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.