9528. And your rent was fixed on that footing?-No; my rent was fixed before that matter was spoken of. I spoke to Mrs. Budge first about it, and she advised me to try it, and said she thought the men would have no objection to fish for me more than to any other party.
9529. Had the premises been unlet for some time?-Yes.
9530. Magnus Mouat had them for two years before you?-Yes.
9531. Had they been unlet before that?-Yes, they were never let before.
9532. Why did Mouat leave?-He did not do very much in the place. He is in Unst now.
9533. Would you pay the same rent for your premises if that understanding did not exist about the men fishing for you?-No, I would not keep them at all.
9534. Why?-Because I could have nothing to do in them. I would have nobody buying anything from me.
9535. And you would have no men to fish for you?-No.
9536. Is that because you cannot get free men to fish for you, or is it because they prefer to fish for the big fish-curers?-When the men are engaged to the big fish-curers, if I were to go and ask them to come and fish for me then I would require to give them a better bargain than they have with the merchants by whom they are employed now, and if I were to do that it would take away all the profit I would have on the fish, and I would have to work for nothing. Therefore I would be as well to want them.
9537. How do you fix the current price at the end of the year?- That is a thing I am hardly able to tell.