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interest; the dividends from such investment to be paid to the present possessor during his life.

5th. That no difficulties respecting title should be allowed to interfere with the proposed right to purchase; but that in such cases the money should be lodged in court for seven years, and invested in the public funds; the party previously in possession receiving the interest on such investment during the seven years, and being entitled to receive the amount itself on the expiration of that period, unless his right thereto should have been questioned during the said term; the lapse of time, if no question arose, being deemed a sufficient proof of title.*

6th. That if any tax be retained on transfers of property, it should be a small per centage on the purchase money, in order that no obstacle should be raised to the sale of property in small lots.

7th. That all future settlements should be settlements of property on the persons, not a tying up of the land. The trustees to be always empowered to sell the property or any part of it, and to grant leases ; in short, to exercise the full rights of ownership. The proceeds of such sales to be subject to the original trust, and again invested in the funds, or in other land.

See note to page 264.

8th. That legal powers should be given for the sale of land now under entail, if the present possessor find it advantageous to do so; care being taken to protect any one having a reversionary interest, as proposed in the 4th suggestion.

9th. That a District Registrar of land should be appointed for every barony, a County Registrar for every county, and a General Registrar for Ireland, (to have his office in Dublin,) and that the present holders of land or house property in fee* should be entitled to register their freeholds in triplicate, in suitable books of registry; the various properties being marked out on maps of the Ordnance Survey, and the registers having distinct reference to the maps.

10th. That such registry, if unquestioned for seven years, should be full and complete proof of title for ever afterwards.

11th. That all mortgagees should be entitled to have their mortgages registered in triplicate, in

It is highly desirable that all deeds of transfer, and other deeds affecting landed property, should be registered; but the object of these suggestions is not so much to recommend a general plan of registration of deeds, as to suggest a new mode of tenure for land held in feenamely, by entry in the national registers. There are many difficulties which at once present themselves in considering this plan, and possibly they may be insuperable; but if these could be overcome, and this mode of registration were brought into operation, very great facilities would be afforded for the examination of titles, and the expenses of transfer might be reduced almost as low as those of transfers of Government stock.

such books of registry; which registry should then become legal proof of the mortgage debt, and without which no mortgagee should be entitled to enforce his claim against the property.

12th. That all circumstances as to settlement or entail, in any way affecting the rights of the possessor of the property, should for the future be duly registered, to render them binding in law ; the registry to be legal proof of the settlement, &c. 13th. That any judgment or mortgage, now existing against any landed or house property in fee, which should not be registered within the seven years next ensuing, should become absolutely null and void, and should no longer be a lien on the property.

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14th. That all future transfers of property held in fee, all mortgages thereon, and all settlements and encumbrances of every kind, should be effected by an entry in the books of registry, with references to the Ordnance Maps corresponding therewith; the registry to be made in triplicate, on the lodgment of certificates duly signed and witnessed, in a manner somewhat similar to the mode of transferring stock at the Bank of Ireland; such entries of transfer, of mortgage, or of settlement being made in triplicate, in the baronial, county, and

• See note to page 264,

general registers, and each of them becoming full legal proof of title.

15th. That all persons should have a right to inspect such books of registry, and to take extracts therefrom, on payment of a small fee.

After attempting to show, that so many plans proposed by others are inapplicable or insufficient, as remedies for the complicated evils of Ireland, it may appear presumptuous in the writer, to imagine that he can suggest any thing better; yet he has been emboldened to offer his ideas to the public, by the very difficulties of our position, which, requiring prompt and searching measures of relief, imperatively call upon all, who desire the welfare of their country, to do what in them lies to assist her. The suggestions which he has ventured to propose, will probably appear to some crude and impracticable; while others may even consider them as revolutionary, and dangerous to the property and institutions of the country. Such is very far from his intention; but the consideration of the subject has been forced on his mind by the fearful aspect of the present times. The intention of the present suggestions is, to give certainty to title; to facilitate transfers of property; to reduce the expenses of conveyancing to the lowest practicable point; to extend the market for land. If these objects can

be obtained, the effect, so far from injuring the owners of land, would be greatly to increase the value of their property. It is the facility of sale and transfer, the certainty of a ready market, the great number of persons interested in them, which maintain the price of the public funds at so high a rate, and which enable the holder at any time to sell them for the full value. Surely the same results would also be obtained in the case of land.

To deal with so difficult and complicated a subject needs extreme caution. The consideration of the question requires, to do it full justice, the most expansive grasp of mind, joined to the most intimate knowledge of legal forms. The writer can make no pretensions to such qualifications: he has thought on it as a merchant, not as a lawyer. Believing that this most important question must shortly obtain a large portion of public attention, he has ventured thus to obtrude his thoughts on the public, indulging the hope of impressing his convictions upon others. If the endeavour be unsuccessful, let the failure be attributed not to the principles themselves, but to the incompetency of their advocate.

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