42 REPORT OF THE SCOTTISH COMMISSION 



new mortgage being put upon an estate, this is noted in the column 

 for that purpose ; and upon the transaction being completed, the 

 purchaser or lender receives a certificate by the registrar, stating 

 that all necessary requirements have been complied with, and tliat 

 he has been entered as the owner of the subjects, or as a holder of 

 the mortgage over them. It can thus be seen at a glance how 

 matters stand witli regard to any particular property. 



The fees attending the purchase of an estate are relatively much 

 as we find them in Scotland. Thus the cost of the transfer of a 

 property, the purchase price of which is, say £600, amounts to 

 about £13. 



The Small Holdings Act of 1904, however, contains special 

 exemptions regarding contracts of sale, or deeds conveying land to 

 agricultural labourers. These only require to be impressed with a 

 stamp of the value of Is. l^d., while mortgages to the State do 

 not require to have a stamp affixed to them, and no charge is made 

 for registration or similar services. 



Debt on Land 



Having described the various tenures and modes of succession 

 to land, it may be well for a moment to consider the aspect of the 

 indebtedness of the hmded proprietor in relation to his property. 

 As it would be premature at present to speculate with any degree 

 of certainty upon the effects of the two important Statutes recently 

 passed, we will therefore only speak of matters as they stood 

 before 1899. 



In the beginning of the nineteenth century the debts affecting 

 the landed estates in Denmark amounted to about 40 per cent, of 

 their value. Towards the middle of the century a rapid increase 

 took place in the value of lands. The debt, however, as is usually 

 the case, moving more slowly than the increase in value, did not at 

 once appear in the same ratio. Thus we find that about 1850 the 

 debt appearing as affecting landed estates in Denmark did not 

 exceed 25 per cent, of the value, and it was not until the sale of 

 the farms that the true relation was disclosed. This rose to about 



43 per cent, in 1884, which may be taken as the normal state of 

 matters. A period of depression set in at this time, and was 

 naturally attended by a deterioration in the value of landed pro- 

 perty. The debt, however, did not decrease in relation to the fall 

 in value of land, and in the year 1899 we find it amounting to 

 about 50 per cent, of the value. 



In very few instances can the cause of debt be attributed to the 

 fact that the owner has been living beyond his means. The chief 

 reason should rather be ascribed to the above circumstances : the 

 rise in the value of land necessitating a larger purchase price, and 

 consequentlyj as a portion of this is almost invariably allowed to 

 lie as a mortgage on the estate, an increase of debt on the estate 

 in proportion to its value. 



Inherited properties burdened with provisions to the younger 

 members of a family have been affected in the same way. 



