WNW a. was», MN.~.M “.5.“

3

That was the system, of course, completely in the early days of the century... They'd fish in the Spring and they‘d be on the company's books all year round. Johnston's, all they sold at the shore was tobacco. MacLeans, of 10 course, had the big store in Souris.

Another fisherman discussed this system and-price fixing as well. He mentioned'that Johnston's were the first packers in the area to pay a bonus and this "made a lot of trouble with the other fellas. You know the fishermen were looking for this cent ' and a half and they claimed they couldn’t pay it".

But years ago the dealers got together, years ago. 4";- Lester Johnston got drunked up one night and told it. The dealers, years ago, they met in town, Charlottetown in March and they set a price and they all had the same rice. They knew what the price was going to be when) they started. When they started to fish then the price would start leaking out. So and. so was going to pay so much and. another fella, someone else, Would tell ya ahnut Gallant's were going to pay so much. VJohn- ston was going to pay so much and all this added up to the same thing... And then there was no un- employment (insurance). Money was scarce and the price of fish wasn't too high and there was an awful lot of people that were in debt to the pack- ers from year to year and they more ‘or less held them. They didn't really have them under martial law or anything. They held them more or less from 12 year to year.

"Holding" the fishermen from year to year would appear to be a losing proposition for the packers. However, most packers did make a lot of'money in the season. MacIntyre who "ran a very‘close

8.13

busines seems to have made a lot of money. He could afford to

’ lose that amount of money in the winter if the fishermen still fish-

ed for him in the spring. They made more money if the fishermen

_ caught more as well. Most factories had fishermen competing for a

Thigh boat" prize.14 Fishermen were hard to get in the local East