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.