Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 37

586. Have you known of any person being warned off the ground for not dealing at the store?-No; there is no compulsion about that. We have liberty to deal at any place we like; but when our credit is cut off the way I have mentioned, there is no use in having that liberty.

587. You say your credit is cut off because you are compelled to fish for the landlord?-Yes.

588. Therefore that is virtually compulsion to deal at the store: is that what you mean to say?-Yes; of course it comes to that.

Suppose we have liberty to deal at any place we like, still if a man does not have money his credit is cut off with any other merchant, so that he must deal at the landlord's store.

589. When you deliver your fish, do you get any money that you want?-Yes. Mr. Bruce always gave me money when I wanted it, if he had money of mine in his hands; indeed he always gave me what money I asked, whether I had any to get or not. I always found him very generous in that way.

590. Therefore, whenever you wanted money for your fish you got it, even although it was a long time before settling day?-Yes; Mr.

Bruce will give money at any time throughout the whole season, especially to men that he knows have it to get.

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591. You have no complaint to make about that?-No.

592. The fishing, I understand, begins in April?-Yes.

593. And when does it end?-About September.

594. Suppose you wanted to draw all the money, or about all the money, that was due to you in August or September, is it likely that you would get it?-If I did not have very much to get, perhaps I might get it all, or perhaps more; but if I did have much to get, I don't think he would be inclined to give it all.

595. If you wanted anything, and could not get the money, would you be obliged to take the goods out of his store?-Of course if I could not get money from him, and was requiring the goods, I had no other chance than taking them from the store.

596. If you wanted a supply of provisions or clothing, you would have to get them there?-Yes.

597. Do you get both provisions and clothes at the store?-There is not much clothing there.

598. Where do you get the rest of your clothing?-At any place where we can get it cheapest when we can have a few shillings in hand.

599. Where are the other stores in that district?-There is a man, Mr. Gavin Henderson, who has a store about four or five miles from us; and I believe he generally sells things at as cheap a rate as they can be got in the country.

600. Have you dealt at his store?-Yes; occasionally.

601. Do you find the goods that you get from Henderson to be cheaper than those in Mr. Bruce's store?-Yes; they are cheaper than we can get them at any other place.

602. Give me an instance of that: have you bought meal at both places?-No, I have not bought meal from there.

603. What have you bought at Henderson's store?-I have sometimes bought leather for making boots and shoes.

604. Do you not buy your shoes ready-made?-No.

605. You buy your leather, and get somebody to make them?- Yes.

606. What is the difference in the price of the leather at the two places?-We generally think that we can get it a few shillings cheaper at Henderson's store than we can get it elsewhere.

607. Do you mean that the leather for a pair of boots is a few shillings cheaper at Henderson's store than at Mr. Bruce's?-Yes.

608. Is there any other article you can specify on which there is a difference of price?-I don't know shout anything else in particular.

609. Where do you get your bread?-We buy all our meal, and bake it for ourselves.

610. You spoke about the meal being 4s. a boll cheaper at Lerwick than at Mr. Bruce's: do you know that because you have bought it there yourself?-No; but I have asked what the price of the meal was in Lerwick-sometimes when I was there, and sometimes from people that I could rely upon. Of course we did not know what the price of Mr. Bruce's meal was until we came to settle.

611. But you found out at settling time that Mr. Bruce had charged you 4s. more per boll than meal was selling for at the same time in Lerwick?-Yes.

612. Are you quite sure of that?-Yes.

613. Is the quality of meal from the store good?-Generally it is;

614. You have no fault to find with the quality?-I have no complaint against it or against the quality of any of the goods sold there; they are generally good.

615. What is the price of a boll of meal at Mr. Bruce's store just now?-I cannot say. There is not much meal bought at the store about this time. Most of us have small farms of our own from which we get meal.

616. Then it is generally in summer that you buy meal from Mr.

Bruce's store?-Yes.

617. What was the price of meal during last summer?-I cannot say, because I had none from them last summer, except the fourth of a boll.

618. What was the price of that?-I won't know the price of it until settling time. I don't think any man dealing there knows the price of his meal until that time.

619. Is the only compulsion upon you to fish for Mr. Bruce, that you are afraid of being turned out of your holdings?-Of course.

620. If you did not fish for him, or if you sold your fish to another, would you have to pay liberty money?-I don't think there is anything of that kind done with us.

621. You have no written leases?-No. We got the offer of a lease last year. But it would have made us worse than we are, because Mr. Bruce would give a lease for fifty years; but he had it in his power every ten years to raise the rent, so that it would have been double at the end of the fifty years.

622. But you had it in your power to refuse that?-Of course; and we did refuse it.

623. But you had it in your power to refuse at the end of the ten years, as well as at first, to pay the increased rent?-No. That was the condition he offered to give us the lease upon. Besides, he was to have it in his power to cause any man who took a lease to make such improvements as he thought proper; and if he did not make the improvements then Mr. Bruce was to make them himself, and charge the men a certain interest.

624. Was the lease which he offered you in writing?-No, it was in print. I will send a copy of it.

625. You say there is no liberty money paid in your district now?-No. My father paid 50s. of liberty money at one time; but the rents have been raised, so that the liberty money is included in the rent now.

626. How long ago was that?-I think it is about ten years since the rent was raised.

627. Have you any other reason than you have stated for supposing that you will be turned out of your ground if you fished for another than Mr. Bruce?-It is a general belief that we would be turned out.

628. But I want to know the ground of that belief. How long is it since Mr. Bruce took up the business?-Eleven years.

629. Was there at that time any intimation made to you or to the other tenants that you were expected to hand your fish over to him?-There was a letter from old Mr. Bruce sent round to all his tenants. One letter served for them all. If I am not mistaken, the officer went round among them with it.

630. Did he show you the letter?-He read the letter; and in it Mr.

Bruce stated that he gave his tenants over into the hands of his son.

His son became his tack-master.

631. That letter was not delivered to you?-No; I don't think it was.