As the Society, at the end of the first year, had only a paid-up capital amounting to £338, all of which was locked up in stock, fixtures, etc., it was evident that they required much more if they were to finance their larger venture. The visit of Mr Keyden has already been referred to, and ultimately a bond on the property was taken up through him, but the committee were desirous of securing capital also from the societies. These were written to by the manager, requesting them to increase the amount of loan capital they had with the Society, and by the middle of April six societies had increased their loans by an aggregate amount of £275.
M‘NEIL STREET PREMISES (1897–1903).
CLYDEBANK BAKERY
The insurance on the new premises was fixed at £1,000, divided into £400 on stock, £300 on the buildings, and £300 on horses and vans. For several years the Society continued to suffer from lack of capital, however, and it was not until it had been in existence for nearly ten years that the committee ceased to be troubled with financial worries. On several occasions appeals were made to the delegates attending the quarterly meetings that they would bring under the notice of their societies the urgent need of the Baking Society for more capital, and for several years a system of receiving loans from private depositors was adopted, but this system was stopped, except in the case of employees, when the Federation began to receive enough capital from the societies to meet its needs.
SLOW PROGRESS.
The difficulty which arose from shortage of capital was not the only one with which the committee was faced, unfortunately. Foreman baker after foreman baker was tried, but still complaints of the poor quality of the bread continued to pour in. Added to this there were the difficulties of delivery. When the Co-operators of to-day see the vans of the U.C.B.S. arriving at the various shops with the regularity of clockwork, they may have some difficulty in realising that fifty years ago the problem of prompt delivery was a very serious one, and one which engaged the attention of management and committee almost continuously for several years. In part, this was due to the fact that the baking of bread had not been reduced in those days to a state of scientific accuracy, as it is to-day, and partly it was due to the shortcomings of the human element, which has always a tendency toward failure at the most unexpected times and often in the most unexpected ways. The craze for new bread was as great fifty years ago as it is to-day, but the difficulty of delivering it was very much greater, and it was especially great in the earlier years of the Baking Society’s existence because of the fact that the majority of the societies in the outer area supplied by the Federation were but small and could give but small orders, thus increasing the cost of delivery until sometimes it transformed trade which should have been profitable into a losing business.
So much so was this the case that, in the first two or three years, society after society, which had joined the Federation and were anxious to trade with it, had to be asked to withdraw because the cost of delivery was so great that it could only be done at a loss to the Federation. The first societies to suffer in this way were Motherwell and Dalziel. At a later date, Vale of Leven Society, which had been having their bread sent by rail, had to withdraw, and later still, Lennoxtown were asked to make arrangements for getting bread elsewhere as soon as possible, on the ground that the Baking Society was losing eleven shillings every week through delivering bread to them by van.
As time went on, too, the position was becoming more and more difficult for the manager. He does not seem to have been a strong man, or else he had grown careless. At all events, at one quarterly meeting when the criticisms of the delegates had been even more searching than usual, he left the meeting before its close, and when the committee adjourned to the committee room at the close of the meeting they found a letter from him intimating his resignation. Whether it was with the idea of getting a little of his own back, or because he thought that having engaged the employees it was his duty to dismiss them is unknown, but when he took his own departure he also dismissed the office and breadroom staffs, and there was a little difficulty for a day or two until they were brought back or others procured in their places. After discussion, the committee decided that they would not advertise for a manager, but for a confidential clerk and cashier, and Mr Robert Craig, then bookkeeper with the S.C.W.S., was the successful applicant.