Page 218 - The_story_of_the_C._W._S._The_jubilee_history_of_the_cooperative_wholesale_society,_limited._1863-1913_(IA_storyofcwsjubill00redf) (1)_Neat

The Story of the C.W.S.

1885) almost as the private venture of two individuals. In 1889 the
shareholders included seventy employees and private persons (some
of the latter being store managers) and only twenty-three societies.
And their association was not producing simply to meet the needs
of its corporate members (as the Barnsley retail society made shoes),
but it was competing with the Crumpsall Works for the general
trade of retail societies not otherwise supplying themselves. In
one instance (said Mr. E. Hibbert, of Failsworth and the C.W.S.
Committee, who led the case against admission) the C.W.S. made and
supplied mincemeat. In the next season the demand was divided
between the C.W.S. and the Sundries Society, and the Crumpsall
Works had barrels left in stock. To admit such a competitor to
membership would be wrong. "And," said Mr. Mitchell, " one wrong
course will sometimes destroy the vitality of the most powerful
institution." The friends of admission, however, included a long
list of well-known names. The Sundries Society was a registered
and accepted body, a member of the Co-operative Union, and
an exhibitor at Congress exhibitions. The Congress leaders saw
"
tyranny in exclusion. By E. V. Neale the question was put: Does
the Wholesale Society exist for co-operation, or co-operation for
"
the Wholesale ? But the view taken by the C.W.S. Committee,
"
out of strong conviction, and not from prejudice of any kind,"
decisively prevailed. The result of a discussion extending over two
Quarterly Meetings (December, 1890, and March, 1891) was a vote
of 319 for admission and 589 against.
The Soap Works at Durham, meanwhile, pursued an even and
uneventful course. ... At Leicester, during 1885, the then
manager of the Boot Works, Mr. Dadley, died suddenly while on
business for the Society in Paris, and Mr. John Butcher was induced
to return to his old post. He at once commenced to introduce the
new American machines, which already were revolutionising the
boot trade—the C.W.S. being the first manufacturers to introduce
complete sets of these inventions. The price of leather was falling,
also, although not at the same average rate as other commodities.
Between 1875 and 1894 the cost of sugar, cotton, wheat, and wool
all fell by more than 50 per cent, while in leather the average fall
was only 22 per cent. However, in the first quarter of 1886 the
Leicester Works reported an increased output of over 5,000 pairs,
with a money return only £192 in excess. The average price per
pair had dropped from 5s. 5|d. to 5s. 2^d. Later still, it fell to
about 4s. 8d., the general tendency being furthered by an
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