TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 2, 14 July 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY.

Reform in the law of the transfer of real property is a subject which lias been agitated in the Australian colonies recently with great success. The timo-honored usage of the lawyers to appropriate the oyster to themselves an<l to leave the shall to their unfortunate clients is too^ well known not to be deplored, and to incite in those who are patriotic enough to avow it, and act upon it, a desire lo bring about reform in this respect. To Richard Robert Torrens, whose name is almost a household word, belongs the credit of having been the first to agitate (his question, and cut theGordian knot by which landed property was tied up in the hands of the legal profession. It was monstrous indeed that the transfer of land should in some ca>~es cos! 10, 15, or 20 per cent, of its value, and that in a new colony where the entanglements of title could no' be supposed to exist. To the poor man wanting his small plot of ground this legal tax was cruel in the extreme; but although he suffered in greater proportion he was fur from being the only sufferer. As our readers are probably aware, the first step towards the reform of the transferof real property was made in South Australia, Mr Torrens haw ng introduced a bill into the Assembly for that purpose in the session of 1857, towards the close of whioh year the third reading of it was carried by a majority of nineteen votes to seven, in the face of the most determined opposition from the legal members of the House. It subsequently passed the Legislative Council, and was assented to by the Governor on 2?ih January, IWSB. We cannot disguise the fact that the measure was then in a very imperfect state, and that it requited many material amendments in subsequent years before it was found to be workable ; but so popular has it been that it is stated that about two millions worth of land has been brought under its operation ; that the amount secured thereon by mortgage is half a million ; that the office is at present self-supporting ; Bnd that at the present rate at which propert.y is being brought under (he act, the old system o\ conveyancing will be entirely superseded before two years elapse. Shortly after the passing 1 of the act by the South Australian Parliament, Mr Torrens resigned bis political duties, and devoted his attention to the working of the measure. More recently he hns visited all the Australian colonies, and succeded in getting his measure passed through the respective Parliaments. In "Victoria the most violent hostility was evinced to it by the present At-torney-general of that colony, Mr Ireland, but the introducer of Hie measure (Mr James Service) wis so heartily supported from all sides of the house, that the Government, and Mr Ireland particularly, who desired so to twist the measure as to make it harmless to the profession, and consequently useless to those for whose benefit it was intended, were ignominiously defeated, a. d the bill was passed last session without a single amendment. Since then the Attorney-General has brought in a bill to amend the Act, which has been pa«sed, and which, it is said, will destroy all the lay principles of it. These lay principles make it imperative that the Act shall be administered partly by lay-com-missioners, so that the lawyers may not have it all in their own hands The bill to amend it in this respect was just passed before the departure of the last mail, so that we are not aware what effect this circumstance has had upon the public of Victoria, with whom the measure was extremely popular. In Queensland Torren's Act has been in operation for some time with complete success ; in Tasmania it is making way, notwithstanding the hostility of the profession ; and in New South Wales it came into operation on the Ist of January last, under the auspices of the Executive, the Attorney General, the Judges, and several of the leading barristers The expense of bringing property under Torrens' Act depends, of course, upon the nature of the title. If clear, it can be done at a small expense, and for ever after a transfer, the cost of which ranges from ten shillings to three times the amount in ordinary cases, gives an indefeasable title to the land. New Zealand is the only important colony of South, which has not taken the benefit of Torrens' Act ; but we trust before long such a measure may be introduced here, being confident that it would meet with the hearty support of the public generally. — Daily Southern Cross. Silk and Cotton Cultivation. — A private note from an experienced gentleman residing near Alhary says, in reference to silkworms and the climate of the Upper Murray •—-'* When residing for some years in Mauritius, I acquired a pretty good insight into the practical management of the * IVlagnanerie,' the name given to a nursery in which silk worms are reared upon an extensive scale ; and I am convinced that the quality of silk produced in this climate will be second to none in the world, that of Queensland, perhaps, only excepted. [ would like to see the cultivation of silk tried here The profits would be large, and the expenses comparatively smaller than those of vine-culture. As to cotton, I have tried it two years succes- j sively, and Ido not think it will succeed here. The cold weather comes on too j soon for the pods to ripen, and (he spring is too dry to forward the plants quickly enough." We have heretofore expressed \ our conviction that, if any parts of Victoria should prove suitable for the growth of cotton, the neighborhood of Albury or the eastern district of Gipps Land would be i found to present the best climate for that i purpose. The opinion expressed in the above quotation, as the result of experience condemns the climate of the Upper Murray, and it remains to he seen whether eastern Gipps Land is better adapted. — Yeoman, June 20. Vicissitudes of Peerage Titles. — The i Dukedom of Clarence has never passed to an heir. The first five Dukes of Gloucester died violent deaths. The Earldoms of Shrewsbury and Waterford have never since the time of Charles 11. descended to a son. Let us, on the other side, quote the following instance of permanency, greater even than that of the well-known family of Purkis in the New Forest : — At A mbrose's Barn, on the borders of Thorpe, near Chnrtsey, resides a farmer, Mr Wapshot, whose ancestors have dwelt on thf» same spot ever since the time of Alfred l he Great, by whom the farm was granted to Reginald Wapshot. Mr Gladstone was thrown from his horse while riding in Rotton-rowon .April 4. The right hon. gentleman was severely cut and bruised about the head and. face, and was obliged to keep his bed on Sunday. On Monday, however, he was better, and the latest reports of his condition are favorable. An Italian confectioner, aged forty eight has died from excessive smoking, which, according to his medical adviser, " had unquestionably produced disease or paralysis of the heart."