STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

91

any time before the completion of the purchase, he will be safe when he is furnished with the written receipt of the person entitled to receive the rent or his agent for the last payment of rent, and there is subsisting at the time of the completion of the purchase an insurance in conformity with the covenant; but this provision does not take away the lessor's remedy against the lessee for breach of covenant.*

* 22 & 23 Vict., c. 35, s. 8. This bill of mine, of 32 clauses, is, I hope and believe, justly entitled "An Act to further amend the Law of Property, and to relieve Trustees."

92

TRANSFER OF ESTATES BILL.

LETTER XII.*

THE Transfer Estate Act still remains law, and therefore I retain it amongst my Letters; but it has been referred to a Royal Commission, and the Commissioners have made a report which is not yet published. I am told it is not favourable to the continuance of the Act in its present form. The report, although upon divided opinions, will no doubt lead to some legislative measure. We must wait, therefore, for the result; and it will not be necessary for you to consider the plan, unless you are called upon to decide whether you will have recourse to the court or not. In the mean time I can assure you that, however popular your view of the new laws may be, it is not the true one.+ No attempt has been made to make the blackamoor white. What has been accomplished I will endeavour to describe, as far as such a statement can be made useful to you. In my last Letter you will find a short account of what had been done or attempted in Parliament up to that period in regard to a general registry of deeds or of title. The leading bill of the session 25 & 26 of the Queen, c. 53,‡ for registering title, avoided the objectionable recommendation of the Chancery Commissioners, to have a nominal owner of the fee always on the register, which was adopted in the previous bill, and which, objectionable as it was, appeared to the Commissioners and to the

*This Letter was written in 1863.

66

I observe that the president of an important mercantile body, in addressing them since the above was written, described the Act as making good titles out of bad ones."

For Ireland, 28 & 29 Vict., c. 89.

LAND REGISTRY OFFICE.

93

333

framers of that bill the only mode in which a register of title would work. But the bill which is now law, although it was ushered in as a registration of title, degenerated, as I feared it would, into a law establishing a general registry, and the scheme is therefore open to all the objections pointed out in my last Letter; and, indeed, is still more objectionable than any preceding bill, inasmuch as it imposes restrictions, duties, and expenses upon the owners of land beyond anything previously attempted. Yet we ought to speak with some diffidence on this subject, for her Majesty, in her speech upon the prorogation of Parliament, which was read by the Lord Chancellor, whose bill it was, declared that "the Act for rendering more easy the transfer of land will add to the value of real property, will make titles more simple and secure, and will diminish the expense attending purchases and sales." I shall state to you what are the leading provisions of the Act, and explain to you the view I take of them.

The Office of Land Registry is established, conducted by a Registrar, to whom very extensive powers are given, and particularly his orders generally for the due execution of the provisions of the Act, with the sanction of the Chancellor, are to be of the same force as if enacted by Parliament; and they may be rescinded or altered from time to time, and the like force is applied to them ;* he is to have the aid of such number of assistant-registrars, not exceeding three, examiners of titles, clerks, messengers, and servants, as the Lord Chancellor may fix with the consent of the Treasury, and the patronage is distributed between the Crown, the Chancellor, and the Registrar. The Registrar's salary is £2500 a-year. The salaries of the assistant-registrars, clerks, messengers, and servants are to be fixed by the Chan

* Sect. 125, 126.

† Sect. 108-110.

94

POWER OF REGISTRAR.

FEES.

cellor, with the consent of the Treasury. One assistantregistrar has already been appointed, with a salary of £1500. Parliament is to provide for their salaries, and for all incidental expenses of the Act; a retiring pension is provided for the Registrar, and superannuation for the other officers and persons employed.* The expenses will be great, and, directly or indirectly, will no doubt be borne by the landed proprietors of England.

The registrar, with the Chancellor's sanction, is to fix the fees to be paid for registry and re-registration of titles or transfers of land, and all other matters to be done by him; and, in like manner, from time to time alter the amounts; and all such payments are to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.+ The provisions for determining the amount of fees payable in respect of entries on the register of title, require regard to be had-in the case of registering land, or any transfer of land, on a sale -to the value of the land as determined by the amount of purchase-money; and, by general order, the Registrar may require evidence that the price named is the full consideration, and he may refuse to make such registration, unless he has been satisfied as to the amount or value of the bonâ fide consideration for which the lands were contracted to be sold ; but if not upon a sale-to the value of the land, to be ascertained in such manner as may be directed by general order. And, by general order, § the value of the land in case of registration, or of any transfer of land not upon a sale, is, if required by the Registrar, to be stated in an affidavit by or on behalf of the applicant, and may, if the Registrar think fit, be ascertained by a computation made by him from the rental of the land, or by such other means as may be satisfactory to him [for example, by a valuation by a

*Sect. 111-113.

General Order 35 1st October 1862.

+ Sect. 127.
§ Order 36.

land-surveyor, I suppose], or may be settled by agreement between him and the applicant. These fees have now been fixed by general order.* They are many in number. To give you a notion of them as far as you may wish to be incensed on the subject, as our Scotch friends say:-On the first registry, if the value of the land does not exceed £1000, per cent for every £100 5s.; so that the charge for £1000 value would be £2, 10s. For up to £5000 value, after the first £1000 as before, 3 per cent; so that the charge for £5000 value would be £8, 10s. For beyond £5000, and up to £20,000, the first £5000 as before, and then 2 per cent on the remainder; so that the charge for £20,000 value would be £23, 10s.; and, upon a further scale-£30,000 value, for example-the charge would be £33, 10s., and so progressively. It would be difficult to vindicate upon principle this ad valorem duty upon registration. It belongs rather to a scheme of taxation, which is already sufficiently oppressive, than to a system of registration. The Government has taken care not to render itself liable for any damage inflicted upon absent persons by the grant of an indefeasible title. But to proceed: the fees, in the case of registration of a charge, or of any transfer of a charge, are to be with reference to the amount of such charge. And by general order, where the registration or transfer is of a charge by way of annuity, the value is to be ascertained by the Registrar, by affidavit, or by such other means as shall be satisfactory to him, or may be settled by agreement; but a maximum amount is to be fixed, and fees on the excess of value may be placed on a reduced scale. For additional labour on any account, an increased sum may be charged. The Chancellor has power to fix and to alter the scale of fees for the ex

* 2d Schedule to General Order of 1st October 1862.

↑ Order 36.