History of the United Co-operative Baking Society Ltd. : $b A fifty years' record 1869

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Title: History of the United Co-operative Baking Society Ltd. : A fifty years' record 1869–1919
Author: Reid, William
Language: English
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*** Start of this Doctrine Publishing Corporation Digital Book "History of the United Co-operative Baking Society Ltd. : A fifty years' record 1869–1919" ***
CO-OPERATIVE BAKING SOCIETY LTD. ***

[Illustration:

CENTRAL PREMISES
]

HISTORY
OF THE
UNITED CO-OPERATIVE BAKING SOCIETY LTD.
A FIFTY YEARS’ RECORD
1869–1919

BY WILLIAM REID

[Illustration: Logo]

PUBLISHED BY UNITED CO-OPERATIVE BAKING SOCIETY LIMITED
M‘NEIL STREET, GLASGOW
1920

[Illustration: SCOTTISH CO-OPERATIVE WHOLESALE SOCIETY LTD. PRINTERS
BOOK BINDERS & STATIONERS]

PREFACE.

The chief advantage of prefaces is the opportunities they give authors
for making apologies and for returning thanks. In the present instance
the hurry with which the book has had to be written did not allow time
enough to do many things which the writer would have liked to do. He
would have liked to linger with the old-time enthusiasts who laid the
foundations of the Society, to have made himself as familiar as possible
with the times in which they lived and with the thoughts in their minds,
so that he might be able to present to his readers a picture of their
times as they saw them, and of their difficulties as they had to
encounter them. For this there was no time, and so he has had to content
himself with telling a plain, unvarnished tale of difficulties met and
overcome, of a faith which refused to be dismayed, and of a triumph
which is visible to all.

Unfortunately, there is no one alive to-day who had any active part in
the inception of the Society. This increased the difficulty of
presenting a true picture of the beginnings of the Society, but some
help in this direction was got from the “Year Book,” which had been
written by Mr Lochrie in 1896. The writer is also very much indebted to
Mr David Brown, of the office staff of the Society, who prepared
synopses of the various minutes of the Society. These synopses, by
indicating the salient points in the minutes, greatly lightened the
labour of selection; but, in addition, every minute has been carefully
read at least once, and many of them much oftener, so that complete
accuracy might be secured.

Great assistance in dealing with the history of the last thirty years
has also been given by Mr James H. Forsyth, cashier of the Society,
whose knowledge of the transactions of that period is unparalleled.

W. R.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE
I. SCOTLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 1
II. THE DAWN OF CO-OPERATION 7
III. THE FIRST YEAR 17
IV. ST JAMES STREET BAKERY 29
V. THE BRANCH CONTROVERSY 43
VI. ST JAMES STREET: DEVELOPMENTS 56
VII. ST JAMES STREET: CONGESTION 69
VIII. M‘NEIL STREET 82
IX. M‘NEIL STREET: RAPID DEVELOPMENTS 97
X. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 110
XI. FURTHER EXTENSIONS 123
XII. CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT 144
XIII. CLYDEBANK BRANCH 158
XIV. BELFAST BRANCH 166
XV. A NEW PRESIDENT 184
XVI. FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH 197
XVII. PROGRESS CONTINUES STEADY 210
XVIII. BAKING UNDER WAR CONDITIONS 224
XIX. BREAD BAKING UNDER CONTROL 238
XX. EDUCATIONAL WORK 253
XXI. MEN WHO WROUGHT 262
STATISTICS 273

ILLUSTRATIONS.

CENTRAL PREMISES _Frontispiece_
COBURG STREET AND ST JAMES STREET PREMISES _Facing page_ 16
M‘NEIL STREET PREMISES „ 17
M‘NEIL STREET PREMISES „ 32
CLYDEBANK BAKERY „ 33
PAST PRESIDENTS (1) „ 64
PAST PRESIDENTS (2) „ 65
PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY „ 80
AUDITORS „ 81
DIRECTORS (1) „ 112
DIRECTORS (2) „ 113
BELFAST ADVISORY COMMITTEE „ 128
MANAGER AND CASHIER „ 129
EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE „ 160
PRIZE SILVER BAND „ 161
BELFAST BAKERY „ 176
ST MUNGO HALLS „ 177
DEPARTMENTAL MANAGERS (1) „ 208
DEPARTMENTAL MANAGERS (2) „ 209
DEPUTATIONS TO ENGLAND (1) „ 224
DEPUTATIONS TO ENGLAND (2) „ 225
ROLL OF HONOUR „ 277

CHAPTER I.
SCOTLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.

GENERAL SOCIAL CONDITIONS—EARLY FARMING METHODS—POVERTY OF THE
PEOPLE—MINERS AS SERFS—“THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE”—IMPROVING
CONDITIONS: THE ACT OF UNION AND ITS EFFECTS—THE INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION—THE FACTORY SYSTEM: ITS EFFECT ON THE STATUS OF MEN.

The conditions under which the people of Scotland lived during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were rude and uncouth, and, when
judged by modern standards, could scarcely be described as other than
appalling. In the few towns of any size, stone buildings were the rule;
but in the rural districts the majority of the people lived in huts, the
walls of which were built of sods and stones, and which were roofed with
wattles and thatched with rushes. These huts were windowless save for a
hole in the wall which admitted some air but very little light during
the summer, and which was stuffed with rags and rushes during winter in
order to keep out the snell North wind. The floor was but earth,
hardened with the trampling of countless feet; and fireplace or chimney
there was none, unless a few stones set in the middle of the floor or
against one of the gables can be called a fireplace, and a hole in the
roof, through which the smoke found its way after it had explored every
nook and cranny of the house, a chimney.

Famine was an almost annual visitor. The majority of the people lived by
agriculture, but the land was cold and undrained, and the methods of
tilling were ineffective. The motive power was sometimes provided by
oxen, but often the people harnessed themselves to the primitive
implements. The result was that the grain grown was poor in quality and
scanty in quantity, while often it failed to ripen because of the
wetness of the soil, and because, also, of lateness in sowing. The
cattle were poor and underfed. Roots for feeding purposes were unknown
until near the end of the period; there was no grain to spare, and
little straw or hay for winter feeding, so that the poor brutes had to
forage for themselves as best they could.

In the hall of the laird the position was a little better, but few of
the lairds of that day could aspire to the standard of living of a
moderately well-to-do farmer of to-day. Of food there was always enough
in the hall, but it was coarse and unsavoury. Throughout the winter
fresh meat was unknown. The cattle were killed in the autumn; the meat
was stored in brine barrels, and this brine-soaked meat, or swine flesh
preserved in the same manner, was the only meat which found a place on
the table of the laird during the winter months, except on the few
occasions of great importance when one or two fowls were killed.

The farming class, if it be not a misnomer to call them farmers, usually
lived in groups of such huts as are described above, and tilled their
land more or less in common. The system chiefly in vogue was the “run
rig” system, under which exchange of ground took place every year. The
more important of their crude implements were also held in common, and
as these could only be used by one person at a time—as, also, it was
often well on in the spring before any thought of tillage occurred to
them or the condition of their water-logged soil would permit of it, and
as much time was often lost in deciding the rotation in the use of the
implements—the return in the good years was only just sufficient for
their wants. As the bad years were generally twice as numerous as the
good years, the conditions of the rural workers were generally most
miserable. Ill-treated Nature, receiving no encouragement from man save
the “tickling of her face with a stick,” refused to give of her bounty,
and the people who depended on her for life suffered accordingly.

A condition of continual hunger was the lot of the labourers who had no
land to till. They were often forced to depend for food on the roots and
berries they could gather in the woods; the scraps which went to feed
the laird’s pigs were luxuries which only came their way at long
intervals. Work was intermittent; it was poorly paid, for money was even
scarcer than food. The only landless men who had what might be termed a
decent living wage for the period were the miners. They received about a
shilling a day; but, in return, they sold themselves into serfdom, for,
from the beginning of the seventeenth century until the closing year of
the eighteenth, no man, woman, or child who once entered a mine to work
in it could leave it again. If the mine was sold the sale carried with
it the right to their labour; they were bondslaves until death, the
great emancipator, burst their shackles and set them free for ever.

On the large farms, which became more numerous during the eighteenth
century, ploughmen received the truly magnificent salary of 35/ a year,
with one or two perquisites, of which one was a pair of boots. The
ploughman’s daughter, if she went to the farm to assist the farmer’s
wife and daughters with the cows, received, as a reward for her labour,
13/4 a year, a piece of coarse cloth for an apron, and a pair of shoes.

In the towns the conditions were little better. In the early years of
the eighteenth century a succession of bad years brought distress to all
sections of the populace. There was much unrest, which was fanned into
flame by the passing of the Act of Union in 1707, when a considerable
amount of rioting took place in various parts of the country. In
addition, the foreign trade of the country had been ruined by the
English Navigation Act of 1660, which provided that all trade with the
English Colonies should be carried in English ships alone.

In the closing years of the seventeenth century Paterson, the founder of
the Bank of England, launched his Darien scheme, famous in history as
“The South Sea Bubble,” for the purpose of inaugurating a great world
exchange and mart at the Isthmus of Panama. Scotsmen became responsible
for £400,000 of the capital, and actually paid in £220,000. The jealousy
of the English merchants, however, together with the fact that it had
been proposed to establish a depot on land which was claimed by Spain,
without having gone through the formality of consulting that country
beforehand, handicapped the scheme from the outset. Nevertheless,
although opposed by the English, and cold-shouldered by the Dutch, whose
help they had hoped to enlist, the Scotsmen persevered with their
project. A company, numbering 1,200, set out for their destination,
landed, and erected a fort. Difficulties came fast, however. The King
had not given his consent to the scheme, and the American colonists
refused to have anything to do with them. Supplies gave out before the
new crops were ready, and none were forthcoming from home, so that at
the end of eight months the colony was broken up. Out of a total of
2,500 persons who had left Scotland, not more than thirty ever reached
home again. The failure of the scheme caused untold misery and ruin in
Scotland, and did much to engender the bitter feelings toward the
English which showed themselves when the union of the two Parliaments
was being discussed; but, worst of all, it bled the country white; so
much so that when, a few years later, the British Government called in
the Scottish coinage in order to replace it with coinage of the United
Kingdom, only coinage to the value of £400,000 was returned to Scotland.

IMPROVING CONDITIONS.

The Act of Union was exceedingly unpopular, but, as it turned out, it
was not an unmixed evil, for it placed Scottish traders on the same
footing as the English in respect to trading with the Colonies, from
which they had been debarred for fifty years. It also gave Scottish
ships free entry to English ports and Scottish goods free entry to
English markets, and so marked the beginning of the increasing
prosperity which has come to Scotland since then.

In particular the opening up of trade with the Southern Colonies had
much to do with laying the foundation of the proud commercial position
which Glasgow holds to-day. Merchants from the little town on the banks
of the Clyde began to trade with these Colonies, bringing back in
exchange for their wares tobacco and other products, including cotton.
During the same period there was introduced from Holland the art of fine
spinning, and on these two articles of Colonial produce—tobacco and
cotton—were built up many fortunes. Later in the century the invention
of the spinning jenny, the carding frame, and the power-loom, and the
discovery by Watt of how to harness the power of steam to production all
gave an impetus to the commercial growth of Scotland. With the
application of the power of steam the foundation of Scotland’s
pre-eminent position in the manufacture of iron and steel and in the
building of ships was laid, for by the application of steam-power to
pumping machinery and to haulage it was found possible to keep her coal
pits free from water and to dig vertical shafts to the coal seams.

Thus the eighteenth century, which had begun with the Scottish people in
the direst poverty, ended with many of them in comparative comfort and
with the standard of living for all definitely raised. Never since then,
not even in the period of deep poverty which followed the close of the
Napoleonic war nor in the “hungry ’forties,” have the whole people
fallen back into the depths of misery in which they were sunk at the
beginning and all through the seventeenth century and well into the
“’twenties” of the eighteenth. At times since then progress seemed to be
at a standstill; at times it seemed even to be on the down grade; but
the impetus has always been recovered; the standard of living has been
rising gradually, and although we are still far removed from the rude
profusion which has caused the century in English history which followed
the “Black Death” to be spoken of as “the golden age of labour,” the
trend of our march is in the direction of a condition which, measured by
the different standards of to-day, will approximate to that long past
happy period.

THE FACTORY SYSTEM.

While it is admitted that the inventions and discoveries of Sir Joseph
Arkwright (partner of David Dale at Lanark), Hargreaves, Crompton, and
Cartwright revolutionised industry, and in the long run brought a higher
standard of living to the people, yet the first results of their
application were not wholly good. For centuries spinning and weaving had
been carried on in the homes of the people, but with the invention of
the spinning jenny, the carding frame, and the power-loom the weaving
industry was removed to larger buildings. At first these were merely
makeshifts. A disused stable or cowshed, any building, in fact, which
would house a number of looms was good enough for the new industry. The
hand-loom weavers soon found that they were unable to compete with the
new methods. To make matters worse, where they did not themselves give
up and take service under the new regime, their wives and their children
did, and became competitors in driving the husbands and fathers out of
the industry.

Soon the millowners discovered that in the new methods with the new
cheap labour there was a mine of wealth and, their greed growing by what
it fed on, they sought for even cheaper labour than that of the poorly
paid wage-slave women and children. This cheaper labour they found in
the thousands of pauper children under the care of the supervisors of
the poor. The story of the cruel treatment of these poor little mites,
who were often chained to the frames of the looms and whipped to keep
them awake, is one of the blackest pages in the whole history of the
growth of the capitalist system in Great Britain.

In the weaving trades the entry of women and children changed the whole
economy of the weavers’ homes. Formerly the work had been done by the
male members of the families, assisted to some extent by the women, but
under the new system the factory owner found that he could get as much
work done by the mother at a considerable reduction on the wages paid to
her husband, and so the husband found himself workless. Then it was
found that the children soon became as expert as their elders, and so a
further reduction in wages took place.

The net result was that it became a case of equal pay for equal work,
but the standard of pay was that of the women and not of the men, and
soon the whole family had to work to provide the necessaries of life for
the home which should have been provided by the wages of the husband
alone. Even to-day, while the women of the cotton mills who are members
of their unions are probably the best paid female workers in the
country, the standard for men is much below that for male workers in
other trades; so that, in the case of the factory workers, “equal pay
for equal work” has meant a general lowering of the standard of pay.

CHAPTER II.
THE DAWN OF CO-OPERATION.

CO-OPERATION IN PREHISTORIC TIMES—EARLY TEUTONIC CO-OPERATION—THE
SCOTTISH CLAN SYSTEM—THE PRESENT CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM—FENWICK AND
OTHER CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES—EARLY CO-OPERATIVE BAKERIES—THE
GLASGOW BAKING SOCIETIES—EARLY METHODS OF CONTROLLING
PRICES—STIRLINGSHIRE AND THE HILLFOOTS—BAKING SOCIETIES IN FIFE
AND THE NORTH—CO-OPERATIVE BAKING IN THE BORDERLAND—GLASGOW
SOCIETY—CO-OPERATIVE BAKING IN 1866—THE FIRST FEDERATED BAKERY.

The Co-operative principle is as old as human intelligence. As soon as
man became possessed of the first faint glimmerings of reason he began
to seek communion with his fellows, and began, also, to take concerted
action with them for mutual protection. It was natural that this should
be so. The world must have been a terrible place for the human race in
those early days. On land, in the sea, and in the air it was peopled
with monsters, against whose attacks the unaided strength and skill of a
solitary human were of no avail. Only by combination could he hope to
survive. Results have proven that combination—Co-operation—is the law of
life; that the men, the animals, the insects even which have learned to
combine, have progressed in the scale of evolution; while the solitary
monsters of past ages have disappeared, and are known only from a bone
found here and a partially complete skeleton there.

That the human race gathered together in communities very early in its
history there is abundance of evidence. In some of our cliffs there are
caves which bear traces of human habitation; while scattered here and
there over the world are immense mounds of shells, extending sometimes
to a depth of many feet and acres in width, on what is believed to have
been the seashore of prehistoric times, which show that, for a long
period, these places were frequented by communities.

This community living has continued all down the ages. The “commune”
system in vogue amongst the Teutonic races was an imperfect system of
Co-operative farming by an agricultural community, which finally ceased
in Germany during the nineteenth century. It was introduced into this
country by the invading Teuton races in the early centuries of the
Christian era; and, with various modifications and adaptations, was
still in being at the time of the Norman conquest. From that date it
gradually declined, until, by the end of the sixteenth century, it had
all but died out in England, but was still alive in parts of Scotland in
the clan system. There the old community spirit continued to prevail
until after the rebellion of 1745, when the common lands of the clans
were given to the chiefs. In the lowlands, also, some trace of this
principle continued to be visible amongst the farming community.

CO-OPERATION AS WE KNOW IT.

When or where Co-operation, in the sense in which the word is used
to-day, first came into being there is no means of knowing. Mr Maxwell,
in his “History of Co-operation in Scotland,” tells the story of the old
society originated by the weavers of Fenwick one hundred and fifty years
ago, before Robert Owen was born; but, although this is the oldest
Co-operative society of which any record remains, it by no means follows
that others did not exist even earlier. Indeed, Mr Maxwell himself
mentions that traditions of other old societies exist in various parts
of the country. Of these, no records remain. It is only ten years since
there vanished from the ken of the people of Govan a society which kept
proudly painted over its door a record of the fact that it was
established in 1777—eight years later than Fenwick. There still exists
in Glasgow a society which dates back to the first year of the
nineteenth century, and the Lennoxtown Society celebrated its centenary
seven years ago. All over Scotland there exist societies which are
nearing a century of life, and Mr Maxwell has rescued from oblivion the
names, and sometimes part of the records, of others which long ago
disappeared.

In their practice these old-time societies differed in material points
from the practice which takes its name from the Lancashire weaving town
where it originated—Rochdale—but the spirit which inspired those
pioneers and the broad principles of self-help in Co-operation under
which they worked, are the spirit and principles of the Co-operators of
to-day. They were, in fact, the spirit and principles which combine to
make progress possible, and in the absence of which come stagnation and
decay.

CO-OPERATIVE BAKERIES.

Like the inception of Co-operation itself, the beginnings of baking
Co-operatively are lost in the misty past. Where the first Co-operative
bakery was started, or when, there is no means of knowing.

Research has shown that, in the early years of last century, bread was
being produced and distributed by Co-operative bakeries in Glasgow, but
how many in number these bakeries were, where exactly they were
situated, or what turnover they had it is not possible to discover;
indeed, it is probable that we should never have known of their
existence, except as a tradition, had it not been for the fact that a
Glasgow writer, who published in 1816 a book in two volumes dealing with
the affairs of Glasgow, thought it necessary to defend the private
bakers of the city at that time against any possible accusation of
overcharging for bread, by describing the methods which were adopted by
the Co-operative societies, and emphasising the fact that they sold
bread at the cost of production, and only to their own members.

This Glasgow author, Mr Cleland by name, had been describing the means
which had been taken by the Governments of George II. and George III. to
regulate the price of bread in accordance with price of wheat. His
description is very interesting, if only for the fact that it shows that
steps had to be taken to regulate the exactions of the profiteer, even
in those early days. It shows, also, that the methods of our various
“Controllers,” “Food Committees,” etc., are not new, but are very much
along the same lines as those devised to keep down the price of bread a
century and a half ago. The price of bread was regulated in accordance
with the price of wheat, and the baker was allowed a fixed sum per sack
of flour for his expenses of baking and distributing.

In the various cities and towns the application of this Act was in the
hands of the magistrates; and, in Glasgow, bread prices were fixed at
various intervals until 1800, when it was decided at the last Bread
Court held to cease the practice, as, in the opinion of the magistrates,
such a course was unnecessary; but the weight of loaves continued to be
standardised at 4 lbs. 5 oz. 8 drams for the quartern loaf, and 2 lbs. 2
oz. 12 drams for the half-quartern loaf. In view of the price of bread
to-day, it is interesting to note that the price of the half-quartern
loaf was fixed by the last Glasgow Assize, held in 1800, at 10d. for
fine wheaten bread and 7½d. for household bread, which was evidently of
a much coarser and poorer quality.

Some of the Bread Assize regulations were peculiar. For instance, the
baker had to produce eighty loaves from the sack of flour, and sell
these eighty loaves at the exact price which they cost him, in
accordance with the cost of flour. “As, however,” says Mr Cleland, “they
usually were able to get two loaves more from the sack, and these two
loaves were clear profit, the price at which they were sold was a
consideration.” At the beginning of the nineteenth century the expenses
per sack allowed to the bakers were 14/, but by 1816 this sum had been
increased to 16/9.

It was within the right of any two bakers to call the attention of the
magistrates to the fact that the price of bread or flour had risen or
fallen, and to offer proof. When this was done the magistrates or
Justices of the Peace were obliged to take evidence as to the current
prices, and, if they found any variation from the last price fixed,
“they shall immediately set a new price, which shall remain unaltered
until a new Assize has been held.” One wonders whether the magistrates
of those days were as difficult to convince that any alteration was
necessary as have been the Food Control officials during the last year
of the war.

“In 1801 no Assize was held, and it was left to the bakers to sell bread
at such price as they could afford.” It is probable that in the results
of this decision the reason for the starting of Co-operative societies
is to be found, for human nature and the practices of the times being
what they were, we may be sure that the bakers saw to it that, however
much their profits might increase, they did not go down at all.

Mr Cleland goes on to say:—

“During the last fifteen years, when no Assize has been fixed in
Glasgow, the bakers have uniformly proportioned the price of bread
to the price of wheat, similarly to what it would have been had the
Assize been sitting. There are instances, however, of individual
bakers selling their bread somewhat lower than the general run of
the trade; and baking societies have been established in the suburbs
who uniformly sell their bread one penny, twopence, and sometimes
even threepence on the quartern loaf lower than the bakers’ price.
These societies do not sell their bread to anyone but their own
members; they give no credit and receive neither profit from the
concern nor interest on their capital; besides, the members are
subjected to the risk of loss incident to the breach of trust in
their servants. The greater part of these societies make no
household or coarse bread, and no loaf less than quartern; by which
arrangement it is evident the lower classes are excluded, as they
neither can advance their share of capital nor at all times purchase
a quartern loaf. Moreover, the bakeries belonging to these societies
being all situated outside the royalty, the flour is exempt from
‘multures,’ a tax to which the flour baked within the royalty is
subject, amounting to one eighty-fourth of the whole. As the Assize
laws wisely determined (for the sake of the lower classes of the
people) that bread shall be baked from a peck loaf down to a
quarter-quartern loaf, in exact proportion, and that the twopenny
and penny loaves shall be of a weight exactly corresponding to the
price of the quartern loaf, it is evident that the person who
manufactured the small and the coarse bread, from which the
labouring classes of the community are generally supplied, all
bearing the same proportion to the wheaten quartern loaf, cannot
sell so cheap as the societies; among other reasons because the
additional labour is very considerable, and in weighing out the
aliquot parts, unless some allowance is made in the dough, the small
bread will be deficient in weight when it comes out of the oven;
besides, the regular baker must support his family, pay his
business, and pay local taxes; he has also to run the risk attending
credit, and frequently to give one penny to the shilling discount to
chandlers who retail his bread.”

The above is the sum of our knowledge of these early Glasgow baking
societies, but the fact that they were able to sell their bread a penny
to threepence per quartern loaf below the prices charged by the private
bakers, at a time when the quartern loaf cost 1/8 and 1/3, is
significant. It meant that the baker was getting from 6/8 to 20/ per
sack of flour over the cost of production of the societies, and that,
therefore, the cost to the consumer was extortionate. Doubtless, also,
the conditions which led to the formation of Co-operative societies in
Glasgow prevailed elsewhere, and it is quite likely that baking
societies existed at that early date in other parts of Scotland, had
their day, and passed out of existence without a trace remaining. Even
of those of the existence of which we do know particulars are absent; in
most cases the name alone remains, and often not even that but only a
tradition.

STIRLINGSHIRE AND HILLFOOTS SOCIETIES.

Early in the nineteenth century Co-operation found a home in
Stirlingshire. In the thirtieth year of the century the Bannockburn
Co-operative Society came into being as the result of a lecture on
“Co-operation,” which was given by Mr William Buchanan, a resident
medical man. So impressed were members of his audience with what they
had heard that a committee was formed immediately to draft rules and
take the steps necessary for the formation of a society. The rules were
agreed to at a meeting which was held on 27th November 1830. Bannockburn
Society still exists and flourishes to-day, after an unbroken career of
eighty-nine years.

About the same time—it may have been earlier or a little later, for no
information about its beginning can be found—a baking society was formed
in Bannockburn, and continued to flourish for a number of years. Of the
fact that the members of the other Bannockburn Society were interested
in the doings of the baking society evidence is given in a minute of
that society in the early ’thirties, in which it is noted that the
baking society had agreed to supply Alva Society with bread.
Incidentally, this entry would seem to fix a period at which the Alva
Baking Society was not in existence. The Bannockburn Baking Society was
amalgamated with the Bannockburn Society in 1846.

In the year 1847 one of the most flourishing baking societies in the
country came into existence, for on the 23rd June in that year the
Bainsford and Grahamston Baking Society was formed. Notwithstanding that
general societies have grown up all round the town of Falkirk, this
society continues to maintain a separate and flourishing existence, its
latest balance-sheet showing a membership of 4,733 and an average output
of 371 sacks per week.

Other baking societies were formed in the same district. Quite recently
one of these, Stenhousemuir Baking Society, was amalgamated with the
Stenhousemuir Equitable Society, after a separate existence of many
years. Another baking society was situated in the little village of
Carronshore. In the Hillfoots district some time in the late ’forties
baking societies came into existence at Alva and Tillicoultry. The
baking society at Tillicoultry amalgamated with the Tillicoultry Society
in 1905, and the Alva Society with the Alva Bazaar Society a few years
later.

BAKING SOCIETIES IN FIFE AND THE NORTH.

In Fifeshire, also, baking societies were coming into being; indeed, the
earliest baking society whose name is known was formed at Leven in 1828.
In 1840 Kingskettle Baking Society was formed, and it remains strong and
vigorous to-day. It is one of the few of these early baking societies
about which it is possible to give a little information. The society was
only a small affair at the beginning; indeed it is not very large even
to-day; but what it lacked in size it made up for in vigour, and since
its formation it has never looked back. It is recorded that in its early
days the bread was delivered by the aid of a donkey cart; to-day the
society has several vans on the road and supplies a population of
several thousands with bread.

Somewhat earlier than the formation of the society in Kingskettle a
baking society was formed in the village of Leslie, situated a few miles
from Kirkcaldy. The reason for its formation was the same as that
responsible for the formation of others in these early days—small wages
and the extortionate charges for their bread made by the local bakers.
The success which attended the baking venture led in 1840 to the
formation of a general society. In later years this society split over
the question of adopting the Rochdale system of disposing of the
surpluses, and a new society was formed which continues strong and
vigorous; and with this new society the baking society finally
amalgamated. Later still a society was formed in Dunfermline, which in
1866 showed a surplus on working of £493.

Meantime Co-operation was going ahead in the North. Societies had been
formed in Kirriemuir, Brechin, Arbroath, and Forfar, and very early in
its history Kirriemuir took up the baking of bread. Arbroath West Port
Association began the baking of bread in 1846, while in the year
immediately preceding—1845—Arbroath Guthrie Port Association, in
altering their rules, placed first in the list of the objects of the
society “to make bread and to deal in bread,” so that it is evident that
the society was then baking or had baking in contemplation. This is the
society which is now known by the name of Arbroath Equitable Society.

BAKING IN THE BORDERLAND.

Co-operation does not seem to have found a footing in the South quite as
early as it did in the North and West, but the Borderers were not far
behind, and they have proved that having once started they believed in
perseverance. It was in 1839 that Galashiels Store Company was formed,
and the question of bread supply was soon under consideration. In its
earliest years the society seems to have had considerable difficulty in
getting a satisfactory supply of bread, with the result that by 1844
they had established a bakery of their own. An interesting fact which is
related by Mr Maxwell in his “History of Scotland” is that they applied
for information about baking to two societies, long disappeared, Coupar
Angus and Alyth. Probably some one connected with the society was a
native of Forfarshire, and, knowing that these societies had bakeries,
suggested that information be got from them. The number of these efforts
to cheapen the staff of life must have been very great, for references
to them keep cropping up in old newspapers and pamphlets, showing that
Co-operative activity, much of it inspired doubtless by the teachings of
Owen, was widespread in Scotland.

Hawick Store Company began a few months later than the Galashiels
venture, but it was not until 1851 that the members added baking to the
list of their enterprises.

GLASGOW SOCIETY.

Turning again to Glasgow, where the first Co-operative bakeries of which
there is any record were established, we find that many attempts had
been made in the interval to establish Co-operative trading on a firm
foundation, but in vain. How many of these early Co-operative failures
were due to the fact that the surpluses accruing from the trading
transactions were divided in proportion to the capital held, without any
regard being paid to the trade done with the society by the holders of
the capital, it is not possible to say, but the system was bound to have
a disturbing effect on the minds of those members who, although too poor
to invest much capital, were loyal purchasers from the store.

However that may be, after a lecture by Holyoake, a fresh attempt to
establish Co-operation in the city was made, and for a time the new
venture seemed to flourish, only to perish eventually like its
predecessors. What makes this society interesting at this point is that
of it is recorded the fact that it possessed “a modern baking
department,” and is said to have supplied the neighbouring societies
with bread. The society came to an end in 1865, and with it ended
Co-operative baking in the city for the time being. When next we hear of
it it is in a new, and as it turned out, a stabler and more permanent
form.

At this point it may be interesting to note some particulars of the
Co-operative baking societies in existence in Scotland in 1866, as taken
from the returns sent in to the Registrar of Friendly Societies in
Scotland. It is probable that the list is far from complete, and it
takes no account of the societies having bakeries of their own who dealt
in other goods as well. These societies were:—

Value of Property. Profits.
Airdrie Bread No property. £252
Alva Baking £l,184 331
Bainsford and Grahamston 1,484 788
Coatbridge Bread 857 466
Dalry Baking 20 50
Dunfermline Baking 116 493
Edinburgh Bread 422 271
Leven Baking 200 120
Roslin Baking — 82
Stenhousemuir Baking 782 350

A notable absentee from the above list is the name of Kingskettle Baking
Society.

THE FIRST FEDERATED BAKERY.

As it was in Ayrshire, in the little village of Fenwick, that, so far as
is known, the first Co-operative society was established, so also to
Ayrshire belongs the honour of having established the first federated
bakery. Co-operation in Fenwick had died in 1801 with the demise of the
old Meal Society, and it was not until 1840, when Darvel Industrial
Society was founded, that it again secured a footing in the land of
Burns. The society founded 79 years ago continues to flourish, but for
the first twenty years it had to flourish alone. Then, in 1860,
Kilmarnock Society was founded, and following it there came in quick
succession Crosshouse, Auchinleck, Mauchline, Galston, Newmilns, and
Catrine. In 1867 five of these societies—Kilmarnock, Crosshouse,
Galston, Mauchline, and Newmilns—combined to form a baking society,
while three other societies—Troon, Catrine, and Darvel—although not
members, took bread from the federation. In 1870 premises were built for
the federation, and the trade increased steadily. Gradually, however,
the more distant societies began to erect bakeries of their own, and in
the early ’nineties of last century the bakery was taken over by
Kilmarnock Society, who erected a new and up-to-date bakery for
themselves on the site of the old one.

[Illustration:

COBURG STREET PREMISES
]

[Illustration:

ST JAMES STREET PREMISES
]

[Illustration:

M‘NEIL STREET PREMISES (1886–1890)
]

[Illustration:

M‘NEIL STREET PREMISES (1890–1894)
]

CHAPTER III.
THE FIRST YEAR.

GLASGOW IN THE ’SIXTIES—THE SOCIETY FORMED—MEN WHO WROUGHT—THE FIRST
BAKERY—STARTING BUSINESS—A DISASTER AVOIDED—BETTER PROSPECTS—A
MANAGER APPOINTED—LARGER PREMISES WANTED—SOMETHING ATTEMPTED,
SOMETHING DONE.

In the ’sixties of last century Glasgow was not a pleasant place for
working men to live in. The city was contained in the four parishes of
Barony, City, Govan, and Gorbals; only a small proportion of its
population being resident in the last-named parish, however. The
conditions of life for the workers were not good. Houses were small and
inconvenient, disease was rampant, and poverty the common lot. There
were 87,604 inhabited houses in the city in the year 1864, and of these
35,788 were rented at £5 per annum, or under; the average rental being
£3, 7s. 3d. Other 35,393 houses had rentals of between £5 and £10, the
average rental being £6, 17s. 3d., and the average rental of these
71,181 houses, forming 81·75 per cent. of the total housing
accommodation of the city, was £5, 5s. per annum. Further light is
thrown on the housing conditions by the fact that, while the aggregate
rental for these 71,181 houses was £373,441, the aggregate rental for
the remaining 16,423 houses was £502,687; an average rental per house of
£30, 10s. The proportions of these lowly-rented houses were fairly equal
in all four parishes, and even when allowance is made for the fact that
rents were much lower in those days than they have been in recent years
for similar accommodation it is evident that the housing conditions left
much to be desired, and that the “homes of the people” must have been
veritable hotbeds of disease. In the statistics consulted the proportion
of one-apartment houses is not given, but in view of the whole-hearted
condemnation of such houses voiced by Dr Russell, Medical Officer of
Health for Glasgow, twenty years later, and the large proportion of
Glasgow’s citizens who were then living in houses which were kitchen,
parlour, bedroom, and washhouse all in one, it is easy to believe that
the houses of the earlier period were no better than the low rentals
would warrant.

Further evidence of the correctness of this assumption is found in the
vital statistics of the period. In 1864 the deaths of children under
five years of age were 46·93 per cent. of the total deaths; in 1862 they
had been 48·85 per cent. of the total. In those years the children were
dying at the rate of one in every nine of the population, a deathrate
nearly equal to that of the British Army during the four years of war.
The effects of poverty and bad housing on the health of the population
were further evidenced by the number of deaths of children under five
from tubercular diseases. In 1863 these were 381; in 1864, 378; while
the total deaths from tuberculosis were 1562 and 1763 respectively for
the same years. In his report to the Corporation for the year 1864, Mr
Watson, Town Chamberlain, points out that there was ample scope in the
statistics he had compiled for showing the need for benevolence “in
alleviating the character of the dwellings of the very poor,” and he
urged the need which existed to provide other and better houses. At the
same time he notes that employment generally was good in this year. In
1868, 786 children under five died from consumption, and in 1869 the
total infantile deathrate (children under one year) was 48·20 per 1,000.
In the Clyde area it was 56·81 per 1,000.

It was in a city in which the conditions of the people were such as the
figures quoted above reveal that, on the last Monday in January 1869,
what was destined in the course of fifty years to become the largest
business of its kind in the world opened its doors for trade. For six
years the idea of the federation of Co-operative societies for trading
purposes had been occupying the minds of the Co-operators of Scotland,
keenly interested as they were in the progress of the North of England
Co-operative Wholesale Society. Only a little over two years before,
also, those of them in the West who took an interest in the affairs of
their Co-operative neighbours had seen the Co-operative societies of
Ayrshire join together to form a baking association for the purpose of
supplying themselves with bread; and in September 1868 the Scottish
Co-operative Wholesale Society had been safely launched, after several
years of anxious consultation and consideration. No sooner had the
S.C.W.S. been sent on its way than the stalwarts of the West turned
their attention to yet another venture. Since the collapse of the second
Glasgow Society there had been no Co-operatively-produced bread in the
city. The price which was being charged for bread by the private bakers
was considered too high, and yet not one of the societies thought itself
strong enough to finance a bakery of its own.

They had faith in the Co-operative principle, however, and what they
could not do as individuals they fancied they would be able to do in
combination. They reasoned that, if a number of people by combining
together could procure the goods they needed more cheaply than any one
of them alone could do, there was no good reason why a number of
societies by combining together could not do what no one of them acting
alone was strong enough to do.

It is to Mr Gabriel Thomson of St Rollox Society, then treasurer of the
newly formed S.C.W.S., that the honour of first bringing the idea of a
federated bakery publicly before the co-operators of the West belongs.
The first idea was that the work should be undertaken by the
recently-formed Wholesale Society, but a little consideration showed
that this plan was hardly feasible. It was thought that it would
scarcely be right to adventure the capital of societies scattered all
over Scotland in an undertaking from which many of them could not
possibly derive any direct benefit, and so this idea was dropped, and
finally it was decided to start a federated baking society.

In the new venture St Rollox Society was the prime mover. In those days
the men who controlled St Rollox Society believed in the infinite
possibilities of the application of Co-operative principles. They were
joined with other Glasgow societies in a drapery federation. They took
up shares in the St Rollox Cooperage Society, in the Ironworks, and in
the Oakmill Society, each as it arose, and to Co-operation they looked
for escape from the exactions of the master bakers of Glasgow. A meeting
was convened by them in the month of October 1868, and to that meeting
Mr Gabriel Thomson read a paper on “Federation,” in which he dealt at
length with the principle as it could be applied to the baking of bread.
This paper so strongly influenced the delegates that there and then they
approved of the principle, and went back to their societies to report.
In a few weeks another meeting was called, which was attended by
representatives from Barrhead, St Rollox, Paisley Provident, Paisley
Equitable, Glasgow Eastern, Anderston, Parkhead, Johnstone, Howwood,
Glasgow Southern, Motherwell, Lennoxtown, and others. At this meeting
the proposal was discussed further, and at the close the delegates
pledged themselves to go back to their societies and do all in their
power to get these to take part in the formation of the federation.

THE SOCIETY FORMED.

A third meeting was held a fortnight later, and at this meeting eight
societies intimated their willingness to join in forming the Federation.
These were Anderston, Barrhead, Cathcart, Johnstone, Lennoxtown,
Motherwell, St Rollox, and Thornliebank. An interim committee was
formed, consisting of Messrs Gabriel Thomson and John West (St Rollox),
James Borrowman and Alexander Douglas (Anderston), James Ferguson and
Alexander Johnstone (Barrhead), and Joseph Gibb and Donald Cameron
(Thornliebank). Three of their number—Messrs Thomson, Borrowman, and
Cameron—were appointed a sub-committee to look out for suitable
premises, consider the working of the bakery and the delivery of the
bread, and report to a future meeting.

No better men could have been selected for the task. Mr Thomson was the
originator of the scheme, and was also the treasurer of the S.C.W.S. Mr
Borrowman had already made a name for himself as the most powerful
advocate of Co-operation that Scotland had produced. He had taken a
leading part in establishing the S.C.W.S., and was now its manager;
while Mr Cameron was not only a shrewd and earnest Co-operator, but
appears also to have had some knowledge of the baking trade. We can well
imagine the zeal and earnestness with which they set about their task.
They knew that they were setting out on a journey along an untrodden
path, but they had a faith which lighted up the dark places before them,
and a determination to see the mission on which they had entered, the
first step to the fulfilment of their hopes, accomplished as soon as
possible. Inside two weeks they were back to the parent committee, their
task accomplished, bringing with them particulars of a bakehouse which
they thought would suit the requirements of the new society, a scheme
for carrying on the business, and particulars about methods of delivery.
Their report was approved, the bakery at 52 South Coburg Street was
leased, and instructions were given for its immediate repair.

The minute of committee, the first minute of the new Society, is as
follows:—

“_16th January 1869._

“A meeting was convened to-day to hear the report of the committee
in the office of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society. At
this meeting the following societies were represented—Barrhead, St
Rollox, Anderston, Eastern, Motherwell, Dalziel, Cadder, and
Thornliebank. A report was submitted by the committee stating that
premises had been secured and that they were convinced that the
business would pay well, and recommended an immediate start. The
report was accepted and the following sub-committee was appointed to
carry out the resolution—viz., Gabriel Thomson, president; John
West, treasurer; James Borrowman, secretary; and Alexander Douglas.
Same committee to get the rules printed in accordance with the
alterations made on the Ayrshire United Co-operative Societies
Baking Association, and submit the same to the general meeting of
the delegates before registration.”

All that now remained to be done was to get the bakery into working
order, and ten days sufficed to have this work completed. Meantime,
however, the committee were not idle. Vans had to be procured and other
details of the work inside and outside seen to, and bakers had to be
employed. The committee met on 23rd January, and appointed a Mr Currie
as foreman baker, while on 6th February they decided to purchase a
second van at a cost of £18 and a horse for a similar sum. A vanman was
also engaged at a wage of 20/ a week.

These little details are all in the minutes, but no mention of the
situation of the bakery appears therein, nor is there any mention made
of the date of beginning business. These old-time Co-operators were so
engrossed in the work they were doing that they had no thought for the
people who would come after them, eager for information about what they
had done and how they had done it. It would appear from the minute book
itself that it was written up at a date later than the beginning of the
Society, probably from notes made by Mr Borrowman at the time, and this
may account for the omission of any mention of the date of beginning
business or of the location of the bakery.

We know, however, that the bakery was situated in South Coburg Street, a
street which connected Bedford Street with Norfolk Street, parallel with
and immediately behind Eglinton Street. The buildings in this street are
evidently much older than those of Eglinton Street. The site of the
first premises of the U.C.B.S. is now covered by a part of the Coliseum
theatre. Here, in this small place, the modest beginning was made on the
morning of 26th January 1869. One is curious as to the quantity turned
out in this first baking, but that is a matter on which all records are
silent. Occasionally we are told of the purchase of flour and of the
price which was paid for it, but for some time no mention is made of the
quantity baked into bread. At that time the secretary was a very busy
man. Not only was he during these first few months virtual manager of
the bakery, but he was also the manager of the S.C.W.S., and he had his
hands full of work.

Although the minutes are silent on some phases of the work of the
committee, however, they are prolix enough on others. The wages of the
vanman are given, and at the same meeting—that of 6th February—we are
told that the wages of the foreman baker were fixed at 34/ a week. It
was also agreed at the same meeting that the bread be sold at current
retail price and that a discount of 10 per cent. be given. Three weeks
later the need for a larger van was being discussed, and at the next
meeting, held a week later, it was decided that a Parkhead van-builder
be given the order to build a van large enough to contain fifty dozen
loaves; and that another horse be purchased. A shop in connection with
the bakery had now been opened, and it was decided that the shop hours
should be from eight a.m. until seven p.m. The question of a weekly
half-holiday, presumably for the girl in the bread shop, was also
considered, but allowed to lie over. From the next minute it becomes
evident that the committee’s idea of the class of horse which was
required for the work of the Society had undergone some change during
their month’s experience, for whereas the first horse which they
purchased cost £18, they paid £40 for the next one.

At the beginning of the month the hours of the shop girl had been fixed
at from eight to seven, but on the 27th of the same month an alteration
was made, and it was agreed that the shop should open at 7·30 in the
morning and remain open until 7·30 at night. On Mondays it was to be
shut at 5 p.m. and on Saturdays to remain open until 9 p.m., while the
price of bread was fixed at 5½d. The committee were now finding that
they required stable and van room more than they had available, and
agreed to advertise for it. Evidently the shop girl found the 7.30 a.m.
start too early for her, for at a meeting of the committee held a
fortnight after the earlier opening of the shop had been decided on, the
minute records that she should “be spoken to about attending at her hour
in the morning.”

DIFFICULTIES BEGIN.

By this time the members of the committee were beginning to realise that
there were difficulties in running a baking business. Complaints had
been made that the bread was sour, and the foreman baker laid the blame
on a change of temperature. The explanation was quite likely to be the
correct one, although a foreman with an interest in his work might have
been expected to take precautions against such difficulties. The
committee were not long in discovering that this was just what their
foreman did not do. At the next meeting his attention was again called
to complaints about the bread. This time it was being sent out to the
shops in a dirty condition. He was also informed that the blend of
flours which he was using was costing too much, and the committee
decided that they should draft a statement of the proportions in which
the differently priced flours were to be used. It was also decided to
dismiss one of the vanmen on the ground that he was careless about his
work and his horse.

In the case of the baker matters went from bad to worse until, an
earlier historian[1] tells us, he struck work altogether. The committee
for some time had been in constant fear that some morning the ovens
would be found cold, or else that the bread would be burnt black, and
the crisis came when, at 11 p.m. one Thursday toward the end of May, the
president was aroused from sleep to receive the intelligence that the
Baking Society had given up business. This was serious news; but sure
enough, when he had hurriedly dressed himself and made his way with all
speed to Coburg Street, he found the bakery in darkness. Mr Borrowman
was next awakened, and told the doleful tidings. Both gentlemen hurried
to the foreman’s house to discover that happy-go-lucky individual
soundly asleep, careless that hungry Co-operators would be breadless in
the morning. He was induced to go to work, and next day the committee
were hastily summoned, only to discover that the foreman was tired of
his job, and had fully made up his mind that he was going to be
responsible no longer for supplying Co-operators with the staff of life.
The committee were at their wits end, but there was nothing for it but
to get another baker. Here the minutes take up the story. The committee
at their meeting spoke to the foreman about the loss on the first
quarter’s working, which amounted to £37. His reply was to the effect
that he never expected to make a profit the first quarter. They then
spoke to him of the numerous complaints which were being received with
reference to the quality of the bread, and he replied that as he was
unable to do better the best thing he could do was to resign. His
resignation was accepted, and after very considerable difficulty another
man was found to take his place; but he only remained a week or two, and
ultimately, in June, another man was procured who was able to do better.
No balance-sheet was printed for any of the quarters in the first year,
but a written statement, showing the position of the Society, was sent
to each member. The first quarterly meeting was held on 29th May, when
the rules were adopted. Mr Gabriel Thomson was elected president; Mr
John West (St Rollox Society), treasurer; Mr James Borrowman (Anderston
Society), secretary; and Messrs James Ferguson (Barrhead), Joseph Gibb
(Thornliebank), Alexander Douglas (Anderston), and Weir (Motherwell) as
committee. It was also agreed that the secretary be paid £1, 10s. and
the treasurer £2 quarterly.

Footnote 1:

The United Co-operative Society Year Book, 1896.

With the appointment of a new foreman the bakery was now running more
smoothly than during the first quarter, but it was not yet paying its
way, for the minute of 29th June records the fact that the loss at that
date was £25. The explanation of this position, as given by the
secretary, was that a liability of £4, 15s. had not been taken into
account at the last balance, some flour which had been bought had not
been used when the price fell, and this had entailed a loss of £6, 10s.
An encouraging feature, however, was a report given by the new foreman
which showed that a profit had been made in each of the two weeks with
which it dealt. The sales were also rising, but the committee were not
satisfied with the trade the Society was doing, and were desirous that
the turnover should be raised to sixty sacks or seventy sacks a week, as
they thought that with such a turnover they would have a good profit. As
a preliminary step to securing this turnover they determined to send out
several of their number as missionaries to societies which had not yet
joined, with the object of getting them to do so, or, at least, to
purchase their bread from the Society. Amongst other minor difficulties
with which the committee were being faced at this time was the lack of
suitable stabling for their horses. Their stable was too small, and it
was unhealthy. It is true that horses were not very costly, but neither
was money too plentiful, and they could not afford to run any risks. One
of the horses which they had bought in the beginning of the year was
ill, and had to be sold for £6. A decline of £12 in the value of a horse
inside a few months was evidence that there was something wrong
somewhere, but suitable stabling was difficult to secure.

A MANAGER APPOINTED.

In the minutes the most important things sometimes crop up in the most
casual manner. At a meeting of the committee which was held on 18th
September, one of the principal themes of the evening’s discussion was
the purchasing of new horses. A horse was to be returned as unsuitable,
and another horse priced at £30 was to be taken on trial, as it would
not suit the committee that anything should be paid to the owner as “rue
bargain.” Then, quite casually, the minute goes on to mention that “the
engaging of Mr Sturrock as manager of the Baking Society was then gone
into.” This is the first mention made in the minutes of the proposal to
appoint a manager; but, from the document which had been prepared and
which was transcribed into the minute of the meeting, it is evident that
the subject had been under consideration for some time. It is
interesting to note in this agreement that “the manager was not to
exceed 3/ for baking and firing.” He was to determine “the quality and
also the maker’s flour he shall use, but the committee reserve the right
to prevent the price of flour used any week exceeding the average price
of extra flour.” He was to keep the accounts of the Society, and prepare
weekly statements which would give

“the number of sacks baked and also the cost of the flour and other
materials, wages, rent, cost of horse-keep, etc., giving the total
of the whole, with a statement of the number of loaves baked from
each sack, the total number of dozens of loaves produced, with
smallbread; also the cash value of the loaves and smallbread added
and the expense with the cost deducted, showing clear profit; also a
statement showing the number of dozens of loaves and smallbread sent
to each society, with the number left on hand at the end of each
week.”

The pay of the manager was fixed at 35/ per week until the Society was
able to pay a bonus of sixpence per £, when his wages were to be
advanced to 40/ per week.

Already the directors were beginning to find that if it was difficult to
sell as much bread as they desired, it was equally difficult sometimes
to get payment for the bread they did sell. There was hardly one of the
Glasgow societies but had to struggle hard to keep going at all. Of all
those societies in the city to which the new venture must look for its
best support there were not more than two which emerged safely from the
struggles of those early days, and those two survived only because the
men in charge of them refused to recognise defeat and kept going even
against the advice of the friends who foresaw in a longer struggle but
greater disaster. Of the eight societies which had joined in the
formation of the Federation only two were pursuing smoothly the even
tenor of their way, free from the irritating worries produced by the
difficulty of making ends meet. These two societies—Thornliebank and
Barrhead—were associated with the Bakery from the very first meeting,
and being successful they were in a position to pay their way promptly;
but some of the others were not so fortunate, and so, in October of the
first year, we find the manager being instructed by the committee to
write to the societies and point out to them that as the capital was
limited it would be an advantage if payment was made promptly when the
accounts were rendered. Frequently during the next few years the same
complaint crops up, and there were times when the Society was owing the
S.C.W.S. large sums of money which at the moment it was quite unable to
pay because of the fact that the societies were not paying promptly for
the goods they received.

The third quarterly meeting took place on 4th December. Although there
is nothing about it in earlier minutes, a hint is given that the
committee or the manager had not been keeping to the strict line of
instructions given at the August quarterly meeting, for a motion is
agreed to “that the alteration in the price of bread take place on the
same day as the Glasgow prices.” A profit had been made on the quarter’s
transactions, but it was not large enough to divide, and the delegates
gave authority to the committee “to apply it to redeem fixed stock.”
About this time the Society was having trouble with the quality of flour
purchased. The flour was returned, and the manager was authorised to
cancel the order if that sent in exchange was not of better quality. The
committee at the close of their first year were discussing the necessity
of getting more ovens, as the old bakery was quite inadequate to meet
the trade which was being done. It was agreed to endeavour to get other
two ovens; and, failing that solution of the difficulty, to see if a
nightshift could be employed. Later minutes are silent as to how the
difficulty was overcome during the three months which elapsed ere the
new bakery in St James Street, Kinning Park, was ready for occupation.

SOMETHING ATTEMPTED, SOMETHING DONE.

During the first year the committee had been feeling their way. They had
met and overcome many difficulties, some of which, like the incident of
the chairman and secretary hunting up a recalcitrant baker in the small
hours of the morning in order to induce him to go to work, have a
humorous enough aspect when viewed at a distance of fifty years, but
must have seemed tragic to the actors, for the whole future of the
infant venture would seem bound up in an unbroken sequence of bread
deliveries. For the first year the committee met in the premises of the
S.C.W.S. in Madeira Court. Usually the meeting place was the warehouse,
for the room in which Mr Borrowman worked was but small, although it
possessed the only window in the place. There they fitted up a temporary
table, using boxes for seats. Indeed, so long as Mr Borrowman continued
secretary of the Baking Society, the committee continued to meet
frequently in the Wholesale’s premises, although the sub-committee
usually met in a small room, 10 ft. by 6 ft., fitted up in the bakery
premises at St James Street. At times the full committee of sixteen met
here also, packed together like herrings. Such were the conditions to
which those heroes of the Co-operative vanguard accommodated themselves
in order that the cause they had at heart might prosper.

During the first year the Society had baked 2,116 sacks of flour,
equivalent to an average turnover of 40¾ sacks per week; but as the
turnover during the latter part of the year was approximately 70 sacks
per week, it must have been much less than 40 at the beginning. For the
first six months losses amounting to £62, 10s. had been made, but in the
second six months these losses had been wiped out, the fittings had been
depreciated by over £30, and although no dividend was declared they had
a balance of surplus to carry forward which amounted to £23, 3s. 1d. The
value of the goods sold during the year had been £5,081, 13s. 6d.; the
value of the fixed and live stock was £243, 15s. 8d.; and the value of
their building, as shown in the balance-sheet, £110, 9s. 6d. The
societies held share capital amounting to £193, 12s. and loan capital
amounting to £145, and £10, 6s. 1d. had been paid as interest. Thus the
position was quite good. The corner had been turned; a surplus was being
shown most weeks, and the directors were assured that with careful
nursing and a steady influx of trade prosperity was in sight. Many rocky
headlands had yet to be weathered, many shoals avoided, adverse winds
and tides overcome, ere their bark reached the wide open sea of
prosperity; but the mariners were shrewd and careful, and although for
one reason and another several changes of captain and even of crew took
place, the new crews and the new captains sailed their ship always with
the skill of the old and, successfully overcoming all difficulties, were
at last wafted by fair winds over a smooth sea.

CHAPTER IV.
ST JAMES STREET BAKERY.

A HINDRANCE TO THE PROGRESS OF THE SOCIETY—THE SEARCH FOR NEW
PREMISES—THE NEW BAKERY—RUNNING INTO DEBT—THE CHAIRMAN
RETIRES—MORE CAPITAL WANTED—SLOW PROGRESS—THE MANAGER
RESIGNS—JOINING THE WHOLESALE SOCIETY—PAYMENT OF BONUS
COMMENCED—MR BARCLAY RESIGNS—ADDITIONAL PROPERTY PURCHASED—MR
CAMERON RESIGNS—MR ANDREW BROWN BECOMES CHAIRMAN—BAD BREAD AND
DELIVERY DIFFICULTIES—FURTHER EXTENSIONS—MONEY DIFFICULTIES—MR
BORROWMAN RETIRES—BECOMING BISCUIT AGENTS.

Long before the end of the first year of their tenancy of Coburg Street
bakery the committee had come to the conclusion that if their business
was to grow and flourish they must remove to more suitable premises at
the earliest possible moment. As one of themselves put it, they
discussed “the present bakery as a hindrance to the progress of the
Society.” The result of this discussion was that a circular was issued
to the societies, in which the committee recommended the building of a
new bakery. During the months of October and November 1869 the question
was discussed on several occasions, and at least two special meetings of
the committee were held for its consideration. At the second of these,
held on 6th November, a sub-committee was appointed to look out for a
site, and a week later it was decided to write to Mr M‘Kay, of Alva,
asking his advice on the subject. There is no doubt that the matter was
urgent. The trade was growing rapidly, and there were numerous
complaints regarding late delivery of bread. The subject crops up in the
minutes again and again, and the manager is unable to get out enough
bread early in the day to meet the demand.

Still, the committee are cautious. They have now discovered that the
Society can be made a success; they have also gained some knowledge of
the difficulties which are to be encountered; and so, not content with
applying to the Alva Baking Society for information, they also get into
communication with the Dunfermline Baking Society, and receive a letter
in which that society’s bakery is described. Meantime, the sub-committee
appointed to look out for a site had not been idle. They had discovered
a building at the corner of St James Street and Park Street, Kinning
Park, which was for sale, and which they thought could be so altered as
to make suitable premises for the Society and, after due consideration
doubtless and careful inspection, although the minutes are silent on the
subject, the matter was brought before the December quarterly meeting
and purchase was approved of, provided the cost was not more than £400.

THE NEW PREMISES.

The building was purchased at once, and steps were immediately taken to
have it fitted up as a bakery. It was decided to erect four ovens at an
estimated cost of £210 for the four, while a part of the building was
fitted up as a stable. To-day, the fitting up of a bakery of this size
would seem quite a small matter and not at all a thing to make a fuss
over, but it is easy, nevertheless, to imagine the loving care with
which those old veterans watched the transformation which was taking
place; how they deliberated over the merits of asphalte as a
satisfactory material for the floor, and the utility of cast-iron
fittings as against wooden ones for the stable. The manager made a
special journey to Irvine to arrange at the quarry there for proper
stones for the oven soles, what time the sub-committee were arranging to
get estimates for tables and troughs for the bakery. By the end of
January the manager was able to announce that the stable was finished,
and was instructed to employ a man to take charge of it and attend to
the horses. At the same meeting it was agreed that the S.C.W.S. be
allowed stabling for a horse and van, and that they pay a fair share of
the expenses. Already, too, the new bakery was so far advanced towards
completion that the committee had begun to consider the question of
having a formal opening ceremony, and a supper, to which it was proposed
that “two or three members of the committee of each society within easy
distance should be invited, whether they were members or not.”

By the middle of March the manager was in a position to state that the
bakery “would be ready for business in two or three weeks’ time at
most.” At the same time it was decided to erect a house for the manager
on the property, the rent of the house to be considered later. At the
same meeting the committee had a visit from Mr Keyden, writer, who
stated that he had learned that the Society were desirous of raising a
loan on their property, and had called to find out what the amount was
and what rate of interest they were willing to pay. The secretary stated
that the amount would be from £400 to £500, and the rate of interest 4½
per cent. per annum. At a later meeting the question of the opening
celebrations was again considered, when, amongst other decisions arrived
at, was one to the effect that two gallons of “drink,” presumably
whisky, should be procured for the use of those who attended. It was
agreed that invitations be sent to societies who were members and to
others within a convenient distance, also to the employees of the
Society, past members of the committee, Mr M‘Kenzie, of the P.C.M.S., Mr
Marshall S.C.W.S., and such Wholesale Society directors as lived within
a suitable distance for attending. The decision about the whisky
evidently did not find favour with some people, for at the next meeting
of the committee the matter was again under consideration, “and after
mature deliberation it was then agreed to have none, as the committee
had been informed that there were many objections to the same.” In the
beginning of May the new bakery was opened for business.

But in thus following up the negotiations about the new premises, we
have been running ahead. The fourth quarterly meeting was held on 19th
February 1870, when some important changes were made in the method of
conducting the business. For the first year each society which was a
member of the Federation had a representative on the committee, and this
arrangement was continued by resolution of the quarterly meeting. The
whole committee resigned in order that it might be reconstructed, and Mr
Thomson was re-elected to preside over the business of the meeting. Some
of the regulations drafted that afternoon are amusing. It was decided
that each member of committee receive one shilling for every meeting of
the committee which he attended, along with travelling expenses; but it
was also decided that any member of the committee who was later in
arriving at a committee meeting than fifteen minutes after the time
fixed for the meeting should not only forfeit his allowance for
attending, but should also, unless reasonable excuse was shown, be fined
sixpence for being late. What was to happen if a member did not attend
at all was not stated, but no member of the committee was to be paid his
allowance unless he was present at the meeting.

THE CHAIRMAN RETIRES.

A large number of changes were made in the personnel of the committee at
this meeting. Mr Gabriel Thomson retired from the presidency, and Mr
William Barclay, also of St Rollox at that time, was elected president
in his stead. The other members of committee were Messrs Ferguson,
Barrhead; Gibb, Thornliebank; John Borrowman, Anderston; Kinniburgh,
Cadder; Mungall, Cathcart; and Shaw, Lennoxtown; with Mr James Borrowman
still secretary. At this meeting exception was taken to the propaganda
activities of the committee, for a letter from Paisley Equitable Society
was read to the meeting in which the Society was charged with trying to
injure that society’s trade with the Provident Society, and the
secretary was instructed to reply denying that such had been the policy
of the Society. It was also from that quarterly meeting that the
proposal came that a house should be built for the manager in the new
premises, in order that he might have the premises under his supervision
at all times.

MORE CAPITAL WANTED.

As the Society, at the end of the first year, had only a paid-up capital
amounting to £338, all of which was locked up in stock, fixtures, etc.,
it was evident that they required much more if they were to finance
their larger venture. The visit of Mr Keyden has already been referred
to, and ultimately a bond on the property was taken up through him, but
the committee were desirous of securing capital also from the societies.
These were written to by the manager, requesting them to increase the
amount of loan capital they had with the Society, and by the middle of
April six societies had increased their loans by an aggregate amount of
£275.

[Illustration:

M‘NEIL STREET PREMISES (1897–1903).
]

[Illustration:

CLYDEBANK BAKERY
]

The insurance on the new premises was fixed at £1,000, divided into £400
on stock, £300 on the buildings, and £300 on horses and vans. For
several years the Society continued to suffer from lack of capital,
however, and it was not until it had been in existence for nearly ten
years that the committee ceased to be troubled with financial worries.
On several occasions appeals were made to the delegates attending the
quarterly meetings that they would bring under the notice of their
societies the urgent need of the Baking Society for more capital, and
for several years a system of receiving loans from private depositors
was adopted, but this system was stopped, except in the case of
employees, when the Federation began to receive enough capital from the
societies to meet its needs.

SLOW PROGRESS.

The difficulty which arose from shortage of capital was not the only one
with which the committee was faced, unfortunately. Foreman baker after
foreman baker was tried, but still complaints of the poor quality of the
bread continued to pour in. Added to this there were the difficulties of
delivery. When the Co-operators of to-day see the vans of the U.C.B.S.
arriving at the various shops with the regularity of clockwork, they may
have some difficulty in realising that fifty years ago the problem of
prompt delivery was a very serious one, and one which engaged the
attention of management and committee almost continuously for several
years. In part, this was due to the fact that the baking of bread had
not been reduced in those days to a state of scientific accuracy, as it
is to-day, and partly it was due to the shortcomings of the human
element, which has always a tendency toward failure at the most
unexpected times and often in the most unexpected ways. The craze for
new bread was as great fifty years ago as it is to-day, but the
difficulty of delivering it was very much greater, and it was especially
great in the earlier years of the Baking Society’s existence because of
the fact that the majority of the societies in the outer area supplied
by the Federation were but small and could give but small orders, thus
increasing the cost of delivery until sometimes it transformed trade
which should have been profitable into a losing business.

So much so was this the case that, in the first two or three years,
society after society, which had joined the Federation and were anxious
to trade with it, had to be asked to withdraw because the cost of
delivery was so great that it could only be done at a loss to the
Federation. The first societies to suffer in this way were Motherwell
and Dalziel. At a later date, Vale of Leven Society, which had been
having their bread sent by rail, had to withdraw, and later still,
Lennoxtown were asked to make arrangements for getting bread elsewhere
as soon as possible, on the ground that the Baking Society was losing
eleven shillings every week through delivering bread to them by van.

As time went on, too, the position was becoming more and more difficult
for the manager. He does not seem to have been a strong man, or else he
had grown careless. At all events, at one quarterly meeting when the
criticisms of the delegates had been even more searching than usual, he
left the meeting before its close, and when the committee adjourned to
the committee room at the close of the meeting they found a letter from
him intimating his resignation. Whether it was with the idea of getting
a little of his own back, or because he thought that having engaged the
employees it was his duty to dismiss them is unknown, but when he took
his own departure he also dismissed the office and breadroom staffs, and
there was a little difficulty for a day or two until they were brought
back or others procured in their places. After discussion, the committee
decided that they would not advertise for a manager, but for a
confidential clerk and cashier, and Mr Robert Craig, then bookkeeper
with the S.C.W.S., was the successful applicant.

The trade was increasing slowly but steadily, and during the second year
averaged 90 sacks per week. Shortly after the removal to the new bakery
the Society had four vans on the road, and was supplying eleven
societies. In June of that year it was decided to take up thirty shares
in the S.C.W.S., and pay one shilling per share, but a month later this
decision was departed from in favour of one that the question of joining
the Wholesale Society be left to the quarterly meeting. This decision
had its origin most probably in the fact that the Society had no money
to spare at the moment for investment, as at the same meeting it was
decided that the manager make an effort to pay the flour merchant and
take flour into stock.

At the quarterly meeting it was decided that the Society should join the
S.C.W.S., and take up two shares for every society which was a member of
the Federation. At the same time, the members of the committee were
becoming more confident in their handling of the business, one evidence
of this being the fact that they were purchasing flour in much larger
quantities. The new bakery had only been in operation for six months
when the trade had increased so much that the erection of other two
ovens was being considered, and at the same time the reroofing of a shed
for the purpose of turning it into a flour store was agreed on, and the
manager was instructed to “get estimates of the cost of having the floor
laid with any material that would keep out rats.” It would appear,
however, that the cost was more than the committee could venture to face
at the moment, and it was not until the following April that the
question of new ovens was again raised, when all the societies were
written to on the subject and all agreed to the proposal of the
committee.

Meantime the second year had ended with the position of the Society
improving. The sales had amounted to over £9,000, and a dividend of
sixpence had been paid each quarter. Stock and buildings were valued at
£1,370, while the members held £279 in share capital and £709 in loans.
The nucleus of a reserve fund had been formed, and the property of the
Society had been depreciated by £150. It is interesting to note also
that with the beginning of the second year the Society had begun to pay
bonus on wages, a practice which has continued without intermission ever
since. The beginning was humble—the amount paid in this first year was
only £20, 17s.—but it marked the recognition of the principle that the
worker was something more than a mere hireling; that he was a being who
had something to do with the making of profits, and therefore had a
right to share in them.

The committee continued unremitting in their attempts to extend the
trade of the Society. Every complaint was inquired into closely, and
every little while a deputation was sent to one or other of the
societies with the view of inducing them to become members or to extend
their trade. It is interesting to note also that the cost of flour,
which had been 31/ in May 1869, had advanced to 41/ in April 1871. The
first quarter of the third year was a decidedly successful one, as it
showed a surplus over cost which enabled a dividend of one shilling per
pound of sales to be declared. The membership had increased to 14, and
the turnover to 102 sacks per week, an increase of 11 sacks per week in
one quarter. At the end of this quarter Mr Barclay retired from the
presidency, after having held that position for fifteen months, and Mr
Donald Cameron, Thornliebank, was elected to the chair. At the following
quarterly meeting it was agreed that, in future, tickets, with a
programme of business for the quarterly meeting, be sent to the
societies.

Before the end of the year a building in Park Street, adjoining the
Society’s premises, came on the market, and was purchased by the Society
for £735. At the same time the building of other two ovens was
undertaken, thus bringing the capacity of the bakery up to eight ovens.
The building which was purchased was in use as an engineering workshop,
rented at £67, 10s. per annum, and the purchase price included an engine
and boiler.

At the quarterly meeting which was held in December, the first mention
was made of a subject which was to engage the attention of many
quarterly meetings before being finally disposed of. This was a
suggestion by Johnstone Society that the Baking Society should consider
seriously the possibility of opening branch bakeries as their business
extended. Meantime, Vale of Leven Society had approached the Baking
Society with the view of having bread delivered to them by rail, and a
van had been fitted up for this purpose, so the Board came to the
decision to hold over the consideration of branch bakeries until they
saw what the results of conveyance by rail were going to be. The
delivery difficulty was getting more acute every week at this time, and
it was found that two societies which had ceased to take their bread
from the Society, and whose action had been described by the committee
as “utterly subversive of true Co-operation and detrimental to the
interests of the Baking Society,” had done so because of the
irregularity of delivery, and declared themselves “willing to begin
again as soon as they could see an assurance of a regular and steady
supply.”

In order to suit the convenience of Glasgow societies an arrangement
came into force in the beginning of 1872 whereby the Baking Society
undertook to deliver bread at the houses of the members of these
societies for an additional charge of 9d. per hour for the time spent in
this work. About the same time the question of baking biscuits on days
when the general work was easy was considered, and this new branch of
business was finally entered on. The turnover for the third year was
larger than that of the first two combined, being 6,341 sacks; an
average of 122 per week. Owing to the rise in the price of flour,
however, and in some degree also to the heavy costs of delivery, the
surpluses on the year’s trading showed considerable fluctuations; for
while the dividend earned during the first quarter was one shilling,
those for the succeeding quarters were fivepence, sixpence, and
threepence respectively. The Society was now quite a large property
owner, the value of the buildings as shown in the balance-sheet being
£2,421, while the value of live and other stock was £870. Several new
vans of a four-wheeled design had been built during the year in order to
facilitate delivery, and several new horses had also been purchased. The
cash value of the sales for the year was over £16,000, and the combined
share and loan capital was £1,411. Reserves had been increased to £54,
and buildings and stocks written down by £368 during the year.

In March 1872 Mr Cameron resigned from the presidency of the Society as
he had become an employee, and Mr Andrew Brown (Paisley Provident) was
elected president until the quarterly meeting, when his appointment was
confirmed. Meantime the Society was having some trouble with the last
pair of ovens erected. The gentleman appointed as inspector reported
that they were not according to specification, and were of less value
than had been contracted for. At the same time he suggested that an
endeavour should be made to settle the matter amicably, “as a lawsuit
would result in a loss to both parties”; which sensible advice was taken
by the committee, who, however, decided “to retain the money lying in
their hands until satisfied with the finish and durability of the work.”
They also decided to deduct £10 from the estimate price for departure
from the terms of specification. At a later meeting, however, it was
decided to meet the oven-builder half way and be content with a
deduction of £5.

For some time negotiations had been going on between the Society’s
tenant of the engineering shop and the committee on the question of
whether the boiler in that shop, which was the property of the Society,
should be kept in repair by the tenant or by the owners. The committee
contended that, according to the terms of the lease, the duty of keeping
the boiler and other machinery in repair devolved on the tenant, but as
a way out of the difficulty offered to sell the boiler and engine to
him. The matter was finally adjusted by the tenant taking over the
engine and boiler, and paying for them by an increase in rent amounting
to £5 per annum. At the quarterly meeting which was held on 2nd June
1872 the balance-sheet was submitted to severe criticism, the ground of
complaint being the smallness of the profit shown in view of the
increasing sales of the Society. For the first time in the history of
the Society the turnover had exceeded £2,000 for the quarter, but the
surplus was only £119, and the dividend sixpence, while nothing was
added to the reserve fund. The delegates to the quarterly meeting also
combined to express considerable dissatisfaction with the quality,
shape, and general appearance of the bread, and the committee were urged
to take energetic measures to place the Society in a better position in
this respect as well as in that of profit. At almost every meeting of
the committee complaints were being made about the quality of the bread
and lateness of delivery, and they were at their wits end to find a
remedy. Discussions took place meeting after meeting about difficulties
of delivery, varied every now and again by a discussion on the subject
of the high rate of expense. Investigations into the cost of baking were
set on foot, but with no results. A suggestion was made by Paisley
Provident Society that the discount allowed to the societies be reduced
from 10 per cent. to 7½ per cent. in order to cover losses in working,
but no action seems to have been taken in this direction at the moment.
In order to find remedies for the continuous complaints about the
quality of the bread and its delivery, a rearrangement of duties took
place; the stable foreman being made responsible for the delivery, and
the foreman baker for the quality of the bread, while the manager
continued to act as cashier and bookkeeper. These alterations did not
seem to make much difference, however, as complaints continued to come
in with as great frequency as before.

The arrangement which had been made to supply Vale of Leven Society with
bread had evidently not been working satisfactorily, for that society
intimated its intention of withdrawing from the Federation. The
adjustment of the terms of this withdrawal took many months of
negotiation. It was on 4th May 1872 that the committee received the
intimation that the society intended to withdraw from the Federation,
but it was not until 19th April 1873 that the final adjustments were
made and the matter settled. In this case there was dispute as to the
amount which the withdrawing society should pay for the delivery of
their bread by rail, this being finally adjusted by computing the cost
of delivery per 100 dozens to Barrhead and to Vale of Leven, and
charging the latter society with the difference. Another peculiar
practice of the Federation at this time was that of retaining for the
reserve and depreciation funds a proportion of the capital of retiring
societies. This was done even when the societies withdrew at the request
of the committee and against their own wishes, although in the three or
four cases where this occurred the percentage deducted was less than
that usually retained. In the case of Vale of Leven Society 7½ per cent.
was charged, while Dalziel and Motherwell societies were only charged 5
per cent.

By the end of the third quarter in 1872 a further extension had become
necessary in order that more storage room might be had, and it was
decided that the only way to get the necessary space was to build
another storey to the present flour store. The great difficulty was lack
of the necessary money, but it was thought that if the extension became
imperative a bond might be obtained to cover the cost. A short time
later a letter was received from the Anderston Society, in which a
protest was entered against any further extensions being made in the
bakery meantime. At this time the Society was in somewhat grave
difficulties for want of money, as, in addition to other debts which
were owing, their account with the Wholesale Society amounted to £4,000,
equivalent to nine weeks turnover. Inside the next fortnight, however,
the manager was able to report that he had paid £1,000 to the Wholesale
Society.

At this time the committee had under discussion the method of supplying
flour to the Society. It was alleged by some members of the committee
that the manager had not a free in ordering flour, as “another party”
had taken it upon himself to send in flour without the knowledge of the
manager. Mr Sturrock stated that he was aware of all contracts entered
into, but that on a recent occasion he had to cancel an order because he
found after his order had been given that flour was being sent to the
bakery without his knowledge. At the following meeting this question was
again taken up, and it appears from what transpired at that meeting that
Mr Borrowman was the “other party” referred to above. That gentleman
explained that the contracts were made through the Wholesale Society,
and no irregularity could occur if the manager sent his orders to the
Wholesale Society instead of sending them to the millers, as he had been
in the habit of doing. In the course of the conversation the chairman
pointed out that although, because of the fluctuations in the price of
flour which were taking place, they had for some time delegated their
power to make contracts to the manager and Mr Borrowman jointly—not
separately as some people had supposed—they still retained in their own
hands such powers, to be used as soon as they might think it right so to
do.

Early in the third quarter of this year Mr Smith (St Rollox) was
appointed assistant secretary, as Mr Borrowman was sometimes unable to
attend. At the quarterly meeting, which was held on 1st March 1873, Mr
Smith was appointed secretary, and Mr Borrowman retired from the
committee, after having taken a large share in the conduct of its
affairs from the inception of the Society. At the December quarterly
meeting the manager resigned, as already stated in the beginning of this
chapter, and Mr Robert Craig was appointed. The fourth year was not to
end without more trouble however. A special meeting was called on 28th
December 1872, at the request of Barrhead and Thornliebank societies,
and Mr Ferguson (Barrhead), who had been one of the first directors of
the Federation, placed his society’s case before the meeting. He stated
that his society was of opinion that the Baking Society was in an
unsatisfactory state, and on behalf of Barrhead and Thornliebank
societies placed eight propositions before the meeting with the object
of putting the Federation on a more stable basis.

PROPOSALS FOR BETTER WORKING.

The first proposition was that a manager be employed; but this was
defeated by an amendment that the management be left in the hands of the
committee. The second proposal was that the foreman baker should be the
party who should judge the quality of the flour before purchasing, the
quantity to be decided by the committee, and it was accepted, as was the
third—that no person be a member of committee who has anything to do
with the making or selling of flour to the bakery (but not to the
exclusion of operatives) so that the committee be left perfectly
untrammelled in their actions.

Another proposition was to the effect that the members of the Baking
Society’s committee should be elected for that committee only, and not
be simply delegates from the committee of their society; but as this
affected one of the rules of the Society it was not discussed. It was
also proposed that the committee should watch the purchases of societies
with a view to dealing with those who were not purchasing enough to earn
their fair share of profit, and considering whether they should be
allowed to continue as members of the Society. The committee pointed out
that they were already doing this, and the meeting agreed to the
proposal. Another proposal was to the effect that when the additional
shares had been called up the committee should purchase flour where it
could be had best. This proposal sounds as if there was some suspicion
in the minds of the proposers that the Society was being hampered in
obtaining the best flour for its purpose by lack of money, and as the
delegates gave a general acquiescence to the proposal it would seem that
the suspicion was fairly general. It certainly could be said for the
proposal that it gave the committee full power to do the best they could
for their Society.

Just before the end of the fourth year Motherwell and Dalziel societies
dropped out of the Federation at the request of the committee, as
although both societies were loyal purchasers, the cost of delivery was
so great that the Society was losing money on their trade. The
Federation still consisted of fifteen societies, however—viz.,
Anderston, Barrhead, Busby, Cathcart, Johnstone, Lennoxtown, Cadder,
Parkhead, Elderslie, Howwood, Eastern, Paisley Provident, Thornliebank,
St Rollox, and Avonbank—and other societies were being supplied with
bread. About this time, also, a new departure was made. The committee
had found that their biscuit trade was not a profitable one, and the
cashier was instructed to make inquiries as to the terms on which some
of the Glasgow biscuit manufacturing firms would supply them with
biscuits. It was finally arranged that Gray, Dunn & Co. supply them with
biscuits through the Wholesale Society, and this arrangement continued
for some time until a fire at the biscuit factory put an end to the
connection, when the trade went to Herberts Ltd.

During the fourth year the Society had made considerable progress, and
the trade for the year showed a substantial increase, but it had not
been very profitable. Indeed in the fourth quarter, after provision had
been made for interest and depreciation, there was nothing left to
divide, while nothing had been added to the reserve fund during the
year. The aggregate output for the year was 7,955 sacks, equal to an
average of 153 sacks a week, which was an average increase of 31 sacks
per week over the turnover of the previous year. The Society was still
much hampered in its operations from lack of capital; the total share
and loan capital being only £1,618. During the latter half of the year
the price of flour had been very high, reaching in the later months of
the year 45/6 per sack for the average quality used.

Yet, although there were still many anxious days ahead for the committee
and not a few lean years, with the close of the fourth year the Society
had been established on a firm foundation. Henceforth there were not the
same defects of management to contend with, and what difficulties did
arise were due to weakness in the societies which were customers of the
Bakery rather than to causes operating within the Federation itself. In
a later chapter mention will be made of some of the difficulties which
arose owing to the weakness of some of the societies which were members
of the Federation.

CHAPTER V.
THE BRANCH CONTROVERSY.

A LENGTHY CONTROVERSY—TO BRANCH OR NOT TO BRANCH?—AN OPTIMISTIC
REPORT—LACK OF CAPITAL—STRONG OPPOSITION—BARRHEAD THREATENS
WITHDRAWAL—THE QUESTION REOPENED—BARRHEAD DECIDES TO
WITHDRAW—SHELVED AGAIN—DISSATISFACTION IN PAISLEY AND
JOHNSTONE—BRANCH OPENED IN GLASGOW—THE FINAL DECISION—BARRHEAD,
PAISLEY PROVIDENT, AND JOHNSTONE WITHDRAW.

In the preceding chapter we noted that a proposal was made at one of the
general meetings of the Society that branch bakeries should be
established. It was a proposal which occasioned a great deal of
discussion and was the cause of several heated debates during the next
few years, and it is therefore important enough to merit a chapter to
itself. The idea was first mooted at the quarterly meeting held in
December 1871, when Johnstone Society delegates in the course of a
general discussion brought forward the suggestion “that the Baking
Society should think of the possibility of opening branch establishments
as their business extends.” The idea was favourably entertained then;
but it was obviously impossible to do anything at the time, and it was
not until the quarterly meeting which was held on 30th November 1872,
exactly a year later, that anything further was heard of the subject.

At that meeting a general discussion took place “as to the desirability
of opening a branch bakery in Paisley or Johnstone.” The matter
ultimately dropped for the time being, but it was left with the
committees of Johnstone, Paisley Provident, and Paisley Equitable
societies “to make inquiries in their respective localities as to a
suitable place for the business, which could be rented, leased, or
bought, the probable cost, and all other information that may be
necessary, and forward the information obtained at as early a date as
possible to the committee.” The Johnstone committee were especially
enthusiastic about the proposal, and before next quarterly meeting a
report was in the hands of the committee. This report was read to the
delegates at the next general meeting of the Society, and a general
conversation took place in the course of which the opinion was expressed
that however desirable it might be that the Society should branch out in
the manner indicated, it was inexpedient that it should be done then in
view of the state of the Society’s affairs. The committee of Johnstone
Society were, therefore, thanked for the trouble they had taken over the
business and for the report which they had prepared. It was also agreed
that this report be printed and circulated amongst the members of the
Federation, and that the subject be brought up at next quarterly
meeting.

JOHNSTONE SOCIETY’S REPORT.

The report of the Johnstone Society is so interesting and throws so much
light on the affairs of the Federation that it is worthy of being
printed in full, as issued in circular form by the Bakery committee.

_To the Committee of Management and Delegates representing the United
Co-operative Baking Society Limited, Glasgow._

GENTLEMEN,—Having been appointed at your quarterly meeting, held
30th November 1872, to report on the results which would be likely
to flow from your Society having a branch bakery in Johnstone, we
respectfully beg to offer the following for your consideration.

The advantages which the promoters of your Society saw in having a
“united management, a concentration of labour, and a combined
purchasing power,” is nearly, if not altogether, neutralised by the
high cost of your productive and distributive departments; ten
shillings a sack is, we believe, something unknown in Scotland as
the cost of baking and distributing common loaf bread, and in your
establishment it cannot be set down even at this high rate, as your
auditors at last quarterly meeting _warned us_ that the depreciation
of your fixed stock _was not commensurate to its “tear and wear,”_
and we believe investigation during the quarter now ended has
brought out that your liabilities _in direct debts_ were greater
than was accounted for in your balance of October last.

This being the case, it is a duty incumbent on all to examine into
and see if anything can be done to remove the obstruction to
progress and place the Federation on a sound and stable basis,
beneficial alike to individual and to the union of societies.

To do this reforms of more or less consequence may require to be
introduced, but the _one_ on which we are commissioned to report,
and which appears to us as the most urgent, and _the most likely in
being effectual_ in removing the evils complained of, is the setting
down of a branch in Johnstone, or some other place, where a great
amount of distributive expense could be saved at a small outlay.

The cheapness of carriage of flour in the bulk and its dearness when
manufactured into bread, which is at once bulky, fragile, and heavy,
suggests readily the idea that it would be well to have branches set
down in localities where there is a consumpt of bread large enough
to work them successfully; we consider Johnstone a place of this
class, and desire to lay before you, in detail, some of the reasons
why we think so.

In making Johnstone a district with a branch bakery we would class
the following societies together, viz.:—Paisley Provident, Paisley
Equitable, Howwood, Elderslie, Kilbarchan, Linwood, and Johnstone.
Taking October balance as an average of the bread taken by these
different societies, we find in the aggregate that the six societies
first named took bread to the value of £892, 10s. 6d., and that
Johnstone Society took bread to the amount of £884, 12s. 9d., a
total of £1,777, 3s. 3d., or within £100 of being a third of all the
purchases made at the Bakery during the quarter. The Johnstone
Society’s quantity, £884 a quarter, averages something like
sixty-four dozen loaves daily, the outcome of four sacks of flour;
say, then, with the other societies named, eight sacks of daily
consumpt. The weight of this number of sacks, in the bulk, is one
ton (twenty cwt.), and the price of carriage and delivery in
Johnstone, from Glasgow, is four shillings. These eight sacks, made
into bread in Glasgow, gives a weight, including boards, of over
thirty-four cwt.; this is exclusive of vans, which, we believe, are
about half as much more, or seventeen cwt. each. In this condition,
then, of baked bread it costs your Society thirty shillings or over
daily to deliver to the various societies of the named district.
Supposing, then, that you had a branch in Johnstone and a more
restricted delivery system adopted, we entertain no doubt but one
horse and van could overtake the whole _three mile radius_, give and
deliver the required bread to the different societies. The cost of
this would be about twelve shillings a day, which would leave a
clear profit to the Society of fourteen shillings a day, or £54,
12s. a quarter, nearly £220 a year.

_Another View of the Case._

We have had an interview with a practical managing baker, and his
estimate of the cost of production is much below your present
expense; he considers that the quantity required (eight or nine
sacks a day) could be baked into loaves at a cost of three shillings
per sack (he laid stress on the fact that the job was _loaf baking
alone_, and said that men _were able_ and really _did do_ more of
this kind of work). Buying the flour at the then price of fifty
shillings per sack, and adding three shillings for baking, rent,
etc., we have a gross cost of fifty-three shillings per sack. The
outcome from this quantity of flour should be sixteen dozen small
loaves; retailing them at the then price of 4¼d. each, you have the
sum of sixty-eight shillings; 10 per cent. less would be sixty-one
shillings and twopence, or a profit of eight shillings and twopence
on each sack baked and sold; this eight times (a daily output) would
give sixty-five shillings and fourpence per day, or £19, 12s. a
week, £254, 16s. a quarter. But allowing half this quantity has to
be delivered to societies, and say this will cost three shillings
per sack, which would give a total cost of about £48, 15s., which
sum deducted from the £254, 16s. would still leave the sum of £206 a
quarter of a clear profit realised from the business done by the
seven societies comprising the proposed district.

Regarding the practical part of the scheme we have nothing to offer
in way of a ready-made bakehouse or other suitable premises, and we
are afraid that should the business be gone into, as proposed, new
premises would require to be got; on this, however, we ask your
consideration to the fact that your present premises have not the
necessary storage for flour which your large turnover requires. This
is attested by the proposal which was made six months ago for
alterations, and if it is true, as we believe it is, that properly
stored flour is from one to two shillings a bag better in outcome
than when used as has hitherto been done at the Bakery, one shilling
on each sack baked for a quarter, say 1,800 sacks, and you have a
sum of £90.

The alterations which were proposed and were estimated to cost about
£200 have never been carried into effect, consequently the Bakery
labours under the disadvantage of want of storage at a loss equal to
something like £90 a quarter.

We know full well the high cost of distribution, and some are
sanguine the productive cost could also be lessened; could not this
sum, then, of £200, or say £300, required for storage purposes be
laid out on a branch bakery in the Johnstone district, and take away
a third of the trade from the centre; you would then have storage to
suit your requirements for some time to come, very probably you
would be less for productive expenses, and most certainly your cost
of distribution would be so much curtailed as to release the
Federation from the incubus which at present keeps her down.

Gentlemen, our aim and earnest desire is the prosperity of the
Federation and its component parts; we lay these considerations
before you and leave the matter in your hands, being confident your
united wisdom will be well able to direct the path which will
earliest and best lead to better and happier times for the United
Co-operative Baking Society.

THE JOHNSTONE SOCIETY’S COMMITTEE.

Johnstone, _21st February 1873_.

At that time it would seem that the representatives of all the societies
were enamoured with the idea of branching out, especially in view of the
very rosy picture which had been presented in the Johnstone Society’s
report, but they realised that at the moment branching out was
impossible. The Federation’s commitments in capital expenditure were
already as much as could be borne; the cost of building a new bakery
would add considerably to the burden, and neither delegates nor
directors could see how it could be carried; so, when the subject was
brought up again at the June quarterly meeting, it was left in the hands
of the committee, with the proviso that no extension take place until a
general meeting of the members had been called.

The proposal, however, had never been one which was pleasing to Barrhead
Society. Immediately after the remit to Johnstone Society and the
Paisley societies to collect information, a deputation from Barrhead had
waited on the Bakery committee, and, after pointing out that the capital
of the Society was far from being what it ought to be, they said they
had been instructed by their committee to state that they considered it
inexpedient in the meantime to proceed with the proposed branch at
either Paisley or Johnstone because of the plant and other necessaries
which would be required and which the funds of the Federation were not
in a position to meet. It was owing to the determined opposition of the
Barrhead and Thornliebank delegates and the strength of their argument
that the capital of the Society was insufficient for the enterprise,
that the Johnstone scheme was held over.

Nothing further was heard of the proposal until the beginning of 1876.
By that time the trade of the Federation was taxing the productive
capacity of the bakery to its utmost limits, and on the 29th of April a
special meeting of delegates was convened for the purpose of considering
the situation, and especially a recommendation by the committee that a
small bakery which was to let in Paisley Road should be taken for a
period of three years. A lengthy discussion took place. Mr Inglis,
Paisley Provident Society, moved “that the committee be empowered to
open a branch bakery, either in Paisley or Johnstone, and to lease
temporary premises in the locality chosen until the new bakery was
ready.” At once Mr Tolmie, of Avonbank, brought forward an amendment
“that the committee be empowered to take such action at once as will
appear to them to be for the best interests of the Federation.” Mr
Paton, Paisley Provident Society, seconded Mr Inglis’s motion, and Mr
Johnstone, Barrhead, the amendment of Mr Tolmie; but the motion that a
branch be opened in the West was carried by 42 votes to 39 for the
amendment. While the amendment did not prohibit in so many words the
suggestion contained in the motion, it was believed that it would have
that effect, because, although on this question of branching out the
committee as a body had always held a neutral position, it was believed
that they were not very favourable to the proposal of the Paisley and
Johnstone societies.

BARRHEAD OPPOSITION.

It might appear that the question was now settled finally, but that was
far from being the case. The Barrhead Society had always been opposed to
the suggestion that a branch should be established at either Paisley or
Johnstone, and it was suspected that the adoption of this proposal would
lead to their withdrawal from the Federation. Whatever influence the
decision may have had on the final step taken by Barrhead Society,
however, other influences were at work there in favour of the society
commencing to bake bread for themselves. At a meeting of the committee
of that society, held on 6th March 1876, the propriety of the society
erecting a bakery of their own was discussed on the motion of a Mr
M‘Quarrie. The committee were not favourable to the idea, but at the
monthly meeting, which was held four days later, a more extended
discussion took place, and, although no formal motion was made at the
time, the minutes of the society record that “the members seemed to be
rather in favour of starting a bakery.” At the next monthly meeting,
also, held in the beginning of April, the quality of the bread which
they were receiving from the Federation was discussed, and a suggestion
was made that the society intimate to the Baking Society that it was
their intention to erect a bakery of their own. It is apparent,
therefore, that the idea of entering into the baking industry for
themselves was being considered by the Barrhead people before any
definite decision had been come to by the U.C.B.S. on the question of
placing a branch in the West. That decision brought the question to a
crisis in Barrhead, however, and at the quarterly meeting of the
society, which was held on 9th May 1876, the following motion was
adopted by the meeting:—

“With a view to mend past and present complaints of the bread
received from the wholesale bakery, and of preventing the committee
from carrying out the motion passed by the delegates at their last
general meeting to plant a branch bakery in Paisley, involving us in
more debt, resolved that it is the opinion of this meeting that we
withdraw from the Bakery and start a bakery on our own account.”

On 22nd May a committee was appointed by the committee of Barrhead
Society to look out for premises which would be suitable for a bakery.
This did not settle the question even yet, however. At the meeting of
the Baking Society committee, which took place on 17th June, a
deputation from Barrhead came to make suggestions, particularly about
the delivery of bread in the latter part of the week. From the U.C.B.S.
minute we can gather, reading between the lines, that the discussion had
been warm. The committee’s account of what took place states that they
had “no difficulty in overtaking orders in the beginning of the week,
but it was somewhat difficult to overtake them at the latter end; but
the committee refused to say that they could not supply the full
complement to Barrhead on the Saturday; and that Barrhead be left to
conduct their business as they thought best.” It would appear, from what
is known of what was taking place in Barrhead, that the deputation had
mentioned the likelihood of that society withdrawing from the
Federation, and the last clause was the committee’s answer to what they
may have interpreted as a threat. One good result of the meeting of
representatives of the two boards was that the Barrhead people were
induced to reconsider their position, for a special meeting of the
members was held on 30th June at which the following resolution was
adopted:—

“That the question of withdrawal from the U.C.B.S. and of baking for
ourselves be adjourned _sine die_, and that this meeting declares
itself of opinion that the bread supplied, while it is pure and
wholesome, has not been up to the standard of quality and appearance
required by our members; and that we are unanimously opposed to any
extension of the United Bakery beyond the premises that it at
present occupies; and that a deputation be appointed from this
meeting to place these matters before its committee of management,
and to urge upon them the adoption of means to improve the quality
of the bread, and the necessity of reconsidering the recent
resolution to plant a branch bakery in Paisley or Johnstone, in
order to preserve the integrity and harmony of the Federation.”

The result of this deputation’s visit was that a special meeting of the
U.C.B.S. committee was held on 29th July, when the committee decided
“that we, as a committee, take no action towards the increasing of the
productive power of the bakery until such time as we hear the opinion of
the forthcoming quarterly meeting on the matter.”

Everything seemed to be going smoothly now, but it was only surface
tranquillity, for at the same meeting where the Barrhead Society passed
the resolution quoted above they also unanimously adopted another “to
grant powers to the acting committee of this society (the committee
which had been appointed to look out for premises suitable for a bakery)
to rent, lease, purchase, or erect premises suitable for carrying on its
own trade.” At the September meeting of the Baking Society, Mr Stark,
Barrhead, moved “that in order to preserve the integrity and harmony of
the Federation we consider it necessary that the resolution passed at
special meeting of the Federation, held on 29th April, ‘to plant a
branch bakery at Paisley or Johnstone,’ be rescinded by this meeting,
and that no permanent extension of the bakery take place beyond the
present premises.” Mr Hall, Thornliebank, seconded.

At once Paisley Provident delegates were on the alert, and Messrs
Lauchland and Cumming of that society moved as an amendment: “That this
meeting adheres to the resolution agreed to at special meeting on 29th
April, in reference to the planting of a branch in Paisley or
Johnstone.” The discussion was long and animated, but again the glamour
of a branch was on the delegates, and the Paisley amendment was agreed
to by 41 votes to 30 for Barrhead motion.

BARRHEAD DECIDES TO WITHDRAW.

This decision at once made its influence felt in Barrhead, and at the
monthly meeting of that society which took place on 12th September
notice was given of a resolution to the effect that “This Society hold a
special meeting on 8th November to consider a motion ‘that this Society
withdraw and cease to be a member of the U.C.B.S.’” At this special
meeting the resolution to withdraw was agreed to by a very large
majority, and on 4th December it was agreed that the Bakery committee be
informed officially of the decision to withdraw, and that the letter
state that the society would continue to purchase bread until their own
bakery was ready. It is probable that this letter was a result of what
had taken place at the Bakery quarterly meeting on the preceding
Saturday, when the chairman had been questioned about the withdrawal of
the society, and had stated that nothing official had yet been received
from Barrhead Society with reference to their withdrawal. He was also
questioned as to whether any steps had been taken with regard to
establishing a branch bakery, and stated that no action had been taken
regarding the branch. The subject then dropped.

DISSATISFACTION IN PAISLEY AND JOHNSTONE.

It is easy to understand that the Paisley and Johnstone societies were
not satisfied with the delays which were taking place in placing a
branch somewhere in their neighbourhood. They had succeeded in carrying
their point in 1873, but the financial position of the Federation had
prevented anything from being done. Then in April of 1876 they had
secured a majority of votes—true, it was only a majority of three—in
favour of their proposals, and in September this decision had been
confirmed by a much larger majority. Yet, in view of the strenuous
opposition of Barrhead Society and the repeated threats of withdrawal
made by that society, they must have recognised that it would not do to
hurry matters, for with almost 600 dozen loaves taken away from the
weekly output of the Federation, the premises would be ample; and, in
view of that contingency, the committee of the Bakery were justified in
pursuing a cautious policy. Notwithstanding the chairman’s disclaimer of
any “official” knowledge of Barrhead Society’s intentions, it was
generally known throughout the Federation that they had decided to start
baking for themselves, and it was doubtless this knowledge which was
responsible for the statement by the chairman that “no action had been
taken” to establish a branch being allowed to pass as quietly as it did.

A BRANCH IN GLASGOW.

Whatever might be the result of the withdrawal of Barrhead Society,
however, if and when it did take place, there was no doubt but that the
capacity of the bakery premises were overtaxed at the moment. The
committee had been compelled to refuse offers of trade because of
inability to supply the societies, and on discovering that a small
bakery, situated in Paisley Road adjacent to their central premises, was
to let, they came to the decision to appeal to the members for power to
rent it for a year while awaiting developments. A circular was drafted
and sent out to the societies, in which were explained the committee’s
reasons for not proceeding with the branch bakery, and also the reasons
why they considered it advisable that the small bakery in Paisley Road
should be rented. The contents of this circular fanned the ire of the
Paisley and Johnstone societies, whose delegates turned out in great
force to the quarterly meeting, held on 3rd March 1877.

The circular was submitted by Mr Slater, secretary of the Federation,
and gave rise to a lengthy discussion. It does not seem to have occurred
to anyone that the Paisley and Johnstone societies might follow the
example of Barrhead and withdraw, and the idea was largely entertained
by the delegates that if a branch was established in that locality, it
would relieve the congestion in the Central Bakery for a long time to
come. Finally, after a very long discussion, Mr Inglis, Paisley
Provident, moved “That the circular lie on the table, and that the
committee take their instructions as to how they should meet the extra
demand from the resolutions agreed to on the matter at previous
meetings.” Mr Paton, Paisley Provident, seconded. Mr Steel, Avonbank,
moved, and Mr Stark, Barrhead, seconded, “That the committee be
empowered to rent premises temporarily in the vicinity of the present
bakehouse.” The vote resulted in the amendment of Mr Steel being carried
by 39 votes to 34 for the motion of Mr Inglis. The question was not yet
settled, however. Immediately the result of the vote was declared, Mr
O’May, Paisley Provident, rose and moved: “That this question be again
brought up at the quarterly general meeting six months hence.” It should
have been apparent to the delegates that this was a blocking motion and
might prevent the committee from doing anything, but it was evidently
not so regarded, or else the delegates could not make up their minds on
the subject, for it was agreed to without comment. The committee did not
allow the motion for reopening the question in six months to hinder them
from going on with the new branch, for immediately the meeting was over
they gave instructions to the sub-committee to secure temporary premises
in the vicinity.

THE END OF THE PROPOSAL.

The subject again arose at the 34th quarterly meeting, held on 1st
September, when Paisley Provident was again forward with a motion: “That
if a branch be required after Barrhead had left the Federation, it be
established at Paisley or Johnstone, and that the present branch in
Glasgow be not retaken.” To this it was moved by Mr Gardiner, Cathcart,
and seconded by Mr M‘Murran, Glasgow Eastern, as an amendment, “That
this question lie over for six months.” After a long discussion the
Paisley motion was withdrawn, on condition that the amendment limit the
period of lying over to three months, and that, meantime, a special
committee, constituted from the delegates present and from the
committee, be appointed to investigate the matter and report to the next
quarterly meeting. This was agreed to, and Messrs M‘Murran, O’May,
Aitchison, Brown, and Slater were appointed the special committee. In
less than three months’ time the committee sent out their report to the
societies. The report contained details of three plans which the
sub-committee had considered. The first of these, that of a branch
bakery in Paisley, they considered could not be worked except at a
slight loss. With regard to the second one, that of a branch at
Johnstone, they considered that the loss would be slightly greater;
while, with the branch at Johnstone, the trade would be more difficult
to work. The third proposal which had been considered was that of
increasing the number of ovens in the present premises, and in the
report they stated they were not prepared to recommend any one of the
schemes in the meantime, but recommended, instead, that the branch in
Paisley Road be taken for another year. The reason they gave for this
recommendation was that they considered that an inquiry should be made
into the advisability of introducing machinery into the bakehouse, as
the whole of their premises would be vacant in eighteen months and could
be utilised; if the result of the inquiry was satisfactory, steps should
then be taken to have it introduced. This report was accepted by the
delegates at the quarterly meeting, and so a subject which had been a
fruitful source of controversy at the general meetings of the Federation
for nearly two years disappeared. It was again raised at a quarterly
meeting some years later, when the question of removing altogether from
St James Street was being discussed, but was summarily disposed of by
the delegates.

BARRHEAD, JOHNSTONE, AND PAISLEY PROVIDENT WITHDRAW.

Meantime the Barrhead bakery was ready for work and baking was commenced
in the last week of the year, but the society, although it had withdrawn
a large proportion of the loan capital invested with the Baking Society
in order to pay for the erection of its own bakery, retained membership
of the Federation until requested by the committee to withdraw as the
interest on the share capital was an unnecessary burden on the
Federation’s funds. The society was allowed to withdraw without any of
its capital being retained, being the first of the withdrawing societies
to which this privilege was extended. In 1894, after fancy biscuit
baking had been firmly established by the Baking Society, Barrhead
Society rejoined again, taking up 1,500 shares.

Another withdrawal which occurred in a comparatively short time, and
which was doubtless influenced to some extent by the refusal to
establish a branch in the West, was that of Johnstone Society. At a
meeting of the committee which took place on 15th February 1879, the
minutes record a conversation which took place regarding a decision of
that society, come to the previous evening, to start baking for
themselves. The effect of the information that they were likely to lose
Johnstone Society’s custom so soon after having lost that of Barrhead
had a damping effect on the spirits of the committee, and it was decided
that in the meantime the erection of the new ovens which they had
proposed to build be not proceeded with. With the withdrawal of Paisley
Provident Society at the end of 1880, consequent on having a bakery of
their own ready for occupation, the controversy with respect to the
branch, and also its effects on the welfare of the Federation, may be
said to have ended.

The Federation had lost three of its best customers, but it had
succeeded in keeping its business centralised. It must always remain a
matter of argument whether it would have been better to branch out at an
earlier date and do for the societies in Renfrewshire that which in
later years it has done for Clydebank and the North of Ireland. The
question of branches is still one on which there is considerable
controversy, and, at any rate, it is certain that the committee, and
latterly the delegates, played for safety, and chose to conserve the
strength of the Federation at a time when all its strength was needed
rather than weaken it by widening the scope of the society’s energies.
The majority of the committee, it is quite evident, were opposed to
branching out, for had this not been so, they would have gone ahead when
two general meetings of the Society gave them the mandate.

It is difficult to see that any great harm was done by the course which
was adopted. The growth of the three societies has been so great that
each of them is large enough to maintain a bakery of its own, and
although the Federation had one or two temporary setbacks, none of them
was serious enough to affect its stability or its efficiency. It is
possible, therefore, to argue that either decision would have had
equally good results. There we may leave what was undoubtedly a stirring
controversy while it lasted, the importance of which at the time forms
sufficient justification for the space which has been devoted to it.

CHAPTER VI.
ST JAMES STREET: DEVELOPMENTS.

IMPROVED MANAGEMENT—PRIVATE LOANS—IRREGULARITY OF ORDERS AND OTHER
DIFFICULTIES—A NEW FOREMAN BAKER—SHORT WEIGHT IN FLOUR—DELIVERY
DIFFICULTIES CONTINUE—UNINFORMED CRITICISM—AN ECHO
OF THE IRONWORKS FAILURE—NEW MEMBERS—AMENDING THE
RULES—EXTENSIONS—MANAGER RESIGNS: SECRETARY APPOINTED—OAKMILL
SOCIETY—APPEAL FOR FUNDS—TRADE AND FINANCIAL POSITION
IMPROVING—ANDERSTON SOCIETY’S FAILURE—GOOD NEWS—MACHINERY
INSTALLED—BECOMING RICH—TEN YEARS’ WORK.

In tracing the development of the agitation for and against the
establishment of a branch bakery we have been running ahead of the
calendar. A new cashier, who was virtually manager of the business, had
been appointed in the last days of 1872, and during the next two and a
half years he carried on the business with as much success as the
conditions under which he was compelled to work permitted. In these two
and a half years he inaugurated a system of private loans to the
Federation for the purpose of increasing the working capital of the
Society; the smallness of the capital having been until then the
greatest difficulty under which the Federation laboured; and so
successful was this venture that by April 1875 the Society was in a
position to deposit £500 on loan with the S.C.W.S., while six months
earlier he was in a position to recommend to the committee that the
acceptance of private loans except from those who had already deposits
with the Society, and from the employees, be discontinued; a
recommendation which was put in force by the committee a month later.

In other ways, too, Mr Craig brought prosperity to the Federation. He
found it in a position of peril. For a long time after his appointment
he found himself in the position, meeting after meeting, of having to
present to the committee accounts which had been incurred by his
predecessor without being able to check them in any way. One of these,
presented in 1874, had been incurred from 1870 to 1872, and the
explanation offered by the contractor was that he thought the U.C.B.S.
and the S.C.W.S. were all the same, and had kept the invoice back until
the building was finished. Mr Craig was given the job of arranging on
the best terms possible. For several years the difficulty already
alluded to, that societies did not pay their accounts promptly,
continued. This was particularly the case with two of the societies
which were in very low water about this time, one of them eventually
succumbing. There was also continuous difficulty about the maintenance
of sales. Sometimes a society would take bread for a number of weeks or
months, and then cease all at once without any reason being given. At
other times there would be a series of complaints about the quality of
the bread and the reluctance of members to purchase, and investigation
showed that these complaints emanated from the shopman and had very
little foundation in fact. In some cases the shopman was the society,
the committee seeming to exercise little or no supervision; while in
other cases there was, of course, genuine cause for complaint owing to
bad or irregular deliveries or to barm going wrong with the baker. Such
causes were not sufficient to account for the constant stream of
complaints which were launched at the heads of the committee, however,
and doubtless close investigation would have shown that many of them had
their origin in a desire on the part of salesmen to do business with
firms which made it worth their while. With the appointment of Mr Lang
as foreman baker there was certainly a decrease in the number of
complaints, and the sales improved.

A discussion which took place at a committee meeting in June 1873 showed
that there was not only a dispute with Barrhead Society, a deputation
having been sent to that society’s meeting and been refused admission to
the meeting, but also that the Baking Society’s committee had not yet
been placed on a satisfactory basis. The chairman stated at the
committee meeting that his committee had only heard of the Barrhead
meeting casually, and expressed the opinion that it was the duty of the
member of the board from Barrhead Society to have informed the Bakery
board of the fact that it was being held. On the other hand the Barrhead
delegate said that he had forgotten all about it, and that in any case
he had no authority from Barrhead committee to say anything on the
matter. It would appear that a long discussion took place on the
subject, and especially on the position of members of the Baking
Society’s committee in relation to the work of that society, the opinion
being freely expressed that to members of the board of the Baking
Society the affairs of the Baking Society should be the first
consideration. The subject was ultimately dropped, on the understanding
that it was the duty of any member of the Baking Society’s committee to
inform that board forthwith of anything which affected the interests of
the Society.

About this time, also, some trouble was being experienced with one of
the millers who were supplying them with flour. Several sacks of flour
had been weighed by the manager, and each had been found to be short in
weight to the extent of several pounds. The result was that the
committee determined to purchase a “beam and scales” in order that the
flour might be weighed as it came into the bakery, and meantime it was
decided that at present no more flour be purchased from the defaulting
miller. At the same time a claim was made against him for short weight.
About this time, also, some difficulty arose with respect to the
delivery of bread to Lennoxtown Society. For some time the committee had
been of the opinion that they were losing money by delivering bread to
this society, and several suggestions had been made as to the most
economical means of delivery. No one of these seemed to find favour with
the Lennoxtown people, however, and that committee ultimately decided to
ask the Bakery board to supply them with bread by means of the van as
usual, and, if necessary, to retain the dividend. The Bakery committee,
however, after considering the matter, came to the conclusion that,
apart from the principle, this method would not pay them, and decided to
make no alteration. The secretary was instructed to reply to this
effect, and also to state that the Bakery would stop supplying bread to
Lennoxtown as soon as that society was able to make other arrangements.

At the quarterly meeting the attention of the delegates was called by
the chairman to the cases of one or two societies in Glasgow which were
members of the Federation, but which purchased little or no bread from
the Society. At this meeting, also, attention was again called to the
needs of the Federation for more capital. The work of Mr Craig in
securing individual depositors had not yet begun to have any noticeable
effect on the finances of the Society. At this time propaganda work was
engaging the attention of the committee, and a conference of societies
in and near Glasgow was held for the purpose of inducing them to become
better customers of the Federation. At one of the meetings about this
time the chairman suggested that another meeting place be got for their
committee meetings, as the business was being overheard where they met
at present. Societies were now beginning to join up more freely.
Applications from some of the outlying societies were held up for
consideration, but in November 1873 Kinning Park joined the Federation,
taking up 100 shares, and a short time later London Road Society became
a member.

UNINFORMED CRITICISM.

About this time the editor of the _Co-operative News_ seems to have been
criticising the Society’s balance-sheet, for a discussion took place in
committee on the subject, and it was duly minuted that “the remarks of
the editor with regard to the balance-sheet were wrong; that it had been
the same with the quarter previous, and he considered the editor should
make himself better acquainted with the circumstances of the business
before commenting on it.” At this period the Federation had been caught
on a rising market with a very small stock of flour on hand. The master
bakers of the city had a meeting, but two of them refused to raise the
price of bread, having evidently large stocks in hand. Flour was eight
shillings a sack dearer than when the price of bread had been fixed. It
was decided to maintain the price of bread in a line with Glasgow
prices; but it was agreed that if a general rise took place in the
various districts the members of committee should notify the manager so
that he could act accordingly.

At the meeting of the committee which was held on 17th January 1874 the
overdrawing by the Ironworks of their account with the Wholesale Society
was referred to. It was stated that the amount overdrawn was £9,000. A
lengthy conversation took place as to the advisability of having a more
thorough check upon the transactions of the Bakery manager so as to
prevent the possibility of a like occurrence; but, after the matter had
been discussed in all its bearings and various plans had been suggested,
no definite decision was arrived at, except that the finance committee
were instructed to make a regular inspection of the books and use every
means to ascertain the real position of the Society. The delegates to
the Wholesale meeting had also reported that it had been agreed by that
society to charge 5 per cent. on overdue accounts after a certain date.
This was going to hit the Baking Society heavily, and the committee
expressed the opinion that they should not be liable as they were only
receiving half bonus. There is no reason given, however, why they should
be receiving only half bonus, as they had become members of the
Wholesale Society quite a long time previously. Bridge of Weir and
Kilbarchan societies were admitted members of the Federation, but the
admission of Milngavie Society was held over for a further period. It
was decided in February 1874 to recommend the delegates to the quarterly
meeting to amend the rule relating to the representation of societies on
the committee, as it was thought that with the increase in the number of
the societies who were members of the Federation the committee was
becoming unwieldy because of its size. From the beginning each society
which joined the Federation had been entitled to be represented on the
committee. There were now twenty societies in the Federation, and,
although the average attendance at a committee meeting was about
fourteen, the more the membership of the Federation was added to the
larger the committee would become. After having been considered by the
societies for a year, the recommendation of the committee was agreed to,
and the membership of the committee was fixed at twelve—president,
secretary, treasurer, and nine representatives of societies.

The trade of the Federation had fallen off somewhat during the fifth
year, owing to the fact that several of the societies had been asked to
withdraw and that the trade of one or two others was declining. The
turnover was 7,514 sacks, as compared with 7,955 for the preceding year,
thus showing a decline of 441 sacks. The average price of bread had been
slightly higher, however, for the cash value of the goods sold was
£22,153, an increase of £131. The average dividend paid had been
5½d.—4d., 6d., 6d., and 6d. respectively for the four quarters—and the
reserve fund had been more than doubled during the year, while
depreciations to the amount of £719 had been made. The capital of the
society was still very small in proportion to the turnover, however,
being only £2,300. The societies themselves were mostly small; they had
not very much capital to spare for investment, and those of them which
were members of the U.C.B.S. had to divide that between that Federation
and the S.C.W.S. Added to this was the fact that several of the
societies which were members of the Federation were in a position which
was gradually becoming more hopeless, with the result that not only were
they unable to invest in the Federation, but they were barely able to
pay for the bread they bought.

EXTENSIONS AND A FIRE.

At the quarterly meeting which took place in December 1874 it was
decided that the erection of the flour loft, which had been held over
for more than a year, should be proceeded with, but a disaster which
befell the Society at the end of the month put a stop to the carrying
out of that particular proposal for some time. This disaster was the
burning down of the premises adjacent to the bakery and the property of
the Society, which were being utilised as a bolt and rivet works by
tenants of theirs. The reconstruction of this property occupied the
attention of the committee for the next few months, and it was not until
May that estimates for the completion of the flour loft were received
and the contracts placed. When the accounts for the rebuilding of the
burned-out property had all been submitted it was found that they were
£70 less than the sum which had been received in insurances on the
property, and the manager was presented with £5 and was granted a
fortnight’s leave of absence. The insurance on the property and stock of
the Society was now increased by £2,000 to £7,000.

RESIGNATION OF MR CRAIG.

At the next meeting of the committee, held on 10th July 1875, a letter
was received from Mr Craig, in which he stated that owing to a sudden
change in health he was compelled to resign his position as cashier and
manager. The committee were unanimous in their expressions of regret,
and a deputation was appointed to meet with Mr Craig and learn whether
it would be possible for him to return to his position in the event of
assistance being given in the office. At the next meeting this
deputation reported that they had met Mr Craig, who stated that the
medical advice he had received was that he should leave the country, and
that he had decided to do so. They had therefore advertised the
position. The committee thereupon recorded their appreciation of the
work which Mr Craig had done for the Society in the following terms:—

“While we accept Mr Craig’s resignation as manager, we desire to
record our heartfelt sympathy with him in his circumstances and the
high esteem in which he is held by all the members of this committee
as an honest and upright individual, an intelligent and energetic
man of business, and a faithful servant who, for the past two and a
half years, has conducted the business to the great pecuniary
advantage of all the members connected with it. While we regret the
loss of such a valuable servant, we hope that he may secure in the
country to which he is emigrating a restoration of health and
strength, together with a due amount of worldly prosperity.”

Alas, it was not to be. No improvement took place in Mr Craig’s health
from his residence abroad, and in a short time he was back in Glasgow
again, his death taking place in the summer of 1877.

At the August quarterly meeting of the Society a grant of £20 was made
to a testimonial which was being got up for Mr Craig, and the secretary
was instructed to record in the minute of the proceedings that the grant
was made

“In recognition of his sterling worth as a man and the able business
abilities he showed by the successful manner in which he conducted
the affairs of this Society during the period he held the office of
manager to the Society.”

Mr David Smith, who had been acting as secretary since Mr Borrowman had
resigned from that office, was appointed manager, and Mr Thomas Slater,
London Road Society, was elected secretary.

A BAD INVESTMENT.

In the middle of September there came an appeal from the Oakmill Society
that the Baking Society should invest in its funds. The matter was
delayed for one reason or another, but finally, at the quarterly meeting
which was held in March 1876, it was agreed to invest £200. At this time
the financial position was improving every week. The profits on working
were well over £30 per week, and the committee were not so chary of
spending money as they had been in earlier years. Among other donations
to which the Society agreed was one of £20 towards the expenses of the
Co-operative Congress which was to be held in Glasgow in 1876. Several
of the societies which were affiliated with the Baking Society were in a
bad way at this time. Blairdardie Society had had their premises
destroyed by fire, and a deputation was received by the Bakery
directors. The deputation explained that the purpose of their visit was
to get some consideration shown to them by giving them their regular
supply of bread until they were able to complete their arrangements. The
committee agreed that Blairdardie should receive their usual supply of
bread for a month, at the end of which period the question would be
further considered. Anderston Society also had fallen on evil days. For
some time the Bakery committee had had considerable difficulty in
securing prompt payment by that society for bread supplied to it, and
early in 1876 they reduced by half the number of shares they held in the
Bakery, as their membership was declining. They struggled on until the
middle of 1878, but after taking stock in July of that year they gave up
in despair and closed the shop. At the time when they closed down they
were owing the Baking Society some money, and Mr Smith transferred that
amount from their share account to their goods account. The chairman
had, however, some doubt as to the legality of this action, and it was
afterwards decided that should any of the other creditors object the
Society would not take any action to uphold their claim. The debts of
the Anderston Society were taken up by the Wholesale Society, however,
and after a considerable amount of correspondence between the committees
of the two Federations the balance of the share capital of Anderston
Society was transferred by the Bakery committee to the Wholesale
Society, the latter Federation agreeing to relieve the Baking Society
from any responsibility they might incur by so doing.

At the beginning of the year 1878, Barrhead Society ceased to purchase
bread from the Baking Society. This meant a reduction in turnover of
nearly 600 dozens of bread every week, and for the time being put an end
to all thoughts of branching out. Other societies, too, were going the
way of Anderston, and about this time the most remarkable point in the
minutes of the Baking Society is their record of the names of societies
which have long ceased to have any separate existence. Maryhill,
Petershill, Bloomvale, Anderston, and Southern all lived a more or less
precarious existence during the first decade of the Federation’s
existence, and all disappeared. One result of the failure of Anderston
Society was an alteration in the rules of the Baking Society for the
purpose of giving a lien on the shares of a debtor member. It was also
decided about this time that societies which had ceased to be purchasers
be removed from membership, and have their shares paid out to them. It
was at the quarterly meeting held in December 1876 that the first
mention is made of a practice which has since that time gladdened the
hearts of many hundreds of weary delegates. At that meeting, Mr Neil,
Kilbarchan, moved, and Mr M‘Duff, Linwood, seconded a motion: “That at
our quarterly meetings in future the delegates be supplied with tea.”
The motion was agreed to unanimously. The tenants of the bolt and rivet
works in property owned by the Society wished for an extension of their
lease or, alternatively, to be allowed to break their lease and remove,
and the Society agreed to allow them to remove provided the removal was
carried out in three months. At the end of May 1877 the Society’s stable
in St James Street was destroyed by fire and six horses were killed; at
the same time some doubts were being entertained as to the stability of
the bakery itself, as it was feared that the back wall was too weak for
the load of flour it had to bear. Then the members of the committee were
again being worried with complaints about the quality of the bread, and
especially of the fine bread. When they came to compare their bread with
that manufactured by competing bakers, however, they usually were of the
opinion that the bread they were baking was as good as any.

[Illustration:

PAST PRESIDENTS

1. GABRIEL THOMSON. 2. WM. BARCLAY.
3. DONALD CAMERON. 4. ANDREW BROWN.
]

[Illustration:

PAST PRESIDENTS

1. ALEXANDER FRASER. 2. JOHN FERGUSON.
3. DUNCAN M‘CULLOCH. 4. DANIEL H. GERRARD. J.P.
]

GOOD NEWS.

At one of the meetings of the committee, held towards the end of 1877,
an interesting report was given by the Johnstone representative, which
was not without its humorous side. Nearly a year earlier the Bakery
committee had installed machinery for biscuit baking, and had been
building up a good trade. Nevertheless, the Johnstone committee had
thought it necessary to inquire into complaints which were being made by
their members. The biscuits manufactured by the Baking Society were sold
in paper bags which contained 28 for 1/, and the members complained that
other grocers gave 30 biscuits for 1/. The committee of Johnstone
Society had carried out their investigation in a practical manner. They
had purchased a bag of each of the other makers’ biscuits and had
weighed them. The result showed that the U.C.B.S. 28 biscuits were
heavier by 5½ oz. than were the 30 biscuits of one maker, and were as
heavy as 34 biscuits of another maker, while in each case the Society’s
biscuits were pronounced to be the better in quality. It is easy to
imagine how heartening to a committee who were continuously being
pestered with complaints about the quality of their wares such a report
would be, and the chuckles with which the humorists amongst them would
agree that it should be engrossed in the minutes “for the information of
the delegates attending the quarterly meeting, so that they may be in a
position to lay the matter before their respective committees; which may
result in a considerable extension of this branch of trade.”

MACHINERY INSTALLED.

For some months the committee had been discussing tentatively the
installation of baking machinery, but without coming to any definite
decision on the matter. In the beginning of 1878, however, they began to
inquire into the subject in earnest, and appointed a committee to get
all necessary particulars as to cost, effect on working expenses, and
effect on the quality and appearance of the bread, of such machinery.
After this committee had reported, the subject was discussed by the
general committee and then remitted to the quarterly meeting. There the
delegates ordered the report to be printed in circular form and sent out
to the societies, so that the delegates might come to the next quarterly
meeting with instructions. At the next meeting a motion that machinery
be installed in the bakery was agreed to by a small majority. The
amendment, “that it be not installed,” seems to have been the last
protest from those societies who wished a branch to be established at
Paisley or Johnstone, but with the installation of machinery their last
hope of achieving their purpose disappeared.

GETTING RICH.

When the Society purchased the property in St James Street they were
very poor and had to take a bond on the property, and when, a year or
two later, the adjacent property in Park Street was purchased, the
amount of the bond was increased, the total being £830. Now, in 1878,
the committee found themselves in a position to pay out the bondholders,
and accordingly this was done. The views of the committee on the subject
of “bonds,” as reported in the minutes, are interesting and worthy of
quotation. They state:

“The uplifting of the bonds has entailed a considerable expense to
this Society. The amount was advanced by four separate parties, who
had each to be secured by a separate bond. We should draw a lesson
from this which might be beneficial to us in the future, to make us
beware that this or any of our respective local societies never have
a ‘bond’ on any property where it is possible to get co-operative
money.”

At this point it may be interesting to note the apparent effect which
the withdrawal of the trade of Barrhead Society had on the Bakery. For
the ninth year the average turnover of the Society was 223 sacks per
week, while in the tenth year this fell to an average of 188. The
position is more fully illustrated by taking the totals for the two
years; that for the ninth year being 11,588 sacks, while that for the
tenth year had fallen to 9,774 sacks. About this time the members were
beginning to be uneasy about the Oakmill Society, in which they had
invested £200, and at one quarterly meeting a delegate wished to know
whether the committee considered the shares of this society a safe
investment. The meeting was assured by Messrs Barclay and M‘Nair, who
were both members of the Oakmill Society, that they considered the
investment quite a safe one. At the quarterly meeting in March 1879
question was again raised, when Mr Alexander, the treasurer of the
Baking Society, gave it as his opinion that “the loan capital in Oakmill
Society was as safe as ever it was.”

FURTHER EXTENSIONS PROPOSED.

Meantime negotiations had been going on as the result of which the
tenants in the bolt and rivet shop agreed to remove, and their boiler,
engine, and shafting were purchased by the Society for use in driving
the machinery which was being installed in the bakery. A new roof was
also being put on the bakery, and the question of erecting two new ovens
in the premises vacated by their tenant was being considered, when the
news came that Johnstone Society had decided to start baking on their
own account. This put an end for the time being to any thought of
erecting new ovens, as the withdrawal of this society would again reduce
the trade to below the capacity of the ovens already erected, but,
notwithstanding that fact, it was decided that the whole question should
be submitted to the quarterly meeting for its decision. The 40th
quarterly meeting was held on 1st March 1879. The society had now been
in existence for ten years, and although the outlook at the moment was
not very bright, yet worse times had already been met and overcome.
Doubtless, the members of committee were looking forward to the time
when other societies at a distance from the centre would begin baking on
their own account, but they knew also that the membership of the
societies in the immediate vicinity of the Bakery was increasing, and
hoped to recoup themselves in this way. At the quarterly meeting a
general discussion on the question of building new ovens, in view of the
fact that Johnstone Society was withdrawing, took place, but no decision
was come to.

THE RESULTS OF TEN YEARS’ WORK.

In considering the trade for the ten years during which the Society had
been established, it is to be noted that that for the ninth year was the
greatest, 11,588 sacks having been turned into bread and biscuits in
that year. The tenth year was the first in which there was a fall in the
turnover, each of the first nine years showing a steady increase over
that immediately preceding, and the reason for the drop in the tenth
year was so obvious and so insurmountable that no uneasiness arose in
consequence. From the second quarter in the seventh year the dividend
each quarter was almost uniformly a shilling or over, and by the end of
the tenth year no less than £8,051 had been allocated in dividend, as
well as £75 as dividend to non-members; while £1,548 had been paid as
interest on share and loan capital. Thus in the first ten years, those
associated with the Bakery had received nearly £10,000, which they
certainly would not have received had the Baking Federation not been
started. In addition, they had a valuable property represented by shares
and loans amounting to £5,706, while private loan-holders had also £544
invested. At the same time, in addition to the employees being paid
wages equal to those paid elsewhere in the trade, £766 had been divided
amongst them in the form of bonus. The directors were also extremely
liberal in their depreciations, for during the ten years £4,270 had been
written off property, stocks, machinery, fittings, and live stock. This
made for the stability of the Society. In view of the fact that the
capital was small and the capital outlay comparatively large, the
financial policy adopted of devoting large sums to depreciation instead
of paying them away in dividends was a sound one, and enabled the
committee to undertake with a light heart extensions which would
otherwise have caused them considerable anxiety. They had established on
a sound financial basis a structure which was to prove of lasting
benefit to the co-operative movement, and which was to bear no uncertain
testimony in future years to the ability of the builders and to the
soundness of the principles on which they were carrying on their
business.

CHAPTER VII.
ST JAMES STREET: CONGESTION.

A FALL IN MEMBERSHIP—RELATIONS WITH EMPLOYEES—CANVASSING FOR
TRADE—GOOD BREAD—GROUND ANNUAL PURCHASED—DIFFERENTIAL
TREATMENT—PRESIDENT AND TREASURER RETIRE—KEEPING DOWN
PRICES—OAKMILL FAILURE—A PECULIAR COMPLAINT FROM KINNING
PARK—FURTHER EXTENSIONS—COSTLY LITIGATION—TRANSFERABLE
CAPITAL—STILL FURTHER EXTENSIONS.

In the preceding chapter the decline in the turnover of the Federation,
and the circumstances to which that decline was due, have been detailed.
During the latter half of the tenth year three societies had withdrawn
or been paid out, and the membership of the Federation, which had
consisted of twenty-six societies at the beginning of the year,
consisted of only twenty-three at the end. For three years no new
societies had joined, and the increase which had taken place in the
trade was due entirely to increased membership of the societies which
were members of the Federation, and to a growing demand on the part of
the members for co-operatively produced bread. Two of the societies
whose names had been struck off the roll had been little more than
nominal members for years, and their loss scarcely affected the trade at
all, while, by the beginning of the eleventh year, the substantial
decrease which had resulted from the withdrawal of Barrhead Society
showed signs of being completely overcome. The turnover, which had
averaged 185 sacks per week in the last two quarters of 1878, as
compared with 226 in the third quarter of 1877, rose in the first
quarter of 1879 to 207 sacks, and by the end of that year was up to 216¾
sacks. The prospects for the immediate future were not too bright,
however, as Johnstone Society, in reply to a letter which had been sent
by the Bakery board, stated that they had definitely decided to begin
baking for themselves. On 21st February 1880 the committee had before
them the formal notice from the society of their withdrawal from the
Federation, which was accepted. At the same meeting Mr Green, who had
been the representative of Johnstone Society on the committee for eight
years, was thanked by the committee for the great interest he had taken
in, and the valuable services he had rendered to, the Baking Society. Mr
Small, Johnstone, who had been one of the auditors since the beginning
of 1876, had resigned six months earlier, in view of the fact that his
society proposed withdrawing from the Federation.

Notwithstanding the fact that the withdrawal of Johnstone Society was
imminent, and that the quarterly meeting of delegates had given no
decision on the subject when it was before them at the fortieth
quarterly meeting, the committee, by a majority of 9 votes to 2, decided
at their next meeting to proceed with the erection of two ovens
additional in the premises just vacated by their tenants. At the same
time the work of installing machinery was proceeding, and by the middle
of the summer the work was completed, as was also that of reslating the
bakery roof. The whole of this work was earned out at a cost of almost a
thousand pounds, and placed the Federation in a position to handle a
considerably larger trade than they were doing at the moment.

RELATIONS WITH EMPLOYEES.

At the same time they were considering the wages of their bakers and
vanmen. These workers had always been paid the wages current in the
trade, and now it was reported to the committee that the wages of bakers
in the city had been reduced by 2/ per week. The subject was discussed
on several occasions, being postponed month after month for lack of
precise information, and perhaps, also because they were loth to take
the step of reducing wages. Finally, a decision was arrived at. The
information was to the effect that nineteen bakers, eight vanmen and
stable hands, and four employees in the breadroom and office were
receiving a total of £46, 16s. per week. The details of the bakery wages
showed that the ordinary bakers were being paid 29/ per week; the
ovensmen, 32/; the stockkeeper, 33/; the biscuit baker, 35/; and the
under foreman, £2, 2s.; and it was agreed that the wages all round be
reduced by 2/ per week. The vanmen who had charge of two-horse vans had
their wages reduced from 27/ to 25/; one man who had 24/ had his wage
reduced to 23/; and those who were being paid 21/ had no reduction made.
Naturally, this reduction did not meet with the approval of the
employees, but for three months they do not seem to have taken any
action. At the end of that period, however, the committee were
memorialised by both bakers and vanmen, and the request made that their
wages should be brought up to the former figures. In reply to the
vanmen’s request, the committee said that after careful consideration
they could see no good reason why they should alter their former
decision. The reply to the bakers was couched in somewhat different
terms, but it was to the same effect. It was stated that the reduction
was entirely due to the state of the labour market in the country. From
the reports which had appeared in the public press, it seemed that
similar reductions had been made in other baking establishments, and, as
the Federation had advanced wages when advances were given elsewhere,
when reductions were made they were only following the usual course
which regulated wages in the trade. The minute continues: “But to show
that we have no wish to take any undue advantage of their position, if
they can establish to the satisfaction of this committee that the United
Baking Society are paying less than the standard wage current in
Glasgow, we as a committee would have much pleasure in reconsidering the
whole question at next meeting. Until that is done we adhere to our
former agreement.”

CANVASSING FOR TRADE.

Meantime, the committee had not been idle. They visited a number of
societies which were taking bread from them, but not all that they
required, with the view of getting them to place the whole of their
orders with the Society. They also visited several societies which were
within a comparatively short distance of Glasgow, and one of
these—Renfrew Equitable—was so pleased with the quality of the bread
supplied that after a comparatively short trial they agreed to take the
whole of their supplies from the Federation. This was cheering news, and
offset some of the other worries which were cropping up occasionally.
Flour at this time was rising very rapidly in price. During the quarter
it had risen by 10/6 per sack, the last rise being 4/6, and the bread
had, in consequence, to be advanced in price—the common bread to 7d. per
4–lb. loaf and the “fine” to 8d. Some trouble was also being experienced
with the engine which they had put in. New rings had been put on the
piston rod, and the engineer informed them that this would require to be
done about once in every six months. At first the committee were
sceptical, but inquiries elsewhere confirmed the engineer’s opinion. The
trade at this time was fairly prosperous, for the profit realised was
averaging about £30 per week. They were very particular also to see that
their financial position was kept on safe lines, and spent a good part
of one night discussing the allocation of the cost of the additions to
the property to the various accounts. The result was that they agreed to
add the cost of the new machinery to fixed stock account, the cost of
the new ovens and division wall to property account, to be depreciated
according to rule, while the cost of reroofing the bakery and refitting
the breadroom they decided to pay out of revenue. The latter decision
was challenged at next quarterly meeting, but on a division the
delegates by a large majority upheld the decision of the committee.
Towards the end of 1879 they made another comparison of their bread with
that of their competitors, and came to the conclusion that, as the
minute puts it, “the Society’s bread was superior both in shape and
colour, while the members had great reason to be satisfied with the
great improvement which had been made in the french and pan bread. A
unanimous expression of opinion was given that it had been the best
comparison they could remember where the Bakery bread stood in such a
pre-eminently favourable position.” After making due allowance for the
partiality of the committee for bread of their own manufacture, it
would, appear that the expectations of good to be derived from the
installation of machinery were being realised. The committee also this
year issued calendars to the societies. This had been done on at least
one previous occasion.

THE GROUND ANNUAL.

At one of the last meetings held in 1879 Mr Slater drew attention to the
fact that the payment of the ground annual for the land on which the
bakery was built was costing the Society £68 a year. He suggested that
this should be bought out, giving the probable cost as about £1,400, and
also that the necessary money might be raised by means of loans from
societies and individuals connected with the movement, pointing out that
it would be a good investment for the Society and a safe one for those
who lent the money. The suggestion was very favourably received by the
members of the committee, and was brought to the notice of the delegates
at the first general meeting of the Society. There the committee were
instructed to put it on the programme of business for the annual meeting
of the Society. At that meeting, however, the question was shelved for
the time being, a motion being agreed to “that they delay at present
taking any active steps to purchase the ground annual, and that the
matter be left in the hands of the committee to bring it up again when
they consider that the Society is in a position to do it with
advantage.” It was not until a meeting of committee held on 18th
November 1882 that the subject was raised again, and again this was done
by the secretary in the form of a definite motion “that steps be taken
to purchase the ground annual.” He pointed out that they were paying £68
per annum to persons outside who had no other interest in the movement,
and that this sum would be retained for the benefit of the Federation,
while the purchase would also assist to a certain extent in the solution
of the problem of what to do with their surplus capital. The other
members of the committee agreed, and it was decided to call a special
meeting at the end of the 56th quarterly meeting to consider the
question. At this meeting the committee were empowered to make the
purchase at once, and entered into negotiations with the proprietors,
with the result that after a considerable amount of negotiation and
delay the Society became the owner of the ground annual at a cost of
£1,652, 2s. 6d., being twenty-three and a half years’ purchase of the
sum paid annually. The Society was now so wealthy that the directors
were able to pay this sum from the bank balance without interfering with
their deposits in the Wholesale Society.

DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT.

For some reason which is not very easy to understand after the lapse of
time the committee did not treat alike all the societies which withdrew
from the Federation. For instance, Barrhead Society had no deduction
made from its capital on withdrawing, while Johnstone Society, two years
later, was asked to pay 7½ per cent. toward the reserve and depreciation
funds. As the circumstances which led to the withdrawal of the two
societies were practically similar, and as the financial position of the
Federation had changed, if at all, for the better in the interval, to
find a reason for the differentiation is a little difficult. Parkhead
Society, which withdrew shortly after Johnstone, were charged 10 per
cent., but in this case the society had not been regular or consistent
customers of the Federation, and at the meeting at which intimation of
their withdrawal was given very serious complaints of their
unco-operative methods were made by the sub-committee.

PRESIDENT AND TREASURER RETIRE.

The year 1880 was notable for the retiral of two officials of the
Society who had given long and faithful service. Mr Alexander, who had
been treasurer almost from the beginning, was defeated at the annual
meeting held in March, Mr James M‘Murran, Glasgow Eastern, receiving the
greater number of votes. At the same meeting Mr Andrew Brown, who had
been president of the Federation from 1872, intimated that it was not
his intention to seek re-election, his reason for this course being that
his society, Paisley Provident, had decided to open a bakery of their
own. At the following quarterly meeting the delegates decided to present
Mr Brown with £30 as a token of esteem for the manner in which he had
conducted the business of the Society during the years in which he had
been president. This decision called forth a protest from Paisley
Equitable Society—in the first place from the committee of the society,
and later by the authority of a quarterly meeting—but the committee of
the Baking Federation held that as the decision had been that of the
delegates the matter was one in which they could not interfere, and in
due course the presentation to Mr Brown took place. Mr Alexander Fraser,
Busby, was elected president in succession to Mr Brown, and during his
term of office the Society entered on a period of prosperity much
greater than any which had been experienced hitherto.

By the withdrawal of Johnstone and Parkhead societies the membership of
the Federation now numbered only twenty-one societies, and for four
quarters there was no addition. But although societies did not join up
with the Federation very rapidly customers on a non-member basis were
coming in. First there was a request from Allander Society for supplies,
coupled with the promise that in a very short time an application for
membership would follow, and the committee agreed to supply them
provided that the accounts were settled fortnightly. In September the
Society was admitted to membership. Owing to the coming withdrawal of
Paisley Provident Society the committee took energetic steps to make
good the deficit in the output which would occur when this took place.
They selected Greenock district as a likely field to tap, with such good
results that Greenock East-End Society soon became purchasers and were
admitted to membership early in the following year. Port-Glasgow Society
followed, and after a little Ann Street Society, Greenock, became a
customer, to be followed shortly afterwards by Dalmuir, Clydebank, and
Cowlairs societies. Then came Clippens Society and Greenock Industrial.
To get in all these societies, however, had taken nearly two years, and
there had been decided fluctuations in the output during the period.
With the withdrawal of Paisley Provident Society, notwithstanding the
increased trade which came from Greenock, the number of sacks baked had
dropped from 235 in the 48th quarter to 186 in the 51st; then there
began a gradual rise until the 63rd quarter showed an average output of
267 sacks per week. The withdrawal of Paisley Provident Society had
meant a loss to the Baking Society of trade amounting to about £2,000 a
quarter.

KEEPING DOWN PRICES.

There is nothing new under the sun. During the war period it has been
common knowledge that the U.C.B.S. was responsible for keeping down the
price of bread when the other master bakers desired to raise it. This
was not an entirely new role for the Society to play, however. In 1880
it was successful in forcing the bakers of Glasgow to reduce the price
of bread within a fortnight after having raised it, because of the
Society’s refusal to raise the price also.

THE OAKMILL INVESTMENT.

The members of the committee had been somewhat chary about investing any
money in the Oakmill Society, although it was finally decreed by the
quarterly general meeting of the Society that this should be done. For
some time there had been reports that all was not well with this
society, and more than once questions had been asked in the Baking
Society’s general meetings on the subject. At length matters were coming
to a crisis, however, and a circular was issued to the societies by the
S.C.W.S. in which that society wished to be informed how much they were
prepared to give to Oakmill Society on loan. The Baking Society’s
committee replied that they could do nothing until they had consulted
the general meeting of members. The circular had been issued in June,
and in August the committee decided to withdraw the amount of interest
on their loan to Oakmill Society which had been allowed to accumulate,
and now amounted to £47. At this meeting it was also decided that the
question of a further loan be not brought before the quarterly meeting.
Shortly afterwards the society went into liquidation, and when the final
settlement was made the Baking Society found that they had lost £122,
11s. 8d. This sum was liquidated by being paid from the reserve fund.

In 1882 a disaster befell Barrhead Society, their bakery being burned
down, and during the time it was being rebuilt they got their bread from
the U.C.B.S. This meant an immediate increase of twenty sacks per week
in the turnover, which was of importance at the time; but what was of
still more importance, it served to lessen the breach which had opened
between the Federation and the society and paved the way for the return
of the society to the fold at a later date.

During the earlier years of the Society’s history the mention of letters
in “red ink,” sent as reminders to societies that their indebtedness to
the Federation was exceeding reasonable limits, was frequent in the
minutes, but in these later years such “red ink” circulars do not seem
to have been sent. At anyrate, mention of them no longer appears. This
did not mean, unfortunately, that all the societies were now
sufficiently alive to the need of paying their debts promptly and that
they had the cash at hand wherewith to pay them. The position of some of
the societies was still a matter of grave concern to the Baking
Society’s committee, and in one or two cases societies went into
liquidation. One such society was Allander, which had only joined the
Federation in 1881, and which went into liquidation towards the end of
1883. From this society they got one shilling in the pound. Another case
was that of Petershill Society, which went into liquidation early in the
same year and which had paid its debt to the Baking Society in full.

At one time there was trouble with Kinning Park Society of a peculiar
kind. The committee of that society sent a letter to the Baking
Society’s committee, in which it was stated that the impression in that
society was “That if a situation is wanted in the Bakery, the most
effective way to secure it is to denounce Co-operation, and the Kinning
Park Society in particular.” The board, in discussing this letter,
expressed the opinion that it was a matter with which they had nothing
to do. It was no business of theirs where their employees did or did not
purchase their goods. This sound business rule is one which is still in
operation in all well-regulated societies. At the same time, it must be
admitted that when a man is working for a principle as well as for a
livelihood, his work is likely to be better done. There are still
workers in the movement, however, who, while professing to work for it,
treat it worse than they would be allowed to treat a private employer,
by denying it the efficient, loyal, and painstaking service which they
would be compelled to render for wages alone. No more was heard of
Kinning Park complaint. The terms of the letter were probably an
exaggeration of whatever grievance there was.

FURTHER EXTENSIONS.

For some years the fluctuations in the trade of the Society had been
such that further extensions had been unnecessary, but, by the end of
1882, the congestion had become so great that it was necessary that
further baking accommodation should be procured at an early date. This
raised a debate as to the respective merits of increasing the oven
accommodation at St James Street or putting down a branch bakery at
Greenock to supply the societies in that area. The societies in the
Greenock and Port-Glasgow area were all members of the Federation, but
there were both difficulty and expense entailed in sending the bread
from Glasgow, and, especially in winter, when there was fog on the
river, there was occasionally irritating delay. The result of the debate
was that a committee was appointed to consider the different schemes and
report.

When the special committee reported on the various points which had been
remitted to them to discuss there was considerable difference of opinion
amongst the members of the Bakery board as to which was the best plan to
adopt. Finally, on a vote being taken, it was agreed, by a majority, to
recommend to the general meeting the erection of a branch bakery in
Greenock. When the question came before the delegates at the quarterly
meeting, however, the scheme for a branch in Greenock was not adopted,
and it was decided to proceed with the erection of two additional ovens
at St James Street.

In 1884, however, the trade was again outgrowing the accommodation, and
in November of that year the committee decided to rent a bakehouse in
Scotland Street in order to relieve the congestion. The membership of
the Federation was again up to 26 societies, and the output at the end
of 1884 was 281 sacks per week.

For a considerable part of this period the Federation were buying much
of the flour they used elsewhere than from the Wholesale Society, and
discussions on the subject took place from time to time. The contention
of the Bakery board was that they were being asked by the Wholesale
Society to pay considerably more for flour than they could buy the same
quality for elsewhere, and from the minute of an interview which took
place between representatives of the two boards, it appears that the
Wholesale representatives agreed that this was the case at the time. The
Wholesale board could not see their way to make any alteration at the
time on their method of charging, however. Nevertheless, it is
gratifying to know that in a short time the Wholesale Society was in a
position to meet competitors on level terms, and towards the end of 1884
a large proportion of the flour used was purchased from the Federation.

COSTLY LITIGATION.

Early in 1884, the Society became involved in a lawsuit. An accident
took place through which a horse belonging to the Glasgow Tramway and
Omnibus Company was killed, and as it was found impossible to come to
any arrangement which would be satisfactory to both parties, the
Sheriff-Substitute for Renfrewshire was called upon to decide. The
committee were agreeable to take responsibility for the accident, which
had been caused by one of their horses running away while being unyoked.
The Tramway Company valued the animal killed at £35, while the
veterinary surgeon employed by the Society to value it immediately after
the accident placed its value at £16, but the Tramway Company manager
refused to make any concession. After the dispute had dragged on for a
month, during which the case was taken into Court and the Society lodged
£20 in full of all claims, the Tramway Company’s agent offered to try
and induce his clients to accept £30 in full of all claims, each party
to pay their own expenses. This offer the Society refused to accept, but
when the case came before the Sheriff-Substitute he decreed for £35; at
the same time passing severe strictures on the method in vogue at the
bakery when horses were being yoked and unyoked. An appeal to the
Sheriff-Principal was lodged, but he also decided against the Society,
with the result that, instead of settling for £35, they had also a heavy
bill to pay for expenses.

At the quarterly meeting held in June 1884, some reorganisation of the
work of the office took place. As a preliminary step, the office of
treasurer to the Society was abolished. With the exception of a short
period at the beginning, this office had been held by two men—Mr
Alexander of Paisley and Mr M‘Murran of Glasgow Eastern Society. At the
meeting at which the office of treasurer was abolished, an attempt was
made to make all the capital of the Society transferable, but this
proposal was defeated by a narrow majority; fifty-eight delegates voting
for the proposal and thirty-two against it. As a two-thirds majority was
necessary, the vote in favour was six short of the necessary number.

TRANSFERABLE CAPITAL.

During the summer of 1884 the Society was experimenting with a new form
of barm, produced by a patent process. The results of the experiments,
however, were not satisfactory. The new barm was found to be no
improvement on the old, while the recipe would cost £5, and thereafter
there was to be a royalty of a halfpenny per sack of flour used, which
was to continue for a year, so the committee decided that no advantage
would accrue to the Society by adopting the new system. About the same
time the committee were in correspondence with Mr E. V. Neale on the
question of the best method to be adopted for making the loan capital of
the Society secure. They considered the information they received from
Mr Neale so valuable that they decided to print it and send a copy to
each member society.

Notwithstanding the difficulties with which they were meeting,
consequent on their shortage of oven accommodation, the committee were
ever zealous in their endeavours to get new trade from societies which
were not members and to increase the trade of those which were. During
the summer months they caused a number of letters to be sent to
societies, requesting that deputations should be received, and by this
means they were able to secure increased trade from some of the
societies which were not as loyal as they might have been. Arising out
of the correspondence with Mr Neale, it was agreed at the September
quarterly meeting in 1884 to appoint a special committee to go into the
whole question of the capital of the Society, with special reference to
that held on loan, and with power to consult a Scottish legal authority
on the subject, the committee to report to the December quarterly
meeting. The special committee consulted the Lord Advocate on the
subject, with the result that, at a special meeting which was held in
March of the following year, the whole share capital of the Society was
made transferable, while the interest on loans was reduced from 5 per
cent. to 4½ per cent.

STILL FURTHER EXTENSIONS.

It was becoming increasingly evident that the St James Street bakery had
reached the limit of its usefulness to the Society. Although biscuit
baking and the baking of pastry and smalls had been transferred to the
Scotland Street premises, it was becoming impossible for St James Street
to meet the demand for bread, and therefore another small bakery
situated in Hill Street was rented for a time. This was only a temporary
arrangement, however, and could not be expected to continue. The Bakery
was now turning over considerably more than 300 sacks of flour per week,
and the trade was increasing at such a rapid rate that it was
practically impossible to keep pace with it in the premises as they then
were. The need for a new bakery was clamant, and much consideration was
given to the question ere a decision was arrived at. That decision, when
come to, proved to be the most momentous in the history of the
Federation, and may well form the subject of another chapter.

[Illustration:

1. DANIEL H. GERRARD. J.P.,
President.

2. JAMES BAIN,
Secretary.
]

[Illustration:

AUDITORS

1. WM. H. JACK, F.S.A.A
2. JOHN M. BIGGAR.
]

During practically the whole of the period which is embraced in this
chapter, two gentlemen, still well known, active in the movement and
highly respected—Messrs Allan Gray and Robert Macintosh—acted as
auditors for the Federation, and during their period of office made
several suggestions affecting the financial stability of the Federation,
which, when put into operation, helped materially to make it the strong
concern financially that it is to-day. In particular, they were the
means of getting the depreciation placed on a sounder basis than it had
been for some time. Investigations which took place more than once had
the result of showing the committee that the rate of depreciation was
not enough, as the book value of fixed and live stock and machinery was
greater than the valuation showed that it should be. Ultimately, this
was put right, and the finances of the Society were established on a
firm footing.

CHAPTER VIII.
M‘NEIL STREET.

INCREASING TRADE—THE DIRECTORS’ DILEMMA—M‘NEIL STREET GROUND
PURCHASED—THE NEW BAKERY: BUILDING DIFFICULTIES—THE OPENING
CEREMONY—AN UP-TO-DATE BAKERY—PROPAGANDA WORK—RECOGNISING LOYAL
SERVICE—A STABLE INSPECTOR—FINANCE—AN INVESTMENT—THE PURCHASE OF
FLOUR—A SOCIAL MEETING AND ITS OBJECT—A RIGHT OF WAY CASE—THE NEW
BAKERY COMPLETED—A NEW VENTURE—THE CHAIRMAN RETIRES—ALL-ROUND
INCREASES.

At the end of the preceding chapter we saw that the trade of the Society
had become so large that it was forcing the question of a new bakery on
the attention of the directors. With the purpose in view of securing the
necessary capital, the sub-committee advertised the St James Street
premises for sale, but the only offer they received was one to lease the
premises. As this was of no use for their purpose at the moment nothing
further was done. Circumstances, and the policy of the committee, were
responsible for the still more rapid increase of trade. In the beginning
of 1885 the price of flour went up with a rush, but as the Federation
was in the happy position of having bought a large quantity of flour
just before the rise they were able to continue selling their bread at
the old price while the other bakers had to raise it, with the result
that the trade continued to increase very rapidly. One of the results of
this rapid increase in trade was that the Society was once again placed
in the position of being compelled to refuse orders because of its
inability to execute them. For this reason Blantyre and Burnbank
societies, which had made proposals to join the Federation, had to be
refused for the time being.

The directors were literally at their wits end. They could not sell
their premises. Unless they got new premises they could not hope to
provide for the trade which came pouring in in ever-increasing volume,
and they did not know what was the best thing to do. To begin with they
got a firm of architects, Messrs Bruce & Hay, to prepare a sketch plan
for a new bakery on the St James Street site which would contain
twenty-four ovens, together with ample accommodation for storing flour,
and stables, a breadroom, and a van yard. When the architects came to
prepare their plans, however, they found that the space available was
not large enough to give all the accommodation desired. The plans, when
submitted, showed a bakery with twenty-three ovens, stable accommodation
for nineteen horses, van shed, offices, breadroom, and store, and the
cost was estimated at £6,200.

The committee decided that before they would proceed further they would
consider carefully the progress which had been made by the Society in
the ten years which had elapsed since 1875, and this study of the work
which had been done showed that the ratio of increase in trade had grown
larger in the two years immediately preceding 1885, while the trade
which was being done at the moment warranted them in believing that this
rate of progress would be maintained. This being so, the conclusion at
which they arrived was that, even if they did build at St James Street,
only a few years would elapse before the accommodation would be too
small. They decided, therefore, to bring their difficulties before the
quarterly meeting and leave the decision with them.

PURCHASE OF M‘NEIL STREET GROUND.

Three schemes were laid before the quarterly meeting, including the
rebuilding of the St James Street premises, which, however, the
directors deprecated. The proposals were discussed at length by the
meeting, but no decision was arrived at, the question being remitted
back to the committee for further consideration and inquiry. The
questions which were remitted for consideration were: The cost of land
in or near Glasgow, and the cost of erecting thereon a bakery large
enough to meet the wants of all the members; or, alternatively, the cost
of land in or near Paisley, and the cost of erecting a branch bakery
there large enough to meet the demands for bread from the societies in
the West.

There was evidently a desire to reopen the question of a branch in
Paisley, which had been closed since the end of 1876, but the delegates
to the special meeting which was held on 11th July to hear the report of
the committee on the question of whether a new central bakery should be
built or whether they should content themselves with a branch in or near
Paisley, decided by an overwhelming majority in favour of a central
bakery in Glasgow, and remitted to the committee the selection of a
site.

The sub-committee went about their business of securing a site
expeditiously, with the result that at the meeting which was held on
22nd August they were able to inform the committee of two sites, one in
Fauld’s Park, Govan, the price of which was 12/6 per yard; and the other
at M‘Neil Street, costing 15/6 per square yard. It was also intimated
that the latter site had some buildings on it which might be of use to
the Society. The members of the committee visited both sites, and after
having inspected them came to the conclusion that the M‘Neil Street one
was best suited to their purpose, and empowered the sub-committee to
offer £4,000 for it, with power to go to £4,500 if necessary. At the
meeting of committee which was held on 19th September it was intimated
that the “Nursery Mills,” M‘Neil Street, had been bought for £4,500,
that a deposit of £500 had been made, and that the keys had been given
up to the Society. The property had been insured for £1,000. The engine
and boiler in the building were inspected, and Messrs Bruce & Hay were
instructed to prepare plans of a bakery containing twenty-four ovens, a
travelling oven for biscuits, and three or four ovens for pastry, as
well as van sheds, stabling, etc. On 13th October the committee
empowered the officials to pay the full cost of the site and take
possession of the title deeds. It was also decided to dispose of the
boilers contained in the property, and at a later date, of the engines;
the total sum received being £207, 10s.

When the plans for the new bakery were submitted to the committee
decided disapproval was expressed, on the ground that the site was not
being utilised to the best advantage, that the existing buildings were
not being used, although they were worth from £1,200 to £1,300, and that
provision was made in the plan for a courtyard out of all proportion to
the requirements of the Society. It was decided to ask the architect to
prepare other plans, and instructions were given that the buildings at
present on the site were not to be interfered with, and that another
architect was also to be asked to prepare plans, with the same
instructions. At the same time it was agreed to sell the St James Street
property for £4,500 if a sale could be effected, and if not that it be
rented, the rent to be £300 per annum. For the next week or two the
committee met weekly. On plans being submitted for the second time those
of Messrs Bruce & Hay were adopted, with some alterations suggested by
the committee, and a building committee was appointed to supervise the
work of erecting the bakery. Some little difficulty was experienced,
however, in getting the plans through the Dean of Guild Court. Objection
was taken at the Court to the fact that the stable gangway was not
fireproof, and the plans were sent back for alteration. Presumably all
was in order at their next presentation, for nothing further appears in
the minutes on the subject. An inspector of works was appointed for the
job, contracts were fixed up, and the work commenced. The financing of
the building scheme was also considered by the committee, and they
agreed to appeal to the societies for the necessary money, at the same
time recommending, as an inducement to the societies to subscribe, that
the interest on the loan capital be increased from 4½ per cent. to 5 per
cent. This recommendation was agreed to by the delegates to the
quarterly meeting, and the committee were also empowered to reopen the
private loan fund if they considered such a course advisable. One result
of the decision of the quarterly meeting was that at the committee
meeting held a fortnight later it was reported that already £2,080 had
been received as loans from three societies—Thornliebank, Glasgow
Eastern, and Kinning Park—while 150 additional shares had been
allocated. At the same meeting the Secretary intimated an offer from
Kilbarchan Court, A.O.F., offering £400 on loan. This kind offer the
committee had to decline, however, on the ground that the loan fund was
as yet only open to Co-operative societies.

BUILDING DIFFICULTIES.

The building work was proceeding satisfactorily, but the same could not
be said of the joiner work. The Dean of Guild Court had been pushing the
Society to get the work of barricading the building and laying down a
pavement done The joiner had erected the barricade and made the footpath
in M‘Neil Street, but refused to do this in Govan Street, stating that
he would “go to Court first.” The Society had written to him, informing
him that if he did not do the work, for which he had contracted, the
Society would have it done and deduct the cost from his account. There
was also delay in pushing on the joiner work in connection with the
building itself, which was delaying the remainder of the work of
building.

The duties of the committee at this time were arduous and engrossing.
They had set out with the intention of erecting a bakery which would be
second to none in the city, and with this object in view they were not
too bigoted to change their minds when any suggestion was brought to
their notice which was likely to be an improvement on the course they
had decided on. One such alteration was in connection with the new
engine for driving their machinery. The fact that the engine which they
had decided on was too powerful for the work for which it was needed had
been brought to their notice, and they at once made inquiries and
consulted with the maker. After he had given the matter his attention
this also was his opinion, and he therefore offered them a less powerful
engine at a reduction in price of £65, and they decided to have it put
down. Then “with the object of securing the latest improvements in
bakery machinery, a deputation, consisting of the managers, foreman
baker, and two members of the committee, were appointed to visit the
exhibition of bakery machinery at Edinburgh, see the machines at work,
and report.” As one of the results of this visit machinery to the value
of £500 was purchased.

The committee continued to complain of the slow progress which was being
made with the new building, and the architects were appealed to to
endeavour to get the contractors to speed up by putting more men on the
job, but with little success. The lessees of the St James Street
premises had been promised entry by Whitsunday 1887, but as time passed
the committee began to get anxious about their ability to fulfil this
part of their contract. The engines and machinery, also, were ready to
put in, but this could not be done because the other contractors were
behind with their sections. So bad did the position become that
ultimately the committee were forced to put the matter into the hands of
their agent. However, this difficulty also was overcome without further
friction. The lessees of St James Street bakery now began to press for
entry, and the committee were compelled to ask for their forbearance, as
they were afraid that the new bakery would not be ready for occupancy at
the time stated.

It was agreed that a social meeting be held on the occasion of the
opening of the new premises, and that the premises be open to the
general public for inspection during the whole of the opening day. A
band was engaged to play selections in the courtyard for three hours in
the afternoon, and the building was decorated with flags. Finally, such
progress was made with the equipment of the premises that the committee
were in a position to fix 21st May as the opening day, and preparations
for the great event went forward rapidly.

THE OPENING CEREMONY.

The opening ceremony is said to have been one of the most imposing
Co-operative functions ever held in Scotland. The buildings were gay
with flags and bannerettes, while a military band discoursed sweet music
in the courtyard. The premises were thrown open to the public, and it is
estimated that more than 30,000 people passed through the building
between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. More than 500 delegates were present at the
luncheon, when Mr Alexander Fraser, president of the Society, presided.
Stirring speeches were delivered, and the premises were declared open
amid a scene of great enthusiasm.

In the evening a monster social meeting took place in the Wellington
Palace, at which there were present upwards of 1,000 people. Speeches
were delivered by Mr William Maxwell, chairman of the S.C.W.S., and Mr
Henry Murphy, Lanark. It was generally admitted that the demonstration
had proved the greatest advertisement which Co-operation in Scotland had
ever received, and that the virtues of the movement had been brought to
the notice of thousands of people who had never before given it a
thought. The result was that a great impetus was given to the movement
in Glasgow, and the great development of Co-operation in the city which
has made Glasgow a stronghold of the movement began about that time. No
doubt further stimulus has been given from time to time—the Congress of
1890, the opening of the S.C.W.S. central premises in Morrison Street,
the Seaside Homes bazaar, the various Co-operative festivals all had an
influence—but to the Baking Society much of the original impulse is due,
just as to it also—through the refusal of the directors to increase the
price of bread unnecessarily in the early months of the war—the latest
impulse must be credited.

AN UP-TO-DATE BAKERY.

The bakery was planned on what were then the most modern lines. It
contained twenty-eight ovens. Twenty-four of these were Scotch bread
ovens, while three were specially built for the production of pastry,
scones, etc., and one was a revolving oven for the production of pan
loaves. In the original plan there was a proposal for a travelling
biscuit oven, and space for this had been left in the bakery. The flour
loft was on the top floor of the building, and everything was arranged
for convenience and rapidity of output. The facilities provided for an
output of some 700 sacks per week, and when the new premises were
planned it was thought that there would be ample accommodation to meet
the requirements of the Society for a number of years, but so great had
been the development of the Society’s business while the bakery was in
course of erection, and so rapid was the increase when the new premises
were opened, that soon the question of extensions was again to the
front.

PROPAGANDA WORK.

In tracing in a connected form the work of the committee in deciding on
and carrying through the work of erecting the new bakery, however, we
have been compelled to leave other important work unnoted. Just at the
time when the discussion of the proposals for a new bakery was taking
place intimation was received from Kilbarchan Society of that society’s
intention to begin baking on their own account. The letter from the
society was read to the meeting which was called to consider the
erection of a new bakery, but had no effect on the decision, and shortly
afterwards the Kilbarchan people changed their minds about baking for
themselves and decided to remain members of the Federation. It was
otherwise with some of the societies further west. Greenock East-End
Society withdrew in September, Greenock Central and Paisley Equitable
soon afterwards, while Partick Society was in a bad way, and a
deputation from the board was sent to the committee of that society in
order to try and make some arrangement about regular payments. This they
were able to do, as the Partick committee agreed to pay for the bread
they received at the end of every week, at the same time making payments
toward the reduction of the balance which they owed the Federation.

But if societies were withdrawing as they became strong enough to start
bakeries of their own, other societies were coming in to take their
places, while the societies in Glasgow were growing stronger and
stronger. Gilbertfield and Cambuslang societies joined up early in 1885;
Cessnock Society, an offshoot from Kinning Park, became a member a month
or two later. South-Eastern Society and Parkhead, two societies which
had been members in the early days but had withdrawn, were again
admitted to membership; Renfrew Society again became purchasers; Newton
Mearns and Maryhill societies became members; Westmuir Economical
Society became a purchaser and, later, a member. Newton Society also
joined the Federation, and Blairdardie returned to the fold after an
absence of several years. Then came Hallside, and by the end of April
1888, Shettleston, making the thirty-sixth member of the Federation. All
this increase in the membership was not spontaneous, however; it was the
reward of much propaganda work, the writing of many letters and the
paying of many visits by the members of the committee. They were
building, and, later, they had built a huge bakery. It was their
intention that it should be working to its full capacity at the earliest
possible moment, and so they went about their propaganda in a systematic
manner, dividing up the area into districts, which were placed in charge
of certain members of the committee, to be worked up at every
opportunity.

RECOGNISING LOYAL SERVICE.

During the whole of the time which it took to build the new bakery the
Society was working at a disadvantage. Notwithstanding the leasing,
first of Scotland Street bakery and then of that in Hill Street, it was
impossible to keep pace with the demand for bread. The result was that
the committee decided to sound the foreman baker on the question of
whether the men would be willing to begin work an hour earlier in the
mornings. The men when approached agreed readily, and thus the
difficulty was met to some extent. In recognition of this willingness on
the part of the men to meet them, the board decided spontaneously to
advance the men’s wages by 1/ per week. One cannot help but contrast
this willingness of the men to help the Society in a difficulty with
incidents which have occurred at later dates, when the bakers could not
be induced on any terms to work extra hours in order that difficulties
might be overcome. The first attitude rather than the second one is that
which makes for the avoidance of friction and the creation of a
fraternal spirit between the directors of a Co-operative concern and
their fellow-members who carry on the work of the Society. It is,
unfortunately, a fact which is to be deprecated that employees are
disposed to treat Co-operative societies worse instead of better than
they treat other employers, and the process of reasoning which leads to
such results is somewhat difficult to follow.

A STABLE INSPECTOR.

Away back in the second year of the Federation’s existence Mr Ballantyne
had been appointed stable inspector to the Society. The appointment had
been made by the committee, but evidently the committee of the period
with which we are dealing were unable to find any record of the fact,
and seem to have taken exception to his work, which, according to one
minute, “was independent of the board, and how or when he had been
appointed could not be discovered.” The difficulty was not a great one,
however. It was remitted to the sub-committee for investigation and,
doubtless, a consultation with Mr Ballantyne, the gentleman in question,
would put them on the track of the necessary information. Mr Ballantyne,
during practically the whole period of the Society’s existence, had
exercised supervision over the horses which were the property of the
Society. He made a regular examination, and recommended the committee to
dispose of horses which he considered unfitted for the work of the
Society. The committee were evidently satisfied with the report which
was made to them, for at the next meeting they endorsed and confirmed Mr
Ballantyne’s appointment and agreed to pay 20/ a quarter for a monthly
report from him on the condition of horses, vans, and all matters
connected with the stable department—the appointment to be an annual
one.

FINANCE.

The question of the proper depreciation of the property, fixed and live
stock of the Society, to which attention had been called by the auditors
on many occasions, had not yet been placed on a satisfactory basis. The
committee brought in several amendments of rules for the purpose of
putting the matter right, but these were not accepted by the delegates;
nor was a counter proposal, that a sum of £200 be taken from the reserve
fund and applied to reducing the value of the horses and plant. This
latter proposal received a majority of the votes at the quarterly
meeting, but as a majority of three-fourths of those voting was
necessary before any money could be withdrawn from the reserve fund, and
the majority was not large enough, both proposals dropped, and the old,
unsatisfactory position continued. At a later date the question was
again brought up by Mr Macintosh, who, in response to a request by the
committee, outlined a scheme for putting this important branch of the
Society’s financial arrangements on a sound footing. The practice had
been to allocate a certain percentage of the profits each quarter to
depreciation account; Mr Macintosh urged that for this method they
should substitute that of allocating a fixed percentage of the initial
cost, and that this should be regarded as a charge on the trade of the
Society and should be allocated before the profits were ascertained and
irrespective of whether there were any profits. The committee were in
favour of the proposed alteration, but considered the time inopportune
to have it made as so large a proportion of the property was
unproductive at that time. They therefore decided to delay the matter
for twelve months. It was not until the end of 1888 that depreciation
was put on a satisfactory basis.

AN INVESTMENT.

It was during this period that the Scottish Co-operative Farming
Association came into being. The Bakery board were supporters of the
proposal from the first. In discussing the subject the committee took
into consideration the fact that they were spending nearly £200 a
quarter for feeding-stuffs and buttermilk for baking purposes, and they
thought that if such an association was in existence a large proportion
of these articles could be got from the farm. They agreed, therefore, to
recommend to the delegates at the quarterly meeting that a special
general meeting be held to consider the advisability of becoming members
of the Farming Association. When this meeting was held it was agreed
that £50 be invested in the funds of the association. Unfortunately,
however, the speculation did not turn out a success, as, after
struggling on for several years, the association had to succumb to
adverse circumstances.

For some considerable time there was a certain amount of looseness in
conducting the stable, and the result was that finally the committee
felt compelled to make a change there by dispensing with the services of
the foreman. There was trouble at Hill Street also for a time, but
eventually this was overcome. For some considerable time, however, both
before and after the opening of the new bakery, the complaints about the
quality of the bread, which for some years had been almost negligible,
revived, and sometimes the committee at the monthly meetings had letters
from as many as a dozen societies. The causes of complaint were various,
but seemed persistent for a time.

Once before the S.C.W.S. had thought that they had reason to complain of
the share of the U.C.B.S. trade in flour which was being put past them,
and after two or three years had passed the same subject came up again
through a deputation from the Wholesale Society waiting on the Baking
Society’s Board. The whole subject was gone into minutely, and the
Wholesale deputation were told plainly that while the U.C.B.S. directors
had every desire to trade with the Wholesale Society they could not do
so while such a discrepancy existed between the prices which the
Wholesale Society charged for flours and those at which similar flours
could be purchased elsewhere. The result of this first meeting was that
a second meeting was arranged between representatives of the two
societies, when the whole subject was investigated. Both committees, it
is stated, “received from each other much valuable information which
would be advantageous to both societies.”

Reference has already been made to the propagandist work carried on by
the directors at this time. Amongst other work of a propagandist nature,
they held, in the autumn of 1887, a social meeting, to which the
employees of the various societies dealing with them were invited. The
object of the social gathering was twofold. In the first place, they
wished to give the employees a good time; but they had also an ulterior
object in view, and so they took advantage of the opportunity given by
the social meeting to bring to the notice of the employees the good
which accrued to Co-operators generally by making the Co-operative
movement self-contained and self-supplying, as far as that was possible.
It is not possible to say whether this first attempt to secure the
co-operation of the employees in pushing the wares of the Society met
with much visible success, but it was one of those efforts from which
something might be gained but by which nothing could be lost. Since that
day the Co-operative employee has been a frequent visitor at social
gatherings convened by the U.C.B.S.

In the course of the propaganda campaign carried out by the directors,
some peculiar proposals were made to them. By the committee of one
society the deputation were informed that the private bakers from whom
bread was being bought not only supplied the shops, but delivered bread
at the members’ houses as well. In addition, they carried goods from the
shops to the members and, in general, acted as delivery vans for the
society. Nor was this all. In addition to delivering the bread to the
members’ houses, they went the length of absolving the society from
responsibility for loss through non-payment by the members of their
bread accounts. The Baking Society could not hope to compete against
such practices, and the directors said so. In other instances the
societies were prepared to assume responsibility for payment of the
bread supplied to members if only the Baking Society’s van would deliver
it, and the committee were willing to entertain this proposal, but the
quarterly meeting of the Baking Society decided that bread should be
supplied to shops only of customer societies.

A RIGHT OF WAY CASE.

A paragraph of a rather peculiar character appears in the last minute
for 1885. At that time the committee were in the thick of their
preparations for the new bakery, and must have been extremely busy.
Nevertheless, some time during the month, a letter was received which
must have worried the secretary and the sub-committee not a little. It
was signed “Thomas Mann,” and was as follows:—

“Gentlemen,—As aiders and abettors in the Kilbarchan Right of Way
case I have to inform you that the expenses, amounting to £850. are
still unpaid, and that unless an arrangement is made with my law
agent within eight days an action will be raised against you in the
Court of Session for the full amount.”

The manager had replied wishing to know on what authority Mr Mann had
taken it upon himself to state that the Society were aiders and abettors
in the action referred to; and in reply was referred to a paragraph in
the Paisley newspaper of 15th July 1883, in which the Co-operative
Baking Society, Kinning Park, was published as one of the abettors. Mr
Mann had no doubt that the statement was correct, and warned the Society
that it was necessary to attend to his former letter at once to save
future trouble. The Bakery board replied to threat by threat. If any
further communication was received from Mr Mann, the matter was to be
put into the hands of the Society’s law agent, who was to raise an
action against him for trying to extort money on false pretences, as the
Society had never paid any money to assist in the “Right of Way” case.
Nothing more seems to have been heard of the subject, for nothing
further appears in the minutes regarding it.

In August 1887 the building committee, having completed their labours,
were thanked for their services, and dissolved. The buildings, plant,
and stocks in the new bakery were insured for £16,000, while the
buildings and plant in St James Street were insured for £2,000. About
this time the directors were called on to consider some grievances under
which the employees, and particularly the vanmen, alleged that they
suffered. The first of those had reference to attendance at the stables
on Sundays. The committee made investigations, and came to the
conclusion that no grievance was suffered. Attendance on Sundays to look
after the comfort of the horses was not work, they decided, but an act
of mercy, which was not paid for anywhere. The other grievance—that the
vanmen by the nature of their work did not get regular holidays “and had
no opportunity of going to the coast with their families”—the directors
thought well founded, and they decided to allow three consecutive days
to each man in future, in addition to the holidays they at present
received; stipulating, however, that no two men were to be on holiday at
the same time.

A NEW VENTURE.

In September, after the new bakery was opened, the Society began the
baking of morning rolls, a branch of trade which immediately became
popular with the members of the societies. For this trade two light vans
and two fast horses were purchased, and the result was that not only was
a large trade in breakfast rolls done, but the bread trade increased
rapidly also. The baking of rolls had, as a matter of fact, cut the last
link which chained some of the societies to the private baker. The
bakers did not surrender the trade of the societies without a struggle,
however. Finding that they were ousted from the roll trade, they turned
their attention to buns as a means of recapturing the lost trade, and
for a time they were successful with a number of the societies. But the
Bakery directors were alive to the danger, and ere long they also were
baking buns at M‘Neil Street.

THE CHAIRMAN RETIRES.

Having seen the new premises in full operation, Mr Fraser came to the
conclusion that the time had come when he should resign his position as
president of the Society. During his seven years of office he had seen
the trade doubled; he had seen the handsome new bakery erected and
opened; and he had seen the Society established in an unassailable
position. While a member of the committee, during the presidency of Mr
Brown, and while he had been president, he had been a hard worker for
the success of the Society, and well deserved the words of eulogy in
which Mr Slater conveyed the thanks of the committee to him at the last
meeting of the board before his retiral. He was succeeded by Mr John
Ferguson, Glasgow Eastern Society.

Inside a month or two, he was followed into retirement by Mr Thomas
Slater, secretary. Mr Slater had been elected secretary in 1875 when Mr
Smith became manager, and had discharged the duties of his office
faithfully and well. At the time of his retiral, and indeed for many
years before then, he had the longest record of service on the board of
the Society. Mr Peter Glasse, St George, succeeded him.

INCREASES ALL ROUND.

At the end of 1887 the Society was doing a trade of over 410 sacks per
week, and in the first month of the new year 600 new shares were granted
to societies. By the end of the 77th quarter the trade had risen to 446
sacks per week, and a dividend of 1/3 was paid. The increases which were
taking place in the numbers of shares held by the societies pointed to
increases in membership, and therefore to opportunities for increased
trade by the Federation. The directors were fully alive to this phase of
the subject, and although they were still a considerable distance from
producing the full capacity of the bakery, it was becoming evident that
if the present rate of increase continued that limit would soon be
reached. At the same time they could be pardoned if they felt that the
delegates were not as appreciative of the work which was being done as
they might have been. This lack of appreciation was shown in a
remarkable and unprecedented manner at the 76th quarterly meeting of the
Society when, by a majority of two votes, it was decided to reduce the
payments made to them for their services from 3/ to 2/ per meeting. Lack
of appreciation could hardly have gone further short of asking them to
resign in a body. It was a very shabby return for the years of strenuous
work which had made the Baking Society that outstanding instance of
Co-operative enterprise which it had become. The directors went on with
their work calmly, however, content to merit, even if they did not
receive, the appreciation to which their efforts for the success of the
Federation entitled them.

CHAPTER IX.
M‘NEIL STREET: RAPID DEVELOPMENTS.

A BISCUIT FACTORY—FURTHER EXTENSIONS—THE U.C.B.S. AND THE S.C.W.S.—AN
ACCIDENT—RESIGNATION OF FOREMAN BAKER—CO-OPERATIVE FAILURES—THE
MANAGER RESIGNS—FIRST GLASGOW BOYCOTT—A NEW PRESIDENT—MAJORITY
CELEBRATIONS—THE DINNER—STILL MORE EXTENSIONS—THE INFLUENCE OF
CONGRESS—EXTENSIONS AGAIN—ST JAMES STREET PREMISES SOLD—NEW
BUILDING COLLAPSES—MORE BUILDING—BUILDING DEPARTMENT STARTED.

The Baking Society had now entered on a period of extraordinary
development. Department was added to department and extension followed
extension with marvellous rapidity. It seemed, indeed, as if the spirit
of Co-operation had only been waiting for a suitable habitation in order
to show the great things of which it was capable. In the six
years—1888–1894—the output of the Society rose from 466 sacks per week
to 1,254, and the number of departments in the bakery from two to seven,
while tearooms had been opened, a purveying department was being carried
on, and a workshops and trades department was in operation. The sales
for the 77th quarter were £12,438; by the end of the year they were
£16,490, and by the 88th, which, however, was a fourteen week quarter,
they were £27,210. The trade had more than doubled in three years. In
the same period the membership, which had been thirty-six societies at
the end of the 77th quarter, had grown to forty-six at the end of the
88th.

Before the Society had been six months installed in M‘Neil Street the
committee were beginning to have visions of congestion such as they had
experienced in St James Street, unless they took time by the forelock
and made arrangements which would enable them to grapple with their
ever-increasing trade before it again overwhelmed them. The first
business they decided to tackle was that of erecting a biscuit factory,
where they could produce fancy biscuits of all kinds. Hitherto they had
been getting such biscuits as they were able to sell from a firm of
manufacturers in the city, and were having them invoiced through the
S.C.W.S. Investigation showed that this mode of procedure was one which
was not profitable to the Society, but, at the time when the
investigation was made, the directors were not in a position to do
anything; and when they secured the ground on which to build their new
factory the congestion in their bread department made instant provision
for that department the premier necessity. But now that they had the
bread difficulty settled for a short time they turned their attention to
the question of biscuits. Provision had been made in the new building
for a travelling oven, but its installation had been held over while the
more important work was being carried out. Early in 1888, however, it
was decided to purchase a biscuit cutting machine, and one similar to
the working model which was being shown in Glasgow Exhibition was
ordered, at a cost of £258. They did not act without caution, however,
for before the machine was purchased they wrote to the manager of
Crumpsall bakery for his opinion of the biscuit machines made by the
firm from which they proposed to purchase. With the object of ensuring
that everything possible would be done to promote the sale of the
biscuits when they were made, the committee also approached the
directors of the Wholesale Society as to the likelihood of that
federation becoming agent for the U.C.B.S. in the biscuit trade. They
were informed that the Wholesale Society viewed the proposal favourably,
and were likely to adopt it when the occasion arose. The societies were
all circularised with the view of ascertaining what was the aggregate
trade in biscuits which might be expected.

FURTHER EXTENSIONS.

Hitherto the committee had only the erection of a biscuit factory in
mind, and plans for that building had been prepared, and in January of
1889 were considered by them. By February, however, they came to the
decision that a biscuit factory was not enough. The trade now exceeded
600 sacks per week, an increase of 200 sacks inside the year, and they
were of opinion that further extensions were necessary to meet the
growing demand for bread. They therefore asked the quarterly meeting for
permission to spend between £3,000 and £4,000 on the erection of a new
wing to the bakery. This power was granted readily.

They were now ready to proceed, but they had learned something from
their experience while the first portion of M‘Neil Street premises was
being erected, so they decided to consult with the architect as to
whether it would be advisable to put the whole of the work in connection
with the erection of the building into the hands of one contractor, so
as to get a time limit inserted in the contract. The architect, however,
was not in favour of placing all the work in the hands of one
contractor. The firm of masons who had built the earlier section were
again successful in obtaining the contract for the building work. The
contracts for the whole of the building work were fixed for a total sum
of £5,532. A few weeks later a contract was fixed up for the erection of
a travelling biscuit oven, at a cost of £200.

The new building when completed added very considerably to the Society’s
productive power. It contained on the first flat the pastry bakehouse
with four ovens; on the second flat the fancy biscuit department with
one travelling oven and four ordinary ovens; the third flat was devoted
to the operations of the biscuit and pastry packing workers; while on
the fourth flat was the new oatcake bakery. The whole of the new wing
was finished and ready to start operations at the beginning of April
1890, and not before it was required, for the average output had grown
by then to 715 sacks per week, fifteen sacks more than the first
building in M‘Neil Street had been erected to produce.

THE U.C.B.S. AND THE S.C.W.S.

At the end of 1888 the Wholesale Society had become members of the
Baking Society, and had taken out 240 shares. This was done, doubtless,
in view of the fact that the Wholesale Society had consented to act as
agents for the Baking Society’s biscuits. On the other hand, the trade
which was being done in flour with the Wholesale Society was far from
satisfactory, and at a meeting of the Baking Society’s committee, which
took place in February of 1889, attention was called by the
sub-committee to the fact that, of over 2,000 sacks of flour which had
been purchased during the month, only 300 sacks had been bought from the
Wholesale Society. It was agreed to call the attention of the Wholesale
directors to this fact, and to state that the trade was going past them
because their price was higher than the same flour was being purchased
at elsewhere. As a result of this letter, the Wholesale Society
appointed a deputation to meet with a deputation of the directors of the
Baking Society for the purpose of considering the trading relations
between the two societies. Exactly what the result of the meeting was,
however, is not shown in the minutes; all that these contain being the
statement that Mr M‘Culloch gave a very full report of what had taken
place. From the frequency with which this subject had been cropping up
in recent years, however, it was evident that there was something wrong
somewhere. At this late date it is not possible to do more than guess at
the reasons why the Wholesale Society was not in a position to compete,
but it was probably owing to the fact that the Baking Society was now so
large a purchaser of flour that it was able to buy from the millers on
as good terms as the Wholesale Society itself could do.

AN ACCIDENT.

Notwithstanding the large number of vehicles which the Society had on
the road, it had been wonderfully free from accidents of a serious
nature. Hitherto the killing of the Tramway Company’s horse had been the
most serious, and the results of that accident had been serious, not so
much because of the accident itself, as because of the litigation which
followed. Early in 1889, however, an accident occurred on the Albert
Bridge, which although, fortunately, not so serious as it might have
been, yet served to impress on the vanmen in the service of the Society
the necessity for caution when driving through the streets of the city.
Two men were run down on the bridge by one of the Society’s vans and
injured, and the vanman was arrested and fined. The Society agreed to
pay the fine, and also settled with the injured men for £10, but the
vanman was dismissed from the service of the Society.

About this time a petition was again received from the vanmen with
reference to holidays and Sunday labour. The men wished the three days’
holidays which they were allowed increased to six days, while they also
wished payment for attending to the horses on Sundays. The committee
could not see their way to make any further concession of holidays, but
they agreed that men who had to spend a full day in the stable on
Sundays should receive a day’s pay. This was probably the first occasion
in Glasgow on which it was recognised that wages paid to vanmen and
carters were for a six-day week, and that work on the seventh day should
be paid for. In this matter as in so many others the Baking Society were
pioneers, and it was not until more than twenty years had passed that
the trade union was able to enforce all over the city the rule that
Sunday work in the stables should be paid for.

RESIGNATION OF FOREMAN BAKER.

At the end of the 79th quarter Mr Lang, who had been foreman baker with
the Society during all the time they had been in St James Street,
resigned his situation, and a Mr Marshall was appointed. Mr Marshall
came to the Society with excellent testimonials, but, somehow or other,
after his appointment the number of complaints with regard to the
quality of the bread increased steadily, and at times came in from a
dozen societies at once. He was interviewed repeatedly by the committee
and the necessity of maintaining a high standard in bread was impressed
on him, but little improvement took place. At length it was discovered
by the sub-committee that he was absent from work without leave, and he
was suspended by them, and at the next meeting of the full committee was
dismissed, and Mr Robert Fraser was appointed. From Mr Fraser’s
appointment complaints became much less frequent.

There were districts where Co-operation was not yet firmly established,
and through the policy of the directors, which made for helping
societies wherever possible, small sums were still being lost
occasionally. The next society to close its doors was Clippens. For some
time it had been in low water, and as the Federation was finding it
impossible to obtain payment the supply of bread was stopped. The
committee of the Renfrewshire Co-operative Conference Association
undertook, however, to try and get that association to become security
for payment, and supplies were again granted, but only for a short time
as, when the matter came before the Conference, the delegates refused to
accept any responsibility. It was then arranged that payment should be
made for the bread on delivery, and that payments should be made
periodically for the purpose of reducing the debt of the society. In a
very short time this arrangement also was departed from, and the society
shortly afterwards collapsed, the assets only paying ½ per £ of the
debts owing. There were other societies which were not paying their
accounts regularly, and on several occasions these were written to and
requested to make prompt payments. About this time, also, Cessnock
Society went into liquidation, but were able to pay about twenty
shillings in the pound.

RESIGNATION OF MANAGER.

Mr David Smith had been manager of the Society from the time when Mr
Robert Craig resigned, in the summer of 1875; while prior to that time
he had acted as secretary, and he had been a member of the committee
from the first year of the Society’s existence, having been the
representative of St Rollox Society. He had thus an unbroken
acquaintance with the work of the Society as member of committee,
secretary, and manager for almost twenty years; but the time had now
arrived when he decided to sever his connection, and so, in October
1889, he intimated to the committee that he was resigning in order to
commence business for himself. His resignation was accepted, and at the
same meeting a special sub-committee was appointed to make inquiries
from the heads of the various departments with the object of
ascertaining whether it was possible to carry on the business without a
general manager. The result of this inquiry was that the committee
decided to rearrange the methods of business by giving each departmental
manager full control of his department under the committee, thus
obviating the necessity of appointing a general manager in the meantime.
Instead of a general manager it was decided to appoint a cashier and
accountant who should have full control of the office, and Mr James H.
Forsyth, from the accountancy department of the Wholesale Society, was
appointed.

THE FIRST GLASGOW BOYCOTT.

It was in the later years of the ’Eighties that the first Glasgow
boycott took place, and it struggled on spasmodically for several years.
It had very little evil effect on the progress of the Co-operative
movement, but here and there it served to teach the members and
directors of societies a much-needed lesson as to the value of
Co-operative federal institutions. Particularly was this the case with
one society mentioned in the last chapter as receiving exceptional
conditions from private bakers. As a result of the boycott two out of
the three baking firms which had been supplying the society with bread
refused to do so any longer, with the result that the directors had to
appeal to the Federation to come to their rescue. This the directors of
the Federation were quite ready to do, and so the society joined the
Federation and had bread delivered to its members at a cost of 1/3 per
hour, instead of getting it delivered free and being relieved from
responsibility for bad debts, which were the terms given by the firms
which had failed it when the strain came. Another society which was
suffering through the application of the boycott by the bakers who
supplied it was High Blantyre, which also appealed for assistance, and
shortly afterwards became a member of the Federation. The membership of
the city societies was also growing very rapidly, and this growth was
being reflected in the sales of the Federation, which showed a
progressive increase every quarter. At the beginning of the 78th quarter
the number of societies affiliated was thirty-six; when the
coming-of-age celebrations took place two years later the membership had
increased to forty-two societies notwithstanding that Clippens and
Cessnock societies had ceased to exist.

A NEW PRESIDENT.

Another important change which took place at the end of 1889 was the
retiral from the presidency of Mr John Ferguson and the appointment of
Mr Duncan M‘Culloch in his place. This change marked the beginning of a
period of unexampled expansion in the growth of the Society. Just about
this time, also, the Federation was asked to supply Dumbarton Society
with bread while that society’s own bakery was being rebuilt. The
Federation at the end of this year was making a big bid for the trade of
the societies in cakes and buns for the New Year trade. They had
embarked on this trade on a small scale some time earlier, but the
business done for the season 1889–1890 was important enough to find a
place in the minutes as being 25 per cent. greater than that of the
previous year.

MAJORITY CELEBRATIONS.

Early in February 1890, when the new buildings were approaching
completion, it was decided that the opening of these for trade should
also be taken advantage of to celebrate the coming of age of the
Society, and somewhat elaborate provision was made to have a function
which would advertise the business of the Society. It was agreed that
five tickets should be sent to every society doing a trade of £250, ten
tickets to those societies whose trade was between £250 and £500, and
fifteen tickets to societies whose trade was over £500. At a later
meeting it was agreed that one bottle of beer be supplied to each guest
attending the celebration.

The celebration of the majority of the Society, combined as it was with
the opening of the new wing of the bakery premises, was a notable
demonstration of the progress of Co-operation. The opening ceremony was
on a grand scale, as in addition to the large number of delegates who
had been invited there were also present a number of visitors, including
some from England. Mr M‘Culloch presided, and the opening ceremony was
performed by Mr Glasse, secretary of the Society, declaring the premises
open in a brilliant speech in which he traced the history of the
Federation from its earliest days, and commented on the wonderful
progress it had made. The occasion, he said, was one of which the
Co-operators of the West of Scotland should be proud. They were met in
buildings which were magnificent, and which were a fine example of what
might be done by working men. He reminded his audience that only three
years had elapsed since they had met at the same place to open the
original buildings. At that time the committee did not think that an
extension would be required so soon; the only difficulty they had
anticipated being that of finding sufficient trade to keep the bakery
fully occupied. That difficulty was soon overcome, however, and the
trade had increased so rapidly that they were forced to proceed with the
buildings they were met to open that day. How necessary the new
buildings were he illustrated by pointing out that while M‘Neil Street
original bakery had been erected to do a trade of 700 sacks per week,
the quarter which would end on the 27th April would show, he
anticipated, an average output of 715 sacks per week. When they had
started in St James Street it took fourteen years to work up to their
full capacity of 400 sacks per week, but now they had increased their
trade by over 300 sacks a week in rather less than three years. He hoped
that the biscuit factory which they were opening that day would prove as
great a success as the bread baking factory had done, and that many
societies outside the Federation’s radius for bread would avail
themselves of its products. The United Co-operative Baking Society was
one of the grandest examples of Co-operation which they had in the
country, and it was fast becoming one of the largest producers of bread
in the West of Scotland. He referred to the conditions under which the
baking trade was carried on in the small bakeries, quoting the _Lancet_
as having stated that many of the workmen had to work under conditions
that were abominable, and he invited those present to walk through the
bakery and see that everything there was clean and sweet. He pointed out
that, of the 140 bakeries in Glasgow, three did as much trade as the
whole of the remainder. It was gratifying, he continued, that during the
whole twenty-one years of its existence the Baking Society had not had a
single dispute with its employees. They had always paid the best wages
and employed the best hands. Besides the usual discount, also, the
Society had paid £34,170 as dividend on purchases, and that fact in
itself spoke for the value of the Federation.

Mr Glasse then, by pulling a lever, set the machinery in motion and
declared the premises open.

THE DINNER.

Mr M‘Culloch presided also at the dinner, at which more than 400 guests
were present, including Mr Ben Jones. In his address of welcome the
chairman asked the delegates to project their minds into the future and
ask themselves what would be the magnitude of that branch of the
Society’s business which they were starting that day when they met to
celebrate the coming of age of the biscuit factory twenty-one years
hence. He also referred to the fact that all the presidents of the
Society but one were present with them.

Speeches were delivered by Messrs J. Lochhead, Ben Jones, William Revie,
Gabriel Thomson, Donald Cameron (two ex-presidents), Mr Glasse, Mr J.
Ferguson, Mr J. M‘Murran, Mr William Barclay (another ex-president), and
Mr Malcolm Neil. Mr Jones described London, from which he had come, as
“a Co-operative desert,” while, in proposing “Retail Co-operation,” Mr
Glasse said that in the Second City of the Empire retail Co-operators
were nearly as bad as they were in the first, although during the past
five years some headway had been made in the city.

STILL MORE EXTENSIONS.

The year 1890 was the year in which the Co-operative Congress was last
held in Glasgow. There had been an earlier Congress held in the city—in
1876—but it passed without much note being taken of it, and seemingly
without having had much influence save on those who were in close touch
with it. It was different with the Congress of 1890, however. It gave an
impetus to Co-operation in the city which was felt by every society, and
the effects of which have not died out even yet. It was like that first
strong push which overcomes the inertia of a snowball at the top of a
steep slope, and sends it rolling down hill, ever increasing in speed
and in size as it rolls on. To some extent the ground had been prepared
for the Congress by the Wholesale Society in its erection of the
buildings at Shieldhall; an evidence of the life of Co-operation in the
city which could not fail to appeal to the imaginations of a commercial
people like the Glaswegians; and by the opening of the new bakery at
M‘Neil Street, and the big Co-operative demonstration which accompanied
that opening. Shieldhall and M‘Neil Street might be likened to the
gentle rain which watered the feeble plant of Co-operation in the city,
and the 1890 Congress to the sun, the warmth of whose rays caused it to
blossom and grow strong.

Co-operation made itself manifest in various ways during Congress week.
The Bakery was thronged with visitors; flags floated gaily from the tops
of the buildings, and a grand Co-operative procession took place through
the city, during which the lifeboat “Co-operator” was launched on the
Clyde. The directors of the Baking Society were not slow to take
advantage of all this enthusiasm for Co-operation. They took a stall at
the Congress Exhibition of Co-operative productions, and attracted much
attention by the high quality of the goods shown. The result was that
the trade of the new biscuit department received a send off it might not
otherwise have secured. Many orders were booked during the Exhibition
week, and others came flowing in for weeks afterwards.

At the 85th quarterly meeting, held just at the close of Congress, the
chairman made the new biscuit factory the text of his opening remarks to
the delegates, pointing out the facilities which the Society now enjoyed
for carrying on this trade, and impressing on them the desirability of
fostering it in the societies by every means in their power. The result
was that the trade developed at a rapid rate. At first the committee had
been in doubt as to whether sufficient trade could be secured to keep
the one travelling oven which they had erected fully employed, but
almost from the start these doubts were resolved. Another source of
gratification was to be found in the fact that the societies were well
pleased with the quality of the biscuits which were being made, and that
a fair return was being secured on the trade done. Arrangements had been
made with the Wholesale Society at the beginning of the new department,
whereby that society became agents for biscuits, but some
misunderstanding seems to have arisen, for towards the end of the year
the society wrote to the Baking Society’s committee, complaining that
the terms of the agreement between the two societies with regard to the
biscuit agency were not being adhered to. This led to meetings between
the two boards, as a result of which all the difficulties were removed,
and an immediate increase in the trade in biscuits amongst the societies
in Scotland followed.

STILL FURTHER EXTENSIONS.

The bread trade of the Society also continued to increase at an
extraordinary rate. So much so that, by the beginning of 1891, nine
months after the opening of the last addition to the bakery, the trade
was within fourteen sacks of the full output capacity of 1,000 sacks per
week. The directors saw that some steps must be taken at once to
increase baking capacity, and applied to the quarterly meeting for power
to take over or to sell St James Street property, and at the same time
for power to acquire land for the purpose of extending the bakery. Power
in both directions was granted, although a director of the Wholesale
Society, acting, he stated, on the authority of his board, moved that
power be not granted. Evidently, however, this gentleman had
misunderstood the attitude of the Wholesale Society’s directors, for
subsequently a letter was received from the secretary of that
federation, in which it was stated that they had given no instructions
to oppose the extension of the Baking Society’s premises, and that, in
fact, they were in favour of this course being taken.

St James Street premises were offered for sale at £3,960, and again at
£3,600, but there were no offerers. Ultimately, however, they were
disposed of for £3,100.

The intention of the committee was to purchase the block of ground
adjoining the bakery at the corner of Govan Street and South York
Street, but as they considered that the price which was being asked was
too great, it was decided to proceed with the erection of an addition at
the north end of the present property in M‘Neil Street. The plans of the
extension, when completed, showed provision for twenty-seven ovens
additional, which would allow a trade of 1,650 sacks per week to be
done. At the same time, steps were taken to add another flat to the
stables, and to remove the office to the first flat of the biscuit
factory.

NEW BUILDING COLLAPSES.

Satisfactory progress was being made with the new building and the
addition had been nearly completed when a disaster occurred which caused
much of the work to be done over again. One of the tie-rods in the north
portion of the building broke, with the result that the whole arch gave
way, falling through the two floors beneath and carrying them with it,
as well as the first and second floors in the southern section of the
building. The result was that a large portion of the walls had to be
taken down and rebuilt, the cost of the damage being at least £1,000, in
addition to the delay occasioned. Investigations into the cause of the
collapse did not result in any definite cause being discovered, although
the engineers who made the investigation reported several points which,
in combination, were likely to have been responsible. This collapse had
occurred in August, but so expeditious were the builders that by the
beginning of December the Society was getting the use of five ovens, and
by the beginning of March 1893 the whole of the addition was ready for
occupancy.

MORE BUILDING.

At the same time another addition, which included duplicating the stable
accommodation and carrying both sections a storey higher, was being
carried out. By this time also, new ground had been secured in South
York Street, and it was decided to utilise the buildings there for a new
biscuit factory, in which one double travelling oven and six hand ovens
would be built. It was also agreed to put in a hoist into the building,
so as to enable it to be used for packing and storage purposes.

It is worthy of note, in connection with the alteration of the old
building to make it suitable for a biscuit factory, that it was decided
to have the work done by means of labour employed directly by the
Society. This decision marks the inception of the building department of
the Society, a department which has since then carried out some of the
most important work done by the Society. The block of land, which had
been the most recent purchase, and which cost £8,500, made the Society
the owner of the whole of the M‘Neil Street-South York Street block, and
gave space for expansion which has only been completely utilised in
comparatively recent years.

The most recent addition to the Society’s premises was not completed any
too soon. The membership by this time consisted of 51 societies,
although several of these, including the Paisley and Johnstone
societies, were customers for biscuits only. The trade being done
amounted to over 1,200 sacks per week, or 15,700 a quarter, while about
450 sacks were being turned into biscuits in the quarter, and over 360
sacks of oatmeal into oatcakes. The progress which was being made in
those two departments was remarkably rapid, and must have been most
encouraging to the directors, and the general progress made showed that
only a very short time was likely to elapse ere still another extension
would be called for.

CHAPTER X.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.

BONUS INVESTMENT SOCIETY FORMED—AN INSURANCE FUND—ADVERTISING THE
SOCIETY’S PRODUCTS—PURVEY DEPARTMENT AND TEAROOMS—FEEDING THE
HUNGRY—A WORK’S FIRE BRIGADE—CONTINUOUS GROWTH—DELIVERY
DIFFICULTIES—ELECTION OF MR JAMES BAIN.

It is to the late Mr Peter Glasse that the honour of suggesting the
formation of the U.C.B.S. Bonus Investment Society belongs. Probably the
idea would have occurred to someone else sooner or later, but Mr Glasse
is entitled to the honour which is given to all pioneers. It was at the
meetings of the sub-committee, held during December 1887, that Mr Glasse
first brought up the subject, and at the committee meeting which was
held on 17th December of that year the question of doing something to
induce the employees to capitalise their “bonus” in the Society, instead
of withdrawing it each quarter, was considered. It was left at that time
in the hands of the committee to consult with the employees on the
subject, but for some time the sub-committee were too busily employed on
other matters connected with the Society to do anything, and it was not
until nearly four years had elapsed that anything practical was done.
The question was again raised by Mr Glasse, who moved a resolution,
which was unanimously agreed to by the committee, expressing the opinion
that the large sums of money which had been paid by the Society in the
form of “bonus” had not been the means of helping forward the true
principles of Co-operative “profit sharing,” and agreeing that a
committee of three be appointed from the board to meet with the
employees, with the object of arranging a more satisfactory system.
Messrs M‘Culloch, Glasse, and M‘Intosh were appointed to carry the
proposal through.

This decision was arrived at in February 1891, and in April of that year
a conference of the directors and the employees took place, presided
over by Mr M‘Culloch, at which the chairman put before the employees the
desire of the board that the workers should take a greater interest than
hitherto in the business of the Society. He pointed out that it was with
this object that the payment of bonus had been started. Since the
commencement of the bonus payments large sums had been paid to the
employees, but many Co-operators believed that this was only the first
step in profit sharing. He suggested that a full and free discussion
take place, promising that if the employees agreed to form a society
with the object of becoming shareholders in the Federation, the board
would do all in their power to have the rules altered so that this could
be done. After the proposal had been fully discussed, it was agreed to
by a large majority of those present, 61 voting for a motion that the
employees leave not less than one-fourth of the bonus received for
investment in the shares of the Society, and 17 for an amendment that
they do not agree to leave any of the bonus. A sub-committee, consisting
of Messrs M‘Culloch, Glasse, and M‘Intosh from the board, and of Messrs
Clubb, M‘Allister, and Miller from the employees, was appointed to
prepare a scheme for submission to the members at a general meeting.

THE SCHEME APPROVED.

The scheme was brought before the members at the quarterly meeting of
the Society held in September of the same year. It provided for the
formation of a Bonus Investment Society confined to the employees of the
U.C.B.S. Ltd., the object of which was that of enabling the employees to
become members and invest their bonus in shares of the U.C.B.S. The
shares were to be paid up by the retention of not less than one-fourth
of the bonus payable to employees whose wages were over £1 per week. Any
employee leaving the service of the Society ceased to be a member of the
Bonus Investment Society, and was compelled to place his shares on the
transfer list, and all transfers were to be made through the board of
management. The Bonus Investment Society was to have one vote at the
general meetings of the U.C.B.S. as a member, with an additional vote
for every £80 of shares held in the Society. When the scheme came before
the general meeting it was approved by a large majority of the
delegates, only one amendment being made, which made withdrawal from the
Bonus Investment Society optional instead of compulsory on leaving the
service of the Society. At the ninety-first quarterly meeting the rules
were altered to permit of the new society being admitted a member and
exercising the right of voting agreed on in the scheme.

Since that time the rules of the Bonus Investment Society and the
conditions on which membership in the Federation is held have been
altered on several occasions. First, the sum which must be held in the
Federation to qualify for one vote was raised to £250, and again to
£500; while, on a later occasion, it was also decided that the maximum
number of votes which the society could exercise was twenty-five. On
several occasions, also, determined attempts were made to have the
payment of bonus discontinued, but always without success. In the first
year in which the society was instituted the number of members was 135,
and the amount paid in was £336. At the end of the twenty-seventh year
the membership was 797, and the total holding in the Society £24,265.
During these twenty-seven years the holding of the members in the
Federation has shown a steady growth, and many employees have little
nest eggs laid past for the ever-dreaded rainy day which they would not
have had but for the institution of the Bonus Investment Society.

[Illustration:

PRESENT BOARD

1. ALEXANDER BUCHANAN, President.
2. THOMAS M‘LEAN.
3. JOHN YOUNG.
4. MATTHEW H. CADIZ.
5. JAMES HAMILTON.
]

[Illustration:

PRESENT BOARD

1. JOHN B. MONTEITH.
2. ROBERT M‘LAY.
3. JOHN F. JOHNSTONE.
4. JOHN SIMPSON.
5. JOHN B. WALKER.
]

INSURANCE FUND STARTED.

A proposal which gave rise to a considerable amount of discussion at the
quarterly meeting, held in the beginning of December 1890, was that of
the committee to form an insurance fund of their own. At the meeting of
the committee immediately prior to that quarterly meeting, the members
of the board agreed to recommend that £500 from the profits of that
quarter be taken to start an insurance fund, and that a special meeting
be held at the close of the quarterly meeting to consider the question
of taking £1,000 from the reserve fund and placing it to the insurance
fund. At the quarterly meeting the proposal was hotly debated. Approval
of the proposal of the committee to allocate £500 to the insurance fund
was moved, and was met by an amendment that the proposal be deleted from
the minutes. This amendment became the finding of the meeting, receiving
104 votes against 87 votes for approval of the proposal. The subject
cropped up again in the balance-sheet, where, in the “allocation of
profit account,” the £500 was shown as being devoted to an insurance
fund, and a further crop of motions and amendments was the result. It
was moved that the £500 be added to the reserve fund; that the
balance-sheet, as printed, be adopted; and that the £500 be carried
forward to next quarter. The vote resulted in two favouring the transfer
of the £500 to the reserve fund, while 113 favoured the adoption of the
balance-sheet as printed, and 98 the carrying forward of the sum. This
vote was a clear reversal of the previous one, and showed that the
delegates had no very clear conception of the business on which they
were voting or else that some of them had changed their opinions with
almost lightning-like rapidity. One might be pardoned for believing that
it should not be possible for a business meeting to come to two
diametrically opposed decisions on the one subject at the same meeting.
However, the result was that the committee got their insurance scheme
through, and when the special meeting was called upon to transfer £1,000
from the reserve fund to the insurance fund this was done by 145 votes
to 34; and the 34 were not cast against the proposal to have an
insurance fund, but in favour of a proposal that the fund should be
built up from the profits of the Society quarter by quarter. At the same
meeting the payment to the members of the committee was again raised to
3/ a meeting, after having remained at 2/ for three and a half years.

ADVERTISING THE SOCIETY’S PRODUCTS.

Mention has already been made of the success with which the Society met
in their exhibition of the bakery productions at the Congress
Exhibition. This success seems to have encouraged the directors to
further efforts in this direction, and so we find the first mention
made, in the minute of November 1890, of the institution of what has
since been, until the war brought it to an end for the time being, the
most popular function of the Scottish Co-operative year—the Bakery
annual cake show. The results of the first show were most gratifying.
Encouraged still further by this success the committee decided shortly
afterwards to have a stall in the Glasgow East-End Exhibition. At this
stall bakery products were sold as well as exhibited, with the result
that in the ten weeks the sum of £179 was received for the sale of
pastries, etc., and the committee were so pleased with this result that
they gave the young lady who had been in charge of the stall £2 as an
evidence of their satisfaction with her work.

Almost from the start the Society had been affiliated with the Glasgow
and Suburbs and Renfrewshire conference associations, but now they
decided to affiliate also with the Central Conference Association, and
shortly afterwards with the East of Scotland Association. This extension
of their affiliations showed that societies situated at a distance from
Glasgow were now taking an interest in the work of the Federation, and
were becoming purchasers of their productions. About the middle of this
year the bakers made a request for a reduction of their working day from
9½ hours to 8½ hours, thus making the working week one of fifty hours.
It was also decided to alter the rate of interest payable on loans to 4
per cent. for money at call and 4½ per cent. on money deposited at
twelve months’ notice of withdrawal.

It was towards the end of 1891 that the Society inaugurated that
hospitality to other organisations for which it has since become so
justly famous. The half-yearly meeting of the Scottish Convention of
Co-operative Societies took place in Glasgow in September, and it was
decided that the delegates should be shown over the bakery premises and
afterwards entertained. Later in the same year an invitation was
extended to the ladies of the Co-operative movement and the members of
the women’s guild to visit the bakery and be entertained to tea. The
meeting was a great success, over 400 ladies attending. About the same
time photographs of the buildings and plant were taken, and lantern
slides were prepared for exhibition purposes, a set being presented to
the Central Board of the Union, while a set was retained. Two thousand
show cards for distribution amongst the societies were also purchased,
and it was decided to exhibit the Society’s biscuits again at the
Congress Exhibition.

In order that the biscuit factory might be equipped on the most
up-to-date lines possible, the chairman, secretary, and foreman baker
were appointed a deputation to visit the C.W.S. biscuit factory at
Crumpsall. On their return the chairman reported that much valuable
information had been gained from the visit by both the foreman baker and
himself.

The Society has ever been noted for its generosity to deserving causes,
and it is not surprising, therefore, to find that when the delegates
were called upon to choose between a donation of £200 and one of £100 to
the funds of the Seaside Homes Association they decided on the larger
sum. In order to interest the employees in the Bonus Investment Society,
to establish which power had been granted by the delegates at the
December quarterly meeting, the directors decided to have a social
meeting with the employees, which took the form of a concert and
assembly. At this meeting the benefits which they would derive from
becoming members of the new society were eloquently portrayed by various
speakers.

The oatcake trade was now becoming a feature of the Society’s work, and
four hot-plates were erected specially for this trade. The scone trade
was also developing at a rapid rate, and sixteen hot-plates were erected
for it. In order that space might be found for the extensions which were
proposed, Mr Geddes, who had been using as a boat shed a shed which was
the property of the Society, was induced to give it up, and it was
fitted up as a temporary stable, with accommodation for eleven horses.
About the same time the Society reduced the hours of their women workers
by five per week.

A PURVEY DEPARTMENT.

There were and are large numbers of Co-operators in Glasgow who require
to take at least one meal per day away from home, but until this time no
attempt had been made to cater co-operatively for their wants.
Co-operators, also, had many pleasant little functions—marriages, social
meetings, etc.—for the creature comforts dispensed at which they had to
be dependent on non-co-operative sources. For some time prior to the
autumn of 1892 this fact had been receiving the attention and
consideration of the directors of the Baking Society, and in August of
that year the sub-committee were empowered to get all the necessary
plant to enable them to do a purveying business for soirees, marriages,
etc. At the September quarterly meeting the directors recommended that
premises should be rented in the centre of the city suitable for
first-class tearooms, and by a small majority this recommendation was
agreed to by the meeting. The purvey department was started immediately,
a manager being engaged, and it was decided that members purchasing
through that department should get full dividend. Unfortunately the
committee at the beginning of their experiment were not happy in their
choice of manager; first one and then another having to be dismissed,
and it was not until Mr Robert Watson was engaged that the department
was set thoroughly on its feet. Early in 1893 premises were taken in
Renfield Street for the purpose of opening first-class tearooms there.
Even before the tearooms were opened a deputation from the West of
Scotland Club and Institute was forward with a proposal to have a
portion of the building set apart for their use, but after having a look
over the place it was decided that the matter be left in abeyance
meantime. The purvey department by this time was in full operation, and
was being much praised for the style in which the work was being
conducted. By June the tearooms were ready for opening, and it was
decided at the quarterly meeting that twelve tickets be sent to each
society so that members might visit the premises and have a cup of tea
there. It was also decided that, in order to advertise the tearooms, a
small map of the city, showing the railway stations and the position of
the tearooms, and containing on the other side an advertisement for the
tearooms, be sent out to all the societies in Scotland.

A NEW FORM OF BOYCOTT.

In connection with the purvey department a boycott in another form than
the usual was experienced at this time. It is well within the
recollection of many readers that, on the occasion of the marriage of
the present King, Glasgow Corporation entertained 10,000 of the poor of
the city to a dinner. The Baking Society wrote to the City Chamberlain
asking for permission to quote for part of the purveying, and even
called on the chamberlain, pointing out that the Society was a large
ratepayer in the city as well as a large purveyor, and stating that it
was considered that it had a right to be given a chance to quote. No
notice, however, was taken of the application. Since that time the
U.C.B.S. has been able to compel orders for purveys, and the failure
even to acknowledge the letter showed a petty meanness on the part of
either the committee in charge or of the officials, which was not at all
in keeping with the ostensible object of the dinner. This was, however,
but one out of many illustrations of the lack of public spiritedness
which has been manifested by the councillors of the Corporation of
Glasgow when the claims of any section of the Co-operative movement have
had to be considered. In all cases of public contracts the committees of
the Council do not give Co-operation a chance if they find it possible
to do otherwise, and cases are on record when contracts have been given
to middlemen in preference to Co-operative societies, in which these
middlemen filled their contracts with goods purchased from Co-operative
sources at prices higher than those which the Co-operative Society had
quoted to the Corporation in the first instance. With the object of
popularising the new tearooms it was decided to institute a series of
social and literary evenings there once a fortnight.

FEEDING THE HUNGRY.

It has always been widely known that the ears of those responsible for
the conduct of the Baking Society’s business are ever open to a call of
distress from whatever quarter it comes. When the Society was young and
struggling it granted a donation from its all-too-meagre funds to those
left desolate by the Udston Colliery disaster, and on various other
occasions similar action was taken. The winter of 1892–93 was one of the
worst on record for the people of Glasgow and district. Work was so
scarce that it was almost unprocurable, and the result was that
thousands in the city were on, or over, the verge of starvation. There
is no more hopeless position in which a man can find himself than that
of being able and willing to work and yet having to trudge about day
after day and week after week unable to find anyone willing to employ
him, while those dependent on him are slowly starving. When to this lack
of food and soul-destroying idleness are added the rigours of an almost
Arctic winter, life becomes practically unbearable, and many hitherto
honest and industrious men are driven to crime by despair. It is
doubtful whether any more formidable and damning indictment can be
framed against the present unco-operative system of society than is
contained in the regular periodicity of these unemployment crises. A
system of society which fails to provide means for the maintenance of
all the individuals who comprise it is a system of society which
contains within itself and provides with sustenance the seeds of its own
decay.

The distress in Glasgow and the West was very great, and at the December
quarterly meeting of the Society the committee were empowered to
distribute 20 dozens of bread each week in the manner they considered
best calculated to alleviate distress. This distribution was carried on
for twenty-six or twenty-seven weeks, the Society distributing free in
that time over 500 dozens of bread. When the following winter came round
it soon became apparent that conditions were not going to be any better
than they had been in the one preceding, so the committee again received
permission from the general meeting of delegates to distribute bread on
the same lines as on the previous occasion.

The summer of 1894 is still remembered in Scotland as the year of the
big coal strike. There is this peculiarity about the economic position
in the Central and Western districts of Scotland that, when from any
cause there is a slackness in the coal trade, that slackness soon
manifests itself also in the whole commercial life of the community. The
strike of 1894 had the effect of paralysing industry all over the
country, and soon distress was manifest, not only in the coal mining
districts, but in every industry which was dependent on coal for motive
power. By the beginning of August distress was widespread, and appeals
to the Baking Society for assistance in feeding the wives and children
of the strikers and of others in distress through the strike resulted in
a special meeting of the committee being called to deal with the matter.
At that meeting it was decided that the committee revive the powers
granted them earlier for the purpose of dealing with distress. In the
course of carrying out this noble work the Federation distributed
several thousands of dozens of loaves.

The effect of this good work on the movement, and on the Federation in
particular, was doubtless not apparent at the moment, but the growth of
the spirit of brotherhood which it fostered must have had its influence
in strengthening the position of Co-operation generally and thus,
indirectly, the position of the Federation. The Federation cast its
bread upon the waters, as the result of an impulse which was purely
humanitarian, and any results of a commercial nature which accrued in
later years were unsought and but a reflex result of a policy which in
its impulse was entirely worthy and without ulterior motive.

A WORK’S FIRE BRIGADE.

Towards the end of 1892 a work’s fire brigade was started; a large
supply of hose was procured, and after a short period of training
uniforms were procured by the committee. The committee took a keen
interest in the proposal to hold a bazaar in aid of the fund for
providing a Co-operative seaside home for convalescents. When the ladies
of the movement first met to consider plans for the bazaar they were the
guests of the Society; representatives of the Society attended the
meetings held to make preparations for the bazaar; the purvey department
undertook the catering during the three days it lasted, and the profits
accruing from the sales, amounting to over £17, were handed over to the
Bazaar Committee. On several occasions requests by the vanmen for a full
six days’ holiday every year had been refused by the committee; but in
the beginning of 1893 the question was again considered, and it was
agreed that the bakers, vanmen, and breadroom workers each get five days
of continuous holiday instead of three.

During the whole of the period from the beginning of 1892 until well on
in 1894 the time of the committee was much occupied with matters
connected with the extensions which were going on. Although the addition
at the north end of M‘Neil Street was finished and occupied early in
1893, the work in connection with the new stables and the fitting up of
the biscuit factory called for constant attention on the part of the
committee, and every minute contains details of contracts entered into
or being carried out; while, in addition to the work which was being
done by contract, the Society had bricklayers, painters, and a plumber
working under their direct employment. A building department had not yet
been formed, but the Society was gathering together the nucleus of this
department which took shape and being at a later date.

CONTINUOUS GROWTH.

When the new buildings at M‘Neil Street were commenced the private loan
fund was again opened, but now money was coming in so rapidly with the
continuous growth which was taking place in the membership of societies
that the committee recommended again that this fund should cease. How
continuous and great was the increase in the share capital of the
Society is shown by the fact that on one occasion the new shares issued
in the months of June and July totalled 1,320; while, on other
occasions, shares were applied for by single societies in batches of
600, 800, and 1,000. When the first M‘Neil Street premises were opened
in 1887, the Federation consisted of thirty-six societies, and was doing
a trade of slightly over 400 sacks a week. At the majority celebrations
in 1890 the number of society members had grown to forty-three, and the
turnover was 715 sacks weekly. Now at the end of another four years the
membership had grown to fifty-two, and the turnover to 1,254 sacks.
Thus, when the Society had attained its semi-jubilee, it was doing a
trade of £137,500 a year, and making a profit of £11,600; while the
output of the twenty-fifth year was 64,308 sacks, and the average
dividend for the year was 1/(4½).

Undoubtedly the progress made from the opening of the new bakery had
been little short of marvellous; yet, good though it was, it did not
satisfy the committee, for there were still societies within easy reach
of the bakery which gave a large proportion of their trade to outside
bakers, and at least one was yet without the pale altogether. On the
other hand, one society distant over 100 miles from the centre was
getting a regular supply of bread, although this was soon to stop when
the society began to bake for themselves. Difficulties of delivery still
existed, and seemed to form the ground for a large number of the
complaints which were made by societies. A further proportion of such
complaints dealt with the prevalence of underbaked bread, which was but
another phase of the delivery difficulty, as the bread was too quickly
fired in order that the vans might get away on their rounds at the
earliest possible moment. These difficulties it was hardly possible for
the committee to overcome successfully, for the situation was dominated
by the Bakers’ Union, who for a time decreed a five o’clock start. After
a time, however, the Society was successful in arranging for a four
o’clock start, and just before the conclusion of the period with which
we are dealing a three o’clock start was arranged for. This arrangement
made for the lessening of worry to the Bakery officials by allowing the
bread to be well baked and yet to be ready for early delivery; but it
meant for the bakers the turning of night into day. In this connection
it is worthy of note that in the last four months of 1893, after the new
hours for the bakers came into operation, no complaints whatever came in
from societies.

Mention has already been made of the cake trade and of the beginning of
the cake shows in order to foster that trade. It was growing rapidly,
and the sales for the season 1893–94 reached the grand total of 32½
tons, representing 14,533 cakes of 5 lbs. each in weight, and 4½ tons of
shortbread. The tearooms and the purvey department also were
flourishing, and were showing useful profits on the turnover. It is said
that there is nothing new under the sun, and everyday experience goes to
prove the wisdom of the Hebrew philosopher who is credited with having
been the first to note the fact. At the quarterly meeting which was held
in December 1893 notice was given of a motion to print synopses of the
minutes and distribute them to the societies before the quarterly
meetings. The motion was defeated, but it kept on making its appearance
on the agenda with unfailing regularity until a few years ago it found
favour with a majority of the delegates. Another motion of which notice
was given at the same meeting, and which found a great deal of favour
with the delegates when it came up for ratification at the 100th
quarterly meeting, was a proposal made by Mr William Barclay, Kinning
Park, on behalf of that society, that the shares of the Society should
be raised from 10/ to 15/ each. The motion received the votes of a
majority of the delegates, but as it meant an alteration of rule a
two-thirds majority was necessary, and so it too was lost, as was also a
proposal for raising the purchase qualification for a vote from £160 or
a fractional part thereof to £320. At the quarterly meeting, however,
perhaps the most notable thing done was the election of Mr James Bain,
of Glasgow Eastern Society, as secretary. Mr Bain thus completed
twenty-five years of service as secretary at the 200th quarterly meeting
of the Society, held in March last. Mr Bain had served, however, a
period as the representative of his society on the board of the
Federation ere his election as secretary.

In looking over the various reports of contracts made during the time
the stables and biscuit factory were in course of erection, it is
interesting to note that one or two small contracts were secured by the
S.C.W.S., particularly in connection with engineering work. Amongst
other things which they did was the supplying of an elevator for the
biscuit factory.

CHAPTER XI.
FURTHER EXTENSIONS.

MORE TEAROOMS—INCREASING BUSINESS—NEW BISCUIT FACTORY AT WORK—ANOTHER
EXTENSION—MORE GROUND PURCHASED—NEW BAKERY OPENED—THE POSITION OF
THE FEDERATION—NEW STABLES—ORGANISATION—MANAGER OR NO
MANAGER?—RELATIONS WITH THE C.W.S.—THE BIG BOYCOTT—RELATIONS WITH
MASTER BAKERS—SOME NOTEWORTHY ALTERATIONS—THE FARMING
ASSOCIATION—ACCIDENTS—THE OATCAKE DEPARTMENT—ADVERTISING AND
ENTERTAINING—DONATIONS—A WORKS DEPARTMENT—A FOUR YEARS’ RECORD.

So successful were the tearooms in Renfield Street proving that, at the
101st quarterly meeting of the Society, the directors sought power to
increase the number of these places of business. There was a difference
of opinion amongst the delegates as to the best course to pursue. Some
were not in favour of any further extension of this branch of the
business, and carried their opposition so far as to move an amendment
that power be not granted. Others favoured the principle, but urged the
committee to “hasten slowly,” and moved that power to open one only be
granted. The vast majority of the delegates, however, were fired with
the enthusiasm of the committee, or, at least, were prepared to trust
them not to go further than was going to be for the benefit of the
Society; so the powers sought, which were “to open one or two more
tearooms as opportunity offered,” were granted by a large majority. The
result of this permission was that rooms were taken at Glasgow
Cross—they will be remembered by most Co-operators. They were leased for
ten years, the rental being £100 for the first two and a half years and
£115 for the remainder of the period. Steps were immediately taken to
have them fitted up as first-class tea and dining rooms, and it was
decided that they should be lighted by electricity. The premises were
opened to the public on 25th October, when there was a large gathering
of representatives from the societies in the Glasgow and Suburbs
Conference area, friendly and other societies, and trade unions. Mr
M‘Culloch presided, and the rooms were declared open by Mr Maxwell,
president, S.C.W.S. Mr Glasse, Mr Bain, Mr Chaddock, and other gentlemen
also delivered addresses.

While negotiations and preparations had been proceeding for the opening
of the Cross tearooms, preparations were also being made at the bakery
for the opening of a dining hall and bread shop, and shortly after the
function at the Cross these also were opened.

The next venture of the Federation was in Paisley Road, where, on 25th
May 1895, tearooms were opened. Following on the opening of the Paisley
Road premises, no alterations took place in this section of the
Society’s business until the end of 1897, when the committee, having
failed to come to an arrangement with the factor for the Renfield Street
premises, and being faced with the prospect of having to pay increased
rent for the premises if they renewed their lease, decided to accept an
offer of premises at 102 and 104 West Nile Street at £300 rental per
annum. It was decided that the tearooms should be known as “The Union
Rooms,” and also that electric lighting be installed. Quite a long time
was spent in fitting up the new premises so as to make them thoroughly
worthy of the part which it was hoped they would play in the social life
of the Co-operative community of the city and district, and it was not
until the 28th of June 1898 that they were formally opened. The premises
comprised a tearoom and smaller rooms and offices on the ground floor,
as well as two large flats above. To celebrate the opening the board had
decided that a tea should be given to the regular customers of the
Renfield Street premises, and of these about 100 attended at a social
gathering. A jovial evening was passed in song and sentiment, and many
kind things were said of Mr Watson, manager, and the new premises.

Meantime, the Society had undertaken yet another venture in the catering
line. In connection with the National Halls, Main Street, Gorbals, there
had been a catering department, which was giving up business, and the
business and plant were purchased by the Baking Society, a tearoom and
an auxiliary purvey department being established there in the spring of
1898.

INCREASING BUSINESS.

For many years the hands of the Bakery board were never out of the
mortar tub, and by a slight inadvertence they fell foul, in the early
summer of 1894, of the building regulations of the city. From the
beginning of the year they had been in communication with the master of
works of the city about some alterations which they wished to make on an
old building situated on their land at Clydeside. It was necessary that
some work should be carried out inside this building, and, in the course
of alterations, a part of the outside wall was taken down, and was in
process of rebuilding when the master of works came on the scene,
stopped the work, and reported the Society to the Procurator Fiscal for
a contravention of the by-laws. The result was that the Society was
fined £1, 1s., but, as the work they had done was allowed to stand, they
came out of the business not so badly.

By the middle of August 1894, the new biscuit factory had started
operations, and the Society was able once more to fulfil the orders for
biscuits which came pouring in. Already, however, the latest extension
of the bread bakery was beginning to have its productive capacity taxed,
and at the 104th quarterly meeting the directors obtained power from the
quarterly meeting to proceed with a further extension of the bakery,
this time at the corner of Govan Street and South York Street. First,
however, they turned their attention to a further extension of the
biscuit factory, where they had plans prepared for the erection of
another flat, with provision for seven ovens. Already they had a biscuit
traveller on the road who was doing well, and by the middle of the year
arrangements were made with the Wholesale whereby they secured premises
for a biscuit depot at Leith, and a van was placed on the road for the
delivery of their goods in the East.

It was not until the beginning of the following year that the plans for
the addition to the bakery were ready. These provided for a building
with three flats of ovens, giving an additional baking capacity of fifty
ovens. When the plans were agreed to by the quarterly meeting a strong
recommendation was made that the work be carried out by the Society’s
own workmen, and this was done.

The next step in the scheme of extensions was the purchase of the ground
at the south corner of South York Street and Govan Street on which the
stables and St Mungo Halls now stand. This ground, which had an extent
of 9,813 square yards, cost £8,839, 9s. In pursuance of the policy of
the Society to carry out the construction of the addition to the bakery
themselves, a foreman builder was engaged, at a salary of £4 a week, and
building plant was bought at a cost of almost £500. The new addition was
not completed until October 1897; its opening being made the occasion of
a demonstration, at which a company of 1,600 people were present. The
cost of the new building was £29,000. The building was a bakery complete
in itself, having fifty ovens, a barmroom, breadroom, and storage for
3,000 sacks of flour. The whole bakery now had a baking capacity of 150
ovens, capable of turning out over 560,000 loaves per week.

THE OPENING CEREMONY.

The formal inauguration of the new buildings was performed by Mrs
M‘Culloch, wife of the president, who turned the steam on to the engine
which was to drive the machinery in the department. In a short speech,
Mr Bain then sketched the history of the Federation. On entering, each
of the ladies present had been presented with a silver souvenir brooch
bearing a representation of the building, and at the conclusion of the
opening ceremony Mrs M‘Culloch was presented with a gold brooch of
similar design.

A huge vehicular demonstration, in which over a hundred vehicles took
part, paraded the streets of the city after the opening ceremony. Many
mottoes were displayed on the decorated lorries and vans, amongst the
most prominent being one which stated “Our answer to the boycott—other
54 ovens added.” The dinner took place in the East End Industrial
Exhibition buildings, and Mr M‘Culloch, president of the Society,
presided.

In welcoming the visitors, he referred to the inception of the Society
in a little back court in Coburg Street, with a bakery capable of doing
a trade of forty sacks a week, and contrasted that small beginning with
the size and strength of the Federation that day; the possessor of plant
capable of dealing with 3,500 sacks each week. He laid stress on the
fact that the building had been done by the Society’s own workmen, and
that over £11,000 had been paid in wages to the builders.

Mr Peter Glasse said the Society had proved to the world the power of
the Co-operative movement. During its twenty-eight years of existence it
had disbursed £143,000 in the form of dividends to customers, and during
all that time it had never had a strike of its workers, because it had
always paid the highest rate of wages and worked the shortest possible
number of hours.

Mr William Maxwell, in the course of a stirring address on
“Co-operation,” said that through the influence of the Co-operative
movement the masses had learned that that inanimate thing called capital
could be made into a willing and obedient servant, instead of, as
formerly, a harsh taskmaster. There was a community of thought and
action in the Co-operative movement which was bringing out much that was
noble and sympathetic in human nature. The social gulfs which lay
between the various classes in society would never be bridged over by
the competitive system, because that system was the cause of these
gulfs. That bridging could only be done by Co-operation. Their opponents
were saying that they were lamentably deluded, but, if those opponents
only knew it, they had aroused the members of the movement from that
apathy and indifference in which they had hitherto lain dormant.

The point of Mr Maxwell’s address, which was punctuated with applause,
was that the “boycott” movement was then at its height in Glasgow and
the West, and everywhere attempts were being made to intimidate
Co-operators into forsaking the stores. These attempts only resulted in
giving the movement a splendid advertisement. Everywhere the opponents
came out into the open they were defeated, and some well-known firms,
which, until then, had been reaping large profits from their trade with
Co-operation, found that the boycott was a double-edged weapon, and that
the measure which they meted out to Co-operative workmen could be meted
out to themselves by Co-operative societies.

THE POSITION OF THE FEDERATION.

As showing the power and influence to which the Federation had attained
by this time, we cannot do better than quote from an article which
appeared in _Copartnership_ for June 1897. After describing the
beginnings of the Society, the writer goes on:—

“But the day of small things is past; the society has grown into one
of the largest as well as one of the most important in the movement.
The trade last year—1896—was £220,536; but in case that sum should
not convey a definite notion of the work involved it should be
remembered that the U.C.B.S. carries on the largest business of its
kind in the United Kingdom. At present 340 sacks of flour are baked
into 65,300 loaves every day, while 25 sacks are made into pastry
and hand-made biscuits, 20 sacks into machine-made biscuits, and the
oatcake department requires 13 sacks daily; practically 400 sacks of
flour and meal daily; a great growth from the early days when it was
difficult for the committee to keep with them the baker they
employed, who had no faith in the society’s future.

The biscuits and cakes are sold not only in Glasgow and all over
Scotland, but are now finding their way into England, and winning
favour. These goods, of course, go by rail, but it will readily be
understood that the bulkiest part of the trade, bread for use in the
co-operative households in and around Glasgow, requires a large
staff and rolling stock; and, as a matter of fact, the delivery
department employs 62 carmen, dealing with 71 vehicles and 107
horses.

A great capital is needed to carry on so large a business, and the
extent of the capital is shown in the following figures:—

Capital. Societies. Workers. Outside Individuals.
Shares £37,907 £2,900 _Nil._
Loans 79,114 580 £10,728
———— ——— ————
£117,021 £3,480 £10,728
Total £131,229.”

The article goes on to state that the total number of employees was 829,
77 of these being employed in the building department, while 275 were
members of the Bonus Investment Society. It concludes:—

“Some organisations are mere aggregations without either heart or
mind. The parts mistakenly believe that they can evade as
organisations duties that belong to them as individuals. But the
problem before co-operators allows no such evasion. They have to set
up, not only good businesses in sanitary buildings, but also a new
industrial system, where labourers are recognised as human beings
entitled to share in the results and direction of their own lives.
Because the leaders of the United Baking Society have recognised
this, and have not allowed prosperity to poison aspiration, all men
will wish them well, and we may say with an inner meaning to the
words that we hope in time great multitudes may eat their bread and
be thankful.”

[Illustration:

BELFAST ADVISORY COMMITTEE

_Top Row_—ALEXANDER PATTERSON; JOHN PALMER; DAVID T. GILCHRIST.

_Bottom Row_—JAMES MURPHY; WILLIAM J. M‘GUFFIN, Chairman; ROBERT
RODGER, Secretary.
]

[Illustration:

1. JAMES YOUNG,
General Manager.

2. JAS. H. FORSYTH,
Cashier and Accountant.
]

NEW STABLES.

The rate at which the trade of the Society was growing called for an
almost continuous growth in live and rolling stock, and consequently for
increased accommodation. Already the provision for stables and van-sheds
which had been made when the removal to M‘Neil Street took place was
much too small, and various makeshift methods had to be adopted to
provide the necessary accommodation for the growing stud of horses. At
the same time the committee were now getting a different idea of the
possibilities of the enterprise, and were desirous, therefore, of making
the bakery as compact, and with its various parts as well co-ordinated
as possible. They were desirous, therefore, of removing the stables away
from the bakery altogether, and it was with this object in view that the
ground on the south side of Govan Street was purchased. At the quarterly
meeting held in September 1896 they were granted power to proceed with
the erection of stables and workshops, and this work was commenced
immediately. At the same time, plans were prepared and the erection
proceeded with of a temporary stable on a part of the same ground. By
the end of 1898 the new stables and workshops were completed, and the
December meeting of the Society was held there, so that the delegates
might have an opportunity of being shown over the premises.

ORGANISATION.

Never at any time had the directors shown carelessness in their
supervision of what had now become a gigantic concern, and they were
continually giving thought to means of improving the organisation of the
Federation and of improving the supervision by the committee. Early in
the period with which this chapter deals, they made arrangements whereby
the members of the committee took it in turn to visit the bakery each
week. These visits were found of value by the members of the committee,
as it enabled them to acquire fuller information about the working of
the Society. Each member reported the result of his visit to the
sub-committee, together with any suggestion he had to make.

Towards the end of 1894 the committee appointed a biscuit traveller, Mr
Archibald Petrie being the man appointed.

MANAGER OR NO MANAGER.

The quarterly meeting had under consideration the question of the
general management of the Society, the points discussed being the
appointment of a general manager, or the development of the system of
departmental managership. The discussion was inaugurated on a motion
moved by Mr Malcolm of Newton Society, “that a general manager be
appointed.” The result of the discussion was the adoption of a
suggestion by Mr Glasse—who said he had sat in committee with a manager
and without a manager, and was of the opinion that the business could be
best managed without a manager. He suggested that the matter should be
remitted back to the committee for consideration and report, and the
other motions and amendments which had been moved were withdrawn in
favour of this suggestion.

The committee took up consideration of the question within a month, and
came to the conclusion that the business of the Society could be best
managed by being divided into six departments, with a departmental
manager over each, who would be in direct touch with the committee.
These departments were: (1) The counting-house; with Mr James H. Forsyth
as head—this department to include all the commercial transactions of
the Society. (2) The productive department, including the production of
all bread, smallbread, biscuits, and oatcakes; to be under the charge of
Mr Robert Fraser, who was also to have control of the enginemen and
oilers. (3) The distributive department, which was to include the
dispatching of the bread and the packing and dispatching of the biscuits
and oatcakes; to be under the management of Mr William Miller. (4) The
delivery was to be under the control of Mr Milne, stable foreman, who
was to have control of all the horses, vanmen, and nightwatchman. (5)
The building and repairs department, including the tradesmen and their
assistants; to be controlled by Mr Davidson. (6) The purvey department
and tearooms, under the management of Mr Robert Watson.

The committee recommended, further, that they should meet fortnightly,
but that the monthly meeting remain as at present, the bi-monthly
meeting to be devoted to the interviewing of all the heads of
departments, each of whom was to present a written report. Another
recommendation was that the term for which members of committee were
elected should be extended, as they were of opinion that the frequent
changes amongst the membership of the Board prevented members from
acquiring a proper knowledge of the business, and had in this way
interfered with the successful management of the Society. They believed
that, if the delegates would accept this suggestion for the alteration
of the rule governing elections, it would do much to consolidate the
management of the business in the hands of the committee. At the
following general meeting of the Society the principle of the report was
accepted, and it was decided to hold a special meeting at the close of
the next general meeting for the purpose of considering the alteration
of rule proposed. At this special meeting the delegates, however,
refused to make the alteration, and the tenure of office of members of
committee remained at one year.

In 1894 the Society attained to the dignity of a registered telegraphic
address, “Federation” being the name adopted. They also had the
telephone installed, as well as private lines communicating with their
teashops. At the end of the year they became members of Kinning Park, St
George, and Glasgow Eastern societies for the purposes of trade, and
later, of other societies as well. They also undertook a census of their
employees for the purpose of finding out who amongst them were
Co-operators and who were not. The census showed that the Society had
431 employees, of whom 236 were unmarried. Of the remainder 152, or 78
per cent., were associated with Co-operative societies, and 43, or 22
per cent., were not.

THE SOCIETY AND THE C.W.S.

Naturally the directors were anxious to push their biscuit trade as
rapidly as they could, and having fixed up a trading agency with the
S.C.W.S. and with the Co-operative Institute, London, they endeavoured
to do the same with the C.W.S. This society had a biscuit factory of
their own, however, and were, not unnaturally, reluctant to introduce
what were really the goods of a competing concern, therefore they
refused to accept the agency. The next step taken by the Society was
that of appointing a traveller for the purpose of pushing biscuits and
oatcakes in England. Against this step, however, a very vigorous protest
was made by Mr James Young, who considered that there should be no
further pushing of the Society’s goods into English societies against
the wishes of the English Wholesale Society’s committee. Following on
this decision, it was agreed that the Society’s productions should be
exhibited at the Crystal Palace Exhibition. This activity in England
brought a letter from the C.W.S. committee, who pointed out that the
action of the Baking Society would lead to competition and overlapping.
Later, that committee also passed a resolution in which they stated that
they were ready and willing to supply all the societies in England with
biscuits if they would only be allowed to do so, and sent a copy of the
resolution to the Baking Society’s committee.

THE BIG BOYCOTT.

Reference has already been made to the boycott of Co-operators which was
inaugurated all over Scotland and continued throughout 1896 and 1897.
The traders had made their organisation very complete, with the result
that every manufacturing firm on which they were in a position to bring
pressure was compelled to discharge all employees who remained members
of Co-operative societies, or whose parents continued members, or else
to suffer very considerable loss of trade. In no department of labour
was it easier to bring effective pressure to bear than on the baking
trade, and the result was that all the big baking firms in the city were
compelled to post up notices informing their employees that they must
cease to trade at Co-operative stores or leave their employment. Similar
notices were posted up in every workshop and factory where the Traders’
Association was in a position to apply any pressure, often against the
will of the employers, who recognised that those of their workers who
were Co-operators were usually the best and steadiest men, but who were
compelled to choose between perpetrating a manifest injustice and seeing
their businesses ruined. No tactics were too mean or despicable to be
resorted to by the traders’ organisation. They had their spies
everywhere, and a favourite method of operations was that of watching
the shops of the Co-operative societies and tracking the customers home,
then ascertaining where the husbands were employed, and writing to their
employers to demand their dismissal. This espionage system was very
perfect in its way, and considerable hardship was caused to individual
Co-operators by it; while the boycott had a lasting effect in another
direction, for it was the direct cause of the large proportion of
householders, in the places throughout Scotland where the boycott raged
most fiercely, which became represented amongst the shareholders of the
societies by the wives of the householders instead of by the
householders themselves.

While it lasted the boycott was not without its humorous incidents. If
the traders had their system of espionage, so also had the Co-operative
Defence Association, and there was not a meeting of the Traders’
Association held, however great the precautions which might be taken to
ensure absolute secrecy, of which a practically _verbatim_ report of the
proceedings was not in the hands of the secretary of the Co-operative
Defence Committee next morning. One of the laughable incidents concerned
one such meeting, a full report of which was published by the
Co-operators. This was followed by a visit from an irate traders’
official, who demanded to know the source from which the report had
come. It is hardly necessary to state that he went away without the
information asked for, and to this day it is probable that the source of
the information is known to less than half a dozen people, not one of
whom had anything to do with the traders’ organisation.

But if the boycott was the cause of hardship to individuals here and
there, it brought grist in a very real sense to the Co-operative mill in
other directions. Already, in this chapter, it has been pointed out that
it was a two-edged weapon, and while Co-operative societies did not
cease to trade with private manufacturers who did not adopt the boycott,
they were kept well informed of those manufacturers who did. It was
found that while some manufacturers had no wish to employ Co-operative
labour they were keenly desirous of retaining Co-operative custom, and
it came as an unpleasant surprise to some of them to find that
Co-operative societies objected to the dismissal of employees because of
their Co-operative connection, and that they refused to trade with
manufacturers who adopted such tactics. It is said that one Glasgow firm
lost Co-operative trade at this time worth £20,000 a year and never
regained it.

In two directions the boycott benefited Co-operative production,
therefore. It turned the attention of those at the head of the movement
to the need of being as far as possible independent of private
manufacturers for supplies, and thus it did much to stimulate
Co-operative manufactures and to hasten entry into new spheres of work.
On the other hand, the operation of the boycott, where manufacturers
refused to supply goods which were already being produced
Co-operatively, increased the demand for the Co-operative manufactures;
while the process of retaliation mentioned above also stimulated this
demand. In both of those directions, the Baking Society was a gainer.
One or two societies in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, which hitherto had
always stood aloof from the Federation and had done very little trade
with it, now approached it for supplies; while a rapidly growing city
society, whose members had consistently refused to give the Federation
the whole of their bread trade, were now prepared to do so.
Notwithstanding the fact that the capacity of the bakery was fully
taxed, an endeavour was made by the committee to supply the wants of
those societies who had brought home to them in this manner the value of
federation in the day of adversity. A big trade in biscuits had also
been done hitherto with Co-operative societies by the biscuit
manufacturers of Glasgow, but the boycott put an end to that trade, and
in this direction also the Bakery gained very considerably. It may be
asserted with confidence, therefore, that not only did the traders’
organisation fail to achieve the object they had in view—the destruction
of the Co-operative movement in Scotland, and especially in Glasgow and
the West—but their campaign had exactly the opposite effect, and ended
by leaving the Co-operative movement stronger in membership, stronger in
trade and capital, and with a membership more closely knit together than
it would have been but for the agitation and the boycott.

The members of the Federation were not slow to recognise the vital
nature of the issues at stake, and placed a credit of £1,000 in the
hands of the directors to use as they might deem advisable for the
defence of the Co-operative movement. At the Perth Congress, which was
held when the boycott campaign was at its height, the delegates had
decided in favour of Co-operative representation in Parliament; and
later, when the Co-operative Union sent out a circular, with the object
of ascertaining what support a Parliamentary campaign was likely to
secure amongst the societies, the delegates to the Baking Society’s
meeting, by a large majority, decided in favour of a Parliamentary
campaign; mainly owing to the eloquence of the chairman, Messrs Glasse
and MacNab, Wholesale, Mr Gerrard, and Messrs Low and Stewart of Kinning
Park. Undoubtedly, the boycott had its influence on the decision. The
chairman was particularly strong in his remarks at the meeting, and, in
referring to the debate on the subject which had taken place at
Congress, suggested that if their English friends had had a taste of the
boycott they would put aside any party prejudices. With the defeat of
the traders, however, and the apathy of the Co-operators on the other
side of the Border, the agitation died down, and, except as a subject of
academic debate at Congress, nothing further was heard of it for some
years.

RELATIONS WITH MASTER BAKERS.

In the middle of 1896, the Master Bakers’ Association held a meeting to
consider the price of bread. Out of 48 firms represented, 44 voted
against making any reduction in price at the moment, while four were in
favour of a reduction. After the meeting those four firms met and agreed
to reduce the price. They got other three firms to join with them; with
the result that on the morning of 15th June an advertisement appeared in
the Glasgow papers which stated that these seven bakers had reduced the
price of their bread. The committee of the Baking Society met that
evening, and they decided that while the price of flour did not warrant
the reduction, yet, in order that the Federation might maintain its
position it was their unanimous finding that the price should be reduced
by one halfpenny on the four-pound loaf. At the same meeting it was
agreed that, as the sale of “common” bread was very small, the
Federation should cease baking it altogether, and produce only the one
quality of bread in future—“fine.” This decision was adhered to for six
months, at the end of which period it was agreed to begin the baking of
“common” bread again. At a later period this connection with the Master
Bakers’ Association was called in question at a quarterly meeting, and
gave rise to a lengthy discussion. Mr Glasse of the Wholesale board was
the chief critic, and moved that the Federation be not represented at
these meetings in future. Several of the delegates, in supporting this
motion, pointed out that some of the master bakers present at these
meetings of the association were men who had signed an agreement to do
their best to put down Co-operation, and one delegate described the
association as a syndicate, the members of which wished for big profits
and cared for no one but themselves. It was pointed out by the chairman
that this was not a properly-constituted association, but an informal
gathering of people engaged in the same business. The Federation had
been invited to send a representative, and had got some useful
information there, but were not committed in any way. Finally, on being
put to the vote, the motion of Mr Glasse was defeated in favour of an
amendment that the committee act as they had been doing. The question
was one which cropped up periodically at meetings of the Federation, but
always with the same result of leaving the Federation unfettered to do
the best they could in the interest of the concern they were appointed
to manage.

SOME NOTEWORTHY ALTERATIONS.

For several years the rates of interest which had been paid for loans
had been 4½ per cent. for money deposited on twelve months’ notice of
withdrawal and 4 per cent. on money at call, but the rate of interest in
the money market had shown a decided downward tendency for some time,
and towards the end of 1896 the directors recommended that the rates to
be paid by the Federation should be reduced to 3½ per cent. and 3 per
cent., a recommendation which was adopted by the general meeting. At the
same meeting a reform which certain members of the committee and certain
delegates had advocated for some years—the raising of the value of the
share from 10/ to 15/—was at last agreed to. This had the effect of
adding 50 per cent. to the capital of the Society. At the same time the
influx of new societies into the Federation and of new members into the
societies continued at a rapid rate, so that from this source also the
capital of the Society was being increased so rapidly that it was
practically keeping pace with the big capital expenditure necessitated
by the rapid growth of the Society’s business.

In June 1897 Mr Robert Fraser, who had been foreman baker for a number
of years, left the service of the Federation to take up another
situation, and the committee took advantage of the fact to make some
important rearrangements in the management of the bakery. This was done
by dividing the productive work into three sections: bread, biscuits,
and pastry. Mr Murdoch Richard, who had been assistant to Mr Fraser for
several years, was given full charge of the bread department; Mr John
Gilmour was made manager of the machine-made biscuit and oatcake
sections; and Mr William Seivewright was placed in charge of the pastry
and hand-made biscuit section.

In September of the same year Mr Allan Gray, who had been one of the
auditors of the Society for the long period of seventeen years, retired
owing to pressure of other business, and was awarded the hearty thanks
of the delegates for the long and faithful service he had given. Mr
William H. Jack, of St George Society, was elected his successor. At the
general meeting held on 4th December 1897, it was decided that the
Federation join the International Co-operative Alliance. Earlier in the
same year they had taken up 500 shares in the Scottish Co-operative
Laundry Association Ltd., and, owing to their large purvey and tearoom
department, were likely to be one of the largest customers of that
concern. Indeed, so great was their laundry bill that at one time the
directors gave serious consideration to the question of starting a
laundry department of their own, for the girls in the packing and
oatcake flats were supplied with overalls which required laundering
every week. The Federation also adopted the policy of providing the
girls who served in the tearooms with dresses. In the spring of 1898 the
Society became members of the _Scottish Co-operator_ Federation. Owing
to the large proportion of employees, particularly in the stable
department, who were going off ill, a medical man was engaged to call at
the factory regularly and supervise the health of the employees. This
year the Society started the manufacture of plum puddings, and were
making strenuous efforts to develop the pie trade. An expert piemaker
was engaged, the societies were circularised, and a small van and a fast
pony were purchased so as to ensure quick delivery. At the quarterly
meeting held in March 1898, the chairman stated that, owing to the
number of societies which were starting bakeries of their own and were
withdrawing their loan capital from the Federation for this purpose, the
committee had decided not to proceed further with the stores which they
had proposed to erect in the new premises. The work had been stopped
meantime, but it could be proceeded with at any time desired. He also
asked for permission to reopen the private loan fund again, the interest
to be paid being 3½ per cent. at twelve months’ notice and 3 per cent.
at call, and this permission was granted. He explained that they were
not altogether in want of money, but desired to have a little more
liquid capital than they had in hand at the moment. After one or two
questions had been asked, the permission desired was granted.

THE FARMING ASSOCIATION.

When the Scottish Co-operative Farming Association was formed the Baking
Society took a keen interest in it, and for such products as were of use
to it was always a good customer. At a later date in the history of the
association an overdraft of £200 was granted. Unfortunately, from causes
which were fairly obvious, the Association, after some years of fair
success, fell on evil days, and during the period with which this
chapter deals the committee approached the Baking Society to take one of
the farms rented by the Association. The board of the Baking Society
viewed the idea with favour, believing that a farm would be a useful
auxiliary to their distributive department, while it would be to the
advantage of the movement if the Farming Association could be preserved
from collapse; and when the question was brought before the general
meeting of the Society the majority of the delegates were also in favour
of the scheme, and gave full power to the committee to proceed. Thus
armed with full powers the members of the committee were wise enough to
take expert advice before committing themselves definitely, and
delegated two practical farmers to examine the farm and report. The
reports presented by these gentlemen were unanimous, and were to the
effect that the farm was very badly drained and in poor condition; the
rent was too high, and it could not be made to pay either as a cropping
or as a dairy farm. As a result of this report, and in view of the fact
that inside two months the Farming Association went into liquidation, it
was decided to have nothing more to do with the proposal.

The Society had still some further trouble to face in connection with
the Association however. A large quantity of hay had been bought and
paid for, to be delivered as required, but when the liquidators came to
examine the stock on the farm they claimed this hay as part of the
assets of the Association, and a considerable amount of negotiation took
place before the matter was settled. The final result was that, by the
failure of the Association, the Federation lost £346, 14s. 7d.

ACCIDENTS.

Probably it was owing to the much greater number of vehicles now owned
by the Federation, and the much larger number of persons employed, that
the accidents recorded in the period with which we are dealing exceeded
in number all those which have been recorded hitherto. Fortunately, many
of them were not of a serious nature, but during the four years three
fatal accidents took place. In one case a man was knocked down by a van
belonging to the Society and killed, but the police report was to the
effect that no blame attached to the driver of the van. Out of sympathy
with the widow thus suddenly deprived of her breadwinner, however, the
committee gave her a grant of £40. In another case a bricklayer lost his
life, again without blame attaching to the Society, and in this case a
grant of £20 was made to the widow; while the third case was that of a
plumber employed by the Society, who died as the result of an accident
at the bakery. In this case also a grant of £30 was made.

THE OATCAKE DEPARTMENT.

During the period under review an extraordinary development of the
business of the oatcake department took place, and an aggregate addition
of thirty-eight hot-plates for the use of this department alone was
installed between March 1894 and July 1897. The committee did their best
to push the trade, sending circulars and samples of the cakes to
societies in the North of England, with results which were beneficial to
the trade of the department. Later, a traveller was employed on salary
and commission to push the Federation’s goods amongst English societies.
Another branch of the Society’s trade which was making rapid strides
every year was that of New Year cakes. In 1896 18,870 five-pound cakes
sold at the cake show, and in the following year the number rose to
25,000.

ADVERTISING AND ENTERTAINING.

The directors early recognised the value of a social meeting as a means
of advertising the Society and its goods, and in December 1894 a large
number of the ladies of the movement were invited to inspect the
premises of the Society and were afterwards entertained to tea. From
that time it became a practice of the Federation to entertain branches
of the women’s guild, conference associations, etc., while they were
generous in grants of bread to persons who were suffering from the
effects of unemployment, whether caused by dullness in trade or strikes.
During the winters of 1892–3 and 1893–4 large quantities of bread were
distributed to those in want from the former cause, while during the
continuance of the miners’ strike and the engineers’ strike further
quantities were distributed and, in addition, a grant of £100 was made
to the strike fund of the engineers. In 1895 an incident took place
which at one time seemed likely to lead to friction between the two big
Scottish federations. The Wholesale Society brought before its members a
proposal to start a biscuit factory in Leith, with the result that the
committee of the Baking Society sent out a circular to all the societies
in the larger federation, protesting against the proposal as one which
would set up competition between the two federations, and pointing out
that it was in a position to meet all the needs of the societies in
biscuits. Fortunately, the proposal went no further, and thus what would
have been a bone of contention between the societies disappeared.

The Society also took advantage of every opportunity to bring the goods
manufactured under the notice not only of Co-operators but of the
general public. Beginning with the Congress exhibition in 1890, it
continued to exhibit on every available opportunity. The Co-operative
festivals which began to be organised provided suitable opportunities
and, in order that the goods might be displayed as effectively as
possible, a new showcase was procured from the Wholesale Society’s
cabinetmaking department, at a cost of £200. In 1895 it was decided to
issue a “Year Book” instead of the usual calendar. This “Year Book,”
which was compiled by Mr Lochrie, of the _Scottish Co-operator_,
contained 231 pages, including advertisements and a street map of
Glasgow, in which was shown the premises of the Wholesale Society and
the Baking Society, as well as the tearooms of the latter Society. The
principal feature of the book was a concise little history of the Baking
Society to the date of its issue. In the following year Mr James
Campsie, M.A., was commissioned to write a co-operative book for
children, with the title “Glimpses of Co-operative Land,” of which over
20,000 copies were issued. At the opening of the extension of the bakery
in 1897, in addition to the souvenir brooches which were issued to the
lady delegates, similar brooches were presented to the lady employees of
the Society, a kindly and thoughtful act which doubtless had its effect
in cementing the good relationship existing between them and the
directors. Amongst other visitors who were shown over the premises of
the Society from time to time special mention is made in the minutes of
a visit which was paid by the senior pupils from four Glasgow schools,
accompanied by their teachers, who were escorted through the various
departments and afterwards entertained to tea.

DONATIONS.

In the early days of the Society the directors were very careful of the
money of which they were the trustees, although, even then, after the
first few quarters had passed, donations, amounting at first only to £5
a quarter, but gradually increasing in amount as the Society increased
in wealth, were given to various public philanthropic institutions, of
which the infirmaries were the principal recipients. Now these donations
had increased to £175 a year, while, in addition, during the period
under review £50 had been granted to the Co-operative Festival Fund;
three donations, amounting in the aggregate to £550, had been given to
the building fund of the Co-operative Convalescent Homes Association;
£50 was given to the Perth Congress Reception Fund; £100 to the
Engineers’ Strike Fund; £25 to the Cowdenbeath Society Fund; £100 in
commemoration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee to the Royal
Infirmary; two sums of £15 and £25 to the Municipal Election Fund of the
Defence Committee; and £100 to the Indian Famine Fund; while £500 were
guaranteed to the 1901 Glasgow Industrial Exhibition.

A WORKS DEPARTMENT.

With the beginning of the period the Federation’s works department may
be said to have been fairly launched. The first extension of the biscuit
factory had been carried out under the Society’s own auspices, and the
foreman who had charge of that work was retained in the employment of
the Society for repair work when the biscuit factory was finished. Then
a blacksmith’s shop, which was a part of the buildings purchased by the
Society in South York Street, was taken over by the Society, and a
blacksmith was engaged; to be followed shortly afterwards by a plumber
and a painter. The first job of any size to be tackled by the Society’s
own building department, however, was the extension at the corner of
Govan Street and South York Street. This job set the building department
on its feet, for the total cost when finished was £29,000. From that
time practically all the building work of the Society has been done by
its own building department. At about the same time as the building
department commenced a van building section also began work, and the
first van was turned out complete in the middle of April 1896. So great
was the demand for new vans, however, that for a time it could hardly be
met. To some extent the boycott accounted for this, for the terrorism
exercised by the traders’ organisation extended to the van building
firms as well as to others, and eventually all the work of this
department was done either by the Federation’s own department or by that
of the Wholesale Society.

A FOUR YEARS’ RECORD.

Before closing this chapter it may be well if we take a look at what had
been accomplished during the four years with which it deals. At the
close of the twenty-fifth year the Society was baking 1,254 sacks per
week, while the turnover for the 117th quarter was 32,987 sacks, or
2,537 sacks per week; so that, in four years and a quarter, the trade
had more than doubled. The output of the biscuit factory had been
doubled; the output of the oatcake department had been increased
manyfold, and notwithstanding the fact that several societies which were
taking all their bread from the Federation at the beginning of the
period had started baking for themselves before its end, the output in
the bread baking department had come within a few sacks per week of
doubling. An addition to the bakery had been erected at a cost of
£29,000; new stables and workshops were in course of erection and
nearing completion; the purveying department and tearooms had been
greatly extended; a branch had been opened in Leith, for which extended
accommodation had already to be secured, and a footing for the
productions of the Society had been found South of the Border. The
Federation had stood the test of the most virulent attacks which all the
malice of enemies could devise, and, like the whole movement, had
emerged stronger than before; while last, but by no means least, an
educational fund had been started and an educational committee
established. These four years show a record of growth and expansion
which was phenomenal, and completely dwarfed all that had been done
before. It lay with the period which followed to show that, rapid though
it was, there was nothing which was mushroomlike in this growth.

CHAPTER XII.
CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT.

PROPAGANDA IN IRELAND—MR M‘CULLOCH READS A PAPER—SEEKING TRADE IN
ENGLAND—C.W.S. OBJECTIONS—THE SOCIETY AND ITS EMPLOYEES—A GENERAL
MANAGER—THE TEAROOMS—THE DELIVERY QUESTION—GLASGOW
EXHIBITION—IRISH VISITORS—EXTENSIONS—A PROVIDENT FUND
DISCUSSED—STABLE INSPECTOR RESIGNS: POSITION ABOLISHED—IMPROVING
FINANCIAL POSITION.

The development, which had been so marked a feature of the Society’s
business ever since the removal from St James Street to M‘Neil Street,
continued during the next four years, if not with such markedly rapid
progress as during those which have just been reviewed, at least at a
rate which must have proved eminently satisfactory to directors and
shareholders alike. One of the results of the slight slackening down of
the rate of growth was that the directors had more time to devote to the
thorough reorganisation of the business and to bringing all the
knowledge and experience which they had gained to bear on its extension.
They were not unmindful of the need for extension and reorganisation at
the bakery itself, and this work received a good deal of attention
during the period, but they also kept in view the desirability of
bringing in new trade from every quarter where it could be procured, and
so we find strenuous efforts being made to develop connections in
England and Ireland, as well as to widen the scope of their operations
in Scotland.

PROPAGANDA IN IRELAND.

The first attempt to do business with Irish societies was made in the
summer of 1898, when Mr Petrie, traveller, and Mr Hamilton, director,
visited a number of societies in the North, with the object of inducing
them to do business with the Baking Society. This visit proved to be an
eminently satisfactory one. Several good orders were secured, and at the
Irish Conference, which had been attended by Mr Hamilton, it had been
agreed that the president of the Baking Society should be invited to
read a paper on “Federated Baking Societies” to a later conference. This
conference took place on the 27th of August, when, in addition to Mr
M‘Culloch, Mr Deans of the Scottish Section was present, and, at the
request of the delegates, gave a report of the position of the boycott
in Scotland. In the course of his report, Mr Deans pointed out that Mr
Robert Walker, the organising secretary of the Traders’ Defence
Association, had already turned his attention to Ireland, and had held
in Belfast a preliminary meeting with the merchants of that city. He had
received an invitation to address a larger meeting at an early date, but
Mr Deans expressed his confidence that, if an attempt was made to
introduce the boycott there, the Co-operators of the North of Ireland
would know how to deal with the situation.

The address of Mr M‘Culloch was published in full in the local
_Wheatsheaf_ of the Lisburn Society, and from that report it appears
that he began his address by quoting from Ben Jones: “If Co-operation is
to be as rich in benefits to working people as its advocates have always
expected it to be, it must be successfully and universally applied to
the production and manufacture of all the commodities that are used or
consumed by the human race.” With this as his text he proceeded to
develop his theme by pointing out that bread was the safest and best
commodity with which to begin production, for it was the most important
of all commodities. In times of dull trade they could do without
everything which might be considered a luxury, but they could not do
without bread. “The question which was before the conference that day,”
he proceeded—“Is it possible or is it desirable to have a Federated or
United Bakery?”—depended so much on local circumstances that he was sure
they would not expect him to give a definite answer, and what he
proposed to do was to tell them what had been done in Scotland. After
describing the progress of the U.C.B.S. from its inception, he examined
the position in the North of Ireland. There, there were five
societies—Belfast, Lisburn, Portadown, Cullybackey, and Londonderry—with
an approximate membership of 919 and a trade of £5,930 a quarter. Of
these societies Londonderry was 101 miles distant, and it might be
better at present not to consider that society, but, if they took the
other four, they found an approximate trade in bread and smalls of £720
a quarter. This represented a trade of 20 sacks per week to start with.
Their distributive expenses, if they decided to start, would be greater
because some of their trade would be 7, 25, and 32 miles away; but on
the other hand the possibilities of Belfast itself were so great that he
thought they need have no difficulty in answering in the affirmative the
question which they were considering, and saying that a Federated Bakery
was both possible and desirable. Continuing, he said that if they
decided to begin he would advise them to lease a small bakery with two
ovens or more. They would thus require so much the less capital, and
would gain time to acquire experience and confidence in themselves, and
to inspire their members with the necessary confidence to invest their
capital. If, on the other hand, they could not get a bakehouse, or
preferred to build, he had prepared a plan for a bakehouse with two
ovens, a barm cellar, flour store, stable, and van shed, which would
cost approximately £600.

After some more practical hints had been given by Mr M‘Culloch, the
paper was thoroughly discussed, and the conference committee recommended
that the paper should be read and discussed at a general meeting of each
of the societies. This paper is of very considerable interest in a
history of the United Co-operative Baking Society, for it may be claimed
for it that it was the foundation of that bond of unity between the
Co-operators of the North of Ireland and the U.C.B.S., of which the
magnificent building at Ravenhill Avenue is the outward and visible
token.

Meantime Londonderry Society had become a member of the Baking Society a
week or two before this conference was held, and was followed a little
later by Lisburn Society. Belfast Society did not join up until the end
of 1900, and was followed by Armagh in June 1901.

SEEKING TRADE IN ENGLAND.

The work in England proceeded on somewhat different lines. There the
Society worked on the plan of appointing travellers on commission. These
activities of the Society, however, were not viewed with favour by the
C.W.S. directors, and in May 1899 a meeting of representatives of the
two boards took place, at which the situation was discussed. The English
Society complained of the action of the Baking Society in putting
travellers on the road, and stated that from the report of the quarterly
meeting which had appeared in the _Co-operative News_ they had learned
that it was the intention of the Baking Society to alter their rules so
as to permit of the admission of English societies to the Federation.
They contended that hitherto there had been a clear line of demarcation,
and they regretted that the Baking Federation now saw fit to overstep
this. In reply the representatives of the U.C.B.S. stated that they were
not going into England for the purpose of competing with the C.W.S., but
with the object of getting the Scottish trade there which was going past
the movement at present, and they stated that if the C.W.S. had
consented to become agents for the Baking Society when the last
interview took place the present difficulty would not have arisen. The
Baking Society representatives were pressed to withdraw their traveller,
and, although they would not consent to do this, they promised that
before any English society was admitted a member of the Baking
Federation, the Wholesale Society would be acquainted with the fact.

Again in September of the same year a request that the Baking Society’s
travellers should be withdrawn from England was received from the
Wholesale Society, but this the directors refused to do. Instead of
withdrawing, two additional representatives were appointed in the
following year, and, some time later, Mr Forshaw, the Society’s
traveller in the East of Scotland, was sent on a visit to
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Gateshead, which resulted in good orders being
received and shortly afterwards in Newcastle-on-Tyne Society joining the
Federation. At the quarterly meeting, which was held on 2nd September
1899, the rules of the Federation were altered to permit societies which
were not customers for loaf bread to become members on taking out not
less than fifty shares in the Federation, and at the same meeting it was
agreed to raise the value of the shares from 15/ to 20/ each. The date
of the quarterly meetings was altered from the first Saturday to the
third Saturday of the month, and the basis of membership was altered so
that, instead of a second delegate being allotted for £160 of purchases,
the purchases of the largest society, divided by fifty, formed the basis
of representation. It was also agreed that in future the balance-sheet
be issued half-yearly instead of quarterly.

THE SOCIETY AND ITS EMPLOYEES.

Hitherto the relations of the Society with its employees had been
cordial, but with the growth of the Operative Bakers’ Trade Union
restrictions began to be applied which sometimes worked a little
unfairly against the Society, particularly in its competition with firms
in which the bakers were not well organised. The directors always came
to an amicable arrangement with the Union, however. A rather remarkable
decision by the Union is referred to in the minute of 19th August 1898,
which states that “A deputation from the Bakers’ Union had waited on us
anent our foreman having suspended thirty men for two half-days. This
had been done owing to our stock accumulating, and this was explained to
the deputation, who stated that the Union preferred the dismissal of men
and jobbers taken on when required.” The minute proceeds, “Although this
was much against the wish of the committee, they had no alternative but
to dismiss eight men from the smallbread department.” The question was
raised at the next quarterly meeting, and the chairman somewhat
amplified the statement contained in the minute by stating that the
difficulty had been with the biscuit bakers. At that season of the year,
the trade in hand-made biscuits went down owing to the holiday season,
and as it was not desirable that these biscuits should be kept too long
in stock the foreman had suspended the men for two afternoons. The usual
procedure was to do the pastry in the mornings and the biscuits in the
afternoons, and the foreman thought it better to suspend the men than to
do without the services of any of them. The Union pointed out that their
great difficulty was to prevent this practice creeping in all over the
city, as it might become a serious thing for the men. The sub-committee
had a meeting with the men, and a vote was taken on whether they
preferred to be suspended or that some of their number should be
dismissed, when, by a very large majority, they voted in favour of
suspension. The following week, however, they held another meeting under
the auspices of their Union, at which they reversed their former
decision, and intimated that they were now unanimously in favour of
dismissal, so that the committee had no alternative but to agree and
engage “jobbers,” although this meant increasing this class of worker.

At this time there was also some friction amongst the workers in the
oatcake factory. When the oatcake factory was started, the women engaged
mixed their own meal, but, later, with the object of introducing
machinery into this section of the factory, a man was put in to do the
mixing, as an experiment. The man was mixing for twenty-four women, who
had only to do their own cutting and firing. The chairman explained
that, as the result of a week’s experiment, the foreman had fixed the
number of parcels to be baked by these women at nineteen, which was the
average of the numbers produced by all these women. All the women said
the mixing of the dough was the heaviest part of the work, and the
result was that those who were getting their dough mixed for them were
finished before those who had to do their own mixing, and, in addition,
with the new arrangement, the dough was more evenly mixed. The subject
was not pursued further at that meeting, but from what took place at the
following meeting, it seemed that it had been much canvassed in the
interval, especially in Kinning Park Society. According to the chairman,

[2]“There had been some discontent after the last general meeting,
and they were just getting over it when certain statements were made
in Kinning Park Society which again caused discontent amongst the
girls. Previous to this question being raised, the girls were doing
all that was asked of them without complaint. The system was an
experiment, and would have been past that stage now had the question
not been raised. It was the intention of the committee to consider
the girls’ wages in event of the trial being successful, but even
that had been prevented now. As a result of the discussion, the work
was not being done. The Society was not getting one third of the
work which was being got by other bakers in this department. It had
been stated also that the department was in an insanitary condition,
and the gentleman who made the statement confessed that he had done
so simply from report. It had been said that the girls were being
slowly poisoned. The books of the Society, however, showed that that
was not so, but that the average sickness here was not half of other
departments where extreme heat had not to be contended with.”

Footnote 2:

_Co-operative News_, 10th December 1898.

After some discussion and an expression of opinion that the chairman had
vindicated the position of the board, the subject was again dropped. At
a later period it was stated that the arrangement referred to had proved
so satisfactory that the wages of the girls were increased by 1/ per
week.

At this meeting the appointment and wages of the engineer were discussed
at some length, and it was suggested that the wages which were being
paid to him were not enough for the job, but it was explained by the
chairman that his wages would be raised after he had proved his
capacity.

A GENERAL MANAGER.

The directors were gradually coming to the opinion that it was not
possible for them to keep in that close touch with the work of all the
various departments in their spare time which was necessary, and had
discussed the subject on several occasions. The result was that a
definite motion “to appoint a general manager” was tabled and was
discussed on two or three occasions, after which a special committee was
appointed to go into the whole question of the management of the
Federation. When this special committee brought in their report, it was
adopted in principle in the somewhat vague form, “that someone be
appointed to represent the committee during working hours.” Naturally,
this gave rise to several questions at the following general meeting of
the Society, but no definite expression of opinion for or against was
forthcoming from the meeting, so that the committee were left to pursue
their own way unfettered. This they did at a later meeting by
advertising for a general manager, who should be possessed of a good,
general knowledge of business, and be in sympathy with the movement. As
to his duties, it was agreed that all goods should be purchased by the
committee through him, and invoiced to one centre, and that he should
conduct all correspondence and see that the instructions of the
committee were carried out, as well as maintaining discipline,
regularity, and good order. Mr James Bain, secretary, and Mr James
Young, director, were amongst the applicants for the position, and,
perhaps for that reason, it was decided to take a ballot vote on the
seven candidates who had been interviewed. The result was that Mr Young
was appointed, and it was agreed that he take up his duties on 29th May
1899.

THE TEAROOMS.

The tearoom adventure was proving only moderately successful, and, in
reply to a question, the chairman admitted at one meeting that the
profit shown on the balance-sheet had all been made by the purvey
department. At another meeting, he stated in reply to a question about
electricity that at M‘Neil Street, where they generated their own
current, they found electric lighting to be cheaper than gas, but where
they had to take their supplies from the Corporation it was more costly,
his reply being—“In West Nile Street, where we get our supply from the
Corporation, it is nearly killing the place.” The organ of the Traders’
Association made great fun of this remark, stating that “the tearooms in
West Nile Street must be in a perilous condition when the difference in
the cost of gas and electricity is nearly killing the business”; and
went on to point out that “tearooms must have a practical proprietor.”
“Here, then, is an excellent example of the fact that where overcharges
cannot be made on the goods sold, Co-operation cannot prosper.”
Doubtless the _Commercial Record_ man was entitled to his little
chuckle, but his premises being faulty, his conclusions were equally
faulty. There were other factors than overcharges which entered into the
failure of the U.C.B.S. to make a commercial success of their tearoom
business, and led to its being finally abandoned. It is probable that
the West Nile Street place was too large and too heavily rented to
permit any firm, however experienced, to make tearooms a success in a
back street. Then, the people who acquire the tearoom habit are business
people, and are therefore not too friendly disposed to any Co-operative
enterprise and, having a very wide choice of such establishments, their
prejudices took them elsewhere. That Co-operative tearooms can be made a
success, even in Glasgow, the Drapery and Furnishing Society has proved,
but it is questionable whether Co-operative tearooms anywhere, which are
not conducted as an adjunct to other businesses, and very near to
central drapery or similar premises, have ever proved successful, and
there is no place in Great Britain where the ordinary tearoom is so good
as in Glasgow, and, therefore, where a Co-operative tearoom which is
called to stand on its own legs, so to speak, has such strenuous
competition to face.

In August 1899 Mr Robert Watson resigned to take over the management of
the S.C.W.S. dining and purvey department, and a Mr J. M. Picken was
appointed his successor. The management of the purvey and tearoom
departments were also separated. Mr Picken did not prove a success,
however, and was succeeded by Mr Thomson. At the end of the lease, the
Society decided to give up the Main Street purveying branch, but to keep
on the tearooms. At several general meetings suggestions had been made
that the Society should open tearooms of a cheaper class, to suit the
pockets of the workers, and the committee made some inquiries about this
but found that the rents in the city were very high. A place in
Clydebank was considered but abandoned owing to the lack of
accommodation, and also because of opposition to the project from the
committee of Clydebank Society. It was decided finally to fit up the
Main Street shop for this purpose, but, after a short trial, the tearoom
there was given up.

THE DELIVERY QUESTION.

For some unexplained reason the people of Glasgow and district have
always been particularly addicted to the consumption of new bread. Time
after time efforts have been made to wean them from this
indigestion-producing habit, but all in vain until the Great War came
and with it a shortage of grain, necessitating the husbanding of the
nation’s bread supplies. Then, without any fuss, with scarcely a murmur
even, the people submitted for two years to a restriction which
prohibited the sale of bread until it had been out of the ovens for a
period of at least twelve hours. This demand for new bread had always
been a source of worry to the Baking Society. There was, on the one
hand, the restrictions imposed by the Operatives’ Union as to the hour
of commencing work, which regulated the hour at which the bread came out
of the ovens; on the other hand, there was the demand of the members of
local societies for new bread at an early hour and, as a consequence,
the demands by the societies for early delivery of bread. These demands
for early delivery the Society was only able partially to meet; and the
distance of some of the shops from the centre made it quite impossible
that they should be supplied with bread which was steaming hot from the
oven. Hence, week after week, the committee had to deal with complaints
about lateness of delivery. Time after time the chairman appealed to
societies at the quarterly meetings to be less insistent in their
demands for hot bread, but without avail, for no sooner did one society
respond for a little to these appeals than others began to demand that
they get the bread hot and early.

At length, toward the end of 1898, the subject was taken up by the
Convention of City Societies, and the Baking Society’s board being only
too willing to render all the assistance in their power, a
representative meeting was held in the Union Hall, West Nile Street, at
which Mr James Bain, secretary of the U.C.B.S., read a paper. Mr Bain
entitled his paper “Our Bread Delivery,” and dealt at length with the
craze for new bread and the difficulties which it imposed on bakers and
baking firms. He began by describing the evil conditions which it had
introduced into the baking trade, the principal of which was probably
the “jobber,” or half-day man. Alluding to a correspondence which had
been going on in a Glasgow paper for some time, he said that they, in
M‘Neil Street, could not describe the jobbers as anything but clean,
respectable, intelligent tradesmen, the majority of whom were only
waiting until a regular opening occurred for them. Under a more humane
system, however, they could all be dispensed with, and all the men
required could be employed regularly. Mr Bain pointed out that the
limited time between the hour when the bakers started work and that at
which societies demanded that they should have their bread delivered was
too short to allow the bread to be thoroughly and carefully prepared.
The rush did not allow the bread room workers the time necessary to pack
the vans carefully, so that it frequently happened that the bread was
crushed and bruised into shapes it was never intended to assume. The
demand for new bread also entailed great hardships on the bakers because
of the early hour at which they had to begin work, and he was convinced,
he said, that bread baked in the morning and delivered in the afternoon,
and bread baked in the afternoon and delivered next morning, would be
healthier and more suitable for use. All the medical opinion was against
the use of new bread; certain chemical changes took place in the bread
after it was baked and before it was fit for consumption, and some hours
were necessary to permit these changes to take place. He suggested, as a
remedy, that the Co-operative societies should lead the way in fostering
a demand for stale bread, and that the bakers, through their Union,
should assist in educating the general public into a more rational
system.

Commenting on this subject, the _Scottish Co-operator_ said:—

“It is the duty of co-operators to make arrangements which will
allow those who produce the bread to work under conditions which
will allow them to live more enjoyable lives than they do at
present. There are no reasons why they should not begin work at 6
a.m., and the first delivery of bread might be made by 11 o’clock,
while that baked in the afternoon could be kept until next morning,
and delivered as soon as the stores are open. All that is required
to make this possible is a little rational co-operation between the
Baking Society, the distributive societies, the salesmen, and the
members.”

Unfortunately, this rational co-operation was not forthcoming; the
practice continued, and it required a world war, which accustomed the
people to many other and greater inconveniences, to bring about a reform
which practically everyone believes to be desirable.

GLASGOW EXHIBITION.

The Society had guaranteed £500 towards the expenses of the Glasgow
Industrial Exhibition, and the directors were desirous of taking every
advantage of the Exhibition as an advertising medium. At first it was
proposed that there should be a joint Co-operative stall, in which the
two Wholesale societies, the Paisley Manufacturing Society, and the
Baking Society should take part. The S.C.W.S. had been trying to obtain
a plot of ground, and had succeeded, on the understanding that they
should pay £2,000 of the cost, and the U.C.B.S. £1,300, but this
arrangement was departed from, on the ground, as stated in the Baking
Society’s minutes, that neither the English Wholesale Society nor the
Paisley Manufacturing Society were taking part. The Baking Society then
decided to proceed themselves and, after having made arrangements with
two bakery machinery manufacturing firms, they made an offer for the
right to erect a model bakery in the Exhibition. This offer was not
accepted, however, although it was considerably higher than the offer
which was finally accepted, the reason given being that the exhibit
offered by the Baking Society was not likely to be so interesting as
that of either of the two other firms which offered. The affair caused a
considerable amount of discussion at the time, and the opinion was
freely expressed that, while no doubt could be cast on the good faith of
the Exhibition committee themselves, they had been misled by the experts
whom they had consulted, and that the most interesting of the proposed
exhibits, as well as the one which would have paid the Exhibition
committee best to accept, was that of the Baking Society. However, if
they were unable to exhibit a model bakery in full working order, and
including a biscuit oven as well as bread making, they were able to
secure a stance where they were able to make a display of goods which
attracted much attention.

Among other methods which they adopted to advertise their goods and to
keep the salesmen of the societies in touch with new departments and new
goods, was a monthly letter, which they issued to salesmen, in which
attention was called to anything which was new. During this period,
also, they began to pack their biscuits in fancy, enamelled tins, and
these had a great sale. The cake shows also were proving of great value
in increasing the trade in this Christmas luxury; each year’s show
meaning a big increase in sales; that for 1901 showing an increase of
6,255 large cakes and of 629 dozens of small cakes over the sales of the
preceding season.

In the autumn of 1901 the delegates to the Irish Conference Association
were the guests of the Federation in Glasgow, which provided them with
lodgings and took them for visits to Shieldhall, the Bakery, and the
Municipal Buildings, as well as for a drive round the principal places
of interest in the city. In 1901 the Society won first prize for
oatcakes at the Bakers’ Exhibition held in the Agricultural Hall,
London. Earlier, too, as a result of a discussion which had taken place
at a meeting of Glasgow Town Council, the committee sent one of their
loaves to the City Analyst to be analysed. The analyst’s report was to
the effect that the loaf had been weighed before being analysed; and he
stated:—“We are of opinion that this is a loaf of the best quality. It
contains an extra large proportion of albuminous compound and the
minimum of water.”

At the beginning of 1902 the directors agreed to furnish one of the
bedrooms at Seamill Home, while another was furnished by the heads of
departments, and, at the quarterly meeting immediately following, the
delegates voted £500 as a donation towards the building fund for the
Inland Home at Galashiels. Other donations were:—£20 to the Gladstone
Memorial, £50 to the Festival Fund, £40 to the Indian Famine Fund, £50
to the Lord Provost of Glasgow’s Special War Relief Fund, £25 to the
Owen Memorial Fund, £500 to the Glasgow Technical College Fund, and £20
to the Thomas Slater Testimonial, as well as smaller sums to many other
deserving objects.

EXTENSIONS.

During this period the extensions were neither so numerous nor so
extensive as in that which immediately preceded it, for the increase in
trade did not continue at a rate quite so rapid, but, nevertheless,
several rather important extensions were made. Entry into the workshops,
which were in course of completion in the summer of 1898, was secured in
the autumn of that year, and to the new stables shortly afterwards, and
about that time it was agreed to extend the biscuit factory and to
utilise the old stable building, after reconstruction, as a biscuit
warehouse and packing department. A considerable number of new machines
were also purchased, these including fourteen or fifteen
“dough-dividers” of a new pattern, manufactured by Werner, Pfleiderer &
Perkins Ltd., at a cost of over £200 each, and a machine for the
manufacture of sugar wafers. Three new travelling ovens were also
procured for the biscuit factory. At the June 1899 quarterly meeting
power was given to complete the South York Street building, operations
on which had been suspended for nearly two years. At a later period it
was agreed to roof in the north end of the courtyard and build a new
reel oven there. It was also decided to increase the accommodation for
the oatcake factory, so that the number of hot-plates might be increased
from 80 to 140.

A proposal which occasioned some discussion at one or two of the general
meetings of the Society was that of the directors to begin a provident
fund for the employees. A number of employees had a sick benefit fund of
their own, but it was proving inadequate to meet the demands on it, and
those in charge approached the directors for assistance. This was
granted, but, as the directors recognised that unless it was placed on a
more or less compulsory basis it was not likely to secure the necessary
stability, they had several consultations with representatives of the
employees, and then took a ballot vote of the whole of the employees on
the proposals which were submitted to them. This vote showed a majority
of three to one of the employees in favour of the scheme, which was then
brought before the delegates for their consideration and approval.
Permission to hold a special meeting of the Society for the purpose of
altering the rules to permit of a provident fund for the employees being
established was granted, but at the special meeting the vote for the
alteration of the rules was one less than the number necessary to give
the requisite two-thirds majority, and so the proposal was defeated for
the time being.

In the autumn of 1898 Mr Ballantyne resigned from his position of stable
inspector, after having acted in that capacity for the long period of 28
years. At the quarterly meeting he was thanked for the long service he
had given to the Society. The committee decided that the office should
be abolished. Just at the end of this period it was decided to open a
distributive depot in Falkirk, for the purpose of supplying the
societies in that district. It was reported to the committee that there
were altogether nineteen societies within a radius of twelve miles
having 38 shops, which were purchasing over 500 tins of biscuits and
5,000 lbs. of oatcakes weekly. The new system was going to be more
costly at the beginning, but the committee were under the impression
that the trade would so increase under the new system that it would more
than compensate for the additional cost.

At the end of 1901 the value of the Society’s property, including land,
buildings, and fixtures, was £145,450, while the share capital, reserve,
and insurance funds amounted to £102,441. Thus 70·5 per cent. of the
total value of the buildings was covered. At the end of 1889, only 23
per cent. of the value had been so covered, and, notwithstanding the
great increase in the value of the properties which had taken place
since that time, the capital, reserve, and insurance funds had increased
so much more rapidly that this very desirable result had been achieved
in twelve years. The trade had grown very rapidly also in the same
period, and, just at the close of the period, permission was granted to
the directors to hold a demonstration for the purpose of celebrating a
turnover of 3,000 sacks per week.

CHAPTER XIII.
CLYDEBANK BRANCH.

PRELIMINARY NEGOTIATIONS—THE BRANCH DECIDED ON—THE HUNT FOR A SITE—THE
BUILDING ERECTED—INCREASING TRADE—FURTHER EXTENSIONS—A DISASTROUS
FIRE—THE PREMISES REBUILT—A BAD SMASH—PRIZE WINNERS—GOVERNMENT
CONTRACTS.

The time was now fast approaching when the committee were to be called
on once again to consider the question of branching out. For some time
the members of Clydebank Society had been a little restive. They
demanded new bread, and they demanded that they should have it early in
the day. This demand the directors were finding it difficult to meet,
for the campaign in favour of stale bread, with a later start in the
mornings for the bakers and a reasonable working day, had not borne much
fruit. At length, towards the end of 1900, a request for a deputation
from the Baking Society’s board was received from Clydebank directors.
This deputation on their return reported that they had been informed
that there had been an agitation among the members of Clydebank Society
for a bakery of their own, and before they would do anything the
committee of the society had wished to consult with the directors of the
U.C.B.S. as to what the Federation was prepared to do. The deputation
suggested that if the Clydebank directors would undertake to recommend
to their members the erection by the U.C.B.S. of a branch bakery, they
on the other hand would make the same recommendation to the delegates at
the quarterly meeting. As Clydebank committee were divided in opinion on
the matter, however, it was decided that the question should be delayed
until further developments took place.

It was not until ten months after the events recorded above that
anything further was heard of the proposal to erect a branch at
Clydebank, and then it came in the form of information that the society
had agreed to erect a bakery for themselves. The directors of the Baking
Society decided to send a letter expressing surprise that they had not
been informed of what was proposed before the decision was arrived at.
To this the Clydebank people replied that they would be willing to
discuss the matter still; and another deputation was appointed to meet
with them. In giving instructions to their deputation, the directors of
the Baking Society decided to offer that, if the Clydebank Society
delayed taking action, they would recommend to the first quarterly
meeting of the Baking Society the erection of a branch to meet the needs
of the Clydebank district. The result of this meeting was that a special
meeting of the members of Clydebank Society was called, at which
representatives of the Baking Society were invited to be present. The
minutes are silent as to what transpired at this meeting, but, from the
fact that at the quarterly meeting of the Baking Society the directors
came forward with a recommendation that a branch be established in
Clydebank, it is evident that the meeting had been of a friendly nature.
The chairman, in supporting the proposal at the quarterly meeting,
stated that the delivery of bread, which had much to do with the
question being raised, had greatly improved in the interval; but as the
question had again been brought up in Clydebank, the committee had
considered the whole matter, and were of opinion that no further
extension should be made at M‘Neil Street in the meantime.

Delegates from Kinning Park and Cowlairs moved delay, and the
consideration of the question was put back for three months. At the next
quarterly meeting, however, the chairman stated that the reasons which
he had given at last meeting for the step which the board advocated had
become more forcible in the interval. The trade of the Federation was
growing so rapidly that if the delegates did not agree to this proposal
something else would have to be done to lessen the congestion at M‘Neil
Street. On the recommendation being put to the vote, it was carried by a
large majority.

Some little time elapsed, however, before suitable ground was procured
and the plans approved, and it was not until the end of August that
operations really commenced. Land was feued between Yoker and Clydebank
at John Knox Street and abutting on the North British Railway, and here
a large building consisting of three storeys and attics was erected,
having accommodation on two floors for thirty-two large draw-plate
ovens. The upper floors were to be utilised as flour stores, and a large
sifting and blending plant was erected. Ample lavatory and bath
accommodation was provided for the workers, and arrangements were made
at the back of the building whereby the railway wagons ran underneath a
wing of the building, allowing the flour to be lifted direct from the
wagons to the store. Ample stabling and van accommodation was provided
at the end of the building, and the precaution was taken to secure
sufficient land to render any future extensions easy. The interior walls
were lined throughout with white glazed brick, and everything that skill
could devise was done to make the new building a model bakery. The total
cost of the new building and equipment was about £17,000, and all the
work of erection was carried out by the Society’s own workmen, while the
Society could congratulate itself on the fact that no accident of any
sort involving danger to life or limb took place during its erection.

Only eight ovens were erected at first, as it was thought that the
production from these would meet the requirements of the societies in
the district. Since then, however, further extensions have taken place.
The first eight ovens erected were gas fired, but at the June 1904
quarterly meeting the directors in their report had to admit that the
results had not been what were expected, and it was possible that some
change might have to be made. The draw-plate ovens would be a distinct
improvement if they could be made as steady and reliable as were the
Scotch ovens, and Scottish engineers were directing their attention to
this, the report stated. The difficulty with one section of the ovens
continued, however, and before long it was decided to abandon gas-firing
and fire by coke.

[Illustration:

EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE

1. JOHN SIMPSON.
2. ALEXANDER BUCHANAN.
3. JOHN B. WALKER.
4. JOHN TOWART, Secretary.
5. JOHN YOUNG, Chairman.
6. JAMES H. FORSYTH, Treasurer.
7. JOHN URQUHART.
8. MARY KENNEDY.
9. HUGH MURDOCH.
]

[Illustration:

PRIZE SILVER BAND

H. A. MELLOR, Bandmaster. WILLIAM MILLER, President. JAMES THOMSON,
Secretary.
]

INCREASING TRADE.

It was not long before the manager was again reporting to the committee
that the premises at M‘Neil Street were being congested, and intimating
that they would require to consider the building of additional ovens at
Clydebank or else the opening of a branch in the east. The result was
that four additional ovens were built on a plan devised by the engineer
and foreman baker, and called the “Scott-Richard” oven. By the 140th
quarter the branch was in full working order, and the number of sacks
baked that quarter was 2,502. The output of the branch continued to
increase, and by the 148th quarter had risen to an average of 352 sacks
per week. So rapidly had the sales of the branch grown that less than
eighteen months after it was opened the directors found it necessary to
add other three ovens, bringing the total up to fifteen. These also were
of the Scott-Richard type.

By the beginning of 1906 the congestion at Clydebank and at M‘Neil
Street had become so great that it was decided to proceed with the
completion of the Clydebank premises at a cost of £10,000. This
extension provided for the erection of sixteen new ovens, thus
practically completing the productive capacity of the building. The
extension was completed in June 1907, and the June quarterly meeting was
held in one of the flats there. Amongst other innovations introduced
during the completion of this extension was a large water-storage tank
of capacity sufficient to provide a day’s supply of water in event of
any breakdown in the public water supply. Provision was also made for
electric power and light, and two electric lifts were installed.

At the meeting the chairman, Mr D. H. Gerrard, said the branch was up to
date in every respect, and could be characterised as a modern bakery in
every sense of these words, equipped with the latest and most improved
means of production. It was an institution of which they need not be
ashamed—indeed, he would say rather it was an institution of which they
might be justifiably proud that they were the owners. They were exhorted
in the Old Book that they should forget the things that were behind and
press onward to the things that were before. In a general sense that
advice was pretty good, especially when looking back might have a
depressing effect on one’s spirits; but it might be helpful to take a
retrospect of the past and look for a short time on the day of small
things: the days of their weakness, and ponder over them. After paying a
tribute to the work done for the Baking Society by Mr M‘Culloch, Mr
Gerrard went on to suggest that the United Baking Society was one of the
wonders of modern times, and was an eloquent testimony to the shrewdness
and business qualifications of the working men who had managed it during
the thirty-eight years of its existence. Referring to the branch, he
stated that it had now capacity for a trade of 1,400 sacks per week, and
pointed out that since Clydebank bakery was commenced, in 1902, the
trade of the Society had increased by nearly 1,500 sacks per week.

A DISASTROUS FIRE.

The new premises had only been opened for a few months when, one Sunday
morning in October, those responsible for carrying on the work of the
branch were horrified to discover that fire had broken out. The fire was
first discovered by one of the men employed in the stables, whose
attention was attracted by the sound of breaking glass. He at once
raised the alarm, and while the local fire brigade was being summoned
the stablemen did their best to overcome the fire, but without success.
By the time the local fire brigade arrived the fire had gained a firm
hold, and assistance was telephoned for to Glasgow. The appliances of
the local brigade were not of much use, and all that the Glasgow brigade
were able to do when they arrived was to confine the fire to the upper
floors, which, with their contents, were completely destroyed.
Fortunately the lower floors were fireproof, and beyond damage by water
there was little harm done.

Arrangements were at once made to transfer the bakers in the Clydebank
factory to M‘Neil Street so as to cause the minimum of inconvenience to
the customers of the Society, and an agreement was come to with the
Operative Bakers’ Union whereby the men were allowed to begin work an
hour earlier in the mornings and two hours earlier on Saturdays while
the reconstruction was taking place. Fortunately, very little damage was
done to the lower part of the building; but it was decided that in
rebuilding the upper portion it should be made entirely fireproof. For
this reason it was decided that the new roof should be flat and of
concrete. The damage done by the fire amounted to over £10,900. So
quickly was the work of renovation begun that by the Saturday of the
week in which the fire took place a temporary roof had been erected, and
the work of baking had again been started. It is interesting to note
here that Barrhead Society, which had, not long before, completed the
erection of a new bakery of their own, offered to place it at the
disposal of the U.C.B.S. if they should require it; but, fortunately,
the directors found themselves in a position to decline this kind offer.

The facilities for extinguishing a fire of such magnitude possessed by
Clydebank Town Council had proved to be quite inadequate for the
purpose, and a strong protest was made by the board. Particularly the
water pressure had been found quite inadequate for the work. By the
beginning of December the directors had submitted plans to the Dean of
Guild Court for the reconstruction of the premises, and these were
passed on an undertaking being given that the boiler flue, to a defect
in which it was supposed that the fire had been due, would be built to
the satisfaction of the master of works. The building was quickly
completed, and soon work was in full swing again.

A BAD SMASH.

In the month of January 1909 a bad smash took place in Partick between a
motor van from Clydebank bakery and two Glasgow tramcars, in which
damage amounting to £174 was done to the van. This accident gave rise to
counter-claims by Glasgow Corporation and the U.C.B.S., but it was not
until June 1910 that the case was finally disposed of, the Sheriff
finding that the driver of the Bakery motor van was entirely to blame
for the collision. The case aroused considerable interest at the time
because of the legal aspect of the question as it affected the “rule of
the road” in connection with the passing of cars which ran on rails in
the middle of the streets or roads. By that decision it was decreed that
fast vehicles passing tramcars going in the same direction should do so
on the left side, whereas the ordinary rule of the road in Scotland
decrees that all other vehicles must be passed on the right side. The
total cost to the U.C.B.S. of the accident, including litigation costs,
was almost £1,700.

In 1909 the Clydebank branch achieved fame by winning first prize in the
loaf-baking competition conducted by the S.C.W.S., and the presentation
of the shield was made the occasion of a social meeting, at which the
president of the Society presided, and the presentation of the shield
was made by Mr Stewart, president of the Wholesale Society. At the
meeting a number of complimentary things were said about Mr Reid,
foreman, and the work of the bakery which he controlled. In the
following year Clydebank lost the shield, but were successful in winning
several prizes for smallbread.

During the first ten years after the branch was opened the progress
continued steady, the turnover for the tenth year amounting to 35,638
sacks, equal to an average output of 687 sacks per week. At this time it
was decided to extend the bakery, and eight new ovens were put in. Just
before the outbreak of war the branch secured the contracts for
supplying the Territorial camps at Jamestown and Dunoon, and as soon as
war was declared and mobilisation begun it was kept very busy with
orders for military use, and, later, secured a big contract to purvey
for Navy men. The output continued to increase steadily. By 1915 it had
risen to 1,000 sacks per week, and by 1917 to 1,038 sacks. With the
coming of Government controlled flour and the consequent unpalatable
bread a decrease took place in the output, from which the branch was
just beginning to recover at the period with which this history of its
operations ends. During the fifteen and a half years since its erection
over 520,000 sacks of flour were turned into bread, and the congestion
at M‘Neil Street was relieved to that extent; while the primary purpose
for which the branch was erected, that of ensuring to the societies on
the western side of the Society’s delivery radius an earlier supply of
bread each day, was accomplished to their satisfaction, and the
Co-operative production of bread was stimulated by means of the
increased orders secured. There can hardly be any doubt but that the
policy adopted by the directors of branching out where a branch could be
carried on successfully has found its justification in the success which
has attended Clydebank branch since its formation, and that until now
the fears entertained by those who opposed this policy at the beginning
have not been supported by the results achieved.

With the growth and prosperity which has come to Clydebank and the
neighbouring portion of Greater Glasgow, and with the further growth of
that prosperity which the future seems likely to bring with it, the
success of the branch is assured, and the probability is that before
many years have passed further extensions will have been rendered
necessary by the expansion of trade. Unquestionably the erection of the
branch was an experiment. It was a departure from what had been hitherto
the established policy of the Federation, but it was an experiment which
was justified by the circumstances of the time, and was the first step
in a policy which has since brought not only the societies on Clydeside
into close co-operation with the Federation, but has had the same effect
in the North of Ireland, and it is a policy which is spreading in both
countries to the advantage of the Co-operative movement.

CHAPTER XIV.
BELFAST BRANCH.

CO-OPERATION IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND—EARLY BAKING PROPOSALS—DISPUTE
WITH LOCAL BAKERS—SCOTLAND TO THE RESCUE—A TEMPORARY
BAKERY—EXPANDING TRADE—THE BAKERY COMPLETED—THE OPENING
CEREMONY—GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT—GROCERS AS AGENTS FOR
BREAD—EXTENSIONS NECESSARY—THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE—CONTINUOUS
PROGRESS—A SERIES OF EXTENSIONS—SOME RETAIL SOCIETY FAILURES—HELP
FOR DUBLIN STRIKERS—GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS—A REGRETTABLE
ACCIDENT—THE FEDERATION’S GENEROSITY—THE WAR AND ITS
EFFECTS—OATCAKE BAKING STARTED—THE BELFAST STRIKE—A TRADE UNION
TESTIMONIAL—THE INFLUENCE OF THE U.C.B.S. ON IRISH CO-OPERATION.

The Co-operative movement in the North of Ireland is a plant of
comparatively recent growth. In the early ’nineties of last century
there were only some four or five retail societies in the whole North,
and most of them were far from strong—so weak, indeed, that two of them
afterwards went down. When they came under the control of the
Co-operative Union they were placed under the wing of the Scottish
Sectional Board, and that Board undertook a large amount of propaganda
work which had the effect of strengthening the existing societies and of
leading to the formation of new ones. Amongst those which were formed as
the result of this propaganda zeal on the part of Scottish Co-operators
the strongest which remain to-day are Armagh and Portadown, but the work
of Co-operation in Lisburn and Belfast was strengthened materially by
the propagandist efforts of the Scottish enthusiasts.

At that early period the society which then existed in Londonderry was
probably the strongest in the whole of Ireland, and it was the first
Irish society to become a member of the United Baking Society, but,
unfortunately, the closing down at a later period of the work in which
the majority of the members were employed led, indirectly at least, to
its collapse. Another society which was only able to struggle on for a
few years was that situated at Lurgan. Belfast was in a bad way. It had
practically no capital and was carrying on by the aid of bank
overdrafts. Nor at that time was Lisburn in much better case.

EARLY BAKING PROPOSALS.

Through the visits of Mr James Deans and of other Scottish propagandists
the societies in the North of Ireland began to hear tales of the success
which was attending the work of the Federated Baking Society in Glasgow,
while in 1898 the Baking Society sent over Mr Petrie and one of the
directors on a propaganda tour, with the view of opening up a business
connection with the Irish societies. These gentlemen attended a meeting
of the Irish Conference Association, and Mr Hamilton told the delegates
something of the work which the Federation was doing, with the result
that some good orders were received. It was as a result of this visit
that Londonderry Society joined the Federation, to be followed in
succeeding years by Lisburn and Belfast. It was as a result of this
visit also that Mr M‘Culloch, President of the Baking Society, was
invited to read a paper on “Federated Baking” at a conference which was
held in Belfast in August of the same year. There was no immediate fruit
from the reading of Mr M‘Culloch’s paper, but when, some years later,
the private baking firms in the North of Ireland began to apply the
screw to Irish Co-operators the proposals he had made were recalled and
a deputation was sent over to seek help. Meantime the societies in
Ireland were increasing in number and in strength. Lisburn had started
into new life; Armagh and Portadown societies had been formed; and
Belfast was making headway slowly but surely. Until this time little
trade in bread had been done by the U.C.B.S. with the Irish societies,
the bulky character of the commodity and the long distance from the
centre militating against this, although for a time at least ’Derry
Society had bread sent over in hampers.

DISPUTE WITH LOCAL BAKERS.

It was in 1903 that the private bakers in Ireland began to show their
hostility to Co-operation. At first this hostility did not take the form
of an absolute refusal to supply bread, but the equally effective one of
reducing the discount allowed and at the same time refusing to undertake
delivery. In Belfast the society was badly hit by this policy, and in
their need they applied to the U.C.B.S. for assistance, asking them to
supply the society with bread and at the same time to take into
consideration the opening of a branch bakery in Belfast. Belfast Society
followed up their letter by a deputation, and as a result of the
interview the Bakery Board agreed to supply the society with bread in
the meantime and also to lend them two vans to enable them to distribute
the bread to their members.

At the June quarterly meeting of 1903 a Belfast deputation again
attended to plead their cause with the delegates. Mr Gilchrist was their
spokesman and made a lengthy statement, explaining the friction which
had arisen between the society and the local baking firms and the steps
which the society had taken to meet the difficulty. He stated that the
membership and trade of the society were both increasing rapidly, and
made a strong plea that the Federation should come to their help by
planting a branch bakery in Belfast. The result was that power was given
to the committee of the Federation to help Belfast Society in any way
possible. One of Kinning Park delegates moved an amendment to the effect
that power be not given, but this amendment did not meet with much
support.

The result of this decision was that the Committee appointed a
deputation to visit Belfast with the object of finding out the real
position there and what buildings or land might be available for the
planting of a branch. A bakery, consisting of two Scotch ovens and one
draw-plate oven, together with the necessary bakery plant, had been
discovered, and seemed a suitable place, while the price was £750, but
it was ultimately decided that ere making an offer all the Irish
societies should be consulted as to the best method of assisting Irish
Co-operation under the circumstances. By the time the replies to the
letters sent had been received, however, the Committee were informed
that the bakery they had under consideration had been sold, with the
result that the manager and secretary of Belfast Society were requested
to supply particulars of other vacant sites, and particularly of open
ground suitable for building on. When these reports came to hand they
contained particulars of six different plots of ground, ranging from one
acre to five acres in extent, and with prices ranging from £26 per acre
to £60 per acre—the latter price, however, including the making of
streets. With these reports before them the Committee decided to delay
coming to any decision until after the question had been again before
the quarterly meeting, but to go forward to the quarterly meeting with a
recommendation that a branch be erected at Belfast.

SCOTLAND COMES TO THE RESCUE.

At this time the position in Belfast warranted fully the optimistic tone
in which Mr Gilchrist had spoken three months earlier of its future. The
society had been established for fourteen years and its sales were
rather more than £30,000 a year. It was not their size, however, but the
rapidity with which they were growing which led to the optimism of those
who were responsible for the management of the society. In one year they
had grown from £5,000 a quarter to £10,000 a quarter. From the one tiny
branch in Shanklin Road the society had grown until it was now the owner
of four branches, and the members continued to join the society in large
numbers. All this the delegates had found out during their visit to
Belfast, and they considered that the facts justified the recommendation
they were making—that a branch should be established there.

In bringing the recommendation before the delegates the chairman stated
that Belfast Society was purchasing at the moment from 400 dozens to 500
dozens of bread weekly, notwithstanding the fact that the bread was a
day old before they received it. The membership of Belfast Society was
1,200, and was increasing rapidly, and both manager and committee were
of opinion that the trade would be doubled if they had a bakery on the
spot which could supply them with new bread daily. While a sum of £2,000
or £3,000 would be sufficient to erect a bakery which would meet present
requirements, the idea of the Federation directors was that sufficient
land should be acquired and they should build on a plan which would
permit of expansion in the future. The directors, he concluded, were
unanimously of opinion that not only would a branch bakery be of
immediate service to Belfast Society, but that it would consolidate and
strengthen the whole movement in the North of Ireland, while it could be
established without any serious risk to the Federation. The motion that
the proposal of the directors be approved was moved by Mr Duncan of
Kinning Park, who had moved the rejection of the proposal to give
assistance three months earlier, and the recommendation received the
unanimous approval of the delegates.

Thus the fateful decision was taken—a decision which, as Irish
Co-operators will be the first to acknowledge, was fraught with
possibilities of immense good to Ireland, possibilities which have
fructified into actualities as the years have passed. The decision
strengthened the hands of Belfast Society at the moment, but it has done
far more during the period which has intervened, for the powerful aid
which the U.C.B.S. has been ever able and ever willing to render has
made it possible for the Irish societies in the North, at a time when no
one of them was overburdened with capital, to devote what capital they
did possess to the extension of their businesses in other directions,
secure in the knowledge that the staff of life was assured to their
members for such period as they were able to make reasonable provision
for the payment of the services thus rendered.

THE BAKERY.

Having secured the approval of the delegates for their proposals, the
first duty which devolved on the directors was that of finding a
suitable site. In order that all the members of the committee might be
able to come to decisions with the fullest knowledge obtainable, they
decided at the outset that they should visit Belfast in a body, and
inspect the various sites of which they had information, meantime
delaying the final decision. Eight different sites were examined, and,
ultimately, the final decision rested between two of these, that at
Ravenhill Avenue being the one which finally found favour, at a rental
of £80 per annum. Mr W. J. Gililand, Belfast, was appointed architect,
and was instructed to prepare plans for a temporary bakery, containing
four ovens, to meet immediate needs, before proceeding with plans for
the general building. At a later meeting it was decided that the
delivery of the bread should be undertaken by Belfast Society, and that
special terms should be arranged for this service. By January the
temporary building had been commenced, and by the beginning of June was
ready to begin operations. Mr George Forshaw, East of Scotland
representative, was appointed commercial manager and Irish traveller,
and Mr James Moffat, Belfast, foreman baker. Baking was begun on 2nd
June, the temporary building having been fitted-up with one Scotch oven
and three draw-plate ovens. Unfortunately, a dispute between the
architect and the Corporation of Belfast had hindered the erection of
the temporary bakery for a little, but, during a special visit paid to
Belfast, Mr Young, manager, was able to arrange matters amicably.
Nevertheless, the dispute cost the Society over £18 in legal and other
expenses.

The area in which the Society’s bread was used soon began to widen. At
first Belfast was practically the only customer, but in the course of a
month or two society after society became customers, so that by the
beginning of August there were five societies, in addition to Belfast,
customers for bread. This good result was due to visits which had been
paid by some members of the directorate to the committees of the
societies. At the same time, Lurgan Society applied for membership and
was admitted.

It was not until the middle of November that tenders for the completion
of the main building were accepted, and then the committee had not
finally made up their minds how much of the work they were going to
complete at once, but reserved to themselves power to stop with the
completion of the front section if they thought this plan desirable.
When the matter was further considered in March, however, the committee
were unanimously of the opinion that the building should be two storeys
in height.

THE BAKERY COMPLETED.

Some of the difficulties which had worried the committee so much when
the first section of the M‘Neil Street building was under construction
manifested themselves again at Belfast, and it was found that it was not
in Glasgow alone that builders were dilatory. The committee had hoped
that the finished building would be ready for opening in September, but
it was not until April of the following year that it was completed. The
building erected contained provision for eighteen ovens on two floors;
but at first only nine ovens were built on the ground floor, the upper
floor being used for storage purposes. The ovens were of the draw-plate
type, and amongst the machinery installed was an automatic dough-divider
and handing-up machine, capable of weighing accurately 2,800 loaves per
hour.

Elaborate arrangements were made for the opening ceremony, for truly it
was a great day for Ireland. All the societies in the Federation were
invited to send delegates to Belfast, and provision for their conveyance
and comfort was made by the Baking Society. The U.C.B.S. band
accompanied the party, and discoursed sweet music during the journey
from Ardrossan to Belfast. After spending the hours of Sunday in
whatever manner they felt inclined, the delegates were driven in brakes
on the Monday morning to Ravenhill Avenue. The procession, for that is
what it amounted to, attracted great attention as it drove through the
streets of the city with bands playing. Doubtless, many of the good
folks of Belfast wondered what all the noise was about, for at that time
Co-operation had but a very small share in the commercial life of the
commercial capital of the Green Isle, and it is quite likely that many
thousands of the inhabitants of the city knew nothing of the momentous
event which was going to take place that morning. To many of them
Co-operation was only a word, the meaning of which they did not
understand, and to many more even the word was unknown.

At the opening ceremony Mr James Bain, the secretary of the Federation,
presided, and, in the short speech he delivered in introducing Mr
Gerrard, who was to declare the premises open, he voiced the true spirit
of Co-operation. Their meeting, he said, was a public assurance that
wherever the brotherhood of Co-operation existed, no matter whether a
society was in the throes of adversity or rejoicing in the hope of
prosperity, they were ready to lend a helping hand in adversity or to
share in the joys of prosperity. When the word had come to Scotland that
their Celtic brothers were in need of assistance the U.C.B.S., in season
and out of season, had done their best to give the needed help. He was
glad that the request they had made had been so far acceded to, and that
they were there on that glorious Easter Monday morning to witness its
fruition. They looked forward to the new branch as a means of
consolidating and advancing Co-operation not only in the North of
Ireland but throughout the whole of Ireland. It was only their first
branch, but they were looking forward to the time when they would have a
great many more branches scattered over the whole of Ireland.

Mr Gerrard had presented to him a handsome gold key with which to open
the door of the building. In declaring the premises open, he said they
were that day marking an important epoch in the history of Co-operation.
In Ireland distributive Co-operation could not be said to be flourishing
like the green bay tree. On the contrary, its progress had been slow and
its development difficult. In that the progress of the movement did not
differ from its progress elsewhere. Everywhere there had been societies
which were weak, but in Ireland, as elsewhere, those who constituted the
membership had struggled heroically. Under difficulties and
discouragements, before which many would have gone under, they had
endeavoured to hold fast that which they had, and taking encouragement
to themselves from their belief that the principle of associated effort
for mutual benefit, which they represented but feebly, would ultimately
be grasped by their fellow-countrymen and would work for their common
good, they had struggled on.

Later in the day luncheon was served in the Y.M.C.A. Hall, after which
more congratulatory speeches were delivered, the speakers including,
besides Mr Gerrard, Mr Richardson (president of Belfast Society), Mr
James Deans, Mr Duncan M‘Culloch, Mr Robert Fleming, Mr Alexander
Hamilton, and others, after which the Scottish visitors joined the
steamer again _en route_ for home; which, however, many of them did not
reach without discovering that “a life on the ocean wave” was not
without its drawbacks.

The opening of the new bakery at once sent the trade up with a jump; so
much so that, at the close of the half-year which ended in July, a
profit of £550 was shown as compared with a profit of £116 for the
half-year which ended in January. During the half-year 3,853 sacks were
baked, an increase of 59 per week over the previous half-year,
notwithstanding the fact that the large bakery had only been working for
three months. From that time onward the output showed a practically
continuous increase. The reasons for this were many. The Irish societies
in the North were increasing in membership and strength, and new
societies were being formed and were joining the Federation.
Particularly was this increase in membership and strength notable in
Belfast, where the movement has never looked back since the opening of
the bakery. The quality of the bread had also something to do with the
increase in trade. Before the temporary bakery had been long in
existence the foreman sent samples of his workmanship to the Bakers’
Exhibition held in the Agricultural Hall, London, where he was
successful in securing first and third prizes. This superiority in the
quality of the bread baked has been maintained throughout the life of
the branch. So superior, indeed, was the bread baked at Ravenhill Avenue
that Belfast Society found their bread trade a useful feeder for their
membership roll, customers joining the society as members for bread only
at first, and gradually going on to the purchase of other goods until
they became full-fledged members purchasing from every department.

The committee were assiduous in their endeavours to maintain and
increase the sale of their products. Thus, when owing to lack of
enthusiasm Banbridge Society gave up business, the Society decided to
continue on the road the van which had been working for that society,
employing the man who had done the work for the society, so that the
bread connection might not be lost. So successful did this method prove
that in a comparatively short time they were employing another horse and
van as well. Their bread was becoming so famous in the North of Ireland
that grocers in the outlying villages were anxious to become agents for
it, and, after consideration, the committee agreed, with the proviso
that this should not be done where there was a Co-operative society in
the place.

In order that the delegates of the Irish societies might become familiar
with the Society and its work the committee also invited the Irish
Conference Association to hold their conference under the auspices of
the Federation. So successful were all these means of propagating the
sale of bread that, before the new bakery had been in operation for a
year, the foreman baker was approaching the committee with a proposal
for more oven accommodation.

The Society had given horses and delivery carts on loan to the societies
when the bakery was started, but it was felt that this method of
conducting the business was not satisfactory and could not be allowed to
continue indefinitely, so letters were sent to the societies inviting
them to a conference at which the whole question of delivery could be
discussed. At this conference, which took place in July 1907, the board
proposed that these horses and vans be handed over to the societies, the
Federation, however, retaining a lien on them for three years so that,
in the event of any society discontinuing the purchase of bread inside
that time, the Federation could resume possession. It was also agreed
that, in future, the Federation should deliver the bread at the place
most convenient to each society, but that each society would be
responsible for delivering the bread to its own members. This
arrangement was approved by the representatives from the Irish societies
who were present at the conference.

Already, at the beginning of 1907, the bakery was proving too small for
the work which had to be done, and by the middle of the year it was
decided to add three more ovens, while by the end of the year it had
become necessary to extend the bakery, and it was agreed that this
should be done, at a cost of almost £3,000. At the end of 1907, also, Mr
George Forshaw resigned his position as manager of the branch, and Mr
Duncan M‘Innes, who was in charge of the branch at Falkirk, was
appointed manager in his place.

THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

The members of the board had now had almost a year’s experience of
managing Belfast Branch, and had come to the conclusion that in order
that the work should be carried on satisfactorily in every respect it
was desirable that representatives of the local societies should be
associated in the management. For this purpose they drew up a scheme for
an advisory committee, to consist of three representatives of Irish
societies. These proposals were approved by the delegates at the
quarterly meeting, and were afterwards submitted to representatives of
the Irish societies and approved by them. Mr Robert Fleming, Belfast,
was appointed convener of the committee, and associated with him were
Messrs Crook, Lisburn, and Palmer, Portadown. The constitution of the
Advisory Committee was as follows:—

The committee shall consist of three members—one of whom shall act
as convener and correspondent.

They shall be elected at a meeting of representatives of Irish
societies to be summoned by the board of management in the month of
July in each year. They shall hold office for two years.

Their duties, generally, shall be to supplement the efforts of the
board of management in developing and consolidating the business of
Belfast branch. To this end, they shall meet and confer with those
members of the board who visit the bakery monthly. They shall keep
in touch with the several societies in the Federation, and advise as
to the most economical means of serving them. They must visit the
societies when commissioned to do so by the board, and carry out any
particular duties assigned to them—such as attending monthly
meeting, conferences, verifying stocks, etc.

They shall be paid at the same rate as the members of the board of
management doing the same work.

From time to time since then the constitution of the advisory committee
has been amended and its membership added to. Very shortly after its
formation it was increased to four members; in 1912 another member was
added; and in September 1918 yet another, making the membership now six.

An important amendment of the constitution was made in 1912, when it was
altered to the following:—

The committee shall consist of five members—chairman, secretary, and
three society representatives.

They shall be elected at the annual meetings of representatives of
federated Irish societies held in July of each year, and shall hold
office for two years (societies shall be entitled to representation
at such meetings in like proportion as to quarterly meeting
immediately preceding). The chairman and one society shall be
elected in alternate years with the secretary and two societies. If
through death, resignation, or otherwise, a vacancy should occur in
the case of an ordinary member, his society shall fill up the
vacancy, and in the case of an official the committee shall have the
power to fill up the vacancy from their own number, subject to the
approval of the following general meeting.

Their duties generally shall be to co-operate with the board of
management in developing and consolidating the business of the
Belfast branch. A sub-committee, consisting of the secretary and one
member (members of the committee attending in rotation for the
purpose), shall be held not later than Thursday in each week except
in such weeks as full meetings of the committee shall be held, as
hereafter provided. They shall inspect the premises and plant,
noting anything requiring attention of manager or board of
management. They shall afterwards receive reports (on prescribed
forms) from distributive and productive managers, who shall both be
in attendance to supplement and explain verbally the reports
submitted by them. The manager shall further report any complaints
received, and the steps, if any, taken to remedy the matters
complained of. He shall also report purchases made and any contracts
entered into for supply of goods.

All correspondence from board of management or elsewhere bearing on
the work of the branch shall be taken up and dealt with.

A copy of the minutes of each sub-committee meeting, with any
recommendations the committee desire to make, shall be forwarded by
the secretary to the board of management in time for consideration
at the board’s weekly meeting held on Friday.

[Illustration:

BELFAST BAKERY
]

[Illustration:

ST MUNGO HALLS
]

Full meetings shall be held on the second and last Saturdays of each
month or other convenient dates, three to form a quorum. Two
representatives from the board of management shall attend one of
these meetings. Cost and profit statements and statistics of trade
with societies for previous month shall be submitted and considered
at this meeting. Matters of general policy and questions remitted
from board of management shall be discussed with visitors. Minutes
of all sub-committee meetings shall be submitted for confirmation to
next full meeting. Distributive and productive managers shall be in
attendance at all meetings.

Appointments for stocktaking, quarterly meetings of the Federation,
visits to societies, conferences, etc., shall be made and reports of
same received at full meetings.

The manager shall consult the members of the advisory committee when
it is possible to do so on matters requiring to be dealt with
between meetings, but this general instruction shall not prevent him
acting on his own initiative when circumstances demand an immediate
decision.

They shall be paid at the same rate as the members of the board of
management doing the same work.

In 1917 Mr R. Fleming, who had acted as convener of the advisory
committee from its formation, was elected a member of the board of the
C.W.S. This necessitated the resignation of his position on the advisory
committee, which took effect at the annual meeting with the Irish
societies in July of that year. Mr J. M‘Guffin, president of Belfast
Society, was elected his successor, and the thanks of the Bakery board
and of the Irish delegates were accorded to Mr Fleming for the work he
had done for the branch. At the quarterly meeting of the Federation in
Glasgow which was held in June Mr Fleming was present, and there also
the thanks of the delegates were conveyed to him by the chairman in an
appreciative speech, to which Mr Fleming made fitting response.

In 1918 there were some differences of opinion on questions of
management between the advisory committee and the board of management,
with the result that the advisory committee suggested resigning in a
body from their offices. This course of action did not commend itself
either to the board of management or to the delegates, and the cause of
friction was removed by another alteration of the constitution of the
advisory committee, which gave that body another member. The principal
alteration, however, was contained in the following clause which was
added to the paragraph in the 1912 constitution which dealt with
“Duties”:—

“Should any difference arise between the committee and the board of
management which cannot be adjusted by correspondence, a joint
meeting of both bodies shall be convened, and the matter determined
by their united vote.”

This clause has the effect of giving the Irish societies one third of
the total representation on the board of management when matters
affecting Ireland which are controversial in their nature are being
discussed and, while maintaining that supremacy which is the right of
the larger and more powerful section of the Federation, ensures that the
case of Ireland shall be put and determined in an atmosphere in which
the fullest consideration will be given to the arguments adduced.

CONTINUOUS PROGRESS.

Already the new bakery was becoming too small for the work, and in
August 1908 it was agreed to complete the central portion of the
building by the addition of other two storeys at a cost of £2,263. Just
prior to this time, however, the committee felt compelled to dispense
with the services of their foreman baker, and Mr W. H. Bell, who had
been his assistant, was appointed in his place. For several years
Belfast Society used the stable at the bakery for stabling their horses,
while they were also permitted to erect a cart shed and a shoeing forge.
Later this society erected stables, etc., for themselves on property
adjoining the bakery, and the ground which had been occupied by them was
utilised by the Federation for necessary extensions to the bakery.

By March 1909 the extended premises were ready for occupation. It was
not long ere the directors were in the mortar tub again, however, for
another extension costing almost £4,000 was entered on in the autumn of
1910; and not long after it was completed there came, in December 1911,
an urgent request from the advisory committee for more ovens, and
another extension, at a total cost of almost £5,000, was entered on and
completed in 1912. These various extensions practically completed the
bakery as it stands at present, except for alterations, minor in
themselves, which were made from time to time during the war period with
the object of increasing the working facilities.

In July 1909 the committee recorded their satisfaction that the average
weekly sales from the bakery amounted to £1,219, while in March 1910 the
weekly turnover had reached 500 sacks; and to meet the increasing demand
three new ovens had to be erected. The Bakery continued to win prizes at
the Agricultural Hall and other exhibitions, thus proving that
Co-operative bread baking on a large scale was equal to producing bread
of the finest quality.

Early in 1910 the directors were saddened by the news that one of the
members of the first advisory committee, Mr Crook, of Lisburn, had
passed away.

Although most of the societies in the North were doing well, there were
one or two which were in a bad way. In 1908 Lurgan Society had to close
its doors. The Federation were creditors to the extent of £114, and when
settling day came it was found that the assets of the dead society were
only capable of returning 1/6 in the pound. In 1910 Newry Society went
the same way. The Federation were creditors to the extent of £200, and
it was expected that the assets would realise 10/ per pound. In Newry
the Federation made temporary arrangements to carry on the bread trade,
as had been done in Banbridge, but after some time this course was
abandoned.

Shortly after the new bakery was opened the two Dublin societies were in
consultation with the committee of the Federation about the erection of
a bakery, and the committee agreed to assist them. The two societies
were unable to agree, however, and the idea of a federal bakery for
Dublin was departed from. In 1910 Dublin Industrial Society erected a
bakery for themselves, and the opening of this bakery was followed in a
short time by the amalgamation of the two societies. The Dublin Society,
however, experienced considerable difficulty in acquiring the knack of
baking good bread—their position in this respect recalls some of the
earlier experiences of the U.C.B.S.—and the Federation readily consented
to Mr Bell or his assistant visiting Dublin to put them on right lines.
In 1913, when the distress due to the strike was at its height in Dublin
and the Trade Unions Congress was coming to the rescue with financial
support, the Industrial Society received a contract for the supply of
from 3,000 to 5,000 loaves daily. As they were unable to handle the
contract in their own bakery they secured the assistance of the U.C.B.S.
bakery in Belfast, which supplied them with the needed quantity of bread
during the period covered by the contract. Later, during the period of
the war, the Industrial Society was in considerable difficulty for a
time, and those responsible for its management were exceedingly anxious
that the U.C.B.S. should take over the bakery. This was not done,
however, and fortunately the society was able to maintain and even to
improve its position.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.

At the beginning of 1909 the Bakery secured a contract for the supply of
bread and flour to Newtownards Barracks, and since then have supplied
from time to time that Barracks, as well as those of Holywood, Belfast,
and Kilroot, while, either directly or through local societies, they
have been successful in securing contracts for various local
institutions, one society during the war securing the contract for the
Admiralty.

In 1912 the Society had loaned some motor lorries for an excursion, and
during the day a painful accident took place whereby one child was
killed and three others were severely injured. The Society’s motorman
was completely exonerated from blame for the accident, but in token of
their sympathy the Society paid the doctor’s fees and granted £55 to the
relatives. In 1913 two of the societies were experiencing difficulty in
selling the bread because of the unfair competition to which they were
being subjected in attempts to cause them to give up the bread trade,
but the Federation came to their assistance by allowing them a little
additional discount on their purchases. In 1911 the Irish Agricultural
Wholesale Society was appointed agent in Ireland for the Federation, and
some time later it was stated that since that federation had become
agent the trade had increased. At the Dublin Congress in 1914 the
Federation erected a scone and oatcake baking plant as part of their
exhibit in the Congress exhibition, and this exhibit was an object of
much interest to the Dublin visitors to the exhibition.

THE WAR AND ITS EFFECTS.

In Ireland, as in Scotland, the commanding position of the U.C.B.S. had
a steadying effect on the price of bread at the outbreak of war. The
Society carried good stocks of flour, and by adopting the fixed policy
of regulating the price of bread by the average price of the flour in
stock was able to maintain the price at a lower level than the current
price of flour warranted. In this way, while it was possible to maintain
full stocks of flour, the Bakery was able to keep the price of bread at
a halfpenny per 4–lb. loaf below the price at which other bakers wished
to sell it, and so saved the people of the North many thousands of
pounds.

The difficulties of transport were experienced by the branch, however,
in a much more marked degree than by the parent body. All coal, flour,
sugar, etc., used in the bakery had to be imported, and as transport
costs went up so also did prices, until bread was being sold in Belfast
at one shilling for the 4–lb. loaf. So short did the supply of coal
become that in 1915 Belfast Corporation was unable to supply the Bakery
with coke for firing purposes and a supply had to be sent over from
Glasgow. Flour and sugar also became very scarce, but notwithstanding
those facts the output of the Bakery continued to increase rapidly until
the coming of Government Regulation flour, with its huge proportion of
offal and other nastinesses, created a distaste for bread amongst the
public. At the outbreak of war the output of the Bakery averaged 766
sacks per week, while by the end of 1916 this had risen to 892 sacks per
week, an increase of 16½ per cent. in two and a half years. From then it
gradually declined, until at the end of the 63rd quarter of the working
life of the branch it was only 683 sacks per week. From that time and
during the next six months the trade again increased, so that by the end
of the period with which this history deals, although it had not reached
the high-water mark of 1916, all the evidence went to show that that
point would soon be left behind.

In 1918, with the object of relieving the congestion at M‘Neil Street,
it was resolved to establish an oatcake baking department at Belfast,
and for this purpose several hot-plates were transferred to the Belfast
bakery, as well as several girls from the M‘Neil Street oatcake factory.
This department has since proved a valuable adjunct to the branch, the
plant having had to be augmented and the number of bakers employed
increased.

Just at the end of the period Belfast became involved in one of the most
widespread strikes in the history of the Labour movement, and
practically all work except that of bread baking was brought to a
standstill. The electricity workers of the Corporation came out on
strike along with the other workmen, but fortunately for the branch it
had a power-generating plant of its own, and so was able to continue at
work. By this means the trade of the branch was materially increased.
The fact that the Federation has always been willing to meet the
requests of the employees in a reasonable manner has always enabled the
branch to maintain its popularity with the Belfast workmen, and so
impressed were the executives of the Operative Bakers’ Society with the
fairness and even liberality of the committee that on one occasion an
official letter was sent from the union in which the board of management
were thanked for the assistance which their prompt action in agreeing to
the request of the union for a shorter working week had been in enabling
that concession to be imposed in the baking trade of the city.

When the branch was established in Belfast the distinct understanding on
which the U.C.B.S. took action was that as soon as convenient it should
be taken over by the local societies, but as the years pass the
likelihood of this being done seems to become more remote. As has
already been stated, the branch has been of great assistance not only to
Belfast Society but also to the majority of other societies in the
North. It has fostered the Co-operative spirit and Co-operative
idealism. From a weakling which was very much in need of the fostering
care of the movement in Scotland Co-operation in Ireland, and especially
in the North of Ireland, has grown to be a strong and healthy
organisation, with its centre in Belfast and with branches scattered all
over Ulster. It is probable that the Irish societies are strong enough
now to take over the branch if they were so disposed, but the farseeing
spirits amongst them see that there is other work lying to their hand to
which, relieved of the working of the bakery, they can turn their
undivided attention.

On the other hand, the proposal, adopted in 1917, that the Federation
should proceed, as and when expedient, to plant branches in other
centres of Co-operation in Ireland, will in course of time cause the
U.C.B.S. in Ireland to cease to be an exclusively North of Ireland
concern. It will do much, just as the other federation in Ireland, the
I.A.W.S., is doing much, to weld together into one united movement the
whole of the Co-operative societies in the country. It will serve for
Ireland, as it and its kindred associations in Scotland and England are
serving to-day, as an illustration of the fact that Co-operation is not
merely a principle for adoption by a few farmers or a few workmen in a
given district, but is also a principle on which these isolated groups
can be united into one powerful whole, by becoming an institution where
all can meet on a common platform.

CHAPTER XV.
A NEW PRESIDENT.

A GREAT DEMONSTRATION—A NEW TYPE OF OVEN—ST MUNGO HALLS—TEAROOMS
BURNED DOWN—MR M‘CULLOCH RETIRES; MR GERRARD ELECTED
PRESIDENT—AN AMALGAMATION PROPOSAL—PURVEY AND CONTRACT
DEPARTMENT—THE FIRST MOTOR VAN—A BREAD EXPERIMENT—PROPAGANDA AND
PUBLICITY—UNEMPLOYMENT—THE EFFECT ON CO-OPERATION—CO-OPERATION
THE REMEDY—SOME BUSINESS ITEMS—THE SOCIETY’S POSITION.

In tracing the history of the two branches at Clydebank and Belfast we
have wandered far ahead of the general development of the Society, and
must now retrace our steps to the main road of our story at the point at
which we left it. In the period which began with the beginning of the
thirty-third year the directors were kept very busy with business which
was connected with the development of the two new branches, but the
parent institution was not allowed to suffer from neglect. The great
demonstration which was held in the summer of 1902 to celebrate the
attainment of an average output of 3,000 sacks per week proved a great
success. The demonstration was in two parts. In the first place, the
employees and their families and friends, to a number which filled three
special trains, went picnicing in the morning to Milngavie. In the
second place, a gigantic vehicular procession, which included about 100
vehicles and 150 horses, paraded through the city and out the Milngavie
Road as far as Canniesburn Toll, returning to M‘Neil Street by another
route. This procession was headed by a charabanc containing the members
of the Society’s band, and the gaily decorated lorries and vans
attracted much attention as they passed through the streets. All the
mottoes displayed in the procession had some reference to Co-operation.

But, while it is good to demonstrate and advertisement has certainly its
uses, bread must also be baked, and the object of a Co-operative society
is, or ought to be, to produce the best possible bread at a minimum
cost. This was a fact of which there was not much danger that the
directors would lose sight, and even if they did the representatives of
the societies would very quickly remind them of the lapse. They were
about to build a new bakery; and, with the view of testing the
efficiency of a type of oven then practically unknown in Scotland, they
decided to erect two draw-plate ovens at M‘Neil Street. The tests seem
to have been satisfactory, for in both Clydebank and Belfast branches
this type of oven formed the majority of those installed.

ST MUNGO HALLS.

Meantime other matters were engaging their attention. When the new
stables had been erected on the land purchased at the south corner of
South York Street and Govan Street a considerable portion of the
ground—more than half indeed—remained unbuilt on, and early in 1902 the
educational committee of the Society came forward with the
recommendation that in any further building which might be erected a
hall which could be used for educational purposes should be included.
The committee also were desirous that the Society should have a hall of
their own, and later in the same year the architects were instructed to
prepare plans for the utilisation of this vacant land which should
include halls and accommodation for the headquarters of the purvey
department. At the quarterly meeting in March 1903 power was given to
proceed with the erection of the buildings. These were to consist of
five halls, containing accommodation for from 200 to 1,500 people, with
the necessary siderooms, etc., and with ample accommodation for the
purvey department. Permission was also given for the erection of three
tenements of dwellinghouses, with shops on the ground floor; the total
cost to be from £14,000 to £15,000 for the halls and purvey department
buildings, and £6,400 for the tenements. Eleven months passed, however,
before the building of the halls was begun, and they were not completed
until 1906.

Toward the end of 1903 the Paisley Road tearooms were destroyed by fire,
and in restoring them the committee decided to add another storey. The
landlord agreed to bear a proportion of the cost, and on the
reconstruction being completed they were named the “Wheatsheaf”
tearooms.

MR M‘CULLOCH RETIRES.

For several years the chairman had been desirous of retiring, but had
been induced to remain in office until the schemes on which he had set
his heart—the erection of Clydebank and Belfast branches—were well on
the way. In 1904, however, he definitely decided to end his official
connection with the Society. For fifteen years he had acted as
president. He was first appointed to the board by his society in June
1888, and had continued to act on the board until his retiral.

Mr Daniel H. Gerrard was elected president in succession to Mr
M‘Culloch. For a short time he had represented St George Society on the
board prior to his election, while the active part which he had taken,
as a member of the Scottish Sectional Board, in combating the boycott in
the later “’nineties” and his position as chairman of St George Society
had made him well known to the majority of Scottish Co-operators.

AN AMALGAMATION PROPOSAL.

In the autumn of 1903 an interesting proposal was made by the directors
of Hamilton Baking Society. This was to the effect that the two
societies should become amalgamated. During the following year several
meetings took place between representatives of the two societies, but
ultimately negotiations were broken off, the members of Hamilton Baking
Society having expressed disapproval of the proposal. If the scheme
could have been carried through it would have left the Baking Society in
the position of being the only federated society producing bread in the
West, with the exception of Chapelhall, and might have paved the way for
that society to come in also.

PURVEY AND CONTRACT DEPARTMENT.

Meantime the work of the purvey department was growing. For the two
years 1902 and 1903 the department secured contracts from Glasgow
Corporation for the supply of bags of eatables on Children’s Day. In the
aggregate the bags supplied numbered 190,000, of a total value of about
£1,800, and requiring somewhere about twenty-five tons of flour for
their manufacture. When the “Wheatsheaf” tearooms were reopened after
the fire an “at home” was held to which the customers were invited. The
purvey department was also an offerer on most occasions when purveys on
a large scale had to be carried through, often with success. The
department was successful in securing the purveying contract for the
tearooms in the East-End Exhibition. It was also a successful offerer in
1904 for the supply of bread to Gailes Territorial Camp, and in the
following year Jamestown Camp was supplied from Clydebank.

The tearooms continued to give cause for a considerable amount of
anxiety on the part of the committee. Sometimes a small profit was made
on the working and sometimes a loss resulted, but there never was that
increase in trade for which the board thought they had a right to look.
With the erection of St Mungo Hall and the transference of the catering
headquarters to South York Street the need for Main Street as a depot
for the catering department disappeared, but for some time it was
carried on as a workmen’s tearoom, always without any signs of assured
success, however. Finally, in 1904, it was given up altogether. Nor were
the London Street halls or the Union rooms much more successful. Several
experiments were made at London Street, with the object of making the
place more popular. The whole of the three upper flats were taken by the
Society, and several trade union and friendly society branches made the
rooms their headquarters, but the place was never really popular. An
attempt which was made to run the second flat as workmen’s dining and
tea rooms did not meet with much success, and it seemed as if anything
the board could do was not of much use in popularising the place. Nor
were the Union rooms much more successful. They just managed to keep
going, but they did not become, as had been hoped, a rendezvous for the
men and women of the Co-operative movement. Nevertheless the committee
did not despair. They always kept on hoping that the tide would turn and
renewed the lease time after time, still looking for the Co-operative
patronage which never came in sufficient quantity to make the place a
success.

THE FIRST MOTOR VAN.

For practically the whole of the nineteenth century the power-driven
road vehicle had to struggle against the bigotry of the people and the
interested opposition of the proprietors of other systems of locomotion.
Steam-driven road cars and wagons were in use long before Stephenson had
designed and completed his first railway, but they met with strong and
unreasoning opposition on the part of many people instigated by the
owners of post and passenger coaches, who saw in the new method of
locomotion a menace to their welfare, and also by other horse owners,
who found these steam-driven, noisy vehicles intolerable nuisances which
frightened into panic the high-strung horses unfortunate enough to meet
them on the roads. This opposition translated itself into Acts of
Parliament which imposed heavy taxation on the newer mode of locomotion,
and culminated in 1836 in the famous “man with the red flag” provision
in the Act of that year, which was the means of clearing practically
every “faster than walking pace” power-driven vehicle off the roads.
This Act, passed at the instance and in the interests of the railways,
had a most detrimental effect on the development of road and also of
canal traffic, and left the country completely at the mercy of the
railway companies until the “red flag” restriction was practically
laughed out of existence in the last decade of the century by the
development of petrol-driven motors, and the prohibition was removed in
1896.

After 1896 the development of power-driven vehicles for road traffic
made rapid strides, but it was not until some seven years later that the
U.C.B.S., on the instigation of the makers, put a bread motor van on the
road for a trial. After working for some months, the committee decided
to send a note of their experience of its working to the makers, and at
the same time to point out some defects which they had discovered.
Gradually, however, the new means of delivery superseded the old, until
all the Society’s long-distance work was done by means of motor vans.
For many years, however, the construction of the motor engines placed a
serious obstacle in the way of the adoption of motor vans for short
journeys or for journeys which entailed frequent stops. The engine, from
its nature, requires that the cylinder should be charged and the charge
compressed before ignition can take place. Drivers were therefore faced
with the alternatives of putting the engine out of gear and leaving it
running—at a considerable expenditure for fuel which gave no return in
work done—or of having much laborious cranking for the purpose of
charging the cylinder and compressing and igniting the gas, the latter
plan, particularly in cold weather, often entailing considerable
expenditure of time as well as of energy. Nowadays, however, most
up-to-date motor engines have a small electric engine for doing this
work.

A BREAD EXPERIMENT.

For a long time it had been the wish of the manager and directors of the
Baking Society to introduce a natural working day into the bread trade,
and they had done their best some years earlier to have the matter taken
up by the societies and the public, but without success. Now, in the
autumn of 1905, another attempt was made, a squad of bakers beginning
work at 9 a.m.; the bread thus baked being delivered on the following
morning. A number of the societies in Glasgow and neighbourhood were
induced to take up the sale of this bread, with the result that the
sales speedily rose; but after a trial which lasted several months the
scheme was abandoned, as the directors found that instead of helping the
general work of delivery it was proving a hindrance to that work.

This decision of the committee met with a considerable amount of
opposition from delegates to the quarterly meeting, but the directors
were not in a position to do other than they had done. The real obstacle
was to be found in the fact that the public insisted on having new
bread, and with a number of the bakers beginning work late in the day
for the production of “natural working day” bread, as it had been named,
there was not labour enough in the early morning to meet the demand for
new bread by ten o’clock. Thus the second attempt of the Baking Society
directors to introduce a natural working day into the baking trade came
to naught, through no fault of theirs, but because of a public who would
insist on having bread steaming from the ovens.

PROPAGANDA AND PUBLICITY.

During these years the directors continued to adopt every reasonable
method of keeping the Federation and its productions before the public.
They took advantage of every opportunity offered by exhibitions to show
the quality of goods which were produced by the Society; they exhibited
also at shows, and were occasionally successful in securing prizes,
although the rush conditions under which their bread had to be produced
in order to cope with the ever-increasing demands of the societies did
not provide the conditions necessary for producing bread of show
quality.

At the same time the entertaining of women’s guilds, conference
associations, and other Co-operative organisations was further
developed, and many Co-operators who before had but a very hazy idea of
the size and importance of the U.C.B.S. were enlightened as a result of
these visits. The cake shows, also, held annually, were excellent
propaganda. Here, inside one hall, were to be found specimens of all the
productions of the three bakeries; and these productions came latterly
to include many novelties which were not to be found in everyday use, as
well as the more common specimens of cakes, buns, bread, etc., and a
large variety of biscuits. Thus the cake show came to be regarded as the
annual exhibition of Bakery productions, which indeed it was, and it was
one of the most eagerly anticipated Co-operative functions of the year.

UNEMPLOYMENT.

Unfortunately, during the years 1904–1905 there was a very severe
economic crisis which was the cause of widespread unemployment, and
Glasgow and the West suffered severely. Such economic crises had been
periodic during the past century, and differed materially from those
which occurred in earlier centuries. Until the beginning of the
nineteenth century economic crises were really due to actual scarcity of
foodstuffs, and people went hungry as much because there was not enough
food to go round as because they had no money with which to buy their
share of what there was. Thus, in Scotland, until about the close of the
Napoleonic wars, the periods of comparative plenty or of scarcity
depended largely on the character of the seasons. While it is true that
the common people were always in want, in bad seasons they died of
starvation.

With the coming of the industrial era, however, there took place a
gradual change. While prices still depended on the seasons, and were
moderately or extravagantly high as the seasons were good or bad, there
entered into the problem a new factor, and the people became poor and
were unable to purchase _because they had produced too much_ and there
was not an effective market for the goods. As it has been tersely put:
“The shoemaker’s children went barefoot because their father had
produced too many boots; and the tailor’s, naked, because he had made
too many clothes.”

This was a new phenomenon for which history provides no parallel, and it
has persisted, ever increasing in intensity, until towards the end of
the first decade of the twentieth century as many as 42 per cent. of the
breadwinners in a respectable working-class district in the East-End of
Glasgow have been found to be unemployed at the same time.

These periods of unemployment seem to be in the form of more or less
regularly recurring cycles. There is first a gradually increasing
inflation of the volume of trade. New works are started, old works are
enlarged, and everywhere there is a boom, until the zenith is reached.
Then comes a gradual slackening off. The supply of goods has outstripped
the limits of effective demand and sales gradually decline as warehouses
become full. The rate of slackening increases; statisticians begin to
watch the rapidly ascending unemployment curve, which in itself does not
record the full slackening, as many workers are on short time. This
increase of unemployment still further weakens the effective demand for
goods and still further accelerates the growth of unemployment, with the
result that in about another year the unemployment crisis is reached,
soup kitchens and relief works open; thousands of hitherto steady
workmen become derelicts—and the huge commercial and industrial concerns
take advantage of the slackness to squeeze small rivals out of business
or to swallow them up, while at the same time improving their own
machinery of production.

Another feature of these industrial phenomena is the acceleration of
their periodicity. During the decades which marked the end of the
nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, the number of
years which elapsed between one crisis and the next was becoming smaller
and the periods were appreciably shorter than those of the earlier
cycles. Fourteen, twelve, or ten years used to be the intervals between
crises, but in the last forty years this interval has gradually
shortened, until only three years intervened between the end of one
crisis and the beginning of the next. This is in strict accordance with
what we would expect to find. The means of supplying the effective
demand of the people for goods has increased out of all proportion to
the increase in that effective demand, with the natural result that the
market gets choked full to overflowing in an ever-shortening time. When
to this is added the continuous perfecting of processes and equally
continuous speeding up of production, we see that under the conditions
which obtain it necessarily follows that the periods which must elapse
before the markets are choked up with goods must get progressively
shorter, while the periods necessary to relieve the glut again grow
gradually longer. Thus, we had a crisis in the late “’seventies,”
another in 1888–89; another in 1893, of a milder type; another in 1898;
another, very acute, in 1904–05; and another, the worst the industrial
world in Britain has known, in 1908–09–10; while evidences were not
wanting when war broke out that we were again on the downward sweep of
the cycle.

THE EFFECT ON CO-OPERATION.

The Co-operative movement in general is profoundly influenced by
conditions of unemployment, which is our excuse for what has been
written above. The vast majority of Co-operators depend for their
incomes on their being employed in ordinary industrial undertakings, and
when the machinery of industry breaks down their spending power is
affected. Those in fortunate positions can carry on economically for a
longer or shorter period on their investments in their societies, but
those fortunate individuals constitute but a small proportion of the
whole membership. When an unemployment crisis comes it means distress to
a large number of Co-operators, for those who have large savings to fall
back on are usually in more or less important positions in the concerns
by which they are employed and are amongst the last to be dismissed—are,
in fact, rarely out of employment at all. Sales of Co-operative
societies go down, while working expenses continue. In this respect,
however, the Baking Society has always been the last to suffer, for
people continue to buy bread when they have almost ceased to be able to
purchase anything else. But there is always during such crises a
proportion of Co-operators, varying in different districts, whose
incomes are barely sufficient to meet physical needs while they are in
constant employment and who are thrown on their beam ends by even a
fortnight of unemployment, and the hardship of these crises is that this
is the class of people on whom the curse of unemployment falls first and
on whom it rests longest.

Fortunately, the milk of human kindness is not quite dried up in
Co-operators, and so soon as genuine cases of distress are known steps
are taken to ameliorate the condition. In this process of amelioration
the Baking Society has always played a big part. We have already seen
that during the miners’ and engineers’ strikes and during periods of
distress due to unemployment the Society distributed thousands of pounds
worth of bread, and now, during 1904–05, the same policy was pursued.

If one was inclined to moralise much might be said about the mentality
of a people who continue content to endure such straits in a country
where wealth abounds in superabundance, and also about the mentality of
statesmen who could find no remedy for such a constantly recurring
cancer of the body politic; but this is hardly the place for that, and
all that can be done is to suggest that in a country in which the
Co-operative principle was predominant a remedy would be found. The
sufferers themselves, and those who act for them, have tried to do
something through limitation of output and the shortening of the working
day, but in normal times the onward march of production has more than
kept pace with such crude attempts to outwit it. The remedies had the
fatal defect of attempting to deal with a symptom while leaving the root
disease untouched, and the result, necessarily, has been failure.

SOME BUSINESS ITEMS.

From the beginning until 1905 the S.C.W.S. had only paid half dividend
on flour purchases. The directors had been approached by the Baking
Society’s board on more than one occasion to have this practice altered,
but without success. However, at the beginning of 1905 the S.C.W.S.
directors decided that in future they would pay full dividend on flour
on all new contracts. They were again approached by the U.C.B.S.
directors, who had a large contract for flour placed with the S.C.W.S.
at the moment, to extend the privilege to contracts at present running,
but this they were unable to do. The financial standing of the Society
was improving with every year that passed, and in 1905 they found that
notwithstanding the very large additions which had been made recently to
land and buildings the shares and reserves covered all but 11½ of the
total. At the quarterly meeting held in March 1905 it was agreed that
the Society take out ten shares in the North Wales Quarries Society, and
at a later meeting this number was increased to 100. Unfortunately, this
society, which had been formed to provide work for slate miners out of
work because of a trade dispute, did not prosper, and after a few years
of a precarious life was forced to go into liquidation.

On several occasions the Baking Society placed orders for biscuit
cartons in America until they were able to procure such goods at home.
One such order, placed in 1905, was for 100,000 cartons. They were also
utilising motors to some extent for bread delivery, and, in addition to
their first purchase, other two were now bought. In September of this
year—1905—another attempt was made to get the C.W.S. to acknowledge the
Baking Society’s invoices, but again without success. The contention of
the C.W.S. directors all the time was that they were quite able to do
all the trade in England, and that therefore the U.C.B.S. did not
require to go there at all.

The relations of the directors with their employees have always been
cordial, and whenever conditions of trade have permitted concessions in
a shorter working week and in wages, where these were not regulated by
national agreements, were made from time to time. One such concession
was made in 1905, when the hours of the girls in the packing flat were
reduced from fifty-one to fifty per week without any request from the
employees.

From time to time, also, meetings of the board with the heads of the
various departments took place, so that the directors might place before
them the nature of the complaints, suggestions, etc., which came from
societies, and solicit their co-operation in extending and consolidating
the business through the production of first-class goods and speedy
distribution. At one meeting of the board, held shortly after the close
of Paisley Congress, a special vote of thanks to the manager, purveyor,
and heads of departments was recorded for the efficient manner in which
all the work of purveying for that huge assembly had been carried out.

During the period under review Messrs Scott (engineer) and Richard
(bread baking manager) had made some improvements on a type of
draw-plate oven. These alterations were patented in the joint names of
the two gentlemen and the Baking Society, and arrangements were made
with Messrs Baker & Son, bakery engineers, London, for the manufacture
of the oven. Messrs Scott and Richard were also the joint inventors of a
divider and moulding machine.

THE SOCIETY’S POSITION.

Much important work was done in the three years from 1902 to 1905.
Clydebank bakery was erected; Belfast Bakery was commenced, as was St
Mungo Halls, and both were nearing completion; three tenements of houses
had been erected in Govan Street, with shops on the street level, and
these shops were ultimately all occupied by Kinning Park Society. One
result of this policy was that the Baking Society ceased to retain the
bread damaged in manufacture, and this trade was taken over by Kinning
Park Society. Henceforth, until for a short time they retailed the bread
they made in Rothesay Bakery, the Society did a wholesale business only.
Notwithstanding the opening of Clydebank Bakery, the sales of loaf bread
from M‘Neil Street were greater than they had been at the beginning of
the period, while the turnover in smallbread, oatcakes, and biscuits had
all increased considerably, and the total production for the last six
months of the period under review was 92,336 sacks for the three
bakeries, as compared with 73,821 at the beginning of 1902. During the
four years the membership had increased by thirty-four societies, and
the value of the sales by £61,092 for six months. The rate of surplus
had been fluctuating between 2/ per £ and 1/8 per £, and for one
half-year it was 2/2.

Big things were also in prospect. The need for new offices was forcing
itself on the attention of the directors; and, with the prospect of
increased trade in front of them, consideration was already being given
to the utilisation of their ground at the north-west corner of South
York Street, although the time for extensions there had not yet arrived.

CHAPTER XVI.
FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH.

STEADY PROGRESS—EXTENSIONS—NEW OFFICES—THE QUALITY OF THE BREAD—THE
TEAROOMS—ORDERS FROM EGYPT—ORGANISATION—A SPECIAL COMMITTEE—MR
ALEXANDER HAMILTON RETIRES—THE SOCIETY JOINS GLASGOW CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE—AUSTRIAN CO-OPERATORS VISIT THE BAKERY—ANOTHER
UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS—RAILWAYMEN’S CONGRESS ENTERTAINED—BAND
SUCCESSES—PROPAGANDA WORK—CLYDEBANK BAKERY SECURES FIRST PRIZE FOR
BREAD AT S.C.W.S. BAKING COMPETITION—THE SOCIETY AND ITS
EMPLOYEES—COMPULSORY TRADE UNIONISM—A SHORTER WORKING WEEK—THE
OLDEST SCOTTISH SOCIETY—THE CO-OPERATIVE INSURANCE SOCIETY.

The growth of a great organisation may be likened to that of a river.
Away up in the mountains where the river takes its rise every stone has
weight to turn it aside. It trickles down the hillside with noisy
babble, here almost stagnant, there going forward with a rush; ever
gathering strength as it is joined by other streams. But by and by it
reaches the plain. The strength of its rush down the hillside carries it
forward with gradually diminishing pace until finally it subsides into
an easy forward motion, placid and smooth, yet deep enough and strong
enough to bear on its broad breast the ships of a hundred nations.

So it has been with the U.C.B.S. At first it was like the tiny rivulet,
directed hither and thither by the rocks in its path, with its progress
seemingly altogether arrested for a time, then going forward again with
a rush and gathering impetus as it went. The last great rush may be said
to have been taken when it transferred to M‘Neil Street. Its progress
down to the final placidity of the valley was rapid but gradually
diminishing in speed as it reached the level of the plain, so that
having traversed the hills of difficulty and gathered to itself
tributaries as it flowed onward, it was now settled into a strong but
smooth onward flow. Henceforth the difficulties and dangers were gone;
henceforth also was gone the rapidity of the current of prosperity; to
be replaced by calm, steady progress which swept forward with the
irresistible strength of a mighty river. No longer was there doubling of
output in a year or two; no more was it necessary to add extension to
extension in order to keep pace with a rapidly growing trade; yet an
increase in turnover which averaged 250 sacks per week in a year and
1,000 sacks a week in four years was made. It was a huge increase;
actually it was larger than any which had gone before it; yet it was not
so impressive as the smaller increases which had preceded, for in
relation to the total trade it was much smaller.

EXTENSIONS.

It was not that the work of the Society was not going forward as rapidly
in the years 1905 to 1910 as it had done in preceding years, for the
progress made in those four years was probably greater than ever before;
but that the gradually increasing volume did not call for the same
feverish exertion as formerly. In reality the work done during this
period was probably the greatest in the history of the Federation until
then, and the extensions were also probably the largest. St Mungo Halls
were completed; Belfast Bakery was built and extended; while Clydebank
Bakery was more than doubled in size. Then the new offices of the
Society at the Adelphi Street corner of M‘Neil Street were also erected,
making total additions to the value of the Society’s property of
something like £40,000. There were other minor alterations and additions
also, such as the covering in of Hayfield Street in order to convert it
into a garage. Altogether the additions to the productive departments
alone were such as allowed an additional turnover of over 1,000 sacks
per week.

The new offices were not built before they were required. The old
offices had sufficed indifferently well for the needs of the Society
when they were built, but the continuous and rapid extension of the
business soon made them altogether inadequate, and by the time the new
offices were ready for occupation the old ones were absolutely crowded
out.

The new offices were built to meet all emergencies, however, and during
the eight years in which they have been occupied have proved quite
adequate for the growing business needs of the Society and its
ever-increasing staff. Just before building was commenced, lengthy
negotiations which had been proceeding between the Society and the
Corporation of Glasgow for land between the building line and the river
were completed through the purchase by the Corporation of the land for
£1,000; the Corporation agreeing, in addition, to make and maintain the
street. This was a good bargain for the Society, for they had obtained
£700 more for the land than it had cost them; while a good part of that
£700 would have been swallowed up in making the new street. The covering
in of, first, the stable courtyard and, later, of Hayfield Street was
also excellent business, which made for the comfort and convenience of
the men and horses, and was well worth the £670 which the two operations
cost.

THE QUALITY OF THE BREAD.

For a long time little had been heard of complaints about the quality of
the bread, but towards the end of 1905 these became so numerous that the
committee called a conference of the foremen in the various departments
for the purpose of discussing the matter. The case, as put by the
committee, was that they were supplying the best materials, that they
were paying good wages and giving the best conditions of labour, and
that, naturally, they looked for good results. The serious nature of
some of the complaints was emphasised by the convener of the productive
committee; while Mr Young stated that the last six months had been the
worst for ten years, and hoped that a strong effort would be made to
maintain the high reputation of the bakery. The runners, in replying,
one and all complained of the inferior quality of the flour, especially
that which was used in sponging. They also pointed out that the rush to
get ready for the morning deliveries was, to a very large extent,
responsible for the inferior quality, owing to the limited time allowed
for preparing, proving, and firing. A few suggestions were made which it
was thought would make for improvement.

THE TEAROOMS.

During most of these years the tearooms continued to be the “lame dog”
of the Society. Little or no improvement took place, and balance-sheet
after balance-sheet showed a loss in working or an infinitesimal profit.
The question cropped up regularly at the quarterly meetings, and
countless suggestions for improvement were made. Particularly was this
the case with regard to catering for the less wealthy class of the
community. A conference with the respective heads of the tearooms took
place, with the object of going into the whole question, but it does not
seem to have borne much fruit. The suggestions made, as recorded in the
minutes, were of a negative character, and nothing was done. Later, Mr
Towart, purvey department, was put in charge of London Street and
Paisley Road Rooms for a month, with the object of seeing what could be
done to improve the position. On the result of Mr Towart’s experiment
the minutes are silent; but, from the fact that in less than six months
thereafter the Wheatsheaf Rooms were bought over by the manageress, it
would seem that it did not give much hope of success for that branch at
least.

ORDERS FROM EGYPT.

The fame of the U.C.B.S. was by this time extending, with the result
that in August of 1907 an order was received from a merchant in
Alexandria for 500 barrels of biscuits. This was followed in October of
the same year by a similar order. In the beginning of 1908 the Falkirk
depot was closed. The coming of motor transport had made it possible to
supply direct from M‘Neil Street the district which had been supplied
from the depot. An alteration in the rules which was made in March 1908
allowed the directors to serve, in future, for two years without coming
up for re-election. This rule ensured that when a society had been
appointed to send a representative to the board, that society should be
represented on the board for at least two years.

ORGANISATION.

There has always been more or less controversy amongst bakers as to the
respective merits of barm and yeast as an aerating agency for bread, and
as the bread at Belfast was baked by the yeast process, while in M‘Neil
Street barm was used, it was resolved, early in 1907, to have a test in
order to find out which ingredient gave the best results. The nature of
the test or how it was carried through is not given in the minutes, but
it is stated that the Glasgow bread was favoured by the majority of the
directors. On the other hand it was the case that such prizes as were
gained at the Agricultural Hall Exhibitions were gained mostly by
Belfast bakery; but this might be due to any of a variety of causes, and
not affected at all by the variety of aerating agent used.

In March 1907 a resolution was approved by the quarterly meeting
delegates, the purpose of which was the appointment of a sub-committee
to inquire into and report regarding the duties and emoluments of the
members of committee, and the advisability of adopting fixed rates of
remuneration in place of payment per meeting. It was agreed that the
special committee consist of seven members, two of whom should be
members of the board. Sixteen delegates were nominated, and it was
agreed that the names of these be printed on ballot papers, which should
be sent out to the societies so that they could record their votes. At
the June quarterly meeting the auditors reported on their counting of
the votes on these ballot papers, when it was found that the elected
nominees were Messrs Cadiz, Kinning Park; M‘Pherson, Cowlairs; Gamble,
Glasgow Eastern; Smith, St George; and Pringle, St Rollox. At this
meeting, also, the special committee was given additional work, for the
delegates refused to adopt the report of the committee with regard to
the representation of Irish societies on the directorate, and remitted
the subject to the special committee for their consideration.

The special committee reported to the December quarterly meeting, the
more important of the recommendations being that the board be divided
into three sub-committees—two for M‘Neil Street and one for Clydebank,
and that the supervision of Belfast be continued on the lines adopted by
the board. They recommended, also, that the method of payment per
meeting be adhered to, and that payment be continued at the rates in
vogue. With respect to the representation of the Irish societies on the
board, a deputation of the committee had visited Ireland and had
interviewed representatives of societies and others there able to give
information, and, as a result, they declared it to be impossible to give
the Irish societies representation on the board because of the
geographical position of the branch. They recommended, therefore, the
appointment of an advisory committee, to be appointed by the Irish
societies. These recommendations of the select committee were all
approved and given effect to.

Meantime the Society was continuing its policy of doing as much as
possible of its work by its own employees, and it now began to add to
its work that of completing the building of motor vans, ordering the
chassis from the manufacturers and putting on the bodies themselves.
Incidentally, it was decided that from the month of July 1907 all the
shops west of Govan Town Hall should be supplied in future from
Clydebank factory. In September 1907 Mr Alexander Hamilton, who had been
a member of the directorate for a number of years, resigned, and was
awarded the thanks of the delegates for the services he had rendered to
the Society. In furtherance of the methods of the directors, who
believed in testing every appliance which was likely to be of use in
improving the quality or cheapening the cost of the goods they
manufactured, a “Cook” steam hot-plate was installed early in 1908, and
was found to work very satisfactorily. At this period the minutes record
that the properties and stocks of the Society were insured for £172,000,
divided as follows:—M‘Neil Street, £83,500; stables and workshops,
£14,350; tenements and halls, £31,400; Clydebank, £29,000; Belfast,
£10,500.

In 1908 the board recommended that the Society should become a member of
the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, and this recommendation was unanimously
agreed to by the delegates. During this year one of the most notable
events was the visit of a deputation of Austrian co-operators, including
Dr Karpeles, who were making a tour of British Co-operative
institutions. During one of the days they were in Glasgow the foreign
visitors were the guests of the U.C.B.S., and were enthusiastically
welcomed. One cannot help wondering whether the welcome would be quite
so enthusiastic and unstinted if they were to return to-day. In a speech
which he made during his visit to the bakery, Dr Karpeles pointed out
that in a Parliament of 517 representatives they in Austria had 88
Labour representatives, and contrasted this with the thirty or so in the
British House of Commons. He also referred to Co-operators as all
belonging to one family, and stated that the members of the deputation
left Scotland, not only full of gratitude for the reception given them,
but full also of new ideas for the spread of Co-operation. That was only
ten years ago, but to-day Austria is a dismembered wreck, and
International Co-operation has received a setback from which it may take
a generation to recover.

ANOTHER UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS.

Only three years had elapsed since the last unemployment crisis ended,
but at the September 1908 quarterly meeting the chairman felt under the
necessity of stating that they were in the midst of the worst
unemployment crisis of the last thirty years, and voiced the sympathy of
those present with the sufferers, a sympathy which he had no doubt would
take practical form ere the meeting ended. Later in the meeting it was
agreed that £100 be subscribed to the Lord Provost’s Fund for the
unemployed, and, in the course of the discussion of this proposal, it
was stated that the Baking Society had already given free bread to the
value of £300. It was decided that in order to avoid overlapping the
distribution of free bread in Glasgow should cease, but the directors
were empowered to deal with applications received from outside Glasgow.
The unemployment epidemic continued right through 1909 and well into
1910, and had not quite disappeared in 1911. It was the most serious in
its results which had ever been experienced by Britain since it became
an industrial nation.

RAILWAYMEN’S CONGRESS ENTERTAINED.

In October of 1908 the annual Congress of the Amalgamated Society of
Railway servants was held in Glasgow, and, on the Monday night of the
week in which the Congress was held, the delegates were the guests of
the U.C.B.S., the whole suite of the St Mungo Halls being placed at
their disposal. The guests were welcomed by Mr Gerrard in name of the
Society. He said the railwaymen all over the country were a tower of
strength to the Co-operative movement, and in every town which was a
railway centre there also they would find a strong, well-managed
Co-operative society.

In 1909 the price of flour took an upward tendency, but at the time the
movement began the U.C.B.S. were well prepared to meet it as they had a
stock of 75,000 sacks in hand; sufficient to carry them on for four
months. Later in that year the directors had a conference with the
directors of the Wholesale Society, as they were dissatisfied with the
quality of the flour they were getting from Regent mill. The result of
the conference was that they agreed to try Chancelot flour for a time.
New trading terms were also arranged with the S.C.W.S. for the sale of
biscuits. This year’s sales of cakes and other Christmas and New Year
goods were considered very satisfactory, 68¼ tons of large cakes being
sold. During the period of cake distribution what was considered a
record run was made by one of the Society’s motors; 140 miles being
covered in fifteen hours, and goods delivered on the route.

THE BAND.

During the years since its formation, the U.C.B.S. silver band had been
gradually increasing in efficiency. At first, when it entered
competitions, it was only occasionally in the list of prize winners, and
its engagements in the course of a year were not many in number, but as
the members gained in knowledge of their instruments and experience as a
musical combination, this position gradually bettered, until in 1906
they were winners of three first prizes and several others of lesser
value. These successes were followed in the ensuing years by others, so
that by the end of the season of 1908 the Iles cup had become their own
property, having been won for three successive years, and the prizes
were formally presented at a social meeting, which was held on 3rd
December of that year. Mr William Miller, who was president of the band,
and who had taken a keen interest in its development from the beginning,
presided, and stated that the season had been the best on record, as
they had had thirty-five engagements during the season. One of the chief
aims of the band, he said, was to spread a greater love for brass band
music. During the evening Mr Lawson, chairman of the Scottish Central
Brass Band Association, presented the prizes which had been won during
the season. These included the challenge cup, the Iles cup, and the
second-class championship cup. Mr Miller was presented by the bandsmen
during the evening with a clock and ornaments in recognition of the
services he had rendered to the band during the eleven years it had been
in existence. Mr Miller, in returning thanks, hoped that the U.C.B.S.
band would be the nucleus of a Co-operative band which would represent
the whole movement, and which would be able in time to take its place
alongside even the “Besses of the Barns.” Unfortunately, Mr Miller’s
hopes have not yet been realised, and now there are two bands in the
movement instead of one.

PROPAGANDA WORK.

The Society was continuously devising new forms of propaganda, and
extending and developing old forms. Much of this propaganda and
advertising work was philanthropic in its nature, and took the form of
entertaining various Co-operative and other organisations, but some of
it was also utilitarian. For instance, it was usually arranged that the
heads of the departments, or some of them, should attend the annual
exhibitions of bakery productions in London, and frequently specimens of
the Society’s productions were shown there. Then the annual cake show
grew to be the most sought after function of the whole year in the
Co-operative movement, and committeemen and Co-operative employees from
all over the country came to inspect and select, while the departments
of the three bakeries vied with each other in devising new dainties with
which to please the eye and tempt the palate of Co-operators.
Unfortunately, amongst other evils which the war brought in its train
was the cessation of this annual Co-operative show.

In another direction, also, the propaganda work of the Society was
utilitarian as well as philanthropic. A considerable sum was spent every
year on educational work, and much of this money was devoted to the
promotion of education and recreation amongst the employees. Then, too,
when new instruments became necessary for the band, a grant of £200 was
made from the Society’s funds, while uniforms were also provided. Every
opportunity of exhibiting the Society’s productions was also seized with
avidity, and at the 1906 Congress sufficient space was secured to enable
an oatcake baking plant to be set up, thus advertising still further the
Society’s products amongst the Co-operators of the South. In 1907 a
conference was held with representatives of society members and their
employees for the purpose of stimulating the pastry trade. Toward the
end of the same year, a society in Amsterdam was granted the use of
lantern slides of the bakery for propaganda purposes. Twenty vehicles
were sent out to take part in the Co-operative demonstration held in
connection with the Co-operative Festival in the beginning of 1908,
while every year for a time an inspection of the Society’s horses took
place in Glasgow Green on an evening in the summer, and prizes were
given to the employees for the best groomed horses and best kept and
cleaned harness. During a bakers’ strike at Lanark in the early autumn
of 1908, the Bakers’ Union applied to the Baking Society for bread,
which they purposed to sell in opposition to the local bakers. This
request was complied with on the condition that the Union did not sell
in competition with the local society.

Late in 1908, the bakery of Kilbirnie Society was burned down, and that
society was supplied with bread until their own bakery was reconstructed
again. At an exhibition and test of motor vehicles, which took place
towards the end of 1908, an Albion car which was the property of the
Society was awarded first prize and a Halley car, also their property,
second prize. The prizes, £4 and £2, were given to the drivers.
Pie-heaters had been supplied to one society in the Glasgow area by the
Baking Society, and these having been found exceedingly useful in
stimulating the sales of this variety of the Society’s productions, it
was agreed by the directors that any other society which was desirous of
using them should have similar facilities. Toward the end of 1909 it was
agreed to hold a competition amongst the squads of bread bakers in
M‘Neil Street and Clydebank, and to enter bread baked by the winners for
the S.C.W.S. bread baking competition. Clydebank branch secured first
prize at the bread baking competition of the S.C.W.S., and the
championship shield was presented to the U.C.B.S. at a social meeting of
the Bakery employees, which was held at Clydebank shortly afterwards.
The M‘Neil Street squad foremen who had won prizes also had these
presented to them at a social meeting which was held in Glasgow about
the same time. Hopes were expressed at the meeting in Clydebank that,
having gained the shield, Clydebank would remain possessors of it, but
this was probably too much to expect. At all events, no society
succeeded in winning it twice while the competition was in being.

In 1910 the miners of Leadhills, who had since become more closely
associated with the U.C.B.S., were on strike against the very bad
conditions of their employment, and £20 was granted by the Bakery to the
strike funds. In March 1910 “Puffing Billy,” the first steam motor owned
by the U.C.B.S., was disposed of for £70, after having given some eight
years of faithful service.

THE SOCIETY AND ITS EMPLOYEES.

The good terms which existed between the Society and its employees
continued during the period with which we are dealing. In great measure
this was due to the kindly consideration with which they were treated by
the directors and managers generally. In addition to the bonus—and the
facilities given, not only to invest it in the Society’s funds through
the investment society, and the opportunities which that society’s
membership of the Federation gave for bringing grievances before the
general body of the members—facilities, by the way, which during the
long history of the Society have never had to be used—the directors were
continuously thinking out plans for interesting the employees in their
work, and as opportunity offered were bettering the conditions under
which work was carried on. It is scarcely possible to conceive
conditions under which the work of bread bakers will be other than
laborious, but the strong efforts made by the directors to inaugurate a
natural working day for the bakers—efforts which failed because the
general body of the public were more concerned about suiting their own
convenience than they were about making a baker’s working life more
bearable—showed that the directors had the interests of their employees
at heart and desired to make working conditions as tolerable as
possible.

With many of the representatives of the societies this idea was also
foremost, and doubtless it was because that they recognised that trade
unionism was the surest safeguard of the welfare of the employees that,
in 1907, they adopted a resolution which made it imperative that where
there were trade unions with which it was possible for the employees to
become associated they must be members of these unions. Another step
which was taken by the directors spontaneously had for its object the
wellbeing of the workers. This was the inauguration in September 1907 of
a 44–hour week for the oatcake bakers. In later years the number of
hours worked by the female employees in all departments was also
gradually reduced.

The Society also bore a share of the expenses of the employees’ picnics
and social meetings, usually contributing a sum sufficient to clear all
or almost all the expenses of the juniors. In 1909 the top flat of the
biscuit warehouse was fitted up as an employees’ dining room. In the
middle of 1910 the board were called on to arbitrate in a case where
three of the blacksmiths employed by the Society had failed to maintain
themselves in membership of their trade union and had been dismissed by
the manager as a result. After considering the case, the directors
upheld the decision of the manager.

THE OLDEST SCOTTISH SOCIETY GOES UNDER.

Until the year 1908 the oldest Co-operative society in Scotland and
probably in the world was located in Govan. Govan Old Victualling
Society kept painted over its doors while in business the statement:
“established 1777.” Doubtless, this statement was legendary and would be
difficult to prove, but it is certainly worthy of acceptance in view of
the fact that other Scottish societies are known to have existed at a
very early date. However, the society had fallen on evil days, and in
the beginning of 1907 sent a request to the directors of the U.C.B.S.
that its shares should be placed on the transfer list. Towards the end
of 1908 it was forced to go into liquidation, but an unsuccessful
attempt was made to carry on the business, in order that the deficit of
some £900 which the accounts showed might be cleared off. Thus the last
remaining link with the Co-operators of the eighteenth century
disappeared, after what was doubtless a very useful career of one
hundred and thirty years.

THE CO-OPERATIVE INSURANCE SOCIETY.

For many years after the formation of the Co-operative Insurance Society
the Baking Society had held aloof from it and refused to become a
member, but in later years more Co-operative councils prevailed, and it
had become affiliated. On the death of Mr Andrew Miller, secretary of
the S.C.W.S., who had been for many years a Scottish representative on
the C.I.S. board, Mr James H. Forsyth, cashier of the Baking Society,
was nominated and secured election, retaining his office until the
taking over of the C.I.S. by the two Wholesale societies.

[Illustration:

DEPARTMENTAL MANAGERS

1. WILLIAM MILLER,
Distributive Manager, Glasgow.

2. JOHN DAVIDSON,
Master of Works, Glasgow.

3. JOHN M‘PHAIL,
Delivery Manager, Glasgow.

4. JOHN TOWART,
Purveying Manager, Glasgow.

5. WILLIAM NINIAN,
Biscuit Production Manager, Glasgow.

6. MURDOCH RICHARD,
Bread and Pastry Production Manager, Glasgow.
]

[Illustration:

DEPARTMENTAL MANAGERS

1. JOHN REID,
Productive Manager, Clydebank.

2. ALLAN STEWART,
Distributive Manager, Clydebank.

3. MALCOLM M‘FARLANE,
Delivery Manager, Clydebank.

4. DUNCAN M‘INNES,
Branch Manager, Belfast.

5. WILLIAM BELL,
Productive Manager, Belfast.

6. DUNCAN GRAHAM,
Branch Cashier, Belfast.
]

THE SOCIETY’S PROGRESS.

Notwithstanding the difficulties which the depression of 1908–09–10 had
placed in the way of increased trade for the Society the progress made
was substantial, and the yearly turnover, which was £480,000 at the
beginning of 1906, had risen by the end of 1910 to £564,000, while the
membership had increased from 143 to 171. At the beginning of the period
the weekly turnover in sacks averaged 3,405, while by the end of the
period it was 3,795. This was a much smaller increase than in the
preceding period, and it was also a decrease of 125 sacks from the trade
which was being done in 1907–08, but in view of the labour conditions
which prevailed in Glasgow during the later years of the period it was
very good indeed, representing as it did an increase in turnover of
10,000 sacks a year.

CHAPTER XVII.
PROGRESS CONTINUES STEADY.

BISCUIT FACTORY REMODELLED—COVER-PLATE OVENS—COMPLETION OF M‘NEIL
STREET BAKERY—A SERIOUS FIRE—A NEW VENTURE—SUCCESSFUL
CONTRACTORS—BLEACHED FLOUR—A BREAD TEST—ADVERTISING WORK—FRESH
OVERTURES TO C.W.S.—A TESTING DEPARTMENT CONSIDERED—PROPOSED
SUPERANNUATION FUND—THE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE CONGRESS—THE
HOLIDAY CAMP—THE SOCIETY’S PROGRESS.

The new offices of the Society were ready to be occupied in 1910, and in
March of that year they were formally opened. In the course of the same
year, the remodelling and bringing thoroughly up to date of the biscuit
factory was commenced. This remodelling scheme had its origin in the
fact that the old engine which provided the power for the biscuit-making
machinery was wearing done; and after considering the whole position the
members of the board decided that the interests of the business would be
best served by transferring from steam to electricity as a motive power.
It was therefore agreed that henceforth each machine in the factory
should be motor driven. The cost of installing twelve motors and
controllers was over £500; but it made for ease in working and also in
controlling the machinery.

COVER-PLATE OVENS.

About the same time a new type of bread baking oven was installed. The
ovens in the older part of the bakery were becoming worn out, and that
section of the bakery also required remodelling in order to bring it
into line with the newer ideas of the twentieth century. But the ovens
in the old bakery had been built on the Scotch principle, and there was
not sufficient space available to permit of draw-plate ovens being
installed without a reconstruction of the premises which might have
proved more costly than the provision of an entirely new building. Just
at this time they had submitted to them for their consideration a new
type of oven which seemed specially designed to meet cases of
reconstruction like theirs. This type of oven, which has come to be
known as the “cover-plate oven,” had much the same features, so far as
the actual baking was concerned, as had the draw-plate oven, but it
differed from the latter in that, instead of requiring a large space in
front of the oven to permit of the oven sole being drawn out to receive
the bread before baking and to permit of its removal afterwards, it had
a moveable cover, which was raised to permit of the bread being placed
on and removed from the oven sole, and which was lowered to retain the
heat when the unbaked bread had all been deposited on the sole. The
first of these ovens was installed about the end of 1910, and so
satisfactory did the trial prove that first No. 5 bakehouse and then No.
11 bakehouse were entirely remodelled and ovens of this new type
installed. Before deciding finally on the adoption of the new type of
oven, however, numerous experiments and tests were carried through. The
Bakery engineer (Mr Scott), the chief foreman baker (Mr Richard), and
the master of works (Mr Davidson) were all requested to submit reports.
These reports were eminently satisfactory, particularly that of Mr
Richard, who reported on the saving in fuel and wages which was effected
by the new oven.

At the time when the directors decided to install the first set of six
of the new pattern ovens, they also decided to install one complete set
of automatic baking machinery, manufactured by the same firm of baking
machinery manufacturers, the estimated cost of six ovens and machinery
being £4,000. This automatic machinery has proved so effective in the
various processes of dough making and bread moulding that less than half
the number of bakers are required to perform the work where it is
installed as are required where it is absent. As indicated above, so
effective did the combination of new ovens and new plant prove that in
little more than a year after the first £4,000 had been spent on the
installation it was decided to extend it at an additional cost of
£7,000. Since then, additions have been made which bring the total
number of this type of oven to twenty.

At the same time as this improvement in their baking plant was decided
on, the committee also decided on extensive alterations in connection
with the oatcake factory. These included the removal of the hot-plates
from their former situation to the flat immediately above the biscuit
factory, at a cost, including structural alterations, of over £2,000.

COMPLETION OF M‘NEIL STREET BAKERY.

No sooner were these alterations carried through successfully than the
committee turned their attention seriously to another project which had
been receiving consideration at intervals for some time. This was the
completion of the Govan Street, M‘Neil Street, Adelphi Street, South
York Street square by the erection of an entirely new block on the site
of the old buildings at the South York Street and Adelphi Street
corner—the north-west corner of the square; and at the quarterly meeting
held on 20th September 1913 they were granted powers to proceed. The
plans for the new building provided for a workers’ dining room in the
basement flat. The ground floor was to form an extension of the biscuit
factory, which had become congested in recent years and was too small to
enable the Society to meet the demand for biscuits. The first floor was
to be used as an icing room, and the icing room then in use it was
proposed to utilise as a cake factory, building four Scotch ovens for
that purpose. The second flat was to be utilised as an extension of the
biscuit-packing warehouse; while the upper flat it was decided to fit up
as a dressing room for the female workers. The approximate cost was
given as £11,000.

The new building was commenced in the spring of 1914, but before much
had been done the outbreak of war began to hamper building operations
very seriously, and it was not until the summer of 1916 that the
building was completed.

A SERIOUS FIRE.

In November 1913 a fire occurred in the top flat of the stables at South
York Street. In this flat 180 tons of hay were stored, and before the
fire could be subdued the whole of the hay was destroyed and the roof
had fallen in. Fortunately, the damage was covered by insurance, and the
sum of £543 was received from the insurance company. It was exceedingly
fortunate that the fire originated in the upper flat, as otherwise many
valuable horses might have been destroyed.

A NEW VENTURE.

For the Christmas trade of 1910 a new branch of trade was started.
During the preceding two winters unemployment had been rife, and as a
result the trade done in Christmas goods had shown a tendency to fall
off, but by the end of 1910 business was getting back to normal again,
and in order that Co-operators might be able to take full advantage of
the facilities for the production of Christmas luxuries which the Baking
Society possessed, a range of Christmas hampers, containing seasonable
goods produced by both U.C.B.S. and S.C.W.S., was placed on the market.
To popularise these hampers amongst the members of the various
societies, contribution cards, enabling the societies to form “hamper
clubs,” were distributed. This branch of business proved instantly
successful, over 3,000 hampers being sold. Altogether, at the cake show
this year, 102 tons of cakes were disposed of, as well as shortbread to
the value of almost £2,000.

The Society was now almost continuously successful in their tenders for
contracts on a large scale. On several occasions they had supplied the
provisions for the children entertained during the summer months in the
public parks by Glasgow Corporation, and during this winter they were
the successful tenderers for the supplying of five centres for the
feeding of necessitous children; while in 1911 they obtained the
Corporation contract to cater for 67,500 children at the Exhibition of
that year, as well as the contracts for the Coronation dinners in St
Mungo Hall and Maryhill. The year 1911 must also have been a busy year
for weddings, for it is recorded in the minute of 7th July meeting that
already that year 208 bridecakes had been made at M‘Neil Street. Tenders
for supplying a number of industrial schools were also accepted, and the
contracts for supplying a number of military camps with bread were
received. In the following year the contracts for supplying bread to a
number of the Territorial camps in Scotland were also secured, and these
contracts continued to be held by the Society until the outbreak of war.
In the autumn of 1912 a certificate was received from the War Office for
prompt and regular delivery of bread to the camps; and this promptness
and regularity of delivery had doubtless much to do with the fact that
for so many years in succession the contracts for supplying these camps
were held by the Society.

For the Christmas trade of 1912 136 tons of cakes were sold, while
80,000 children were supplied on Glasgow Corporation Children’s Day.

BLEACHED FLOUR.

The validity of the bleaching of flour by chemical process was a
question which engaged the attention of many official Co-operators
during the spring and summer of 1912. Uddingston Society was prosecuted
for a contravention of the Food and Drugs Acts because they had sold to
a Food and Drugs inspector one pound of flour which had been bleached or
oxidised by artificial means. The case was defended by the S.C.W.S.,
from whom the flour had been purchased, and at whose Regent mills it had
been milled. Almost all the chemical and milling experts in the country
gave evidence as witnesses on one side or the other, and the Sheriff
before whom the case was heard was left with a mass of opposing
technical evidence to unravel such as he had seldom had to face.
Ultimately he found the case not proven and, contrary to expectation,
the decision was not appealed from. The U.C.B.S., like most of the other
Co-operative societies in Scotland, had been using a proportion of this
chemically whitened flour, but in November of 1911, shortly after the
seizure of the sample at Uddingston, they decided to write to the
S.C.W.S. and inform them that no further deliveries of bleached flour
could be accepted. Nothing further was heard of the controversy which
had raged so fiercely in Hamilton Sheriff Court, however, and so it may
be taken for granted that, whatever virtues or failings flour so treated
may have had, injury to health could not be proved.

A BREAD TEST.

Although the committee of the Baking Society and their experts took
every precaution and themselves made every test possible, so as to
ensure that only products of the highest quality were sent out from the
bakery, they did not always rest content with having done that, and one
of the occasions when they took steps to get the unbiassed opinions of
the customer societies arose shortly after the introduction of the
cover-plate ovens into the bakery. They sent out samples of the bread
produced by Scotch, draw-plate, and cover-plate ovens to every society
customer, with a request that the societies should test the three
different loaves and indicate their preference. Altogether 634 samples
were sent out and 439 replies were received. Of these 47 per cent.
favoured the bread baked in the cover-plate oven, 34 per cent. favoured
the draw-plate bread, and 19 per cent. the bread baked in the Scotch
oven. At the same time fourteen samples had been sent to a private firm
at the request of the firm, and the results there were somewhat similar.
This test seemed to establish the superiority of the cover-plate oven
over either of the other two forms.

ADVERTISING WORK.

When preparations were being made for the 1911 Glasgow Exhibition, the
Baking Society’s committee decided to approach the boards of the
S.C.W.S. and the P.C.M.S., with the object of having a joint
Co-operative stand. Later, a sub-committee of the S.C.W.S. was
interviewed, and an agreement was reached that a portion of the space
reserved for that federation should be placed at the disposal of the
Baking Society for the purpose of erecting a working exhibit. On
interviewing the manager of the Exhibition, however, it was found that
that gentleman would not sanction a working exhibit in that section of
the Exhibition, with the result that the Baking Society’s committee
decided to drop the proposal and thanked the S.C.W.S. for their
kindness. Meantime, however, advantage was taken of the exhibition of
Co-operative productions which was got up by the S.C.W.S. in connection
with the jubilee celebrations of St Rollox Society, and there an exhibit
which took the form of oatcake baking by a number of alert and smartly
dressed girls, together with showcases filled with a tempting collection
of the most toothsome dainties produced by the Society, was shown. At
the same time, a similar exhibit was shown at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Meantime, the engineering department of the Society undertook a very
important piece of work. This was the making of several “Unitas”
moulding machines for use in the bakery. The making of these machines
was placed in the hands of a Scottish firm on what were deemed
satisfactory terms.

About this time Enniskillen Society in Ireland was having a bad time of
it because of the unfair competition of the master bakers of the town,
and assistance in the form of an increased percentage on bread was given
by the Belfast Branch. The directors also lodged a protest with the
Irish Master Bakers’ Association. In the early weeks of 1911, the
Society carried out a test at Clydebank for the purpose of ascertaining
the comparative costs of gas and electricity for lighting purposes. This
test showed that the Society would save 9/ per week by using
electricity.

FRESH OVERTURES TO C.W.S.

At the beginning of 1911, a deputation from the board was visiting
Newcastle on business, and it was decided that advantage should be taken
of the opportunity to interview the Newcastle section of the C.W.S.
board again, with the object of having U.C.B.S. invoices to English
societies recognised by that federation. The interview was of a most
friendly nature, and the members of the Newcastle section of the board
promised to bring the suggestions made before the full board of the
C.W.S., and give them full consideration and an early decision. This was
done, but, unfortunately, with the same result as on previous occasions;
the C.W.S. refused to recognise U.C.B.S. invoices.

An interesting sidelight on the enormous trade done by the Federation in
pastries, teabread, cakes, etc., is given in a report which was prepared
by the Federation at the instance of the Co-operative Union. The Union
was collecting information with the object of having the tax on sugar
repealed or reduced, and the information supplied by the U.C.B.S. showed
that the amount of sugar consumed by that Federation in its various
products during the past year had been 837 tons; while the taxation
which had been paid on this article was £1,500.

Various items of business were engaging attention, all of which had a
bearing on the success of the Society. The Continental Tyre Company
offered a prize of 5/ to the vanmen for every tyre of theirs which was
run more than the guaranteed 10,000 miles, and the directors agreed to
accept this; as not only was it good for the tyre manufacturers, but it
also made for the saving of outlay on tyres. A test of flour for
shrinkage was carried out for thirty-three days, with the result that it
was decided to call the attention of the S.C.W.S. to the excessive
shrinkage shown. This was explained later as being due to the great
demand for flour, which necessitated its being sent out from the mill
too soon after being milled, and an amicable settlement was reached. In
November 1911, it was agreed to insure the members of the board against
accident when engaged on the business of the Society. The only
surprising thing about this step is that it had not been taken before.

TESTING DEPARTMENT CONSIDERED.

In November 1911, a special report by Mr Murdoch, principal of the
Baking Section of the Glasgow Technical College, was received, the
subject of which was the standardisation of flour, so far as proportions
of moisture and gluten contained were concerned. Mr Murdoch suggested
that the flour should be tested at the beginning of the season and a
standard of moisture for each brand fixed; he also suggested that baking
tests should be made with the object of comparing the relative values of
the various brands. After this report had been considered for some time
by the members of committee, it was again discussed, but decision was
delayed, and it was not until May 1913 that mention of it again appeared
in the minutes. It was then decided that a chemical analysis of the
various ingredients in a laboratory was not necessary, but it was
thought that an experienced baker might be engaged who would devote his
time to making experiments with the various brands of flour, checking
costs and testing new recipes; and the whole question was remitted to
the productive committee to make further arrangements. The coming of the
war put a stop to definite steps being taken, however, and it was not
until the end of the fiftieth year of the Society’s history that it was
finally decided to establish a testing department. For this purpose, the
services of Mr Murdoch, the Technical College expert, were secured for
the exclusive use of the U.C.B.S.

PROPOSED SUPERANNUATION FUND.

By a coincidence it came about that the two big federations in the
Scottish Co-operative movement were called upon to consider the question
of the superannuation of their employees about the same time. It was in
the month of August 1912 that the question was raised in the U.C.B.S.
boardroom. Mr Miller, the Shettleston representative on the board, who
had given notice some time earlier, moved at the committee meeting held
on 2nd August “That we consider the possibility of forming a compulsory
contributory superannuation fund for all employees, with a compulsory
retiral at sixty-five years of age.” This motion, which was seconded by
Mr M‘Lean, was agreed to, and it was remitted to the finance committee,
manager, and cashier to prepare a scheme for submission to the board.

It is difficult to say whether the two things had any relation, but at
anyrate it is remarkable that at the quarterly meeting of the S.C.W.S.
which took place in September of the same year a motion for the
appointment of a committee to consider the superannuation of directors
and employees and to prepare a scheme was given notice of by Kinning
Park Society.

At the quarterly meeting of the Baking Society which was held in June
1913 a draft scheme was submitted by the directors for the consideration
and provisional approval of the delegates, the chairman stating that if
this was done the scheme would be submitted to an actuary for his report
on the financial proposals.

Delay was moved on behalf of Kinning Park Society, in order that the
societies should have an opportunity of submitting amendments. On the
other hand, those who favoured giving the board the provisional approval
they asked for argued that the proper time to submit amendments was
after the actuary had considered the financial proposals and had come to
a decision as to their soundness or otherwise. Disapproval of the whole
proposal was also moved, but eventually the motion for delay became the
finding of the meeting.

The proposals of the committee were most elaborate. They proposed that
all employees who had been in regular employment by the Society for six
months and who were in the employment of the Society at the date of
commencing the fund, if they were sixteen years of age or upwards and
not over fifty years of age in the case of males or forty-five years of
age in the case of females, should be members of the fund. The proposed
scale of contributions to the scheme was 5 per cent. of the wages or
salary received, and contributors were to be eligible at sixty years of
age to retire on pension if they so desired. At the age of sixty-five
for males and fifty for females they would be eligible to receive
annuities ranging from 25 per cent. of their salaries, after ten years’
payment of contributions, to 85 per cent. of their salaries after having
paid contributions for fifty-one years. To assist in launching the
scheme it was proposed that the Society should make an initial
contribution of £10,000. It was also proposed that the superannuation
fund should be managed by a committee of seven, which committee should
consist of the chairman and three directors for the time being of the
U.C.B.S. and three representatives of the employees, who must have at
least three years’ service with the Society.

When the scheme was brought forward again at the September meeting of
the Society one of the amendments sent in was from St George Society,
and called for the rejection of the scheme in its entirety. The motion
to reject the scheme was seconded by a representative of the employees,
who referred to the “autocratic” methods of the directors in adopting
this scheme and bringing it forward without consulting the workers. The
result was that the scheme was disapproved. The scheme which was brought
forward by the S.C.W.S. for the superannuation of their employees
suffered the same fate.

THE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE CONGRESS.

It was as the result of an invitation which came from the Scottish
National Co-operative Conference, held in Kilmarnock in 1910, that the
International Co-operative Congress held in Hamburg in the autumn of
that year decided to come to Glasgow for the 1913 Congress rather than
go to Vienna, the claims of which city were strongly urged by Dr Beno
Karpeles, in opposition to the claims of Glasgow, as set forth by Mr
James Deans.

The year 1913 was a big year for Scottish Co-operators, for not only had
they to entertain the International Congress in the autumn, but Scotland
was also the location of the British Congress in the summer, and
pessimists were not wanting who thought that the Co-operators of
Scotland had undertaken a task which was too heavy for them when they
decided to entertain two so great Congresses as the British and the
International in one year. Events proved that the pessimists were wrong,
however. One of the first duties which fell to the lot of the committee
which was appointed to make preparations for the International Congress
was that of finding a suitable house for it, but they did not require to
look far afield. The U.C.B.S. were the owners of the best hall in the
city for the purpose for which it was required. In St Mungo Hall there
was ample accommodation for the Congress itself, while in the adjoining
halls ample space for dining the delegates could be provided. The Bakery
was just across the street, and cooking and waiting facilities were all
that could be desired. So it was decided that in St Mungo Hall the
Congress should be held.

The U.C.B.S. undertook all the work of catering for the delegates at
luncheon each day. They also undertook the provision of the luncheon
which was given by the reception committee on the Saturday, and they
themselves provided the entertainment for one of the afternoons of
Congress. It was universally acknowledged that the International
Congress of 1913 was the best International Co-operative Congress held,
and to this happy result the U.C.B.S. contributed no small share. The
event was one which will not readily be forgotten by those privileged to
take part. Alas, that the expressions of fraternity so freely uttered
then should have been so soon made of no avail by the outbreak of war.

THE HOLIDAY CAMP.

It is to Mr John Dewar, for many years president of the Renfrewshire
Co-operative Conference Association, that the idea of a Co-operative
holiday camp owes its origin. For many years Mr Dewar was an
enthusiastic Volunteer, and his experiences under canvas during the
annual training periods of his regiment impressed him with the value of
this form of holiday. Associated with him in his propaganda for a
camping association on Co-operative lines was Mr James Lucas, at that
time president of the Glasgow and Suburbs Conference Association, and
latterly, also, Mr John Paton, of the Renfrewshire Conference council,
who had been converted to the idea as the result of a visit to Douglas,
I.O.M., where he had seen the huge city under canvas which for a number
of years housed thousands of holiday-making Lancashire lads every
summer.

By 1910 these gentlemen had been able to get their organisation so far
advanced that they had selected a site on the Ayrshire Coast for their
first camp, and had made arrangements with the farmer who rented the
land. At the last moment, however, the landowner stepped in and vetoed
the whole proceedings. This put an end to doing anything further with
regard to a camp during that year, but the search for a suitable site
continued and, at length, the little farm of Roseland, situated on
Canada Hill, Rothesay, overlooking the Bay, was secured. The farm was
for sale, but the committee in charge of the arrangements considered
that purchase was too bold an initial step to take, so they leased the
farm for six months; securing an option to purchase at the end of that
period if they wished.

Here, in the summer of 1911, the first Scottish Co-operative holiday
camp was established. It was rather a primitive affair, that first camp.
The cooking was done in the little farmhouse, while the campers had
their meals in a large marquee. The U.C.B.S. directors took a keen
interest in the camp from the very beginning. The catering was done by
them, and the catering staff were housed in the little farmhouse.

Primitive though the arrangements were, they appealed to the campers,
who were unanimous in their praise of the beautiful situation, the pure
air, the perfect catering, and the small outlay for which they secured a
perfect holiday. Thus encouraged, the committee which had promoted the
camp proceeded to organise a Co-operative society to work it, and in
this Co-operative society the U.C.B.S. took out twenty-five shares. The
farm was purchased for £600, and in September the Baking Society
increased the number of their shares to 100.

In 1912 the camp was much better organised than in 1911, but it was
still far from being what its promoters desired to see it. They were
hampered for lack of funds, however, as the Co-operative societies were
showing caution and a lack of faith in the enterprise, and were not
providing the capital necessary to work it properly as readily as had
been expected. The only fault which the committee found with the site
lay in the fact that in dry summers the water supply was inadequate. The
summer of 1912 also showed them that it was desirable that something
more impervious to rain than a marquee was desirable for the gatherings
of campers and, in order that these two defects might be put right, they
applied to the U.C.B.S. for a loan of £1,000 on the security of the
property. This loan was granted them, and so good use did they make of
the power which it gave them that, before the time came for opening the
camp in 1913, they had put down a huge storage tank for water, capable
of storing 20,000 gallons; and had erected a dining hall large enough to
dine several hundred persons.

The camp was a very great success in the third year. Its popularity was
so great that the committee found it quite impossible to provide
accommodation for all who wished to avail themselves of its facilities
for holiday making, and this has been the case in each succeeding year,
notwithstanding the influence of the war. At the end of the third
season, however, the committee of the association came to the conclusion
that, if the camp was to be made the success they believed it was
capable of becoming, some rearrangement of its management would require
to be made, so they invited the Baking Society to take it over as a
going concern and work it themselves.

They explained to the directors of the Baking Society that they were not
taking this step because they disbelieved in its success, but solely on
the ground that they considered that dual control was not good for
discipline and did not make for good management.

The directors of the Baking Society promised to consider the matter, and
the result was they brought forward to the quarterly meeting, held in
March 1914, a recommendation that the camp should be taken over, and
this recommendation was accepted by the delegates. Since then the camp
has been managed by the U.C.B.S.

In 1914 accommodation was provided for 250 persons, and it is extremely
probable that greatly increased accommodation would have been provided
before now had it not been for the intervention of the war which, by
providing another and much more strenuous form of camping for the past
and prospective frequenters of Canada Hill, prevented for the time being
such further developments. Doubtless, however, with the return of Europe
to sanity, such developments will take place; until, before many years
are past, almost the whole of the Society’s seven-acre estate will be
covered in the summer and autumn months with the picturesque pyramids of
white canvas.

THE SOCIETY’S PROGRESS.

In all its branches, with the exception of the tearooms, the progress of
the Society during these four years had been remarkable. In 1913,
however, the London Street tearoom was closed, and as soon as the lease
of the Union Halls expired they also were given up. At the beginning of
the period the output had averaged 3,820 sacks per week, while at its
end the average output was 4,648, an increase of 848 sacks per week in
four years. The aggregate sales for the year which ended in July 1914
were £692,600. Truly, the Society had travelled far from the days when a
small two-oven bakehouse sufficed for all its output. The membership now
consisted of 201 societies; which was also a contrast to the eight small
struggling societies which had banded themselves together in the last
days of December 1868 to form the Federation.

The time had now arrived when the Federation was to be put to a more
severe test than ever before since it had attained to years of maturity.
Like a thunderclap the war storm which had been gathering over Europe
during the month of July burst on an astonished world which had almost
come to believe war on such a gigantic scale impossible, and many were
the doubts expressed, even by sincere wellwishers of the Co-operative
movement, as to how it would weather the storm. The next chapter will
tell how one federation kept the Co-operative flag flying and added to
the laurels it had gained by its devoted and loyal service to the
interests of the common people.

CHAPTER XVIII.
BAKING UNDER WAR CONDITIONS.

THE EARLY DAYS OF WAR—KEEPING DOWN PRICES: THE DIRECTORS’
VIEW—HALF-PAY TO SOLDIER EMPLOYEES—ARMY CONTRACTS—HORSES AND
MOTORS COMMANDEERED—PRICE OF BREAD ADVANCED—DEATH OF BISCUIT
FACTORY MANAGER—MORE ARMY CONTRACTS—EXTENSIONS AND
ALTERATIONS—M‘NEIL STREET BLOCK COMPLETED—BUSINESS
ORGANISATION—TEABREAD AND PASTRY SHOPS—THE PRICE OF
BREAD—INCREASING OUTPUT—BISCUIT AND TEABREAD TRADE—THE SOCIETY AND
ITS WORKERS—DELIVERY DIFFICULTIES—DEATH OF MR DUNCAN M‘CULLOCH.

On the fourth day of August 1914, Great Britain entered on a new era.
There are not awanting cynics who declare that Great Britain is hardly
ever out of war, but however that may be, there never has been in the
world’s history a war which seemed in its early days to be fraught with
so dire consequences for civilisation as did that into which the nations
of Europe plunged in those early days of August 1914. For the first few
days it seemed as if chaos had suddenly developed. The people seemed to
go mad with panic, and rushed to purchase goods wherever these could be
procured, careless of the prices which they were called on to pay. To
the traders, large and small, it must have seemed like the beginning of
a trading millennium, and they took immediate advantage of the position
in which they found themselves. Prices doubled, trebled, and quadrupled;
yet the eager rush to buy continued. The poor bought what they could,
but they soon reached the end of their meagre resources. Not so the
rich, however. Amongst them, the panic seemed to be even greater than
amongst the poorer sections of the community, and they provisioned their
houses as if for a siege, careless as to who must want if only they had
plenty in store.

[Illustration:

EDUCATIONAL DEPUTATION TO ENGLAND
]

[Illustration:

EDUCATIONAL DEPUTATION TO ENGLAND
]

The bakers of Glasgow were also the victims of the profiteering craze
which had suddenly enmeshed the trading public, and at a meeting which
took place on the afternoon of 3rd August, they proposed that the price
of bread should be raised. Mr James Young, manager of the U.C.B.S., had
been present at this meeting and had opposed the proposal, with the
result that it was not carried out. This action of his was homologated
by his board at a special meeting which was held the same evening, while
at another meeting, held three days later, the committee decided that
they would not raise the price of bread in the meantime. The Baking
Society found itself in a very favourable position at this time. In
M‘Neil Street there were supplies of flour which would keep the bakery
going for nine weeks, while Clydebank had supplies for six, and Belfast
for seven weeks. They were thus in a position to view the situation with
more or less equanimity. The S.C.W.S. were also in a good position so
far as supplies of flour and wheat were concerned, having some nine or
ten weeks’ supplies either on hand or on board ship at the outbreak of
war, and the rapidity with which the German fleet was bottled up within
its own harbours gave security of passage for the time being to
food-carrying vessels. Nevertheless, the general panic of that first
week of war affected the wheat and flour trade as much as it did many
others, and it was not long before flour was selling at a price which
had never been asked for it in the whole course of the Federation’s
history.

These were conditions under which the two great Co-operative federations
were able to show to advantage, and they were conditions also which
proved the wisdom of the Wholesale Society in establishing its own
purchasing agency in Canada; for while outside millers were asking as
much as 65/ a sack for flour in the first week of the war, the highest
price quoted by the Wholesale Society was 37/, and ordinary flour was
sold by them at 1/6 per sack advance on normal price. Thus the two
federations were in a position to see to it between them that on this
side of the Atlantic, at least, no undue advantage was taken of the
circumstances created by the war. At the meeting of the Baking Society’s
board, which took place on 1st September, the committee placed on record
their appreciation of the manner in which the crisis brought about by
the war had been met by the manager, heads of departments, and employees
generally, and desired the manager to convey this expression of the
board’s appreciation to the heads of departments and employees. At the
quarterly meeting of the Society, the directors had a similar compliment
paid to themselves; Mr Shaw, Cambuslang Society, moving, and Mr Glasse,
S.C.W.S., seconding a motion which received the unanimous endorsement of
the delegates, thanking the directors for the splendid lead which they
had given to the purveyors of bread in the city and far beyond. Mr Shaw
drew attention to the importance and magnificence of what had been done,
and thought that the nation was entitled to recognise what the
Co-operative movement had done, not only now but at all times, in
keeping down prices and in keeping goods pure.

Perhaps the position in which the Federation was placed by the war and
the view of it taken by the directors can be explained most clearly in
the words of Mr Gerrard himself. Addressing the September quarterly
meeting, he stated that the profits for the half-year which had ended in
July had been a little better than usual, but [3]“the future was so
indefinite that no one could foresee with any accuracy what would
happen. They had been blamed, and were still being blamed in certain
quarters, for not increasing the price of bread, but they had resolutely
refused, thinking it their duty as a Federation to keep the price of
bread and other commodities as low as possible. Notwithstanding, he
understood the price of biscuits had been increased in some quarters,
and this had brought them some trade that they should have had before.
The way in which prices were rushed up at the commencement of the war
had seemed to the board most unseemly and unpatriotic, and seemed to
show that everyone was trying to make as much as possible out of the
war. It was unfortunate that the price of bread would require to be
increased before the war was over, but until that step was absolutely
necessary they would not increase it, and then only as far as was
necessary. They had received several contracts for bread, and the manner
in which the manager, heads of departments, and the general body of the
employees acted under the stress of these circumstances was worthy of
all praise.”

Footnote 3:

(The _Scottish Co-operator_, 25th September 1914.)

HALF-PAY TO SOLDIER EMPLOYEES.

At the outbreak of war, a number of the employees had been members of
the Territorial Forces and had been called up at once, and the board
decided to grant them half-pay. Later, when the call for more men came,
many of the employees joined up, and the directors decided that those
who enlisted should be placed on the same footing as regarded half-pay
as were those who had been called up at the outbreak of war. At this
quarterly meeting the directors were accused by a representative of the
Bonus Investment Society of not being so generous to their employees who
were serving with the Colours as were some other Co-operative societies,
but the chairman was able to satisfy the delegates that, in those cases
where generosity was most necessary—those of wives with large
families—the Baking Society’s scheme was the one which gave the wife the
larger total income.

This meeting was the one at which the method of giving the minutes in
the form of synopses was first adopted, and one of the delegates took
occasion to compliment the secretary on having produced synopses of the
various minutes which gave the delegates enough information about the
business done to enable them to find out what was taking place. At this
meeting also a grant of £100 was made to the Belgian Relief Fund, the
chairman stating that further grants could be made if occasion demanded.
Other donations made were:—£500 to the War Relief Fund, £100 to the Lord
Mayor of Belfast’s Fund, and £100 to the fund being raised by the
Provost of Clydebank. It was urged very strongly by several of the
delegates that the administration of the relief fund should be in the
hands of the Government. In the minute of the board meeting of 2nd
October, the fact is noted that during the past quarter the Society’s
motors had covered a distance of 125,015 miles. It had certainly been a
busy quarter.

ARMY CONTRACTS.

Immediately the war broke out, the United Baking Society were inundated
with Army contracts. In the first few days they had to make arrangements
for supplying camps all over the country, in addition to those for which
they had held the contracts. These new camps included those at Perth,
Inverness, Falkirk, and Dunblane, and all were supplied at current
prices. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that the Baking Society were doing
much work for the Army in that first week of the war, they were not
allowed to escape from some of the other discomforts which come to the
owners of horses and vehicles in a nation at war. On the 6th of August
18 horses, two motors, and one lorry were commandeered for military
purposes. Other large bakers suffered in the same way, and on behalf of
all of them a telegram was sent to the Officer in Command, pointing out
the importance of the work which was being done by the baking firms in
the distribution of food, and complaining that serious hardship to the
people would ensue if bakers’ horses were removed. With this telegram
the committee of the Baking Society associated themselves. To enable
them to overtake their work, the Society decided to purchase several
motors which had been offered to them, while a circular-letter,
explaining the position, was sent out to the societies. That the War
Office officials were not ungrateful for the assistance which had been
rendered them in the emergency of mobilisation was shown by the fact
that at the board meeting which was held on 7th August, letters of
congratulation on the manner in which the service of bread to two camps
had been carried out were read to the committee.

Among the minor results due to the war may be mentioned the cancelling
of a number of social meetings, excursions, marriages, etc., and the
closing down of the holiday camp at the end of August. At the beginning
of October, another attempt was made by the Glasgow Master Bakers’
Association to have the price of bread raised, but again the directors
of the Baking Society blocked the way. At the same time, however, the
committee came to the decision that, in view of all the circumstances,
they would not raise any objection should another overture be made. At
the beginning of October, the situation was again reviewed and, in view
of the fact that by the beginning of the year the price of flour would
be greatly in advance of that then being used, it was agreed to resist
no longer a slight advance in the price of bread. For three months the
Society had been the means of keeping the price of bread at the rate at
which it was being sold at the outbreak of war. If we assume that their
action influenced only two hundred thousand households, and that the
average consumption of bread in each household was only one 2–lb. loaf
per day, this action of the Baking Society was responsible for saving to
these householders in three months no less a sum than £21,250, and
probably double that sum, for that only supposes an advance of one
farthing per loaf. The first advance in the price of bread took place on
16th November. In Belfast the price of bread had been advanced ¼d. per
2–lb. loaf on 19th October.

DEATH OF BISCUIT FACTORY MANAGER.

Mr John Gilmour took charge of the Society’s biscuit factory shortly
after it was commenced, and he continued to manage it until his death,
which took place on 9th October 1914. He was highly respected by both
directors and workmen for his devotion to business and his tact and
kindness in dealing with those under him. He was succeeded by Mr William
Ninian, who had the distinction of being a Bakery-trained man and who
was acting as Mr Gilmour’s assistant at the time of that gentleman’s
death.

At the quarterly meeting, the chairman made fitting and sympathetic
reference to the loss which the Society had sustained through the death
of Mr Gilmour. He also referred to the retiral from active work of one
of the Society’s bread bakers, Mr W. Lees, who had been in the
employment of the Society for forty and a half years. During the quarter
an electrically-driven motor had been at work in Glasgow for the
Society. It was proving very satisfactory and the board, he said,
considered that before long these electrically-driven cars would replace
horses on the streets, although petrol-driven cars would still be used
for the long journeys.

At this quarterly meeting, some of the delegates wished to know why the
board had decided that they would no longer resist an increase in the
price of bread seeing that in their minutes they stated that their
contract for flour was still unbroken. The chairman, in replying,
pointed out that flour at the moment was about 10/ higher in price than
before the war, and the board thought it better that the price should be
raised by a halfpenny now than that it should be put a penny or three
halfpence later, when the stock of cheap flour was completely exhausted.
He also stated that eighty-six of the Society’s employees were then
serving in the Army. At this quarterly meeting, also, the question of
granting relief to what were termed “innocent enemy aliens,” in other
words, British women who had married subjects of nations at war with
Britain, and who through the operation of war were left destitute in
this country, was raised through an appeal on their behalf issued by the
International Co-operative Alliance executive. A proposal was made to
grant £25 to the fund which was being raised, but this was defeated by a
two to one majority. The cake show was held this year as usual, but, as
was to be expected, the sales were not so great as in some former years.
The price had been advanced on the average one penny per pound. In their
report to the delegates to the December quarterly meeting, the directors
stated that they would regard it as an instruction to make no increase
in the prices of their goods so long as they were able to work without
actual loss.

MORE ARMY CONTRACTS.

In September, an arrangement had been entered into with the Army
Authorities by which the Government supplied the flour and the Baking
Society baked it into bread for the troops. In addition, several
contracts for biscuits for the Army were received. The first three of
these totalled 200 tons. The contracts for the baking of bread for the
Army continued until early in 1916, when an intimation was received from
the Quartermaster of the Scottish Command that the contract would cease,
as the Government were now erecting field bakeries for themselves. Two
months later, however, another contract was entered into with the
Scottish Command on the same terms as formerly. The contracts carried
out by Clydebank and Belfast Branches have already been referred to.

EXTENSIONS AND ALTERATIONS.

For the whole of the first year of war and almost the whole of the
second year, the building department of the Society was kept busy with
the extension to the M‘Neil Street premises. The principal reason for
this extension was the necessity for securing more space for the biscuit
factory, and as soon as practicable this extension was carried through.
A new travelling oven was installed early in 1915 at a cost of £175, and
at the same time a new biscuit cutting machine was got at a cost of
£300. A gas-fired travelling oven was also installed before the end of
the year and another one, built in accordance with alterations suggested
by the bakery staff, was installed in October 1916. In the spring of
1915, it was decided to cover over the space between bakehouses Nos. 11
and 12 for the purpose of providing dressing rooms for the workers, and
at the same time it was decided to put fans in each flat for ventilation
purposes.

M‘NEIL STREET BLOCK COMPLETED.

Parts of the new block at the Adelphi Street and South York Street
corner were occupied as they were completed. Particularly, the ground
floor was occupied as an extension to the biscuit factory, but it was
not until June 1916 that the entire building was ready for the official
opening ceremony. This was of a very modest character, for, as the
chairman stated, the directors did not think the circumstances of the
time lent themselves to the celebration of the opening of their splendid
addition by means of a grand function, and in this he believed the board
had interpreted the wishes of the delegates.

The dressing room for the female workers, which was situated on the
fourth flat, was fitted up in an excellent manner. Each worker had a
locker of her own, made of cast steel, of which she alone held the key.
Fourteen wash-hand basins were fitted up and eight spray baths. There
was also an excellently appointed sickroom, where a girl who became
unwell suddenly could rest, and also a room fitted up with the
appropriate scientific appliances, where accidents could be treated at
once.

At the quarterly meeting, which took place on the day on which the new
wing of the building was opened, the chairman stated that the total cost
of the land and the buildings on it had been £11,800, while the total
cost of the bakery buildings, including the addition, had been £131,000;
which had been depreciated to the extent of £52,000.

BUSINESS ORGANISATION.

Shortly after the outbreak of war, the Canadian Government made a
donation to the Mother Country of a large quantity of flour, and in the
beginning of 1915 the Baking Society purchased 10,000 sacks of this
flour. The committee decided that when the bags were emptied they should
be sold as souvenirs, and from their sale the sum of £87 was realised,
which was distributed amongst local war charities. In March of this
year, the board had a very satisfactory conference with the board of
Kinning Park Society and the dairy employees of that society. The
subject of the conference was a project of Kinning Park board that the
dairy shops of that society should be fitted up for the sale of teabread
and pastries. Later, the board of the Baking Society discussed the
question of opening shops throughout the city for the sale of smallbread
and pastries, but owing to the difficulties imposed by war conditions,
the subject was dropped for the time being. Immediately the Armistice
was signed, however, the subject was again taken up by the board, with
the result that, at the 200th quarterly meeting, proposals were
submitted in which were embodied a suggestion that the Society should
open a development account and offer to those societies operating in the
Glasgow and Suburban area, which were willing to co-operate with the
Federation, a proportion of the cost of fitting up shops for the sale of
teabread and pastry. In this offer it was provided that the shop,
locality, and scheme of fitting should be approved by the directors of
the Federation; that only U.C.B.S. goods and confections of Co-operative
manufacture should be sold for a period, the period suggested being ten
years. If these provisions were agreed to the Baking Society would be
responsible for one third of the cost of fitting up the shop, provided
that one third did not exceed £150. The scheme received the hearty
commendation of the delegates at the meeting at which it was submitted,
the only objection taken being to the fact that for the time being it
was confined to the Glasgow area.

THE PRICE OF BREAD.

Reference is made above to the part which was played by the Federation
in keeping down the price of bread. In November 1914 the price of the
4–lb. loaf was increased by a halfpenny; in January 1915 another
halfpenny advance took place; and in March of that year another
halfpenny; while by the month of May the price had risen to 8d. per
4–lb. loaf. In February 1916 another halfpenny was imposed, and in May
of that year yet another halfpenny; while before control came into
operation the price in Glasgow and Clydebank had risen to 11½d. and in
Belfast to 1/ for the 4–lb. loaf. A rather remarkable note in one of the
board minutes for 1916 is that which states that a letter had been
received from a co-operative society, protesting against the action of
the Federation in refusing to consent to an increase in the price of
bread. The secretary of the Federation mercifully kept the name of the
society out of the minute of the meeting.

Prior to the beginning of 1915, the catering for the meals of the
employees had been done by a committee of themselves, but in March of
that year they approached the board with the request that the Society
should take over and carry on this work. During these years the output
of the Society was increasing gradually but surely. For the year which
ended in January 1915, the output was 230,780 sacks, an average of 4,440
sacks per week for the year, and an increase of 440 per week in three
years. On the 3rd of April, it was reported that during the preceding
week 5,351 sacks had been baked. This constituted a record week’s baking
for the Society, but for some time afterwards, until the coming of
Government Regulation flour, record after record was made only to be
broken. By the month of September 1916, the turnover had risen to 5,410
sacks per week, or almost a thousand sacks of a weekly increase in
eighteen months. In the end of that month, the output was 5,925 sacks,
and by the end of February 1917 the record figures of 6,012 sacks were
reached. In these increases all three bakeries participated, and the
rapid increase for 1916 and the early months of 1917 is all the more
remarkable in view of the fact that the amount of baking which was done
for the military was not nearly so great as it had been in the earlier
months of the war. On the last Saturday in 1916, 21,546 dozens of bread
were baked and seventy bridecakes made. There had evidently been an
epidemic of war marriages at this Hogmanay.

BISCUIT AND TEABREAD TRADE.

In the biscuit trade as well as in the bread trade, the directors
carried out as far as possible their policy of keeping prices as low as
was consistent with securing the Federation against loss, but the
rapidity with which the various ingredients for these luxuries of the
baking trade increased in price caused the prices to the societies to be
raised shortly after the outbreak of war. In March 1915, it was decided
to reduce the discount allowed on teabread by two and a half per cent.,
in order to compensate in some measure for the increases in the cost of
materials. Toward the end of 1915 the Society found that their stocks of
biscuits were falling very low, owing to the shortage of labour, as
about 30,000 tins of biscuits were being sent out every week. Systematic
overtime was worked in the biscuit factory with the object of overcoming
the shortage. The Society were also faced with a serious shortage of
biscuit tins, due to the fact that societies were not returning the
empty tins promptly, while the manufacturers were not able to supply the
demand for new tins. To meet this difficulty the directors authorised
the purchase of a machine for the manufacture of the tins. By the
beginning of 1916 the shortage of materials necessary for the
manufacture of pastries, and especially of sugar, was becoming very
marked, and in March of that year it was decided to stop the manufacture
of a number of the varieties of which sugar was a considerable
ingredient. In May, it was found necessary to advance the price of
biscuits by, on the average, nine shillings per cwt., yet,
notwithstanding the high price, the Society were having difficulty in
fulfilling their orders. Earlier in the year it had been decided to look
out for suitable ground for an extension of the biscuit factory, and at
the quarterly meeting held in September power was granted the directors
to spend up to £9,500 in purchasing land for this purpose. By October,
the price of biscuits was advanced other eight shillings per cwt., but
as this was four shillings per cwt. below the price which other
merchants were charging the societies were getting a very good bargain.
In November, it was decided to cease the manufacture of all French,
iced, and sugar-coated pastries, owing to the increasing shortage of
sugar.

THE SOCIETY AND ITS WORKERS.

At the outbreak of war many employees joined the Army or Navy, and to
these the Society decided to pay half-wages. As the months passed, more
and more of the younger men joined up, first under the Derby Scheme and
later under the Conscription Act, so that the carrying out of the policy
of paying half-wages meant the disbursing of a considerable sum every
half-year, and by the end of 1916 the sum of £10,628 had been so
expended; £7,892 being paid to dependants and £2,736 retained in the
hands of the Society at the credit of employees serving with the
Colours. At this time, 304 of the Society’s employees had joined the
Services, and eighteen had made the great sacrifice.

This drain on the male workers of the Society brought troubles of its
own in its train. We have already seen that considerable difficulty was
being experienced in meeting the demand of customer societies for
biscuits, while the difficulty in meeting the demand for bread was
equally great. Toward the end of 1915, the Operative Bakers’ Union
consented to allow their members to begin work one hour earlier on
Saturday mornings, while a number of men who had been formerly employed
as “jobbers” were given full-time employment. In the beginning of the
following year an attempt was made to induce the Bakers’ Union to permit
the employment of women in the bakery, but this permission they refused,
although they admitted that “dilution” was in operation in similar
establishments. In July of 1916 an agreement with regard to dilution was
reached, whereby it was decided that, after all reasonable efforts had
been made to obtain male labour, females should be appointed in the same
proportion as apprentices; that two girls could be appointed for every
man who left, and that the arrangement was to continue for the duration
of the war or of conditions created by the war.

In that year some difficulty was experienced in getting the bakers to
come to terms with the employers in the Glasgow district on the question
of wages, but the dispute was finally adjusted after notices to cease
work had been handed in. The terms finally agreed on were substantially
those which had been offered by the Federation, and gave the bakers an
increase in wages of four shillings per week. The bakers did not take
kindly to the proposal to introduce female labour into the bakehouse,
and when the directors proposed to take that step protested strongly,
notwithstanding the agreement which had been arrived at on the subject,
and although they were working very many hours of overtime each week.
The directors therefore decided that the question of the employment of
female labour should be referred to the War Emergency Committee, and
that committee gave their award in favour of the introduction of female
labour into the pastry and smallbread flats, but would not allow them to
take part in the baking of loaf bread.

DELIVERY DIFFICULTIES.

We have already seen that the needs of the war transcended all other
considerations in the opinion of the War Office officials, who
commandeered many horses and vans from the Society at the outbreak of
war and later. The difficulties of delivery thus created the directors
endeavoured to overcome by the use of motors for delivery. But even
machinery will not go on for ever without requiring repairs, and as
breakdowns became more frequent increasing difficulty was being found in
having the necessary repairs done, because of shortage of labour of the
necessary skill, and because also of the shortage of the necessary
material. Another delivery difficulty had a different cause. The
shortage of labour was general, and the retail stores were as greatly
handicapped as were other businesses. In 1916, with the view of
overcoming this handicap to some extent and at the same time ensuring as
far as possible that the shops should not be open in the absence of
skilled supervision, the societies adopted the policy of closing their
shops during the lunch hour. To some extent this policy attained the
object which the societies had in view, but as soon as it was put into
operation the Baking Society found their delivery difficulties
increased, for their vans had to stand idle while the shops were closed.
Representations on the subject were made to the various societies, which
gave very favourable consideration in most cases, and the practice grew
up of leaving one employee in each shop to take delivery of goods which
arrived during the lunch hour.

Early in 1916 the societies gave tangible form to their recognition of
the strenuous work which was being imposed on the directors by
circumstances brought about by the war; this tangible recognition taking
the form of an all-round increase in salaries and allowances for
committee work.

Yet strenuous as had been their work during those first two years of the
war, and great as had been their difficulties, the two years on which
they were about to enter were to provide even more strenuous work and to
produce difficulties which were so great as to prove almost
insurmountable. They were to provide conditions of bread baking which
were to change loaf bread from being one of the most palatable forms of
food into for the time being one of the most detestable and detested.

While the Congress was meeting at Leicester in 1915, the news arrived
that Mr Duncan M‘Culloch, who had done so much to build up the Baking
Society, had passed away, and fitting reference was made to his decease
at the quarterly meeting in June, and also at the annual meeting with
the representatives of the Irish societies in July. His death removed a
man to whom the shareholders of the Baking Society, and particularly the
shareholders in Ireland, owed much, and many were the expressions of
regret when the news became generally known.

CHAPTER XIX.
BREAD BAKING UNDER CONTROL.

FAMINE POSSIBILITIES—CHANGES IN QUALITY OF FLOUR—FOOD CONTROL
DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHED—BAKERS’ DIFFICULTIES—THE POSITION OF THE
U.C.B.S.—A BIG LAND PURCHASE—ILLNESS OF THE PRESIDENT—A NATURAL
WORKING DAY BY ORDER—ITS DIFFICULTIES—ENTERTAINMENTS TO
SOLDIERS—BRANCH BAKERIES—IRELAND—LEADHILLS—ROTHESAY—BUTE
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY FORMED—SUBSIDISED BREAD—AN INDUSTRIAL
COUNCIL—DELIVERY DIFFICULTIES—EMPLOYEES ON MILITARY SERVICE—THE
END OF THE TASK.

The first two years of the war had brought difficulties in their train
which the bakers of the country found considerable difficulty in
overcoming; but the conditions under which they were called on to
produce bread in the following two years were such as had not been
experienced for at least a hundred years, and there came a time when the
country was faced with the possibility of having to do without bread
altogether for a period. Fortunately this possibility did not become
reality, but it was the cause of material changes in the quality of the
flour used for breadmaking and of the conditions under which the bread
was made and sold which would have seemed impossible before the war
began. By the early winter of 1916 the possibility of a condition of
things obtaining which would prevent the importation of foodstuffs, and
particularly of wheat, in sufficient quantities to provide full supplies
for the population of the British Isles began to force itself on the
Government, so they appointed a gentleman to the position of Food
Controller and conferred on him almost despotic powers. One result of
this control of food was a drastic interference with the milling of
flour. In Scotland the millers produced flour in ordinary times which
contained a little more than 70 per cent. of the wheat; the first fruits
of the new order of things was a regulation that the extraction from the
wheat should be increased, by about 8 per cent.

There can be no doubt that under the circumstances this regulation was
necessary. There was a time in the history of these islands when
practically all the food consumed by the people was grown in the
country; but during the lifetime of the last generation this position
had gradually altered until Britain was dependent on wheat imported from
abroad for four-fifths of the bread supply of her people. There had
always been pessimists who foresaw, as a result of a war with a maritime
power, a danger of interruption to the steady supply of seaborne food
which was necessary if the people were to be saved from starvation, and
who uttered warnings which passed more or less unheeded; but the time
had arrived when these warnings seemed likely to become justified.
Towards the end of 1916 it was becoming apparent that there was likely
to be a world shortage of foodstuffs, and particularly of wheat, and
doubts were being expressed in well-informed circles as to whether there
would be supplies sufficient to enable the people to carry on until the
1917 crop was ready. While this world shortage was due in a measure to
the war, because of the number of men who usually devoted themselves to
agricultural pursuits who were then engaged in war work of one form or
another or serving with the Forces, it was also due in large measure to
a world shortage for which Nature, through the medium of a bad summer
and a wet autumn, was responsible.

The result was that in this country the regulations affecting flour
extraction became more and more rigorous, until not only were millers
extracting a proportion approaching 25 per cent. additional from the
wheat, rejecting practically nothing but the outer husk, but many other
varieties of cereal, even including a considerable proportion of maize,
were pressed into service and mixed with the flour from which bread had
to be baked. In some cases potato flour was also used for this purpose.
Fortunately, the famine which had threatened in the summer of 1917 was
staved off, but the inveterate submarine campaign waged by the Germans
during the whole of that year was responsible for the destruction of
many food-carrying ships and of many thousands of tons of wheat and
flour which were being conveyed to this country from America as well as
of many other varieties of food.

BAKERS’ DIFFICULTIES.

All this was the cause of much worry to bakers. They had been accustomed
to the manufacture of bread from flour the quality of which was well
known and regulated with almost scientific accuracy, but under the new
order of things they found the knowledge which they had acquired
laboriously over a long period of years almost useless to them. So long
as they were dealing with wheat flour, even if that flour did contain a
large proportion of offal which had formerly been used to feed cattle,
the position was not quite so bad, for most of them had been in the
habit of baking a greater or lesser proportion of what was termed
“wheaten” and “wholemeal” bread. But when flour produced from rye,
barley, and even maize had to be added their troubles began, for only by
chemical analysis was it possible for them to determine the proportions
in which the various cereals were used, and these proportions were
varied arbitrarily week by week at the whim of the Wheat Commission
authorities; while the millers were absolutely prohibited from giving
any information on the subject. Thus, when after a series of experiments
they had ascertained the method by which they could produce the best
loaf from a given flour, they suddenly discovered that the mixture had
been altered, and that their experiments had to begin all over again;
and this continued to be the position for some time even after the end
of the war.

THE POSITION OF THE U.C.B.S.

While the position of the average private baker was that which has been
described above, the baking departments of Co-operative societies found
themselves in a very much worse position in direct ratio as they had
been loyal hitherto in the use of Co-operatively milled flour. The flour
mills of Scotland did not produce more than one half of the flour which
was used in the country, with the result that the remainder had to be
imported; but the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society imported wheat
and themselves milled practically all the flour sold by them. The
consequence was that as the quality of “Government Regulation” flour
deteriorated, the flour which was supplied by the Wholesale Society’s
mills, in common with that supplied by the other millers, was of such a
nature that bread baked with it was inferior in quality and unpalatable.
As, however, bakers were compelled to take flour from the source from
which they procured it at the time when the Food Control regulations
came into force, those who had formerly used a considerable proportion
of imported flour were allowed to mix a good percentage of the flour
which was still being imported with the “Regulation” flour, and were
thus enabled to produce a comparatively white and palatable loaf; while
the Wholesale Society, which had not been in the habit of importing much
flour, were now allowed by those responsible for the bread regulations
to import only a very small proportion, and their customers suffered
accordingly. It was only after repeated representations had been made to
the Government and the Wheat Commission that, ultimately, the proportion
of imported flour which Co-operative bakers generally were allowed to
use was raised considerably.

From this cause the Baking Society was as great a sufferer as were the
others. The bread became more and more unpalatable as the admixture of
foreign cereals in the flour used increased, and complaints about the
quality of the bread began to come in with irritating frequency. The
receipt of these complaints, justifiable as they were, must have been
all the more irritating to the committee from the fact that they found
themselves the victims of circumstances over which they had not the
slightest control. They knew that the bread which they were producing
was unpalatable, and the fact that the Germans had to eat bread which
was very much inferior was but poor consolation in view of the fact that
many of their trade rivals were able to produce better bread because of
the larger proportion of white flour which they were allowed to use.
There ensued, as a consequence, a very considerable decline in the bread
sales of the Society. The customer societies would have taken the bread,
but their members could not and would not eat it. From much the same
causes the trade in biscuits and in teabread declined also. The use of
sugar in biscuits or in teabread was prohibited, as was the manufacture
of pastries. The result was that while the output for the quarter which
ended in October 1916 was 68,533 sacks, that for the quarter which ended
in October 1917 was 67,132 sacks, and that for the corresponding quarter
of 1918 was 62,867. And if the details for loaf bread in M‘Neil Street
alone are taken, the contrast is still more striking. The output for
1918 had fallen below that of 1915 by over 400 sacks, and below that of
the quarter which ended in April 1917 by over 12,000 sacks.

A BIG LAND PURCHASE.

By the end of 1916 M‘Neil Street bakery, and particularly the biscuit
factory, was again becoming congested, and power was obtained from the
quarterly meeting to spend up to £9,750 on the purchase of more ground.
At the time this power was obtained, the committee had under
consideration the fact that the ground on the east side of M‘Neil
Street, extending from the Clydeside to Govan Street, was in the market,
and ultimately the purchase of this ground was completed at a cost of
£9,750. The ground contained an area of 6,590 yards. Much of it was
occupied by buildings of a temporary character; the only buildings of a
permanent nature on the site being two tenements at the southern end.
This site has not yet been utilised by the Society, but it forms an
admirable property which is available for any extensions which may
require to be undertaken in the future. Meantime it is let at a rental
which gives a net return of 3⅓ per cent. on the capital cost of the
site.

ILLNESS OF PRESIDENT.

In November of 1916 Mr Gerrard was laid aside for a number of weeks by a
severe illness, from which, fortunately, he recovered after a time. With
the exception of one short interval, he was able to carry out his duties
until the beginning of November 1918, when he was again laid aside with
an illness so severe in its nature that ultimately he was informed by
his medical adviser that he would have to give up all thought of public
work for the future. The last regular meeting of the committee at which
he was able to be in attendance was that held on 10th October 1918.

A NATURAL WORKING DAY—BY ORDER.

Several years before the outbreak of war the directors of the Baking
Society made a determined effort to institute a natural working day for
bakers, but were unsuccessful, as a natural working day meant the use of
bread which was cold before it reached the shops, and this the members
of the stores refused to accept. In March of 1917, however, the
Government, impelled by the exigencies of war, were able to do,
practically with the stroke of a pen, what the unaided efforts of the
Baking Society had failed to do. This Order of the Food Controller
decreed that bread must be at least twelve hours old before it was sold
in the shops. It is quite likely that those who devised the Order did
not know and did not desire to know how their proposals were going to
affect those engaged in the trade. The bakers were faced with the
necessity of rearranging their methods at a moment’s notice. They had to
rearrange the working day, and also to find storage accommodation
overnight for their total day’s output, and on Friday nights for almost
double that quantity. One good result of the Order was, as has already
been mentioned, that the working bakers at last obtained a natural
working day, for their hours of work were fixed to begin at 8 a.m. and
to end at 4.30 p.m.

The storage difficulty was one which was more difficult to overcome. At
M‘Neil Street storage accommodation had to be found for 84,000 2–lb.
loaves on ordinary weekdays and for 156,000 on Fridays. This meant the
fitting up of every available space with racks and trays in which to
place the bread, and a very serious addition to the amount of labour
necessary. On the other hand it meant that there would be a considerable
saving on delivery charges, as societies were able to take in larger
quantities in the mornings, and so minimise the duplication of
deliveries. The difficulties were all overcome, and, in a very short
time, the delivery side of the business was working as smoothly as the
attenuated state of the delivery staff could be expected to permit.

ENTERTAINING SOLDIERS.

During the years of war a feature of the philanthropic work of the
Society was the entertaining of large parties of convalescent soldiers
from the Glasgow military hospitals. The Society began this good work in
August 1916, when a party of convalescent soldiers from Stobhill
Hospital, numbering 200, were conveyed to Calderwood Castle in brakes,
and entertained there. The party were accompanied by the Society’s
Silver Band, and an enjoyable afternoon was passed. Then, early in 1917,
another party of wounded were taken to a matinee at a theatre in the
afternoon, and were afterwards conveyed in brakes to the Society’s
premises, where they had tea, and a splendid concert was provided.
Several of these theatre entertainments were given, and were much
appreciated by the recipients of the Society’s kindness.

In another way the Society also showed kindness to men who had been
fighting their country’s battles. An “Overseas Club” for members of the
Colonial Forces had been established in Glasgow, and during 1918 and
1919 a party of visitors from this club were taken over the bakery every
Thursday, being afterwards entertained to tea, when the work which was
being done by the Federation and the principles on which it was managed
were explained to the visitors. Early in 1919, a letter was received
from the Scottish Sectional Board of the Co-operative Union, commending
the propaganda work which was being done in this way by the U.C.B.S.
directors, and offering a number of copies of “Working Men Co-operators”
for distribution. The Baking Society directors were much gratified by
this commendation and gladly accepted the gift of books, which were
afterwards distributed to the Colonial visitors.

BRANCH BAKERIES.

Various difficulties attach to a gigantic bread bakery which are not
apparent in the working of any other commercial concern of similar size,
and chief amongst these is that of rapid and cheap delivery. The
perishable nature of bread and the ease with which it is injured by
crushing make carriage by railway impracticable, while combined with
these difficulties is the fact that the majority of bread customers
desire to have it as soon after it is baked as possible. All these
disadvantages combine to limit the distance within which a bakery can
operate successfully to a radius of about twelve miles, and even on the
outer edges of that radius it is doubtful if the cost of delivery does
not counterbalance the saving caused by larger production. Yet the
advantages of having bread baked by a large Co-operative organisation,
instead of by many small ones, are obvious. In the first place, the
large buyer has the advantage of buying all the raw materials used at
rock-bottom prices: he has the advantage also of a wider knowledge of
the fluctuations of a market notorious for rapidity of rise and fall,
and this expert knowledge enables him in normal times so to average the
cost of flour used that it is always at the lowest average possible.

It can be easily understood, therefore, that Co-operators, struggling
with adversity and yet desirous of providing Co-operatively-baked bread
for their members, should turn to the U.C.B.S. for help.

In this way there had come to the directors within recent years numerous
calls for help. Unfortunately, the majority of these arrived at a time
when it was impossible to give the help desired. The first of these
calls came from Ireland. In and around Dublin there were several small
societies, having a combined membership of somewhere over two thousand.
The Dublin Industrial Society, after unsuccessfully endeavouring a few
years earlier to get the Baking Society to help in the financing of a
bakery in Dublin, had gone ahead with the erection of a bakery for
themselves, but it had never been very successful. The Society itself
was not too successful for a time, owing to the fact that the members
were not pulling very well together; and indeed, at one period during
the early years of the war, it seemed to be in danger of collapsing
altogether. The bakery was not very successful, because the quality of
the bread which was being produced left something to be desired, and
this again was due in some measure at least to the fact that the men
employed did not seem to realise that there were some operations in
connection with bread baking which could not afford to wait on the
convenience of anyone if disastrous results to the quality of the
finished product were not to accrue. On more than one occasion one or
other of the foremen in Ravenhill Bakery went down to Dublin to give the
Co-operative bakers there the benefit of his expert advice.

Finally, an invitation came from Dublin, asking that representatives
from the management of the Baking Society should attend a meeting of
representatives from five societies in and around that city, with a view
to taking over and working the bakery belonging to Dublin Industrial
Society in the interests of Co-operators in and around the city. The
members of the board discussed the question in all its bearings—social,
political, and financial. They recognised that the cause of Co-operation
in Dublin was much in need of a helping hand, and they were also well
aware of the difficulties from a trade point of view which would
confront them, but they resolved to attend the conference. They
suggested, however, that representatives from the executive of the
Co-operative Union, the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society, and the
Belfast advisory committee should also be invited.

At the same time, a request for the erection of a branch bakery was
received from Enniskillen Society and several agricultural societies in
the neighbourhood of that town, and the deputation took advantage of the
opportunity which their visit to Dublin gave them to visit Enniskillen
also. The information gained in the course of this visit was discussed
at a special meeting of the board, which was held on 23rd August, when
it was resolved, in the interest of the Co-operative movement generally,
and in view of the success which had attended other efforts, to place
the subject on the programme of business for the quarterly meeting, with
a recommendation from the board that they be empowered to establish
branch bakeries in Ireland. When the recommendation came before the
quarterly meeting of the members, Mr Gerrard explained that there were a
number of small associations of Co-operators in various districts in
Ireland who were anxious to use Co-operatively-produced bread, but who
could not be expected to produce it for themselves. They were situated
so far from Belfast that they could not be supplied economically from
there, and the only other alternative was that small branch bakeries
should be opened in these districts. Already negotiations had taken
place, but before the members of the board went further, they wished to
know whether the delegates were prepared to continue the policy of good
work which had been begun at Belfast. The recommendation of the board
was approved by a very large majority of the representatives of the
societies present at the meeting, in opposition to an amendment which
laid down the proposition that “no new bakery be erected in Ireland
until definite details had been submitted for approval to an ordinary or
special meeting of the Society.”

After some further inquiries had been made, the board as a whole gave
further consideration to the question at a special meeting which was
held on 27th November 1917. At this meeting it was stated that in and
around Dublin there were ten societies within a radius of twenty miles,
whose capital amounted in the aggregate to about £3,000. Dublin Society
were willing to dispose of their bakery for £2,000. Only a meagre
response had been given, however, to inquiries as to the amount of trade
which was likely to be obtained from these ten societies, but the
opinion was expressed that if the branch was once established the trade
would be sure to come in time. Reference was made at this meeting to the
lethargic state of the Co-operators of the district, and to the need
which existed to give the movement a lift out of the weak state into
which it had fallen. All the members of the committee who had visited
the district were impressed with the fact that a good field for
Co-operative work existed, provided that good management was given. The
committee expressed agreement that, given normal conditions, there were
reasonable prospects of the success of a branch established at Dublin,
but they were divided on the question of whether the purchase should be
made at that time, and remitted the decision on that point to the whole
board.

With respect to the proposal to establish a branch at Enniskillen, the
members who had visited the district were in agreement. There was in the
district a nucleus sufficient to warrant placing a branch there, but no
bakery was available, although a building capable of being made into a
bakery could be purchased. The restrictions placed on the use of
building material and on the supplying of machinery placed an embargo on
going ahead at the moment, however, and they must wait until the war was
over.

Mr Young, the manager, spoke strongly in favour of rendering help to
Dublin Society; but he pointed out that for some time, at least, there
would be little surplus if any, although when the district was
penetrated thoroughly with Co-operative principles there would come
ample compensation for the initial sacrifices. He thought, therefore,
that it was the clear duty of the Baking Society to take it in hand. The
board, however, was very evenly divided on the question, five voting for
making no recommendation to take over the Dublin bakery meantime, while
six voted in favour of making such a recommendation. With respect to
Enniskillen, however, the board were unanimous that a branch should be
established there as soon as possible, and agreed to recommend that this
be proceeded with at the end of the war. At the quarterly meeting held
in December, however, the proposal to take over Dublin Society’s bakery
and establish a branch there was defeated, although that to establish a
branch at Enniskillen was approved. How much the situation which had
developed in Dublin and neighbourhood in the spring of 1916 had to do
with the decision of the delegates it is impossible to say, but
undoubtedly the political situation when combined with the influence of
the known apathy towards Co-operation of the people of Dublin and the
financial risk with no sure prospects of recovery weighed with the
delegates when coming to the decision they did.

Since then premises have been acquired at Enniskillen, on a site quite
near to the premises of the S.C.W.S., and the whole position has been
surveyed thoroughly, but no definite steps to erect a bakery there have
yet been taken as the cost of building materials has been found
prohibitive.

Shortly after the outbreak of war the U.C.B.S. became shareholders to
the extent of £1,000 in the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society, and at
the quarterly meeting of members, which was held in December 1918, they
took up 100 one pound shares in the Enniskillen Co-operative Milling
Association, a Co-operative association which has been formed to
establish a meal mill at Enniskillen.

So far we have been considering only the establishing of branches of the
Baking Society in Ireland, but requests for branches were received at
various times from widely distant parts of Scotland as well. In
particular, just at the time when a final decision was arrived at on the
question of taking over Dublin Society’s bakery, a request was received
from the neighbouring societies of Leadhills and Wanlockhead that the
Baking Society should take over and work a bakery in Leadhills for the
purpose of supplying these two societies with bread. The master of works
was sent to inspect, with the result that, later, the board were
empowered to open a bakery at the place they deemed most suitable for
supplying the trade of the district. Like every other building scheme,
this of theirs was hung up during the war; but after careful
consideration it was decided that a bakery should be established in
Leadhills, and this has now been done. An application was received from
Kirkconnel Society about the same time as that from the Leadhills
district, and it was thought at first that one bakery might be erected
which would suffice to serve both districts, but an inspection of the
road connecting the two places showed that if this was not impracticable
it would be at least dangerous, and the idea was abandoned. Nothing
further has been done yet with respect to a branch at Kirkconnel.

ROTHESAY BRANCH.

For years attempts have been made to establish a branch of the
Co-operative movement in Rothesay, but this was found to be impossible
until the Baking Society took the job in hand. Their possession of
Roseland Camp on Canada Hill had given them a footing in the town, and
in some measure this was of assistance to them. Early in 1917 the board
received information that a bakery situated on the water front was to
let, and they made arrangements to secure it with such celerity that by
the 24th of March in that year it came into their possession on a three
years’ lease. They were not long in possession, however, before they
were informed that the lease would not be renewed when it expired. It
seems that the private traders of the town had made representations to
the owner of the property, and this was the result. For years the
traders had proved uniformly successful in preventing Co-operation from
getting a foothold in the town, and they were not going to be baulked
without an effort to prevent it. But the directors of the Baking Society
were just as determined as were the traders of Rothesay, and after
lengthy and long-continued negotiations with the directors of the
Wholesale Society, who had been on the lookout for premises in Rothesay
for many years but had been uniformly unsuccessful in securing them, the
Baking Society became, early in 1918, proprietors of the property in
which their bakery was situated.

The property which had been purchased included a shop which could be
used as a grocery department, and for some time efforts were made to get
one or other of the Glasgow societies to open a branch there, but
unsuccessfully. The committee of Clydebank Society were inclined to view
the matter favourably, but when the question was brought before a
general meeting of the members of the society for their approval, they
refused to consent. Greenock Central Society were also given the
opportunity of opening a branch, but they also were afraid to venture in
face of the prevailing restrictions on supplies. The result was that
those who had been customers of the Baking Society in Rothesay were
invited to form a society of their own, the Wholesale Society and the
Baking Society subscribing a large part of the capital between them. The
society was formed with Mr William Maxwell, J.P., president of the
International Co-operative Alliance, as president. Co-operation had been
established in Rothesay.

The traders of the town had not yet shot their bolt, however. The
Co-operative bakery was doing well, and it was possible that a
Co-operative grocery and provision business would do equally well; but,
fortunately for the traders, the local Food Control Committee refused
permission to the new society to open their grocery branch, on the plea
that the shops already open in the town were sufficient in number to do
the trade, and in this attitude they were backed up by the Edinburgh
Court. At the beginning of 1919, however, the embargo was removed, and
the new society has proved very successful.

SUBSIDISED BREAD.

In September of 1917 the Food Control Department of the Government
decided to fix the price of the four-pound loaf at ninepence, giving the
flour to the bakers at 44/3 a sack. As the stocks which the bakers had
bought had cost much more than this price, the Food Control Department
agreed to make up the difference between 44/3 and the invoice price,
allowing a maximum discount on the invoice price of 18/ per sack. A
maximum allowance for carriage, baking material, and wages was 23/ per
sack. When the Baking Society had taken stock of their flour they found
that the difference between the discount allowed by the Government and
the invoice price of the flour represented a loss to the Society of
nearly £7,000. To the delegates at the quarterly meeting the chairman
explained that this was due to the fact that the Society had purchased a
large quantity of white flour in order to improve the quality of the
bread. This flour had cost from 80/ to 90/ a sack, and even with the
maximum Government discount allowed they were losing about 30/ a sack.

The general result of the Government’s policy was that bread which, if
sold at a price which corresponded with the market price of flour, would
have cost one shilling for the four-pound loaf, has been sold at
ninepence, the taxpayer paying the difference, which amounted to about
£50,000,000 per annum.

AN INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL.

Early in 1918 an Industrial Council for the Baking Trade was set up on
the lines laid down in the Report of the Royal Commission for the
avoidance of Industrial Disputes. On this council Mr James Young,
manager of the Baking Society, was appointed to look after the interests
of the Co-operative societies in Scotland which had bread bakeries. The
objects of the council provide for the joint consideration by
representatives of employers and employees of such questions as wages,
working conditions, regulation of employment, entry of apprentices and
their training. So far as it has gone the council has proved of service
in bringing representatives of the employers and the workers together at
regular intervals to discuss affairs of the trade.

EMPLOYEES ON MILITARY SERVICE.

The Baking Society contributed its full quota to the Forces of the Crown
during the war. In all 426 employees served in one or other of the Arms
of the Crown: M‘Neil Street contributing 331; Clydebank, 60; Belfast,
34; and Rothesay, 1. Of that number fifty made the great sacrifice,
eleven became prisoners of war, and forty-four were discharged as unfit
for further service; while, at the signing of the armistice, 321 men
were still serving. To these men or their dependants the Society paid
from 4th August 1914 to 26th January 1919, the date which marks the end
of the fiftieth year of the Society’s existence, the sum of £30,105. The
arrangement made by the directors was that each man who joined up should
receive half-wages irrespective of what his Army allowance might be. By
this method they ensured that the men with the largest number of
dependants should be in receipt of the largest total incomes.

THE END OF THE TASK.

We have now come to the end of our task. In the preceding pages we have
traced the growth of the Society from its infancy when it was cradled in
the little bakery in Coburg Street; we have followed it through all the
struggles of its early years, and have seen difficulty after difficulty
surmounted. Growth has followed on growth, and the Society has gone on
adding to its usefulness until it stands to-day a monument to the faith
and foresight of the men who conceived it, and a monument also to the
shrewdness and integrity of the men who in successive generations have
had charge of its welfare. In its early years the directors were often
in need of money with which to meet expenses. To-day it has invested
funds not required at the moment for business purposes, and including
£70,000 in War Loan, which amount in the aggregate to considerably over
£300,000. It began with a membership of eight societies and a few pounds
of capital. At the end of the fiftieth year the share capital was almost
£250,000; while loans and deposits were in excess of that sum, and there
were 211 shareholding societies.

The prospect is rosy. The directors are on the outlook for new worlds to
conquer. Already they have devised plans whereby they can come to the
assistance of the Glasgow societies in setting up shops for the sale of
teabread and pastries. They have requests for branch bakeries from
various parts of Scotland and Ireland which have yet to be considered.
They have the ever-increasing urgency of the transport problem to deal
with, and on them falls, also, the duty of counteracting the
ever-present tendency on the part of societies at the outskirts to break
off and begin baking for themselves. That is to say, they have ever
before them the problem of making the huge organisation which they
control more and ever more efficient, while maintaining those good
relations with their employees which have been such a noteworthy feature
during the long life of the Society; and they have to continue to do
this while continuing to manifest that true spirit of Co-operation and
brotherliness which has been so distinguishing a feature of the attitude
and atmosphere which surrounds the Federation. That they will achieve
all this there is little doubt, for the directors of to-day are worthy
successors of the men who wrought and fought that the Federation might
stand where it does.

CHAPTER XX.
EDUCATIONAL WORK.

IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION—EARLY EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE SOCIETY—AN
EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE FORMED—ITS CONSTITUTION—WORK AMONGST THE
YOUNG—THE U.C.B.S. BAND FORMED—SOCIAL WORK—LECTURES—CLASSES DURING
WORKING HOURS—A NEW DEPARTURE—AN EDUCATIONAL TOUR—A SECOND
TOUR—VALUABLE WORK—THE YEARS OF WAR.

In all propaganda work there must necessarily be an element of
education, for at least a part of educational work consists in the
imparting of information, although the more important part is the
training to think. Co-operators from the very earliest days of the
movement have recognised the necessity of education, and have devoted a
part of the funds which came to them from Co-operative trading to its
support. Indeed the Rochdale Pioneers went further, and amongst their
objects they placed taking control of the functions of education,
meantime devoting 2½ per cent. of the surplus which accrued to them from
their Co-operative trading to the furtherance of education amongst
themselves. This example of theirs was followed by many other societies,
and associations of a more or less educational nature were formed
wherever a number of Co-operators could find it convenient to meet. It
was from the conferences of representatives from the societies that the
idea grew of what has become ultimately the supreme educational
authority of the movement in Britain, the Co-operative Union. Even
before the formation of the Union, conferences were being held in
Scotland to discuss Co-operative problems, and almost from the beginning
the Baking Society affiliated with the nearest of the Associations under
whose auspices such conferences were held. Thus we find them subscribing
to the funds of the Glasgow and Suburbs Conference Association and the
Renfrewshire Conference Association, and, later, to all the other
district associations in the country. But even before they began to
subscribe to the conference associations they were taking an interest in
and giving support to the literature of the movement. We find them at
the quarterly meeting which took place on 26th August 1871 agreeing to
subscribe for twelve copies of the _Co-operative News_, which were to be
distributed amongst the employees in the bakery.

The members of the committee were evidently diligent readers of this
journal too, for, as has been noted previously, they embodied in their
minutes at a later date a criticism of some remarks which had appeared
in that journal relative to the Society. It was not until 1896, however,
that it was decided to set up a separate committee, which would have
under its control the educative and recreative agencies of the Society.
Just prior to that they had published a _Year Book_ which contained a
history of the Society to date. A branch of the Women’s Guild had also
been formed, and classes in singing and ambulance work, as well as a
literary society. At a special meeting which the committee held on 1st
February 1896 they came to the unanimous decision that the time had now
arrived when an educational and charitable fund should be formed by the
Society, out of which all charitable donations and subscriptions should
be taken. At the following meeting the sum of £50 was voted for the
purpose of forming an educational fund.

The members of the board took the employees into consultation with
respect to the administration of the educational fund, with the result
that the following constitution was drawn up and agreed to:—

DUTIES AND WORK OF EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE.

This Committee shall consist of three Directors, who shall hold
office for one year, and shall be elected at the December meeting of
each year. They, along with the four members appointed by the
employees, shall form the Educational Committee.

They shall take a special oversight of all the clubs, classes, and
meetings of an educational nature connected with the Bakery.

They shall have at their disposal for the furtherance of educational
work connected with the Bakery 10 per cent. or such other proportion
of the Educational and Benevolent Fund (Rule 14) as the Directors
may from time to time determine.

It will further be expected from them to make recommendations to the
Directors from time to time on matters of public educational
interest, and it shall be competent for the Directors at any time to
remit such matters to them for consideration and report.

They shall meet monthly or oftener if required, and submit a short
minute of their proceedings at the Directors’ bi-monthly meeting.

The first report of the educational committee was issued in December
1896. From this report it appeared that the nucleus of a library had
been brought together, and that the library had been opened with 180
volumes; the literary association had had a membership of 105, and the
women’s guild a membership of fifty. A musical association had also been
conducted under the auspices of the committee, which had secured
forty-nine members, and the choir had given a concert in the Wellington
Palace. They had also sung at a mass meeting of Co-operators held in the
City Hall, and had supplied the music at a propaganda meeting held at
Blairdardie by the Glasgow and Suburbs Conference Association council. A
swimming class had had a membership of sixty, and an ambulance class had
a membership of thirty-five on the roll. A physical drill class had been
started for the younger lads in the factory, and a Christian Association
with twenty members on the roll had been started, and carried on a
service every Sunday in the Society’s hall. Altogether the committee had
done a remarkably good year’s work for a beginning, and had reason to
congratulate themselves on the success which had attended their efforts.

The members of the educational committee had not been long at work
before they came to the conclusion that the Society owed a duty to its
younger workers which it could not afford to neglect. The Society
employed over a hundred young people under eighteen years of age, and it
was the wish of the committee that they should find some method by means
of which they could assist these young people. Their first step was the
convening of a meeting of the young people in the London Street
tearooms, where they were addressed by Dr Henry Dyer and Mr James
Campsie; and, as a result of this meeting, eleven of the young people
joined the Glasgow continuation classes. It was during the second year
of the educational committee’s existence that the Society’s band was
formed, and the educational committee lent valuable financial aid in
establishing it, with the result that in the years which have followed
the band has proved itself a most valuable Co-operative asset. Mr James
Campsie, M.A., was also commissioned to write a booklet for the
children, which was entitled “Glimpses of Co-operative Land,” and of
which some 22,000 copies were sold.

The committee and the various agencies under its control also took an
active part in the work of the Homes bazaar, with the result that they
were in the happy position of being able to contribute £480 to its
funds. The members of the committee also took an active part in the
elections to the various local governing bodies of the city and in the
work of the Ward Committee. In 1899 a holiday club was formed, which in
its first year of existence disbursed £220 amongst the members at
holiday time. New agencies were continually being added, and new methods
tried of influencing the younger members amongst the firm’s employees
and of providing recreation and education for them. In 1903 a junior
musical association was started, and continued to do well for a number
of years, as did also an offshoot in the form of a kinderspiel choir,
which gave each year successful performances of operettas to large
audiences. A rowing club also became an immediate success until the war
brought to many of the members another form of outdoor exercise of an
even more strenuous nature.

In 1905 a series of lectures was organised; such well-known men as Mr
Will Crooks, T. P. O’Connor, M.P., and David Macrae being the lecturers
engaged. Annual festivals of the employees also became the rule, and
later, annual excursions in the summer, which proved very successful. A
whist club and a football club were next formed, and in 1908 a beginning
with a holiday camp was made, twenty-five young people being sent to the
Y.M.C.A. camp at Ardgoil, with the assistance of the educational
committee. From time to time the committee paid the fees of employees
who attended classes at the Technical College, and in 1912 they came to
the unanimous decision that in future the fees of all employees,
irrespective of age or sex, who devoted their spare time to attendance
at technical or continuation classes, should be paid for them, provided
the attendances they made satisfied the committee. They also decided
that all junior employees who attended the Technical College for a
session should be allowed to attend day classes at the college, time so
spent to be accounted as part of their day’s work. This admirable
decision, arrived at long before any steps in this direction were taken
by the educational authorities on either side of the Border, is an
evidence of the value which the committee set on education.

A NEW DEPARTURE.

During these years one or more prominent lecturers were engaged each
quarter to deliver lectures to the employees. Amongst such lecturers,
there were in later years, Mr Andrew Young, Miss Margaret M‘Millan, and
Mr Philip Snowden. The Society’s kinderspiels continued to be very
successful, as did the other agencies, but there was a sameness about
the work of the committee which made for monotony; and in 1913 Mr James
Young came forward with a suggestion to the committee which met with
their hearty and unanimous approval. Mr Young pointed out that, while
with some people education ceased as soon as they left school, with
others it did not cease until they had had a University course and a
tour round the world. The workers could not afford a tour round the
world, nor a University course, but it was within the power of the
educational committee of the Society to appoint several of their
employees to make a tour of some of the most prominent concerns on the
other side of the Border, and so learn their methods of doing business;
how they provided for the housing of their employees, the relation of
the employees to trade unionism, recreative societies, conditions of
labour, hours, etc., and he suggested that such firms as the C.W.S.,
Cadbury’s, Lever’s, and Rowntree’s might be visited with profit. On the
return of the deputation, short papers might be prepared by the members
in which they would give accounts of what they had seen.

He pointed out that civic and other bodies believed in the value of
deputations as necessary in enlarging the outlook and in helping the
development of education.

THE DEPUTATION.

The deputation, which consisted of three male and two female employees,
the manager, the chairman, and Mr Cadiz, spent the last week of June
1913 in visiting the premises of several English firms, for the purpose
of getting information on the points mentioned above, and recorded their
experiences and impressions in a pamphlet which was printed and issued
to employees and members of the Society. The principal points dealt with
were superannuation schemes; training of youth schemes and technical
classes; wages and hours of labour; discipline; piecework, etc., of
female employees; conditions of workrooms, costumes, baths, dining
facilities, etc., of female employees; wages, hours, and working
conditions of men employees and their relation to trade unions; social
activities in factories; bands, athletic clubs, holidays and holiday
arrangements; and housing schemes; each member of the deputation being
responsible for a paper on one of the groups of subjects. The net result
of the visit of the deputation was the collection of a considerable
amount of valuable information respecting betterment schemes:
information which, no doubt, had an influence on the directors when the
plans for the erection of the last section of the M‘Neil Street premises
were being considered. It had the subsidiary result of showing also
that, while so far as wages and hours of labour were concerned, the
Co-operative societies were decidedly in the front, in provision of
outlets for the social activities of their employees and in housing and
environment schemes they were far behind the best which was being done
by private firms. It is interesting to note, in view of the fact that
since then both the delegates to the Scottish Wholesale Society’s
meeting and to the Baking Society’s meeting have refused to adopt
superannuation schemes for their employees, that in every one of the
firms which were visited, including the C.W.S., a superannuation or
pension scheme was in operation; in some cases non-contributory and in
other cases contributory. It is noticeable also that, in two of them,
housing schemes of an elaborate nature were in operation, and that, in
each case, a town on the most up-to-date garden city lines had been
erected. It is perhaps also worthy of note here that, as this book is
being written, these firms have been placed first and second
respectively in a competition as to which firms in Great Britain are the
best employers, while no Co-operative society is even mentioned.

This pamphlet, “Education By Impression,” which was edited by Mr Young,
must have been of some value in opening the eyes of the more farseeing
Co-operators to what they had yet to do before the Co-operative movement
could claim to be in all respects a first-rank employer. On the other
hand, Mr Young, in his editorial note, pointed out that it might be
possible to carry organisation, even the organisation of an industrial
heaven, that far that the independent character of the Scot might rebel.
As a result of what he had seen, Mr Young recommended certain
modifications which he thought could be made at M‘Neil Street with
advantage. Some of these have since been incorporated to a greater or
lesser extent in the methods of works organisation in use at M‘Neil
Street.

A SECOND DEPUTATION.

So successful had the first visit to English factories been, and so
great was the information acquired, especially on points affecting the
welfare of the employees, that in the following year a second deputation
was sent, which was equally successful in its results; and had it not
been for the coming of war, doubtless others would have followed. Like
their predecessors, the members of this deputation placed their
impressions on paper, and these were also incorporated in a pamphlet
which was issued under the title, “Seeing Is Believing.”

On this second occasion, the deputation consisted of three ladies and
six gentlemen, including Messrs Buchanan and M‘Auslane, directors; and
Mr Miller, distributive manager; and as on the previous occasion each
member of the deputation was given a special subject, points in
connection with which he or she had to note and report on. These points
included housing; holiday camps; rest homes, etc.; profit sharing and
bonus to labour; general conditions of female employment;
superannuation; factory equipment; shop organisation; apprentices and
conditions of employment of female employees. In connection with the
housing investigation, which was carried out by Mr Buchanan, Letchworth
Garden City was visited, as well as several other garden villages of a
more or less satisfactory character.

VALUABLE WORK.

There can scarcely be anyone who will question the educational value of
such visits as these. Not only are they of great value educationally to
those privileged to take part in them, but the results of the
investigations carried out, when made available as these were, in book
or pamphlet form, convey much valuable information and become the means
of imparting many new ideas to people to whom the larger books in which
such information is to be found are not available. If they should have
served, in however small a measure, in penetrating the veneer of
complacency with which the average untravelled and uninformed
Co-operator regards his own movement as in all things the last word in
perfection of organisation and treatment of those employed, they would
be worth far more to the movement than the few pounds which each trip
cost.

THE YEARS OF WAR.

At first the war did not make much difference to the work of the
educational committee or of its agencies, but as more and more of the
younger male employees were called up or joined voluntarily, there was a
perceptible falling off in the membership of the various agencies. The
rowing club had to suspend operations altogether, and the band was hard
put to it to maintain the balance of instruments, new players having to
be brought in to take the places of those who had joined up. Meantime a
senior choir had been formed, and did much good work, not only by
providing concerts in St Mungo Hall, but by singing at concerts
organised in aid of war charities and to provide entertainment for
convalescent soldiers. In work of a semi-military character, the band
also took a full share.

The educational committee also took charge of the funds organised by the
various departments to provide parcels for employees serving with the
Forces, and in this way a constant stream of parcels went from the
Bakery to distant comrades. The provision of lectures by prominent men
and women in the Co-operative and kindred movements continued to be a
feature of the work carried on by the committee each winter, while it
was usually arranged that some prominent Co-operator should give an
address at the quarterly meeting held under the auspices of the
committee, such addresses being generally on matters of current
interest.

The work of an educational committee is usually arduous and somewhat
discouraging. In commercial work the results of a policy are generally
forthcoming immediately, but educational work is somewhat like
scattering bread upon the waters. Doubtless good results accrue, but
time must elapse before they show themselves, and the intervening period
is one of faith and hope. Then, also, educational work is work in which
a departure from stereotyped methods is necessary occasionally. There is
a monotony in doing the same work year after year, which tends to
“grooviness,” and this is a danger which must be avoided at all hazards,
for from “grooviness” comes staleness and with staleness comes satiety.
When an educational committee breaks new ground, as the Baking Society’s
committee did in 1913 with their deputation to works of prominent firms
in England, interest is stimulated, and even the stereotyped work takes
on a new freshness. In the future we may hope to see the good work
already done by the Baking Society’s educational committee broadening
out in new directions, and acquiring fresh vigour with new successes.
The educational committee has been in the past a welfare committee in
the best meaning of that word, and without any of the prying, sometimes
nicknamed “spying” by the employees, it has done much to promote the
physical and mental wellbeing of those for whom it works. As the years
pass, fresh outlets in this direction for its energies will also
manifest themselves, and these it will take advantage of as readily as
it has done in the past.

CHAPTER XXI.
MEN WHO WROUGHT.

GABRIEL THOMSON—JAMES BORROWMAN—DAVID SMITH—ROBERT CRAIG—WILLIAM
BARCLAY—THOMAS SLATER—ANDREW BROWN—ALEXANDER FRASER—JOHN
FERGUSON—DUNCAN M‘CULLOCH—JAMES H. FORSYTH—JAMES YOUNG—PETER
GLASSE—DANIEL H. GERRARD—JAMBS BAIN—THE BOARD AT THE END OF FIFTY
YEARS.

The Co-operative movement has ever been rich in men and women who have
given to it devoted, whole-hearted, and able service. There have always
been men with sufficient faith in the principles on which the movement
is based to spend themselves, their energies and their money, in
furthering it, from the days when Robert Owen, working to better the
conditions of the miserable creatures who were helping to pile up wealth
for himself and his partners, discovered that it was through striving to
help others that man could best help himself, and devoted his wealth and
the remainder of his life to the promulgation of this doctrine. In men
whose faith in this principle was great and whose work for its
enthronement in the councils of the world was arduous the United
Co-operative Baking Society has been rich. They have all of them been
men who believed that Co-operation was the true principle of progress,
and in their own way and time each one did his best to further the cause
he had at heart.

GABRIEL THOMSON.

It is peculiar that of the man who played perhaps the most prominent
part in the work of establishing the United Baking Society little has
been placed on record. Mr Gabriel Thomson was a man in late middle life
when the proposal to establish the S.C.W.S. was being discussed. He was
a representative of St Rollox Society at the meeting at which it was
finally decided that a Scottish Wholesale Society should be established,
and moved the resolution to that effect. When the committee was being
formed he was appointed treasurer, and when the proposal for a federated
bread baking society was being discussed he read a paper on the subject
which went far to decide the delegates in favour of the proposal to
establish the United Baking Society, there also moving the resolution in
favour of its formation. He was appointed first chairman of the Society,
thus acting as chairman of the U.C.B.S. and treasurer of the S.C.W.S. at
the one time; but he only remained at the head of affairs for the first
year, and his official connection with the Society then severed. He died
in the Townhead district about the end of the century.

JAMES BORROWMAN.

Those who knew James Borrowman have described him as one of the most
effective Co-operative propagandists and platform men that the movement
in Scotland has produced. He was a man of boundless energy and
enthusiasm, and was filled with a lofty idealism which caused him to
look ever ahead beyond the petty difficulties of the moment.
Unfortunately, his abounding faith in the possibilities of Co-operation
caused him to overlook sometimes the immediate and practical
difficulties in the way and, reversing the position of the men who are
unable to see the wood for the trees, his gaze was fixed so firmly on
the beautiful vista ahead that he failed to observe the rocks in the
pathway on which he trod until he had stumbled over them. Mr Borrowman
was one of the pioneers of Crosshouse Society, but at the time when the
Baking Society was being discussed he had just been appointed manager of
the newly formed Wholesale Society and had joined the Anderston Society.
He worked faithfully as secretary of the Baking Society until pressure
of work for the S.C.W.S. caused him to resign, and but a few years later
his unquenchable optimism caused him to make the mistake of allowing the
Ironworks Society to overdraw largely on the Wholesale Society. This
finished his outstanding work for the cause of Co-operation.

DAVID SMITH.

When Mr Borrowman resigned the secretaryship of the Baking Society he
was succeeded by Mr David Smith, who had been acting as assistant
secretary for some months before the resignation took place. Mr Smith
was a representative of St Rollox Society on the board of the U.C.B.S.,
making his first appearance as a representative from that society at the
committee meeting which was held on 15th March 1872. On the resignation,
in the summer of 1875, of Mr Robert Craig from the management of the
Society, Mr Smith was appointed manager, and continued to act in that
capacity until the end of 1889, when he resigned in order to start in
business as a baker in Maryhill. Unfortunately, he did not succeed, and
shortly afterwards went to South Africa. Evidently he did not find
things to his liking there, for in a year or two he was back in Scotland
again, and was acting as master of works in connection with the
reconstruction work of the Drapery and Furnishing Society. He died
almost exactly seven years after severing his connection with the Baking
Society.

ROBERT CRAIG.

Mr Robert Craig was only a short time—two and a half years—in the
service of the Society, but during that short period he did such good
work as to cause a general regret on the part of those who knew him when
ill-health caused him to sever his connection with it. In a vain effort
to restore his health he went to Spain, but, finding that he was not
benefiting by the change, he returned to Glasgow again, where he died in
1877. Mr Craig was a native of Barrhead, and before taking up his duties
as cashier to the Baking Society he acted as bookkeeper with the
Wholesale Society. He seems to have been of a most lovable disposition,
beloved by all who came into contact with him.

WILLIAM BARCLAY.

The name of William Barclay will always be associated with the Scottish
Co-operative Convalescent Homes Association, which he helped to found,
and for which he worked earnestly and enthusiastically. In the early
days of the U.C.B.S. he was associated with St Rollox Society, and it
was as a member of that society that he was appointed to the chair of
the Baking Society in 1870. He continued to act as chairman for fifteen
months only, and then severed his connection with the committee. In his
later years he was associated with Kinning Park Society, and it was as a
member of that society that he did his work in connection with the Homes
Association.

THOMAS SLATER.

When Mr David Smith resigned the secretaryship of the Society to take up
its management he was succeeded by Mr Thomas Slater, who represented
London Road Society on the board, and Mr Slater continued to act as
secretary until the end of 1887. During his term of office Mr Slater had
proven himself a most efficient and painstaking secretary, and it was
due to his initiative that the ground annual of the St James Street
property was purchased by the Society. After ceasing his official
connection with the Society he continued to take a keen interest in its
affairs and at times even to criticise the policy of the directors
through the columns of the press.

ANDREW BROWN.

It is probable that it was to the wise guidance of Mr Andrew Brown more
than to the work of any other man that the Baking Society was able to
overcome the difficulties of its early days. He was appointed to the
chair in 1872, and continued to act as president during all the
strenuous days when the proposals for building a branch bakery farther
west were being discussed with vigour. When he became president the
Society had many difficulties to contend with, not the least of which
were inefficient workmen, while shortage of money retarded its
operations to a very great extent. Mr Brown continued to act as chairman
until his society—Paisley Provident—withdrew from membership at the end
of 1880. All those who had the pleasure of knowing him speak of him as a
cautious leader, shrewd and clear-sighted, who always took a business
view of the proposals which came before the committee. Thus he was able
to steer clear of the many pitfalls which lined the pathway of his
Society.

ALEXANDER FRASER.

Mr Alexander Fraser succeeded Mr Brown in the chair. At the time of his
appointment to the chair he had been continuously a member of the board
of the Society from March 1873, as the representative of Busby Society,
and he continued to perform the duties of president of the Society until
the quarterly meeting which was held in December 1887. Mr Fraser had
thus an unbroken connection with the committee of the Society for the
long period of fourteen years, until then the longest period during
which any member had filled a seat on the board. During his term of
office he had seen the Society grow wondrously. He had seen it become
too big for its home at St James Street, and had steered it safely to
its new home, erected specially for its occupation, at M‘Neil Street,
and he felt that, that task accomplished, he did well to lay aside his
task. He was a worthy successor to Mr Brown and a worthy predecessor of
the men who followed him.

JOHN FERGUSON.

Mr Fraser was succeeded by Mr John Ferguson, of Glasgow Eastern Society.
Before Mr Ferguson came to the Baking Society’s board he had filled many
positions of responsibility in the Eastern Society. He was member of the
committee for a number of years, a member of the first educational
committee of the society when it was formed in 1876, and was also
president of the society for a number of years. In his own society and
in the Baking Society he did good work for Co-operation, and was much
respected by all who came into contact with him. He, too, joined the
great majority a number of years ago.

DUNCAN M‘CULLOCH.

Mr Duncan M‘Culloch was born in the little village of Carfin in
Lanarkshire. After serving his apprenticeship as a joiner in Wishaw, he
came to Glasgow, and on marrying became connected with Kinning Park
Society. In 1887 he was made president of the society, and afterwards a
member of the then newly formed educational committee. He took a
prominent part in the formation of the first branch of the Scottish
Co-operative Women’s Guild—Kinning Park Central branch—and came to be
known amongst the ladies of the guild as “The Father of the Guild,” a
title of which he was justly proud. After having been for a short time a
member of the committee of the Baking Society, he was elected chairman
in 1889, and continued to occupy that honourable position for the long
period of fifteen years. During these years the Baking Society entered
on a period of expansion which raised it from the position of a
moderately sized bakery, doing a trade of 700 sacks a week, to that of
the largest institution of its kind, with a trade of almost 4,000 sacks
weekly. He saw the biscuit factory started, and during his term of
office the Clydebank branch was opened and the Belfast branch was
commenced. Mr M‘Culloch also took a warm interest in the affairs of the
Convalescent Homes Association, and he served for many years, until his
death in the summer of 1915, as a director of this, “the brightest jewel
in the Co-operative crown,” as the chairman of the Homes Association
sometimes describes it. Mr M‘Culloch became again a president of Kinning
Park Society, and there, as in the work of the Baking Society, he
displayed enterprise, acumen, and firmness. He was a man of strong will
and dominant personality, and his work on the various boards of the
Co-operative movement with which he was associated was always marked by
strong common sense. On the Co-operative Defence Committee and on the
Scottish Sectional Board he was also a tower of strength; never
favouring schemes or policies which were far in advance of the times,
but never holding back when he thought action was for the benefit of the
movement to which he had devoted the leisure moments of his life. For
some time in 1915 he had been laid aside with illness, and as the
Congress of that year met for its first session the news of his death
arrived and cast a gloom over the minds of the Scotsmen present, who
felt that one who had been all a man had gone from them.

JAMES H. FORSYTH.

The genial cashier of the Baking Society is one of the best known and
most highly respected business men in the Co-operative movement. His
balance-sheets are models of lucidity, and this feature is often
commented on in the columns of the financial press. Mr Forsyth has had a
lifelong acquaintance with Co-operative accounting. As a lad he entered
the office of the Wholesale Society, and waited there until, as he
himself has put it, he began to understand what double entry bookkeeping
really was. Then a desire to see other lands possessed him for a time,
and he voyaged to the great Republic of the West. He had been there for
only two years, however, when the homing instinct possessed him, and
returning to Glasgow, after a short interval, entered the office of the
Baking Society as bookkeeper. Here he had been for some four years when
Mr David Smith retired from the management of the Society, and the
board, deciding that they were going to try and work the Society for a
time at least without a manager, appointed Mr Forsyth cashier and
bookkeeper, and cashier and bookkeeper he has been ever since. Mr
Forsyth is one of those officials who treat the business for which they
work as if it was their own. He is indefatigable in his efforts to
maintain and even to improve the wellbeing and to accelerate the
progress of the Baking Society, and during the strenuous years of the
war, when the demands of the War Office were depleting his staff,
nevertheless he “carried on” in a manner which won the approval of
management and delegates alike. He is one of those careful, painstaking
officials who are assets of great value to the societies fortunate
enough to possess them.

JAMES YOUNG.

Mr James Young, the widely respected manager of the Baking Society, is
an idealist turned business man. He has the vision of the poet, and is
ever looking forward from the sordid to-day to the brighter and better
to-morrow; but he is none the less a business man. He served on the
board of the Baking Society as a representative of Uddingston Society
for some three years before he was appointed, in 1899, manager of the
Society. Since then he has conducted the business of the Society wisely
and well, and his advice is eagerly sought after in matters connected
with the trade. He is very popular with all with whom business brings
him into contact, for he is recognised by all to be a man of high
principle, who is incapable of stooping to anything mean. To this aspect
of his character is probably due the remarkably good terms which have
always existed between the Society and the employees, for he is kind and
considerate to those whom fortune has placed under his charge.
Unfortunately, in these latter years his health has not been quite as
robust as his friends would like, but one and all hope that many years
of service yet remain to him.

PETER GLASSE.

Mr Peter Glasse succeeded Mr Slater as secretary. He was the
representative of St George on the board of the Baking Society at the
time of Mr Slater’s resignation, and was for many years one of the most
active Co-operators in the West of Scotland. He took a very active part
in all the strenuous work which fell to the lot of good platform men
during and after the boycott of 1896–97. On several occasions he served
with distinction in the chair of his own society, and was for many years
a member of the board of the Wholesale Society. He demitted office as
secretary of the Baking Society in the spring of 1895. From 1896 until
the merging of the West of Scotland Co-operative Defence Committee in
the National Co-operative Defence Association, Mr Glasse acted as
chairman of the committee, and then as chairman of the National
Association until its work was merged in that of the Scottish Sectional
Board. He died early in 1917 after a life which had been full of service
to Co-operation.

D. H. GERRARD, J.P.

Mr Daniel H. Gerrard, J.P., is one of the best known figures in the
Co-operative movement, and it is a matter for sincere regret to his many
friends that he is not able to go out and in amongst them as of yore,
and doubly regrettable that illness should have stricken him down two
months before the Society for which he had worked so hard completed its
fiftieth year of existence. Mr Gerrard is a Southerner, but he has lived
so long in Scotland that he has become acclimatised. His first
connection with Co-operation was with the second Maryhill Society, in
the formation of which he took an active part, and of which he was
president for many years. When that society amalgamated with St George
he threw himself with equal vigour and success into the work of his new
society, and ere long was appointed to the presidency. Then fifteen
years ago he was elected to the chair of the Baking Society, and
continued to act in that capacity until he was compelled by the orders
of his medical man to give it up. He was an able and earnest advocate of
Co-operation, and took an active part in the strenuous work of the
boycott days as well as in Co-operative missionary work in Ireland and
elsewhere. It is the earnest wish of all friends that in his retirement
he will be long spared to look back with complacency over his many
fights for the cause he loved.

JAMES BAIN.

Mr James Bain, the genial secretary of the Baking Society, has had a
long and active connection with the cause of Co-operation in Glasgow. He
succeeded Mr John Ferguson as chairman of Glasgow Eastern Society, and
was chairman of that society when the Dalmarnock Road premises were
opened in 1893. He was also treasurer of the society for a number of
years. In the spring of 1895 he was elected secretary of the Baking
Society in succession to Mr Glasse, and that position he continues to
fill with honour to himself and profit to the Society. Nor, although the
secretaryship of the Baking Society would seem to be enough spare-time
work for any man, does he rest content with that. Ever since its
formation he has acted as president of that beneficent Co-operative
institution, the Co-operative Veterans Association. In his work for the
Bakery he has always been conscientious and clear, and has also done
much work which lies outside his special work as secretary. For example,
he read a paper a number of years ago at a conference of representatives
of the Glasgow societies, in which he advocated strongly the
desirability of establishing a system of bread baking which would enable
the bakers to begin their work at a reasonable hour. He is getting on in
years now, but his minutes are as clearly written as ever, and his many
friends hope that it will be long ere he has to lay down his secretarial
pen.

THE PRESENT BOARD.

The members of the present board have served Co-operation well in many
capacities, and several of them have had long years of service on the
board of the Baking Society. Mr Buchanan, the present chairman, for
instance, was elected to the board of the Society in the year in which
Mr Bain became secretary. Mr M‘Lean has represented Glasgow Eastern
Society for many years, and Mr Young St Rollox for a long period. Mr
Monteith had done good work in St George Society before he came to
M‘Neil Street, while this is equally true of Mr M‘Lay’s connection with
Cowlairs. Mr Hamilton was for a number of years the representative of
Pollokshaws Society, and his untimely death while this book was being
written served to act as a reminder that “life is but a fleeting
vapour.” Another member of the group who has done good service to
Co-operation in his own society as well as in the Baking Society’s board
is Mr Cadiz, for a number of years the energetic secretary of the
Glasgow and Suburbs Conference Association. Mr Johnstone has done good
service in Shettleston Society, and Mr Simpson in London Road Society;
while Mr Walker, the “baby” of the board—he only joined it two months
before the end of the fiftieth year—has been well known for a number of
years as a representative of Clydebank Society.

Nor can we close this record of “men who wrought” without reference to
some of the men who, while not quite so prominent in its affairs as
others, yet had something to do with shaping the destinies of the
Society. Prominent amongst such was Mr Alexander, who represented
Paisley Provident Society on the board from the election of Mr Brown as
president until their society withdrew from the Federation. For the
greater part of the time he acted as treasurer of the Federation. Mr
Ballantyne, of Thornliebank, also was one of the earliest members of the
board, and continued to be associated with its work, as stable
inspector, for many years. The late Mr James M‘Murran, of Glasgow
Eastern, was the Federation’s last treasurer, the office being abolished
during his tenure. Nor must the names of the late Homer Robertson and
Michael Shiels be omitted. For a number of years Mr Robertson
represented St George Society on the board, while Mr Shiels was for long
the representative of Cowlairs Society, and both gentlemen died in
harness within a few months of each other. For a long time two gentlemen
very well known in another section of the Co-operative movement, Messrs
Robert Macintosh and Allan Gray, acted together as auditors of the
Society. Mr Wells, the respected secretary of Cambuslang Society, was an
auditor of later date, retiring when the amended Industrial and
Provident Societies Act of 1913 made it compulsory that auditors of
Co-operative societies must be public auditors. He was succeeded by Mr
John M. Biggar. The auditor who has served the members of the Society
for the longest period, however, is Mr William H. Jack, who has audited
the Society’s books for over twenty-one years, having been elected in
September 1897 on the retiral of Mr Allan Gray.

The work of many others, who in one way and another helped while they
could, has gone to build up the Society. They are gone, leaving often
not even a name behind them, but the result of their labours is
preserved as by a monument in the strong, virile Society of which we
speak so familiarly as “The U.C.B.S.”

STATISTICS.

In general readers do not care much for statistics, but no record of the
Society would be complete which did not give in some statistical form
the growth which the Society has made during fifty years. The table
given is not long, however, nor is it difficult to follow. It gives the
position of the Society at the end of the first year, and at the end of
each tenth year thereafter. In addition there are given the first
balance-sheet issued by the Society and that issued for the 200th
quarter. Readers can thus see for themselves the marvellous growth which
we have tried, however inadequately, to picture.

_Statistical Statement showing the development of the Federation during
the Jubilee Period._

──────────────────────────────┬──────────┬───────┬─────────────
TEN-YEAR PERIODS. │ No. of │ │
│Federated │Shares │ Shares and
│Societies.│ Held. │ Deposits.
──────────────────────────────┼──────────┼───────┼─────────────
│ │ │ £ s. d.
1869 (Commencement of Society)│ 8│ │
1869 (January 1870) │ 8│ │ 193 12 0
1878 (January 1879) │ 23│ 4,217│ 6,251 6 7
1888 (January 1889) │ 39│ 10,037│ 33,209 9 10
1898 (January 1899) │ 94│ 80,231│143,681 12 3
1908 (January 1909) │ 169│155,915│356,254 19 3
1918 (January 1919) │ 211│241,643│556,841 16 6
──────────────────────────────┴──────────┴───────┴─────────────

──────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────┬────────────
TEN-YEAR PERIODS. │ │ │
│ │ │ Reserve
│ Sales. │ Profits. │ Fund.
──────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────┼────────────
│ £ s. d.│ £ s. d.│ £ s. d.
1869 (Commencement of Society)│ │ │
1869 (January 1870) │ 5,081 13 6│ 23 3 1│
1878 (January 1879) │ 27,433 6 10│ 1,850 5 5│ 696 11 5
1888 (January 1889) │ 55,699 15 9│ 3,313 0 5│ 1,352 10 0
1898 (January 1899) │ 327,328 3 4│26,845 0 2│ 7,400 0 0
1908 (January 1909) │ 567,604 19 5│43,561 9 0│37,400 0 0
1918 (January 1919) │1,251,224 5 9│62,615 15 5│89,500 0 0
──────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────┴────────────

──────────────────────────────┬─────────────┬───────────┬──────────
TEN-YEAR PERIODS. │ │ Paid for │ Paid for
│ │Educational│Charitable
│Depreciation.│ Purposes. │Purposes.
──────────────────────────────┼─────────────┼───────────┼──────────
│ £ s. d.│ £ s. d.│ £ s. d.
1869 (Commencement of Society)│ │ │
1869 (January 1870) │ 30 15 8│ │
1878 (January 1879) │ 440 1 3│ 8 2 0│ 5 5 0
1888 (January 1889) │ 913 9 9│ 6 0 0│ 21 0 0
1898 (January 1899) │ 8,890 6 1│ 474 3 8│ 309 9 4
1908 (January 1909) │ 13,967 4 9│ 876 13 10│ 907 3 10
1918 (January 1919) │ 29,845 12 6│1,424 13 1│ 643 13 9
──────────────────────────────┴─────────────┴───────────┴──────────

_Dr._ CAPITAL ACCOUNT

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
LIABILITIES.
To Members’ Claims, as
per Share Ledger £193 12 0
„ „
Building Fund 145 0 0
„ Owing Messrs Penman £104 0 0
„ „ Gibson & Walker 150 15 0
„ „ Scottish
Wholesale Society 86 19 7
„ „ R. Geddes & Sons 18 7 6
„ „ M. Muir & Sons 34 15 0
„ „ R. Taylor 6 14 0
„ „ P. Bertram 1 5 9
———— —— —— 402 16 10
„ Profit 64 4 10
———— —— ——
£805 13 8
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

_Dr._ CAPITAL ACCOUNT
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
LIABILITIES.
=241,643= Shares at 20
each £=241,643= 0 0
_Less_ Unpaid 703 10 0
————————— —— —— £240,939 10 0
Societies’ Deposits at
12 Months’ Notice of
Withdrawal 93,571 6 1
Societies’ Deposits at
Call 104,462 6 6
Surplus Credited to
Societies’ Deposits
Account 31,837 4 0
——————— —— —— £470,810 6 7
Deposits (Private) at 12
Months’ Notice of
Withdrawal £55,838 7 8
Deposits (Private) at
Call 30,193 2 3
——————— —— —— 86,031 9 11
Societies Overpaid 5,980 1 1
Bonus for Half-year 4,770 0 4
Rents 12 15 0
St Mungo Hall Rents Paid
in Advance 5 0 0
Balance of Taxes,
Insurance, and
Telephones 4,974 13 5
Goods Account 13,075 14 0
Expenses Account 1,863 9 2
———————— —— ——
Total Liabilities £587,523 9 6
RESERVES—
Reserve Fund £89,500 0 0
Insurance Fund—
Fire and Marine £24,900 0 0
Employers’ Liability 5,680 0 0
Third Party 2,180 0 0
——————— —— —— 32,760 0 0
Educational and
Benevolent Fund 2,337 8 4
Balance to next
Half-year 1,845 15 4
——————— —— —— 126,443 3 8
———————— —— ——
£713,966 13 2
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

1869 (JANUARY 1870). _Cr._
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ASSETS.
By Cash in Bank and on
hand £118 2 10
„ Flour, etc., in Stock £87 10 7
„ Rent Due 1 10 0
„ Owing by Societies 244 5 1
„ Fixed Stock 243 15 8
„ New Buildings, Paid
to Account 110 9 6
——— —— —— 687 10 10
———— —— ——
£805 13 8
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

1918 (JANUARY 1919). _Cr._
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ASSETS.
Investments, as per
Investment Account—
Shares £33,812 18 7
Deposits 348,257 18 6
——————— —— —— £382,070 17 1
Goods in Stock—
M‘Neil Street £28,384 13 9
Clydebank Branch 7,255 16 8
Rothesay Branch 278 15 4
Belfast Branch 5,922 15 8
Camp 18 0 0
Purvey Department 413 11 1
St Mungo Halls 17 7 4
——————— —— —— 42,290 19 10
Stock of Provender in
Stables—
Glasgow £445 0 7
Clydebank 101 17 5
——————— —— —— 546 18 0
Goods Account Prepaid 47,236 8 5
Goods Account £27,841 1 1
Sundries Account 242 7 9
Bread Delivery, Hire,
and Shoeing Account 16 17 0
Manure and Hayseed 33 4 10
——————— —— —— 28,133 10 8
Rents—
Tenements—Govan
Street £87 7 6
M‘Neil Street East 96 10 0
Belfast 29 5 0
St Mungo Halls 46 1 3
——————— —— —— 259 3 9
Land and Buildings 201,500 0 0
Cash in Banks £11,764 14 11
Cash on hand 164 0 6
———————— —— —— 11,928 15 5
————————
£713,966 13 2
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

------------------------------------------------------------------------

OUR FALLEN HEROES

=Pro patria mortui=

GLASGOW

[Illustration:

Seaman JOHN FRASER.
]

[Illustration:

Pte. GEORGE BANKS, Scottish Rifles

Mason

Killed, July 1915
]

[Illustration:

Drummer ROBERT M‘DONALD, H.L.I.

Tinsmith

Died, 5th September 1915
]

[Illustration:

Sergt. JAMES COLLINS, Seaforths

Biscuit Baker

Killed, 15th September 1915
]

[Illustration:

Pte. HARRY MEDDICKS, H.L.I.

Biscuit Baker

Killed, 15th September 1915
]

[Illustration:

Seaman JAMES NICOL, R.N.D.

Warehouseman

Died, 30th November 1915
]

[Illustration:

Pte. DOUGAL FERGUSON, H.L.I.

Mason

Killed, 27th January 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. CHARLES SMITH ANDERSON, Gordons

Pastry Baker

Killed, 17th March 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JAMES JACK JARVIE, Gordons

Pastry Baker

Died of Wounds, 2nd July 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. WILLIAM C. FULTON, Camerons

Pastry Baker

Died of Wounds, 21st August 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JOHN DELAHUNTY, Irish Guards

Baker’s Assistant

Killed, 15th September 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. WILLIAM H. CULLEN, H.L.I.

Pastry Baker

Killed, 31st October 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. ALEXANDER M‘LEOD. H.L.I.

Pastry Baker

Killed, 18th November 1916
]

[Illustration:

Sergt. ALEXANDER STEEL, H.L.I.

Storeman

Killed, 17th November 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JOHN NEWLANDS, Gordons

Pastry Baker

Killed, 29th March 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. WILLIAM NIMMO, Gordons

Pastry Baker

Killed, 4th March 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JOHN CAMPBELL SINCLAIR, Seaforths

Pastry Baker

Killed, 23rd April 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JOHN BALLANTYNE, Royal Scots

Clerk

Killed, 23rd April 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JOHN KENNEDY, Royal Scots Fusiliers

Clerk

Killed, 23rd April 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. CHARLES HAMILTON, Scottish Rifles

Warehouseman

Killed, 3rd May 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JAMES KENNEDY, H.L.I.

Biscuit Baker

Killed, 27th June 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. PETER THOMSON, Gordons

Pastry Baker

Killed, 31st July 1917
]

[Illustration:

Gunner ROBERT SUMMERS, R.F.A.

Vanman

Killed, 21st July 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JOSEPH M‘ALEER, H.L.I.

Painter

Killed, 10th July 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. GEORGE DODDS, Camerons

Vanman

Killed, 1st August 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. THOMAS URQUHART, Camerons

Hoistman

Died of Wounds, 22nd September 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. ALEXANDER M‘LEOD, H.L.I.

Clerk

Killed, 27th September 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. ALAN CRAWFORD, Machine Gun Corps

Warehouse Clerk

Killed, 24th October 1917
]

[Illustration:

Lce.-Cpl. ALLAN F. KERR, Royal Scots

Vanman

Killed, 22nd October 1917
]

[Illustration:

Lce.-Cpl. HECTOR HARVEY, Gordons

Bread Baker

Killed, 16th November 1917
]

[Illustration:

Cpl. GEORGE DICKIE, Scottish Rifles

Pastry Baker

Killed, 14th January 1918
]

[Illustration:

Pte. ALEXANDER WATSON, Royal Scots

Bread Baker

Killed, 28th March 1918
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JOHN REID, R.A.S.C.

Vanman

Killed, 19th April 1918
]

[Illustration:

Pte. ROBERT GARDNER, Camerons

Pastry Baker

Killed, April 1918
]

[Illustration:

Pte. THOMAS FAULDS, Scottish Rifles

Motor Driver

Killed, 10th October 1918
]

[Illustration:

Pte. AARON KERR, Royal Scots Fusiliers

Painter

Killed, 10th October 1918
]

[Illustration:

Lead.-Signalman JAMES M‘PHERSON, R.N.V.R.

Bread Baker

Died, 2nd November 1918
]

CLYDEBANK BRANCH

[Illustration:

Pte. JAMES M‘GINLEY, R.A.S.C.

Motor Driver

Killed, 7th June 1915
]

[Illustration:

Lce.-Cpl. JAMES HENDRIE, Argylls

Baker

Killed, 24th April 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. ROBERT STEVENSON, Lancashire Fusiliers

Baker

Killed, 19th August 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. JAMES AGNEW, Royal Scots

Warehouseman

Killed, 6th October 1917
]

[Illustration:

Cpl. ROBERT NIXON, R.A.S.C.

Baker

Killed, 21st March 1918
]

[Illustration:

Pte. DONALD H. GRANT, Camerons

Baker

Killed, 28th March 1918
]

[Illustration:

Pte. ROBERT HOPE, Argylls

Baker

Killed, September 1918
]

BELFAST BRANCH

[Illustration:

Sergt. SAMUEL LOWRY, D.C.M., R.I.R.

Baker’s Assistant

Killed, 1st July 1916
]

[Illustration:

Lce.-Cpl. JAMES M‘INTOSH, R.I.R.

Warehouseman

Killed, 1st July 1916
]

[Illustration:

Bugler SAMUEL WARD, R.I.R.

Baker

Killed, 1st September 1916
]

[Illustration:

Pte. EDWARD ROWNEY, R.I.R.

Baker’s Assistant

Killed, April 1917
]

[Illustration:

Pte. FRANK TAGGART, R.A.S.C.

Baker

Died, August 1918
]

LEITH DEPOT

[Illustration:

Pte. THOMAS ALSTON, Royal Scots

Motor Driver

Killed, 23rd July 1916
]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in
spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
3. Re-indexed footnotes using numbers.
4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
5. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.

*** End of this Doctrine Publishing Corporation Digital Book "History of the United Co-operative Baking Society Ltd. : A fifty years' record 1869–1919" ***

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