6525. But you have stations at other places?-Hillswick is the business place, but we have fishing stations at different places-at Roeness Voe, Hillyard, Hamnavoe, and Stenness.
6526. Have you none at Ollaberry?-Only in winter time. We get some fish there in winter-princ.i.p.ally small fish, cod, and some ling.
6527. You said that you don"t send men to the cod fishing?-No.
6528. How do you distinguish between the cod fishing proper and the cod which you get in winter?-There are different names for the different kinds of fishing. The Faroe fishing is a different thing from the home fishing.
6529. But some people subdivide the summer fishing into more than one kind?-There is cod fished for in the voes near the coast during the winter, but they are generally a smaller size than the Faroe cod.
6530. Is that what you call the winter fishing?-Yes.
6531. Was that what you spoke of just now when you said you did not send men to the cod fishing?-I meant I did not send men to the Faroe fishing.
6532. Then by the ling fishing you mean the summer fishing?- Yes.
6533. And in that the men catch cod and tusk?-Very few; and what they get are thin and of an inferior quality.
6534. But ling is the staple fish that is caught at that time?-Yes.
6535. Your accounts with your men are settled annually in November or December?-Yes.
6536. Do you find that the majority of your men have then a cash balance to receive, or are they in arrear?-I am afraid I must acknowledge that the majority of them are in arrear.
6537. Do you think the system of paying at such a long interval of time has any effect in causing the men to be so deeply in your debt?-I don"t think so.
6538. Do you think it is their own choice or their own habits that is the occasion of it?-I daresay there are various causes that contribute to it. There may be some improvidence among them; there may be afflictions among them of various kinds. There may be men getting married, and getting families; and it is a sore time with them when their children are small.
6539. Have you ever considered whether a system of shorter payments could be introduced in your business which might encourage habits of economy and foresight, and lead the men to keep out of debt?-I have given that point some careful consideration.
6540. You have already said that you introduced a [Page 159]
system of giving a premium to your men who were free of debt?- Yes.
6541. But has any other plan for bringing about the end occurred to you?-I don"t think there is any other.
6542. Are you aware that the men sometimes express a wish that they should know the price of fish earlier in the season than is the case at present?-Yes. That has been expressed to me sometimes by the men themselves.
6543. Do you think that would have any beneficial effect?-I don"t think it. In the winter fishing we have paid for the fish as soon as the men came on sh.o.r.e with them, but I was not aware that they saved any of that cash in consequence of receiving it at once, any more than they would have done if it had been put to account.
6544. Is the winter fishing generally paid in cash?-Yes if the men require it.
6545. Is it more commonly paid for in cash at the time of delivery than is the case in the other fisheries?-The men have the choice of getting cash or goods, just as they like, for their winter fish.
6546. I rather understand they have the choice of getting cash or goods in the other fishings as well at any time if they like: is not that so?-I think not. I think they would not get cash unless they were clear men, or unless we had good cause to know that they were really in necessity for something.
6547. But during the course of the summer fishing are they allowed advances in goods as they require them?-Yes.
6548. Even though they should be to some extent in your debt?- Yes.
6549. If a man is clear at the end of a season, and is fishing for you during the following season, is it usual to give him advances in cash to account of his fishing as often as they are asked?-Yes.
6550. Is it ever the case that a man who is in that position gets some payents in cash throughout the season, and is paid the whole balance in cash at the end, and has no account at your shop at all?-I think not. I have never been aware of any case of that kind.
6551. Is that because the man necessarily has to apply to you for an outfit for the fishing at the beginning of the year, such as lines or boats; or is it because he may have an account for necessaries to his family?-He is not obliged to get his outfit or his necessaries from me unless he likes. There is no obligation upon him.
6552. But, in point of fact, he generally does get an outfit from you?-Yes; we are always glad to get them to buy an outfit from us.
6553. Whether he gets a boat or not, I suppose the general rule is that he takes his outfit from you?-Yes; that is the general practice.
6554. Is a man expected to do that when he is engaged to fish for you?-I certainly would expect it but he is under no obligation whatever.
6555. If a man were engaging with you to fish for the summer, and getting his outfit elsewhere, say at Lerwick, would that make any difference in the way in which you would deal with him afterwards?-None whatever.
6556. Would he be just as likely to get an engagement from you in the following year, and as good a price for his fish?-Yes.
6557. I understand you have the largest shop in this parish?-I am scarcely able to answer that, but I suppose it is the largest in this district. Messrs. Hay & Co., at North Roe have an extensive business also.
6558. Is North Roe as populous a district as Hillswick?-Yes.
6559. Then there is the shop of Mr. Adie at Voe?-Yes; that is a larger business than mine.
6560. And Pole, Hoseason, & Co. at Mossbank?-Yes.
6561. Do these shops rank in size along with yours?-Yes; and Hay & Co."s shop at North Roe.
6562. But there are smaller shops throughout the country not kept by fish-curers?-Yes. Mr. Peter Robertson, Sullem, and Mr.
Gilbert Nicholson, Ollaberry, are not fish-curers. Mr. Nicholson has been engaged in that business to, but not on his own account.
6563. Do these shopkeepers sometimes buy fish?-I think so. I think Mr. Nicholson buys cured fish in the winter, near the sea.
6564. Is it a common opinion that there is a good deal of smuggling of fish by fishermen during the fishing season?-I believe it is.
6565. Is that done for the purpose of getting payment in ready money; or is the inducement for it, that they get a larger price by disposing of their fish, in that way?-I don"t think the payment of ready money is the inducement, because for many years past it has been my practice to send out money to the factor, with which to pay the men for whatever fish they wanted to sell,-that is to say, to clear any little bits of debt they had to pay at the station.
6566. But the men that you spoke of are bound by their engagement at the beginning of the year to deliver all their fish to you?-That is an understood thing, I believe; but I don"t think it has ever been acted upon.
6567. Are they at liberty to sell their fish to others?-They generally take that liberty.
6568. So that only those fish go into the account which are weighed by your factor?-Yes.
6569. Do your factors at these fishing stations pay ready money for any large quant.i.ty of fish that is delivered to them?-I don"t think there are any large quant.i.ties paid for in ready money. I believe the men generally give fish in that way to procure supplies.
Perhaps they might think my goods were not equal to Mr. Adie"s or those of other merchants, and they might give a few fish in that way to these merchants in order to get money with which to clear off their little bits of accounts there.
6570. That is to say, a man fishing for Mr. Adie might sell a few fish to your factor in that way, or one of your men might sell to Mr. Adie just in the same way, in order to get a little money for his present needs?-Yes.
6571. Can you give me any idea from your books to what extent that sort of ready-money payment goes on during the summer season?-I could scarcely say. I should think that perhaps 5 or 6 would cover the whole of that for the entire season, because there are some of the men fishing to me who will ask the factor to give them a pound in cash or so just at the end of the season.
6572. Therefore they don"t require to smuggle the fish so much as one might suppose?-No.
6573. Do you consider that the tenants on the Ollaberry estate are obliged by the terms of their leases to fish to you only?-I do not; although I think I have it in my power to compel them to fish if I wished to do so.