Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 393

16,852. No. 6 is a sample of sugar which you value at 41/2d. per lb.: was that of the same quality as the other sugar?-There was very little difference between them.

16,853. Would that be fairly charged at 5d. per lb.?-I think it would sell for about the same as the other.

16,854. No. 7 is a sample of tobacco which you value at 1s. per lb.?-Yes; that is the retail price. I cannot say that I am a great judge of tobacco; but that is the retail price in Edinburgh for something like the same quality.

16,855. That is 3d. per oz.: would you consider 4d. per oz. an overcharge for it in a country district?-Yes, I think it would be 1d. of an overcharge. They buy it for about 3s. 4d. per lb., and I consider that 8d. upon a pound of tobacco is a very fair profit.

16,856. No. 8 is also a sample of tobacco which you value at 4s.

per lb.: was it of the same quality?-So far as I am able to judge it was.

16,857. No. 9 was a sample of tea which you value at 3s. per lb.: would 1s. 1d. per qr. lb. be too much to charge for it?-It would be too much to charge for any of the teas that were submitted to me.

16,858. Was this the best of the teas?-I thought so.

16,859. Was it considerably superior to the others?-I thought so; but 4s. 4d. would be far too much to charge for it.

16,860. No. 10 is a sample of loaf sugar which you value at 6d.: would 8d. per lb. be too much for it?-It would be too large a price to charge for it.

16,861. Even in Shetland?-I think so.

16,862. You have stated in your report that the sample of flour, No. 11, was not fit for use?-I considered so.

16,863. Do you think that arises from it having been kept too long after being got from the shop?-No, I don't think it is flour at all.

It seems to be a sort of mixture that I would not like to give to a pig.

16,864. I now show you the sample No. 11 again: is that [showing]

the flour you refer to?-Yes.

16,865. You don't think it is fit for use at all?-I do not; at least I don't think it would do in Edinburgh.

16,866. What is it?-My opinion is, that there is good deal of barley-meal in it, not flour at all.

16,867. Then, if that is the case, it would in your opinion be overcharged at 2d. per lb.?-Yes. That would be 14d. per peck of 7 lbs., or 46s. per bag, which is about the price of the best flour just now.

16,868. What was it in December or January last?-It was cheaper than it is now.

16,869. Then you think that 2d. per lb. would have been an absurd charge for that flour at that time?-Perfectly absurd.

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16,870. No. 12 is a sample of rice which you have valued at 21/2d.

per lb.: was that rice of good quality?-Yes; it was of fairish quality.

16,871. Would 31/2d. be too much for it?-It would be more than could be got for it here.

16,872. Would it be extravagant to charge that price for it in an outlying country district?-I think it would. I think 3d. would be the outside that could be got for it.

16,873. Are you aware that the expense of carriage to some of these places must be pretty high?-They have direct communication to Lerwick twice a week, which, as I said before, cannot exceed 2s. per cwt., and that would be about 1/4d. per lb.

16,874. Supposing it had to be conveyed thirty miles from Lerwick, that of course would increase the expense?-Of course it would add to the expense; but I have been speaking of the direct communication between Edinburgh and Lerwick.

16,875. No. 13 is a sample of soap, which you value at 4d. per lb.: was that a good quality of soap?-It was middling; but it was in such a state from being dried up, that one could scarcely judge of it. However, I think that would be about its value.

16,876. Had it been injured by being kept?-It gets dry and hard from the moisture getting out of it. If I had seen it cut from the bar, I might have come nearer a proper judgement of it.

16,877. Do you think 6d. per lb. would be too high for it?- Decidedly; either for it or any kind of soap.

16,878. You think that even although you had seen it cut from the bar you could not have put so high a value as that upon it?-I could not.

16,879. Can you say generally with regard to the samples, that any of them were deteriorated by having been kept for some time after leaving the shop?-I do not think they had been much affected.

The sugar may have changed its character a little by being dry, and also the soap; but I don't think any of the other articles could be much deteriorated in value by that.

16,880. Would you make any allowance in your estimate of their value on that account?-No; I just valued them as I saw them, according to the best of my judgement.

16,881. Do you think it would be fair to make any such allowance?-No, I don't think it would be necessary.

16,882. Is it usual to charge a higher price for such goods in country districts than in the town?-Generally it is the case that a rather higher price is charged. There is less compet.i.tion in business, and there can be no doubt that in a country district you pay more for articles than in town.

16,883. But, on the other hand, rents are lower in the country than in the town?-No doubt they are; but the amount of business is usually much less.

16,884. Making full allowance for that, however, do you think that certain of the articles which have been submitted to you have been overcharged?-I think the whole of them have been. There is one thing I may mention, which is, that looking back fifty years ago they had then no direct communication between Shetland and the large towns in the country, and the merchants there were longer in being paid for what they sent south; but now they are paid within ten days of the time when they send their goods to Edinburgh or Glasgow or Newcastle, or wherever it is, and that makes a very considerable difference to these merchants.

16,885. What goods do you refer to?-Any kind of goods that the islands furnish. If the merchants send eggs, b.u.t.ter, bacon, or anything of that kind, to people in Edinburgh or Glasgow, they get a remittance in cash within ten days for the amount of the goods sent. Formerly that could not be the case, because they had to wait perhaps for a sailing vessel once a month, or something like that; and that makes a great difference to the people in Shetland.

16,886. Do you receive large consignments of eggs and b.u.t.ter from Shetland?-I get large consignments from Caithness, but not from Shetland.

16,887. But you know that the practice with Shetland is to remit back at once for that?-Yes, at once.

*Mr. Lewis's report stated the following as his valuation of the different samples submitted to him:- No. 1 Oatmeal, per 7 lbs. 010 No. 2. Tea, per lb.,024 No. 3. Tea, do.,024 No. 4. Sugar, do.,0041/2 No. 5. Tea, do.,026 No. 6. Sugar, do.,0041/2 No. 7. Tobacco, do., 040 No. 8. Tobacco, do., 040 No. 9. Tea, do., 030 No. 10. Loaf Sugar, do., 006 No. 11. Flour, not fit for use.

No. 12. Rice, per lb.,0021/2 No. 13. Soap, do.,004

The samples Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 were those purchased at Mossbank by the witness A.T. Jamieson, 7954; Nos. 5 and 6 were samples obtained by the Commissioner personally, at Messrs. Spence & Co. at Uyea Sound; No. 7 was obtained at the shop at Grutness; No. 8 from the shop of Mr. Gavin Henderson, Scousborough; and Nos. 9 to 13 were produced by the witness Charlotte Johnston, as having been purchased at the shop of Mr. Morgan Laurenson, Lochend.

Edinburgh, April 18, 1872, MAGNUS MOWAT, examined.

16,888. Are you a boat-builder in Newhaven?-I am.

16,889. Do you do a large business there in building boats for fishermen?-Yes, I do a pretty large business.

16,890. Do you know the style of boat that is built in Shetland?- Yes. I have seen one or more of them at Wick, when I was there at the herring fis.h.i.+ng.

16,891. You mean the six-oared boat of about 21 or 22 feet keel?-Yes. I have seen one at least of those dimensions.

16,892. Do you build boats of that kind yourself?-No. Our boats are much superior to the boats there.

16,893. Can you say at what price you could build a of 22 feet keel in the style of the Shetland boat?-I could hardly say.