It was in the later years of the ’Eighties that the first Glasgow boycott took place, and it struggled on spasmodically for several years. It had very little evil effect on the progress of the Co-operative movement, but here and there it served to teach the members and directors of societies a much-needed lesson as to the value of Co-operative federal institutions. Particularly was this the case with one society mentioned in the last chapter as receiving exceptional conditions from private bakers. As a result of the boycott two out of the three baking firms which had been supplying the society with bread refused to do so any longer, with the result that the directors had to appeal to the Federation to come to their rescue. This the directors of the Federation were quite ready to do, and so the society joined the Federation and had bread delivered to its members at a cost of 1/3 per hour, instead of getting it delivered free and being relieved from responsibility for bad debts, which were the terms given by the firms which had failed it when the strain came. Another society which was suffering through the application of the boycott by the bakers who supplied it was High Blantyre, which also appealed for assistance, and shortly afterwards became a member of the Federation. The membership of the city societies was also growing very rapidly, and this growth was being reflected in the sales of the Federation, which showed a progressive increase every quarter. At the beginning of the 78th quarter the number of societies affiliated was thirty-six; when the coming-of-age celebrations took place two years later the membership had increased to forty-two societies notwithstanding that Clippens and Cessnock societies had ceased to exist.
A NEW PRESIDENT.
Another important change which took place at the end of 1889 was the retiral from the presidency of Mr John Ferguson and the appointment of Mr Duncan M‘Culloch in his place. This change marked the beginning of a period of unexampled expansion in the growth of the Society. Just about this time, also, the Federation was asked to supply Dumbarton Society with bread while that society’s own bakery was being rebuilt. The Federation at the end of this year was making a big bid for the trade of the societies in cakes and buns for the New Year trade. They had embarked on this trade on a small scale some time earlier, but the business done for the season 1889–1890 was important enough to find a place in the minutes as being 25 per cent. greater than that of the previous year.
MAJORITY CELEBRATIONS.
Early in February 1890, when the new buildings were approaching completion, it was decided that the opening of these for trade should also be taken advantage of to celebrate the coming of age of the Society, and somewhat elaborate provision was made to have a function which would advertise the business of the Society. It was agreed that five tickets should be sent to every society doing a trade of £250, ten tickets to those societies whose trade was between £250 and £500, and fifteen tickets to societies whose trade was over £500. At a later meeting it was agreed that one bottle of beer be supplied to each guest attending the celebration.
The celebration of the majority of the Society, combined as it was with the opening of the new wing of the bakery premises, was a notable demonstration of the progress of Co-operation. The opening ceremony was on a grand scale, as in addition to the large number of delegates who had been invited there were also present a number of visitors, including some from England. Mr M‘Culloch presided, and the opening ceremony was performed by Mr Glasse, secretary of the Society, declaring the premises open in a brilliant speech in which he traced the history of the Federation from its earliest days, and commented on the wonderful progress it had made. The occasion, he said, was one of which the Co-operators of the West of Scotland should be proud. They were met in buildings which were magnificent, and which were a fine example of what might be done by working men. He reminded his audience that only three years had elapsed since they had met at the same place to open the original buildings. At that time the committee did not think that an extension would be required so soon; the only difficulty they had anticipated being that of finding sufficient trade to keep the bakery fully occupied. That difficulty was soon overcome, however, and the trade had increased so rapidly that they were forced to proceed with the buildings they were met to open that day. How necessary the new buildings were he illustrated by pointing out that while M‘Neil Street original bakery had been erected to do a trade of 700 sacks per week, the quarter which would end on the 27th April would show, he anticipated, an average output of 715 sacks per week. When they had started in St James Street it took fourteen years to work up to their full capacity of 400 sacks per week, but now they had increased their trade by over 300 sacks a week in rather less than three years. He hoped that the biscuit factory which they were opening that day would prove as great a success as the bread baking factory had done, and that many societies outside the Federation’s radius for bread would avail themselves of its products. The United Co-operative Baking Society was one of the grandest examples of Co-operation which they had in the country, and it was fast becoming one of the largest producers of bread in the West of Scotland. He referred to the conditions under which the baking trade was carried on in the small bakeries, quoting the Lancet as having stated that many of the workmen had to work under conditions that were abominable, and he invited those present to walk through the bakery and see that everything there was clean and sweet. He pointed out that, of the 140 bakeries in Glasgow, three did as much trade as the whole of the remainder. It was gratifying, he continued, that during the whole twenty-one years of its existence the Baking Society had not had a single dispute with its employees. They had always paid the best wages and employed the best hands. Besides the usual discount, also, the Society had paid £34,170 as dividend on purchases, and that fact in itself spoke for the value of the Federation.
Mr Glasse then, by pulling a lever, set the machinery in motion and declared the premises open.
THE DINNER.
Mr M‘Culloch presided also at the dinner, at which more than 400 guests were present, including Mr Ben Jones. In his address of welcome the chairman asked the delegates to project their minds into the future and ask themselves what would be the magnitude of that branch of the Society’s business which they were starting that day when they met to celebrate the coming of age of the biscuit factory twenty-one years hence. He also referred to the fact that all the presidents of the Society but one were present with them.
Speeches were delivered by Messrs J. Lochhead, Ben Jones, William Revie, Gabriel Thomson, Donald Cameron (two ex-presidents), Mr Glasse, Mr J. Ferguson, Mr J. M‘Murran, Mr William Barclay (another ex-president), and Mr Malcolm Neil. Mr Jones described London, from which he had come, as “a Co-operative desert,” while, in proposing “Retail Co-operation,” Mr Glasse said that in the Second City of the Empire retail Co-operators were nearly as bad as they were in the first, although during the past five years some headway had been made in the city.