THE BAKERS AND THE CASH SYSTEM,

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2078, 2 January 1908, Page 2

THE BAKERS AND THE CASH SYSTEM,

[To the Editor.) Sir,—l have been asked by the master bakers of Gisborne to forward a reply to some of the points referred to by you in the leader in., which you criticised our determination to abolish the credit system. To begin with, we want to again emphasise our contention that the action we arc taking will be very greatly in the interests of the public, as we will ‘ be able to sell much more cheaply under a, cash system than, would ever be possible were we to continue to give credit. Now, sir, when you stated that bakers receive credit from j the millers, I think you. must have I been unaware that bakers have to i pay cash for their-flour, or else they ■ j lose a substantial discount. Then : again we have to pay cash for our ; labor, so that the manufacture of a loaf of bread is with us practically a. cash transaction. You quote the case of a man who when, in work is not „ , gßt&Sg- -Sufficient to put anything by for a rainy day, but through an accident or ili-liealth is temporarily laid aside from his employment, arguing that such a man a baker -would be justified in giving credit to. Now what we say in regard to such a case is this: If the man was only able to pay his way when in work, how is it Possible that after recovering from is illness he can pull up the 'arrears? Besides, we consider that any working' mail should he in some lodge or benefit society, so tliat in the case of temporary difficulty lie may get assistance where he has a just claim to look for it. For the matter of that, too, we contend that the reduction we aro making in the price of our bread is so substantial that if i working man puts the difference bv lie can in this way establish a fund that would pay his bread bill for a limited period. Of course, it is conceivable that, as you suggest, there may be an occasional case where a baker may feel that he is really called upon to stand by an old customer. In this respect I think I can safely say that the bakers are certainly as generous asjany other set of tradesmen, and we would never for the. sake of a few loaves of bread stand between a family and starvation. We would not give credit, but we wouldn’t hesitate to give the bread for a short period to permit suck a. family from making other arrangements. There is no question that we bakers have been simply driven to the present step by the exceptional abuse of the credit system in this town. There is never a bankruptcy but a baker “falls in.” So bad have things become in this respect that' when a baker recently tried to get an offer for his book debts the best ho could get was 7s Gd in the £. Of course all this had to go on to the price of bread, and coupled with tlio high price of flour we liad to put , ' loaves at such a figure that consumers-'’ felt the pinch, and consumption went down. This in its turn meant less profitable working of our plant. So you will see that it became "absolutely necessary that if wo were to carry on business with fairness to ourselves and satisfaction to the public we must take some drastic measures to deal with the credit system. I think wo have arrived at a satisfactory basis of ‘trading for all parties concerned, and trust at any rate that the new system will bo given a fair trial.—l am, etc., - “‘MASTER BAKER.”',