iv.] DISTRIBUTION OF LAND IN ENGLAND. 95 



Nor is this all ; by the 41st Section if a person 

 registered as sole owner of freehold land (or the 

 survivor of several registered owners) dies, the land 

 which he held will not pass to his heir, or to his 

 personal representatives, but to a person nominated 

 by the Registrar, at his discretion, regard being had 

 to the rights of persons interested in the land. So 

 that if the deceased was the beneficial owner, his 

 heir, widow, or the devisees under his \vill, may find 

 their interests in the land at the mercy of a person, 

 whom neither they nor the deceased had any poten- 

 tial voice in selecting, and who may defeat their 

 rights by a sale and transfer on the register to a 

 purchaser, whether that person had or had not notice 

 of the trusts. (See Section 30.) 



It may well be asked with what view are these 

 provisions with regard to Registration introduced ? 

 They will clearly have the effect of rendering less 

 secure the interests of many persons in landed pro- 

 perty, supposing the land to be registered under the 

 Act. What then are the countervailing advantages 

 which the authors of the Act expect that it will 

 confer ? 



I have heard it stated by a high authority that 

 the late Mr. Cobden declared, after having attained 

 free trade in corn, that the next most important 

 object was, in his opinion, to establish free trade in 

 land. I do not feel sure as to the meaning which he 

 attached to this expression ; but I presume that 



