Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 193

7794. Is that for goods in general, or for any particular kind of goods?-Just for general goods.

7795. You heard the evidence that was given this morning?-Yes.

7796. Is there any statement you have heard from any of the witnesses which you wish to correct, or anything you wish to say in addition to what you said yesterday?-Yes. I think I would be inclined to differ from [Page 190] the description which Mr.

Sutherland gave of the people. My experience of them has been very different.

7797. You would be disposed to give the Shetland people a better character than he gave them?-I think so. I think they can bear favourable comparison with any people of the same cla.s.s that I have come across in other parts of the world.

7798. In respect of frugality?-Yes.

7799. And foresight?-Yes; and activity in business.

7800. And for their moral virtues?-Yes.

7801. Is it not the case that a considerable part of the year is spent in comparative idleness by the Shetland fishermen?-I believe it is, but that perhaps does not arise from any unwillingness on their part to work.

7802. From what does it arise?-From want of employment.

7803. Have they not their land?-They have their land, but, as I observed before, there is a bar to improvement there.

7804. Would it not be possible to introduce a more extensive system of winter fishing than that which exists now?-I don't think it.

7805. It seems a little peculiar, does it not, that the summer fishing should be prosecuted in the big boats, and that only the small boats should be sent out in winter?-They prosecute the fishing in the big boats in winter too, when the weather permits.

7806. But they don't go so far to sea in winter as in summer?-No; they don't go so far.

7807. I understood it was princ.i.p.ally the small boats that went out in winter?-That is true, but on several occasions they employ the big boats too. But the smaller boats, when the weather permits, are much handier and lighter to manage.

7808. Are they safer?-They are equally safe when the weather permits.

7809. But would they not be able to go greater distances to sea with the big boats?-It would not matter much what size of boat they had if they were caught at sea by a gale.

7810. Is it not the case that on the east coast of Scotland the fishing is prosecuted for nine or ten months in the year; and that the fishermen there, who are a very comfortable cla.s.s, have no occupation except that of fishermen? I am not asking you at present about any separation between fishing and agriculture, but don't you think it would be possible to prosecute the fishing in Shetland to the same extent, and for the same length of time, as it is prosecuted on the east coast of Scotland?-I don't think it.

7811. Is that owing to the weather?-It is owing to the weather, and the great exposure to the Atlantic, and the great swell that comes in from it. A very light puff of wind raises a tremendous sea in winter, that scarcely any boat could live in.

7812. In some parts of Shetland, where there is not so much exposure, is not the winter fishing prosecuted to some extent?- Yes.

7813. And to a greater extent than it is here?-Yes; that is done about Yell Sound, for instance. They are protected there on almost all sides.

7814. Here you are exposed to westerly gales which do not affect the fishermen on the east coast?-That is so.

7815. Is that the princ.i.p.al reason why the fishing is not prosecuted here so much in winter?-That is partly the reason.

7816. Is there any other reason why the winter fishing does not succeed here?-Yes. Every experienced fisherman knows that it is only at certain seasons of the year that the ling come over the ground in any quant.i.ties; and that is, I think, from, say the month of April or May to September. That has been the case for generations.

7817. Ling is your staple fish here, upon which the success of the fishing depends?-Yes; altogether.

7818. Would it not be worth while to prosecute the fishing in winter for the purpose of taking cod and haddock and other fish?-I don't think it.

7819. Would it not pay without the ling?-No; the other fish would not be got in sufficient quant.i.ties.

7820. Would they not be got in the same quant.i.ties, as on the east coast of Scotland?-No. The ground here for one thing is not so extensive. On the east coast of Scotland, you can have a range of perhaps, ten or twenty or thirty miles from every port, which you have not got here.

7821. How have you not got that range here?-The island is not so big altogether; and there are only certain tracks of ground that the men can fish on.

7822. It is on certain banks only that the fish caught?-Yes.

7823. And the banks here are not so extensive as on the east coast?-They are not.

7824. Has any attempt ever been made to introduce a more extensive winter fishing?-I don't think there is a more active cla.s.s of men anywhere than there is to the westward here. They have small holdings, but they are constantly prepared to go off to sea when the weather offers, and they do prosecute the fishing often.

7825. Have you anything further to state?-With regard to the debts of the men, I may say that in 1864 I gave them to understand that unless those who were in debt reduced their balances in the former year, I could not help them again with their rent; and, except in exceptional cases, I have invariably acted upon that rule since.

7826. You mean that when they came to you at rent time for a cash payment in order to help them to pay their rents, you could not help them with that unless their former balance was reduced?- Quite so.

7827. You mentioned in a former part of your examination that a certain amount of cash had been paid at last settlement?-Yes.

7828. That would be in November?-Yes; in November and December.

7829. Did the whole of that pa.s.s to the fishermen, or was any rent included in it?-That was what I paid to the people when I was settling. There might be others besides fishermen, but I did not distinguish between them.

7830. Do any of the rents of the Busta estate pa.s.s through your hands?-No.

7831. But the rents to be paid to the factor would probably, where due by fishermen, be paid out of these payments by you?-I think so; but not necessarily in every case.

7832. Have you any arrangement with the factor about the rents of your fishermen?-None at all.

7833. That is quite an independent concern?-Quite.

7834. I think you have prepared some statement with regard to the amount of debts due by your fishermen during the last four or five years?-Yes. I have prepared the following statement, showing the number of men in debt, the total amount of their debts, and the average amount due by each, taking it as a whole:- No. of MenTotal Year.in debt.amount ofAverage.

debt.

186874104414, 2s.

186979 1017 13 187072 942 13 187164 782 12, 4s.

7835. That shows that eight men had wiped off their debt altogether between 1870 and 1871?-Yes. That will prove, I think, that they are not quite so black as they have been painted.

They are improving a little. The largest balance was 49, 14s.

21/2d. in 1868, which was reduced to 41, 9s. 9d. in 1871.

7836. The amount of indebtedness at Ollaberry is not included in these figures?-No. The figures I have now given apply only to the Hillswick men, who number about 125.* Four of the indebted men have left since, and are not clear of debt. That would reduce the amount by about 50 in all of the years except the first.

* In a note subsequently received from Mr. Anderson, he says: 'I find, in going over my books, that instead of 125 men, as I believed fished for me last year, I have actually 147. These I find are made up by fee'd men, and several crews who cured and dried their own fish, and from whom I purchased their fish so dried at the end of the season.

[Page 191]

Hillswick, Northmavine, January 12, 1872, ARTHUR SANDISON, examined.