ALIENATION OF LAND. 



181 



A professional friend, residing in Jamaica, whom I con- 

 sulted about the best mode for aliens to get an interest in 

 real property here, sent me the following suggestions in a 

 note containing the above extracts from the statute. They 

 may be relied upon, as far as they go. 



" It appears to me that Americans desirous of obtaining 

 an interest in land here, ought to hold it in the name of a 

 British subject, resident in America, in whom they have 

 full confidence, who might, if required, give them the far- 

 ther security of a mortgage for a sum equal to the price, 

 taken on such terms as to render the sale as easy and direct 

 as possible. It would not be necessary to register the 

 mortgage, unless by the death of the holder of the land 

 without an heir or devisee capable of executing a convey- 

 ance, it should become necessary to realize the value of the 

 property by a sale under the mortgage. To obviate any 

 perplexity from the death of the holder of the land, it 

 might be desirable to have two holders, so that in case of 

 the death of one, the title might survive to the other. 



It is a pity that any such indirect course should be re- 

 quisite, and I believe that similar difficulties as to such 

 holdings exist in all countries. It is considered a necessary 

 policy. 



A respectable alien might, I think, be at all times safe 

 from molestation to his title under the justice and gene- 

 rosity of our public officers. The moral sense of the com- 

 munity would be outraged, beyond endurance, were any 

 attempt made to invoke the letter of the law to deprive 



