414 LAND REGISTRATION IN MOZAMBIQUE. 



211(1 ]3ecember, 1890, that the undertaking did not only affect the 

 question of the assessiiioit of the property tax, but should be 

 principally considered from the high standpoint of the services 

 that registration could render to property by organising its title 

 so as to record all acts relating to immovables, and to give their 

 registration an indisputable legal value. 



From the discussion which took place among the most com- 

 petent persons who formed the extra- Parliamentary Grand 

 Commission, the text of which is to be found in the eight thick 

 volumes that give the eoiiipte-reudit of the meetings, the following 

 report resulted in substance : 



The property Book shall be organized by communes, and 

 shall have as its unity the " property." The first i)art shall con- 

 tain the physical determination of the immovable always up to 

 date and according to the Geometrical Survey. 



It shall mention the area of the property, the number of 

 holdings and existing buildings. 



The second part shall contain : 



1. The name of the proprietor, stating the reasons for and 

 dates of registration of all legal acts relating to the property; 



2. Restrictions and encumbrances ; 



3. Privileges and mortgages. 



A personal index for the purpose of facilitating searches 

 shall be organized. 



As to the geometrical i)art. and after the matter ha<l 'been 

 ^v^dely discussed, the Commission ])roposed " that the geometncal 

 identification of each property be made, all beacons delimitating 

 the property and all surveying stations heiiia dctenu'uicd by rect- 

 angular co-ordinates." 



Here we find in their utmost purity the geometrical princi- 

 ples of Property and Land Survey in general and the legal 

 principles which have guided the preparation of the most perfect 

 registers of the present times. One understands all the same the 

 divergencies that are to be found in different Regulations, also 

 that the adaptation of this doctrine to the registration of property 

 in secular countries should l)e so much easier when their legal 

 codes endorse precepts of real publicit}- and registration in agree- . 

 ment with the rules to w-hich we have just referred. 



Such is the case with the Portuguese Property Code, the 

 principles of w^hich as regards registration of property are : — 

 separate description of ]jroperties as an essentially real l)asi'^ and 

 the recording of all legal acts respecting to ])roperty. The organ- 

 ization of the Geometrical Survey and Registration can, therefore. 

 be carried out without conflicting with the essential principles of 

 our code. 



•> Mr. Besson in his work dealing with the ])ropert)- regime 

 from- its very origin makes a critical and historical study as to 



