AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2635 



Q. Is not Mr. Steele what you call a fish -merchant ? A. He is not a 

 fish-buyer. 



Q. Does he sell his own fish that his vessels have caught ? A. He 

 does. 



Q. Upon the question of insurance, you explained that the insurers 

 would not be liable below a certain percentage. I did not understand 

 whether you knew what the percentage was. A. I do not. I believe it 

 to be 12 per cent. 



Q. I want to know positively. Do you wish that to go in your evi- 

 dence as your statement that it is 12 per cent. ? A. Not that it is, but 

 that I believe it to be so from hearsay. 



Q. Does it differ from ordinary policies ? A. Yes, our risks are dif- 

 ferent. 



Q. Do you know that your policies differ from ordinary policies about 

 the percentage about the percentage below which the insurer will not 

 be liable I A. I do not know that they differ. 



Q. I understand that you don't wish to make a positive statement on 

 that point? A. I don't wish to make a positive statement on anything 

 I don't understand. 



Q. Do you know the percentage below which ordinary companies don't 

 pay is it 5 per cent. ? A. I don't know. 



Q. In answer to Mr. Dana, you made what struck me as a curious 

 statement that to raise money on mortgage on a vessel you had to pay 

 a very high rate of interest ! A. A higher rate than on real estate. 



Q. What interest would you have to pay ? A. I know a mortgage on 

 a vessel would bring 8 per cent. 



Q. That applies to all vessels, does it not ! A. Yes. 



Q. Not specially to fishing- vessels ? A. lam talking about fishing- 

 vessels. 



Q. With regard to other vessels, engaged in general trade, what 

 would be the rate of interest at which you could raise money on them ? 

 , A. I don't know. 



Q. For you know anything it may be the same as on fishing-vessels. 

 Do you know or not that it is higher on general trading-vessels than on 

 fishing-vessels? A. No. 



Q. In point of fact you don't know anything about it ? A. No. 



Q. You don't know from practical knowledge that it is 8 per cent, on 

 .fishing-vessels ? A. No. 



Q. Your information on that is not such as will enable you to give 

 evidence under oath ? A. It is not positive. 



Q. You spoke in regard to the depreciation of those fishing-vessels, 

 and I understood your evidence to relate to all shipping ? A. To fishing- 

 vessels generally. 



Q. The same remarks you made with regard to the depreciation of 

 fishing- vessels are applicable to all shipping? A. I don't think so. 



Q. Why not? A. Because the wear and tear on fishing- vessels is 

 more than on any other class of vessels. 



Q. I will limit the question to a vessel employed in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence during the months when the fishery is prosecuted there June, 

 July, August, September, and October. Will the wear and tear of a 

 fishing-vessel in the gulf during those months be more than the wear 

 and tear of a trading- vessel ? A. I should say it was. 



Q. Give me your reason. A. The Gulf of St. Lawrence in the fall is 

 a very rough place. 



Q. You will remember that the fishing months I gave you were from 



