Volume Six - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Select Aspects - The Penarth Harbour, Dock & Railway Co. dispute with Messrs. Smith, Knight & Co. . .

After a delay an arbitrator was appointed - Mr. Allen - but he eventually withdrew, and another arbitrator - Mr. Macknamara - was appointed.

Then there was another difficulty and delay caused by the solicitors of Messrs Smith and Knight not being the solicitors to the assignees of the estate ; and a further delay was caused by the chief counsel for the assignees, Mr. Quinn, being made judge. After these delays the result of arbitration was not at all satisfactory to his mind. As a man of business and a man of the world, he considered it a most unfortunate thing that any one man should be placed in such a position that he was forced to go into arbitration, and more especially when one of the parties in the arbitration was a bankrupt (hear, hear).

The directors did all they could to bring this arbitration to a speedy termination ; their solicitors did all they could - Mr. Matthews, as they were aware, a most honourable-minded man, did all he could to bring the matter to a conclusion ; but difficulties were met on all sides. He should tell them, as he proceeded, that a sum of £5,000 which the solicitors of the assignees of Messrs Smith, Knight, and Co., paid into court, under an order of the court, towards defraying the Penarth Company's costs. That was now transferred, as they would see, and charged to the capital account. Against that there was a sum of £10,445 7s 6d, the balance of the solicitors' account for this arbitration.

There were all the solicitors' charges in the arbitration, and all the expenses as between their solicitors and those of Messrs Smith and Knight. In the capital account they would see the detail, and in the way pointed out by Mr. Watkins at the last meeting. The sum was a very large one, but he was happy to tell them that when this sum was considered large by the directors, their solicitors, Messrs Matthews and Gibbs, met in the most fair and honourable way the suggestions of the Board, and the sum of £1,500 was taken off their bill without demur. There is nothing now due to the solicitors on either side, and at last the arbitration was brought to a close.

They were aware that there were two parties who became sureties to the Company for the sum of £10,000 each for Messrs Smith, Knight and Co., for the performance of their contract, and they were also aware that a very large sum was owing to the bankrupt's estate. One of these parties soon afterwards became a bankrupt.