the Survey Services show their 

 work within the general cartographic plan and in the geometrical 

 identification and security of individual rights l)y a specimen 

 of the titles which is attached to this paper. 



TITLES OF PROPERTY. 



laken under their legal aspect, these comprise four parts. 



A fifth part which relates to the branch of fiscal taxes on 

 immovable proverty is still to be discussed. 



The first part — the " alvara " (ordinance) — is the legal 

 document of the property, and a guarantee for all ])urposes of 

 law. 



The second part contains the material identification of the 

 propertv. through its lioundaries and the respective plant, accom- 

 panied bv a numbered diagram, interpreting the same identifica- 

 tion and the absolute ])Osition of the plot in the cadastral maps. 



The third ])art will explain, by means of a mere extract from 

 the cadastral records, all legal acts afi^ecting the property. 



The fourth part is reserved for the endorsement, or, which 

 is the same, to the eas}- mobilisation of the property 1iy transfer, 

 subject to the Governor ( ieneral's authorisation. 



Such rights are initially and formally guaranteed by charter, 

 and after that, all changes of proprietorship relating to transfer, 

 mortgages and other burdens, ^privileges and anything else imply- 

 ing alteration in the legal existence of the proi)erty, is endorsed 

 on the title itself together with any physical alteration of the 

 area, this regime being guaranteed by the mutual relations 

 existing between the Deeds Of^ce and tTie Cadastral Of^ce. 



I'roperty titles in the Province of Mozambique, therefore, 

 agree, in my oi)inion, with the broadest and most up-to-date 

 conception of a modern Cadastre under the " Property Book " 

 system. 



The title of the projjerty here is a single document of easv 

 reading, showing in a few minutes to anyone who is interested 

 in the proj^erty in fjuestion, all the conditions of its civil exist- 

 ence, its situation, area, owners, etc. 



