16,598. Do you think that upon the whole it is less?-I have not looked into that, and I could not be sure about it.
16,599. Have you any general impression about that matter?- When there were some green hands going of course they required a larger outfit than they require now.
16,600. I am putting the green hands out of view altogether; I am referring to the able seamen. Do you think that their accounts altogether are not less than they were formerly?-In some cases they are.
16,601. Are they not less upon the average?-I daresay [Page 423] they are, because men do not require so much now as they used to.
16,602. Is it not the case that you have been less willing to make large advances to any class of seamen since the regulations of the Board of Trade in 1867 or 1868?-We would give some men what they required, and to others we would not.
16,603. Do you mean that to men you knew you would give what they required?-Yes, but to strangers we would not.
16,604. Is that because your security in the case of strangers is much less than it was formerly?-Yes.
16,605. Is not that one reason why you are giving it up?-No. The chief reason is that the commission is small, and the trouble is great. We cannot get all the men together at one time for settlement, or else it would be soon done.
16,606. But if you had the same returns from the men's accounts which you had formerly, would not that be sufficient remuneration for your trouble?-It would not.
16,607. Would you require larger accounts now than you had before, even at the most flourishing time?-No, not larger accounts; but we would require a better commission.