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The Commoner
MAT-, 1914
vi19
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Torrens System of Land Transfers
CHEAP, SAFE AND EFFICIENT
By A. 13. Sheldon, Director, Nebraska Legislative Reference Bureau
The older a country grows and the
oftener land is transferred the larger
become the abstract fees, the more
frequent becomes litigation over titles
to real estate, and the greater be
comes the real need and economy of
the Torrens system of land transfers.
The essential elements of the Torrens
system are these:
1. Public registration of title in a
government office.
2. Examination and approval of the
title by a judicial officer before regis
tration. 3. Guarantee of the title by the
government.
4. Economy and speed in subse
quent transfers.
COMES FROM AUSTRALIA
Sir Robert Torrens, the instigator
.of the Torrens system of land trans
fers, was collector of customs in
Adelaide, South Australia, about
sixty years at;o. As such, he became
familiar with the simple and inexpen
sive system by which shares of ships
, are registered and transferred from
. one person to another. Afterward
Sir Robert became register of deeds.
He was impressed with the great dif
ference between the. system of trans
ferring titles in ships and transfer-
- ring titles to land, arid worked out a
plan for applying the principles, of
. ship registrati n and transfer to
landed property.
At first he offered his plan to the
Australian lawyers, who rejected it.
, Then he siT'nttted it to persons qu.t-sid-e
of the legal profession. It
IjIVING advertisement
Glow oC Health SiK'ftkw fori I'owtum.
It requires-no scientific training to
discover whether coffee disagrees or
not.
Simply stop it for a time and use
Po$tum; in place of it, then note the
beneficial effects. The truth will ap
pear. . : '?Six years ago I was in a' very badt
condition,'.' writes a Tennessee lady,'
VI suffered from indigestion, nervous
ness and insomnia. " :
"I was -then an inveterate coffee
drinker, but .it was long before I
could be perfiuaded that.it was coffee
that hurt me. Finally I decided, to
leave it off a few days and 'find out
the truth.
"The first' morning I left off coffee
I had a raging headache, so I decided
I must have something to take the
place of coffee." (The headache was
caused by the reaction -of the coffee
drug-r-caffeine.)
"Having heard of Postum through
a friend who used it, I bought
package and tried it. I did not like
it at first but after L learned how to
make it right, according to directions
on pkg., I would not change back to
coffee for anything.
"When I began to use Postum I
weighed only 117 lbs. Now I .weigh
170 and as I have not taken any
tonic in that time I can only attribute
my present good health to the use of
Postum in placa of coffee.
"My husband says I am a living
advertisement for Postum."
Name given by the Postum Co.,
Battle Creek, Mich.
Postum now comes in two forms:
Rnmilav Postum must be well
boiled. 15c anl 25c packages.
- Instant Postum is a soluble pow
.der. A teaspoonful dissolves quickly
in a cup of hot water and, with cream
and sugar, makes a delicious bev
'eratre instantly. 30c and 50c tins.
'' The cost per cup of both kinds is
.about, the same.
".There's a Reason" for Postum.-
j. -, ..J.. - -sold- by- Grocers,
"looked good" to them, and, after
the usual agitation and struggle over
any new proposition, it was enacted
into law in South Australia in the
year 1858. The Torrens system re
ceived public approval rapidly in
Australia. It was adopted by Queens
land in 1861, New South Wales, Vic
toria and Tasmania in 18G2, New
Zealand in 1870, and Western Aus
tralia in 1874.
SPREAD OF SYSTEM
From Australia the system spread
to England, where acts were passed
in 1862, and to Ireland in 1865.'' In.
the 'Qanadian provinces, British'
Golumb'a adopted jtho system in
1871, Manitoba and Ontario in 1885,
Nova Scotia in 1904, Alberta and
Saskatchewan in 1906. In the .United
States the Torrens system has been
enacted into law, with various modi
fications, in the following states:
Illinois 1895 (held unconstitu
tional, re-enacted in 1897),- Cali
fornia 1897, Massachusetts 1898,
Minnesota and Oregon 1901, Philip
pine Islands', 1902, Colorado and
Hawaii 1903, Washington 1907, New
York 1908.
An act providing for the Torrens
system' of registration and transfers
may be either optional with the
owner of the land or compulsory.
Both forms of the 'law are found in
operation today in different states
and countries. In some- cases, as in
the western Canadian provinces,
where the Jaw. was at. first enactpd in
its optional form, af'.er most of the
land had been registered under the
law it was. made compulsory for sub
sequent transfers, This enabled .a
land owner to hold hg land as long
as he chose without registering it, in
the Torrens act land office, but when
he wished to transfer' he was obliged
to bring his land under the act.
v. ' WHAT IT ..COSTS
. The cost of bringing a tra'ct of land
under the Torrens system .varies in
the different countries and states. In
British Columbia the fees . provided
for registration are $2.50 on every
application, registration and deposit
of title papers, and one-fif'h of one
per cent on'th'e v ue of real estate
up to $5,000, and one-tentlf of one
per'ceht on th 3' value' of real 'estate
over $T,0'00. ' Bringing 160 acres of
land worth $100 an .acre undtir the
Torrens system in British Columbia
would, therefore, involve the follow
ing expenses: .
Application .'........' $2.50
One-tenth of 1 pa. on $16,000. 16.00
Total .$18.50
For each subsequent transfer after
original registration the fee Is $1.
Under the Illinois Torrens act the
expense' of bringing land under the
system is as "follows:
Clerk of court on filing application $5.
Publication notice V . . 2
Registrar for examination of title 15
Registrar on issue of certificate
. of titlo 2
Total .$24
In addition to these fees, in Illinois,
each' applicant for first registration
pays to the indemnity fund one-tenth
of one per cent, or $1 on each $1,000
of the value of the property. This
fee is payable only upon first regis
tration and not upon any subsequent
transfer. For each subsequent trans-
! fer in Illinois the fee3 are $3.
GOVERNMENT GUARANTEE
Since one of the principal features
of the Torrens land system is the in
surance of the title by the govern
ment; and since officers working
iteiwi vtfyjJiJiiiJ
- VWt$ - ML :
Mr JJnnksm:twJ -'
I "-it answers every beverage re
5 .' t qjiiirement vim, vigor,, refreshment,
wholesomeness. m
: iBrwill satisfy you. JbL
)k Demand the nenuinc by full name fflnBi&f
mL. Nicknames encourage substitution. Wp5bMPK'
. THE COCA-COLA. COMPANY PfBf
Whenever
vou ace an
ilrrowlhinjc
of-Coca-Coia.
under the government sometimes
makij errors, an indemnity fund must
be provided to make good to pur
chasers any possible loss arising
arising under this system. It is for
this purpose that the indemnity fee
of' one-tenth of one per cent is re
quired.' When I was in Regina, Sas
katchewan province, Canada, last
August the registrar of land titles
therd told me that in several years
there had been but one payment
made out of their indemnity fund.
In this case a clerk had missed not
ing a judgment of $3,500 standing
against a tract of- land, and the
province paid the purchaser that
amount, to 'clear the title.
It will be not d that the initial
cJDSt of registering land under the
Torrens system is considerable. This
arises from the necessity of a thor
ough inquiry by an expert into the
status of the title before registering
it. It further involves, under the
Illinois law, publication of a notice
designed to bring into court all claim
ants of any interest in the tract
I o limit in ho rocitttornfl It fnrfhor ro.
quires the creation of an indemnity
fund to enable the government to
make good itf; guarantee of title.
When these initial expenses are paid,
and the land duly registered, subse
quent transfers are made at a merely
nominal expense of $1 to $3.
. POPULARITY OF PLAN
The popularity of the.fysteni when
once, established is- evidenced .by - its
spread from one to another of the
English-speaking colonies, and even
to the old country itself. In the four
provinces of western Canada, Manitoba,-
Saskatchewan, Alberta and
British Columbia, the use of the Tor
rens system is well-nigh universal.
Even where the law was at -first
optional the advantages of the Tor
rens system have been so great that
nearly all of th land has been
brought undjr its jurisdiction. T
In the United States', progress
under the Torrens system in the va
rious states that have enacted the
law has been slow. Here the Jaw lias
been in its optional form. The initial
expense and the opposition of the ab
stract companies and title insurance
companies 1. .s contributed to this. In
some states loan companies have re
fused to make loans upon Torrens act
titles. It has beer, charged that this
was due in some cases to the fact
that officers of the loan companies
were stockholders in the title insur
ance companies. Letters in my pos
session, date- rarch, 1913,. from the
attorney generals of Minnesota, Colo
rado and Massachusetts practically
agree in. saying that the law is satis
factory in its operation, but that
registration ur.uer its provisions pro
ceeds slowly.
Wc5?H0!5 m93S Hon -wanted by mamu
factwers ami vrizos oflorcd fprlnventlonj. Our (out
haakff out frer. Patent secured 6r Pop Returned
VIOTCUt J. KVANS & Ct).. Washington, D. T
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