THE LAND TRANSFER ACT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 167, 20 April 1871, Page 6

THE LAND TRANSFER ACT.

(From the " Wellington Independent.") We ate much gratified to learn that Government, acting upon the strong representations which have been made by the Registrar- General of Land, and some of the largest landowners in the colony, have decided to issue licenses to land-brokers, under the Land Transfer Act. This is a step which will do much to popularise the new system of registration, and to place its advantages within the reach of all who have any dealings in land. There is no doubt that if the practice under the Act were limited to solicitors, a considerable proportion of those who had transactions in land would continue in the old paths, fearful lest any turning aside should only add expenses which were already so grevious to be borne, It is not doing lawyers an injustice to say that many of them at least would naturally take care that any transactions under the Land Transfer Act effected by them under instructions from a client would be more experiM\e than if it were completed in the ordinary way, and would be an effectual preventafcive against further dealing of the same kind. It is one of the great advantages of the Torrens' system that land registered under it cm be dealt with without the intervention of a lawyer. When a man has onc-o brought his property under the act. hi can say to an intending purchaser t'aat the whole matter of conveyance can be settled in a few minutes, and at a very trifling cost. Of course it i& not. b\ any means necessary that the aid of a, solicitor should bo obtained to rcgi&ter land under the act, in any but those cases where the titles are lengthy and involved. Indeed, in all ordinary ca^es. we see no reason whatever why a man should not go direct to a Registry office, obtain an application form, till it up himseli", and hand it in, with the deeds and the necessary fees, to the Registrar. We understand that all the officers of the department are expressly instructed to give every facility and assistance in ibis class of transactions. Besides the great advantage of being able to effect transactions under the act at a very small cost, and in a very simple manner, any person placing his land under the *ct, or purchasing land registered underfP, obtains an absolutely indefeasible title, a title which can only be upset on proof or fraud. Schedule Q. of the " Land T^Jfe**

Act," specifies the fees which may be charged by land brokers for transacting business under its provisions, no that any person employing a broker to act for him, can ascertain for himself the exact amount which he will have to pay, and will, therefore not be ' liable to have a demand made upon him for a dozen " attendances," and other duties which his solicitor would have assurrcd him could not have been dispensed with. Persons residing in the country will find it a great advantage to be able to employ a land broker to conduct their business, as their personal attendnace in town will thus bo rendered unnecessary, A principal . may place the utmost reliance upon his broker, inasmuch as the RegistrarGeneral may not only cancel a license upon proof of " malfeasance or incapacity,"" but every person to whom a license is to be issued must give bond, himself in £1000 and two sureties in £500 each, that ho will duly and faithfully act in the capacity of land broker in accordance with the provisions of ' the act. We are informed that an extraordinary number of applications for licenses have been received from land agents and others, residing in various parts of the colony.

There can be no doubt that the change decided on will diminish the business of conveyancers, but " the greatest good for the greatest number " must be the guiding principle in all . Government interference. Title deeds will not as formerly lie in the office safes of lawyers, but in the offices of - land registrars, and the practice of having recourse to a lawyer in every transaction hence arising will doubtless become rarer. Nor can it be doubted that much simplification in existing laws will necessarily follow. No one can regret a change which will make property more easy of acquisition, more secure as an investment, and * more easily transferable when circumstances require it. Nor will any one lament that the cumbrous phraseology, and the mysterious circumlocutions of conveyancers are consigned to the limbo whither John Doe and Richard Doe have gone before — especially when they see that under the new system their bill of costs bears the same proportion to the dreaded document that bore that name as the new conveyance does to the old. "When so much is said about settlement on the land, and the future prospects of the North Island sustaining a vast popijj§fcion, it is gratifying to think that a system has been introduced whtch will virtually cheapen the price, and simplify the difficulties attending the acqiugjtion of land. Whatever imperfecWJft the" working of the Act may disclose will be of easy remedy, and we can conceive of nothing so likely to popularise it as the alteration now announced.