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.