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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :---
TTIC.O. 882
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ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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"The above-mentioned moneys, shares, and per centage to be considered as in payment on the purchase of Mr. Wise's interest in the Charter, and for the grant to Mr. Wise for the said term of twenty years (out of thirty) as before mentioned, of his interest in the said agreement with the Crown, and of the said right of working coal on the mainland of Borneo.
"And (further), as a remuneration for his services and the premises already rendered, as before stated, Mr. Wise to receive (over and above the before- mentioned moneys, shares, and per centage) as his salary as one of the managing directors, 8001. per annum, and 27. 10s. per cent. on the amount of all dividends and of every bonus to be made by the Company, such per centage not exceeding in any one year, 10001; so that Mr. Wise's salary in the whole, over and above the first-mentioned moneys, shares, and per centage, shall not in any one year exceed 18001.'
"45. The prudence of the directors, so frequently boasted of by Mr. Lindsay, having been evinced in the above conditions, 1000 shares were asserted to be taken; 50,0001. at least,' assumed to be 'paid up; the deed of settlement was * duly pre- pared;' the Board of Trade satisfied of this fact ; the Company declared to be completed; and the partnership commenced business in due form.
"46. Such was the price paid by the five directors above named for the purchase of a public trust ; such the reckless extravagance which at the outset frustrated the intentions of Her Majesty's late Ministers, and ruined an otherwise promising under- taking.
"It is not to be supposed that these five gentle- men, accustomed to business, and aiming at the direction of a public company, could have been so negligent as to affix their signatures without being fully aware of the purport of the instrument which conveyed to Mr. Wise such enormous sums; and it must rest with every one to surmise whether they were actuated by a benevolent desire to advance the fortunes of their managing director at their own expense and at the expense of the share- holders, or whether they expected to participate in the profits of a scheme into which the public was to be led."