Second Shetland Truck System Report

Part I Would Not Care Although We Were Not Paid Until the Same

time when we are paid at present. If it were paid weekly, I don't know how that system might work.

5824. Do you think that all the fishermen would like to have a price fixed in the beginning of the season?-I cannot say that the whole would like to have it, but for my own part I should like it and I know there are others besides me.

5825. Do you think there would be no difficulty in getting credit from the fish-curer in the same way as at present, if there was a fixed price?-No; the time for fixing the price might be the only thing that would be altered, and the settlement would still remain in November. We would then have a fixed price, and would know what we were working for.

5826. You have no objection to the system of advances?-I cannot say that I have.

5827. Are you quite at liberty to engage with any fish-curer you please, and to engage to fish for him through the season?-Yes.

5828. Has every fisherman the same liberty?-Every one, so far as I know, in this place.

5829. Even although he is in debt to the fish-curer?-No; in that case the fish-curer expects him to fish for him until his debt is paid. That is generally looked for, and in some instances I know that they had to agree to do it.

5830. Do you know that they wished to fish for another curer, but that they were obliged to fish to the man to whom they were in debt?-They did not wish to fish to another curer, but that fish-curer wished them to sign an agreement to fish to him for the rising season.

5831. Did they agree to do that?-Yes. They did not say anything about leaving the fish-curer, but only he wished them to agree.

5832. At what time of the year was that?-I have seen it done in the month of November, and also in December.

5833. Did the fish-curer ask them to do that at a time when they were wanting further advances of goods or money?-Yes, advances of money.

5834. And it was in order that he might have some security for these advances that he asked them to sign the agreement?-Yes.

5835. Is that a common thing?-I cannot say it is a common thing in my experience, but I have known it done in two or three different cases.

5836. Where was that?-At Hillswick.

5837. Have you known it done anywhere else?-No.

5838. Who were the men with whom it was done?-One man who told me twice over about it was Hugh Phillip; it happened with him in two different years.

5839. Has it happened with anybody else to your knowledge?- No.

5840. Was it not quite fair that a man should be expected to work for the curer until his debt was paid?-Yes.

5841. How does a man get into such an amount of debt as that? Is it from dealing with the shop?-I cannot say that the shop accounts are the cause of it, but it may arise from the circumstances of his family. The fishing here is the only thing a man has to depend upon, and sometimes, when it turns out bad year, he perhaps has taken a greater amount of supply from the shop for his family than usual.

5842. Was Phillip's account for shop goods?-It was for an advance of rent.

5843. That was what he was taking the money for but was he in debt before for shop goods?-Yes.

Brae, January 10, 1872, WILLIAM GREEN, examined.

5844. You live at Sullem?-Yes.

5845. Are you a boat-skipper?-Yes.

5846. Where do you fish?-At Stenness.

5847. To whom do you deliver your fish?-To Mr. Adie.

5848. Have you done that long?-For six years.

5849. Do you settle with him at the end of the season?-Yes.

5850. Did you hear Mr Adie's evidence to-day?-I did.

5851. Did it give a fair account of the way in which the settlement is made?-Yes.

5852. Are you one of the men who generally have a balance in your favour at the end of the year?-Yes.

5853. Would it be an advantage to you to have a shorter settlement?-I don't think so.

5854. Why?-Because we fish during the year and at the year's end we settle with him.

5855. Are you quite content with the settlement as it is?-For my

Part I Am.

5856. Do you deal with Mr. Adie's store at Voe to any great extent?-Yes.

5857. Do you take your goods from Voe to Sullem?-Yes.

5858. Is not that a long way to carry them?-It is.

5859. Could you not get them as good nearer home?-We could get them much the same but not better. If I want goods, Mr. Adie will either send them to me, or I may sometimes get the chance of a boat coming my way.

5860. How far is it from Sullem to Voe?-Perhaps from eight to nine miles.

5861. Are there shops nearer to you than that?-Yes; there is a shop at Brae, and there is also a shop to the northward.

5862. Can you get goods as cheap at these shops as at Mr. Adie's?-Much the same.

5863. Do you deal as much at these shops as at Mr. Adie's?-No; I deal more with Mr. Adie than with them.

5864. Is that because you have an account with Mr. Adie?-Yes.

5865. Do you know whether there is any difference between the prices in the shop at Voe and at other places?-I see no great difference. I have tried other places; and if there was any difference at all, it would be that I could get an article at Mr. Adie's perhaps a little cheaper than at other places.

5866. Then the only disadvantage you have in dealing at Voe is the distance?-Yes.

5867. And the only advantage you have is that you have an open account there?-Yes.

5868. Is that the only reason why you deal there-The boat we fish in belongs to Mr. Adie; we hire it from him.

5869. Is that any reason for dealing at Voe?-No but we fish to Mr. Adie, and we get goods from him as we require them, and at the year's end we make a settlement.

5870. There is a convenience in making a settlement at the end of the time, because you have not to pay for the goods in the meantime?-Yes.

5871. But if you got your cash every month or every six weeks, as you wanted it, would that not save you the trouble of going to Voe for your goods?-It might.

5872. Would you not consider that a great advantage?-No, not a great advantage.

5873. Do you think it is handier to make a settlement once a year and go to Voe for your goods?-Yes.

5874. Are you obliged in any way to go there unless you please to do so?-No, we are not obliged.

5875. How much do you generally get in cash at the year's end?- That varies according to the fishing. I have seen us get £8 or £9 after deducting our accounts.

5876. Do you require that money to pay your rent and other things that you want to buy?-Yes.

Brae, January 10, 1872, WILLIAM POLE, examined.

5877. You are managing partner at Mossbank of the firm of Pole, Hoseason & Co, merchants and fish-curers?-Yes.

5878. You have other places in Shetland?-Yes. We have one in North Yell, at Greenbank; we have also two fishing stations-one at Feideland, and the other at Gloup. Feideland is at the extreme end of Northmavine, and Gloup is at the farthest north part of Yell.

5879. Have you heard the evidence of Mr. Adie?-Yes.

5880. Is the way in which you carry on your business at Mossbank substantially the same?-Yes, substantially the same. One difference is that we don't give discount on the fishermen's accounts in the way Mr. Adie seems to do.

5881. Is there any other difference that occurs to you?-The fishermen pay for their lines in some cases by three yearly instalments, and in the event of fisherman leaving us we are not bound to take back the lines from him, as Mr. Adie said. But that is quite a trifling difference.

5882. What proportion of dried fish do you estimate to be produced from the green fish, in settling with your men?-It takes 21/4 cwt. of green fish to make 1 cwt. of dry in the case of ling; and in the case of tusk it takes more.

5883. Is that a universal calculation in Shetland?-In some years it is a little less, and in some years a little more.

5884. Is that not a fixed standard? Is there a fresh calculation made every year as to the quantity of dried fish produced out of so much green?-There can be if it is wished.

5885. Do you not always go upon the footing that 21/4 cwt. of green fish make 1 cwt. of dry?-No; we can make a calculation in order to get at the quantity of green fish which it takes to make 1 cwt. of dry.

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