CONCERNING THE POWER OF THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL
TO INSTRUCT THE TREASURERS, EXAMINERS, REGISTERS
AND SURVEYORS, AND THE GENERAL DUTIES OF
THOSE OFFICERS.
AS the practice of the land office was understood to rest
in a great measure upon traditionary rules and usages, the
legislature in re-establishing it, could not frame or adopt
express regulations suited to all the cases that might arise: they
therefore directed many things to be done without prescribing
the exact manner of performing them: they spoke, for example,
of different kinds of warrants, without defining their
respective forms or properties, relying on the sufficiency of the
descriptive appellations given to them to point out to the proper
officers what was intended, and, in many other cases the
meaning of the laws could be ascertained only by reference
to the customary language and proceedings of the office.
Nevertheless, as traditionary laws or customs, interpreted
and applied without any check by ministerial officers, did not
promise every thing that was to be desired in a business of
such importance as that of the land office, it was thought
proper to lodge a power somewhere of remedying the
uncertainty or the injudiciousness of those customary laws, by
ordaining positive regulations where they should appear to be
wanting; and in imitation of the former system, this authority
was given to the governor and council, as has been before
mentioned, by the 6th section of the act of 1781, opening
the land office, by which they were empowered to " make and
" establish rules and orders" for the direction of the
treasurers, the examiner general (there being then but one) the
registers, and the surveyors. In regard to the treasurers the
business which these instructions were to regulate was
specified; being that of issuing their titlings or orders for warrants:
