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.
CHAPTER VII.
ST JAMES STREET: CONGESTION.
A FALL IN MEMBERSHIP—RELATIONS WITH EMPLOYEES—CANVASSING FOR TRADE—GOOD BREAD—GROUND ANNUAL PURCHASED—DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT—PRESIDENT AND TREASURER RETIRE—KEEPING DOWN PRICES—OAKMILL FAILURE—A PECULIAR COMPLAINT FROM KINNING PARK—FURTHER EXTENSIONS—COSTLY LITIGATION—TRANSFERABLE CAPITAL—STILL FURTHER EXTENSIONS.
In the preceding chapter the decline in the turnover of the Federation, and the circumstances to which that decline was due, have been detailed. During the latter half of the tenth year three societies had withdrawn or been paid out, and the membership of the Federation, which had consisted of twenty-six societies at the beginning of the year, consisted of only twenty-three at the end. For three years no new societies had joined, and the increase which had taken place in the trade was due entirely to increased membership of the societies which were members of the Federation, and to a growing demand on the part of the members for co-operatively produced bread. Two of the societies whose names had been struck off the roll had been little more than nominal members for years, and their loss scarcely affected the trade at all, while, by the beginning of the eleventh year, the substantial decrease which had resulted from the withdrawal of Barrhead Society showed signs of being completely overcome. The turnover, which had averaged 185 sacks per week in the last two quarters of 1878, as compared with 226 in the third quarter of 1877, rose in the first quarter of 1879 to 207 sacks, and by the end of that year was up to 216¾ sacks. The prospects for the immediate future were not too bright, however, as Johnstone Society, in reply to a letter which had been sent by the Bakery board, stated that they had definitely decided to begin baking for themselves. On 21st February 1880 the committee had before them the formal notice from the society of their withdrawal from the Federation, which was accepted. At the same meeting Mr Green, who had been the representative of Johnstone Society on the committee for eight years, was thanked by the committee for the great interest he had taken in, and the valuable services he had rendered to, the Baking Society. Mr Small, Johnstone, who had been one of the auditors since the beginning of 1876, had resigned six months earlier, in view of the fact that his society proposed withdrawing from the Federation.
Notwithstanding the fact that the withdrawal of Johnstone Society was imminent, and that the quarterly meeting of delegates had given no decision on the subject when it was before them at the fortieth quarterly meeting, the committee, by a majority of 9 votes to 2, decided at their next meeting to proceed with the erection of two ovens additional in the premises just vacated by their tenants. At the same time the work of installing machinery was proceeding, and by the middle of the summer the work was completed, as was also that of reslating the bakery roof. The whole of this work was earned out at a cost of almost a thousand pounds, and placed the Federation in a position to handle a considerably larger trade than they were doing at the moment.
RELATIONS WITH EMPLOYEES.
At the same time they were considering the wages of their bakers and vanmen. These workers had always been paid the wages current in the trade, and now it was reported to the committee that the wages of bakers in the city had been reduced by 2/ per week. The subject was discussed on several occasions, being postponed month after month for lack of precise information, and perhaps, also because they were loth to take the step of reducing wages. Finally, a decision was arrived at. The information was to the effect that nineteen bakers, eight vanmen and stable hands, and four employees in the breadroom and office were receiving a total of £46, 16s. per week. The details of the bakery wages showed that the ordinary bakers were being paid 29/ per week; the ovensmen, 32/; the stockkeeper, 33/; the biscuit baker, 35/; and the under foreman, £2, 2s.; and it was agreed that the wages all round be reduced by 2/ per week. The vanmen who had charge of two-horse vans had their wages reduced from 27/ to 25/; one man who had 24/ had his wage reduced to 23/; and those who were being paid 21/ had no reduction made. Naturally, this reduction did not meet with the approval of the employees, but for three months they do not seem to have taken any action. At the end of that period, however, the committee were memorialised by both bakers and vanmen, and the request made that their wages should be brought up to the former figures. In reply to the vanmen’s request, the committee said that after careful consideration they could see no good reason why they should alter their former decision. The reply to the bakers was couched in somewhat different terms, but it was to the same effect. It was stated that the reduction was entirely due to the state of the labour market in the country. From the reports which had appeared in the public press, it seemed that similar reductions had been made in other baking establishments, and, as the Federation had advanced wages when advances were given elsewhere, when reductions were made they were only following the usual course which regulated wages in the trade. The minute continues: “But to show that we have no wish to take any undue advantage of their position, if they can establish to the satisfaction of this committee that the United Baking Society are paying less than the standard wage current in Glasgow, we as a committee would have much pleasure in reconsidering the whole question at next meeting. Until that is done we adhere to our former agreement.”