11,991. You had not many ling fishermen?-No, only a few boats.
11,992. It is the Dunrossness men you speak of as the ling fishermen?-Yes.
11,993. The Scalloway men are not ling fishermen?-No. I think there was only one boat that went from Scalloway.
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11,994. Is the business still carried on in your name?-No; it is carried on in the name of Nicholson & Co.
11,995. Have you any interest in it at all?-No.
11,996. It is practically the same business, however, which you carried on?-Yes.
11,997. When you carried on business, were you in the practice of buying hosiery?-Very little. I never took it at all, except when the poor people were starving and in want of bread. They sometimes came to me and said they wanted bread, and could not get it in Lerwick, and I gave it to them.
11,998. Have you taken the goods they have got for their hosiery in Lerwick and given them provisions instead?-Not very often, but I have done that out of compa.s.sion.
11,999. Have you sometimes given them money in that way?-I would not have seen them at a loss for a shilling if they wanted it for any particular purpose.
12,000. Have you sometimes taken their lines from them which they got from the Lerwick merchants?-No; I don"t remember doing that.
12,001. Have you been asked to do that sometimes?-I don"t think so.
12,002. Have you not been asked to give them provisions for lines?-No.
12,003 Was it mostly cotton and soft goods or tea that you took from them?-It was cotton and soft goods, not tea. They had a chance of getting a little meal and potatoes in country places for their tea, and they did not require to come to me with it.
12,004. What kind of price did you allow them for these things?- I allowed them the same price as I sold such articles at in my own shop; but they had paid a higher price for them in Lerwick. When they brought the goods to me, I saw they were not equal to mine at the same price.
12,005. So that you generally buy these cottons at a lower price than they have been charged at in Lerwick, but at the same price that you were in the habit of selling them for here?-Yes.
12,006. The knitters therefore would be losers nominally by the bargain?-Yes; but it was not much that they brought to me in that way-it was hardly worth mentioning.
12,007. What would be the difference in price on a yard of cotton?-Perhaps 1d.
12,008. Did you find that there was always that difference?-I don"t exactly remember; but I remember sometimes looking at the articles, and seeing that they were inferior to mine at the same price. That was very easily seen.
12,009. Do the women sometimes object to give you the goods at a lower price than they had paid for them?-No. It was through necessity they came to me with them, and they always felt very grateful that they could get bread in exchange.
12,010. Has that system gone on at times until now?-Yes, at times.
12,011. You have some vessels employed in the Faroe fishing?- Yes, there are two.
12,012. Are these still in your hands, or have you handed them over to the company?-I have handed them over to the company, as agents.
12,013. But they are still your property?-Yes; at least they are partly mine. There are some other people who have shares in them.
12,014. Do the men who are employed in these Faroe vessels generally belong to Scalloway and the neighbourhood?-No; only a few of them. The others come from different parts of the country; some from as far west as Sandness, and others from as far north as Delting, and so on.
12,015. Have these men accounts opened in your shop for their outfits?-Yes.
12,016. And also for supplies to their families?-The young men don"t require supplies.
12,017. But if there are any of them married men, they will have accounts, and their families get supplies from the company"s shop during their absence?-Yes.
12,018. Then there is a settlement with them at the end of the season?-Yes. As soon as we can know what the fish are to bring in the market there is settlement made.
12,019. Have you a written agreement with these men?-Yes; it is written on stamped paper and each man signs it.
12,020. Have you made your agreements for 1872?-They are written and are being filled up now.
Scalloway, January 22, 1872, DAVID DALGLEISH, examined.
12,021. You are now a partner of the firm of Nicholson & Co., Scalloway?-I am.
12,022. You have been present and heard the evidence of Mr.
Charles Nicholson?-Yes.
12,023. Have you anything to add to it, or anything additional to suggest?-No. He has had long experience in the business, and I have had very little. I have only been in it twelve months, since Mr. Nicholson retired.
12,024. You have been shown certain returns with regard both to the home and Faroe fishing, which you have been asked to fill up and return to me. You will do so at your earliest convenience, with the a.s.sistance of Mr. Nicholson if necessary?-Yes.
12,025. I see a number of fishermen present; if there are any of them who wish to make any statement to me I shall be glad to hear them. [No answer.] If no one wishes to give any further evidence, I adjourn the sittings at this place until further notice.
LERWICK: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1872
-Mr Guthrie.
GEORGE GEORGESON, examined.
12,026. You are a merchant at Bayhall, in the parish of Walls?-I am.
12,027. How long have you been in business there?-I have been in business in Walls for about twenty-seven years. My place of business is in the village in the centre of the parish.
12,028. Are your customers princ.i.p.ally of the cla.s.s of fishermen and tenants?-They are mostly fishermen and farmers. The greater part of my business is in ready money transactions.
12,029. Are there some farmers there who do not go to the fishing?-There are some small crofters, but they all go to the fishing. These parties are not confined to me in the business they do. They can go where they choose. I supply them, and they pay me once a year.
12,030. Are you engaged in the fish-curing business yourself to any extent?-I do not cure fish now. At one time, about twenty or twenty-five years ago, I cured fish, and had some small vessels, but I don"t do anything in that way now at all.
12,031. You say your transactions are mostly for ready money?- Yes, mostly.
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12,032. But I suppose you have some accounts when you have a customer that you can trust?-Yes.