r:^^^. / 
 
 LAND TRANSFER REFORM, 
 
 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 OF A PLBLIC MKE'IING HELP IN THE CITY HALL, TORONTO, 
 
 ON I2T11 FEBRUARY, 1890, UNDER THE 
 
 AUSPICES OF THE 
 
 AT WHICH ADDRESSES WERE DELIVERED BY 
 
 MR. J. HEI^BEI^T MASON, 
 
 President of tin- Associalioii, 
 
 PROFESSOR GOLDWIN SMITH, MR. GEO. S. HOLMESTED. 
 
 Inspector of Titles, MR. S. G. WOOD, Barrister, 
 
 AND MR. STAPLETON CALDECOTT. 
 
 Merchant. 
 
 
 
 Printed by order of the Association, 
 
 TORONTO : 
 
 \,^ Ci Blackett Robinson, Printer, 5 Jordan Street. 
 
 Tc 1890. 
 
 «', I I, ■ r'i^i 
 
*' My object in writing this Essay has been to demon- 
 strate that there is no exaggeration in the estimate of the 
 Royal Commission of 1858, backed by that of John Stuart 
 Mill and others of experience and alithority on such sut 
 jecto, that the application to land in this country of a safe, 
 cheap, simple and expeditious method of transfer, such as 
 that adopted for property in shipping, would have the 
 effect of adding five years' purchase to all the land in the 
 country." — Extract from Essay of Sir R. Torrens, published 
 by the Cobden Club. 
 
LAND TRANSFER REFORM, ? 
 
 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 OF A PUBLIC MEE'lING HELD L\ THE CVV\ HALL, K^KONTO, 
 
 ON I2TI1 FEBRUARY', 1890, UNDER THE 
 
 Al'SPICES OF THE 
 
 AT WHICH AUURESSES WERE UELIVEREO I!V 
 
 MR. J. HEI^BEI^X MASON, 
 
 Presideitt of l/ir Association, 
 
 PROFESSOR GOLDWIN SMITH, MR. GEO. S. HOLMESTED 
 
 Inspector of Titles, MR. S. G. WOOD, Barrister, 
 
 AND MR. STAPLETON CALDECOTT, 
 
 Merchant. 
 
 Printed by order of the Association. 
 
 TORONTO : 
 C. Blackett Robinson, Printer, 5 Jordan Street. 
 
 1890. 
 
CANADA LAND LAW AMENDMENT ASSOCIATION. 
 
 ©fficers for 1800. 
 
 President, 
 Vice-Presidents, 
 
 J. Herbert Mason. 
 ■ [ GoLDwiN Smith. 
 
 [ G. R. R. COCKBURK. 
 
 Secretary, - - Beverley Jones. 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, Geo. S. Holmested. 
 Treasurer, ■ - W. A. Douglas. 
 
 r. h. tomlinson, 
 Wm. Kersteman, 
 S. G. Wood, 
 J. P. Clark, 
 . S. H. Janes, 
 
 Directors. 
 
 J. Enoch Thompson, 
 
 E. F. Clarke, M.L.A., Mayor 
 
 F. J. Stewart, 
 
 G. W. Monk, M.L.A., 
 James Scott. 
 
Canada Land Law Amendment Association. 
 
 THE FREE TRANSFER OF LAND. 
 
 A public meeting under the auspices of this Association 
 was held in the Council Chamber of the City Hall, Toronto, 
 on Wednesday, the 12th February, 1890. There was a fairly 
 good attendance of well-known public men. His Worship 
 Mayor Clarke presided, and among those present were 
 Messrs. J. Herbert Mason (President of the Association), 
 Goldwin Smith, Beverley Jones, City Treasurer Coady, Aid. 
 John Hallam, Aid. Gillespie, John Hague, Judge Boyd, S. 
 Nordheimer, Stapleton Caldecott, T. Long, R. S. Hudson, 
 E. J. Clark, G. W. Monk, M.P.P., Mr. French, M.F P., 
 Mr. Ostrom, M.P.P., Geo. S. Holmested, S. G. Wood, 
 E. Hooper, Aid. Geo. H. Gillespie, W. A. Douglass, Aid. 
 R. Score, G. Mercer Adam, J. B. Eastwood, R. H. Tom- 
 linson, J. Lucas, G. H. Smith, Dr. F. J. Stowe, Fred. W. 
 Hudson, W. B. Hamilton, Chester Hamilton, A. Sinclair, 
 W. S. Lee, P. T. Mason, J. Langt, Dr. W. C. Reeves, R. 
 W. Elliot, Wm. Maclean, T. G. Mason, A. J. Mason, John 
 Bailie (secretary I.P.B.S.), H. W. Darling, James Halton, 
 R. Moffatt, A. M. Campbell, and many others. 
 
 In introducing Mr. Mason His Worship said that the 
 present land transfer system was acknowledged to be gen- 
 erally tedious and always expensive, and it was claimed 
 under the system of the Canada Land Law Amendment 
 Association — the Torrens system — transfers could be easily 
 
brought about, and at much less expense than at present. 
 In the city of Toronto, where so many transfers were made 
 from year to year, it was of great moment that the system 
 of transfer should be made as inexpensive as possible, and 
 no one was better qualified than Mr. Mason to speak on 
 the subject. The system, he concluded, worked well in the 
 Australian colonies, New Zealand and British Columbia. 
 MR. MASON then delivered the following Address. 
 
 THE FREE TRANSFER OF LAND 
 
 Your Worship and Gentlemen : 
 
 The reform of the present system of transferring title 
 to landed property is one of the most important branches 
 of the Land Problem, which, under various aspects, holds 
 a foremost place among the great questions of the day, 
 in all English-speaking communities. 
 
 In olden times, when land was held almost exclu- 
 sively by the privileged few, those who exercised the law- 
 making power did not desire that the common people 
 should be holders of land otherwise than as tenants or 
 retainers, at the will of powerful and titled proprietors, who 
 again held it as a fief from the crown. Estates were kept 
 in the same families under laws expressly designed to 
 retain the property in a single line, and leading, as was 
 intended, to the establishment of a wealthy landed aristoc- 
 racy. The enfranchisement of the masses in modern times, 
 the recognition of the principle that all legislation should 
 be directed to secure the greatest good to the greatest 
 number, and more directly perhaps than any other cause, 
 the dispersion of the race over new lands unfettered by the 
 traditions of the past, and the organization of English- 
 speaking communities in every quarter of the globe, have 
 brought into prominent relief the evils attendant upon the 
 old system of land tenure and transfer. Not inappropri- 
 ately, therefore, the new system of land transfer, known 
 from its author as the Torrens System, took its rise and 
 first development in the Australian colonies, from whence 
 also, we derived our plan of voting by ballot. 
 
There is perhaps no more potent factor in maintaining 
 the permanence and stability of government, than a wide 
 distribution among the people of the ownership of the soil. 
 A writer in the British Quarterly Review, referring to the 
 large number of landowners in France, truly says : — 
 " There can be no land a{^ tation in that country, because 
 there, the land is a veritable national possession." There, 
 as elsewhere, the dangerous classes are the landless and 
 improvident. 
 
 It is therefore in the public interest, and the well- 
 being of the State requires the removal of all unnecessary 
 obstructions to the cheap, simple and safe acquisition, 
 sale, and transfer of land, more especially of the home- 
 stead of the fanner, handicraftsman and labourer. Such 
 obstructions provoke discontent and retard the prosperity 
 of the people. Fortunately all political parties can con- 
 sistently unite in promoting this great social and economi- 
 cal reform. Among its advocates are leadmg Conservatives 
 and leading Reformers, Free Traders and Protectionists, 
 those who uphold Henry George's theory of making land 
 the only subject of taxation, as well as those who support 
 a revenue tariff and a diversified basis of taxation. 
 
 It will materially assist our consideration of the ques- 
 tion of '• Land Transfer," to have a clear understanding of 
 the difference between " transfer by deed," and " transfer 
 by registration " ; and of the meaning of the terms •' registra- 
 tion of deeds," and " registration of title." 
 
 I therefore quote the following lucid explanation by 
 Mr. Dwight H. Olmstead, President of the Land Transfer 
 Reform Association, of New York. He says : — " Registra- 
 tion with reference to real estate has been divided into 
 registration of deeds or assurances, and registration of 
 titles. The essential features of these two methods I will 
 now explain : 
 
 " In the system of the registration of deeds or assur- 
 ances, the title passes upon and by virtue of the execution 
 and delivery to the grantee of the deed or other instrument 
 of transfer. Under the statute making the recording of an 
 instrument constructive notice, the deed or other papers, 
 by which the transfer is effected, are recorded or filed in 
 the registry office, and the condition of the title at any 
 
• 
 
 time is ascertained by a search for, and the careful exam- 
 ination of these records by lawyers skilled in the business, 
 upon whose opinion the client must rely. Under the 
 method pursued in this State (and, I may add, also in 
 Ontario), these examinations are repeated on every sale (or 
 mortgage) of a parcel of land, at a repeated cost both for 
 searches and professional services. 
 
 *• In the system of the registration of titles, however, 
 there can be no actual transfer of a title until such trans- 
 fer is entered on the public land registry in the registry 
 office. In this case the deed or mortgage becomes a mere 
 power of attorney to authorize the transfer to be made, 
 upon the principle of an ordinary stock transfer, or of the 
 registration of a United States bond. 
 
 " This mode of transfer is indicated by the phrase, 
 ♦ No transfer except upon the books,' the actual transfer 
 and public notice of it being alike simultaneous. 
 
 '* Under the method of the registration of deeds, the 
 validity of the title depends upon an extra judicial opinion 
 determined from the records ; but under the plan of the 
 registration of titles, the register speaks for itself, each 
 transfer being indefeasible." ; 
 
 LAND TRANSFER REFORM IN ENGLAND AND ELSEWHERE. 
 
 Before considering the relations of the Province of 
 Ontario to this question, it may be interesting to refer 
 briefly to the position in regard to it of other parts of the 
 Empire, and of the States of the American Union. 
 
 In England, where the cost and delays of conveyanc- 
 ing are so great as to almost preclude small holdings of 
 land, the subject has been long regarded by social refor- 
 mers and statesmen as one of the first importance. After 
 his return from Australia, Sir Robert Torrens strongly 
 urged the adoption of a system of registration of titles upon 
 public attention. One of the first to declare his adhesion 
 to Sir Robert's views was Lord Coleridge, now Lord Chief 
 Justice of England, who, in 1872, at a meeting at which Sir 
 Robert had explained his scheme, spoke as follows : — 
 
 " I have never been able to perceive the obstacle to 
 applying to land the system of transfer which answers so 
 
well when applied to shippinj^ ; but, as my learned breth- 
 ren, one and all, have declared that to be impossible, I had 
 become impressed with the belief that there must be some- 
 thing wrong in my intellect, as 1 failed to perceive the im- 
 possibility. The remarkably clear and logical paper, which 
 has been read by Sir Robert Torrens, relieves me from 
 that painful impression, and the statistics of the successful 
 working of his system in Australia amounts to demonstra- 
 tion ; so that the man who denies the practicability 
 of applying it might as well deny that two and two 
 make four." 
 
 In 1875 Lord Cairns' Bill was passed which provided 
 for the permissive use of a scheme of registration of title ; 
 but, as the friends of that system pointed out, its provi- 
 sions were in many respects objectionable, and compara- 
 tively little use has been made of it. 
 
 The subject has not, however, been allowed to drop. 
 It has been, and is, freely discussed in leading periodicals. 
 Commissions have been appointed and reported, and some 
 changes in the law have been made. The necessity for a 
 more perfect measure, and for making transfer by registra- 
 tion compulsory, is now admitted by the majority of both 
 political parties. The Duke of Marlborough, in an article 
 on ' The Transfer of Land ' in the Fortnightly Review, com- 
 mences by saying : — " In every country the theory ot the 
 land laws has depended on the fact that land was never 
 intended to be dealt with by free commerce and barter, 
 and its sale and exchange have at all times been sur- 
 rounded with legal difficulties of ever^' description. Lord 
 Cairns' Act of 1882, deals a death-blow at this doctrine, 
 and recognizes once for all the importance of rendering 
 land negotiable in the hands of limited owners. It requires 
 but one step more to free the land from the grip of the law 
 and to render it as negotiable as other forms of wealth. " 
 
 After referring to the complicated methods of English 
 conveyancing, the writer says : — 
 
 " The simple cure is to sweep away at one blow the 
 entire machinery of deeds, and substitute, in matters of sale, 
 a simple mode of registration of parcels bought and .sold. 
 Deeds were the invention of lawyers ; registration is a com- 
 plete substitute. The State must afford means for wliole- 
 
sale registration of land on a very different basis to the 
 feeble attempts which have heretofore been made in this 
 direction." 
 
 Last session a bill, approved by Lord Salisbury's 
 Government, was introduced into the House of Lords by 
 the Lord Chancellor, which provided that all future trans- 
 fers of land be by registration of title, under the guar- 
 antee of the State ; in fact, making the Torrens System 
 compulsory ; and placing the contribution to the guaran- 
 tee fund at one farthing in the pound, or about one-tenth 
 of one per cent. This measure obtained its third reading 
 and was about to pass finally, when a circular, prepared, it 
 is said, in the interest oi professional conveyancers, was 
 issued and sent to the absentee and other peers, pointing 
 out the inconvenience which might result to them from the 
 publicity which a public register would afford, and other 
 objections of a personal character. Upon this, there sud- 
 denly sprang up at the last moment a number of doubting 
 objectors — gentlemen of the old school, who professed to 
 apprehend all sorts of danger from the proposed innova- 
 tion — and, notwithstanding the assurances of Lord Salis- 
 bury, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Selburne and other dis- 
 tinguished peers, that their fears were groundless, an 
 amendment was carried by a majority of nine, which led 
 the Government to withdraw the bill. Like all similar 
 improvements the measure will doubtless overcome this 
 feeble opposition and become law in the near future.* 
 
 The early settlers in the United States adopted the 
 system of registration of deeds which, in 1704, was pro- 
 vided by Act of Parliament for the East Riding of the 
 County of York, England. This system is still in force 
 throughout the Union, and in the Maritime Provinces of 
 the Dominion. Under it all instruments in each munici- 
 pality are registered in their order, but no index is kept of 
 the particular lot, block or parcel of land affected, as in 
 Ontario. The chain of title is traced by means of an 
 alphabetical index of the names of grantors. 
 
 • In the Queen's Speech at the opening of the present Session 
 of the Imperial Parliament it is announced that this bill is to be 
 re-introduced, 
 
/•>. 
 
 In populous districts there are many persons of the 
 same name, and where sub-divisions, changes of owner- 
 ship, creation of liens, etc., are of frequent occurrence, the 
 great labour and the legal acumen lequired in tracmg titles 
 under this system, in course of time, may be readily imag- 
 ined. The sums said to be paid to prominent conveyan- 
 cers in the City of New York, and doubtless well earned, 
 for investigating, clearing up and pronouncing an opinion 
 upon a single purchase of property, are almost incredible, 
 passing sometimes into the thousands of dollars. The 
 difficulties in the way of ridding the real estate of the 
 country of this incubus, protected as it is by powerful 
 vested interests, are such as have almost driven reformers 
 to despair. In the State of New York, after years of agi- 
 tation, the Land Transfer Reform Association, and its able 
 and enthusiastic president, have succeeded in getting an 
 Act passed, which comes into force in January 1891, pro- 
 viding for a scheme of block indexing of mstruments, some- 
 what similar to that now in force in Ontario, which, it is 
 hoped, will pave the way for the Torrens system. In Illi- 
 • nois, Minnesota, Dakota and other States, the evils of the 
 present system are admitted, and the subject is being dis- 
 cussed, but no practical measure ot relief has yet been 
 adopted. Failing any legislative remedy, and as a substi- 
 tuie for a more satisfactory system. Land Title Guarantee 
 companies have been devised, which, for a percentage on 
 the value, indemnify purchasers and mortgagees against 
 loss by defective title. Before the Torrens System was 
 introduced, it was in contemplation to form such a company 
 in Toronto. The necessity for these companies, and the 
 fact that their transactions have become a large and regu- 
 lar branch of business, similar to life and fire insurance, in 
 several of the larger cities of the Union, is a sad reflection 
 on the practical intelligence of legislators in that country. 
 
 In the Maritime Provinces no organized effort has yet 
 been made to effect a change in the system of land transfer, 
 although the evils of the present system are freely ad- 
 mitted. In New Brunswick, which contains a large area of 
 unpatented land, and in which, therefore, the introduction 
 of the new system would be comparatively easy, the House 
 of Assembly has had the subject under consideration, and 
 
some of the members are strongly in favour of it. It iS 
 also not without advocates in Nova Scotia and Prince 
 Edward. What is wanted in each of these provinces is 
 earnest, organized effort, and the dissemination of infor- 
 mation among the farmers and other landowners, as has 
 to some extent been done in Ontario and Manitoba. ' 
 
 In the Province of Quebec, where the French Civil 
 Code prevails, the system of land transfer is attended with 
 manv and serious difficulties. The Board of Trade of the 
 City of Montreal sent a deputation to this city to enquire 
 into the working of the Torrens System, and memorialized 
 the Government in favour of its adoption ; but no effective 
 means appear to have been taken to arouse public opinion 
 on the subject. . -, 
 
 THE OLD SYSTEM OF LAND TRANSFER IN ONTARIO. 
 
 Coming now to our own Province of Ontario, and 
 including therewith the Province of Manitoba and the 
 Northwest Territories, all of which adopted the Ontario 
 System, we find that at a very early period in its history a . 
 system of registration of deeds was established which pro- 
 vided for the recording of memorials of all instruments 
 affecting land, in books to be provided for each municipal- 
 ity. The first Registry Act was passed at Newark (now 
 Niagara) in 1795, ^^ the Fourth Session of the First Par- 
 liament of Upper Canada. Registry of instruments was 
 at first (optional, but was made compulsory in 1851. No 
 provision appears to have been made in that Act for keep- 
 ing an index of the lot, block or parcel of land affected, 
 but the practice of keeping such an index was generally 
 followed, and in 1865 was made obligatory. This plan of 
 lot indexing was a material improvement on the plan of 
 a general registry, with an index of the names of grantors 
 only — such as prevails in the United States and in the 
 Maritime Provinces. After the lapse of years, however, 
 from the subdivision of origi_ial lots, the multiplication of 
 registries, death and intestacy of owners, incompetent con- 
 veyancing, and other causes, expense, delays, uncertainty 
 and insecurity, in regard to land titles, gave frequent cause 
 of complaint, sometimeE of litigation. Various measures 
 
II 
 
 were from time to time passed by the Legislature, with a 
 view to remedy some of the more prominent evils. Among 
 these were the Act of 1865, before referred to, which pro- 
 vided among other things for the registry of deeds in full, 
 instead of by memorial ; and the several Acts simplifying 
 the barring of entails, providing short forms of conveyances, 
 reducing the time when undisturbed possession constitutes 
 a good title, and the " Quieting Titles Act." 
 
 Beneficial as these measures were in mitigating some 
 of the causes of complaint, they did not reach the root of 
 the evil. The inherent defects of a system which, before 
 an opinion can be formed as to the validity of any title to 
 land, necessitates an investigation by a professional expert 
 into the validity of every conveyance, or passage by devo- 
 lution, or by legal process, back to the issue of the patent, 
 which must be repeated every time a transaction takes 
 place, involving, may be, the examination of hundreds of 
 entries ; that surrounds the transfer of land with so many 
 traps and pitfalls and uncertainties, that sometimes noth- 
 ing short of a judicial decision can conclusively determine 
 the questions that arise ; that preserves, in regard to the 
 transfer of the smallest and most inexpensive piece of land, 
 an elaborate verbiage, required for no other description of 
 property, cannot be cured by stripping off some of its more 
 obnoxious features. It must be entirely swept away. The 
 enormous cost of the system, the amount uselessly spent 
 every vear in this Province in connection with the transfer 
 of land, ought of itself to arouse public opinion to the mag- 
 nitude of the evil. From the returns made by the Regis- 
 trars of Ontario to the Provincial Secretary, it appears that 
 no less than 167,877 instruments affecting land were regis- 
 tered in the year i88q, and that the amount paid in at the 
 sixty-two registry offices for that year was $282,974. 
 
 Of course no statistics can be furnished of the sums 
 paid every year to solicitors and conveyancers for prepar- 
 ing these one hundred and sixty odd thousand instruments, 
 and for the searchings, investigations, clearing up doubtful 
 points, and legal opinions connected therewith, but it is 
 estimated that an average fee of five dollars will be well 
 within the mark. This would make upwards of $800,000 
 more. Add to this the fees paid to sheriffs and treasurers 
 
I ' 
 
 for certificates, and the total expenses in connection with 
 land transactions, to say nothing of the unnecessary delays, 
 trouble and expense owners are put to in furnishing the 
 
 \ necessary proofs of title, which, judging from what has 
 come under my own observation, would be no inconsider- 
 able item, cannot be less than one million of dollars annu- 
 ally, and is probably considerably more. To this must be 
 
 . added the costs attendmg disputes and litigation affecting 
 land titles. It is not too much to say that more than one- 
 half of this annual tax upon the real property holders of 
 the Province is an unnecessary expenditure and is to them 
 entirely lost. Apart, therefore, from social and political 
 considerations, on economical grounds alone a radical 
 change is demanded. 
 
 , ,, THE TORRENS SYSTEM. ' / " • • 
 
 The Torrens System of Transfer by Registration of 
 Title evidenced by a Government Certificate held by the 
 land owner, if properly and economically administered, 
 seems to meet all reasonable requirements. It is simple, 
 speedy, inexpensive, and secures indefeasibility of title. 
 . No search into past transactions is necessary. Everything 
 relating to the title, up to the time of its issue, is shown on 
 the certificate. 
 
 When buying stock in a bank or company the pur- 
 chaser is not called upon to enquire into previous owner- 
 ship or the validity of previous transfers. The bank or the 
 company are responsible for all that. The seller being the 
 registered owner, signs a form of transfer which is an in- 
 struction to the officers of the association to remove the 
 name of the seller from their books, as far as the stock sold 
 is concerned, and to substitute therefor the name of the 
 buyer. A certificate is handed to the transferee which 
 assures him the ownership of the stock. Under the Tor- 
 rens system the Government holds the same relation to the 
 landowner that the company or bank does to the share- 
 holder, and being responsible for the title, the Master of 
 ; Titles, as representing the Government, must be satisfied 
 ' at the time, that the transfer is regular, that it is correctly 
 [drawn, contains a correct description of the boundaries of 
 
13 
 
 the property and is regularly executed by the proper par- 
 ties. These questions are thus settled at once and for all 
 time. Under the old system they are never settled, but 
 have to be enquired into every time a transfer takes place. 
 Although in successful operation for thirty years past 
 in Australia, the Torrens System was first brought to the 
 knowledge of the Canadian public in 1876, when two 
 articles appeared in the Canadian Monthly Magazine, from 
 the pen of Mr. George S. Holmested, whose attention had 
 been drawn to the subject by Mr. Beverley Jones. To 
 these two members of the legal profession, Canada is in- 
 debted, not only for initiating the movement for reform, 
 but also for continued and efficient service in securing the 
 adoption of the Torrens System. At first the announce- 
 ment that such an improvement was possible seemed almost 
 beyond belief. Gentlemen, learned in the law, ridiculed 
 the idea, and others, whose experience had convinced them 
 of the hardships attendant upon the old system, feared that 
 the tidings were too good to be true. Subsequent investi- 
 gation, the annual reports of the Masters of Titles in the 
 Colonies where it was in operation, and the official returns 
 to the Home Government, made by the Governors of these 
 Colonies, soon left no room for unprejudiced doubt. 
 
 THE FORMATION AND WORK OF THE ASSOCIATION. 
 
 In 1883 the Canada Land Law Amendment Association 
 was formed for the avowed purpose of securing the abolition 
 of some of the impediments to the safe holding and cheap 
 and speedy transfer of land, and more especially to promote 
 the introduction of the Torrens System. A prospectus was 
 issued by the Association and largely circulated. Were 
 there time it would be amusing to read some of the able 
 editorials and letters on the subject which appeared in the 
 public press at the time. Some scoffed, others impugned 
 the motives of the promoters. A large proportion of the 
 members of the legal profession were either indifferent or 
 hostile. Still, by many prominent and influential members 
 of both the press and the legal profession the question was 
 treated with candour, and even at this early date in some 
 c^ses received a generous and hearty welcome and support, 
 
Notably among these distinguished members of the profes- 
 sion, were Mr. Dalton McCarthy, Q.C., the Hon. Edward 
 Blake, the Hon. Attorney-General Mowat, and Mr. 
 Meredith, Q.C. 
 
 Deputations waited on the members of the three Gov- 
 ernments of the Dominion and the Provinces of Ontario 
 and Manitoba, to which the efforts of the Association were 
 chiefly directed, and were courteously received. But the 
 subject was new, and very little hope was given of any 
 immediate practical result. Several members of the Do- 
 minion Government, more especially Sir David Macpher- 
 son, then Minister of the Interior, and Sir John A. Mac- 
 donald, evinced a warm interest in the subject. 
 
 The Hon. O. Mowat, then, as now, Premier of Ontario, 
 while personally sympathizing with the movement, on more 
 than one occasion advised the officers of the Association 
 that in his judgment there was no sufficient expression of 
 the popular will to warrant so radical a change as was pro- 
 posed in the mode of land transfer. While admitting that 
 there were grounds for this view, the officers of the As- 
 sociation were convinced that the absence of any strong 
 expression of popular opinion was not because the present 
 system did not afford abundant cause for complaint, but 
 because it was not generally known that any better system 
 was available. The people had borne the burden so long 
 that they supposed it to be inevitable. The Association, 
 therefore, took steps to bring the subject to the notice 
 of various representative bodies and the general public. 
 Deputations from the Association waited on several of the 
 city and county councils. Board of Agriculture, Grangers' 
 Association, and Board of Trade. The Prospectus of the 
 Association, an address delivered by myself before the 
 Canadian Institute, and other literature on the subject 
 were extensively circulated. The Honorary Secretary of 
 the Association visited Manitoba and organized a branch 
 association in that Province. I myself, also, having other 
 engagements in Manitoba, paid several visits to that Pro- 
 vince, and also visited the North- West Territories and the 
 Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince 
 Edward Island, and brought the subject before prominent 
 representatives of each of these Provinces. Efforts, in 
 
. / 
 
 15 ' 
 
 many cases successful, were made to enlist the powerful 
 aid of the press. As the result, the Ontario House of 
 Assembly was flooded with petitions on the subject of land 
 transfer reform, and at length cheering indications of 
 ultimate success be^^.n to present themselves. The late 
 Premier of Manitoba, Mr. Norquay, was from the first 
 strongly in favour of the new method, and the Legislature 
 of that Province enacted the first measure for adopting the 
 Torrens System as a provincial scheme, which came into 
 force on the ist July, 1885. In the Province of Ontario 
 the new scheme was inaugurated by the Hon. Mr. Mowat 
 at the same date, but with a caution which was perhaps 
 justifiable at the time, it was made applicable only to the 
 City of Toronto and the County of York. Subsequently, in 
 response to the urgent representations of the Association, 
 the outlying districts of Muskoka, Parry Sound, Nipissing, 
 Algoma, Rat Portage and Rainy River were l3rought by 
 Mr. Mowat under the new system ; optionally as far as land 
 already patented is concerned, but compulsory in respect 
 to all lands alienated by the Crown after the Act came in 
 force. The lands in these large districts comprise an ex- . 
 tensive area, more than one-half of the whole Province, 
 much of it still unpatented, which will therefore never be 
 burdened with the old system of land transfer. Permis- 
 sion has also been given to counties, cities and towns in 
 Ontario to adopt the Torrens System on certain conditions, 
 which are, however, so onerous that not one of them has 
 yet availed itself of the privilege. To obtain the benefits 
 of the Torrens System each municipal council must pass a 
 by-law declaring it expedient to extend the provisions of 
 the Act to such municipality, and must undertake to pro- 
 vide proper fireproof and other accommodation for an office 
 of land titles, provide books, furniture, stationery, lighting, 
 etc., become responsible for the salaries of all officers, in- 
 cluding the registrar or master of titles, and a proportion 
 of the salary of an inspector. These appointments are all 
 to be made and the salaries determined by the Gov- 
 ernment, the municipality having no voice, their sole duty 
 being to provide the money. From sixty to seventy new 
 offices to be built, and as many new officers to be saddled 
 on the country. Can any scheme more extravagantly costly 
 
be conceived, or one less likely to be adopted ? Instead of 
 being surprised that no municipal council has adopted the 
 scheme, the wonder would be if any one had done so. 
 
 Next, and most important of all, the Dominion Govern- 
 ment, after patient and painstaking investigation, decided 
 on adopting the Torrens System of Land Transfer for the 
 North-West Territories, comprising all that vast region 
 extending from the western boundary of Manitoba to Brit- 
 ish Columbia, and from the boundary of the United States 
 to the Artie Ocean. A bill with this object in view had 
 been prepared some time before by Messrs. Beverley and 
 Herbert C. Jones, and had been presented to Parliament 
 in two previous sessions by Mr. Dalton McCarthy, Q.C., 
 M.P. This bill, with some modifications, was adopted by 
 Sir Alexander Campbell, then Minister ofjustice, who in- 
 troduced it in the session of 1884- 1885. To give time for 
 its full consideration, the bill was not enacted in that ses- 
 sion ; but in the following session, in the hands of Sir John 
 Thompson, it was unanimously carried. 
 
 Accompanying the Torrens System and necessary to 
 its satisfactory working, other changes advocated by the 
 Land Law Amendment Association have been adopted, 
 such as abolishing the distinction between real and 
 personal property in the devolution of estates in Ontario, 
 Manitoba and the North West Territories, and in these 
 territories all trouble over the question of dower has been 
 disposed of by simply abolishing the estate of dower. 
 
 Considering the vast interests involved, the antiquity 
 of the system of transfer by deed, the immense amount of 
 legal lore expended upon it, the complications which 
 might possibly have arisen, and the absence of general 
 information in regard to the new system, less than seven 
 years ago, the results that have been accomplished are 
 perhaps as many and as important as could have been 
 reasonabl)' anticipated, and certainly are much greater 
 than many predicted at the time, whose opinions were 
 entitled to consideration. 
 
 THE WORKING OF THE NEW SYSTEM. 
 
 The enquiry may now be made, Has the new system 
 fulfilled the expectations entertained of it ? To this ques- 
 
'■;/.. ■,, -v.-,' , 17 ■ ' ■ '■//,; ■- 
 
 tion the facts I am about to relate, obtained in reply to 
 recent enquiries made by the association, furnish an un- 
 questionably affirmative answer. It must not be over- 
 looked that all the machinery for carrying the new system 
 into effect had to be provided, and that none of those 
 gentlemen, who were entrusted with the administration of 
 the Act, had previously been advocates of or had any 
 experience in working the system. It would not, therefore, 
 have been surprising, if at the first, and for some time, 
 friction and misunderstandings occurred. It should also 
 be borne in mind that bringing property under the Act is 
 entirely optional, that there is always a prejudice against 
 new and unknown schemes, where monetary interests are 
 concerned ; and that the high rate of contribution required 
 to the Guarantee Fund, the liberal scale of fees charged, 
 and the necessity for professional assistance in elucidating 
 the previous title, expenses which meet the land owner at 
 the outset, are direct discouragements to bringing pro- 
 perty under the Act. 
 
 Notwithstanding these obstructions, it appears from the 
 report for 1889 of the earnest and efficient Master of Titles 
 in Toronto, Mr. J. G. Scott, Q. C, that property to» the 
 value of $887,761.00 was brought under the Act in 
 that year, that the number of instruments registered was 
 4,679, that the expense of the office was $7,215.85 and the 
 receipts $10,1 19.78. It also appears from that and previous 
 reports that in the first three-and-a-half years, during 
 which the office had been open, 175 properties had been 
 brought under the Act, aggregating, at the value placed 
 on them when they were first registered, $3,691,249.00 and 
 that 8,784 instruments had been registered. The regis- 
 trations for 1889 were more than double the number of the 
 previous year, and several hundred more than in the 
 preceding three and a half years. The surplus fees 
 amounted to $2,903 and the Guarantee Fund to about 
 $10,000. 
 
 Much of the land placed under the Act was at the time 
 in large vacant blocks, afterwards subdivided and buildings 
 erected thereon. The present value of the property now 
 under the Torrens System in the County of York and 
 City of Toronto is estimated at not less than $10,000,000.00. 
 
' i8 
 
 In his report for 1888 the Master of Titles says: " From 
 the above it will be seen that the office was last year self- 
 sustaining. This result, obtained in such a short period, 
 is a practical indication of the success of the system in 
 this county. Though considerable disappointment is felt 
 when applications are delayed on account of defects in 
 evidence of title, yet I am satisfied the great majority 
 of the legal profession and of dealers in real estate, now 
 that they have become acquainted with the routine of the 
 system, are heartily in accord with it." It will be noticed 
 that the disappointment referred to is due to the old system 
 and not to the new. Abundant corroborative testimony, 
 from those who have bought and sold property under the 
 Act, could be furnished if necessary. 
 
 In Manitoba the opposition to the new system, at first 
 as strong as it was here, has entirely disappeared. In his 
 official report for 1888, the Registrar General of the Prov- 
 ince, says : •' The provisions of the Real Property Act of 
 1885, as amended, have steadily continued to grow in favor 
 and the amount of business done in the Land Titles Office 
 is evidence of a most gratifying success." The total 
 number of transactions registered in 1888 was 4,698. So 
 satisfied are the government and people of Manitoba 
 of its superiority, that the Torrens System has been adopted 
 as the provincial system of land transfer ; and with a view 
 to its being efficiently administered, the old registration 
 offices have been abolished, and instead thereof, the Pro- 
 vince has been divided into four registration districts. 
 The Act is compulsory as far as all land hereafter patented 
 is concerned, and every encouragement and facility is 
 affijrded to land owners to bring under the Act, the real 
 estate of the Province to which patents had been pre- 
 viously issued under the old system. 
 
 In a letter just received from the Hon. Joseph Martin, 
 Attorney-General of Manitoba, after explaining the recent 
 legislation which has been passed with a view to give 
 additional facilities to land owners for bringing their pro- 
 perty under the Torrens System, he says : "I may say 
 that the merits of the new system are becoming very well 
 known, indeed, throughout the province, especially with 
 
dealers in real estate, and it is now quite difficalt t©» 
 dispose of land unless a Torrens Certificate is promised^ 
 The system meets with very strong approbation froni 
 the legal profession. It is the practice of nearly all lawyers' 
 in caseany difficulty turns up in connection with a title, to- 
 strongly advise the bringing of the property under the Real 
 Property Act." 
 
 Mr. P. M. Barkery Inspector of Land Titles Offices in: 
 the North West Territories, says : " In reply to your 
 enquiry as to the workings of the Territories Real 
 Properties Act in the territories, I beg to state that after 
 three years' experience I am of opinion that the Act 
 is proving successful. The large property holders, such 
 as the Hudson's Bay Company, and the North West Land 
 Company, have availed themselves of the provisions of the 
 Act and brought their properties under its provisions. 
 Even with the great extent of country, and the expense 
 of maintaining Land Titles Offices, the Act is self- 
 sustaining." 
 
 Mr. E. G. Ward, Registrar-General of New South 
 Wales, in a letter dated Sydney, 20th December, 1889, 
 says : " The public here are so fully alive to the advantages 
 of the Torrens System that, in many cases, purchases of 
 property are made on condition that 'the title is brought 
 under the provisions of the new system, as it is called, 
 though it has been in operation for now twenty-seven 
 years. I think I may safely say that properties with a title 
 under the Real Property Act realize from twenty to 
 twenty-five per cent, more than if under the old system of 
 conveyancing." 
 
 Mr. W. Bacon Carter, Registrar-General of South 
 Australia, writing from Adelaide, under date January 14th, 
 1890, says : " The Torrens System is working most satis- 
 factorily. It has now been established for so long a period 
 that all doubts as to the benefits of this system have pretty 
 nearly vanished." 
 
 Similar corroborative testimony has been received from 
 Mr. H. C. A. Harrison, Melbourne, Registrar of Titles for 
 Victoria ; and Mr. J. O. Browne, Brisbane, Registrar of 
 Titles for Queensland. 
 
OBJECTIONS AND OBSTRUCTIONS. . 
 
 With this evidence, as to the successful working of the 
 new system, confirming as it does the unanimous endorse- 
 ment of the system by the people wherever it is in operation, 
 and in the absence of all indications of a contrary opinion, the 
 practical question now brought home to the people of 
 Ontario is : Why are no steps being taken to secure the 
 early extension of the Torren<? System of Land Transfer to 
 the whole of this Province? This question is commended 
 to the consideration of Boards of Trade and Bankers, of 
 Farmers' Institutes and other agricultural bodies, of the 
 various organizations of Labour, of every man who owns 
 or desires to own his home, or who is, or ever expects to be, 
 the buyer or seller of landed property. 
 
 These classes constitute the hean and soul, as well as 
 the bone and sinew of the country, and they are all directly 
 concerned in the removal of a system which hampers 
 business, impedes progress, and imposes unnecessary 
 burdens. 
 
 The chief obstacle to the cause of Land Transfer 
 Reform, here and elsewhere, lies in the technical and in- 
 tricate character of the subject and in the want of general 
 information respecting it. It is not a party or a class ques- 
 tion, but affects the whole people, and when the general 
 public become aware of its importance, and the possibili- 
 ties within their reach, there will not be much doubt or 
 delay as to how and when it will be settled. It is impos- 
 sible that the old system can go on forever. A change must 
 be made sooner or later, and can be made now better than 
 at/any future time. Deeds, wills, mortgages, and other 
 charges are daily forging additional links to the chains of 
 title, subdivisions of original lots are taking place, each 
 adding its quota of cost and difficulty in proving title. In 
 no other country has the Torrens system been introduced 
 in such a gingerly fashion, and, as it were by piecemeal, 
 a*s it has been in the Province of Ontario. Whatever 
 reason there may have been for this temporizing policy six 
 years ago, the most cautious legislators must now be con- 
 vinced that the new system is no mere doubtful theory. 
 If not so convinced, what kind of evidence and how much 
 
of it is expected ? It has unquestionably facilitated the* 
 recent rapid growth of Toronto, and if good for Toronto 
 and the County of York, why is it not equally beneficial 
 for other cities and counties, and why should not every 
 possible help and facility be freely given for relieving the 
 land of the old expensive and uncertain system ? There is 
 httle or no difficulty in introducing the new system. 
 Whatever expense has to be incurred, or obstructions 
 overcome, are the result of the adoption by the Province of 
 the old defective system, the difficulty of getting rid of which, 
 and its cumbersome machinery, increases from day to day, 
 and will never be less than it now is. Mr. Mowat's Gov- 
 ernment deserves well of the country for having mtroduced 
 the Torrens System. But, unfortunately, at present only a 
 very small portion of the land owners of Ontario can take 
 advantage of it. Surely they are not going to leave to 
 their successors the honour of putting the capstone on the 
 edifice which they have so well begun, by bringing in a 
 practicable scheme for extending the system to the whole 
 province. 
 
 Let us briefly consider the objections usually met with 
 to the general substitution of the new system for the old. 
 These are : First, that it will reduce the income and 
 emoluments of the sixty-two (now sixty-three) registrars. 
 Second, that it takes from the legal profession a portion of 
 the business which legitimately belongs to it. Third, that 
 it tends to centralize the business of conveyancing in a few 
 localities. Fourth, that it involves considerable immediate 
 expense to the present holders of real property. Fifth, 
 that it requires the expenditure of a large amount of public 
 money, either by the province or by the municipalities. 
 
 Taking these in their order. As to the first objection, 
 that it will reduce the income of registrars, it maybe said that 
 scarcely any great political or social reform, or any im- 
 portant mechanical improvement, or scientific invention, 
 has been carried into effect without being attended with 
 some immediate disadvantage to individual interests. 
 While this may be regretted, it affords no sufficient reason 
 for the retention of abuses or inferior methods. But, it is 
 claimed that it does not necessarily follow that the interests 
 of the present registrars must suffer by the adoption of the 
 
22 ;...-•::, ■., .,;.-"■•■;■■■-'■■ . 
 
 Torrens System. They are public servants and would be 
 entitled to a fair and reasonable compensation if their in- 
 comes should be materially interfered with. Many of them 
 would find positions in the administration of the new 
 system, or in other departments of the government ; and 
 those disqualified by age might be pensioned. It would be 
 better, if necessary, to pension the whole of these gentle- 
 men than indefinitely defer a cnange of such value to the 
 community at large. 
 
 As to the second objection, that it takes from the legal 
 profession a portion of their business. It is true that one 
 of the advantages claimed for the Torrens System is, that 
 under it, no investigation or legal opinion as to the validity 
 of titles is necessaiy, and that the forms of transfer are so 
 simple that for ordinary transactions no professional skill 
 is required in using them. It is believed, however, and 
 many members of the profession share in the opinion, that' 
 the increase in the number of transactions affecting land, 
 will eventually largely make up for any loss in this respect. 
 Were the Torrens System in force, many transactions 
 would still have to be carried out under professional advice. 
 And as far as the present generation of lawyers is con- 
 cerned, there can be no doubt that the professional services 
 necessary to bring existing titles to land into such a 
 shape as will warrant the issue of an absolute certificate 
 under the new system, will fully equal any loss that may 
 arise from diminution in conveyancing charges for many 
 years to come. It must not be overlooked also, that 
 under the new system conveyancers are relieved from the 
 serious responsibility involved in searching and certifying 
 to land titles. I feel assured that if the new system 
 justifies itself on the whole as a good one, and the 
 public are determined to give it a trial, the great majority 
 of the legal profession will loyally assist in carrying on that 
 trial, without regard to considerations of personal interest 
 or professional prejudice. 
 
 As to the third objection, that it tends to centrahze the 
 business of conveyancing, much misapprehension prevails. 
 Under the Torrens System there are no special advantages 
 in being near the Registry Office. No search of the past 
 records of either the Registrar, Sheriff or Treasurer is- 
 
necessary. The seller of land has his title in his pocket 
 and the conveyance to the purchaser is executed on the 
 spot. Even in this city, in the case of sales or mortgages 
 under the Torr^np System, the certificates of title and the 
 transfer are som< nes mailed to the office of the registrar, 
 who, if no cautif ^as been lodged, cancels or endorses 
 the old certifica and mails the endorsed certificate or 
 a new one to the pt oiiaser or mortgagee, and the transac- 
 tion is complete. In Scotland and in the Australian 
 Colonies, in each of which one registry office suffices, it 
 is not found that that fact has the effect of concentrating 
 conveyancing in the cities in which the office happens 
 to be situate. In Manitoba, while under the old -system 
 land mortgage companies and mortgagees generally em- 
 ployed only one solicitor at their head office, under the 
 Torrens System they divide their business among a number 
 of solicitors in different localities. The responsibility rest- 
 ing on the solicitor is materially lessened, and it is not 
 necessary for him to be near his client for consultation 
 in regard to doubtful questions or imperfections in the 
 title. So that instead of centralizing conveyancing, the 
 opposite is the result in that Province. 
 
 As to the fourth objection, that it involves considerable 
 expense to the present holders of property, it may be 
 admitted that if the present scale of fees and contribution 
 to the Guarantee Fund be maintained, there is much force 
 in the objection. But even then, although the charges in 
 the initial transaction of bringing land under the Act, 
 including the contribution to the Guarantee Fund, are 
 much more costly than a conveyance under the old system 
 would be, it must not be forgotten that all future trans- 
 actions will be much less expensive and freed from vexatious 
 delays ; and, also, that all questions in regard to title 
 are settled, and settled forever. Absolute certainty of title 
 is worth paying something for. There is good ground for 
 believing that the present scale of charges in Ontario, both 
 for fees and guarantee, is unnecessarily high, and may 
 safely be reduced. The fact, that, even under existing 
 restrictions, at the end of three years, the Land Transfer 
 Office in Toronto had become self-sustaining, and at the 
 end of fpur years showed a large surplus, is sufficient 
 
proof that with jurisdiction over a larger area, and under 
 more favourable conditions, a much lower scale of charges 
 would suffice. All surplus registry fees might fairly be appro- 
 priated to the Guarantee Fund. No claim has yet been made 
 on this fund, nor is it probable that claims will be made. 
 The forms of transfer a'.e so simple, that with a competent 
 officer in charge, theie is little, if any, more liability to 
 mistake than there is in transferring ships. 
 
 In the four Australian Colonies previously named, 
 where the Torrens System has been in operation for 
 nearly thirty years, the aggregate amount of the Guarantee 
 Funds is $1,469,217 and during the whole of that time the 
 total claims on the fund have been $53,567.00, or less than 
 four per cent. As an indication of the extent and value 
 of land under the system in Australia, the returns 
 show that there were 43,691,654 acres of land under the 
 Torrens System, of the declared value of $693,053,916. 
 The transactions recorded in a smgle year numbered more 
 than 108,000. The claims on the Guarantee Fund have been 
 less than the hundreth part of one per cent, of the value of 
 the property it insures. With capable men, such as can 
 readily be had, holding the position of Master of Titles, 
 there is no reason for anticipating a different result here. 
 Canadians are as capable of doing their business correctly 
 as Australians. 
 
 In bringing property under the Act the chief items of 
 expense are, first, the investigation and clearing up of 
 doubtful points in the old title, and, second, the quarter of 
 one per cent, contribution to the guarantee fund. The 
 first of these items may be very much reduced or may be 
 altogether avoided, if the land owner so directs. Any per- 
 son who desires to put his property under the Act, and who is 
 unable or unwilling to incur the expense of furnishing proof 
 of a clear title, may take out a qualified certificate, or may 
 take out what is called a possessory certificate, which re- 
 quires no official investigation at all. This will give him 
 all the benefits of the new system, Government guarantee 
 included, as far as all future transfers are concerned. As 
 for the past, he is in no worse position than before, 
 and, if undisturbed, his title will eventually become 
 altogether indisputable. As soon as put under the Act, a 
 
perfect title begins to mature. If the suggestion of the 
 Toronto Master of Titles in his report for 1887 be adopted, 
 that the payment of the contribution to the guarantee fund 
 be deferred till the first transfer of the property takes place, 
 and if also the recommendation of the Land Law Amend- 
 ment Association, that the contribution to the guarantee 
 fund be reduced to one-tenth of one per cent., be 
 adopted, every possible ground for this fourth objection 
 will be removed. Unquestionably a much smaller contri- 
 bution should suffice when no responsibility for the pre- 
 vious title is incurred.''' . ^ 
 
 As to the fifth objection — that it requires the expendi- 
 ture of a large amount of public money — it is unquestion- 
 ably true if the provisions of the present law are indispens- 
 able, and every county, city and town is obliged to erect 
 fireproof registry offices, and guarantee the salaries of as 
 many new masters of tides, before it can take advantage 
 of the Torrens System. But are all these sixty or seventy 
 new offices and officers necessary ? Would not a half- 
 dozen offices be amply sufficient for all practical purposes 
 for the whole Province, and could not some of the existing 
 offices and officers be utilized ? Many who have given the 
 subject full and careful consideration are prepared to an- 
 swer these questions in the affirmative, and to give good 
 reasons for their opinions. The Torrens System may be 
 carried on with few or many offices, but the smaller the num- 
 ber the less will be the expense, and the more efficient the 
 service. The new system should be provincial, not muni- 
 cipal. Whatever legitimate expense is required in making 
 the change should be borne by the Province, which, as a 
 whole, has received the benefit of the sale of the public lands, 
 and the timber thereon, and which as a whole is respon- 
 sible for the system of land transfer under which the title 
 to these lands was conveyed. In a few years a moderate 
 scale of fees would repay all the expenditure incurred in 
 establishing the small number of offices required. And, 
 even if it should take a longer time, who are to be benefited 
 by this expenditure ? Are they r.ot the present and pro- 
 
 * Since the delivery of this address the contributions to the Guaran- 
 tee Fund on the issue of possessory certificates has been reduced to one 
 eighth of one per c^nt. 
 
• I- 
 
 26 
 
 spective owners of the soil, men who, with their families, 
 are here to stay, and who form the bulk, as they are the best 
 part of the population ? What will be the utmost sum 
 required to properly equip the new system compared to 
 thr price paid for abolishing seigniorial tenure, another 
 relic of feudal times, in Lower Canada, to which Upper 
 Canada contributed the greater part and received no direct 
 benefit whatever ? To iacilitate the acquisition of an in- 
 terest in the soil of the country by the masses of the peo- 
 ple ; to remove one of the obstacles which prevent the 
 sons of toil generally from owning their own homes, and 
 compel them to remain tenants at will subject to high 
 rentals ; to relieve the farmers and other land owners of 
 the country from a heavy annual tax ; to do away with the 
 last vestige of the feudal system, are objects deserving 
 of liberal and statesmanlike treatment, before which the 
 mere question of a few thousand dollars of expense to a 
 Province so rich as Ontario, dwindles into insignificance 
 and is unworthy of serious consideration. 
 
 FUTURE LEGISLATION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS. ' 
 
 What, then, yet remains to be done to secure the Tor- 
 rens System for the whole Province ? The Canada Land 
 Law Amendment Association recommend the following 
 changes : — 
 
 "I. That the Province be divided into registration dis- 
 tricts, and that the Torrens System be extended throughout 
 Ontario at as early a date as possible. 
 
 "2. That after a near fixed date all transfers of land be 
 carried out under the new system. 
 
 " 3. That the contribution to the guarantee fund be 
 reduced to one-fifth of one per cent, for a certificate of an 
 absolute title and to one-tenth of one per cent, for that of a 
 possessory title, and that in the latter case payment of the 
 contribution to the guarantee fund may, at the option of 
 the applicant, be deferred till the first subsequent transfer 
 or subdivision of the property. 
 
 " 4. That the fees in the land titles office generally be 
 reduced, and that, with a view to encourage smallholdings, 
 

 the fees charged be one-half of the ordinary scale of fees 
 on all transactions under $i,ooo. 
 
 " 5. That the statutor}' forms be revised, so as to make 
 them of more general application, with a view to a saving 
 of expense. 
 
 " 6. That all simplifications in the administration of the 
 Torrens System which experience has shown to b,e feasible 
 be adopted, with a view to facilitate bringing property 
 under the Act, and to make the transfer of property as 
 simple, expeditious and inexpensive as possible. 
 
 " 7. That the law of dower be assimilated to that of Eng- 
 land, with a provision that inchoate dower may be preserved 
 by registration. 
 
 " 8. That the Government be petitioned to appoint a 
 commission to consider the whole subject of land transfer, 
 and the best mode of extending the operations of the Tor- 
 rens System to the whole Province. 
 
 ;'- -v"^': ■-'/.,..■ .■ CONCLUSION. . '■ ;:.•'■■'/" :•.,■ 
 
 Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : — I have endeavoured 
 very imperfectly (but as fully as the limited intervals of 
 leisure of a busy life would permit) to give some account 
 of the history and present position of the land transfer 
 question in this country. During the last forty years I 
 have been intimately connected with a branch of business 
 which has afforded me abundant opportunities of observ- 
 ing the injustice inflicted upon owners of land by the pres- 
 ent system, and I therefore am anxious to see it supplanted 
 by a better one. 
 
 I have not, on this occasion, cited instances of inconveni- 
 ence, hardship and loss arising from it, as might easily 
 have been done, nor have I attempted to describe the 
 simple operation of the new system. These topics have 
 been treated in previous publications of the Land Law 
 Amendment Association, some of which may be obtained 
 by anyone who would like to further pursue the subject. 
 
 In conclusion, permit me to ask the earnest co-opera- 
 tion of all present in promoting the objects of the Associ- 
 ation, by their active personal influence, and also by their 
 
contributions. Considering the work done by the Associ- 
 ation, its expenditure of money has been very small, and all 
 that has been expended has been contributed by a few 
 individuals and institutions no more interested than 
 other members of the community. If, by any means, 
 more general information on the subject can be dissemin- 
 ated among the masses of the people, it will not be long 
 before the objects of the Association will be accomp- 
 lished, as far, at least, as our own Province of Ontario is 
 concerned. All good citizens are invited to unite with us 
 in bringing about this most desirable consummation. 
 
 PROF. GOLDWIN SMITH moved, "That in the 
 opinion of this meeting a simpler and less expensive mode of 
 applying the Torrens System of land transfer to the whole 
 Province of Ontario should be adopted at as early a date 
 as possible, and that every facility should be afforded to 
 landowners and others to bring their property under this 
 system." He said that if what Mr. Mason had recom- 
 mended this evening were adopted, and by the aid of this 
 meeting the necessity for its adoption could be impressed 
 upon the Legislature, there was no doubt that heavy bur- 
 dens would be removed from all the land of the Province, 
 and that land was already in a condition upon which it 
 could ill afford to have any burdens left upon it that were 
 capable of removal. The Tcnens System, once adopted, 
 the difficulties and expense of conveyancing, and the re- 
 search attending it, would vanish, and men would be en- 
 abled to acquire property as simply, as cheaply and as 
 easily as they could buy a yard of cloth or a loaf of bread. 
 It was not necessary in proposing the improvements of the 
 present to arraign the system of the past, the feudal sys- 
 tem — that iron system which helped to mould and organize 
 society, as society existed in the Middle Ages. So ^rm was 
 the hold of that system that its marks had been left to the 
 present day, although the system itself, so far as its useful- 
 ness was concerned, had long since passed away. The 
 night of the Middle Ages had gone, but its shadow lingered 
 on the land laws still. He need not tell them that under 
 the feudal system land was not alienable. It was granted 
 subject to military service in a society which was organized 
 
on the military principle, and it could be alienated only by 
 sub-infeudation. 
 
 In the case of copy-hold the lands could only be trans- 
 ferred by the consent of the lords of the manor. Society 
 had advanced, and it had been found necessary to break 
 through this system. The way in which society broke 
 through the feudal system in England was by the introduc- 
 tion of a legal fiction which was well known to all who 
 were familiar with the legal proceedings in the beginning 
 of the present century. This system lingered on until the 
 reign of William IV., and it was curious to look 
 back upon its details. There was nothing in China or 
 Japan or any Eastern nation more absurd than the system 
 of acquiring land by fines and recoveries. The flaws that 
 take place in the entries on processes and deeds, the mode 
 by which property had been transferred from generation to 
 generation by lease and release, were referred to, as well as 
 other difficulties, which all continued to make the English 
 aristocracy and landholders chary of adopting improve- 
 ments to the system of transfer, for the improvements would 
 pf necessity involve the registration of their deeds. The 
 Torrens System was, however, very nearly carried in 
 England last year. It was only defeated at the last moment 
 by a party of peers, whose faces were seldom seen in the 
 House of Lords, going up to London, no doubt, on the 
 advice of their lawyers, and voting against it. They must 
 not be surprised that England was slow to adopt this sys- 
 tem, but there was no earthly reason why it should not be 
 adopted here. " There can be no doubt," said the Pro- 
 fessor, " that this is the real answer to those vague schemes 
 of land nationalization, or, as it practically means, land 
 confiscation, that now disturb society. I cannot help 
 agreeing with Mr. Gladstone and Mr. John Morley that 
 nationalization of land without compensation would be 
 robbery, and with compensation would be folly. Nothing 
 that ever happens is happier in itself or more beneficent in 
 its consequences to society than the acquisition by a me- 
 chanic of the freehold of his home. Let the transfer of 
 land be perfectly easy, so that every .thrifty man could 
 acquire it at the least possible expense. If people would 
 only use half the energy and make half the effort that they 
 
put forth in support of unmeaning shibboleths they would 
 soon carry out a magnificent reform." 
 
 • MR. GEORGE S. HOLMESTED, inspector of 
 Titles of the High Court of Justice for Ontario, spoke as 
 follows : — I have been invited to second this resolution, I 
 presume because I am one of the pioneers in advocating the 
 introduction of the Torrens System of registration into 
 Canada. It is now fourteen years since I was first led to 
 investigate that system, and from the time I came to under- 
 stand it, until the present time, I have never wavered in 
 my conviction of the great superiority of that system over 
 that which prevails in Ontario. 
 
 You have heard in the President's address that this 
 Torrens System has been adopted by all the Australian 
 Colonies, by the Parliament of Canada for the Northwest 
 Territories, by the Legislature of Manitoba, and also par- 
 tially by the Province of Ontario. The fact that it has 
 been so adopted is strong prima facia evidence of its merits, 
 but I should like, if possible, to convince everyone here 
 present of the propriety of voting in favour of the Torrens 
 System on its merits. 
 
 , THE OLD SYSTEM OF REGISTRATION AND THE NEW. 
 
 In order that you may be able to give an intelligent 
 opinion on the subject, it is necessary for you clearly to 
 understand in what respect the Torrens System of regis- 
 tration differs from the system of registration of deeds 
 which at present prevails in Ontario. People who look at 
 the matter superficially may jump at the conclusion that 
 there is no great difference between the two systems, but 
 as a matter of fact they differ radically. It is quite true 
 that under our present system of registration we talk of 
 having " a registered title," meaning thereby that all the 
 documents constituting the chain of title are registered.' 
 But if the Torrens System accomplished nothing more than 
 that, no one would think it worth the trouble of making 
 the change. Let us consider for a moment what the pres- 
 ent system of registration is intended to do. It is simply 
 this : to provide a public office in which all instruments 
 
affecting the title to land may be recorded. It does not 
 pretend to provide any means whatever for determining 
 the legal effect of instruments which are so recorded ; and 
 as a matter of fact instruments may be recorded against a 
 parcel of land, which, though purporting to affect the title, 
 have in reality no more legal effect on the title than a 
 blank sheet of paper. 
 
 A VISIT TO A REGISTRY OFFICE. 
 
 Let us, in imagination, go for a moment to one of 
 our registry offices. We want to ascertain the title to 
 a lot of land. We are shown what is called an " Abstract 
 Index," in which is set forth a list of all the instru- 
 ments affecting the land we are inquiring about. From 
 this it may appear that there is a perfect chain of title ; but 
 no one is safe in relying on this Index alone ; he must 
 examine each instrument indexed, and carefully consider 
 whether it is made by proper parties, in proper form, and 
 is duly executed. This he must do at his own risk. He 
 must determine for himself the legal effect of each instru- 
 ment at the risk that if he, or his legal adviser make a 
 mistake, he may lose the land. And the great trouble is 
 that after exercising all the care and caution possible, and 
 procuring the best legal assistance, some unexpected flaw 
 may be discovered. Let me give you a few practical in- 
 stances of the way in which our present registry system 
 works. 
 
 A REGISTERED WILL THAT WAS NO WILL. 
 
 There was a case of Nex vs. Seddon before Mr. Justice 
 Robertson lately. The action was brought to enforce 
 a contract for the sale of a parcel of land. In this 
 action it appeared that the vendor had a good registered 
 title — no links in the chain were wanting, no flaws were 
 apparent. It appeared that the vendor claimed as devisee 
 under his uncle's will and had effected loans on the prop- 
 erty, and I believe had made one or two mortgages to loan 
 companies. Now very few persons, I venture to think, 
 would guess what was the objection to this title. The will 
 under which the vendor claimed was in due form, duly 
 
32 
 
 executed, duly registered, and yet it was of no more value 
 than a piece of waste paper. The difficulty was that after 
 the testator had made his will, he married, which had the 
 effect of revoking the will (See R.S.O., chap. 109, sec. 20), 
 so that it was absolutely null and void ; and yet, as you 
 have seen, it was nevertheless registered. 
 
 HOW A FARMER LOST HIS FARM AFTER TWENTY YEARS' 
 
 POSSESSION. 
 
 There was another case not long ago before the courts of 
 Munsie vs. Lindsay (i Ont. Repts., 164; 11 Ont. Repts., 520), 
 in which the facts were as follows : — In 1854 a man named 
 Munsie died leaving a will whereby he devised his farm to 
 his widow for her life, and then after her death to his son 
 Robert. The will was duly registered. Robert shortly 
 afterwards purchased his mother's life-interest, and then 
 thinking himself owner ot the lot absolutely, he sold it to 
 his brother James, who subsequently sold it to the defend- 
 ant Lindsay, who bought on the faith of his vendor having 
 a good registered title. Lindsay lived on the lot and worked 
 and improved it for a good many years, thinking, no doubt, 
 to leave it as a provision for his family on his death. In 
 1874, however, the widow of the testator died, and within 
 ten years afterwards the heirs at law instituted a suit 
 against Lindsay and recovered the land from him, on the 
 ground that the devise to Robert was void, he happening 
 to have been a witness to the will. All the hard-earned 
 fruits of Lindsay's labour were thus taken from him with- 
 out any compensation, except a lien for the value of the 
 permanent improvements he had made, against which was 
 set off 4n occupation rent lor the premises since the 
 widow's death. I think that you will confess that a regis- 
 tration system which leads to such results is, to say the 
 least, not a very perfect or efficient system 
 
 A MORTGAGE DISCHARGED THAT WASN't DISCHARGED. 
 
 I will give you another instance of its effects. Some 
 little time ago a case was before the courts, Beaty vs. 
 Shaw (14 Ont. Appeal Reports, 600), in which the follow- 
 ing state of facts appeared : — There were two persons, 
 
eJcecUtofs ahd trustees of an estate. One of the trustees 
 owed a sum of money to the estate, and executed a mort- 
 gage on a parcel of land to his co-trustee to secure its pay- 
 tnent. The co-trustee died, and the other who owed the 
 money survived him, and he then (without paying the 
 debt to the trust estate) as surviving trustee and executor, 
 dishonestly executed a discharge of his mortgage, which 
 was duly registered. He then sold the land to the defend- 
 ants in the action, who bought it in good faith, relying on the 
 mortgage having been discharged. The purchasers worked 
 it and made valuable improvements on it, and were some- 
 what astonished after the lapse of two years to learn that 
 
 THE DISCHARGE OF MORTGAGE WAS UTTERLY WORTHLESS. 
 
 The result of the suit was to take the land away from them, 
 with all their improvements, without any compensation 
 whatever ; and yet you will be careful to observe that the 
 discharge, or what purported to be a discharge, was duly 
 registered. 
 
 / A CHAIN OF TITLE OF 6oO LINKS. 
 
 I remember another case where a man had laid out a 
 farm lot as a village and cut it up into a number of small 
 lots which he sold off. These lots passed through different 
 hands, and some were sold for taxes. Unfortunately the 
 village never got beyond the paper stage, and after some 
 years all these lots got back into one hand, and were to- 
 gether used as a farm lot ; but the land was practically 
 unsaleable, for in order to investigate the title to this farm 
 lot you had to examine and consider no less than 600 reg- 
 istrations, and the result was the owner had to spend over 
 $1,000 to quiet his title. 
 
 HOW A Q.C. CAME TO GRIEF. 
 
 I will mention yet one other instance. It was told me 
 only to-day. A learned Q.C. of Toronto, a shrewd busi- 
 ness man, bought a parcel of land, he carefully searched 
 the title and found it all right, the registry office disclosed 
 no incumbrances. He paid his purchase money and was 
 somewhat surprised afterwards, on being called on to pay 
 
34 
 
 $i,5oo on a mortgapfe. This mortgage, it appeared, had 
 been made on the land the Q.C had purchased, and other 
 lands, and duly registered, but, by mistake, the registrar had 
 omitted to mdex it against the lot the Q.C. had purchased. 
 The only redress the Q.C. had, was a right of action 
 against his vendor and the registrar, but as both of them 
 were worthless, he had to lose his money and look as pleas- 
 ant as possible under the circumstances (See Lawrie vs. 
 Rathbun, 38 U.C.Q.B. 255, a similar case). 
 
 144 OBJECTIONS TO ONE TITLE. 
 
 But I will not weary you with further illustrations of 
 the hazards which people have to run under our present 
 registry system. Let me, however, point out to you one 
 other defect. Owing to the necessity of each link in the 
 chain having to be perfect, it is easy to see that the more 
 transactions there are recorded, the greater is the number of 
 defects likely to be found in the title ; and the result is that 
 the investigation of titles extends sometimes over months 
 and even years. Some time ago there was a case before the 
 courts in which no less than. 144 objections and requisi- 
 tions had been made on the title in question, and the inves- 
 tigation had been going on for four months ; and all this 
 means, I need hardly say, great expense. 
 
 RESULTS OF OLD SYSTEM OF REGISTRATION. 
 
 As the results of the present system of registry we have, 
 therefore, great uncertainty of title, and great expense, and 
 delay, in investigating titles. 
 
 WHAT THE TORRENS SYSTEM IS. 
 
 Now let us see what the Torrens System is intended to 
 do — but first I may tell you what it does not do. It does 
 not pretend merely to record the fact that a deed or instru- 
 ment has been made ; and it does not permit instruments 
 to be recorded as instruments affecting the title, which are 
 in fact of no more legal effect than mere waste paper, as 
 we have seen that our present system of registry does. 
 What the Torrens System aims at doing, and actually 
 
^ 35 
 
 does, is to record the title, i.e., the legal effect of all instru- 
 ments affecting the land. In order to bring property under 
 this system, it is necessary that the title of the person claim- 
 ing to be first registered as owner, should be investigated by 
 a public officer ; the title having been proved to his satis- 
 faction, it is then registered — not the string of deeds under 
 which the owner claims, but the fact that the person who 
 has thus established his title is the owner of the property ; 
 and if his title is subject to any qualifications, mortgages, 
 or otherwise, these are also specially stated in the register. 
 But there are cases where a difficulty may arise in mak- 
 ing out a perfectly good title, but even these cases may be 
 registered under the Torrens System. In such cases when 
 a goodi prima facie title is shown, the person appearing to 
 be th J owner may be registered in this modified way, \iz., 
 so that the title up to the date of its first registration would 
 not be guaranteed, and any person dealing with a title so 
 registered would have to satisfy themselves as to the good* 
 ness of the title of the person first registered, but all sub- 
 sequent transactions would be under the Torrens System, 
 and would be guaranteed. By this means the chain of 
 title which it would be necessary to investigate would stop 
 at the first registration, and in process of time such titles 
 would be capable of being fully registered without much 
 expense. 
 
 A VISIT TO A TORRENS REGISTRY OFFICE. 
 
 It you want, therefore, to ascertain the state of a title reg- 
 istered under the Torrens System, you go to the office, and 
 instead of having to search through a long list of deeds, as 
 under our present registry system, you are shown a book, 
 on one page of which is set out distinctly who is the pres- 
 ent owner, and what charges, if any, affect his title ; and 
 you have all the information in a narrow compass which it 
 is necessary for you to know, in order safely to deal with 
 the person claiming to be the owner, without the necessity 
 of going into any antiquarian researches as to who owned 
 the property thirty or forty years ago, and how it has de- 
 volved from hand to hand ever since. Moreover, in deal- 
 ing with property registered 
 
UNDER THE TORRENS SYSTEM, YOU RUN NO RISKS, ' 
 
 as to the title ; the risk and responsibiUty of determin- 
 ing the legal effect of instruments affecting the title, is 
 taken off your shoulders by the public officer, because 
 no devolution of the title can be recorded until he is 
 first satisfied of the legal validity and sufficiency of the 
 instrument by which it is effected, and even should he by 
 chance make a mistake, persons who would otherwise 
 suffer are guaranteed compensation for any loss occasioned 
 by the mistake. ^ . ^ 
 
 ' THE RESULTS OF THE TORRENS SYSTEM 
 
 Therefore, are certainty of title, expedition in showing title, 
 and the avoidance of the great expense attending the in- 
 vestigation of titles under the old system, and a guarantee 
 against loss arising through mistakes. "^ . 
 
 THE TORRENS SYSTEM FOR THE WHOLE PROVINCE. 
 
 Now, I hope, I have convinced you of the superiority 
 of the Torrens System of registration. Let me ask you, is 
 it going to be any easier to adopt that system by waiting ? 
 Are our titles m the meantime likely to grow shorter, 
 simpler, or more free from defects than they now are ? Is 
 it not perfectly obvious that every transaction adds a fresh 
 link to the chain, and every deed or instrument recorded 
 under our present system renders the possible existence of 
 mistakes, flaws and, imperfections more likely ? No one, 
 surely, who considers the matter, can doubt that the- sooner 
 the Torrens System is extended to the whole Province the 
 better. 
 
 But, gentlemen, this resolution asks you not only to 
 affirm that it is desirable that the Torrens System should 
 be speedily extended to the whole Province, but that it 
 should be so extended, as inexpensively as possible. In 
 most of the Australian Colonies, one office for each colony 
 is found sufficient. In Ontario three or four would be ample. 
 
 The necessity for one or more registry offices in every 
 county, under our present system, arises from the necessity 
 ot making searches, and going minutely into the past his-^ 
 
,; r...;' .- , . •■■ 37' ■ -. •, ,:*^.„ ■^'•'■\^,--„.,,;'V; 
 
 tory of titles ; all of which, as we have seen, is done away 
 with under the Torrens System of registration. 
 
 In Australia the great bulk of the business in the land 
 titles office is transacted through the post office, and there 
 is no reason why it should not be so in this Province, 
 where our postal communication is so good. There is, 
 therefore, it seems to me, no real obstacle to the system 
 being introduced at a comparatively small expense. 
 
 Gentlemen, I hope that I have enabled you to come to 
 an intelligent conclup.ion as to the propriety of this resolu- 
 tion, and if so, I shall not have spoken altogether in vain. 
 
 IS" It may be useful to point out how such difficulties as have 
 been referred to above could not arise under the Torrens System, or if 
 they did arise, what would be the result. 
 
 In such a case as Nex vs. Seddon, for instance, the devisee would 
 not be registered as owner unless the officer was satisfied that the will 
 legally vested the property in him. But suppose the officer made a 
 mistake, and registered a person as owner under ai instrument which 
 afterwards proved to be invalid. So long as the person improperly 
 registered remained on the register as owner, the mistake could be 
 corrected, but if he conveyed to an innocent person, then it is obvious 
 one of two innocent persons must lose the land, and, in that case, 
 whichever did would be entitled to be compensated for his loss out of 
 the Guarantee Fund. This remark applies not only to the cases of 
 invalid wills, but also to the mortgage omitted to be recorded against 
 the proper lot, a mistake (by the way) infinitely less likely to occur 
 under the Torrens System than our present registry system. 
 
 In the case of the sub-division of a lot into small parcels, the title 
 to each parcel would be kept perfectly clear and distinct, and in the 
 event of one man becoming the owner of all again, the whole property 
 could be brought readily into one registration, without any necessity 
 of quieting the title, or any such enormous expense as was necessary 
 in the case referred to. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the cases referred to by Mr. Holme- 
 sted are by any means rare or exceptional cases ; as one of the gentle- 
 men present at the meeting remarked, " anyone who has had any 
 thing to do with real estate could tell of dozens of similar cases." 
 
 MR. S. G. WOOD said that one of the strongest and 
 simplest arguments in favour of the Torrens System is 
 that it has been go thoroughly successful in all the coun- 
 tries where it has been adopted, and no one knows of a 
 single community in which it has been introduced, where 
 there has been the slightest feeling in opposition to it, or 
 where there has been any desire to return to the old sys- 
 
tern. On the contrary, it has been found to be a boon to 
 every community where it has been introduced. If a boon 
 to the Austrahan Provinces, surely it will prove an equal 
 boon to our Canadian Provinces. 
 
 I submit also that it is an undoubted fact that no indi- 
 vidual who has placed his property under this system has 
 ever regretted it, or will ever think of withdrawing from it 
 and returning to the old system, the defects of which have 
 been so ably exposed by Mr. Holmested. Therefore it 
 appears to me that the question admits of no argument. 
 
 With regard to the opposition supposed to exist on the 
 part of the legal profession, to which I have the honour to 
 belong, it seems to me that there is no probable ground for 
 anticipating any antipathy on their part. Lawyers, I sub- 
 mit, Mr. Mayor, have been in all time, and must necessar- 
 ily be, the promoters of legal reforms. 
 
 I trust that the object we have in view in holding this 
 meeting to-night, and in the movmg, seconding and carry- 
 ing of this resolution unanimously, will begin a new era in 
 the history of the transfer of land in this Province of Ontario. 
 
 MR. STAPLETON CALDECOTT— From the able 
 address of the president of the Association, followed by 
 Prof. Goldwin Smith and Mr. Holmested, four impressions 
 entered my mind. 
 
 First. — The present system ot transferring land is a relic 
 of feudal times, and in Canada we do not want any of the 
 evils of those days. 
 
 Second, — All authorities have agreed that the Torrens 
 System is the best ; therefore no Legislature should delay 
 its adoption on the ground of expense. 
 
 Third. — Our very best lawyers all over the country 
 favour the change, and Mr. Wood says no reputable law- 
 yers will stand in the way. 
 
 Fourth. — ^The Torrens System, wherever it has been 
 tried, has proved to be a great success ; whether in Aus- 
 tralia, Manitoba, or in our own City of Toronto. 
 
 With these four propositions established, and the five 
 objections so ably answered by Mr. Mason, removed, what 
 more do we want ? 
 
 The resolution was then put, and unanimously carried. 
 
 After passing a vote of thanks to the Mayor, the meet- 
 ing adjourned. 
 
30 
 
 FORMS. 
 
 The following forms will give an idea of the practical working 
 of the Torrens system : 
 
 Suppose that Mr. Goldwin Smith is entered as owner of 
 Lot 5, east side of John Street, Toronto, on Plan No.' 15. 
 
 The forms show a transfer from Goldwin Smith to J. Heibert 
 Mason, a Mortgage by Mr. Mason to Sir Robert Torrens, and a 
 Certificate granted to Mr. Mason ; the Mortgage being endorsed 
 and a final cancellation of that Certificate made when property 
 is transferred. 
 
 FORM OF TRANSFER. 
 Land Titles Act. 
 
 I, Goldwin Smith, of Toronto, Esquire, the registered owner of 
 the land, entered in the Register under the Land Titles Act, under 
 Number 264, in consideration of the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars 
 paid to me, transfer such land to John Herbert Mason, of Toronto, 
 the said land being Lot 5 on the east side of John Street, Toronto, per 
 Plan No. 15. 
 
 I, Smith, wife of said Goldwin Smith, hereby bars my 
 
 dower. 
 
 Dated the 25th day of April, 1890. 
 
 Witness: ' ;- Goldwin Smith. 
 
 Beverley Jones. Smith (Wife). 
 
 Then follows affidavit verifying execution. 
 
 FORM OF MORTGAGE. 
 
 , Land Titles Act. 
 
 I, John Herbert Mason, of Toronto, Esquire, the registered 
 owner of the freehold land registered in the Office of Land Titles, at 
 Toronto, as Parcel 500 in the Register for Centre Toronto, in con- 
 sideration of the sum of Five Thousand Dollars paid to me, charge 
 the land hereinafter particularly described, namely Lot 5 on east side 
 of John Street, Toronto, according to Plan No. 15, being the whole of 
 the said parcel with the payment to Robert Torrens, of Adelaide, 
 Australia, Knt., of the principal sum of Five Thousand Dollars, with 
 interest at the rate of seven per cent, per annum, payable in manner 
 following : In five years from date with interest yearly on the 25th of 
 
4d 
 
 April, and with a power of sale to be exercised after default, and one 
 month's subsequent notice of the intention to sell. All necessary cove- 
 nants are implied. 
 
 I, 
 
 bars my dower. 
 
 Dated the 26th day of October, 1890 
 
 Witness : 
 
 George S. Holmsted. 
 
 Mason, wife of said John Herbert Mason, hereby 
 
 J. Herbert Mason. 
 Mason (wife). 
 
 If party unmarried an affidavit annexed of that fact also of execu- 
 tion of Mortgage. 
 
 Parcel 500 in 
 the Regis- 
 ter for Cen- 
 tre Toronto. 
 V'olinne 
 Kolio 536, 
 
 *Such as 
 municipal 
 taxes, etc. 
 
 CERTIFICATE OF OWNERSHIP. 
 The Land Titles Act., 
 
 This is to Certify that John Herbert Mason, of Toronto, 
 Esquire, is the owner in fee simple with an absolute title of 
 that certain parcel of land registered under the Land Titles 
 Act as Parcel 500 in the Register for Centre Toronto, situate 
 in the City of Toronto, in the County of York and Province 
 of Ontario, namely Lot 5 on the east. side of John Street as 
 per Plan No. 15, subject to the exceptions and qualifications 
 mentioned in Section 24 of the Land Titles Act. 
 
 In Witness whereof I have hereunto Subscribed my 
 name and affixed my Seal this 26th day of April A.D. 1890. 
 
 (Signed) J. G. Scott, 
 
 Master of Titles. 
 
 ENDORSEMENT OF DELATINGS. 
 
 On Certificate. 
 
 By charge. No. 530, dated 26th October 1890, John Herbert 
 Mason, his wife barring her dower, charged the above parcel in 
 favour of Robert Torrens, of Adelaide, Australia, Knt., with the 
 payment of $5,000. 
 
 By transfer. No. 1,215, dated 30th December, 1890, registered the 
 31st day of December, 1890, J. H. Mason, his wife barring her dower, 
 transferred the above parcel to Thomas Marshall, who is now the 
 owner, subject to the above charge and to municipal taxes. 
 
 Now entered as Parcel 560 Centre Toronto. (560 would therefore 
 be the new number in Marshall's certificate. 
 
F 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LAND TITLES ACT (ONTARIO), 
 
 AND THE 
 
 REAL PROPERTY ACT (MANITOBA), 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 All the Latest Decisions in England, Australia and 
 
 Canada; with a Brief History of the Origin 
 
 and Principles of the System. 
 
 By HERBERT C. JONES 
 
 Of Osgoode Hall, Barrister at-Lau>. 
 Half Calf, $5. . 
 
 "... This work is worthy of very serious siudy by legisla- 
 tors and others interested in the reform of the law, and the elimination 
 of cumbrous, antiquated, useless and expensive forms and methods 
 connected with the transfer of titles to real estate. . . ." — Central 
 Law yournal. 
 
 CARSWELL & CO., LAW PUBLISHERS. 
 
 30 ADELAIDE STREET BAST, TORONTO