MYSTERY OF THE MILLWALL DOCK COMPANY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 76, 1 April 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

MYSTERY OF THE MILLWALL DOCK COMPANY.

.•f --00,000 TO BE ACCOUNTED FOR

The mysterious disappearance of Mr George Raymond Birt, the chairman and managing director of the Millwall Dock Company, following the startling discovery of a deficit of over £200,000 in the accounts of the company, caused a great sensation in London.

Mr Birt had been intimately associated with the Millwall Dock Company for over 40 years, and during the whole of that time he had seemingly devoted all his energies to the welfare of the business of the company. He was singularly well esteemed by the whole staff, and his sudden departure is spoken of regretfully by the officials of the company. His wife recently died, and his home in Compayne Gardens, West Hampstead, N.W., was controlled by one of his daughters.

The following' pathetic advertisement in the personal column of the 'Times' is said to have been inserted by his daughters, who are quite grief-stricken:—

'Darling Father, come home. Wo all love, respect, and believe in you as always. Nothing will alter our feelings.— Your loving daughter, Beatrice lv.'

A representative of the 'Daily Mail' had an interview with Mr W. H. Roberts, the deputy chairman of the company, and Mr H. T. Robinson, the secretary, at the company's office. Mr Robinson, when asked why it was thought tha^'Mr Birt had disappeared, made a most prompt and pointed reply.

'Simply,' he said, 'because Mr Birt went away last Thursday, and no one knows where he is. He was at the office yesterday week, and transacted his business as usual. On the following morning he left his home in West Hampstead. He took with him only a small handba-g, an d he told the people in the house that he was going to the office. He did not come here, and that is all, we know.'

'His family, then, do not know where he has gone?'—'No one knows. We have made inquiries at the house and at other places, but without finding the least trace of him.'

Later in the day the representative saw another official of the company, who desired not to have his name mentioned. 'You may take it for granted,' he said, 'that there will be a loss of about £200,000."

'That's an enormous sum to be overlooxed. Can you suggest how it was that nearly a quarter of a million of money was passed over?'

'The only thing! can suggest is this. The "outstandings" were kept down at the docks in charge of the superintendent of the docks. It would have taken months for the auditors to go through all those accounts—there are thousands of them—and so, after examining the books of the company, they accepted as true a statement of the outstanding charges which was certified by the managing director.'

'When the directors discovered that such a large sum was apparently due on outstanding accounts they ordered an- investigation to be made. The investigation never took place, because Mr Birt had gone.'

'How much money is it alleged that Mr Birt took?'—'l do not think he touched

a penny.'

'Then where did the £200,000 go to?'— 'Mostly into the shareholders' pockets. You see, Mr Birt falsified the accounts in order to keep up the payment of the divi.dends. He made it appear that the position of the company was far more solid than was actually the case, but I do not think that he embezzled a single penny. The examination of the accounts will, of course, decide that question, and until the auditors have concluded their work nothing more can be said.'

The Btory, as told by the officials of the Millwall Docks Company, is indeed a remarkable one; and the public, as well as the shareholders, will await with impatient interest the solution of the mystery.

Assuming the statement to be correct that the accounts were falsified in order to keep up the payment of the dividends, it seems passing strange that the auditors should have failed to detect the manipulation of so large a sum as £200,----000. it is true, an explanation is offered, but whether it is such as will satisfy the shareholders is another matter.

Another point to which attention is being directed is whether the missing chairman had anyone acting in concert with him. It was, indeed, a huge task for one man to undertake without assistance of any sort, and to accomplish successfully, deluding directors, auditors, and shareholders alike. And that he should have done it all not to put money into his own pockets, but into the pockets of the shareholders, only tends to make the mystery of the whole thing all the more mysterious.

It is suggested in another quarter that the motive for making the over-state-ment was the gain in commissions and managerial remuneration, which depended upon the amount of business shown to have been done and the profit shpwn to have been earned.