ENZB - 1860 - Kelly, R. Numerical Registration of Deeds, Certificates and Titles

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The Scheme of Registration of deeds and titles set forth and explained in these papers I have called Numerical, not that numbers can of themselves make titles good or bad, but, because they secure those great essentials in Registration without which we may labour in vain to effect a useful or valuable system, but with their aid other matters connected with this important subject may with greater facility be prepared.

As many of my readers are unacquainted with the circumstances which led to the introduction of this Scheme of Registration into Auckland, a few words upon the subject may not prove uninteresting. In 1853, I forwarded a paper to the Chief Justice of this Colony, exhibiting the difficulties of map designation, which I was then, in accordance with the Land Registration Ordinance for this Colony, in vain struggling to carry out for a portion only of a single county. In this document I recommended that the plan of simple numerical designation be substituted for it. I also published a pamphlet about the same time exposing the defects of the system in use in New Zealand.

Having obtained the concurrence of the Chief Justice, I forthwith prepared a book of consecutive numbers in which I entered the Numerical designation of all Registered properties, and simultaneously with this commencement of the Numerical system, and correspondency with the book of numbers, I introduced a new column into our indexing books, in which these numbers are inserted opposite to the instruments which they represent. By this arrangement any registered property, whether subdivided or otherwise, may be arrived at in a moment, because the book of numbers points to the page where it is to be found. As it is only by comparison that we can discover the superiority of simplicity over complexity, I will give examples of the two modes of designating properties, and then my readers can determine for themselves which is preferable; the descriptions are real and frequent.

The property I am about to describe was originally called allotments 7 and 8, of Section 8. The grantee subsequently cut it up and sold it in parts, and one of his parts is described by the conveyancer as follows: "All that piece or parcel of land situated in the Suburbs of Auckland, Parish of Waitemata, and County of Eden, part of allotments numbers 7 and 8, of Section No. 8, and being lot No. 4 of Section No. 2, upon a plan of the subdivision of allotments No. 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of said Section No. 8. Numerical designation would simply be part of 10,000 (or whatever the registered number of the Estate might happen to be) and by means of this number in one minute he is brought

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to the particular portion of the property which he wants to see; whereas, by the former description he might almost as well attempt to search for a needle in a bundle of straw as to think of finding it out. In the one instance he can with the aid of the book of numbers make it out himself in one minute, whereas in the other instance he is altogether dependent upon a Clerk of great experience, combined with a good memory to help him, and even then he may fail; but by numerical designation there can be no failure. I have now shown the superiority of simple numerical designation of land over map designation, but of course it would be ridiculous to assume that either map or numerical designation would, independently of other sources, be sufficient to effect a sound and perfectly comprehensive system of the Registration of deeds and titles, this obviously depends upon a great variety of contingencies, the essentials of which will I believe be found fully explained and described in these sheets, and in the clauses of the Act which I have prepared and appended to them.

It will I presume be admitted that although the conveyancer may exercise the most scrupulous exactitude in his description of property so as to secure as he hopes his Clients interests against the possibility of mistake or error, yet of what avail (so far as the Registry Office is concerned) can this minute history of a property prove, if, when a party wishing to make a search for it in the Registry Office, is unable by means of such description to find it out. But on the other hand, if the conveyancer's description of an estate be so simple that a sign or a number will, on the instant, bring him to the property in the Registry Office, then of course that number is all that can be required, and any further description of the Estate is altogether superfluous, because the object of a description, whether of a man or an Estate, is to enable us at once to know him or it, and find either out.

Obviously, once we are fairly in possession of a particular object, we need not have, or at least we ought not to have, any extraordinary difficulty in dealing with it, after whatever form or shape we like, and unquestionably, as far as land is concerned, the simpler the mode the better, because complexities, technicalities and profuse verbiage have hitherto for the most part proved the ruin of titles.

Keeping therefore continually in view the indisputable fact that simplicity is the most direct road to perfection, and bearing in mind also the complete success which has attended the use of it in the sale and transfer of ship, stock, and funded property, I have framed the system which is explained and set forth in these sheets, so that by means of the most simple forms and machinery all dealings relating to land may for the future be carried on with the most perfect ease and security.

It was only in the early part of 1856 that I was enabled to procure an act establishing Numerical Registration for the Prov-

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ince of Auckland, the system however was granted to me in a mutilated defective form, Numbers I only obtained by endorsation, a most wretched provision for what forms the vital portion of the scheme, because by the proper use of these solely depends its completeness and efficiency. The number as the designation of the property should of course be entered in the body of the deed; many other essentials were altogether denied me, having however obtained numbers in the form described, and the Registration of grants from the Crown before the issue of the same to the proprietors, which gave me a sound root to commence with, and plans on the title pages, to enable me to identify at once the various parcels of land as they were presented for Registration, and a tolerably clear mode of dealing with subdivided properties, with these materials, which, after all, form but the Skeleton of a Scheme, I have been enabled to do the business of a whole Province, including at present 10 counties, with far greater despatch, accuracy and facility than I formerly performed the work of a portion only of a single county.

There is one great omission in our Provincial Act, which I shall mention here in order that those who may have hereafter to legislate upon the subject of the Registration of titles, may see the necessity of making provision for, that is, a clause to enable the Registrar, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice, to make rules for regulating the business of his office, so that the machinery of the system may not be clogged and destroyed by the Registration of Instruments which, from the matter they contain or from the particular form in which they are prepared, are calculated to occasion this damage. The conveyancer, solicitous for the interests of his Client, and far from partial to a scheme which presumes to control him in his plans or arrangements, demands the registration of a certain Instrument as calculated to promote the interests of his Client, the Registrar hesitates, because from the indefinite description given, or other cause, he cannot make out the registered property to which it belongs, and consequently he is apprehensive that if he does register it, he may place it upon a title page to which it does not belong, and thereby occasion serious injury, or he may hesitate to register it because from the nature of the Instrument he perceives at once that it was never designed that such instruments should occupy a place upon the title page of an estate, for if registered they are calculated to clog and destroy the efficiency of the scheme; I have heard of a Registrar having been browbeaten and forced to register a common receipt. Obviously therefore a Clause should be inserted in every Registration Act which would afford the Registrar the means of an appeal to a competent and perfectly disinterested Judge or Board, who would be able satisfactorily to determine such questions when brought before him.

The evils connected with the laws of real property complained of, are obscure titles, long and expensive deeds, and difficulty and

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delay in dealing with land. We want therefore a system of Registration which will remove these, and which will not at the same time disturb the existing landed rights of any man.

I will now exhibit the system which can effect these objects, and as I proceed with it step by step I will show the design of each, and the mode by which it secures the particular end aimed at. It will then be for the adversaries of the system to prove that my gradations or premises are false, and that the result will be different from what is intended. But if, on the other hand, its laws are self evident and consequently cannot be controverted, then they should be accepted, unless it can be shown that other provisions can be substituted for them, which will in the issue prove equally clear and satisfactory, and make every dealing relating to land what it ought to be, clear, expeditious and cheap, or in other words transferable as readily and cheaply as ship, or funded property, or stock of any description. One of the most important points connected with the Numerical System of Registration is, that while it confers the most extensive benefits upon landed proprietors, it cannot in the smallest degree impair the interests of any.

The first object it aims at is, that as soon as a title deed has been registered it may ever after be arrived at in a moment; this is effected by calling it by a particular number and never repeating that number again with any other deed, and by entering it in a book of numbers which will direct you to the page in the books of the Registry Office where it has been entered. See clauses 22, 35, 36, and Schedule A.

The second is, to open a title page for every property thus registered, where it will be entered, and under it consecutively the various dealings which from time to time shall take place with the same property. Clause 24 and Schedules B C and D.

The third is, whenever a registered property is again sold or dealt with by the Registrar, the conveyancer, or the proprietor will (in the deed effecting the sale) describe it by the number assigned to it in the Registry Office. See clause 36.

The fourth is, that every deed registered must have a plan on it, which will minutely describe the boundary lines &c. of the land represented in it, and its relative position to other properties, See clauses 24, 26, and Schedules B, C, D.

The fifth is, to enter that plan upon the title page appropriated to the property. See Title pages B, C, D.

The sixth is, that whenever a deed is presented for Registration, the party bringing it shall in the presence of the Registrar or his Chief Clerk open, by means of the book of consecutive numbers, the title page assigned to the property, and if it agrees with the particulars and description exhibited upon that title page, to register it, but, if not, to reject it. See clauses 51 and 58.

The seventh is, that the provisions and forms, prepared and fully described in Sheet headed No. 1 following this paper, and

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which are also to be found in the Act attached to this Bill, be granted.

The eighth is, that the Registrar may, with the concurrence of a Board consisting of the Chief Justice, the Attorney General or other qualified persons, make such laws for simplifying titles and facilitating the transfer of land as he may find necessary.

These are the provisions which I require in order to secure good, cheap, and easily transferable titles to every man whose property is registered in accordance with them. If it can be shown that by yielding them, they can by possibility impose damage, let them of course be rejected, not otherwise; but what man, however acute as a lawyer he may he, can satisfactorily prove that a provision in a Registration Act is either dangerous, objectionable, or unnecessary, which will enable a man in one minute to examine the title to a property which without such provision he might not be able to do in a week or even in a month; if so, No. 1 is necessary. No. 2 is as safe and as necessary as No. 1, because surely no property can be damaged by having a title page appropriated to it in order to show the owner of it and all the dealings relating to it.

No. 3 is also safe and necessary, because by means of it the Registrar is enabled to find out the title page of the property, and thereby ascertain if the party selling was the registered owner, &C. &C. &C.

No. 5 is necessary, because the plan is to an estate what a Photograph is to a man, when a man comes before you, you know him by his Photograph, and when a property is brought to the Registry Office for Registration, you know it by the plan.

No. 6 is necessary, for without it there can positively be no security for good titles, because as conveyancers make quite as many mistakes as other people, a provision is absolutely necessary in order to prevent them by means of No. 6; he is obliged before he registers a deed, to open the title page assigned to it, in order to satisfy the Registrar that there is no link in the chain of title deeds wanting to complete the title--that he has faithfully described it, that the vendor was the registered owner of it, & c; &c, &c.

No. 7. If you want to have cheap, clear, and easily transferable titles, the provisions and forms enumerated and fully described in sheet No. 1 are absolutely necessary.

No. 8. Is of vast importance, because undeniably difficulties which no legislative assembly can foresee and therefore cannot provide for, will from time to time present themselves before the Registrar, which can alone be settled by a Board constituted as the one here named--difficulties of this sort are now before me affecting the titles of Individuals which I could easily remedy and meet by arrangements which such a Board would immediately sanction, but which I cannot make without the necessary authority. The Registrar would not probably have occasion to

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consult with such a Board oftener than once in three months after the passing of the Act, and subsequently as the system became more perfect, not oftener than once in 6 months or even in 12 months.

I ask for the provisions here enumerated, because the most scrupulous lawyer cannot prove that they can in the least degree injuriously affect the interest of any landed proprietors.

I ask for them because by means of them I can carry out the plans of the Royal Commissioners, or Sir Hugh Cairns's. I ask for them, because I solemnly believe that the interest of the public cannot be protected without them. Other systems may fail, because they have not been tried; but a system which, under the most extraordinary difficulties, has stood a test of 7 years, is not likely to fail.

The system of Registration set forth in these papers is a Registry of titles, that is, as soon as a party purchases a property from the crown, it is registered, and his title to it is exhibited after the form described in Sheet No. 1, and every time the same property is sold again, the new purchaser's title is shown in the same way. It is a Registry also of good titles, because once a property has been registered, no one but the registered owner can sell it, and he can only sell it, (unless it is only a portion of his land,) in the form and size in which he purchased it himself, and as shown upon the title page assigned to it.

It differs from an indefeasible title only in name, because a good title cannot be set aside any more than an indefeasible title, the former is secured by a process of self-evident laws, which, by a chain of indisputable circumstances, secures an issue which admits of no dispute. An indefeasible title therefore differs from the former only in name, because the titles in either case must be established by a similar code of laws or proofs.

A member of the legal profession may, I know, affirm that the Numerical System of Registration is not sufficient to meet every difficulty affecting titles, which may be brought before it. The Registrar will of course affirm to the contrary. The dispute, however, may be settled by requiring the lawyer to name the difficulty which he thinks the Numerical Scheme of Registering titles cannot provide for, and then by calling upon the Registrar to explain the mode by which he will meet it. There is, I feel fully persuaded, no difficulty whatsoever connected with the dealings of land, and the titles to land, which Registration cannot readily and with ease provide for, but these must of course be brought before it in a direct and in an intelligible shape, and not after a form which it would seem was in many instances intended purposely to disguise a title, and not to elucidate it.

The Numerical System of Registration of course provides the forms by which titles to land may be exhibited in a form which will enable them to be registered with ease, clearness and certainty.

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Under the System of Registration laid down in these papers, the deeds now in use by professional conveyancers are for the most part superseded by Registar's Certificates, and sales are made by simple endorsations on these certificates. Hitherto the deed drawn out by the conveyancer endeavoured by the authority of the instrument itself to establish a party's right to the property represented in it; under the present system a single line written upon the title book of the property effects this object infinitely better, because as this is the last entry it relinquishes all the former.

All that a deed of sale, mortgage, or lease need now set forth is, that A the registered owner of 10,000 (or whatever the number may be) sells, mortgages, or leases his estate to R for so much, the plan of which is delineated below, and whatever is delineated below, will be found delineated upon the title page of the property.

It is quite right that a System of Registration which has been found defective should be superseded by another, but surely it is not right that a system which can effect after the cheapest, the safest, and the simplest form possible, every desirable end which Registration can confer, should be set aside, and before a flaw has been discovered in it.

If a test is wanting to prove its efficiency, that test has been afforded by a trial of 7 years; but if that is not considered sufficient, let the following test be made, which I think is the fairest, as well as the closest and severest that I know of. Let for example 200 titles to seperate properties be investigated in my office, say from 10000 to 10200, --11000 to 11200, --12000 to 12200, and so on upwards, or in any other way. Let the parties appointed to make the investigation call at the Registry office with a sheet prepared, having the numbers for investigation inserted upon it with columns for replies, &c., &c., and let the following questions be put and answerered: Who is the registered owner of 11001, 11002, 11003? and so on. What is the extent of his property? Is it encumbered or otherwise? Does the title page exhibit any defect in the title? If so. What is it? It will be found that the answers will be given in a shorter time than they can be taken down. It will also show where there is a defect in the title, what that defect is, and also that it would have been prevented had the provisions which are exhibited and enumerated in these papers been in force, consequently that all titles which for the future shall be registered under it in its amended form must be good.

Not one can deny its sufficiency for the Registration of Instruments upon the most extensive scale, because by a reference to the books of my office it will be seen that I am able to take in upwards of 150 deeds in one day, and examine the titles to each. If I can do this with a very limited staff, of course I can quadruple the number with an establishment proportionally large.

Sheet No 2 describes the mode by which old titles may be registered under the new system. I see no necessity for warranted titles,

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and I think a retrospective test is as good if not better than a prospective, but of course neither of these matters can in any degree affect the Numerical System of Registration, as it will work as well under warranted as unwarranted titles, under prospective as retrospective test, and whether with or without Commissioners, it is in fact the machinery for carrying out the purposes of any or all.

Sheet No. 3, I regard as by far the most important portion of the Numerical System of Registration. It will not only put an end to a monster evil, but will give a degree of freedom to all the dealings with land which cannot be secured without it. It must consequently greatly enhance the value of land; and land insurance offices, or offices established for the purpose of lending money on land, will become as common and much more beneficial to the interests of society at large than any other description of Insurance Offices now in force.

I have furnished materials for securing the benefits referred to in these papers. Gentlemen of the legal profession are alone qualified to frame the Act effectually; and I sincerely believe that those who will do so, will be entitled to be regarded as the best friends of society.

No. 1.

GENERAL REMARKS ON SHEET No. 1.

This Sheet commences by proving firstly, that Registration and Conveyancing (which should be inseparably connected) when conducted upon sound, simple, and natural principles, can never result in confusion or error. Secondly, it exhibits the laws by which certainty in all dealings with land may be secured. Thirdly, it briefly recites the various advantages which the Numerical System of Registration secures to society.

We know that in the sciences there are certain acknowledged principles, and when these are established, conclusions regularly and fairly drawn from them must be admitted, as in mathematics from self-evident axioms we arrive at the truth of the proposition.

In registration also when the first principles are sound, the conclusions which follow from them must, if faithfully carried out, be sound also.

The laws and first principles by which Registration can with unerring precision secure every object, which the most zealous advocates for cheap, sound, and easily transferable titles can wish, are as follows:--

First, --They require that when once a title be registered, no subsequent dealings with the same property shall be valid before the registration thereof, and that consequently the Registry Office be the only source from which information relating to the state of that property be ever after taken.

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Second--That every title so registered, shall on the registration thereof receive a designation, by which it shall ever after be known and distinguished in a moment from all other titles similarly registered, although they should amount to millions, and that designation must be a number.

Third. --That whenever the same property be sold or dealt with again, it shall be described or designated by that number.

Fourth. --That every instrument presented for registration shall have a plan of the land which is alienated in it, delineated upon it, and which plan shall distinctly show its relative position to the adjoining allotments, and be complete with the proper boundary lines and the description thereof, and such plan upon any deed of transfer, shall be a sufficient description of the property sold therein, without any written representation or description of it whatsoever.

Fifth. --That whenever a property be registered for the first time, the Registrar shall open a title page for it, which shall exhibit the following particulars: --1st, Its numerical designation; 2nd. The vendor's and vendee's names; 3rd. The nature of the instrument; 4th. The date of it; 5th. A column for a reference to a new title page, when a portion only of the property registered upon it is sold; 6th. A column for the owner's signature; and at the bottom of this page shall be delineated a plan of the property as described in the preceding number. These entries, except the plan, are to occupy a single line upon each title page. For particulars see Schedules B. C. D. to bill.

Sixth. --That upon the registration of every deed of transfer, the Registrar shall supply the party who is the owner of the property described therein with a certificate which shall contain the following particulars: --1st. The name of the party who is the registered owner of it; 2nd. The numerical designation by which it is known in the Registry Office; 3rd. The map or plan of it, which instrument shall be dated, sealed, and signed by the Registrar.

Seventh. --That upon the sale of the property represented in the foregoing Certificate in full, the vendor shall inscribe upon the back of it the following particulars: --That on the 29th August, 1859, (or as date may be) A. B., the registered owner of the land described and delineated upon the other side, has for the sum of £5000, sold his right and title to the same, and all interest thereon to E. F., of Auckland, merchant, which endorsation will be signed by himself, and one or more witnesses.

Eighth. --That upon the sale only of a portion of an Estate included in any certificate, the vendor will prepare a deed after the following form, --I, A. B., of Auckland, settler, have on the 31st of August, 1859, sold a portion of my property, No. 10776, to James Brown, merchant, Sydney, New South Wales, for the sum of £1000.

Witnesses J. P., or A., merchant . . . Signed A. B.
E. F. of A. Clerk.

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The plan on this instrument shows the skeleton lines only of the whole of the land delineated upon A. B.'s Certificate, but gives a minute description by boundary lines, and the extent of each particular piece sold to J. B.

Ninth. --That upon the mortgage of a property represented in any Certificate, the mortgagor, who will of course be the registered owner thereof, will write upon the back of it, that he A. B., has upon the 29th of August, 1859, lent the property described and delineated upon the other side, for 5 years, to E. F., of Auckland, merchant, for the sum of £4000, for which he agrees to pay interest quarterly, after the rate of 10 per cent.; and in default thereof, or of the non payment of the interest, he may sell the same. . . . Signed A. B.

Witnesses: J. F., merchant, Auckland.
F. B., clerk, do.

Tenth. --That upon the payment back of a sum of money borrowed upon mortgage, the mortgagee will write upon the back of his mortgage certificate that on the (here insert date) A. B. refunded in full the sum of £4000, lent by me, as expressed in the certificate endorsed on the other side.

Signed E. F.
Witnesses: J. B., &c.

Eleventh. --Immediately upon the final settlement of any of the transactions enumerated above, the parties interested in them, or their agents, will have them registered, when the Registrar will cancel the old certificates, and issue new ones, or make endorsation on the original ones, after the following form:-- The new purchaser, whether of the whole or a portion only of an Estate, will receive a certificate after the form described in No. 6. The mortgagor or borrower will have inscribed upon the back of his certificate an endorsation to the effect that he has borrowed £4000 upon it. The mortgagee or lender will receive a certificate which shall contain the following particulars:-- 1st. The date when the money was lent; 2nd. The amount of the same; 3rd. The name of the party to whom he lent it; 4th. The number of the Estate upon which he lent it, and the plan of it, with the conditions showing the period for which lent, the rate of interest to be paid, and whether quarterly or otherwise, and the sum, if any, for which the Estate is ensured with Registrar's seal and signature.

Twelfth. --When a proprietor, who has a first mortgage upon his Estate, wishes to make a second, or get a further charge upon it, and has completed such contract, he will make a memorandum upon the back of his certificate to that effect, and when a mortgagee arranges to transfer his claim over to another, he will do so by writing on the back of his certificate that (here insert date) he has transferred over in full his claim to the property represented upon the other side to G. H., of Auckland, settler, for the sum of £4000, to be signed and witnessed. When these

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instruments are registered and new certificates issued. The mortgagor's certificate will now show that there are two charges upon the Estate, and the orginial mortgagee will have his claim extinguished by the party who supersedes him upon the title page, and the new lender will receive a certificate to show that he has a claim upon the property for £4000, or as it may be.

Thirteenth. --When a Will has been registered, assigning to different parties certain portions, or annuities, a supplementary title page must be opened for the insertion of each of these, and every such minor or subordinate claimant, shall receive from the Registrar a certificate to show that he or she has a claim of £2000, or an annuity of £200 per annum, or whatever it may be, upon a registered property, No. 12564; and until all these claims have been satisfied, the original title page must be closed against all further dealings with such property, unless they are made with the full concurrence of all these claimants, which fact can alone be established to the satisfaction of the Registrar by the delivery up to him of all the certificates which he issued to such claimants, and for the prevention of mistakes with reference to all further dealings with the property, the letter D will be inscribed upon the title page assigned to it, which is to signify that there is a distringus over it. See Schedule D to bill.

Fourteenth. --It will be seen by the foregoing rules that the Numerical Scheme of Registration establishes, that as often as a property is sold in its entirety, that the last entry made upon the title page assigned to that property, extinguishes all former numbers and entries, except they be unreleased mortgages, leases, judgments or settlements, and these remain as charges upon it; but as in 99 cases in every 100, they are released before such sale does take place, therefore, as a general rule, it follows that the last entry of the sale of an entire property, extinguishes all former entries, and these rules also establish that whenever a portion of a property is sold, the piece is removed over to its own title page, and that piece is ever after dealt with as an original Estate. This peculiarity of the system should be kept in mind, because it forms an important feature in that part of my plan which applies to the introduction at once of the Numerical Scheme of Registration into old countries or Colonies of long standing.

Fifteenth--That for the purpose of simplifying and reducing all Deeds of transfer to the smallest compass possible, all covenants should be implied, all trustees should, for the time being be regarded as proprietors, all rights of way, and water, and every other right associated with the enjoyment of land upon the most extensive scale, are to be understood as appertaining to that land, unless specially excepted, that no additional words be used on the transfer of land to or from corporations or associations of any sort, whether religious or otherwise, than would be required to be used in a common transfer from one individual to another, except that instead of the name of an

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individual the name of the corporation be used, and that no evasion or construction of the law, unless it be a decree of the Supreme Court, shall be capable of defeating the rights and title of any party whose land has been registered in accordance with the foregoing provisions.

These are the fundamental laws of Registration--these are the first principles which, when faithfully carried out, remove at once every evil which at present so arbitrarily and unjustly interferes with the sale and transfer of land. Without unnecessarily lengthening this paper, by entering into a recital of the abuses which the Solicitor General denounces, as a reproach upon the law, as they are already but too well known, and too severely felt, to require any exposition of mine. I will briefly refer to the advantages which the Numerical Scheme of Registration secures to the public, and to the mode by which it releases them for ever from those arbitrary usages, heavy pecuniary exactions, difficulty in dealing with land, obscure titles, and long and unintelligible deeds so justly complained of.

In the first place, it secures that when a party calls at the Registry Office for information about a particular property, he attains his object in about one minute; this, as I have shown, is secured by giving to every registered property a numerical designation, of which no two are alike, and by opening a title page for every such property, which at a glance exhibits all the dealings which have taken place with that estate since the root was registered; it provides also that, (except in cases of charges) the last entry upon every such title page, extinguishes all the former, consequently in one minute, an applicant can find out whether the particular estate enquired after, is encumbered or otherwise, and if so, to what extent. In the second place, it strips deeds of transfer of all technical phraseology, and obscurity, and reduces them to little more than the size of a bank note, and yet the identification of the particular properties to which each refer, is so clear, that on the instant any person, although totally unversed in the law, can distinguish the property to which they belong, because, as by a portrait, you can in a moment recognize the man for whom it was taken, so by the map or plan of an estate, you can with equal certainty and despatch discover the one to which it belongs.

In the third place, it does away for ever with all retrospective searches and abstracts of title, because as the last entry upon every title page extinguishes all the former, (unless they happen to be charges upon the estate, and these are seen in a moment) consequently it follows that he has but one title deed to look for, and that is the last, but in case he should desire to go further, he has before him upon a single sheet, a full pedigree of the estate, commencing with the root, and proceeding in regular genealogical descent to the last entry. In the fourth place, it totally annihilates all cost in the transfer of land, because under it any one can transfer an estate over as well as the most eminent

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lawyer in the country, because one form must be used by all, and that form is so simple, that literally speaking, a boy who has learned to read and write, can understand and prepare it. In the fifth place it secures the utmost despatch in all dealings with land, because, with the witnesses present, a transfer may be made by endorsation, in the space of two or three minutes. In the sixth place, it secures an undeniable title, free from the possibility of confusion or error, because it must return to the Registry Office in exactly the same form and shape in which it left it, because the vendor can only sell by endorsation the property which belonged to him, as it was described by the Registrar himself.

In the seventh place, it prevents the possibility of forgery, because, in addition to the vendors signature, it would be necessary to forge the Registrar's signature, and also the Seal of the office.

In the eighth place, it must raise the value of land immensely by the facility with which all transfers of it are made, and the positive security of the titles thereto. To the Government it may secure a most important addition to the revenue of the country, and yet the cost incurred by the individual will fall very short of that which he is at present subject to.

These are the essential laws of the Numerical Scheme of Registration; there may yet be matters of minor importance unprovided for by it, but as these present themselves the scheme will have to open out a little for their reception. This is the machinery by which, in the event of Sir Hugh Cairns' scheme being adopted, it may with the utmost facility be reduced to practice. This is the machinery by which, without any delay whatsoever, the titles of the land are set at liberty, so that every man may for the future sell his land as readily as his ship, his funded property, his chattels, or even his stock.

This paper commences by describing, Firstly, the plan by which the deeds held by the present occupiers of land may with safety be reduced to the smallest compass possible, so as to insure their registration with accuracy and despatch. Secondly, it exhibits the class of landed proprietors, who after proving their right to their titles, by a test suggested in these sheets, may forthwith bring them on to the Registry. Thirdly, it prescribes the plan for assuring to all landed proprietors indefeasible titles.

The evils connected with the sale and transfer of land, are already too well known, and so severely felt, that it would only be an unnecessary waste of words on my part to recite them. I shall therefore, merely refer to them by saying that the titles to our land are obscured and mystified by profuse verbiage, and useless and unintelligible technicalities, that the delay in dealing

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with them is very great, and the cost in transferring them is most expensive. These being the primary difficulties which we have to deal with, our plan of proceeding is consequently both clear and simple. Our first object manifestly is therefore to reduce our great cumbrous deeds to a suitable size by firstly stripping them of all unnecessary verbiage, obscurities, and technicalities; and secondly, by making them ever after saleable and transferable as readily and cheaply as ship, stock, or funded property. By a reference to my last paper it will be seen that I have accomplished both these objects, so that from henceforward deeds of transfer need not be much longer than a bank note, and be dealt with, or sold within the space of five minutes, and by a reference to Sec. xc. of the Royal Commissioner's report, it will be seen that the plan which I have pursued in effecting these important ends, is in perfect accordance with the plan recommended by those eminent statesmen and lawyers, namely, that of first deciding upon the plan of the title pages, and then of preparing the forms for the deeds of transfer, so that they shall in all essentials be assimilated to the brevity and perfect simplicity of the former. This is the plan which I have strictly adhered to, and which years ago I strongly advocated.

Having progressed so far in our Scheme, that which remains is plain, clear, and perfectly practicable. The plan is--as soon as a deed is presented for Registration, to extract from it the following particulars:--

First. The date when the owner purchased it.

Second. The money or consideration which he paid for it.

Third. The names of the parties, from and to whom it was sold; and

Fourth. The plan of it, with the vendor's and witness's signature, those are to be Registered and the deed immediately returned, and the Registrar's Certificate issued after the form prescribed, in my last sheet.

In case no plan was delineated upon the original Instrument, the proprietor must, prior to the registration of his deed, have his land surveyed, and the map or plan of it delineated upon his deed. Now, having prepared and fully completed the machinery necessary for carrying on our work, the next subject for consideration is: what class of deeds are eligible for registration under the Numerical Scheme of Registration; by Sir H. Cairns' plan, a prospective test which is to occupy a period of fifteen months is recommended, and if no claimants have during this period disputed the applicant's title to his land, he may register and obtain a registration title; this I consider to be both arbitrary and oppressive, and instead of a prospective test, I would advise what I consider to be far more natural and just, and that is a retrospective one. By this plan every individual who has held quiet and undisputed possession of his land for fifteen months is eligible at once for Registration, or, although, he

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only purchased his land yesterday; still, if he can prove that no legal proceedings had been taken against the party from whom he purchased for the same period, he is entitled to Register, and to secure a Registrar's title. If the advocates for more stringent laws require it, let it be further provided (if thought necessary) that after a period of fifteen months has elapsed from the passing of the Act for the establishment of Numerical Registration, that every Registered proprietor's title be declared good or indefeasible, if no adverse claimant has during that period come forward to dispute the validity of it.

This provision need not for one moment retard the progress of Registration, because if the new claimant has, in the meantime, been able to establish the validity of his title to the estate by the process of law, his name will of course supersede on the Register the party who has been ejected by the Supreme Court.

The Registrar and his assistant, or assistants, will of course require of every person desirous to obtain the benefit of a Registration title, to make affidavit that he has delivered up all the deeds which relate to the estate about to be Registered, including of course all incumbrances, he will further require him to make affidavit that no legal proceedings have been put in force against the land, for a period of fifteen months. These preliminaries having been adjusted, the Registrar will now take the instrument which established the ownership in the hands of the present occupiers, which will of course be the deed of the latest date, and from this he will make extracts after the form already prescribed, which complied with, he will Register the property, return all the deeds relating to it, and issue the necessary certificates. When the deeds relating to the estate are in possession of the Mortgagee, the proprietor of the fee simple may, with the consent of the Mortgagee, have them Registered, when the certificates will, in accordance with the Scheme, be supplied to both.

Should the mode of Registration recommended in these sheets be approved of; but, that it would also be considered advisable to add to it, the plan of Parliamentary or indefeasible titles, then I would suggest that an Office be opened for the purpose of Registering the Numbers (because, for ready reference, all should be consecutively numbered) of the parties with their names and addresses, who are ready by law or otherwise, to dispute the right and title of the parties who are at present in the possession and enjoyment of fee simple estates. If none come forward within a given period, then the parties in possession should be Registered as the holders of indefeasible titles. By this mode the objectionable plan of exposing by public advertisement the disputes of families or neighbours would be prevented.

The duties devolving upon the head of this Office would be:--

Firstly (as I have shewn) to take down the numbers, names, and addresses of the objectors.

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Secondly, to notify to the parties in possession, that objections have been made to their titles by (here insert the numbers, names and addresses of the adverse claimants).

Thirdly, to ascertain from the plaintiffs and defendants, whether it is their wish to adjust the difficulties which exist between them by arbitration or legal process. If the former, five perfectly disinterested parties to be chosen, one of whom is to be named by the head of the Office, and is to be paid for his services. These should have power to settle all disputes and difficulties that may arise, and to issue after a very simple shape somewhat after the forms described in Sheet No. 1, a title deed which would assure to the successful competitor an indefeasible title. These arbitrators of law disputes to be paid or otherwise, as the country may think best. The cost attending the examination of witnesses to be paid by the ejected parties. Should an Office of this description be established, it would be necessary before any party could Register his title deeds, that he should bring with him from the head of this Office a certificate to signify that no adverse claimant to bis title had been registered in the disputed land title Office, when the proprietor would be registered as the holder of an indefeasible title.

PART No. 3.

The chief object aimed at in this paper is to substitute a plan of redeemable and transferable land debentures for the very objectionable mode of raising money by mortgage deeds, which without in any way benefitting the wealthy capitalist presses with unusual severity upon the poor struggling landed proprietor, who, anxious to obtain money at any cost, is not only compelled to pay the most exorbitant rate of interest, but has to accept of deeds which expire at short periods, so that his cost for renewals, further charges, and heavy interest is so excessive, that it not unfrequently happens that a sudden and unreserved Sale, sweeps from him at once all he was worth, in order to satisfy the wants of such creditors and others.

The design of this branch of the System, is to make perfect the beneficial effects of the Numerical Scheme of Registration, so as--

Firstly. To secure to the proprietor of land the full enjoyment and advantage of his interest therein.

Secondly. To secure to the capitalist who may be desirous to invest his money in land, immediate and undeniably good security.

Thirdly. To protect the poor man and all others who may have occasion to borrow money on land against exorbitant or usurious interest, as well as unjust and excessive charges.

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Fourthly. To enable the borrower of money to discharge his debt by easy instalments, or by bulk as it my best suit his convenience. And

Fifthly. To enable the lender to recover his money without unnecessary delay, when it may appear to him desirable to do so. In a word, to assimilate all the dealing with land to those which are at present so advantageously and beneficially carried on with stock or funded property.

In order to accomplish this object, the Government of the country, or a Corporation, acting under their sanction, should establish Land Banking or Brokers Offices, somewhat after the plan of Insurance Offices, to work --in conjunction with the Registry of Titles Office, at the head of which establishment men of undeniable integrity should of course be placed, and one uniform rate of interest should, as in Banks, be paid on all sums borrowed on land through these offices.

The Scheme is as follows:--

First. As soon as a man has received his certificate of title, and is desirous to borrow money upon it, he will proceed at once to the Land Banking Office, and present it to the Banker or Broker who will enter the number of it in his book, with the sum required upon it, and any other particulars he may think necessary. He will then receive instructions to call upon a day appointed, when he will be informed of the sum which the Banker, after strict enquiry, considers may be safely lent upon it. This is the first part of the Scheme. The second is: when a Banker or Capitalist has superfluous money to lend, he will call at the Land Banking Office, and leave his address and the amount of capital (in figures of course, not in cash) which he is desirous to invest, and will also receive instructions to call again on a day named.

These preliminaries having been adjusted, the parties interested will appear at the day and hour appointed, when the borrower will endorse his Certificate after the form prescribed for Mortgagors, and the lender will pay down his Money and the Instrument thus endorsed, will at once be placed in the hands of the Registrar of titles, who will forthwith register it, and issue Certificates after the form prescribed.

In order to make these Land Insurance, and lending Offices valuable upon sound, liberal and comprehensive principles, the Land Banker or Broker should have power to hold the Certificates of title, and to issue in their place land debentures which should be transferable and redeemable; such debentures should not exceed in value £100 each, nor less than £20. The lender of £100 would accordingly receive ten debentures at £100 each, and the lender of £100, five at £20 each. The interest upon all sums. borrowed through the Land Banking Office, to be paid in quarterly to the Bank, and the interest on the debentures issued to to be paid quarterly by the Bank.

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In the event of any party delaying or refusing to pay the Interest due on any money borrowed through the Land Bank, the Banker to have power to sell the mortgagor's or borrower's property. The holders of debentures should be enabled through the Banking establishment, to transfer their own [them over - handwritten note] to a party willing to purchase them. The Mortgagor under this system would be enabled from time to time, as the means were afforded to him, to lighten the tax upon his property by the purchase of debentures, which would produce to him the same rate of interest as that which he himself was paying, and as soon as he had purchased debentures sufficient to pay the debt in full upon his estate, he should be enabled to call in his mortgage deed, and obtain an once an acquittal of his debt, which would be effected by an endorsation upon the back of the mortgage certificate by the lender, after the form prescribed.

The debentures by which the borrower has been enabled to liquidate the debt upon his estate, will now be substituted for and accordingly, be transferred over to the party holding the original debentures, who will continue to receive the same rate of interest and equally good security on the new debentures, as he enjoyed on the old.

The Numerical Scheme of the Registration of deeds and titles is from its extreme simplicity, as well as the perfect accuracy of its machinery, the only System of Registration by which the advantages here held out to landed proprietors and capitalists, can with unquestionable certainty be effectually secured.

The capitalist under this System is not only protected by the counsel and experience of the Banker, but is enabled by a reference to the Registry of Titles Office, to ascertain for himself by a single glance at the title page, the nature and extent of the security he is about to receive, and if this is not sufficient he can go and see the premises or estate upon which he is about to lend his money. The forms of these land debentures will be extremely simple, and will correspond in essentials with those in use for Bank Notes.

I have shown that every instrument or title registered, whether mortgage or otherwise, has its Numerical designation, and that such number leads at once to the title page where it has been registered, consequently every such land debenture will after the form of a Bank Note, have inserted upon it in large intelligible figures, the registered number of the mortgage deed from which the debentures have issued.

A land mortgage debenture will therefore be prepared after the following form.

No. 12766. --Mortgage debenture No. 1. --No. 12766.

I promise to pay at the Land Banking Office quarterly, the sum of £2 10s. to the bearer of this land debenture for £100. The days for the payment of the interest are the 1st of January,

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April, July, and October, during this and every ensuing year, that this debenture continues in circulation.

(Signed) J. T., Clerk. Wm. H., Land Banker.

Note. ----No. 12766 represents the registered number of the mortgage deed, upon which the debentures were issued, and mortgage debenture No. 1 signifies that it is No. 1 of 5 debentures, which have been issued by the Banker.

By this System of land debentures, or mortgages on land, all classes of Society are protected alike, the poor widow with her limited means and limited knowledge of the world is as safe under it as the shrewdest and craftiest man in existence.

Other and more stringent laws may be thought necessary for effectually carrying out this measure; for instance, Government may consider that for the protection of the public, the Land or Mortgage Debenture Office should, like any other Insurance Office, commence with a large capital, or that the Banker should be called upon to give security to a considerable amount. I have, however, given an outline of the Scheme sufficient to show the perfect feasibility of it, as well as the value of the benefits which must most assuredly follow from it.

When Numbers by the Numerical Scheme of Registering Titles increase to what may be considered an inconvenient extent; the Registrar will commence a new set of Numbers, by the addition of a letter or symbol, as 7776 A, and as these may be supplied to any extent, there is no reason to apprehend that any inconvenience will even follow from this cause.

SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS.

The design of the Numerical Scheme of the Registration of Deeds and Titles is as nearly as it is practicable to assimilate the dealings with land to those of ship or funded property, and to make such transactions intelligible to the comprehension of all, and that the mode by which it is to effect these objects shall not depend upon the ingenuity of any man, but upon unvarying principles and laws, which acting with the precision and accuracy of a piece of machinery cannot easily admit of error.

The objects at which the Numerical System of Registration aim, and which it effects, are as follows

1st. Despatch and accuracy in referring at once to any registered property.

2nd. Reducing the size as well as the cost of deeds, this is effected by preparing the deeds of transfer after the plan of the title page assigned to them in the Registry Office (see Schedule B and Clause 24), and by substituting for the most part certificates of title and endorsation thereon, for the instrument now in use by the professional conveyancer (see Clause 37 and following).

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3rd. Dispensing with abstracts of title and retrospective searches. This is effected by means of title pages, which, in reality, are such abstracts, because they exhibit all the dealings which have ever taken place with the properties registered upon them; and the laws regulating these are such that the last entry upon any title page extinguishes all the former, except they be temporary dealings, such as incumbrances or charges upon the fee (see Schedule B, C, D, and E, and Clauses 24 and 56.

4th. Facility for dealing. with subdivided properties, and these, it must be borne in mind, are by far the greatest difficulties which have to be surmounted in the science of Registration.

I can safely declare that I was many years in overcoming this difficulty, and tried many plans before I succeeded. Subdivided properties, however, may be dealt with as readily as original estates by numbers and plans, as described in the book of numbers and Schedules B, C, D, and Clauses 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 35, 36, 39. Under the Numerical Scheme a party who has bought a piece of land which happened to be one of 500 portions into which an original estate was cut up for sale; when that piece has been registered it will for illustration be called 10,000, and if the new purchaser cuts it up again for sale, it will be described in the deed as part, of 10,000, and he will put a plan on it after the mode described in Clause 29; when it is registered it will have its own title page assigned to it, and be dealt with ever after as an original property.

5th. The control which it exercises over the instruments presented for Registration by the professional conveyances. This is a most important feature in the scheme, and is absolutely necessary because the most extravagant mistakes are often made, no doubt through the carelessness of the young lads employed in preparing such instruments; indeed, I have seen mistakes of this sort so serious, that the titles, if registered after the form described in such deeds, would not have been worth a pin. This most important object is secured by numbers, and the plans exhibited upon the title pages assigned to registered properties, and by Clauses 51, 58, and 60. It may, I admit, be asserted that the Numerical Scheme of Registing titles does not provide for every difficulty to which the titles to real estate are in their most complicated form subject, such as-- cases of intestacy and settlements, to which I would answer that no other Scheme of Registration in operation does; neither would it be at all necessary that it or any other scheme should, because there are cases at which Registrars cannot, by possibility, be present, as in the preparation of Wills or Marriage Settlements; and there are other cases, also, which he cannot interfere with, such as intestacies where the heirs are unknown. Difficulties of this sort must as a matter of course be determined by the Supreme Court, and the other cases referred to will, as usual, have to be dealt with by qualified members of the legal profes--

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sion; but the Numerical Scheme provides the laws for greatly simplifying such dealings, and for securing the immediate identification of the properties to which decrees or instruments refer; (see Clauses 51, 57, and 59), so that complication of title need not be apprehended when the Numerical Scheme of Registration is faithfully carried out.

For the preservation of titles from obscurity and complexities the Numerical System of Registration provides --1st, that all Crown Grants shall be Registered before the delivery of the same to the owners thereof (see Clause 30); -- 2nd, that no Subsequent dealings with the same shall be valid before the registration thereof (Clauses 34 and 43), and that consequently the last entry upon every title page extinguishes all former entries except they be charges, Clause 56. All minor or subordinate interests are registerable and transferable after the mode in use for the transfer of the fee (see Schedule E, and Clauses 45 and 47). It may appear to some that the Registrar's Certificate of title in Clause 37 is not sufficiently comprehensive, but I think this impression will be removed when it is remembered that the title page of the property supplies what is deficient in the certificate, and that the object of such certificate is after all intended merely as an introduction to such title page. Despatch, simplicity; and identity are the chief points aimed at in Registration, and these are as effectually secured by this certificate as if the instrument was stretched out to 100 folios. If that portion of the Scheme which refers to the bringing on at once to the Registry all the old titles of a country be for the present delayed, then of course that part of the Bill which has reference to the Commissioner of unregistered titles department will be left out, comprehending Clauses 6 to 14 and 19 inclusive. As the Bill to which I have prepared for carrying out the provisions comprehended in these sheets is a bulky affair, and would consequently, if printed in full, considerably increase the size, as well as the expense attending the publication of this pamphlet, I will merely enumerate here those clauses which form the machinery of the system, and will only give an epitome of each, which, however, with the matter contained in the fore-going pages, will be sufficient to show the object of each, and the mode by which the Numerical scheme of Registering deeds, certificates, and titles effects its object. That portion of the Bill, consequently, which refers to the preamble, the enactment, the appointment of offices and officers, seal, fees, &c., &c., &c., are left out, because although absolutely necessary to the existence of a Bill, still, as similar provisions are for the most part to be met with in all Registration Acts, it would be of little use introducing them here.

The Bill, in its complete form, I have placed in the hands of the Colonial Secretary, and will be ready, if called upon, to supply any further information having reference to it, which may be required. I have not introduced into the Act the

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Clauses necessary for carrying out that portion of the Scheme which is comprehended in part No. 3 of this pamphlet, as probably a separate Bill may be considered necessary for carrying out that very important portion of the Numerical Scheme of Registing deeds and titles, the essential provisions of which are, however, supplied in No. 3, so that the Act may, I presume, with facility be prepared from these.

The figures in front of the Clauses represent those as they appear in their places in the Bill which I have forwarded to the Colonial Secretary, and which I call the machinery of the system. The numbers and clauses not given, although necessary, do not belong to this system more than to any other.

AN EPITOME OF THE CLAUSES OF THE ACT WHICH FORM THE MACHINERY OF THE NUMERICAL SCHEME OF THE REGISTRATION OF DEEDS, CERTIFICATES AND TITLES.

CLAUSES.

6. An Office to be established connected with the Registry of Titles Office, over which is to be placed an Officer to he called the Commissioner of Unregistered Titles, who will reduce and prepare for registration the unregistered deeds to be registered under this Act.

7. An Advertisement to be published directing proprietors of land, desiring registration, to have their properties surveyed, if not done so already, and to have such plans delineated upon their title deeds.

8. Affidavit to be made by parties desirous to secure the benefits of Registration.

9. The class of landed proprietors exhibited who are entitled to register their estates forthwith under this Act.

10. The Instruments enumerated which are registerable subsequent to the registration of the deeds, [included] are precluded in the foregoing clause.

11. Mode of dealing with unregistered instruments by the Commissioner of Unregistered Titles.

12. Extracts to be taken from a Mortgage Deed, which will be registered upon the title page of the property.

13. Extracts from a lease.

14. Discretionary power to be granted to the Commissioner of Unregistered Titles.

15. Right and privileges appertaining to the Fee.

16. What is to be implied in all Mortgage deeds and leases.

17. Abbreviated forms for expressing Covenants or Conditions.

18. Powers attached to Trustees.

19. Settlement of disputed Titles by Arbitration.

20. What shall establish an indefeasible title.

21. Numerical Registrar's department. His Seal.

22. Book of Consecutive Numbers.

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23. Record books.

24. Title books described.

25. Alphabetical test book, with numerical reference described.

26. A plan of the land to be delineated upon all deeds of transfer.

27. Private maps to be furnished to the Registrar by parties who convert their Estates into Townships.

28. How the plans on Instruments alienating land under peculiar circumstances are to be prepared.

29. How the plans are to be made on Instruments alieneating the allotments of an Estate which has been converted into a Township.

30. Crown Grants to be registered before the delivery of the same to the owners thereof.

31. Instruments described, which may be registered by the Numerical Registrar forthwith.

32. The plan on any Instrument to be a sufficient description of the property represented in it, without any written description of it whatsoever.

33. A property (not being a Crown grant) registered for the first time, of which no prior Instrument relating to the same had been registered, to have a title-page opened for it.

34. After a property has been registered no subsequent dealings with the same shall be valid before the registration thereof.

35. Every deed presented for Registration to be numbered and sealed.

36. Whenever a registered property be again sold it will be designated in the deed of sale by the number which the Registrar endorsed upon the last registered Instrument alienating the same.

37. Upon the Registration of every deed of transfer the Registrar or his deputy will supply the proprietor with a Certicate, after the form described in this clause.

38. Transfers to be made by simple endorsations on Certificates.

39. Form of a Deed for the sale of a portion of a registered property.

40. Mortgages to be made by endorsation on the Registrar's Certificate, and after the form described in this clause.

41. Re-conveyances, or Instruments liquidating Mortgages, to be made by endorsation on Mortgage Certificates, after the form described in this clause.

42. Leases to be prepared after the form contained in Clause 13 of this Act.

43. Registration to follow immediately, after the sale, mortgage, lease, &c., &c., of a property, and new Registrar's Certificates to be issued, after the forms prescribed.

44. The various forms given here for further charges or second mortgage, and for transfer of encumbrances, &c., &c., &c.

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45. Supplementary title pages to be opened after the form prescribed in Schedule E for Wills or Marriage Settlements, which assign to several parties claims upon the Fee Simple, each of whom will receive a Registrar's Certifi- of their claim.

46. When the proprietor of the Fee Simple has liquidated the various charges represented upon the Supplementary page, the Registrar will remove the distringas to which his estate is subject, after the form herein described.

47. The holders of subordinate interests may dispose of their claims by endorsation on their certificates, after the form prescribed in Clause 44.

48. A property sold subject to encumbrances, continues chargeable with the same.

49. All Instruments, whether prepared by Professional men or others, to have the properties represented in them described by their numerical designation, and to have plans on them, after the form exhibited upon the title page ap-priated to them.

50. Every registered Instrument, Certificate, or endorsation thereon, to be copied in full,

51. Before any deed can be registered, the title page to be e compared with those exhibited upon the title page appropriated to the property.

Effects of Registration.

56. The last entry upon any title page extinguishes the title of all former entries, except there be unreleased charges.

57. The Supreme Court may, in the absence of the original, authorise an authenticated copy of a Crown grant to be registered,

58. No Instrument can be registered except it be a Crown grant, and in the cases hereinafter provided for, unless it appears upon the title page that the party who alienates in such Instrument was the registered owner of the property.

59. The Supreme Court may, in certain cases, assure to a party a registerable title, although it cannot be shown, by the title page assigned to the property that he has any right to the same.

60. No Instrument can be registered unless the property alienated in it corresponds in number, plan, and description with that assigned to it on the title page, except in the aforementioned cases.

81. The Registrar may, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice make rules for regulating the practice and business of his Office.

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BOOK OF CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS.

Schedule A.