formation, and no more, that the lawyer ordinarily obtains by his individual work. The relief afforded by the title guaranty company is less effective than that of the abstract company. The limitations and conditions which attach to a guaranty are burdensome, complicated, and fall far short of constituting a real security against a defective title.

It is always unpleasant to stand in opposition to the prevailing system which may obtain in any community, no matter how detrimental to the public good such a system may be, It is, also, in a measure painful to pass a criticism upon a public policy of our State which has so long been in vogue, and to which the people have become accustomed; but no man, and particularly no lawyer, can say, after an impartial investigation and consideration of our system of recording titles, and the attendant rules of law affected by this system, that it has produced beneficent results to the State and to the land-owner. Our State borrowed this system from Great Britain, and Great Britain has thrown most of the parent system overboard; and in the metropolis of Great Britain, a compulsory system of land registration now obtains.

I do not know how others may regard the right to acquire title to land by adverse possession and prescription, but I wish to say that I have always regarded these two methods of establishing title to land as detrimental to the prosperity, honor and dignity of a just people. To me, it is abhorrent that a man, by the actual possession of my property for twenty years, can deprive me, the holder of the true and perfect paper title, of what is mine, simply because I have failed to employ remedies. which the law gives me for the vindication of my rights.

There are in Georgia some lands known as wild lands; they are valuable, and in the coming years will be densely populated; and yet, the title to many of these lands is in such confusion,

uncertainity and doubt and imperfection, that the courts of our State, in those sections where the wild lands predominate, are busy settling-out titles. But the judgments are not suf ficent to reach the difficulties, and the successful plaintiff to-day in an ejectment suit may to-morrow be a defendant, and in his turn may be ousted.

The matters of trouble and perplexity to which I have referred are not vague, neither are they imaginary; they crowd upon every docket, and their shadows threaten the security of nearly every land-owner, whether he be buyer or seller, borrower or lender.

If, therefore, any system can be suggested which can in a measure relieve the situation, clear away the doubts and difficulties, and point out a well-defined and easily-traveled path to a more advantageous and a better mode of dealing with the greatest of all our values, surely we should not turn aside and refuse to consider or discuss such a system.

The fundamental idea in the Torrens system is that the title should be registered, and not the mere evidence of the title. To register this title requires a judicial investigation into all the facts and circumstances surrounding the title, ineluding, of course, all the muniments of title, and, when it has been ascertained that the title is good and entitled to record, the registration of such a title establishes and declares that the person in whose name it is registered is the true owner of the property described. This registration is a binding and effective judgment in rem, and, of course, stands against the world, and from the date of its registration there can be no other title which can ever prevail against it.

In the establishment of the title, and in its registration, of course, there are many details to be complied with, but they are not more numerous nor more complicated than those which

attend to-day upon the ordinary examination of deeds on the record. The registration constitutes the starting point, and is equivalent to an original grant from the State; but it is better than a grant from the State, because after registration there can be no outstanding title obtained by adverse possession or prescription which can ever prevail against the registered title.

The registration of this title is the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, entered upon its records, and manifested to the holder of the title by the issuance of a certificate of registration. No transfer can be made of this title except through the office where the original registration was made, and no deed or conveyance of any sort can affect the registered title, unless accompanied with the certificate of registration, and a record of the same in the court of registration. No judgment, no mortgage, or other lien, can become effective against the registered title, unless it is likewise noted and entered upon the records of registration. No adverse possession can pre

vail against it; neither can prescription nor color of title.

The accomplishment of this radical change is had through the means of a system which is easily comprehended and applied. The same general methods are adopted which obtain in ordinary litigation, so far as due process of law is concerned, and embrace all the stages of pleading from the commencement of suit through to judgment. But it is not the purpose of this report to submit a plan, nor to go any further than to declare that in five States of the Union the plan is in practical operation, and in the State of Massachusetts it is at work with unqualified success.

In the case of Douglas, Attorney-General, vs. Westfall, 89th N. W. Rep., 175, the Supreme Court of Minnesota declared, in discussing the constitutionality of the Torrens system:

"The basic principle of this system is the registration of the

titles of land, instead of registering, as the old system requires, the evidence of such title. In the one case only the ultimate facts or conclusion that a certain named party has title to a particular tract of land is registered, and a certificate thereof delivered to him. In the other, the entire evidence, from which proposed purchasers must, at their peril, draw such conclusions, is registered."

In advocating the adoption of a bill pending in the Legislature of the State of Michigan, for the establishment of the Torrens system, a committee from the State Bar Association of that State declared as follows:

"(1) The Torrens system substitutes for the present system of registering deeds a system of registering titles. Instead of an ever lengthening list of deeds to be examined by a lawyer, whose opinion as to the validity of the title conveyed is often the purchaser's sole guaranty, is substituted a certificate as simple as a certificate of stock, showing on its face in whom the title is vested, and also all the liens or other interests existing in the premises in question. The correctness of this certificate is guaranteed by law.

"(2) The evils of the present system are manifest, particularly in large cities and in the older communities. These are: "1. Expense. The cost of the abstract, or its continuation, and the opinion of counsel thereon upon every transfer.

"2. Delay. This may extend to several months, the time being spent in procuring abstracts and deeds to fill the gaps in the chain of title and in negotiating as to claimed defects.

3. Insecurity.-Errors. may and often do exist in the abstract. They may and do also exist in the opinion of counsel. "4. The constantly lengthening of chain of deeds to be examined constantly increases the expense, delay and insecurity. "5. These defects operate as a perpetual tax upon the holder

of real estate, depreciate its value, and make it notoriously a 'slow' asset.

"(3) Actual experience has demonstrated that the Torrens system will correct all of these defects.

"1. The expense of the initial registration does not exceed the cost of a single transfer under the present system. In all subsequent transfers the expense will be much less than now. In ordinary cases the total expense would not exceed two dollars.

"2. Speed. In the generality of cases, the transfer or mortgage, including the examination of title, all may be completed within an hour.

"3. The title is rested or quieted at every transfer; there is no long chain of deeds to be examined; the chance for error is eliminated; and the title, as transfered, is guaranteed not only by the seller's warranty, but by the law.

"4. The records are shortened. No deeds are recorded. The original or duplicate deed is filed and left with the registrar. "5. This safe, short and inexpensive method of transfer increases the value of land and makes it a 'quick' asset.

"(4) The principles of the Torrens system are:

"1. A public examination of the title, in the United States, by a court of competent jurisdiction.

"2. A registration of the title found upon such examination. "3. Issuance of a certificate of title.

"4. Re-registration of title upon every subsequent transfer, "5. Notice on the certificate of any matter affecting a reg istered title. Claims not registered have no validity.

"6. Indemnity against loss out of an assurance fund."

In 1891, Hon. William E. Russell, then Governor of the State of Massachusetts, in his inaugural address, referred at