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Q-Can you tell us if the pigs are imported to order, or are they brought in and sold in the regular market?
A.-I think they are generally sold by agents, who charge so much commission for landing and selling them.
Q. And say six years ago, what was the price of an average sized pig delivered here before he went to the Market?
A.—I don't know just now. I know what it is at the present time.
Mr. Francis.-What is it?
A. It is about $17 a picul. That is a good big increase on what was paid six years ago.
Q.--How much?
A.--I think the live pig was worth about $13 six years ago.
Mr. Maitland. Is this the price for the pig weighed alive?
A. Yes.
Q.-What are the charges for leaving pigs in the Depôt before they are killed?
A. It is 5 cents.
Q.-Is it the same as on cattle?
A.-No, they pay two cents a day for cattle. For pigs it is 5 cents.
Mr. Osborne.-2 cents and stop as long as they like is it not?
A.--Yes.
Q. And the expense of butchering them ?
A.-That is 40 cents for an animal over a picul and 20 cents for an animal under
a picul.
Q.
How many pork butchers' stalls are there in the Market?
A. In the Central Market there are fifty.
Q.-Is there a sufficient supply of stalls in the Market there for this pork business ? Can as many men as want stalls get them without pressure?
A.--Yes, there are any quantity.
Mr. Marshall.--Are there any vacant stalls?
A. There are not any vacant at present. Until this year there were 10 or 11 vacant, but in January they were rented by some stall-holders who were afraid that a suggestion of mine to convert their stalls into vegetable stalls would be acted upon.
Dr. Hartigan.--Who has got the management?
A.--The Registrar General.
Q.--Does that enable those people who have rented these vacant stalls to prevent other people setting up as pork butchers if they want to?
A. There is a Pork Guild you know.
Mr. Osborne.--Do you think that the existence of a Pork Guild has any injurious effect on buyers so far as price and supply is concerned ?
A.-I don't know that it has.
Mr. Osborne.--The Pork Guild has been in existence as long as the Colony almost.
Mr. Fung Wa Chün.-There has been a Pork Guild all the time.
Mr. Francis. In your experience yon have no knowledge of the Guild working injuriously and preventing another man from setting up in the Pork business?
A.—No, I don't know of anything of that nature at all..