requisition has sometimes been neglected. This has occasioned considerable litigation, all which might have been avoided by the simple provision, that whatever would suffice to pass the title in the contemplation of the courts of chancery should suffice at law. The forms of acknowledgments of married women have often likewise been defective; but all difficulty on this subject might have been avoided by omitting to require any specific form of certificate, and by a law authorising the presumption that the justice or notary had performed his duty.

A few reforms have lately been made in conveyancing in England, but the system still remains as above stated. Within the last few years, the lease for a year to precede the actual conveyance has been dispensed with, but the stamp has been retained. It is no longer necessary to get an assignment of outstanding terms attending the inheritance, and fines and recoveries have been abolished.

V.

All proceedings relating to the sale, mortgage, partition, or other disposition of land, are simple and inexpensive under the American system. A voluntary partition of land owned by two or more in common is effected in Ohio at the expense of 5s. A compulsory partition, costing about £5, is effected as follows:—A petition, on half a sheet of foolscap, is presented to the court of common pleas: three freeholders are appointed to make the division, and the proceedings are recorded. If no division is practicable, the property is appraised. Any one of the parties interested may elect to take the property at the appraised value. If no such election is made, a public sale takes place. The sheriff conducts the sale, and makes the deed to the purchaser; but, before doing so, reports his proceedings to the court, where any party interested may raise objections, and a new sale may be ordered for good reasons. The proceedings occupy about three months. In this way, the interests of minors, idiots, and lunatics are sufficiently protected, and at the same time prevented from injuriously interfering with the rights of the other owners, and property is not locked up and kept out of the market. Guardians for minors are empowered, by order of the court, to be obtained, on a proper showing, to sell the lands of their wards. Executors and administrators may obtain orders in like manner to sell land for the payment of debts or legacies, which are the first charges upon it. All these proceedings are simple, brief, and inexpensive. Contrast them with English law and practice. The compulsory partition of land is so expensive in England that it is very seldom resorted to. Where minors are interested, the property is practicably unsaleable, and the adult owners must wait till their co-tenants' majority. The lands of minors can seldom be sold for their benefit, and where any judicial proceeding are necessary for that purpose, the costs are ruinous, unless the

property is very large. A chancery suit, to subject lands to the payment of debts, can only be resorted to in certain cases, and then the expenses are overwhelming. It would not be easy to overrate the importance of the advantages possessed by the Americans in these respects. It is their policy to facilitate the transfer of land on all occasions in every possible way, and to simplify the instrument of transfer: the consequence is, that there is a vast body of freeholders.

In England, on the contrary, the legislature has never had such an object in view, but has constantly inclined to the preservation of the present system, as part of a glorious whole, the ultimate result of which is the monopoly of the land by a privileged few. The more we examine this subject the plainer will it appear that the difference in the social condition of the American and English people is chiefly caused by the difference between their laws and political institutions.

A great clamour was raised when, a few years ago, Mr. W. Brougham proposed a registry of deeds; the landowners objected to the publicity, and the lawyers instinctively dreaded the innovation. Mr. Brougham's scheme was quite unlike the American system, and very inferior to it. There should be a registry-office in every important district, so that no one should have far to travel, nor be embarrassed by having to examine a great multiplicity of entries. No general registry for the kingdom should be attempted: it would be worse than useless. The experience of the Americans has settled the whole question, and we should import their system of registry and acknowledgment of deeds, as well as the principal features of their judiciary system, at once. The social consequences of so doing would be felt immediately in England, especially if the stamp duties on conveyances, mortgages, and leases were repealed. The title up to the last recorded deed having been examined in the course of previous transactions, a purchaser or mortgagee would, in ordinary cases, merely look at that record, and would himself prepare a simple and direct conveyance, without the present usual string of recitals and covenants. A printed form would suffice, and there would be no difficulty in the transfer of titles of married women. The expense of an ordinary conveyance would be under ten shillings.

VI.

In America the labourer or mechanic can, with great ease, become the owner of a house and lot, although the price of the property may be as high as in England. He makes the purchase without the intervention of a lawyer, pays down say one-tenth part of the purchase-money, and executes a mortgage for the balance, payable in perhaps from three to eight annual instalments. He may thus become the owner in a few years, by paying a little more annually than he would pay as a tenant

for rent. If he fails to make a payment, according to the terms of the mortgage, the mortgagee may foreclose and sell, but the expenses are insignificant; and in most of the States the mortgagor is protected from sacrifice by judicious regulations, providing for an appraisement, and public sale of the property, after due notice, and forbidding a sale at less than two-thirds of the appraised value.

In England, if the mechanic desires to purchase a dwelling-house, there are various difficulties in his way: the expense of the conveyance and of a mortgage to secure a portion of the purchase-money, may be estimated at £30 or £40, and he cannot transfer his interest to another person without great expense. If a foreclosure is resorted to, the costs will entirely eat up the property. In this state of things it has been im possible for the practice of purchasing small properties on credit to become common; the cost of a few transfers would soon exceed the entire value of a small tenement or lot of land. Whenever, then, a man is willing to encounter the expense of a transfer, and seeks for a small piece of property, he soon discovers that he is asking for a thing which not being in common demand can hardly be found at all. The owner of a row of small cottages never thinks of selling one of them singly; and if the purchase of one of them is sought for, the purchaser must be content to dispense with an examination of the title, and must, in addition to enormous law charges, pay a fancy price, as all people must do who wish to purchase that which is not offered for sale.

The desire to own land is a strong natural desire, which is gratified in America and suppressed in England. If the English mechanic could, like the American, purchase his dwelling-house, he would soon acquire provident habits; the anxiety to own the dwelling occupied by him would lead to economy, care, and industry, and the ownership of land would elevate his character. Political equality, a good system of education, and the introduction of the American system of conveying land, would in the course of a few years effect a complete reform in the character of the English nation. But many other important measures may be added to those just named.

One of the consequences of an inexpensive system of conveying and mortgaging land would be the discontinuance of the grants of building leases for ninety-nine years, or other long terms, not renewable. These leases are now preferred to purchases of the land, because the builder has not sufficient capital to pay the purchase-money, and the beneficial system of purchasing on credit, and giving a mortgage for part of the money, is, owing to the expensiveness of conveyancing, almost unknown. There are no such leases in America, and yet the price of buildingground in cities and large towns is higher than in England. In Cincinnati, the largest city of Ohio, land in the principal streets is worth from £100 to £200 per foot front, running back 100 feet. In this city

D

of 100,000 inhabitants, 2,000 houses will be built this year; three-fourths of which will be built by the owners of the lots, principally mechanics. In America, a mortgage is given for the principal part of the purchasemoney, to be paid by five or ten yearly instalments. The seller of the land is assured the payment of the purchase-money, because the erection of buildings upon the land sold will greatly enhance the security. So, under a similar system of conveyancing in England, the obnoxious leasehold tenure would be superseded by freehold titles. The builder would purchase the land, and give a mortgage for the whole, or greater part, of the purchase-money, payable with interest, in ten or fifteen years, by instalments. The leasehold tenure is very obnoxious, the covenants in the leases with respect to repairs, insurance, and other matters are rigid, and there is always a liability to forfeit the lease. The creation of long leases with these conditions ought to be prohibited altogether:

The adoption of the American system of land titles and conveyancing would lead to the discontinuance of building societies on their present basis, because those persons desirous of purchasing houses could readily obtain credit from the vendor for the greater part of the purchase-money, securing him by a mortgage, according to the American custom. But the greatest result of all would be the division of great estates, and the establishment of small farms. To effect this consummation so devoutly to be wished, the aristocracy must be prevented from enjoying the spoils of government and monopolising the various offices; the necessities of their families will then force them to sell large tracts of land, and these will be sold in small parcels, if the expense of conveyancing be reduced to a mere nothing. Better prices will be realised by selling in small rather than large parcels, under such circumstances.

These changes can only be effected through parliamentary reform. Until that is obtained, the aristocracy will quarter their sons and relatives on the public, and retain their vast estates entire. The utmost resistance would be offered by any house of commons elected under the present system to the abolition of entails, and to the introduction of a complete registry of deeds, without which there can be no cheap conveyancing. Until such a registry is established, the examination of titles must remain as at present; long recitals of the chain of title, and prolix covenants for title, and for the production of title deeds, will continue to be used.

Some law reformers have suggested that short forms of conveyances should be given by act of parliament. In our opinion, but little practical benefit can be obtained in this way; but, if a proper registry of deeds be introduced, the American form of a conveyance, which is founded upon the English law, will soon be in common use, unless a shorter and better form is given by the legislature.

CHAPTER V.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IN AMERICA AND ENGLAND COMPARED.

I. General character of the Administration of Justice in America--Civil Actions in England-English Law Courts-Appeals in Criminal Cases-Courts of Quarter Sessions-All aristocrats are Judges-Their character and conduct -The English Criminal Code-The Game Laws, how enforced.

II. Small Debts, how recovered until lately-The New County Courts compared with American Inferior Courts-English and American Chancery Courts compared-English Ecclesiastical Courts-Divorces, how obtained in England and America.

III. Administration of Justice in Criminal Cases in America-Public Prosecutors -Convictions for Petty Offences in England; Rigour of the Law; Heavy Costs-Treatment of Prisoners in America and England-Effects of the system of administering Justice upon the character of the people-Defects in the American Judiciary Systems.

IV. Proposed Judiciary System for England.

V. Codification-Social results of Law Reform-The Offices attached to the English Courts.

VI. American Law of Debtor and Creditor; Property exempted from ExecutionPractical Exemption of Land from Execution in England-Distraints for Rent.

I.

In America the courts are accessible to all, and the costs are inconsiderable. There are, it is true, many defects in the judiciary systems of some of the States, whereby unnecessary delay is occasioned; but in none of the States is there such a deplorably defective system as that of England. We have already explained at some length the judiciary systems of the States and of the Union, and must here refer the reader to that explanation.

In England, in civil cases, where the debt or demand exceeds £20, an action is brought in one of the three courts at Westminster-the queen's bench, common pleas, and exchequer; and that though the cause of action may have arisen, and both parties reside, hundreds of miles off. The expenses are enormous and overwhelming, and people forego their rights rather than resort to their nominal remedy. The writ is issued from one of these courts, all the pleadings are there, but the trial usually takes place in the county where the cause of action arises. The costs of an action for £25, even if tried in the simplest form, without any delay, will be double that amount.

There are five judges of each court, and two of them sit in each county twice or oftener per year; the one to try the criminals committed for