TORRENS SYSTEM 



5844 



TORRICELLI 



tenced to death over 10,000 persons. His se- 

 verity was rebuked by the Pope, and he had 

 frequently to send embassies to Rome to de- 

 fend his methods. -He took part in the expul- 

 sion of the Moors from Spain, and was largely 

 instrumental in driving the Jews from the 

 country. The Jews had been the most flourish- 

 ing commercial class of Spain, and the loss to 

 the country was inestimable. Torquemada was 

 intensely unpopular, and never dared appear in 

 public without a strong guard. 



TORRENS, tahr'enz, SYSTEM, a system of 

 registering titles to real estate, devised by Sir 

 Robert Torrens, who introduced it into South 

 Australia in 1858. The system rapidly gained 

 favor in the other colonies, and by 1874 was in 

 use in each of the colonies of Australia, in Tas- 

 mania and in New Zealand. It has since been 

 introduced into Canada and other British colo- 

 nies, the United States and many of the coun- 

 tries of Europe. The purpose of the system is 

 twofold : 



(1) To make the transfer of landed property 

 as simple and safe as that of other property. 



(2) To do away with the repeated examination 

 of titles. 



The system is operated through a bureau or 

 court of registration in charge of a registrar, 

 with whom in most cases is associated an ex- 

 aminer of titles. 



Getting the First Torrens Title. The first 

 step towards having one's land registered con- 

 sists in filing with the registrar a petition for 

 registration. With the petition the applicant 

 must file all records in his possession relating 

 to the title. He must also give in writing under 

 oath a statement of all encumbrances; that is, 

 of debts secured by mortgage or liens, and of 

 all delinquent taxes. These papers are referred 

 to the examiner of titles, who proceeds to 

 verify them. If other persons are interested in 

 the property by marriage or otherwise, the law 

 requires the registrar to notify them of the 

 petition and give them an opportunity for a 

 hearing. In short, everything possible is done 

 to learn all the facts bearing upon the title 

 under consideration. When this work is com- 

 pleted the examiner of titles makes his report 

 to the registrar. 



The Certificate. If the registrar is satisfied 

 that the title is perfect he files away all the 

 old papers and issues a certificate which declares 

 that the land is the property of the registered 

 owner, subject only to the encumbrances de- 

 scribed on the certificate. The certificate must 

 be signed by the registrar. It is issued in dupli- 



cate, the official copy being filed in the office 

 of the registrar and the other being given to 

 the owner. The official certificate becomes the 

 title of ownership and is indefeasible; that is, 

 it cannot be set aside or overcome. In case of 

 transfer of the property no further examination 

 of the title is necessary, but it is always wise to 

 inquire of the registrar whether any notices of 

 encumbrances have been received and not reg- 

 istered. The first certificate is cancelled and a 

 new one issued, and this completes the transac- 

 tion. 



Insurance Fund. In case an interest in the 

 property is found, or a just claim to it arises 

 which was not discovered at the time the cer- 

 tificate was issued, the holder cannot be dis- 

 possessed of the property, but the holder of 

 such an interest or claim may be paid from a 

 fund created for that purpose by a small assess- 

 ment on the property at the time of each regis- 

 tration. The rate varies in different states and 

 countries, but it is usually one-tenth of one 

 per cent on the valuation. 



United States. The first Torrens act in the 

 United States was passed by the legislature of 

 Illinois in 1895. The act was declared uncon- 

 'stitutional by the supreme court of the state 

 because it conferred judicial powers upon the 

 registrar and examiner of titles. In 1897 an- 

 other law was passed without these objection- 

 able features. From time to time the system 

 has been introduced into other states, but the 

 progress has been slow owing to the compli- 

 cated systems in the older states, which seem 

 difficult to replace. Since each state has its own 

 system of registering titles the Torrens acts 

 vary in different states as to minor points, but 

 they are uniform respecting their main features. 



In Canada. A system of land registration 

 based upon the Torrens system was adopted by 

 Vancouver Island in 1861. When Vancouver 

 became a part of British Columbia in 1866 this 

 system was continued over the entire province. 

 The system is the only one used in Alberta and 

 Saskatchewan and is in very general use in 

 Manitoba; it went into effect in Nova Scotia in 

 1907. The Ontario law adopted in 1885 is based 

 on the English Land Act of 1875, and provides 

 for three grades of certificates absolute, quali- 

 fied and possessory. W.F.R. 



Consult Cameron's The Torrens System; 

 Thorn's The Canadian Torrens System. 



TORRICELLI , tahr re chel ' le, EVANGELISTA 

 (1608-1647), an Italian scientist, famous for the 

 discovery of the law of the barometer. (For 

 explanation and illustration of this law, see 



