Page 213 - The_story_of_the_C._W._S._The_jubilee_history_of_the_cooperative_wholesale_society,_limited._1863-1913_(IA_storyofcwsjubill00redf) (1)_Neat

First Visits to Greece.
it was stated that six interests were operating between the producer
and the consumer. Inquiries had been made from the Greek
Consuls in Liverpool and Manchester, " but they know less about
the dried fruit trade than we did, and could give us no information."
The Foreign Office being applied to, referred the Society to a Blue
Book containing a report from an EngUsh Consul in Greece. The
Blue Book was obtained, to find that it gave less information than
a trade circular. Therefore, the buyers reported " we have given
up the hope of getting the requisite information from official sources,
and think we shall have to make inquiries for ourselves on the spot."
Mr. Maxwell thought it " high time the Committees took some
steps," and Mr. Mitchell promptly moved that " the matter be
remitted for prompt action to the Committees in Scotland and
England . . . toget fruit in the first market." " We have had
the same difficulties to contend with in Copenhagen, in Ireland, and
elsewhere," the English chairman continued, " and they have been
overcome." Accordingly, in August and September, 1886, Mr.
Tweedale, the C.W.S. buyer, paid a first visit to Greece, and obtained
fruit of " exceptionally good quality." The following year the
C.VV.S. Committee proposed that one of their number should accom-
pany him. Under the £50 limit for deputations they asked approval
from the delegates. This limitation was being seriously regarded.
A deputation to Denmark having cost £50. 7s. 6d., the Committee,
with a more or less unconscious irony, apologised for having exceeded
the £50. The Grecian visit was to cost about £100, and the delegates
criticised it freely. Could the buyer not be trusted to go by himself?
What value lay in the presence of a committee-man unacquainted
with the language? Various delegates themselves volunteered, and
at last Mitchell suggested voting " that we all go." Ultimately,
the proposal, which was carried unanimously in London and against
a slight minority at Newcastle, on a show of hands at Manchester
found a " decided majority in favour of it." In consequence,
Mr. T. Bland, of Huddersfield, accompanied Mr. Tweedale that year.
Fruit was bought to the value of nearly £90,000; and an enthusiastic
Greek christened his new barge (with due formalities) " The
Co-operative Wholesale Society." In 1888 came the two experi-
mental voyages of the Equity, and some sixty buyers were invited,
on the completion of the first trip, to visit the boat at Liverpool and
see the fruit. In 1889, on October 21st, a special sale of dried fruit
was held at Liverpool, 400 to 500 tons being sold. This was
repeated in the following year on a larger scale. In 1891 the
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