8473. But if they got their money in their hand, instead of running an account, would they not make a better use of it?-I don"t know.
Some of them might be inclined to do so and some not.
8474. Might they not buy their goods cheaper if they had the money to pay for them?-Some of them might, but some of them might spend their money very carelessly.
8475. Did you hear what Gilbert Scollay said about getting meal cheaper in the south than it can be got here?-We all know that that is the case.
8476. Have any of you tried to get it in that way?-No.
8477. Why?-From want of knowledge. We don"t know where to go in order to find the cheapest market for meal.
8478. But Gilbert Scollay found out where to go and he would have told you?-Gilbert Scollay might have done that, but we never like to deal in the kind of meal which he bought.
8479. You could have got any sort of meal if you had asked it?- Yes, he would have got any sort.
8480. And so would you if you had gone to the right quarter.
Don"t you think if a lot of you now were to agree to buy meal from a man in the south, and were getting the price of your fish in cash, so that you could pay for the meal in cash, you would be able to make a better thing of it?-There is no mistake about that.
8481. What is to hinder a boat"s crew or two from agreeing to bring their own meal from the south?-The fish-curer must supply them with money before they could do that.
8482. Will not the curer advance money to the men if they want it?-It would just be at his own option.
8483. Do you think the fish-curer would not give you the money before the end of the season?-I don"t know, I never asked it, and what a man has not asked he cannot speak to at all.
8484. Do you think he would be likely to do it?-The merchants might do it to some, and to some they would not. They could not be expected to do it to a man who was indebted to them; but if a man was clear with them, they might have no objections to advance the money.
8485. I suppose it would not be easy to find a boat"s crew where some of the men were not in debt?-I think there are a good few boats" crews of that kind.
8486. Could not a boat"s crew, where none of the men were in debt, get their money in that way?-Certainly they could if they wished it.
8487. And they could import their meal from the south if they found it any cheaper?-Perhaps they could.
8488. Do any of your people knit or weave?-They do.
8489. Are they paid for their work in the way which Mrs.
Williamson and Mrs. Johnston have described?-Yes.
8490. They are paid mostly in goods?-They can take either goods or money, because they are not in debt to any man.
8491. Do you keep an account with any merchant?-No; I keep the family accounts.
[Page 206]
8492. Do you keep them all in one?-Yes.
8493. Is that a common way at Muckle Roe?-I think it is, and I think it is the best way.
8494. Have you sometimes taken their webs to sell to the merchants?-Yes, I have sometimes done so.
8495. Have you ever got money for a web?-Yes, if I wanted it.
8496. But did you ever get it?-I have. I have got 4 at a time, when the web was worth it.
8497. Was that long ago?-It was this very year.
8498. Did you get it all in money?-Yes.
8499. Was that at Voe?-No, it was at Brae from Mr. Inkster.
8500. Did you ever get as much money before for any web?-No, I don"t think so.
8501. Were you paid mostly in goods before?-No, not altogether in goods. If I did not require the goods, I could have it in money, because if I was not in debt to them they were obliged to pay me the money.
8502. Were they always obliged to pay money for webs?-Yes, to men who were clear with them, and who would not take their wool from them.
8503. But a man who was not clear would not get all money?- No, he could not expect it.
8504. The price of his cloth would be put to his account?-Yes.
8505. And he might get a little money if he wanted it?-Yes. I never knew a merchant to refuse a man a little money if he was in need of it.
8506. But the man had to tell the merchant that he was in need of it?-Yes, if he was in need, he had to explain that to him.
8507. If a man was in debt to a merchant, and wanted to get money for his web, could he not take it to another merchant?-Yes; but it would not be very fair to do so. A man who is in debt to another ought always to pay his debt when he can.
8508. But he might pay it at another time and he might be wanting the money for his own immediate needs?-Such cases as that might occur, but not very often.
8509. You think the people round about you don"t often do that?- I don"t think they do.
Brae, January 13, 1872, PETER BLANCH, examined.
8510. Are you a fisherman and farmer near Brae?-Yes, about a mile or a mile and a half north from this.
8511. Have you a good bit of land?-Yes, just about as big as most of the people have hereabouts-a small allotment.
8512. Have you got a brother in Ollaberry?-I have a brother-in- law there, and a cousin, William Blanch.
8513. Have you been present to-day?-Not all the time. I have been here for about an hour.
8514. Have you heard the description which has been given of how the fishermen are settled with for their accounts?-Yes. I was present at the first meeting which was held at Brae.
8515. Do you settle in the same way as you have heard described?-Yes, much in the same way; but I am a Faroe fisherman, and I have been so for the last twelve years.
8516. Are you a skipper?-Yes.
8517. Who do you ship with?-I have been employed by Mr.
Adie"s firm for the last five years. Before that I went out from Lerwick. I went for Mr. Sutherland, and then for Mr. George Reid Tait.
8518. You settle every year in the winter?-Yes, or sometimes twice in one year, but not often.