1869.
May 18. 24 Ind. ml., 0 3 0
16 o. meal, 0 3 0
29. 35 o. meal, 0 4 3
June 14. 1/4 boll In. meal.
July 8. 35 sec. paring flour.
30. 35 overhd. flour.
Oct. 23. 1/4 gall. oil, 9d.
Dec. 10. 16 lbs. flour, 2s.
Was the oil mentioned in the entry of October 23, oil which you
required for burning?-Yes; and I could have got it at the same
time at Mr. Robertson's for not above 2s. per gallon.
15,008. In the continuation of that book there are the following
entries:-'1871. May 31: 35 Ind. meal; 35 Shetland groats:' did
you get these articles?-Yes.
15,009. Have you had any price fixed for them yet?-No; but I
knew the price current at the time.
15,010. There is also in the same book an entry under date June 2,
'1/2 boll overhead flour,' and 1s. 3d. is marked in small figures
above the entry: what does that mean?-I don't know. It was
there when I got the book home, but what it meant I could not say.
15,011. There are other two entries under date June 16, of '35
Indian meal, and 35 flour,' with the small figures 1s. and 1s. 3d.
respectively written above them in the same way?-These figures
may mean the price of the meal and flour per peck at that time.
15,012. There are also the following entries in the book:-'June
26, 35 flour, 5s.; July 5, 35 flour, 5s; and July 13, 28 Shetland
meal, 3s. 91/2d.:' have you any doubt that all these entries which
have been read are entries of articles which you got at the times
stated from Mr. Adie at Voe, and that they were charged at the
prices marked in the pass-book?-I have no doubt the entries are
quite correct as to that.
15,013. You have also produced to me a pass-book kept by you
with Mr. Robert Sutherland at Vidlin, in which I find the following
entries. 'Nov. 11, 1869: 16 lb. oatmeal, 2s. 6d. Feb. 11, 1870: 16
lb. oatmeal, 2s. 3d.:' have you any doubt that these articles were
got and charged at the prices stated?-I have no doubt of that, and
that these were the regular prices they were being sold at.
15,014. Is there anything else in these books to which you wish to
direct my attention?-There [showing] is an entry in the book with
Mr. Adie, September 26, sack pease-meal, and there is no price
stated.
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15,015. But there is no price fixed of fifty things in the book?-
No; that is what I say.
15,016. Did you not ask to have the price of that pease-meal fixed
at the time?-No.
Lerwick, January 29, 1872, CHARLES ROBERTSON, examined.
15,017. Your firm of R. & C. Robertson have an extensive trade in
provisions in Lerwick?-Yes; we do fair business, both wholesale
and retail.
15,018. Is it generally one kind of meal that is kept by each
merchant for ordinary retail purposes?-So far as I know, it is.
15,019. Do you generally have only one quality of oatmeal in stock
at a time?-Yes.
15,020. Is it the same with Indian meal?-We have not been in the
habit of selling Indian meal.
15,021. Can you tell me the price of oatmeal on 21st April
1868?-It was 26s. 6d. per boll of 140 lbs. is the credit price;
for cash it would be 6d. less.
15,022. How much would that be for 24 lbs.?-About 4s. 6d., or
about 1s. 7d. per peck.
15,023. Would is 7d. per peck be your selling price at that time?-
Yes.
15,024. Would 1s. 9d. per peck have been a high price for it in
Lerwick then?-It would have been much higher than we would
get for it.
15,025. Would you be surprised to find that at that date it was
selling in the country districts at is. 9d.?-I would.
15,026. Was the price in a fluctuating condition about that time?-
I see that a month later it was 1s. less, and two months later it was
2s. less per boll. The market was falling in April.
15,027. Did it continue to fall during the rest of the year?-I see
that a month later than the last quotation I have given it was just
about the same price.
15,028. Was there a good harvest in 1868?-No; but the crop here
does not affect the market price.
15,029. But was there a good harvest that year over Scotland and
England?-I don't remember just now. I see that in August 1868
the price was up 6d. per boll.
15,030. Was the price as high as 1s. 9d. per peck in January
1869?-It was not. I see on 26th January we have it charged at
23s. per boll, which would be about 1s. 6d. less per boll than it
was in July, and 3s. 6d. less than it was in April 1868.
15,031. Therefore you would say that in January 1869 meal was
considerably cheaper than it had been in April of the previous
year?-Yes.
15,032. What was the price of oatmeal on February 11, 1870?-I
don't have the price on the 11th; but on 5th February it was 17s.
3d., and on the 15th 17s., or about 1s. per peck.
15,033. Have you any means of telling me the price of Indian
meal, although you do not sell it?-I have bought two or three
bolls of it within the last year or two, and I have paid somewhere
about 13s. or 14s. per boll for it. That would be somewhere
about 9d. per peck, or rather 10d., because in weighing out there is
generally about half a peck of loss per boll, and allowance must be
made for that.
15,034. Then 1s. per peck would be rather a high price for it by
retail?-Yes, it would be high enough.
15,035. I suppose the qualities of flour that you sell in your trade
are more various than the qualities of meal?-Yes, we have
several qualities.
15,036. What would be the price of your best flour on October 6,
1869?-I see the finest quality of flour would be about 14d. per
peck. The next quality below that was 16s. per boll, which would
retail at 1s. per peck; that is overhead flour, what we call fine.
15,037. On 2d June 1871 what would be the price of overhead
flour?-It was 16s. 6d. per boll on 30th May, which would retail
at 1s. per peck. There are two qualities of overhead flour, fine
and common.
15,038. At that date would 1s. 3d. per peck have been a high price
for overhead flour of any quality?-Yes, it would have been a top
price. 1s. per peck was the price of the common kind; but there is
only a difference in price of about 2s. per boll between common
and fine.
15,039. Therefore, even for the fine quality, 1s. 3d. would be it
very high price?-Yes.