34 Operation of the 



its adequacy is not in general questioned by the Act. All 

 powers must be delegated to or vested in some named or 

 ascertainable person. The only question that can arise, besides 

 the ascertaining of the person and the authenticity of his 

 signature, are the conditions (if any) under which the powers 

 are delegated ; but this is only the same difficulty, and is 

 open to exactly the same solution as in the case of an ordinary 

 mortgage or encumbrance. If the precaution of caveat be not 

 resorted to, the condition on which any power is conferred must, 

 for the purposes of title, be assumed to have arisen or been 

 fulfilled, whenever the donee of the power chooses to exercise 

 it. 



" Powers are, indeed, in certain cases limited to special objects, 

 such as a power of appointment among children or issue of a 

 particular person. Here a somewhat different question presents 

 itself, and it may not be possible to avoid the responsibility of 

 ascertaining whether the appointee is within the limit of qualifi- 

 cation before issuing to him a certificate of title. Even this, 

 however, is nothing peculiar to settlements. If a testator devise 

 his land to all his children, the issue of a certificate will involve 

 the inquiry who such children are ; and, when the applicants had 

 proved their descent, it would further be requisite to ascertain 

 that there were no other children. If a prior settlement had 

 bestowed the land on such of the children of the same person 

 as the testator should appoint it would only involve the easier 

 inquiry whether the individual appointees were such children. 



" From the above considerations, I conclude that the ' Torrens 

 system ' is not, as objected, in any special way inapplicable to 

 settlements, trusts, or entails. If it only be once admitted that 

 the system can adequately provide for the exigencies resulting 

 from the ordinary legal succession of property, or the ordinary 

 exercise of the powers in every-day mortgages or encumbrances, 

 this must involve a virtual admission of its equal adequaey for 

 all the purposes of settlements and trusts. These only differ 

 from the other as a word of many syllables differs from a word 

 of few syllables. They are resolved into the same elements, and 

 only require to be separated to present the same degree of 

 simplicity." 



To recur, however, to the necessity of a judicial element in the 

 administration of the Land Titles' Office, it should be remem- 

 bered that in England, although there is not any formally 

 established Land Titles' Court, the Eegistrar (Mr. Eollett) is an 

 eminent barrister, exercising powers above those of a mere 

 Examiner. In Victoria, the two Lay Commissioners were 

 abolished by an amending bill, in the first session after the 

 passing of the original Act. The senior Examiner, being there- 

 upon rendered sole Commissioner, and invested with some 



