The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1875.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 298, 9 November 1875, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1875.

.An interesting report has been fur- '[ nished to the Government by Mr Davy, Registrar-General of Land/ regarding i. the -working of the Land Transfer Act for the year ending 30th June last. Prom this.it appears that the revenue for the year was £11,727, and the expenditure £8,900, and that there has

been a large incieise of business during the year. A tabular statement showing the comparative working of the system iu New Zealand and the Australian Co'onies is appended, the Australian returns being for the year 1873, and those of New Zea'and for 1874-75, but j as during the' former period the system had been in operatiou in the other colonies longer than it had been in New Zealand at the latter date, tbe comparison is scarcely fair to this colony, nevertheless the business returns here compare favorably with the other places. This will be shown by the following summary: —

I In Victoria there was a profit on the year's business of £4163, in South Australia £1323, and in New Zealand £2827. On the other hand New South Wales showed a loss of £1757, Queensland of £65, and Tasmania of £621. Mr Davy concludes his report with the following remarks -. — " Those who ignore the difference in point ot responsibility between this and other systems of registration, occasionally take exception to the strictness of practice which it is found necessary to enforce in matters of survey and otherwise. When it is considered that registration under the Land Transfer Act involves absolute responsibility for title, it will be seen that a vigilant regard for accuracy is the only principle on which such a system can be conducted. It is not claimed for the Land Transfer system that it renders possible the abandonment of the ordinary safeguards of business, or the evasion of restrictions imposed by law on dealings with real property. Its merit as a system of conveyancing consists mainly in this, that it divests the subject of complications and technicalities, and brings it within the range of ordinary business capacity. How effectually this is done is evidenced by the fact that a large and increasing proportion of the dealings with land under the Land Transfer Act is conducted with perfect facility by persons without any professional knowledge or experience. Exclusive of solicitors, there are upwards of fifty licensed land-brokers practising under the Act. With regard to tbe cost of dealing with land, the reduction of which is one great object of the Land Transfer system, it may be observed that the office fees have been fixed on as low a scale as is consistent with the due maintenance of the department, being in some instances lower than in the Australian colonies. There is reason, however, to believe that the attempt to regulate business charges i under the Act has been only partially successful. "The Government is, I presume, fully informed as to the unreliable character of the public surveys in many parts of the colony. Much evil has been predicted to the Land Transfer system from this source, and it cannot be denied that there exists a serious liability to complications of the nature suggested, though, I think, by no means to fche extent anticipated. The tendency is practically towards the settlement of such questions on the basis of occupation. "In connection with this subject, I may observe that the absence in this colony of a department corresponding to that of Surveyor-General in other colonies, has always been felt as ti disadvantage by the department in dealing with questions of survey, and in deciding on the qualifications of persons applying to be licensed as surveyors under the Act."

Colony. Population. No. of Receipts. - T . , , Trausfcra. £. . Victoria 790.490 7758 18,380 N. S. Wales 560,275 1283 3,24 • South Australia 198,075 30! 4 7,253 Qaeens'and 146.G90 2397 3,367 Tasmmia 104,217 137 678 JNewr Zealand 320,000 3488 11,727