Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 17

It is explained to the men, when they first come to the agent's office and have their ledger account adjusted, that the 'account of wages' settled at the Mercantile Marine Office does not include the agent's account of supplies, and that he has to pay that afterwards; or he is told at the Custom-house to go down and pay his money back. It is still quite understood that the agent having the first claim on the man's wages in honour, if not in law, he has to go down at once to pay the amount of his account; and instances of failure in this respect are hardly known.

[W. Robertson, 11,022, 11,212; G.R. Tait, 14,529.]

The outfit and some of the family supplies are almost always taken from the agent's shop; but many of the men live so far from Lerwick, that the distance forbids them to deal with him to a large extent. The circ.u.mstances of the men are generally so much better than those of ordinary ling fishermen, that they are not compelled to get credit to the same extent, or perhaps can get it near home, since the enforcement of the law in 1867 gave some security that the earnings of the year's voyages would not be forestalled. The outfit is still almost invariably got from the agent; and Mr.

Robertson, whose special mission was to deny everything in the former evidence and in the Report by Mr. Hamilton, could not point to any case where it had been got elsewhere. Young hands in their first voyage must get their outfit from the agent; and as in their case the outfit is generally very expensive, the number of young hands engaged since 1867 has decreased, the agents being unwilling to give an outfit or credit, which one season's wages are often insufficient to pay.

[W. Robertson, 10,973; A.B. Jamieson, 14,318, 14, 321; J. Leisk, 14,637, 14,680; W. Robertson, 10,940, 10,954; W.B. Tulloch, 14,448; L.F.U. Garriock, 12,509; W. Robertson, 16,593; P.

Moodie, 14,675.]

Notwithstanding the enforcement of the law as to payment of wages, the old custom of dealing with the agent who gets the engagement is still not without force; and some men say that it is still so strong as to deprive them of credit elsewhere, because they are expected not only by the agent, but by other tradesmen, to be running an account at his shop.

[A. Moffat, 16,352; A. Goodlad, 16,399.]

Allotment notes have not come into general use at Lerwick; and when they are drawn up, they are sometimes taken in the name of the agent, or some one in his employment. Many families in either case are supplied with goods as they want them, or, if they live in Lerwick, with a weekly allowance of meal, the only difference being that the sums in allotment notes need not undergo the process of being handed over at the Mercantile Marine Office.

The money obtained on advance notes is often paid back at once to the agent for outfit or supplies, or rather the advance note is left with the agent, in security of the goods supplied. It is stated by Mr. Robertson (10,968) that the first month's advance is paid in cash. and that the men may spend it where they like. But since leaving Shetland I have received a very detailed statement by a seaman, that he was this year refused such payment unless he took two-thirds in goods. That statement, however, is not an oath, and therefore does not form part of the evidence. Of course an advance note is not strictly due until after the man has joined the s.h.i.+p; but the practice is as Mr. Robertson states in his evidence.

Only one case is spoken to in which an agent refused or hesitated to give cash for a balance due to a seaman. But in older times it was usual to 'shove off' the men, giving 10s. or 1 at a time, and refusing to settle with them.

[A. Blanch, 9144; G. Williamson, 9608; A.B. Jamieson, 14,311, W. Robertson, 11,180; A. Goodlad, 16,358; P. Halcrow, 15,552; W. Laurenson, 15,601.]

It is in evidence that many men believe that the agents, who have unquestionably a voice in regard to the selection of the men, procure berths in the first place for those who are indebted to them for outfit and supplies. Of course they have, as they admit, a strong interest to do so; and it is said that masters have complained of inferior men being put upon them for this reason. But no very distinct evidence as to this could be obtained. Two cases are referred to in which agents declined to procure engagements for men, or tried to prevent their being engaged. In one of these the offence was having drawn the money due for the sealing voyage, instead of letting it remain until after the whaling voyage.

[W.R. Tulloch, 14,490; W. Robertson, 16,572; W. Garriock, 16,280; T. Gifford, 15,552; W. Robertson, 10,959; G.R. Tait, 14,558; F. Gifford, 15,499; W.R. Tulloch, 14,483.]

While, therefore, Mr. Hamilton's Report must be received with some qualification in regard to one or two points as to which he could not have full information, and while it must be granted that a cursory perusal of it leaves a stronger impression of the abuses it exposes than a more critical study of its language justifies, its general correctness with regard to a recent time has not been disproved but confirmed by the attacks to which it has been subjected. Indeed, nothing could more clearly demonstrate the truth of the general conclusions to which it leads, than the fact's, (1) that Messrs. Hay & Co., Mr. Tait, and Messrs. Laurenson & Tulloch, three out of the four agents at Lerwick, have within the last two years retired from the business, all stating that the commission of 21/2 per cent. is insufficient to remunerate them for the trouble of engaging and settling with the men; and (2) that all the agents concur, by refusing credits, in excluding from engagements the 'green hands,' from whom the chief part of their profits was formerly derived. It is not surprising that these respectable merchants, whose error consisted in carrying on business on a system deeply rooted in the country, and which in more than one case had descended to them from their fathers and grandfathers, should have felt deeply the interference of new laws, the expediency of which they were naturally unable to see. But, in noticing the effect of these laws, imperfectly as they have hitherto been observed, it is impossible to avoid asking whether some a.n.a.logous regulations might not effectually extirpate the truck system in the other fis.h.i.+ng industries in Shetland.

HOSIERY AND SHETLAND

In the Evidence, the word hosiery is used improperly to include the large cla.s.s of woollen articles knitted by the Shetland women.

The fineness of the wool of the Shetland sheep probably gave a very early impulse to this industry. It is recorded that in the seventeenth century a great fair for the sale of hosiery, properly so called, was held each year, on the occasion of the visit of the Dutch fis.h.i.+ng fleet to Bressay Sound. The Rev. Mr. Brand says:

'The Hollanders also repair to these isles in June, as hath been said, for their herring fis.h.i.+ng; but they cannot be said so properly to trade with the countrey as to fish upon their coasts, and they use to bring all sorts of provisions necessary with them, save some fresh victuals, as sheep, lambs, hens, etc., which they buy on sh.o.r.e.

Stockins also are brought by the countrey people from all quarters to Lerwick, and sold to these fishers; for sometimes many thousands of them will be ash.o.r.e at one time, and ordinary it is with them to buy stockins to themselves; and some likewise do so to their wives and children, which is very beneficial to the inhabitants, for so money is brought into the country there is a vent for the wooll, and the poor are employed. Stockins also are brought from Orkney, and sold there, whereby some gain accrues to the retailers, who wait the coming of the Dutch fleet for a market.' [Brand's , p. 132.]

The 'Truck system' was even then in operation, for Mr. Brand says:

'These (Hamburg and Bremen)merchants seek nothing better in exchange for their commodities than to truck with the countrey for their fishes, which when the fishers engage to, the merchants will give them either money or ware, which they please.'-p. 131.

The finer articles, now known as Shetland shawls, veils, etc., were not manufactured till a much more recent date. Dr. Edmonstone speaks of stockings as if they were the only product of the Shetland knitter's industry; * and stockings and gloves are the only articles of woollen manufacture specified as made in Shetland by the writers of the Statistical Account in 1841 [Stat. Acc. 16, 47].

Originally the trade was entirely carried on by persons knitting the wool grown by their own flocks, or procured from their neighbours; and they bartered the articles so made to merchants in Lerwick or elsewhere for goods of every kind. Transactions of this kind, which are still common, do not fall within the provisions of the existing Truck Acts, which apply only to the payment of wages, and not to sales. Mr. Arthur Laurenson, the head of the oldest house in this business, says:

* , vol ii p. 1 (Edinr. 1809)

'It is only within the last twenty or thirty years that the women have been employed, so to speak, by the merchants. It was about 1840 or 1841 that the making of shawls began to get very common here; and about 1845 or 1846 there was a very great demand for them. After that the veil knitting commenced, about 1848 or 1849, and from 1852 to 1856 there was a very great trade done in veils.'

KNITTING PAID IN GOODS

Although payment in goods, or in account, of work done with the merchants' wool may be held to be an offence under the existing law, the custom of barter has so long existed in Shetland, and is so thoroughly interwoven with the habits of the people, that the question has never been raised in the local courts, and it does not even appear to have occurred to merchants that they might be held to infringe the law. In regard to both branches of the trade, the sale or barter of the knitted articles, and the employment of women to knit them, evidence has been freely given by the merchants themselves.

In both branches of the trade, it is the custom and understanding of the country, from Unst to Dunrossness, that payment shall be made in goods. Formerly money payment was never thought of. Of late, however, the custom of giving a portion of the payment in cash has, according to Mr. Laurenson and other merchants, been increasing. But this alleged increase is, I think, so slight as to be hardly worth mentioning, except in regard to the very highest cla.s.s of articles. These the merchants are anxious to get, and the women who knit them have learned to demand payment of the whole or a portion of the price in money. There are few knitters, however, of this cla.s.s, and some of them sell their work out of Shetland. An effort was made by some merchants to show that money had, in some cases, been paid for hosiery; but the few cases in which sums of any amount were so paid, and the smallness of the payments (3d., 6d., and 1s.) which, in all but one or two exceptional cases, appear in the women's accounts, only prove how strictly the rule is observed that all hosiery transactions are to be settled in goods. The cases are too numerous to be specified in which women say that they never get money, because it is a thing the merchants never give, and that they never ask for it; or that they asked for it once, and being refused, did not apply again. I give a single example. Margaret Williamson says:

'8314. Do you always get goods for your knitting?-Yes; I get goods, because I can get nothing else.'

'8315. Do you want to get money?-I hardly ever ask for money. I asked for a penny the last time out of 35s., and they refused to give it to me. I bought all that I could buy out of the work I had taken in, and when it came to the last penny I asked for it, but they would not give it. That was at Mr. Linklater's.'

'8316. What did he say he would give it in: sweeties?-No; they would not keep any sweeties for fear of having to give them.'

'8317. What did they give you?-They gave me the penny at length, but they said we must take goods.'

[A. Laurenson, 2136, 2168; R. Sinclair, 2399; C. Brown, 17,026; J.

Anderson, 6645; R. Sinclair, 2440; W. Johnstone, 2836; J.J. Bruce, 3384; R. Sinclair, 2436; A. Eunson, 3422; C. Winwick, 15; E.

Robertson, 238; A. Simpson, 313; B. Johnstone, 379; Janet Irvine, 87; M. Clunas, 3459; C. Williamson, 165; Jemima Tait, 354; E.

Paterson, 6460; M. Hughson, 6347.]

Knitters who sell their goods to the shopkeepers have not always an account in their books; perhaps, indeed, it may be said that, in a majority of cases in Lerwick, they have not. It is different in the country. But as it may often happen that a woman who brings a fine shawl or a lot of veils for sale does not want the whole value in goods at the time, or cannot make up her mind as to the particular article she will take, a balance of the price often stands over. The merchant will not give cash, unless it has been so specially agreed beforehand, for he would thereby lose the expected profit on his goods sold; and the knitter never thinks of offering to pay a discount for money. The balance is therefore (where the knitter has not an account) marked down in some corner of the day-book, or a line or voucher is given. The latter device has been adopted to a large extent in some shops. The most perfect, and perhaps the most extensive system of lines, is that in use in the shop of Messrs. R. Sinclair & Co. at Lerwick. This firm does not wish, they say, to give out lines, but would prefer that the women should take out the value at once. They have, however, been obliged to give lines; and they keep a line-book as a check, which was produced at the examination of Mr. R. Sinclair. This he stated to be the second book of the same kind which he had used since he perfected the system. It is a register of all the lines issued at the shop, and begins at the top of the first page, thus:

LINE-BOOK

'Line-Book, March 1871.

B.H.

60 2 6 0 2 6 17 0 3 3 0 3 3 45 0 11 0 0 11 0'

And so on.

M. Sanderson, 7297; R. Sinclair, 2592; J. Sinclair, 3251; R.

Linklater, 2695.]

For several pages at the beginning of the book the numbers are not consecutive; and it was explained that the unpaid notes in a previous book had been copied into this book, book, in order to avoid having to refer to two books in the course of business.

The notation employed consists of the letters of the alphabet, with a number up to 100. When the single letters were exhausted, that is, when 2600 lines were issued, the lines were marked AA 1, AA 2, and so on, up to 100; and then AB 1, AB 2, up to 100, and so on till the latest entry, which was on January 4, 1872, DA 90.

Each of the tickets (which are in this form-'CY 92-Credit bearer value in goods for 18s. R. Sinclair & Co., J.J.B. 22/12/72') is marked with the same letters and number the corresponding entry in this book. When it is returned, goods are given for its amount, or for part of it,-the payment in the latter case being sometimes marked onthe line which is retained by the knitter.

When the whole amount is paid the line is marked in the line-book 'Paid,' and the date of settlement is generally added, thus:

'B.H.

93 Paid 18/11/71 W.B.0 1 60 1 6 98 Paid 23/11/71 0 15 0 0 15 0'

The majority of the lines now standing in the early pages of this book are still unpaid.

Thus, on page 1, out of 29 lines from BAH 6 to BL 34 (199 lines issued within the same period having presumably been paid before this new register was begun), only 3 are remarked as paid. So, on the second page, out of 30 lines, from BL 36 to BO 24, only 4 are marked paid; and on page 3, from BO 40 to BR 57, only 3 are marked as paid.

Taking as a specimen the 74 lines issued on the first four days of December 1871, the average amount of the sums for which they are granted is 5s. 6d. the actual amounts varying from 31s. 6d. to 1s. Out of these 74, 21 lines, amounting in all to 8, 6s. 2d (and averaging 7s. 1020/21d), were paid at 4th January. It does not appear whether the extinction of the lines is always effected by taking goods to the full amount of the line, or whether part of a line is not, on the occasion of a purchase of goods, transferred to a new line, which might very readily be done.

Although Mr. Sinclair has the largest transactions in lines, they are resorted to when required by most of the merchants who buy hosiery or fancy goods.

[J. Anderson, 6709; L. Moncrieff, 11,497.]

A few other merchants employ the same system of lines and a line-book on a smaller scale; and they, too, ascribe the practice to their solicitude for the convenience of the knitters. The merchants of course have the benefit of getting their hosiery, to some extent, on credit; they have the use of the money without interest so long as it remains in their hands; and when they pay, they pay in goods on which they have a large profit.

[T. Nicholson, 35; M. Laurenson, 7299.]