rent of 201. a year, you would have warranted subject to that chief rent."

"873. Mr. Solicitor-General.] You mean by warranted, that the guarantee shall be secure of the ownership of the land, not that he shall have a claim on the fund which is to be the insurance fund of the title?—No, he shall be warranted the possession of the land. The registrar, representing the nation, should pay any person whose interest had not been compensated for, full compensation, when he made out his claim.

"874. Then adverse claims of ownership are to be compensated out of that fund, but the property specifically is to go in conformity with the warranty?—Yes."

But perhaps Mr. Coulson's opinion on the subject is of the greatest value. He was, as our readers well know, one of the former Real Property Commissioners; and the whole subject was brought before that Commission by Mr. James Stewart, but the Commissioners expressed no opinion respecting it. Mr. Coulson, however, we presume, was of opinion that it might have been adopted with advantage, and he goes further than Mr. Bullar, because with his well known candour he says, insurance is applicable not merely to the scheme before the Committee, but to the existing practice of dealing with titles.

“995. Mr. Bullar stated yesterday in his evidence, that he thought this system, to be really valuable, should proceed to the warranty of title; now, you have not said anything on that point. That brings us to the exact point where you left off in your last answer; now, what do you think about the suggestion as to the warranty of title?-I think the warranty of title would be, in some cases, valuable; I do not at present see why, as far as it is valuable, it should be confined to this case of registered ownership; it is only to give some premium to register ownership.

"996. Mr. Walpole.] To induce parties to come in ?—Yes; * I see no reason for mixing up the warranty with the consideration of the registered title. If persons are desirous of having their estates warranted, it may be a very good thing.

"997. It will give great facility for the sale of property in the course of time?—At present it would give very great facility undoubtedly. There is very great difficulty in working out any scheme of warranty, because as it stands the warranty of course must be subject to a great number of those circumstances which

occasion litigation really on the sale of estates. A very large proportion of the litigation on the sale of estates does not arise from what may be called properly title. There are possessory rights; no warranty would ever extend to the possessory rights, and rights of way, and the like, which form a very considerable portion of the causes of litigation; but still warranty no doubt would be of great importance for facilitating the sale of estates.

-

"998. Chairman.] But you say that the warranty might apply to all estates; how can you obtain warranty without some machinery for granting this warranty? You must have an ascertainment of the thing granted; the warranty would amount to this: it would be like a sale, or something better than a sale at present, under the Encumbered Estates Commission in Ireland.

It seems

"999. Mr. Walpole.] It would be very similar?—Very much the same thing; you must ascertain the subject-matter. to me one of the great defects throughout this plan, that it has not proceeded on any machinery for the ascertainment of the subject-matter."

And no doubt, as Mr. Coulson says, and we suppose all will admit, some machinery would be essential for carrying through any plan for the Insurance of Titles, and here Mr. Vincent Scully's Land Tribunal would come into use.

We venture, then, to call the special attention of the new Commission to the subject of Insurance of Titles, or, as it has been recently called, Warranty of Titles, as we believe that the right and complete settlement of the question of a Registration of Titles in England depends mainly on a full development of this principle. We are gratified to find that, since it was first brought forward in these pages by a reprint of the Report of the Law Amendment Society, it has gradually gained ground, and may now be considered to be a recognised mode of dealing with the subject before the Committee. We are satisfied that the more it is investigated the more complete will be its triumph. We observe that Mr. Browne has made it the subject of a pamphlet, but this does not appear to have added anything new to the discussion of the principle, except, that he says that Lord St. Leonards (he does not mention on what occasion) recently stated in the House of Lords, that if

17 L.R. 154.

the usual examination of titles had taken place, and the title was approved, he would warrant the title for five shillings. All, then, that can now be done appears to us to be: 1. Registration of Ownership.

2. Insuring of Past Titles by the State.

These would require a strong Government to carry, and the Law officers of the Government to be in earnest; but, if properly worked and developed, these two principles would set free nine-tenths of the whole land of the country, and to this extent effect its cheap and easy transfer.

ART. XII.-BANKRUPTCY COMMISSION.

ONE of the Chancellor's Commissions has resulted in a very practical Report. It is of so much importance to the commercial public, as well as to the law reformer, and contains so many points of great interest, that we have thought it expedient to give a very full abstract of its contents. The instalment of reform recommended by the Commissioners is very large. It being well and clearly worked out, the Chancellor will probably be enabled to realise it in the course of the present Session. The Commission has certainly not been wanting in activity, nor, as we think, in practical wisdom.

The Report, after reciting the Commission, and stating the mode and extent of the investigation which the Commissioners conducted, treats of the several topics of inquiry suggested by the Commission, arranged under the following heads, which are expressed in the language of that instru

ment:

1st. The cause of the diminution of the fees and funds now by law applicable to the payment of the expenses of the Court of Bankruptcy.

2ndly. Since it appears that these funds are insufficient to discharge the expenses, whether such deficiency is likely to be permanent.

3rdly. Having regard to the quantity of business trans

acted by the Courts of Bankruptcy, whether any and what reduction of the establishments of those Courts, either in London or the country, can safely and properly be made, or whether any and what other measures can be adopted for meeting their expenses.

4thly. Whether any and what more effectual means can be adopted for obtaining a more efficient check on the accounts of the official assignees, and for preventing the misapplication by them of the funds coming to their hands.

5thly. Whether the alteration of the Bankrupt Law made by the Act of 1849, establishing class certificates, has or has not been productive of benefit.

6thly. Whether, with the view of obtaining uniformity of practice as to the granting of such certificates, or for any other reason, any and what alteration of the present enactment would be desirable; and

7thly. Whether in any and what other particulars the Bankrupt Law, as it now exists under the Act of 1849, requires amendment.

Taking these subjects in order, the Report sets forth a tabular statement of the surplus and deficit of the revenue of the Court, year by year, in two periods, the first from the establishment of the country District Courts in 1842 to the Act of 1849, and the second during the operation of that Act.

In the former period the revenue, though fluctuating, yet on the whole produced a surplus of 11,000l.; but since the Act of 1849 there has been a continuous deficiency, amounting in 1853 to 18,142l. 8s. 2d., and in the four years to 51,7067. 2s. 5d.

After explaining the present financial position of the Court, it proceeds to treat of the causes of the deficiency of the revenue under the Act of 1849, namely, the alteration thereby made in the mode of raising the revenue by the introduction of a system of per-centages on assets (afterwards particularly adverted to), and the diminution of the business of the Court.

In the four years immediately preceding the Act of 1849 there was issued 6863 fiats, or, on an average, 1715 yearly;

while in the last four years the petitions have been only 3678, or, on an average, 919 yearly. In the latter case, however, the petitions for " Arrangement under the control of the Court," are to be taken into account, of which there were 237, or, on an average, 61 yearly.

The causes of this diminution of business are then considered, and are stated to be, according to the evidence, as follows:

1st. The general prosperity of trade and commerce which has recently prevailed.

2ndly. A better and more prudent system of trading among the smaller traders, which some witnesses attribute partly to the stricter provisions of the Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act, and partly to the operation of the County Courts, in shortening the terms of credit, and facilitating the recovery of debts.

3rdly. The effect of the proviso in the ninety-third section of the Consolidation Act, which precludes a trader from obtaining adjudication of bankruptcy against himself, unless he can show that his available estate is sufficient to pay his creditors at least 5s. in the pound clear of all charges.

4thly. The great expensiveness of the system in the fees and per-centages charged against the estate, which induces all parties to prefer a settlement out of Court by composition or other arrangement, especially as greater validity has been given to such settlements by the recent statute.

5thly. The severity of the penal clauses, which drives many debtors to make such settlements with the assistance of friends, and disinclines many creditors from proceeding in bankruptcy; and

6thly. An unwillingness on the part of creditors to encounter the publicity and formality of proceeding, which operate, to a certain extent, as a partial exposure of their own affairs, and also as an impediment to the adjustment of the claims of themselves and others in the way which they conceive to be most conducive to their own interests.

The last four causes are then examined in detail, the first two being passed over with the observation that the contemporaneous diminution in the number of arrangements out