1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
87 
THE TORRENS SYSTEM OF REGISTRATION 
OF TITLES. 
X MUCH—DISCUSSED SYSTEM EXPLAINED. 
Compared With the Old Plan. 
( Concluded .) 
A Mortgage of registered land is effected in some¬ 
what the same manner. The registrar notes the trans¬ 
action upon the register, as well as upon the certificate 
of title. Release of mortgages is also noted on the 
register as well as upon the certificate of title. The 
latter may be returned by the owner to the registrar 
for cancellation, and he receive a new certificate of 
title containing no mention of the mortgage. The 
system abolishes all general liens against registered 
land, except in case of a certified copy of a judicial 
proceeding decreeing that such lien is filed with the 
registrar and a brief note made thereof on the register. 
One can safely ignore any lien not entered upon the 
certificate of title in the register. 
Dower is preserved in registered land, and the same 
is true of the statutory right of homestead. Upon the 
death of a registered owner, for the purpose of distri¬ 
bution of his estate, his registered lands are treated 
as personal property. Upon authority from the court 
through the administrator, the registrar may transfer 
the land to a purchaser or to the devisee or heir. The 
advantage of this change is that all questions concern¬ 
ing heirship, dower and rights of creditors are con¬ 
clusively settled at the time, and do not continue as 
now, to remain for years afterwards as possible de¬ 
fects in a title. 
An Objection has been made that great respon¬ 
sibility is placed upon the registrar and his legal ad¬ 
visers—the examiners of titles. It is true that, at 
every transfer, they are called upon to pass upon 
matter of both form and substance. But this has to 
be done by somebody under any system of transfer. 
Under our present system, it is done by abstract 
makers and lawyers, more or less competent and trust¬ 
worthy, whose labors must extend over the whole 
history of the title, and whose conclusions bind no¬ 
body and protect nobody. If they make a mistake, 
the purchaser may lose his money. Under the Torrens 
System, it is done by officials whose business it is to 
make themselves familiar with all the questions with 
which they have to deal. Their investigation will ex¬ 
tend only to the transaction in hand, as at every 
previous transfer, all questions that could arise, will 
have been settled once for all. Under the Torrens 
System, there will be fewer questions outside the 
record, than under the present system, and these will 
be conclusively settled when the facts are fresh in 
mind, instead of left to vex the title at every transfer, 
extending into years when the witnesses have long 
since been dead. The experience of the countries 
which have adopted the Torrens System (which abso¬ 
lutely guarantees the title) is that the responsibility 
has been intelligently and safely exercised. 
In some countries where the Torrens System is in 
use, an assurance fund is provided to make good any 
losses incurred by rightful owners, in being deprived 
of their land by fraud or accident. This fund is raised 
by charging a small fee. Claims upon this fund have 
been few and unimportant. This would seem unneces¬ 
sary ; for all injuries sustained by reason of the first 
registration there is a remedy provided, if demanded 
within five years. Mistakes or errors of the registrar 
in effecting subsequent transfers or dealings are prac¬ 
tically insignificant. 
The Torrens System will do away with the neces¬ 
sity for title guaranty or title insurance companies 
which now do a good business, but in no sense over¬ 
come, to any great degree, any of the defects or dis¬ 
advantages which exist in the present system. The 
very existence of guaranty companies is a strong illus¬ 
tration of the necessity of a radical change in the 
present method of dealing with titles to land. 
Comparative Advantage —Compared with the 
defects in the present system, the Torrens System, as 
demonstrated by its actual workings in other coun¬ 
tries, shows the following advantages: 
Expense. —The cost of a first registration will not 
exceed, in any event, the cost of a single transfer un¬ 
der the (old) present system, and in most cases, will 
be less. The cost of subsequent transfers is greatly 
reduced. These charges being fixed, are easily ob¬ 
tainable in advance. The transaction is so simple in 
its nature that the real estate broker, or even the par¬ 
ties themselves, may easily carry it into effect with¬ 
out the aid of a lawyer. 
Quickness. —Registered land may be sold or mort¬ 
gaged and the money safely paid over within an hour 
after the making of the contract. The ownership 
and incumbrances, if any, are shown by the register 
at a glance. The certificate of title held by the own¬ 
er shows the title at its date, and a certificate of 
search obtainable in a few minutes from the register, 
will show all subsequent liens. If none appear, the 
proper entry is made upon the register, the money 
paid, and the transfer is complete. 
Security. —The insecurity of the present system is 
largely due to the fact that, since upon each transfer 
the title must be searched back to the Government, 
there can be no rest in such searches, and error in 
their making is possible. By the Torrens System, the 
title is rested or quieted by law at each transfer, 
hence, upon a proposed transfer, no search back of 
the preceding transfer is necessary. This curtailing 
of the search greatly reduces risk of error, and all 
rights of the buyer to recover damages from the seller 
for any imperfection in the title, if warranted, are 
fully preserved. If the purchaser, through caution, 
desires to satisfy himself of the correctness of any 
first registration, he is permitted to examine, or have 
his counsel examine, the abstracts and all other evi¬ 
dences of title upon which the registration was ef¬ 
fected. All subsequent transfers or dealings with the 
registered title are matters of public record, and are 
also open to examination of the purchaser if he so de¬ 
sires. During the first five years after registration, 
these examinations may be frequent; but, as the act 
of the registrar is final, they will be more and more 
infrequent until they cease altogether. Under the 
present system, security is dependent upon the exam¬ 
ination made by the buyer. Under the Torrens Sys¬ 
tem, all such security is retained, and in addition, the 
buyer has the benefit of (1) the official examination 
made by the registrar before the title is registered, 
which can be attacked only within the limitation 
period; and (2) the conclusiveness given by law to 
the act of the registrar in registering all subsequent 
transfers or dealings. 
Shortening of the Records.— Under the present 
methods, all deeds, mortgages, etc , are copied at 
length in the records, and the original returned to 
the owners. There is no copying of these instruments 
of a registered title, as the original instruments are 
retained by the registrar. 
It is claimed to be a safe method of much more 
quickly transferring titles, at a smaller cost, and in¬ 
creases the salable value of the property. 
When First Discussed; History.— The Torrens 
System was first discussed at the Columbian Exposi¬ 
tion, in 1893, at which time a vigorous assault was 
made upon the system by some of the speakers, while 
others strongly defended and recommended the adapta¬ 
tion of the system in a modified form. The considera¬ 
tion of the subject found lodgment with the progressive 
people of the State of Illinois, who said that they 
wanted the best land transfer system in the world, if 
they could find it. A commission was appointed by 
the Governor to report a bill, and the legislature of 
1895 passed an’act entitled, The Torrens Law. This 
law was immediately attacked in the courts on con¬ 
stitutional grounds, and on November 9, 1896, the 
Supreme Court of Illinois held the act unconstitu¬ 
tional, for the reason that the powers conferred upon 
the registrar and examiners by said act were, within 
the meaning of the Constitution, judicial, therefore 
void. 
The legislature, in 1897, enacted a somewhat simi¬ 
lar law, which was also attacked in the courts on the 
ground that the act confers judicial powers upon the 
registrar in violation of the Constitution. The Supreme 
Court, in October, 1898, held the present law consti¬ 
tutional and valid. By the provisions of the law of 
1895, the registrar was clothed with power to deter¬ 
mine the ownership of land when application was 
made for the initial registration thereof, and to issue 
his certificate accordingly. The act of 1897 provides 
that the ownership shall be determined by a decree 
in equity entered in a court of competent jurisdiction, 
upon which decree the registrar shall issue the first 
certificate of registration. In this regard, his duties 
under the last act are clearly ministerial only, 
and the fatal objection to the former act is, there¬ 
fore, removed. The Torrens System (modified) of 
Land Title Registration will now be given a practi¬ 
cal test in Illinois. Other States, viz., Ohio, Massa¬ 
chusetts and Pennsylvania, are seriously contemplat¬ 
ing the adoption of the Torrens System, and by 
appointment of governors, or resolution by recent 
legislatures, commissioners are now investigating the 
system with a view to reporting the result of their 
investigations and recommendations to incoming 
legislatures. r, d. f. 
A Massachusetts farmer speaks of grafting desirable apple 
varieties on the wild seedling trees. These seedlings are very 
sti’ong and thrifty, and they give remarkably good stock for such 
varieties as Baldwin, Russet or Greening. 
I see in Brevities that California reports a seedless pumpkin. 
Tobinsport, Ind., can come up to California on the seedless part. 
My father cut one open larger than a gallon jug, as perfect a 
pumpkin as ever I saw, and it had no sign of a seed. The inside 
was perfect, all but the seeds. o. w. w. 
Tobinsport, Ind. 
Events of the Week. 
Domestic.—Four Canadian mail carriers, crossing the St. 
Lawrence on the ice from the Island of Bonaventure, were swept 
out to sea by the breaking of an ice floe January 19. . . An 
examination of the workshop of the late inventor Keely, made by 
the Philadelphia Press and several trained scientists, reveals 
hidden tubes through which gas or compressed air could be 
transmitted, and it is now believed that the mysterious motor was 
an elaborate fraud. . . Trouble is again feared among the 
Leech Lake Indians in Minnesota, who are incensed by the dis¬ 
honesty of the whites concerning their timber. . . The extra¬ 
dition treaty between the United States and Mexico expired by 
limitation January 24, and several criminals may escape pun¬ 
ishment through the fact that no new treaty had been provided. 
Negotiations for a new treaty are going on, but the agreement 
must be arranged, signed and ratified by our Senate and the 
Mexican government, and the ratification must be exchanged, 
before it can go into effect. . . The Zuni Indians, on their 
reservation in New Mexico, are threatened with extermination 
by smallpox. Out of a population of 1,700, 217 have already died, 
and 600 cases of the disease were reported January 24. . . The 
Kansas legislature is asked to pass a bill enabling habitual 
drunkards to take the Keeley cure at the State’s expense, in spite 
of a prohibitory liquor law which has been on the statute books 
of Kansas for 18 years. . . January 25, a Chicago pilot was 
held up and robbed by two men in the full glare of the electric 
light in front of the Auditorium The thieves beat him into 
insensibility. . . At Middlesboro, Ind., four young men dis¬ 
guised themselves as highwaymen, and attempted to “ hold up ” 
Albert Shumate, as a joke. Shumate fired upon the supposed 
robbers, and killed one of them instantly. 
War Investigation.—Major W. H. Day, Gen. Miles’s Chief 
Surgeon, testified January 20 that chemicals were used in pre¬ 
serving the army beef. He described the process employed, 
which included the use of boric and salicylic acids, both dele¬ 
terious to health, and said it was not a success. Dr. Daly de¬ 
scribed the putridity, foul odor and “ beard ” of green mold on 
the beef. He alluded to the fact that some people like game 
when “ high ” or partly decomposed, but stated that such people 
usually take enough wine to destroy disease germs, and he did 
not think such food suitable for soldiers. Dr. Daly was severely 
cross-examined, but did not modify his testimony. January 21, 
Prof. Clarke testified that he had analyzed an extract of the so- 
called refrigerated beef and found boric and salicylic acids 
present. . . On January 23, Capt. Warburton, of Pennsylvania, 
testified as to the condition of meat issued in Porto Rico. He 
described the meat as having a carrion-like odor which could be 
smelled for 150 yards; it was whitish in color, like a dead fish, 
and covered with green slime. Capt. Warburton ordered that it 
be buried immediately on its arrival at camp. . . On January 
24, several witnesses praised the quality of the canned roast 
beef, and a chemical analysis was given, showing that It con¬ 
tained no injurious preservatives. . . Gen. Eagan’s trial 
began January 25. He pleads not guilty, but does not deny the 
language imputed to him. He was found guilty, January 27. 
Congress.—The Hill Bill for the revision of the banking and 
currency laws, given to the House January 20, makes gold the 
standard of value, and provides that no more silver dollars be 
coined except from bullion held against silver certificates and 
Treasury notes; it also provides for the gradual retirement of 
National bank notes and Treasury notes. . . The opponents 
of the Peace Treaty urge an amendment providing against inter¬ 
ference with the government of the Filipinos. Friends of the 
treaty object to any amendment. . . The Nicaragua Canal bill 
passed January 21. The canal is to be completed within six 
years, at a cost not to exceed $115,000,000, but the appropriation 
is not to exceed $20,000,000 a year. . . It was decided, January 24, 
that the Peace Treaty shall be considered in secret session. 
Porto Kico.—Smallpox of a bad type has developed among the 
natives at Ponce. January 24, 130 cases were reported. Dr. 
Monet, the city health officer, has asked the Red Cross Society 
for tents to form an isolation camp. Neither the Government 
nor the municipality can do anything for the sufferers. . . Gen. 
Henry has published a letter announcing that Americans will 
not be given official positions in preference to natives. 
Philippines.—Gen. Miller landed his troops on Guimaras 
Island, about three miles from Iloilo. . . Rumors are received 
that the Insurgents are planning to attack Manila. Our troops 
have acted with great forbearance, but the Filipinos are in an 
ugly mood, and it Is even asserted that a strong secret militia 
force exists among the natives in Manila. . . A dispatch from 
Labuan, British Borneo, states that, on January 23, the steamer 
Labuan, from the Island of Palawan, reported that the natives of 
that island had risen in revolt, and massacred the Spanish 
officials. The captain of the steamer obtained the release of the 
governor’s wife and other prisoners, and brought them to Labuan 
. . . Madrid reports now say that Aguinaldo makes his release 
of the Spanish prisoners optional on Spain’s becoming an ally of 
the Filipino republic. The constitution of the Filipino republic 
was formally promulgated at Malolos January 23. . . January 
24 the Filipino Junta in Washington called the attention of Secre¬ 
tary Hay to the critical conditions at Manila, and asked whether 
the army and navy was being reenforced to make war on the 
Filipinos. It was reported that 30,000 Filipinos were collected at 
Malolos, and that they have nearly 50 Maxim guns. The Hong¬ 
kong Junta complains that the Americans at Manila are exas¬ 
perating the natives by unnecessary domiciliary visits. 
Cuba.—A bomb with lighted fuse was found near the Havana 
Custom House January 20. There is no clue to the person who 
placed it there. . . The San Jos6 docks at Havana, which con¬ 
trol nearly half a mile of water front, have been bought by Bos¬ 
ton capitalists for $3,500,000. . . Many cane fields in the Prov¬ 
ince of Santiago have been fired by Cuban malcontents. Nearly 
1,000 acres of cane were destroyed on one plantation January 22, 
and other plantations were saved only by the prompt arrival of 
American soldiers. It is said that the disorder is largely due to 
Cuban soldiers who are disappointed because they failed to get 
civil offices. Bad feeling exists among the negroes in the Cuban 
army, because the whites exclude them from official places. In 
the Mayari district, large bands of robbers are plundering and 
killing residents. . . Citizens of Havana are protesting against 
any effort to collect Spanish back taxes. 
Hawaiian Islands.—A slight earthquake in Hilo, with other 
indications, convinces experts that the volcano of Kilauea will 
soon be in eruption again. . . The first New York regiment 
sailed from Honolulu leaving 1,200 pairs of white duck trousers 
unpaid for, and the tailor who took the contract has become 
bankrupt in consequence. 
The Army.—The transport Grant, with troops for Manila, 
sailed from New York January 19. She goes by way of Suez, and 
is expected to reach Manila in 45 days, if conditions are favor¬ 
able. . . The Twenty-second Infantry received rush orders to 
eave San Francisco for Manila January 28. 
