§ MR. REMNANT (Finsbury, Holborn)I beg to ask Mr. Attorney General, whether the new system of compulsory registration of title under the Land Transfer Act, 1897, has been tried experimentally in certain portions of the county of London since the 1st January, 1899, and was fixed to extend on the 1st January, 1902, to the City of London; whether he is aware that complaints have been made that the system has added to the difficulty and expense of dealing with property; whether, at the request of the City of London, the application of the 533 system was postponed till 1st March, 1902; whether such postponement was for the purpose of holding the inquiry asked for; and, if so, what steps have been taken to hold such inquiry; and, if not, what was the object of postponing the application of the system to the City.
§ MR. ATHERLEY-JONES (Durham, N.W.)At the time may I ask Mr. Attorney General whether, in view of the attitude of the Corporation of London towards the application of the provisions of The Land Transfer Act, 1897, to the City of London, the Government will consider the advisability of appointing a Committee to consider the working of the Act in accordance with their intention previously expressed.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir ROBERT FINLAY,) Inverness BurghsI am informed that an inquiry has in fact been held, with the aid of an independent Committee, into the organisation and working of the Office of Land Registry, and that the result was entirely satisfactory. It is not, and never has been, the intention of the Government to hold such an inquiry as would re-open the question of principle settled after the most prolonged consideration by Parliament, and affirmed without a division by very general assent. But there is nothing in the Act making it otherwise than right that every consideration should be given to the views of the City of London, or of any county in England, as to the date at which the compulsory provisions should come into actual operation.