17,029. How did you succeed in obtaining cash for [Page 438] your hosiery whenever you wished?-The merchants always came to me and asked for the goods. I did not go to them.
17,030. But you were not always such a good knitter as you are now. Did you not go through any apprenticeship?-Not with the merchants.
17,031. Was the merchants' money price for the goods lower than the money price which you got from private individuals?-Yes. I always gave it to them a little lower, perhaps 1s. or 2s. or 3s. less on a shawl, than I asked from a private individual.
17,032. Did you sell your shawls for a lower price to the merchants in Lerwick than you sell them for to the merchants in Edinburgh?-No. I sell them at the same price to the merchants in Lerwick as to the merchants in Edinburgh.
17,033. Have you ever sold a shawl to a merchant in Edinburgh?- Yes.
17,034. Have you not got more for it from him than you would have got from a merchant in Lerwick?-That was some years ago.
17,035. Was Mr. White the merchant in Edinburgh to whom you sold?-Yes.
17,036. Do you know whether knitters in Lerwick, who depend entirely on knitting for their living, are able to get money for their work?-I do not know about any person but myself.
17,037. Did you ever hear of lines or goods being sold by knitters which they had got for their hosiery?-No, not lines. I have heard of them selling their goods, but I could not say whether it was true or not. I have not heard of that often.
17,038. When a merchant buys a fine shawl or a neck-tie or a lot of veils from a knitter, do you know whether he sells them in the south for a larger price than he pays?-I don't know anything about that.