25
be excessive.
The rental disposed of
is stated by Sir H. Pottinger
at £15,000 per annum, and the two first of the above fees, constituting a charge of 15 per cent, it
would follow, assuming Sir H. Pottinger's calculation to be correct, that the
public must have been
called upon to pay £2,250
to the Land Office for fees
upon transactions not very
numerous in themselves,
and which so
exactly
resembled each other as
to entail no additional
exertion
or responsibility.
I am of opinion that
the principle of an
ad valorem fee should be
abandoned, and
that the Attorney General should
be called upon to prepare
a standing form to be
in future used in such
transactions - and that
having received from
the
Lord
a suitable
remuneration for his trouble
in preparing that form, no
further charge should be
made against the public
on this account. For
affixing the public seal and for registering transfers,
mortgages, moderate and certain Fees should
be...