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receive 22 cents and another 23 cents I have been in the habit of paying a 5 cent piece to the man entitled to 23 and requested him to give the 2 cents to the other man. The coin is supplied by the Masters of the ship.
5.
In answer to charge D. I have never habitually or otherwise substituted silver dollars short in value and/or subsidiary silver coins for the bank notes or coin received by me from the masters of ships for the purpose of paying off the crews of the ships nor have I ever made any profit by so doing. Masters of ships invariably bring their own subsidiary coins procured either from their agents or compradores for payment to their crew.
6.
In answer to charge E. I have never habitually or otherwise deducted from the wages of crews being paid off loans made to members of such crews by Boarding house Masters and others nor have I charged a commission to the lenders or to anyone else for so doing.
Generally in reply to the above charges I would point out that in those cases of which I know nothing I am unable to put forward any explanation except mere denial. I have always endeavoured to carry out my duties with strict regularity and to the best of my ability. I would also point out that members of Chinese crews almost invariably owe money to Boarding Master or to one another and the lenders always look to paying off time to obtain payment; this gives rise to frequent dissatisfaction amongst themselves. And applications are sometimes made to me to make deductions which I refuse to do and this gives rise to dissatisfaction with me. The process of paying off always leads to a certain amount of quarrelling in respect of loans. Charges of similar nature were brought against me in Captain Rumsey's time and Captain Barnes Lawrence's time and they both expressed themselves quite satisfied with the explanations I gave.