In treating of the operation of the law, it will be impossible to present more than a brief general view of the same, and while it might be interesting to make a comparative study of the methods and provisions of the system as practiced in Australia, England, Canada, Germany, Austria-Hungary, New Zealand and the several states of the Union now having registration acts, these observations will, in the main, relate more particularly to the practice in the State of Illinois.

To bring land within the provisions of the registration laws must, from the nature of the case, involve a private as well as a public duty. The land owner must make a request and signify his intention by filing a written application under oath, in a court designated for that purpose. The application is of the most simple form and usually includes the name, age, residence and domestic condition of the applicant; the description of the land and the nature of the estate or interest claimed; if the land is occupied by others than the applicant, then the names and addresses of such occupants and the nature of their interest or claim; a statement of the liens against the land and the names and addresses of the holders of such liens; the names and addresses of any other person, firm or corporation having or claiming any estate, interest or claim in law or equity and the character of such estate, interest or claim, and any other material facts connected with the land and of which the applicant has knowledge. This application is addressed to a court having chancery jurisdiction in the county where the land lies and power is given such court to inquire into the condition of the title, and to make all necessary orders, judgments and decrees, including the removal of clouds from the title, the establishing and declaring of the title or interest legal or equitable against all persons known or unknown, and to declare the order of preference of all liens and incumbrances. As soon as the application is filed, an order is entered referring the same to one of the examiners of titles appointed by the registrar. (In Illinois the law provides that the County Recorder shall ex-officio be the Registrar of titles.)

The examiner then proceeds to examine into the title and the truth of the facts recited in the application. The examiner is given full power to administer oaths and examine witnesses, and may apply to the court for directions in any matter concerning his investigation. After his examination, he reports to the court in writing the substance of the proof and his conclusions therefrom. The court may then, according to the nature of the case, do any one of three things, viz.: it may enter an order that the registrar issue a certificate of title to the applicant or to such other person as may be entitled to the same; it may reject the application in toto, or it may defer entering a decree until such future time as may be deemed according to justice in the case. Upon the entry by the court of a decree, it is the duty of the clerk of the court, to file with the registrar a certificate of the substance or effect of the same or a copy thereof. Following the receipt of the clerk's certificate or copy of decree, it becomes the duty of the registrar to register the title pursuant to such decree. This is done by issuing to the declared owner a certificate of title known as "First Certificate." Such certificate shall be under the official seal of the registrar, and besides being given a serial number, shall bear date the day and year issued. It shall state whether the owner (except in the case of a corporation) is married or not, and if married, the name of the husband or wife. If the owner is a minor, it shall state his age, or if under any other legal disability, the nature of the same. The certificate shall further show in such a manner as to preserve their priorities, the particulars of all estates, mortgages, incumbrances and charges to which the owner's title is subject. As an aid in circumventing fraud and to preserve evidence of the handwriting of the owner, it is the duty of the registrar to take from the owner in every case where it is practicable, a receipt for the certificate of title or whatever paper shall be issued to him signed by the owner in person.

After land has been registered, all future dealings in relation thereto are made by like forms of deeds, mortgages, loans or other instruments as were at the time of registration or subsequently deemed sufficient in law for the purpose intended It is, however, necessary that all such future dealings in order to have any force or effect whatever, must pass through the registrar's office and be properly noted on the memorial of 6uch registered land. Thus a registered owner, desiring to transfer his title, makes a deed to the purchaser in the usual form which is filed with the registrar. The owner also surrenders his certificate of title to the registrar. The certificate of the grantor is taken up and cancelled, and a new certificate issued to the grantee. The same force and effect is given to all subsequent certificates as to the "First Certificate," and each succeeding certificate issued, contains a statement of all liens, if any, and their order of priority.

When a registered owner desires to create a lien in the nature of a mortgage, he executes the instrument in the regular way and files same with the registrar who, in turn, notes upon the memorial of the particular land the facts concerning such lien, and no binding force or effect shall be given to such mortgage until the required notation is entered by the registrar. The rule that dealings affecting registered land have no force until noted by the registrar, is not confined to sales and mortgages, but extends to tax sale certificates, lis pendens notices, judgments, decrees, levies under attachment or execution writs, mechanics' liens and all other forms of liens statutory or otherwise.

While thus briefly presenting a view of the operation and effect of a Torrens title upon the owner, there remains yet another popular feature of the system in regard to the manner of its application to other parties interested in, or having dealings in relation to the same. Since to err is human, it could not well be presumed that in the operation of such a system it would be entirely free from errors, or that fraud would not occasionally attempt to circumvent its true purpose. The experience of all other systems has proven conclusively that these elements are always to be reckoned with, and that any new system which did not overcome these dangers, might prove no better than the old. In this respect, the wise provisions of the Torrens system have again demonstrated its utility. Indemnity for errors or fraud is variously provided for by requiring that the registrar, as well as each examiner of titles under him, shall execute to the people of the state their several bonds under such penalty as is deemed sufficient to meet any liability created by errors on their part. In addition to heavy penal bonds required, there is another provision requiring the establishment of an indemnity fund. This fund may be provided for in several ways. In some instances a small fraction (one-tenth of one per cent, in Illinois) of the value of the property is charged at the time the land is first brought under the act. In other cases a certain portion of the fees collected upon subsequent dealings is set aside. The indemnity fund might be created in other ways, but the two just noticed are perhaps the surest and simplest methods yet adopted. In this connection it might be well to state that in the category of so-called vulnerable points attacked by the opponents of Torrens legislation, there is, perhaps, no other feature at which have been aimed so many unfair, savage and almost cruel blows as this indemnity idea. The contention of the opponents is that the indemnity fund is too small, and in consequence it would be almost useless to bring valuable property under the provisions of the law.