By the end of the third quarter in 1872 a further extension had become necessary in order that more storage room might be had, and it was decided that the only way to get the necessary space was to build another storey to the present flour store. The great difficulty was lack of the necessary money, but it was thought that if the extension became imperative a bond might be obtained to cover the cost. A short time later a letter was received from the Anderston Society, in which a protest was entered against any further extensions being made in the bakery meantime. At this time the Society was in somewhat grave difficulties for want of money, as, in addition to other debts which were owing, their account with the Wholesale Society amounted to £4,000, equivalent to nine weeks turnover. Inside the next fortnight, however, the manager was able to report that he had paid £1,000 to the Wholesale Society.
At this time the committee had under discussion the method of supplying flour to the Society. It was alleged by some members of the committee that the manager had not a free in ordering flour, as “another party” had taken it upon himself to send in flour without the knowledge of the manager. Mr Sturrock stated that he was aware of all contracts entered into, but that on a recent occasion he had to cancel an order because he found after his order had been given that flour was being sent to the bakery without his knowledge. At the following meeting this question was again taken up, and it appears from what transpired at that meeting that Mr Borrowman was the “other party” referred to above. That gentleman explained that the contracts were made through the Wholesale Society, and no irregularity could occur if the manager sent his orders to the Wholesale Society instead of sending them to the millers, as he had been in the habit of doing. In the course of the conversation the chairman pointed out that although, because of the fluctuations in the price of flour which were taking place, they had for some time delegated their power to make contracts to the manager and Mr Borrowman jointly—not separately as some people had supposed—they still retained in their own hands such powers, to be used as soon as they might think it right so to do.
Early in the third quarter of this year Mr Smith (St Rollox) was appointed assistant secretary, as Mr Borrowman was sometimes unable to attend. At the quarterly meeting, which was held on 1st March 1873, Mr Smith was appointed secretary, and Mr Borrowman retired from the committee, after having taken a large share in the conduct of its affairs from the inception of the Society. At the December quarterly meeting the manager resigned, as already stated in the beginning of this chapter, and Mr Robert Craig was appointed. The fourth year was not to end without more trouble however. A special meeting was called on 28th December 1872, at the request of Barrhead and Thornliebank societies, and Mr Ferguson (Barrhead), who had been one of the first directors of the Federation, placed his society’s case before the meeting. He stated that his society was of opinion that the Baking Society was in an unsatisfactory state, and on behalf of Barrhead and Thornliebank societies placed eight propositions before the meeting with the object of putting the Federation on a more stable basis.
PROPOSALS FOR BETTER WORKING.
The first proposition was that a manager be employed; but this was defeated by an amendment that the management be left in the hands of the committee. The second proposal was that the foreman baker should be the party who should judge the quality of the flour before purchasing, the quantity to be decided by the committee, and it was accepted, as was the third—that no person be a member of committee who has anything to do with the making or selling of flour to the bakery (but not to the exclusion of operatives) so that the committee be left perfectly untrammelled in their actions.
Another proposition was to the effect that the members of the Baking Society’s committee should be elected for that committee only, and not be simply delegates from the committee of their society; but as this affected one of the rules of the Society it was not discussed. It was also proposed that the committee should watch the purchases of societies with a view to dealing with those who were not purchasing enough to earn their fair share of profit, and considering whether they should be allowed to continue as members of the Society. The committee pointed out that they were already doing this, and the meeting agreed to the proposal. Another proposal was to the effect that when the additional shares had been called up the committee should purchase flour where it could be had best. This proposal sounds as if there was some suspicion in the minds of the proposers that the Society was being hampered in obtaining the best flour for its purpose by lack of money, and as the delegates gave a general acquiescence to the proposal it would seem that the suspicion was fairly general. It certainly could be said for the proposal that it gave the committee full power to do the best they could for their Society.
Just before the end of the fourth year Motherwell and Dalziel societies dropped out of the Federation at the request of the committee, as although both societies were loyal purchasers, the cost of delivery was so great that the Society was losing money on their trade. The Federation still consisted of fifteen societies, however—viz., Anderston, Barrhead, Busby, Cathcart, Johnstone, Lennoxtown, Cadder, Parkhead, Elderslie, Howwood, Eastern, Paisley Provident, Thornliebank, St Rollox, and Avonbank—and other societies were being supplied with bread. About this time, also, a new departure was made. The committee had found that their biscuit trade was not a profitable one, and the cashier was instructed to make inquiries as to the terms on which some of the Glasgow biscuit manufacturing firms would supply them with biscuits. It was finally arranged that Gray, Dunn & Co. supply them with biscuits through the Wholesale Society, and this arrangement continued for some time until a fire at the biscuit factory put an end to the connection, when the trade went to Herberts Ltd.
During the fourth year the Society had made considerable progress, and the trade for the year showed a substantial increase, but it had not been very profitable. Indeed in the fourth quarter, after provision had been made for interest and depreciation, there was nothing left to divide, while nothing had been added to the reserve fund during the year. The aggregate output for the year was 7,955 sacks, equal to an average of 153 sacks a week, which was an average increase of 31 sacks per week over the turnover of the previous year. The Society was still much hampered in its operations from lack of capital; the total share and loan capital being only £1,618. During the latter half of the year the price of flour had been very high, reaching in the later months of the year 45/6 per sack for the average quality used.
Yet, although there were still many anxious days ahead for the committee and not a few lean years, with the close of the fourth year the Society had been established on a firm foundation. Henceforth there were not the same defects of management to contend with, and what difficulties did arise were due to weakness in the societies which were customers of the Bakery rather than to causes operating within the Federation itself. In a later chapter mention will be made of some of the difficulties which arose owing to the weakness of some of the societies which were members of the Federation.