Telephone
No. 8 Colwall UPPER WYCHE,
MALVERN.
9th. June 1910.
Dear Mrs. Smyth,
I have now had the opportunity of looking
into the matter of the land.
First of all it seems to me that with Mr. Albert Baldwin
and Mr. G. Lemle on the spot you should be in quite good
hands, and my first suggestion as to approaching a London
lawyer offers many difficulties, and on the whole is
undesirable.
As I understand it the specific charges upon the property
are as follows : -
Byrnes and McCann, heirs, œ6,400
Late lawyer's fees as agreed, 1,000
Dr. Smyth, 200
-----
making a total of œ7,600
Now I think you ought to be perfectly clear that this is
a definite charge and what Interest is chargeable on it
and also what length of notice has already been given
you as to repayment of this total sum then it is important
that you should at once ascertain when such notice expires.
I think I am clear that any sum in excess of œ7,600
which may be obtained is to be divided into thirds,
one-third is to go to your present lawyers, Mr. Lemle
and the Messrs. Wall and Armstrong, the remaining
two-thirds to come to you, and I note that on a sale
basis of œ10,000 the lawyers one-third share would be
œ800, leaving a balance to come to you of œ1,600. Now
what you want to be quite clear about first of all is
your position with regard to the charges upon the
property, that is to say, whether you have an indefinite
period before you are called upon to pay this back.
If so it obviously gives you time to think the matter
out carefully, but will you now consider in your own
mind the advantages, if any, contained in the following
queries : -
(1) Would the present lawyers accept the sum of œ800
now in full discharge of all claims in respect of their
services, and if so is there any possibility - having
regard to the fact of the present value of the property
not being less than œ10,000, - of raising this sum and
making a Consolidated Mortgage of œ8,400.
(2) Again would it be possible to sell off a portion
of the whole, say the fifteen squares that are situated
on high ground, and to which Mr. Lemle refers in his
letter of 3rd December last? If you could, by this
sale, realise a sum of between œ9,000 and œ10,000
you would be able to square off everybody, and the
residue of the property would be absolutely
unencumbered and might await development.
(3) Again assuming No.2 not to be feasible would
it be well to write in reply to your present offer
of œ10,000 that you refuse this offer, but give them
to understand that a firm offer of œ20,000 might
be favourably considered.
(4) Would it not be wise to ascertain if the publicity
consequent on an Auction would be desirable, and if
so you ought to be clear as to what terms could be
made with the Auctioneers as to payment in the event
of no sale.
(5) Again if it is found impossible to arrange with the
lawyers on the basis suggested in Query No.1 would
it be possible to get them to agree that their one-third
share shall not be in excess of œ1,000. If there is
any possibility of obtaining œ20,000 for the property
it is obviously to your advantage to endeavour to
arrange something on these lines, otherwise on a
œ20,000 sale the share of these gentlemen will be
some œ4,000.
I hope the foregoing may be of some assistance to you.
For the present I will retain the letter from Mr. Lemle
dated the 3rd of December, 1909, and the letter from Mr.
Baldwin dated the 10th of May, 1910. If you require
these you have only to say so and I will send them to
you at once. I also retain the two plans of New
Orleans, which you gave me.
Yours Sincerely
[C. Young?]
P.S.
Let me know how you get on and with kind thoughts
to you both.
[C.Y.?]
