AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. . 2673 



Q. Since you were here on Friday you have made up a statement'dif- 

 fering somewhat in principle and also in some of its details from that 

 you submitted on Friday ? A. Yes. 



Q. From whom did you get the statement that the fishing gear of 4 "a 

 Tessel cost about $45 ? A. I made it up from my own idea of the things, 

 and when I sat down and enumerated them I found they amounted to a 

 good deal more than I had stated. 



Q. The first statement you made was a hap-hazard one. Had you 

 not taken the trouble to put down the items that made up $45 ? A. I 

 had not put down the items. I took the cost of a seiner in 1875, the 

 fishing gear of which amounted to nearly $50. 



Q. Then you took it from the highest cost we have had before us yet ? 

 A. No. 



Q. Is it not the Centennial one ? A. I allude to that one. 



Q. The cost of the vessel was submitted to the Centennial Commis- 

 sioners? A. Yes. 



Q. In this statement you make the* cost much higher ? A. I do. 



Q. Tell me who did you consult with regard to the articles and prices 

 since Friday ? A. I consulted myself as regards the articles. 



Q. Who did you consult with? A. I did not consult with anyone. 



Q. You made that up without consultation ? A. I made it up from 

 niy recollection of the articles which went on board of a vessel. 



Q. Do you mean to say you made it up without consulting any prac- 

 tical man ? A. I do. I asked in regard to the prices. 



Q. Whom did you consult? A. With a Gloucester man who fits 

 vessels. 



Q. What is his name? A. Mr. Wonson. 



Q. Of the prices, previous to consulting him, you had no knowledge ? 

 A. I had knowledge of the prices in 1860, 1861, and 1862. 



Q. That was 14 years ago? A. The basis on which Mr. Steele's 

 voyages are made up is on an average for 19 years past. 



Q. What does this statement purport to be ; is it the average of a 

 number of years? A. It is an average of 17 years on which the 

 voyages of Mr. Steele's vessels were based. 



Q. I thought it explained the mackerel fishery at the present time! 

 A. No. 



Q. Have you got a price list for each of the seventeen years the 

 prices of which Mr. Wonson gave you ? A. No. 



1 Q. He guessed the average price for seventeen years of each of those 

 articles, or was- it arrived at by a comparison of actual figures ? A. I 

 knew the prices of those articles, according to my recollection, in I860, 

 1861, and 1862. I compared the prices of those years with the prices 

 now, to get at my estimate. 



Q. I speak in regard to your conversation with Mr. Wonson. Did he 

 remember the prices of each of the articles during the seventeen 

 years? A. Of course not. 



Q. Nor could you ? A. Of course not. 



Q. Therefore, if neither of you could recollect the prices, how could 

 you make up the statement ? A. I made it up according to the best of 

 m y judgment. 



Q. The value of that would consist in the means of knowing. You 

 did not possess price-lists for each year to ascertain the amount? A. 

 , No. 



Q. The second statement is $20 over the former statement? A. Yes. 



Q. And that estimate was submitted to the Centennial Commis- 

 168 F 



