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16,368. Does your wife get cash from Mr. Leask when she wants it?-Yes.
16,369. How much does she generally get?-I don"t know.
16,370. Did she ever get 5s. at a time?-Perhaps she got the whole half-pay at a time if she wanted it, or the half of it.
16,371. Was that if she wanted it for any particular purpose, such as for paying rent?-Yes, or any necessary thing.
16,372. But it was only for a necessary purpose that she got it?-I suppose so.
16,373. Is it generally understood among the men in the whaling, that they ought to deal with the agent who engages them for a voyage?-No. We can deal with any person we like.
16,374. But don"t they always deal with the agent who engages them, taking their outfit and their supplies for home from him?- Yes.
16,375. Do you think that if a man did not deal with the agent he would be as likely to get a berth next year as if he had kept an account with him?-Just the same; I never found any difference.
16,376. But did you ever go to another agent for your supplies than the one who had engaged you?-No, not in that particular season; but I have changed agents occasionally.
16,377. How long is it since you were engaged by another agent than Mr. Leask?-Two years. I changed from Laurenson & Co.
to Mr. Leask then.
16,378. Why did you change?-Just to fall in with the ship that I wanted to go in. That was my only reason.
16,379. Were you clear with Laurenson & Co. when you changed?-Yes.
Lerwick, February 5, 1872, JAMES LAURENSON, examined.
16,380. Are you a seaman residing at Mews, in Dunrossness?-I am.
16,381. Are you serving at present in the Naval Reserve?-Yes.
16,382. What trade have you been engaged in as a seaman?-I have mostly been in the south.
16,383. Have you been in the Faroe fishing?-No.
16,384. Have you been at the ling fishing?-I was two years in the ling fishing at Mews, about eight or nine years ago, for Mr. Robert Mullay.
16,385. Did you keep accounts with him then for your supplies?- Not for supplies, only for fishing material.
16,386. Did you get any advances of money from him?-I did not ask for any; I did not want them at the time.
16,387. Would you have got advances of money if you had asked for them when you were not taking supplies?-I expect I would.
16,388. But you did not want the money, and you did not ask for it?-I did not ask for it.
Lerwick, February 5, 1872, ALEXANDER GOODLAD, examined.
16,389. What are you?-I am a seaman, and I live in Lerwick.
16,390. I understand you wish to make some statement about the sealing and whaling voyages?-Yes. If I ask a half-pay note from an agent, it cannot keep my family, and I am not much acquainted with any person except the agent who will give me credit and therefore I don"t know where to get supplies for them in my absence except through him.
16,391. What is the amount of your wages?-Usually 50s., and my half-pay is usually 25s.
16,392. Do you commonly run an account with the agent?-Yes.
16,393. Is your reason for doing so that your halfpay is too small?-Yes.
16,394. Did you ever try to get credit anywhere else except from the agent who engaged you?-I have.
16,395. Were you refused?-Sometimes, but not always.
16,396. What reason was given for refusing you credit?-They said they did not know me.
16,397. Was that by a merchant in Lerwick?-Yes.
16,398. Were you asked on these occasions whether you were running an account elsewhere?-Yes; and I was told to go to the agent"s for what I wanted.
16,399. Do the tradesmen here expect that you will get your supplies from the agent who engages you for the whaling voyage?-Commonly they do.
16,400. And they don"t care for giving credit to men who are running an account with the agent?-No.
16,401. Were you running an account with the agent also at the time when you applied for credit in that way?-No; I was clear with the agent at that time.
16,402. Did you get no supplies from him at the beginning of the voyage?-No; but I have sometimes got supplies from the agents before I went on another voyage.
16,403. What merchant refused you credit in the way you have mentioned?-It was some of them who did not know me in Lerwick.
16,404. Did they refuse because they knew that the agent had the command of your money, and could keep it for his own account if he had one?-Yes.
16,405. Did they say so?-No, they did not make that statement exactly; but they told me that when a man was getting a ship from an agent he should go and get his things from him.
16,406. Did any merchant refuse to give you goods, and give you that reason for his refusal?-Yes.
16,407. Was he an agent in the whaling trade?-No, he was not.
16,408. Had you an account at that time with any agent?-Yes.
16,409. I thought you said you had not?-I was done with the agent, and had signed clear in his books.
16,410. What season of the year was that?-In February.
16,411. Do you engage then for the rising season?-I engage for it in the month of March.
16,412. Do you then open an account with the agent for your supplies?-Yes.