THE POSITION OF THE U.C.B.S.
While the position of the average private baker was that which has been described above, the baking departments of Co-operative societies found themselves in a very much worse position in direct ratio as they had been loyal hitherto in the use of Co-operatively milled flour. The flour mills of Scotland did not produce more than one half of the flour which was used in the country, with the result that the remainder had to be imported; but the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society imported wheat and themselves milled practically all the flour sold by them. The consequence was that as the quality of “Government Regulation” flour deteriorated, the flour which was supplied by the Wholesale Society’s mills, in common with that supplied by the other millers, was of such a nature that bread baked with it was inferior in quality and unpalatable. As, however, bakers were compelled to take flour from the source from which they procured it at the time when the Food Control regulations came into force, those who had formerly used a considerable proportion of imported flour were allowed to mix a good percentage of the flour which was still being imported with the “Regulation” flour, and were thus enabled to produce a comparatively white and palatable loaf; while the Wholesale Society, which had not been in the habit of importing much flour, were now allowed by those responsible for the bread regulations to import only a very small proportion, and their customers suffered accordingly. It was only after repeated representations had been made to the Government and the Wheat Commission that, ultimately, the proportion of imported flour which Co-operative bakers generally were allowed to use was raised considerably.
From this cause the Baking Society was as great a sufferer as were the others. The bread became more and more unpalatable as the admixture of foreign cereals in the flour used increased, and complaints about the quality of the bread began to come in with irritating frequency. The receipt of these complaints, justifiable as they were, must have been all the more irritating to the committee from the fact that they found themselves the victims of circumstances over which they had not the slightest control. They knew that the bread which they were producing was unpalatable, and the fact that the Germans had to eat bread which was very much inferior was but poor consolation in view of the fact that many of their trade rivals were able to produce better bread because of the larger proportion of white flour which they were allowed to use. There ensued, as a consequence, a very considerable decline in the bread sales of the Society. The customer societies would have taken the bread, but their members could not and would not eat it. From much the same causes the trade in biscuits and in teabread declined also. The use of sugar in biscuits or in teabread was prohibited, as was the manufacture of pastries. The result was that while the output for the quarter which ended in October 1916 was 68,533 sacks, that for the quarter which ended in October 1917 was 67,132 sacks, and that for the corresponding quarter of 1918 was 62,867. And if the details for loaf bread in M‘Neil Street alone are taken, the contrast is still more striking. The output for 1918 had fallen below that of 1915 by over 400 sacks, and below that of the quarter which ended in April 1917 by over 12,000 sacks.
A BIG LAND PURCHASE.
By the end of 1916 M‘Neil Street bakery, and particularly the biscuit factory, was again becoming congested, and power was obtained from the quarterly meeting to spend up to £9,750 on the purchase of more ground. At the time this power was obtained, the committee had under consideration the fact that the ground on the east side of M‘Neil Street, extending from the Clydeside to Govan Street, was in the market, and ultimately the purchase of this ground was completed at a cost of £9,750. The ground contained an area of 6,590 yards. Much of it was occupied by buildings of a temporary character; the only buildings of a permanent nature on the site being two tenements at the southern end. This site has not yet been utilised by the Society, but it forms an admirable property which is available for any extensions which may require to be undertaken in the future. Meantime it is let at a rental which gives a net return of 3⅓ per cent. on the capital cost of the site.
ILLNESS OF PRESIDENT.
In November of 1916 Mr Gerrard was laid aside for a number of weeks by a severe illness, from which, fortunately, he recovered after a time. With the exception of one short interval, he was able to carry out his duties until the beginning of November 1918, when he was again laid aside with an illness so severe in its nature that ultimately he was informed by his medical adviser that he would have to give up all thought of public work for the future. The last regular meeting of the committee at which he was able to be in attendance was that held on 10th October 1918.
A NATURAL WORKING DAY—BY ORDER.
Several years before the outbreak of war the directors of the Baking Society made a determined effort to institute a natural working day for bakers, but were unsuccessful, as a natural working day meant the use of bread which was cold before it reached the shops, and this the members of the stores refused to accept. In March of 1917, however, the Government, impelled by the exigencies of war, were able to do, practically with the stroke of a pen, what the unaided efforts of the Baking Society had failed to do. This Order of the Food Controller decreed that bread must be at least twelve hours old before it was sold in the shops. It is quite likely that those who devised the Order did not know and did not desire to know how their proposals were going to affect those engaged in the trade. The bakers were faced with the necessity of rearranging their methods at a moment’s notice. They had to rearrange the working day, and also to find storage accommodation overnight for their total day’s output, and on Friday nights for almost double that quantity. One good result of the Order was, as has already been mentioned, that the working bakers at last obtained a natural working day, for their hours of work were fixed to begin at 8 a.m. and to end at 4.30 p.m.
The storage difficulty was one which was more difficult to overcome. At M‘Neil Street storage accommodation had to be found for 84,000 2–lb. loaves on ordinary weekdays and for 156,000 on Fridays. This meant the fitting up of every available space with racks and trays in which to place the bread, and a very serious addition to the amount of labour necessary. On the other hand it meant that there would be a considerable saving on delivery charges, as societies were able to take in larger quantities in the mornings, and so minimise the duplication of deliveries. The difficulties were all overcome, and, in a very short time, the delivery side of the business was working as smoothly as the attenuated state of the delivery staff could be expected to permit.