CIIAKACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 199 



could not Ije ran-icil on witliunt tlu-m. Sliips were needed to 

 carry the fi.'^li to market ; Ijoats, coasting vessels, fishing gear, 

 must he procured. Tlie fishermen wei'C poor and most of them 

 i-e(|uired advances in food and clotliing at the connnencement of 

 each fishing seas(ju. Labour mu.st l)e organized or the fishermen 

 Avould starve. Capital wa.s needed to put the wheels of industry 

 in motion. Thus a new race of merchants sprung up. Many of 

 them were men wlio by their superior energies, skill and perse- 

 verance, rose from the ranks, and accumulated ANealth which 

 they used in the business of the country. Otliers were men who 

 represented business firms in tlie old country and invested their 

 capital in the fisheries. Tlius grew up the " credit " or " supply- 

 ing system" as it was called. The merchants made advances in 

 tlie necessaries of life, and at the close of the fishing season re- 

 reived the products of the fishermen's labours in payment. It 

 is a system frauglit willi many evils ; Init under such circum- 

 i^tances, its growtli and ramifications were iuevitalile. It was 

 injurious to the industries of the 2)eople. Many l)ecame hope- 

 lessly plunged in debt, and men so circumstanced lost heart and 

 hope, and became <lependent, anil too often indolent, careless as 

 to the cure of tlieir fish, and inditt'ei'ent as to the payment of 

 tlieir advances. On the otlier hand the cajjitalists liaving great 

 risks to run, and bail debts and precarious fisheries to reckon on, 

 are compelled to charge higher rates tlian tliose of the ordinary 

 market, otherwise he would speedily become bankrupt. The 

 "supplying system '' is cpiite as Ijad for the merchant as the fish- 

 .erman ; and it is a great mistake to sujipose that tlie merchants 

 are accumulating large fortunes in this line of l)usiness, which is 

 as bad for him who gives as for him who takes. In fact the 

 merchants have done much in recent years to"curtail the " credit 

 system ''" and keep it within the narrowest possilde bounds. Its 

 extinction, however, must be a matter'of time. To attempt to 

 terminate it abruptly would cioate wide-sjHcad misery, and 

 derange the whole business of the country. 



C'OXSERA^4TISM OF THE OLDER SCHOOI. OF 3XEKCHANTS. 



"What is needed now is to promote a good understanding be- 



