Greens Land Paper, Volume I, Number 17, 15 May 1872 — NOTARIES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTSEVERY BUYER IN DANGER. [ARTICLE]

NOTARIES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS—EVERY BUYER IN DANGER.

WILLIAM JONES or John Smith can go before a Notary Public with a deed in his hand, which he has signed, and, although the notary never saw him before, and knows nothing whatever about the truth or falsity of his representations as to who he is, he (the notary) will receive his acknowledgment of signature and will attach his official certificate to the deed, in which the following words occur; “On “ this day, before me, a notary public in and for “ said city and county, * • * personally ap- “ peared the within-named John Smith, whose name “is subscribed to the annexed deed • • • per- “ sonally known to me to be the person described in “* « * the said deed" etc. Notaries thus officially certify to the identity of persons of whom they know nothing whatever, beyond the party’s own representations, Two persons (one in February last, at Oakland, and one in March, at Sacramento) went before a notary and fraudulently personated another man, whose lots here they made a pretended sale of, attaching his name to the deeds. In each case, the notary certified that they were the persons they represented themselves tö be. Each of these notaries is now in the unpleasant fix of havihg been a party to a swindle, through not having taken the trouble to have the signers satisfactorily identified. We have often warned notaries of the risk they run in such cases, and of the frauds that are made possible through their negligence. Banks will not cash a check or draft for a stranger until he identifies himself to their satisfaction, and it is even more incumbent on notaries to adopt like precautions in the signing of important documents. If the notaries still refuse to do their duty in this matter, each buyer of property should do it for himself. If the seller is a stranger, the buyer should not pay his money over or accept the deed until he has satisfied himself that the seller is in reality the person he represents himself to be. Neglect of this precaution may, at some future time, bring out the unpleasant fact that the money was paid to a swindler, who falsely personated the real owner, giving a deed that conveyed no title whatever.— S. F. Real Estate Circular. Agriculture the Basis.—An English writer says that agriculture is the immediate source of human provision ; that trade conduces to the production of provision only as it supports agriculture ; that the whole system of commerce, vast and various as it is, has no public importance, save its subserviency to that end. It has a peculiar significance in a country like this, where agriculture is, and always will be, of prime importance.