Away back in the second year of the Federation’s existence Mr Ballantyne had been appointed stable inspector to the Society. The appointment had been made by the committee, but evidently the committee of the period with which we are dealing were unable to find any record of the fact, and seem to have taken exception to his work, which, according to one minute, “was independent of the board, and how or when he had been appointed could not be discovered.” The difficulty was not a great one, however. It was remitted to the sub-committee for investigation and, doubtless, a consultation with Mr Ballantyne, the gentleman in question, would put them on the track of the necessary information. Mr Ballantyne, during practically the whole period of the Society’s existence, had exercised supervision over the horses which were the property of the Society. He made a regular examination, and recommended the committee to dispose of horses which he considered unfitted for the work of the Society. The committee were evidently satisfied with the report which was made to them, for at the next meeting they endorsed and confirmed Mr Ballantyne’s appointment and agreed to pay 20/ a quarter for a monthly report from him on the condition of horses, vans, and all matters connected with the stable department—the appointment to be an annual one.
FINANCE.
The question of the proper depreciation of the property, fixed and live stock of the Society, to which attention had been called by the auditors on many occasions, had not yet been placed on a satisfactory basis. The committee brought in several amendments of rules for the purpose of putting the matter right, but these were not accepted by the delegates; nor was a counter proposal, that a sum of £200 be taken from the reserve fund and applied to reducing the value of the horses and plant. This latter proposal received a majority of the votes at the quarterly meeting, but as a majority of three-fourths of those voting was necessary before any money could be withdrawn from the reserve fund, and the majority was not large enough, both proposals dropped, and the old, unsatisfactory position continued. At a later date the question was again brought up by Mr Macintosh, who, in response to a request by the committee, outlined a scheme for putting this important branch of the Society’s financial arrangements on a sound footing. The practice had been to allocate a certain percentage of the profits each quarter to depreciation account; Mr Macintosh urged that for this method they should substitute that of allocating a fixed percentage of the initial cost, and that this should be regarded as a charge on the trade of the Society and should be allocated before the profits were ascertained and irrespective of whether there were any profits. The committee were in favour of the proposed alteration, but considered the time inopportune to have it made as so large a proportion of the property was unproductive at that time. They therefore decided to delay the matter for twelve months. It was not until the end of 1888 that depreciation was put on a satisfactory basis.
AN INVESTMENT.
It was during this period that the Scottish Co-operative Farming Association came into being. The Bakery board were supporters of the proposal from the first. In discussing the subject the committee took into consideration the fact that they were spending nearly £200 a quarter for feeding-stuffs and buttermilk for baking purposes, and they thought that if such an association was in existence a large proportion of these articles could be got from the farm. They agreed, therefore, to recommend to the delegates at the quarterly meeting that a special general meeting be held to consider the advisability of becoming members of the Farming Association. When this meeting was held it was agreed that £50 be invested in the funds of the association. Unfortunately, however, the speculation did not turn out a success, as, after struggling on for several years, the association had to succumb to adverse circumstances.
For some considerable time there was a certain amount of looseness in conducting the stable, and the result was that finally the committee felt compelled to make a change there by dispensing with the services of the foreman. There was trouble at Hill Street also for a time, but eventually this was overcome. For some considerable time, however, both before and after the opening of the new bakery, the complaints about the quality of the bread, which for some years had been almost negligible, revived, and sometimes the committee at the monthly meetings had letters from as many as a dozen societies. The causes of complaint were various, but seemed persistent for a time.
Once before the S.C.W.S. had thought that they had reason to complain of the share of the U.C.B.S. trade in flour which was being put past them, and after two or three years had passed the same subject came up again through a deputation from the Wholesale Society waiting on the Baking Society’s Board. The whole subject was gone into minutely, and the Wholesale deputation were told plainly that while the U.C.B.S. directors had every desire to trade with the Wholesale Society they could not do so while such a discrepancy existed between the prices which the Wholesale Society charged for flours and those at which similar flours could be purchased elsewhere. The result of this first meeting was that a second meeting was arranged between representatives of the two societies, when the whole subject was investigated. Both committees, it is stated, “received from each other much valuable information which would be advantageous to both societies.”
Reference has already been made to the propagandist work carried on by the directors at this time. Amongst other work of a propagandist nature, they held, in the autumn of 1887, a social meeting, to which the employees of the various societies dealing with them were invited. The object of the social gathering was twofold. In the first place, they wished to give the employees a good time; but they had also an ulterior object in view, and so they took advantage of the opportunity given by the social meeting to bring to the notice of the employees the good which accrued to Co-operators generally by making the Co-operative movement self-contained and self-supplying, as far as that was possible. It is not possible to say whether this first attempt to secure the co-operation of the employees in pushing the wares of the Society met with much visible success, but it was one of those efforts from which something might be gained but by which nothing could be lost. Since that day the Co-operative employee has been a frequent visitor at social gatherings convened by the U.C.B.S.
In the course of the propaganda campaign carried out by the directors, some peculiar proposals were made to them. By the committee of one society the deputation were informed that the private bakers from whom bread was being bought not only supplied the shops, but delivered bread at the members’ houses as well. In addition, they carried goods from the shops to the members and, in general, acted as delivery vans for the society. Nor was this all. In addition to delivering the bread to the members’ houses, they went the length of absolving the society from responsibility for loss through non-payment by the members of their bread accounts. The Baking Society could not hope to compete against such practices, and the directors said so. In other instances the societies were prepared to assume responsibility for payment of the bread supplied to members if only the Baking Society’s van would deliver it, and the committee were willing to entertain this proposal, but the quarterly meeting of the Baking Society decided that bread should be supplied to shops only of customer societies.