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court shall direct the registrar to register the words "with power of sale," in respect of the land of the deceased, and such executor shall have power to sell such land without an order of court so to do, but such sales must be confirmed by the court in the manner now or hereafter provided by the law of this state, and a duly certified copy of the order of such confirmation shall be filed with the registrar before any certificate of title can be issued to the purchaser of such land.

Sec. 76. Thereupon the registrar shall issue the certificate of title, or note the memorial, as the case may require; and such certificate of title or memorial noted shall be conclusive evidence in favor of all persons thereafter depending thereon.

Sec. 77. A purchaser of registered land sold for any tax or assessment, shall, within five days after such purchase, file in the office of the registrar a written notice of such purchase. And thereupon the registrar shall enter a memorial thereof upon the certificate of title, and shall mail to each person named in the certificate, and in the memorials thereon, a copy of said notice, a sufficient number of said copies to be furnished to the registrar by said purchaser at the time of filing said notice. In case the state or a municipal corporation becomes the purchaser of land sold for any tax or assessment, the tax collector or other officer attending to such purchase, shall, within five days thereafter, file with the registrar a notice to that effect. And thereupon the registrar shall enter a memorial thereof upon the register, and shall mail notices to interested parties, as in the case of an individual purchaser. Unless such notice is filed as herein provided, the land shall be forever released from the effect of such sale, and no deed shall be issued in pursuance thereof.

Sec. 78. A tax deed of registered land, or of any estate or interest therein, issued in pursuance of any sale for a tax or assessment made after the taking effect of this act, may be presented by the holder thereof to the registrar, who shall thereupon enter upon the register a memorial of such deed; but such deed, unless the same shall have been issued to the state, shall have only the effect of an agreement for the transfer of the title, and before any certificate of title shall be issued for the land described in such deed, the holder thereof must file with the clerk of the superior court an application for a decree showing the title to said land to be vested in him.

Sec. 79. All persons appearing upon the register to be interested in said land, and also the person who appears by the tax collector's books to have paid the tax or assessment last paid before the sale on which the deed is issued, shall be notified; and any person claiming an interest in the land may, upon the hearing of such application, show, as cause why a certificate of title should not issue to the holder of said deed, any fact that might be shown in law or in equity on his behalf to set aside such tax deed, and the applicant shall be required to show affirmatively that all the requirements of the statute to entitle him to a deed have been complied with.

Sec. 80. Such application shall be heard by the court, which shall render a decree showing the condition of the title to such land, and who is the owner thereof, and upon presentation to him, of a duly certified copy of such decree, the registrar shall issue a certificate for said land in accordance with the terms and conditions of said decree.

Sec. 81. In case a tax deed of registered land is issued to the state or any municipal corporation, in pursuance of any sale for a tax assessment made after the taking effect of this act, the registrar shall, upon the filing of such deed in his office, cancel the certificate for the land in said deed described, and issue a new certificate to the purchaser.

Sec. 82. The notice required by section seventy-nine shall be served upon persons interested in the manner provided in this act for the service of notice of applications for original registrations. Proof of such service and publication must be made in the manner now or hereafter required by the laws of this state.

Sec. 83. Upon presentation to him of a certificate of redemption from any tax sale, the registrar shall cancel the memorial of said sale upon the certificate of title.

Sec. 84. In proceedings for partition of registered land, proof must be made that all persons, shown by the register of title to be interested in the land, have been made parties to such proceeding.

Sec. 85. On confirmation of the report of the commissioners setting off registered lands in proceedings for partition, it shall be the duty of the parties to whom the lands are allotted, to

cause a certified copy of the judgment or decree to be filed with the registrar. Thereupon the registrar shall transfer the same upon the register, and issue certificates of title to the persons entitled thereto, as shown by said decree.

Sec. 86. Whenever, in proceedings for partition of registered land, the court shall order a sale of such land, and the same is sold under such order, the purchaser shall file with the registrar a certified copy of the order confirming said sale, together with certificate of the officer making the sale, that the terms of the sale have been complied with. Thereupon, the registrar shall transfer said land upon the register, and issue a certificate of title to the purchaser therefor.

Sec. 87. When a tenant in common has given any mortgage, or granted any other lien or interest upon his undivided interest, and the same is set off in severalty in proceedings in partition, such mortgage, lien, or other interest shall attach only to the lands so set off, and the registrar shall note the same upon a new register of title, and a new certificate of title, and shall indorse a memorandum of the partition upon the instrument creating such lien, mortgage, or other interest, if the same be on file in his office, before a new certificate of title shall be issued therefor.

Sec. 88. Whenever registered land shall be sold to satisfy any judgment, decree, or order of court, the purchaser shall file with the registrar a duly certified copy of the order of sale, or of the order confirming such sale, when the same needs to be confirmed by the court, and also the certificate, if any, of the officer, that the terms of sale have been complied with, and thereupon the registrar shall transfer the land to him, and issue a new certificate of title therefor to said purchaser.

Sec. 89. No suit, bill, or proceeding at law or in equity for any purpose whatever, affecting registered land, or any estate, or interest therein, or any charge upon the same, shall be deemed to be lis pendens or notice to any person dealing with the same until notice of the pendency of such suit, bill, or proceeding shall be filed with the registrar and a memorial thereof entered by him upon the register of the last certificate of the title to be affected; provided, however, this section shall not apply to attachment proceedings when the officer making the levy shall file his certificate as hereinafter provided. Sec. 90. When any suit, bill, or proceeding affecting registered lands has been dismissed or otherwise disposed of, or any judgment, decree, or order has been satisfied, released, reversed, or modified, or any levy of execution, attachment, or other process has been released, discharged, or otherwise disposed of, it shall be the duty of the sheriff, or the clerk of the court in which such proceedings were pending, or had, as the case may be, forthwith, under his hand, and, if the clerk, under the seal of the court, to certify to and file with the registrar, an instrument showing such discharge or release. Upon the same being filed, the registrar shall enter a memorial of such discharge on the register. The costs of such certificate and memorial shall be taxed as other costs in the case.

Sec. 91. No judgment, or decree, or order of any court shall be a lien on or in any wise affect registered land, or any estate or interest therein, until a certified copy of such judgment, decree, or order, under the hand and official seal of the clerk of the court in which the same is of record, is filed in the office of the registrar, and a memorial of the same is entered upon the register of the last certificate of the title to be affected.

Sec. 92. Whenever registered land is levied upon by virtue of any writ of attachment, execution, or other process, it shall be the duty of the officer making such levy forthwith to file with the registrar a certificate of the fact of such levy, a memorial of which shall be entered upon the register; and no lien shall arise by reason of such levy until the filing of such certificate and the entry in the register of such memorial, any notice thereof, actual or constructive, to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 93. Notice of liens under the provisions of the mechanics' lien laws of this state shall be filed in the registrar's office, and a memorial thereof entered by him upon the register, as in the case of other charges, and such liens may be enforced as now or hereafter allowed by law. Until such notice is so filed and registered, no lien shall be deemed to have been created.

Sec. 94. When in a city, town, or county, an ordinance, resolution, or order is passed or made, to lay out, establish, alter, widen, grade, regrade, relocate, or construct or repair a

street, sidewalk, drain, or sewer, or to make any other public improvement, or to do any work, the whole or a portion of the expense for which assessments may be made upon real estate, if any registered land or any land included in an application for registration then pending is affected by the act or proceeding and liable to such assessment, the clerk of the board passing such ordinance, resolution, or order must, within five days after the passage of such ordinance, resolution, or order, file in the registrar's office a notice of the passage thereof, and a memorial must thereupon be noted on the register. In case of the repeal of such ordinance, resolution, or order, the clerk of said board, and in case of the satisfaction of any lien thereunder, the superintendent of streets or other officer required by law to collect and receive such assessments, must within five days thereafter, notify the registrar, in writing, who shall thereupon cancel such memorial.

Sec. 95. No statutory or other lien shall be deemed to affect the title to registered land until after a memorial thereof is entered upon the register, as herein provided.

Sec. 96. The filing in the registrar's office of a certificate of the clerk of the court in which any suit, bill, or proceeding shall have been pending, or any judgment or decree is of record, that such suit, bill or proceeding has been dismissed or otherwise disposed of, or the judgment, decree, or order has been satisfied, released, reversed, or overruled, or of any sheriff or other officer that the levy of any execution, attachment, or other process certified by him has been released, discharged, or otherwise disposed of, shall be sufficient to authorize the registrar to cancel or otherwise treat the memorial of such suit, bill, proceeding, judgment, decree, or levy, according to the purport of such certificate.

Sec. 97. After a title has been registered and a certificate issued therefor, or after a memorandum, notation, or memorial has been made on the register of title and has been attested, no correction, alteration, or erasure shall be made therein or thereof, except in the manner herein provided.

Sec. 98. A registered owner or other person in interest or the registrar, may at any time apply by petition to the court, upon the ground that registered interests of any description, whether vested, contingent, expectant or inchoate, have terminated and ceased or that new interests have arisen or been created which do not appear upon the certificates or that there is an error or omission in any certificate or memorial, or that any certificate or memorial has been made, entered, indorsed, issued, or canceled by mistake, or that the name of any person on the certificate has been changed by divorce, adoption, or other than by marriage as provided for in section 28 of this act, or that an owner, registered as married, has ceased to be such, or that a corporation which owned registered land has been dissolved and has not legally conveyed the same after its dissolution, or upon any other reasonable ground, for an order correcting or altering any certificate to comply with the true facts as shown by the petition and proof adduced and the court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the petition after notice to all parties in interest. The court shall issue an order summoning all persons registered as interested in the lands to which such certificate or memorial relates, to appear at an appointed time and place and produce their duplicate certificates and show cause why such omissions, or mistake, or change, or alteration, should not be corrected or made. The registrar shall, upon receiving notice of such petition, enter a memorial of such application upon the certificate of title affected. If at the time and place appointed all such persons appear and consent, the court may order the entry of a new certificate, the entry or cancellation of a memorandum upon a certificate, or grant any other relief upon such terms, requiring security if necessary, as it may consider proper. If such persons, or any of them, fail to appear or do not consent, the court may proceed to hear testimony and if it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the relief as petitioned for should be granted, it shall order and direct the registrar to make such corrections or modifications on such certificates or memorials as may be necessary. A certified copy of such order of the court shall be filed in the registrar's office before any such corrections or modifications shall be entered or made. When such action has been caused by the fault or neglect of the registrar, the costs of such proceedings shall be paid by the county out of the fees collected by the registrar under the provisions of this act that go into the county treasury; if by the fault of the person registered as interested in such land, by

such person.

The provisions of this section shall not give the court authority to open the original decree of registration and nothing shall be done or ordered by the court which shall impair the title or other interest of a purchaser who holds a certificate for value and in good faith, or his heirs or assigns without his or their written consent.

Sec. 99. When the registrar is in doubt or when the parties in interest fail to agree as to the proper memorial to be made in respect of any deed, mortgage or other voluntary instrument presented for registration, the question shall be referred to the court for decision, either on the certificate of the registrar stating the question, or upon the suggestion in writing of any party or parties in interest; and the court, after due notice to all parties in interest and a hearing, if necessary or proper, shall enter an order prescribing the form of the memorial to be made by the registrar, who shall make the memorial accordingly.

For

Sec. 100. For services performed under the provisions of this act, there shall be paid to the registrar the following fees: Subdivision 1. For filing decree directing land to be brought under the operation of this act, including original registration and issuing original certificate of title and duplicate and the filing of all instruments connected therewith, for each separate parcel of land affected, one dollar. For each subsequent registration and issuing of certificate of title, including one duplicate and the filing of all instruments connected therewith, for each separate parcel of land affected, one dollar. filing certified copy of any petition filed in the superior court of another county in probate proceedings or any notice of any action in another county wherein registration of land is asked for, one dollar. For the entry of each memorial on the register, including the filing of all instruments and papers connected therewith and the endorsement upon the duplicate certificate, for each separate parcel of land affected, fifty cents. For filing copy of will with letters testamentary or filing copy of letters of administration with or without will annexed and entering memorial thereof, one dollar. For the cancellation of each memorial or charge, appearing on one certificate, twenty-five cents. For each certificate showing the condition of the title to all land appearing on one certificate, three dollars. For filing any instrument or furnishing a certified copy of any instrument or writing on file not herein specially provided for, the same fees which are allowed by law to recorders for like services.

Subdivision 2. In addition to the fees provided in subdivision 1, for services performed by the registrar there shall be paid to him the following fees: Upon the original registration of any land, a sum equivalent to one tenth of one per cent of the assessed value of the land including permanent improvements thereon as the same were valued for county taxation the last time said land and permanent improvements or either thereof were assessed for county taxes next preceding the filing of the petition.

Subdivision 3. All the fees collected by the registrar under the provisions of subdivision 1 of this section shall be accounted for, paid, disbursed and disposed of by him in the manner that fees collected by him as county recorder are now or may hereafter be by law accounted for, paid, disbursed and disposed of. All fees collected under the provisions of subdivision 2 of this section shall be paid by the registrar, between the first and fifth days of the month following receipt thereof, to the treasurer of the state, to be by him accumulated as and for an assurance fund. Should there be a surplus in any year derived from fees hereunder other than those provided to be paid to the state treasurer for an assurance fund, such surplus shall be carried into the general fund and be subject to appropriation for any purpose. In case such fees shall not amount to the sum required for the administration of this act, the deficiency shall be paid from any funds in the county treasury, not otherwise appropriated. All bocks, blank, papers and other things necessary, including clerks for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act, shall be furnished by the board of supervisors at the expense of the county.

Sec. 101. Nothing in this act shall be construed to in any wise affect or modify the exercise of the right of eminent domain. When any suit or proceeding shall have been brought in the exercise of such right for the taking of registered land, or any interest therein, or to test the validity of any such taking, or to ascertain and establish the amount of damage

by reason of any such taking, it shall be the duty of both parties to the proceeding to see that a certified copy of the judgment or decree therein is duly filed and a memorial thereof entered upon the register; but in the case of an assessment of damages, no such memorial shall be entered by the registrar until such damages have been paid, in which event the register shall also show the payment of such damages; provided, how‣ ever, that the deposit with the treasurer, as allowed by law, of such damages, shall be deemed a payment thereof, and in such case the treasurer shall forthwith file with the registrar a certificate of such deposit, and thereupon a memorial thereof shall be entered upon the register. Upon the filing of the certified copy of the order or decree of the court and the payment of damages, the registrar shall note on the register of title of the owners whose lands have been appropriated, a description of the land so appropriated, and shall register in the name of the person, corporation, or other body entitled thereto, the title of the land taken, and issue a certificate therefor.

See. 102. The registrar shall keep property indices, the pages of which shall be divided into columns, showing, first, the section or subdivision; second, the range or block; third, the township or lot; fourth, any further description necessary to identify the land; fifth, the name of the registered owner; sixth, the volume; and seventh, the page of the register in which the lands are registered.

Sec. 103. He shall also keep name indices, the pages of which shall be divided into columns, showing in alphabetical order, first, the names of all registered owners and all other persons interested in or holding charges upon registered land; second, the nature of the interest; third, a brief description of the land; fourth, the volume; and fifth, the page of the register in which the lands are registered.

Sec. 104. An owner of an undivided interest in registered lands may bring an action for the partition thereof. A notice of such action shall, at the time of the commencement thereof, be filed with the registrar and a memorial entered by him upon the register. A certified copy of any judgment or decree rendered in pursuance of such action shall be filed with the registrar, who shall thereupon issue new certificates in accordance therewith.

Sec. 105. Subdivision 1. The state treasurer shall keep all sums paid to him by the registrars under the provisions hereof in a separate fund to be known as the "Torrens title assurance fund," and shall keep the same invested and reinvested in bonds of the United States or of the State of California or of any county or municipality thereof, the income derived from said investment to be, as the same is received, added to said fund. Said treasurer shall render to the governor, at least once in each fiscal year, a full and detailed report, showing all receipts, disbursements and investments on account of such fund.

Subdivision 2. Any person who, without fraud or negligence on his part, is deprived of any interest or estate in land through the operation of any provision of this act or by reason of the fraud, forgery, negligence, omission, mistake or misfeasance of any person, and who is precluded from recovering such interest or estate, may commence an action in the superior court of the county in which the land or a part thereof is situated, to recover not over the fair market value of the interest or estate of which he has been so deprived. If such deprivation has been caused solely by reason of any act of any registrar or deputy registrar in the performance of official duty as such, the state treasurer, in his official capacity, shall be the sole defendant. If such deprivation has been caused either wholly or in part by any person or persons other than such registrar or deputy registrar, while acting in the official performance of duty as such, such person or persons shall be joined as defendants with said state treasurer. In any such action said court shall have jurisdiction, after due service of summons, as provided in ordinary actions in said court, to determine the reason of such deprivation and to render judgment therein accordingly, either against said state treasurer alone or against him and all or any of the other defendants. In any action where there are defendants other than said state treasurer against whom judgment has been rendered, execution shall first issue against such other defendants and upon the return of such execution unsatisfied, either in whole or in part and upon it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that said execution cannot be satisfied out of the property belonging

to such judgment creditors other than said state treasurer, or where judgment is had against said state treasurer alone, said court shall make its order directing the payment of the amount due out of the assurance fund, and such order shall constitute the warrant for the payment of the same, and the state controller shall thereupon audit and certify the amount of such claim in the same manner as other claims against the state are audited, and the state treasurer shall thereupon pay the amount of said claim ou of the assurance fund without any other act or resolve making an appropriation therefor. If the assurance fund is at any time insufficient to pay the amount of any judgment in full, so much thereof as can be paid cut of such fund shall be paid, and the unpaid balance shall bear interest at the legal rate and shall be paid out of the first moneys coming into such assurance fund. The attorney general shall defend the state treasurer in all actions brought under the provisions hereof, if the person who is deprived of land or of any estate or interest therein in the manner above stated, has a right of action or other remedy for the recovery thereof, he shall exhaust such remedy before resorting to the action herein provided. The provisions of this section shall not deprive the plaintiff of any action in tort which he may have against any person for loss or damage or deprivation of land, or any estate or interest therein, but if such plaintiff elects to pursue his remedy in tort and also brings an action under the provisions of this section, the action against said state treasurer shall be held in abeyance to await the final result of such action in tort; in every case in which payment has been made by the state treasurer under the provisions of this section, the state shall be subrogated to all the rights of the plaintiff against any other parties or securities, and the state treasurer shall enforce the same in behalf of the state. Any amounts recovered by reason of such subrogation shall be paid into the state treasury to the account of the Torrens title assurance fund, after deducting therefrom the proper expenses in recovering the same.

Subdivision 3. The assurance fund shall not be liable to pay for any loss, damage or deprivation occasioned solely by a breach of trust on the part of any registered owner who is trustee, or by the improper exercise of any power of sale in s mortgage, nor shall any plaintiff recover as compensation under the provisions of this act more than the fair market value of the land or of the estate or interest held by him at the time when he suffered the damage, loss or deprivation complained of. Actions for compensation out of the assurance fund under the provisions of this act shall be commenced within four years from the time when the right of action accrued or they shal be forever barred; provided, that if at the time the right o action accrued, the person entitled to bring such action is a minor, or insane, or imprisoned, such person or any one claim ing under him may commence such action within two years after the removal of such disability.

Sec. 106. In the case of fraud, any person defrauded shal have all rights and remedies that he would have had if th lands were not under the provisions of this act; provided, tha nothing contained in this section shall affect the title of registered owner who has taken bona fide for a valuable con sideration, or of any person bona fide claiming through o under him.

Sec. 107. In case of an appeal from any proceeding unde this act, or from any judgment, order, or decree affecting regis tered lands, the clerk of the court in which the notice of appea is filed shall forthwith notify the registrar thereof, and there upon the registrar shall enter upon the register a memorial d such appeal.

Sec. 108. The county recorders or registrars in the severa counties shall have and they are hereby granted the power t appoint, whenever the business in their respective offices unde this act shall, in their opinion, justify the same, one or mon deputies, each of whom shall be an attorney admitted to prac tice before the supreme court of the State of California for a least five years prior to his appointment, in good standing skilled in the examination of titles and in proceedings under this act. The compensation of such attorneys shall be such as may be agreed upon between them and the registrar subject to the approval of the board of supervisors of the county and shal be paid in the same manner that the salaries of other deputies are paid. Such attorneys, so appointed, shall be competent to act as referees when appointed by the court in proceeding under this act. It shall be the duty of said attorneys t

assist the registrar in all matters in and arising out of proceedings under this act.

Sec. 109. The owner of registered land may plat the same and subdivide it into lots and blocks in like manner as in case of unregistered land. All laws with reference to the subdivision and platting of unregistered land shall apply with like force and effect to registered land. Owners of subdivisions transferring lots which are subject to building or other restrictions, may, at their own expense, furnish the registrar with printed forms of certificates of title for use by the registrar. Such printed forms must conform to the adopted size, quality of paper, workmanship and form and must first be submitted to the registrar for his approval; provided, however, the registrar shall have no authority over what restrictions shall be included.

Sec. 110. It shall be the duty of the registrar to require that all documents offered for filing concerning registered land, shall be made out with a view to permanency. The registrar may refuse to accept any document for filing which in his judgment is wholly or partly written, made out or filled in with inferior ink or faded typewriter ribbon and likely to fade rapidly and may require such documents to be redrawn in India or indelible ink to insure permanency. Registrars must in every instance in making out new certificates of title, memorials or entries of any kind in connection with registered land, use India ink for handwriting and indelible ink for typewriter or rubber stamps.

Sec. 111. Whoever fraudulently procures, assists in fraudulently procuring, or is privy to the fraudulent procurement of any certificates of title or other instrument, or of any entry in the register or other book kept in the registrar's office, or of any erasure or alteration in any entry in any said book, or in any instrument authorized by this act, or knowingly defrauds or is privy to defrauding any person by means of a false or fraudulent instrument, certificate, statement, or affidavit affecting registered lands, shall be guilty of a felony, and fined not exceeding five thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding five years nor less than one year, or either or both such fine and imprisonment.

Sec. 112. Whoever (1) forges, or procures to be forged, or assists in forging the seal of the registrar, or the name, signature, or handwriting of any officer of the registry office in cases where such officer is expressly or impliedly authorized to affix his signature; or (2) fraudulently stamps, or procures to be stamped, or assists in stamping any document with any forged seal of said registrar; or (3) forges, or procures to be forged, or assists in forging the name, signature, or handwriting of any person whomsoever to any instrument which is expressly or impliedly authorized to be signed by such person; or (4) uses any document upon which any impression, or part of the impression, of any seal of said registrar has been forged, knowing the same to have been forged, or any document, the signature to which has been forged, knowing the same to have been forged; or (5) swears falsely concerning any matter or procedure made and done in pursuance of this act, shall be guilty of a felony and fined not exceeding five thousand dollars or be imprisoned not exceeding ten years nor less than one year, or either or both such fine and imprisonment.

Sec. 113. No proceeding or conviction for any act hereby declared to be a felony shall affect any remedy which any person aggrieved or injured by such act may be entitled to at law or in equity, against the person who has committed such act, or against his estate, or against the registrar, or upon his bond.

Sec. 114. Registrars shall not make any rules or regulations that work a hardship or inconvenience upon owners or others desiring to avail themselves of the provisions of this act, who live at a distance from the office of the registrar and shall in writing consent to accept notice of all proceedings, of which notice is required, by mail and in such cases registrars shall assist those who desire to use the mails in connection with registered lands in every way possible. Such documents as are sent by mail shall be entirely at the risk of the owner and if lost, the entire expense of replacing same shall be borne by the owner.

Sec. 115. This act shall be construed liberally so far as may be necessary for the purpose of effecting its general intent.

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF LAND TITLE LAW.

The Torrens law is a modern system of registering titles to land. It does away with the endless fees of title companies for repeated examinations of title. The entire expense of transfer and registration of title to real estate under the Torrens law will be one dollar.

Under the proposed system, the recorder enters the certificate in a bound volume kept in his office, which names the owner and shows all mortgages, liens, etc. A duplicate certificate

given the owner constitutes, with owner's signature, absolute evidence of title.

To find the real owner or the condition of the title of any piece of property under the Torrens system, it will be necessary to examine only one document-the Torrens certificate. No encumbrance is valid against Torrens property unless noted on the certificate.

When property is sold or mortgaged, the duplicate must be produced and the Signature of the owner taken and compared, making fraud almost impossible under the Torrens system.

A state title assurance fund is created, not by taxation, but from fees paid by those using the system, and the state insures the title forever. It substitutes state title insurance for private title insurance.

A transfer of title or a loan can be made in one hour's time, making an escrow in most cases unnecessary. When necessary, it can be placed with a bank or trust company and a note made on the Torrens certificate that such an escrow is being held.

There is special provision in this bill for reducing the initial cost of placing property under the Torrens act.

In Australia there is $700,000,000 worth of property under the act and the claims against the assurance fund have been less than the onehundredth part of one per cent of the value. It is also in successful operation in Canada, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, Chicago, London and many other jurisdictions.

A Torrens title requires a judicial decision when the property is first placed under the act, giving the best foundation for the beginning of the system and reducing losses and fraud to a minimum. If the bill becomes a law, it will make "tax titles" practically unknown, because the owner will be notified when taxes or assessments are due and thus prevent the sale of the property for payment.

The present system furnishes no means by which the real owner of the property may be recognized and the buyer must simply take the risk even though he is investing the earnings of a lifetime. Under the Torrens system there is absolute evidence of ownership.

These amendments were drawn by Walter H. Robinson of San Francisco, an authority on the subject. If approved at the polls the system becomes optional. Those satisfied of its superiority may use it, and those who wish to continue under the present costly, slow and insecure system may do so.

MRS. WILBUR D. CAMPBELL, President Torrens Land Law League. ARGUMENT AGAINST LAND TITLE LAW. Although, personally, I strongly favor the adoption of a method by which a defective title could be cleared and made incontestable under the provisions for original registration, the particular initiative statute now presented to the people seems to be open to the following important objections:

contain

First-The proposed amendments nothing that in any degree removes or corrects the causes that have made our present Torrens law a dead letter. On the contrary, the new law for no apparent reason contains provisions greatly facilitating the registration of state tax titles.

Second-The act provides that the registrar (county recorder) shall only be liable for gross or wilful negligence, neglect or mismanagement. No careful lender would risk losing his mortgage where the liability of the recorder is so slight. No valid reason for inserting such a provision can be conjectured, and its insertion will surely

tend to prevent the general use of the statute if amended.

Third-The statute provides that no evidence of title need be filed where the applicant swears that he has been in actual adverse possession of the land or any part thereof for more than five years. Accordingly a person occupying one parcel could describe as much other land (including his neighbor's lot) as he saw fit, and only by accident would the neighbor know of the proceeding. The court would be deprived of the evidence of title required to be furnished to the court under every other Torrens act in the United States, so that the court may know that all proper parties have been notified.

Fourth-The fees charged are made so low that it is an imposition on the general body of taxpayers. Seemingly as a means merely of making the law popular, the state undertakes to do the work for very much less than its actual cost. While favoring poor people, this would also greatly favor tax title speculators, who would probably be the greatest beneficiaries from the act.

Fifth-The statute contains no provisions for withdrawing the land from registration in case

the proceedings subsequent to the original registration become burdensome or the subsequent title be deemed dangerous and unmarketable because registered. In other words, the proceedings for original registration can not be enjoyed without subjecting the title to the provisions regarding registration as to subsequent transfers and incumbrances. And in view of the fact that while original registration is undoubtedly valid, subsequent registration is subject to so much doubt as to its validity, and if valid is accompanied by so many legal proceedings as to make it onerous, the benefit on the whole will be much less than the burden.

Sixth-In view of our complicated laws and many public offices, the purported revision is so superficially done and accomplishes so little as to make it almost useless so far as the general public, other than tax speculators, are concerned. Instead of facilitating the popularity of the Torrens or registration idea it would tend to still further delay the people in enjoying its benefits, for the reason that being so poorly and superficially revised, it is sure to fail in accomplishing any beneficial public purpose. CHAS. L. BATCHELLER.

LOS ANGELES STATE BUILDING BONDS.

Initiative act providing for the issuance and sale of state bonds in the sum of $1,250,000 to create a fund for the acquisition of a site in the city of Los Angeles, for the construction thereon of a state building and for equipment thereof to be used by the officers and departments of the state maintaining offices in said city, said bonds to bear interest at four per cent and to mature at different periods until July 2, 1965.

The electors of the State of California present to the secretary of state this initiative petition, asking that the proposed law hereafter set forth be submitted to the electors of the State of California at the next general election for their approval or rejection.

An act to provide for the selection, location, pur-
chase or acquisition of a site for a state
building in the city of Los Angeles; to
provide for the construction, equipment and
furnishing of a state building thereon, and
for the improvement of said site; to pre-
scribe the use or occupancy of said build-
ing; creating a commission to locate and
acquire said site and to construct said
building, with power to determine the re-
spective amounts to be paid for said site,
for the improvement thereof, for the con-
struction of said .building and for furnish-
ing or equipping the same; providing for
the issuance and sale of state bonds to be
known as "Los Angeles state building
bonds," to provide a fund therefor; estab-
lishing said fund, appropriating the pro-
ceeds thereof for said purpose and directing
the manner in which the same shall be
expended; creating a sinking fund for the
payment of said bonds and interest thereon;
making an appropriation therefor, defining
the duties of state officers in relation thereto,
and providing for the collection of revenue
for said purpose; making an appropriation
of two thousand five hundred dollars for the
expense of preparation of said bonds and
providing for the submission of this proposed
act directly to the electors as an initiative
measure at the next general election.
The people of the State of California do enact
as follows:

Section 1. For the purpose of creating and providing a fund for the payment of the indebtedness hereby authorized to be incurred as hereinafter provided, the state treasurer shall, immediately after the taking effect of this act, if the same be approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, as evidenced by the official declaration by the secretary of state showing the result of the election had thereon, prepare two thousand five hundred suitable

bonds of the State of California in the denomination of five hundred dollars each, to be numbered from one to twenty-five hundred inclusive and to bear date the second day of July, 1915; the total issue of said bonds shall not exceed the sum of one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars and said bonds shall bear interest at the rate of four per cent per annum from the date of issuance thereof, to be evidenced by coupons attached thereto, as hereinafter provided, and both principal and interest shall be payable in gold coin of the present standard of value at the office of the state treasurer upon the presentation and surrender for cancellation of said bonds and interest coupons, as they respectively become due and payable and at the times and in the manner following, to-wit: The first fifty of said bonds shall be due and payable on the second day of July, 1916, and fifty of said bonds in consecutive numerical order shall be due and payable on the second day of July in each and every year thereafter until and including the second day of July, 1965. The interest accruing on all of said bonds that shall be sold shall be due and payable at the office of the state treasurer on the second day of January and on the second day of July of each and every year after the sale of the same, until the maturity of said bonds, provided that the first payment of interest shall be made on the second day of January, 1916, on so many of said bonds as shall have been theretofore sold. Interest on all bonds issued and sold shall cease on the day of their maturity and the said bonds so issued and sold shall, on the day of their maturity, be paid as herein provided and cancelled by the state treasurer. All bonds remaining unsold shall, at the date of the maturity thereof, be by the state treasurer cancelled and destroyed. A permanent record shall be kept by the state treasurer of the payment and redemption of all such bonds sold and also of the destruction of any such unsold bonds. All bonds issued pursuant to the provisions of this act shall be signed by the governor of the state, countersigned by the state controller and

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