Angus Johnson, May, 2001.




[Page 1 rpt.]
REPORT.
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TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY AUSTEN BRUCE, ONE OF HER
MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF STATE.

SIR,
THE Report on the Truck System, presented to Parliament in 1871,
stated that the Commissioners, Messrs. Bowen and Sellar, had
received information from four witnesses with regard to Shetland,
'tending to show that the existence of Truck in an oppressive form
is general in the staple trades of the islands'. The Commissioners
in their Report call attention to this evidence, and add: 'Time
would not allow of a local inquiry at Shetland, nor can an inquiry
be adequately conducted into the Truck which is alleged to prevail
there otherwise than upon the spot. No opinion accordingly is
offered either as to the extent of, or the remedy for, the alleged
evils; but the necessity of some investigation by Her Majesty's
Government into the condition of these islands seems made out.'

Having been appointed, by a warrant under your hand, dated Dec.
23, 1871, one of the Commissioners under the Truck Commission