6226. You said the fishermen are better off now than they used to be: can you tell me any difference there is upon their condition?-I told you already that they were bound men before, but they are not so now with me.
6227. Is there anything else in which they are better off?-Yes; I think a free man is better in every point of view than a bound man.
6228. Do you think the men get a better price for their fish now?- I think they are getting double now for their fish what they were getting about fifty years back, or perhaps forty years.
6229. Do you know that from your father?-No; I know it from my uncle's accounts. He was a factor at Stenness; and I see from his accounts what the price at Stenness was then, and I know what it is now, and can see the improvement.
6230. Have you got his accounts?-I have. I have looked into them at home.
6231. What kind of accounts are they?-Factor's accounts.
6232. Do they show the price of the fish, or just the quantities delivered?-They show the price paid to the fishermen, and also the price of meal and other articles.
6233. What was the price of fish in those accounts?-It was as low as 4s. per cwt. for green fish.
6234. And it is now about double?-Yes.
6235. Do you remember the price of meal then?-Meal was sometimes very high. I remember seeing meal charged at 12s. per lispund of 32 lbs. This season it has been 5s. 4d.