By the several Conventions made with the Chinese Government by Foreign powers, it has become necessary that the native title C a transfer, the tenant is, as a general rule, allowed to deal freely in the land held by him, security of title and facility for sale being thus united.
For this purpose, in addition to the land registers kept in the Yaméns, there is in each district petty officer appointed, whose duties, in addition to other more general matters, are to attend to all questions relating tothe ownership or the boundaries of labd, tion and limite of each property within his district.
The experience of foreigners proves that this registration system has worked well the Chinese. Few cases of disputed title have been known to arise; it being a matter of rare occurrence that any difficulty has appeared wher tle deeds were given authorities for investigation, and no claim for compensation having afterwards been ever advanced.
The title granted for foreign-1 property being thus at its first issue indefeasible, and a system of registration being enforced by the a aments made between the Chinese and ign Governments, as well as consonant ith the invariable practice of Chinese Jaw and custom, and its benefits, when properly carried out, being undeniable, it follows that it must be important for the interests of the large number of foreigners who now possess landed property in Chios, often of an ex. tremely valnabio nature, that the title should remain as clear and indisputable as when first ranted, Although the trial hae been made to effect this desirable end by means of the registers at the various Consulates, there are causes of error which, within the short period during which those registers have been kept, have already produced complications of a serious nature, and which at some future period ily, if not directly at least by plication, affect the market value of the les: to all foreign-owned property.
The first and principal defect to be noticed in the present system is, that there is an absolute want of definition of the properties registered. The locality where the land situated is in few i i ven are, in the gi majority of cases, utterly useless to determine it sition oF limits, The areas of the noted have been arrived at by m, and are seldom more than an approximation to the real contents, and in many cases cannot even be considered as that. No rule exists requiring a plan of the ground to be deposited, nor for comparing it with the actual property if deposited, uor is it the duty of any official to make himself acquainted with the locality, position, or cireumatances of the ground. ance to call for a practical remedy.
This want la of itself of sufficient import-
however, aggravated by the fact that all have the n deeds for all land, sought to be purchased by it books. Practically, Foreigners within the territories of the Em-imited to the four Consulates of error of China, should be examined by the 1, France, the United States, and linene authorities, who forthwith, should Russia, and of these, the French Consulate the documents prove to be in order, proceed contains few regi to'issue, through the means of the Foreign limits of the French Settlement, Of the Condulates, a new and indefeasibl other Consulates, there have b It is, however, one of the conditions under in the British, some 3,100 lots which the new title deed is issued, that sions of lots; in that of the United Star Rovernment, ahotid pay a certain manual purchaser, holding as tenant of the Imperial some 250; and in the Russian, about 25. ground rent; and that, to prevent any doubt unseiece of title from one re; been of frequent occurrence, and as no as to the ownership of such property, or am ial form is defined for their entry, it difficulty in the regular collection of suck becomes, in most instances, a task of great rent, a8 well as to entitle the owner to certain difficulty, in some a practical impossibility, Rite changes, transfer and charges should privileges and prevent certain abuses, all to trace the changes of particular properties. 0 first rey was instituted in the be noted, not only on the title deed itself, British Consulate in accordance with the but also be registered in the books of the Land Regulations of 1844. At its commence-Consulate which originally issued the deed. ment, the attempt was made to attach a distin-'The question of registration has, therefore, become a necessary condition where Foreigners Hhose portions of the area set apart for foreiga muishinglot number to each lotofground within desire to, posses a clear snd indefeasible title residence which it was thought would be occu-held within the Empire of China, pied by Foreignere within a reasonable period, Practice is, "moreover, in perfect After time, owing to the want of some accordance with that pursued in China from common system, this principle was given up, time immemorial, and which prevails in every and the lot number and the number in the portion of the Empire. register came to follow in an identical sequence, By El Jaw; every separate lot of depending merely on the time when the land ound is noted, ite value assessed, ite wan proposed for registration. In the British iidaries, area, and ¢wner, registered." All Consulate the lot number has, however, when these particulars serve to regulate the amount once affixed, been adhered to in all cases Imperial land-tax to be paid to the Gov-except when the title deeds have been acternment. Subject to the condition' of noting ually cancelled, and, in case of a division of letter attached. wins ginal lot number with a distinguishing, tien, the auh-lots are denoted by the
In the United States Consular register, on the other hand, no attempt has been made to affix any distinguishing mark to the lot reistered, the number of the title deed only ing noted. In many cases, lots thus registered have been divided, in others am mated, and in some boundaries have been altered and new deeds issued; in others new deeds have been isened for identical plots of ground to new proprietors. In these cases, the new titles contain no reference to the former lot number. The difficulty of searching the registry in thus greatly aggravated, and the chances of error increased to an alarming extent, This will be the mor: readily understood when it is stated that in the United States? books, and oven in the Land-list issued under authority of the Consul-General, lots are to be found which have been long since re-registered in other Consulates, or in some cases, in the books of the U. S, Con-slate itself, The register in the Russian Consulate has not as yet been made use of to such an extent as to affect seriously the general question. It, however, bears eds of the same confusion which has insensibly crept into the others, The ult from the above, is the best devised of the series, Even here, however, serious errors are to be found, In some cases, prope held under wrong tle deeds; in oth lo deeds have been up or cancelled under erroneous impression as to the locality; in none does an ination of the register afford an intel-clue to the position and limit of the property registered.
we instances, ch¢ at random, will afford an idea of the information to be collected from the Consular In the British Consulate, a property is noted as bounded on the "North, by a Road South, 2 Bank East, 4" Chin renters West, 4, " Road In that of the United States, another is thus defined:—" Boundaries, "North, by the land of English Merchants South, a public road East,' the land of British Merchants West, the land of jh Merchants,"
These instances are given as by no means the most unintelligible, and are only intended to shew the amount and nature of the information to be gained from an inspection of the Land Registers.
Up to the present time, the want of a better regulated system has not obtruded
e been made within the remembrance of if 80 covepiencusly, as most of the entries individuals still alive and resident in Shang-nly by such means
of the m of the proportion regi Mia it hae been possible to fix the locality There is still, however, a con ber of lots the locality of which cannot be ascertained, owing to the ownership having passed into the hands of Chinese; or from the late depression in value, combined with the absence of the proprietors from Shanghai, leaving the ownership unrepresented. There are many more, the localities of which are known, but the boundaries of which have never been defined.
In many of these oases the property is advancing in value; and disputes, after the death or departure of those few individuals who alone possess the necessary information, are inevitable, The evil to be avoided is not only one of the present, but is also one which future years will aggravate in a con: tinually increasing proportion, These, however, are not the only errors which the want of a uniform and properly devised system has permitted to creep into the peglet The Land Regulations of 1854 define the units beyond which property purchased by foreigners must be devoted to public purposes. In many cases, notwithstanding, title deeds have been since issued in contravention of these rules. Claims to foreshore have been made in respect of land registered since that date and situated within the limits of the jurisdiction of the Municipal Council. In some cases, land entirely composed of beach ground covered at every high tide, has been
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.