Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 196

7929. Have you never been told that?-No.

7930. Have you never suspected it?-No. I think they just go where they please themselves. Perhaps they might get a better bargain from another man than from me, and yet they might come to me or go past me.

7931. Are you quite content with the system of long settlements which goes on at Pole, Hoseason, & Co.'s, and that the men should run accounts there?-No, I am not satisfied with that. I think it would be better for the people to have no accounts at all.

7932. Do you mean that it would be better for their own sakes?- Yes.

7933. What would be the advantage to them?-For my own part, if I had no money, but if I might go to a shop and take out more goods than perhaps I ought to do, without regard to whether I would be able to pay them or not; whereas if a man did not have that liberty, but went into a shop with few pence in his pocket, he might make it spin out better, or more to his own advantage.

7934. Do you think he might get his meal cheaper by going to another shop and paying for it in cash?-He might, or he might take better care of his money, and manage to spin it out more.

7935. I suppose a merchant like yourself, if you were giving long credit in that way, would require little more profit on your goods?-Of course.

7936. But you can afford to sell cheaper because you are paid in cash?-Yes; and I think it would be better for the public in general if all payments were made in cash.

7937. Do you employ some men in your curing business?-No; I just do it with my own family. Sometimes I get a little boy to help me for a while, but that is all.

7938. When you were employed in the Faroe fis.h.i.+ng, did you get cash from the merchant in the course of season, when you happened to come home, whenever you wanted it?-Yes.

7939. Could your wife get cash?-She did not require it, and she did not ask it.

7940. Is there any sort of feeling that people don't like to ask for cash before the settlement?-That might have been the case with some, but it was not with me, because I did not need the cash until it was due.

7941. Then generally you did not ask for it until it was due?-No.

7942. Do you think there is much money among the people in your neighbourhood during the summer time?-I don't think there is much.

7943. Is it generally spent soon after settling time?-Yes.

7944. Do you find that your cash transactions are greater at one season of the year than at another?-I cannot say that. I have only been one year in business, and I have not made any calculation about that.

Brae, January 13, 1872, ARTHUR THOMAS JAMIESON, examined.

7945. You are the son of Jacob Jamieson, residing at Brae?-Yes.

7946. You were employed by me on Wednesday last to go to Mossbank, and to purchase some articles from the shop of Messrs.

Pole, Hoseason, & Co., there?-Yes.

7947. You went there and purchased these articles without saying who they were for?-Yes:

7948. You have brought to me half a pound of sugar, for which you paid 3d.?-Yes.

7949. A quarter lb. of tea for which you paid 81/2d.?-Yes.

7950. A quarter lb. of tea for which you paid 7d.?-Yes.

7951. And 4 lbs. of oatmeal for which you paid 81/2d.?-Yes.

7952. You have now delivered these articles over to the clerk?-I have.

7953. Were these all the articles you purchased?-Yes.

7954. Are they exactly in the same state now as when you bought them?-Yes.

7955. They are contained in the same parcels as when they were put up in the shop?-Yes.

7956. Have you any reason to believe that the prices which you paid for the articles are different from those which are charged for the same qualities of articles at other times in that shop?-There is no difference, so far as I know.

Brae, January 13, 1872, JAMES BROWN, examined.

7957. Have you a shop?-Yes; a small one.

7958. Where?-At Brough, in North Delting, about two miles from Mossbank.

7959. What do you deal in?-Groceries; nothing else.

7960. On whose land is your shop?-Mr. Gifford's of Busta.

7961. How long have you had it?-The shop has been going on for about ten years.

7962. Were you at any time forbidden, either verbally or by your lease, to have a shop on that ground?-No; I was told to go on.

7963. Was there a shop there before you went?-Yes; they always used to keep some small articles there for sale.

7964. Do your customers generally pay you in ready money?- Yes; I deal all in ready money; and I buy fish for cash. I am a fisherman myself, and I buy few fish from others as I have a chance, paying money for them, and my family cure them.

7965. Is it the summer fis.h.i.+ng you go to?-I am at home all the year round at the sea-side, and I fish there, but they are generally small fish I take.

7966. You don't go to the haaf?-No.

7967. Have you a boat's crew?-No. My father and a boy go along with me.

7968. Are you able to cure both your own fish and the fish which you buy from other men?-Yes.

7969. What quant.i.ty do you buy from other men?-It varies in different years. When there are plenty of small cod in the Sound, I may have 11/2 ton during the season, while in other seasons I may have only the half of that.

7970. Is it only the small fish you buy?-If bigger fish were offered to me I would buy them, but there are no bigger fish caught along the sh.o.r.es.

7971. Do you not buy fish in the summer time?-Yes.

7972. Do you buy fish brought in by the large boats at that time?- No; the men take them to the stations.

7973. Do they not bring any of the big fish to Mossbank in the summer?-No; they are sold at the stations.

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7974. Do you never go there to buy fish?-No; I am content with the home fis.h.i.+ng.