INKSTER, Mrs. Ann Leask or (analysis of her evidence, p. 286), lives in Scalloway, 11,671; knits for Mr. Sinclair, 11,672; is paid in money by strangers, 11,673; but never by dealers—never asked for cash, 11,674·
INKSTER, Daniel (analysis of his evidence, p. 373), is a seaman, living in Lerwick for two years past, previously in the North Isles under Mr. Walker, 14,814; has been at sealing, and whaling, and the ling fishing for a number of years, 14,815; was ejected by Mr. Walker, 14,816; because he could not pay his rent, although he took his crops and sold them, and put him in danger of starving- this is commonly done, 14,820; settlement of whaling voyages made in full, 14,839; men are not obliged, or even told, to go and settle their shop accounts, 14,841; goods are as cheap at agent's. store as elsewhere, 14,860; has had allowance from Shipwrecked Mariners' Fund, and got it in cash from agent, 14,863-14,865.
INTEREST charged on debts, 12,821.
IRVINE, Arthur (analysis of his evidence, p. 335), is a fisherman at Garthbanks, on the Quendale estate, 13,485; hands in a document, signed by twenty-eight men on that property, stating they are honourably dealt with by Mr. A. J. Grierson, their present landlord, and desire to continue to fish for him, 13,486; has fished for thirteen years to Mr. Grierson, 13,487; and has always been paid the currency, 13,489; could not have got a higher price, 13,490; wrote the document handed in himself, on previous night, 13,493; of his own accord, 13,494; men were quite willing to sign it, and more would have signed it if they had been asked, [Page 446] 13,499; deals at store, 13,507; is paid in cash at settlement, 13,508; is satisfied with the price and quality of store goods, 13,519.
IRVINE, Gilbert (analysis of his evidence, p. 324), is shopkeeper at Grutness to Mr. John Bruce, jun., 13,127; men on Sumburgh estate are understood to be bound to fish for landlord, but some do not, 13,130; tenants are reproved, but, he thinks, never ejected for selling fish to another merchant, 13,141; settlements are made yearly, 13,159; balance is always paid in cash, 13,161; men indebted, or who have been indebted, are only allowed to take a certain quantity of meal weekly from store, 13,179-13,181; price of cotton, 13,200; tobacco, 13,204; store is only kept for the accommodation of fishermen, 13,208; there is no profit on it, 13,209; men's rents are lower, because they are expected to fish, 13,253, 13,254.
IRVINE, Janet (analysis of her evidence, p. 3), supports herself by knitting and working in a fish-curing establishment, 71, 72; gets money when she wishes from one dealer, but cannot from any other, 81-90; is paid in money at fish-curing establishment—deals at shop kept by fish-curer, but is not obliged, 120-148.
IRVINE, Robert (analysis of his evidence, p. 390), broker and general dealer in Lerwick, 15,469; deals also in provisions to a small extent, 15,470; deals mostly with men, buys and sells clothes, 15,472, 15,476; seldom deals with knitters, 15,479.
IRVINE, William (analysis of his evidence, p. 83), partner of Hay & Co., merchants in Lerwick, 3619; Hay & Co. have curing stations in several parts of the islands, and manage four estates, two as factors and two as lessees, 3623; the tenants on one of the first are free to fish where they choose, and dispose of all their produce as they please, <ib>.; on the other they are also free (excepting the island of Whalsay and Whalsay Skerries), and to dispose of their produce as they please, <ib>.; balances paid in cash, and people are well-to-do and not in debt; Shetland fishermen not ignorant and uneducated; many have sailed to all parts of the world, and now that communication is so much more frequent and easy with the Mainland, they are much better informed, and goods have very much increased in value; fishermen are charged for goods the same price as the public pay in ready money; carpenters and tradesmen employed by Hay & Co. are paid in cash weekly: at the Burra Islands have two curing stations; fishermen are paid regular prices, and the tenants have complete liberty in the sale of their produce; there is no shop on the island, and men get supplies from our stores at Lerwick and Scalloway; in bad seasons credit is given to the men, on one occasion the island being indebted to the amount of £1000: in Faroe fishing, crews are engaged on shares; fish salted on board, and landed at curing stations wet, <ib>.; fishings of all kinds succeed best when men are paid by shares; when paid monthly wages they have no inducement to work, and the season being short, the utmost activity is necessary, <ib>.; Shetland fishermen are, on the whole, better off than many of the same class in other parts of the kingdom, <ib>.; the profit of curers on fish is very small; bad debts are a great drawback; a ready money system would be scarcely possible to carry out; it would, entail an additional expense on merchants, which, with their small profits, they could ill afford; small traders would be driven out of the market, and the fishermen would eventually suffer, <ib>.; the statements made before the Truck Commission in Edinburgh were very absurd, especially one to the effect that a merchant would not thrive unless he accumulated a great quantity of bad debts; thinks the fishing trade as it is cannot be altered for the better, and that any Act of Parliament interfering with it will only have the effect of destroying it, 3623; dealing at store is optional, 3640; there has never been any application made for permission to open another shop in Whalsay, 3642, 3648; does not know if such an application would be granted, 3649; does not think fishermen employed by him ever smuggle away fish, 3655; system of book-keeping, 3668-3673; settlements are generally over by the end of the year, 3688; markets for fish, 3698, 3699; prices paid by curers are generally the same, 3708-3710; large deposits are made in bank by men, 3735, 3736; written obligation given by Burra men eight years ago, but never acted on, 3750-3754; it is only in the home fishing that men are bound to deliver their fish, 3764; payment of monthly wages has been agreed to and afterwards repudiated by men, 3833; purchase of boats, 3839-3847; to permit debts is a bad system, 3877; herring fishery, 3880; weekly settlements impossible, 3896; hosiery trade yields, no profit, 3900; does not think a much higher price is charged for goods by hosiery merchants, 3909; men curing their own fish, 3943; would not do it so well, and so would get a smaller price, 3746; Mouat, 3948; oyster fishing, 3970, 3981; shops not permitted in Burra, because of the sale of tea and excisable goods, 3971, 3972; Greenland whale fishery, 3991; monthly notes, 4016-4078; Greenland fishers seldom indebted, 4054.
JAMIESON, Andrew B. (analysis of his evidence, p. 353), clerk to Mr. Leask for nineteen years, 14,161; principally concerned in settlements with seamen employed in the Greenland whale fishery, 14,163; men at settlement, before the system of payment at the Customhouse, paid the balance due them, and besides got cash during the currency of their account if they wanted, 14,166; men are seldom indebted to the full amount of their wages, 14,172; and those who are, are young hands, 14,173; now the whole money is paid to the men, and sometimes they return at once to the clerk the amount of their accounts, 14,209; or they come down to the shop immediately after settlement, 14,212; men have never failed to pay their accounts, 14,221; except in one single instance, 14,222; no compulsion is exercised—the men go of their own accord, 14,249.
JAMIESON, Andrew B. (recalled, p. 357). States with regard to the accountant of the Board of Trade's report, that he considers it unjust to the agents in the Greenland trade—concurs generally in the statements of Mr. William Robertson, (p. 265), 14,293; men are not generally indebted to the amount of the money due them, 14,302; excepting in bad voyages, when young hands are generally in debt, 14,303; families of men commonly have a weekly allowance, 14,311; men not obliged to take their outfits from the store, 14,316; knows no case of sums allowed by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society being retained for payment of a man's account, 14,349; it would only be done with the man's concurrence, 14,370.