MASTER BAKERS' ASSOCIATION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 63, 4 March 1908, Page 4

MASTER BAKERS' ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL CONFERENCE: Tlip annual conference of the New Zealand United Master Baker*' Association of Employer." opened in the Town Hall, New Plymouth, yesterday morning. Mr. W. A. Ivellow. president, occupied the chair. The following delegates were present: —Messrs. n. Denhard, U. Langdon. and K. McParland (Wellington.and member- of executive). A. E. Whitehead and D. Charker (Manuwatu), A. Lea la nd and •!. West (Taranaki), A. Budd (South Canterbury), W. B. Pratt and .1, F.vans (Canterbury), J. Glass, G. gmerdon. C. G. Knox and J. Gardener ('Auckland). Messrs. J. W. Thomson and C. Buchanan attended as visiting members of the Taranaki Association.

The president extended a hearty welcome to the delegates, and stated that this was the most important conference of the Association yet held.

ANNUAL K£POKT. The annual report, prcienu-d by the president, congratulated Ue Association and all member-, lor never in the history ot the As-ocialiuii lud tney iouud ihemaeWes in so salMaciory a condition. The Jinauiiai podium was good, una there had been more unanimity shown by the uustw oaker-; iu taking an active interest iu their unions. Hit yoar jusi cloeed had Iteeii the most evenUul which master bakers iiad ever known.

Drought and shortage of grain.—New ZualATiit had had to face a. drought and; a shortage in crup*. the dry summer, following ad it did on that of last year, had been a sore trial to tanners alld growers. The price oi flour had fluctuated in a manner hitherto unprecedented in the Dominion, excepting iu the very early days. Press criticism. —The master bakers bad had a deal to put up with at tho hand of a certain section of the public! press. ISo soon a> it wa- found necessary to increase the price oi bread, owing to the rise in the price of Hour, articles appeared «!epr«v.uing the action of the Utkers, It wa- a mo-t rem.likable thing, but rise- m any other foodstuffs might occur, aud hardly a word was spolwn by ibe pre--?; but let the baker raiee tin* price <•: iti.- ioal. and there was a penect uouh Why was 'this: Was not the baker entitled to

live and meet > untingeni;ic= on the same conditions oihei viadi-s': Or was he supposed to be a benevolent indiviijual who was expected to give his ware? away, or sell at a lo=*'; Bakers did not want wheat to be at a high price. J.hey

could sell more bread at the same margin Oi profit when flour was low. It was an indisputable fact that bakers did not charge enough, and did not make butlicieni provision lor bad debts. This item, were it known Lo the public, would cause considerable surprise. It had come to such a pass that two Master Baker*' L'nion= in the Dominion had decided to sell bread only lor cash, on what wa> known a-> the "coupon sys--1 tem." which would be discussed at thin ! conference.

New union.—During the past year, the bakers of Oisbornc had formed a union, and had become affiliated with the Association. lie heartily welcomed the Poverty Bay Master Bakers' Industrial Union of Employers. To them was due the credit of initiating the "coupon system." The other union which had adopted the system was the Manawatu Union.

Pure Foods Bill and Sale of Foods and ' Drugs Act, 1007.—A deputation waited npon the Minister for Public Health, the ! Hoti. (>. rowlds, and Dr. Mason, Chief Health Officer, in November last, and spoke on the Ministeiv proposed Bill. The Pure Foods Bill proposed to repeal the following Act-: No. :iO, The Adulteration Prevention Act. 1880; No 11, The Adufteratiou Prevention Act, 1880. Amendment Act, 18&1; No. 18, The Adulteration Preveution Acts Amendment Act, lTO; No. 25, The Public Health Act, I'JUO (section 87); No. 82. I lie Public Health Amendment Act, 1!>03 (section 10). The difficulties with regard to fermentation and climatic influence* were explained by the deputation. Further, it was explained that some customers insisted on receiving slack-baked bread, while others would have nothing but well-baked bread. The idea was that bakers should charge more to those who demanded well-baked bread. This, however, would, as was well known, cause considerable trouble. Thy deputation was most cordially received, and desired to record their thanks to the Minister. One thing which was pointed out to the Minister and which both he and the Health Ollicer paid considerable attention to, was the danger caused through the exchanging of bread with customers, and the Minister said he would make provision for this. It would be seen by perusing the "bale of Foods and Drugs Act, 11K17,"' that thy exchanging of bread was prohibited. When the deputation withdrew, the Hon. G. Fowlds remarked: "*ee how the new Act works, and if you have any -suggestions to make in the future L shall be pleased to receive and hear vou." Certain amendments were made ia the "Pure Foods Bill/' and the Act which wa- now in force (as from Ist January, viz.. the "Sale of Food and Drugs Aet, 1007/' No. 22, must be considered a fair Act.

Duty 011 Australian flour.—This matter had caused the executive committee considerable attention and deliberation. It was .suggested that ail effort should be made to indue- the (iovernmenl to remove the duty oa Australian tlour. The conclusion arrived at by the committee was that it would be an unwise thing to do. It w.i- considered that if such were done, buyer., jn the Dominion would lie entirely at the mercy of foreign market-, a-* farmers and growers would to jjr.nv wheat ill N'ew Zealand. Kniployers' Aviation. —A matter

which the conference would ho asked l>> consider was the advisaM<eiies» of atliliating with the Employer-/ Association. In conclusion, the executive committee expressed a hope that this year would prove a less troublesome one than tin* last, in so far as lluetuation in the price of Hour was concerned. The provident, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, mentioned that the executive had voted the secretary a bonus of .C2O above his salary of £3O, and he considered that money richly deserved. Jle also mentioned the favorable attitude of the Minister of Public Health to the executive of the Association.

The report and balance-sheet were adopted without discussion, the balance, sheet disclosing a satisfactory state of affairs.

EMPLOYEES' SMOKING. Mr. Pratt (Canterbury) brought up the matter ot prohibiting unoking in bakehouses and on delivery carts, i'his had been before last conference and had been referred to the executive, lie cited an instauce where a cart had caught lire from a match thrown carelessly by the carter. Mr. Evans, of (Jhristchurch, spoke hi a similar .strain. Mr. MeParland said the executive had not thought lit to bring this under the notice of the Minister, lor tobacco was a preventative of disease. But he thought it would be better to discourage or prohibit smoking by boys and men delivering bread, lie considered it a matter for individual bakers.

Mr. Knox ('Auckland) si id the executive had been instructed to bring this before the Minister,

The president said lie did nut allow smoking oil hi* carta, except on the return journey. To appeal to the Minster would be to make the bakers look ridiculous, for it would show the bakers were unable to control their own business. It was too trivial a matter for special legislation. Several other speakers, while expressing a wish to terminate the practice, thought it a matter for the bakers tlh'inselvt*.

rpon the motion of Messrs Smerdon (Aucklandl and Pratt (Canterbury). it was decided ili.it the conference recommend thai Iho muster bakers of (lie Dominion discountenance and discontinue smoking during the manufacture of bread and its deliverv lo customers. AUCKLAND'S COMPLAINTS.

Mr. Knox ('Auckland) asked why no action had l>een taken in some matters left to the executive by former conferences. He mentioned one or two instances.

The president explained. The ArbiN ration Court would no! allow payment by the hour to a man engaged bv the week; iinr. if a man worked short time on one day, could he be compelled to make it up on another day so as to completed his week of 51 hours as livd

br the award, Mr. Lealand (Taranakh -tid that Tnranaki bakers worked under the Factories' Act, under which they could get the full 48 hours' work. The president »tateu that if men were employed only by the hour. ih»; master might wake up >ome morning and iind no bread, for the men who worked by the hour only were not bound to give notice.

No action taken. SPOILED (iOODS. Mr. <>ardiucr (Aucklandj submitted an Auckland remit that goods spoiled by employee?- slnmld be paid for by them at cost price and lie re-made by them in their own time. Me hud been a considerable sufferer by the men's carelessness. On one or two occasion-

>-line of the men were arranging to recompete him, but the mau responsible for the damage elected to "take the

sack'' lirst. Tii'. l president said that the master baker could obtain redress in the courts if he could prove the damage was wil-

fill. ■Mr. (.aidiiier said lie had had only two iu>taucc» ill hi- bakehouse where a man wilfully spoiled goods lo preicnt llif employer continuing a ceil ain In.inch of manufacture which gave the employee extra work. -Mr. Knox said the law compelled the employer to jiav the mail fur working, but would not compel [he man to do the work properly. 1 -Mr. Denhani said the employer!-! should bring a test ease against a "competent" foreman who spoiled goods. -Mr. Snicrdon thought the most practicable method was to insist 011 the man paying for tile spoiled goods. Should he refuse, the man must be discharged. Mr. Whitehead thought members of the Association should post or black-list the name of any employee whose carelessness was a source of expense to his employer. Mr. Lealand suggested following the (ierman practice of issuing certilicates, which would be ••smudged" by a bad record.

The president said the employers were compelled by law to issue tiiese discharge certificates, which were provided by the Labor Department, but employers did not take advantage of (he provision. The remit will be po„tcil to the various unioiu for tlieir consideration.

The conference resume-, this morning.

BURNT-OUT SETTLERS.

GOVERNMENT'S PKOMPIT ACTION. TENS Ot-' THOUSANDS NEEDED. 'T'he question of relief will amount t > many tens of thousands of pohiuis,'' remarked the Hon. li, McNab, Minister oi Lauds, when questioned on Saturday by a New Zealand Times representative 'in regard to the assistance which is afforded |>v lhe Government to settlers who have been burnt out as a roult of the hush lires. "Ot course, soed happens to be high, apart from the bu>»li lires. which I think are hound to -lill'en the price, ami a pound doesn't go far in properly -ceding land to-day." Applications tor aid are coming in 'n droves. '"Mesides those that are going direct lo th«' Crown Lands Commissioners. where we want them to go. I suppose I dealt, with li fly applications today,'' said Mr. McXab. "These application- are -•ciit on to the Commissioners. who have power to deal prompllv

with them. W'r urc purchasing large quantities of >ced ourselves. and arranging it standard mixture for t-hc supply. Kver.v man has his own view a> lo liir mixture peculiar to himself, and where an applicant desires special treatment, we arc arranging that in place of supplying him with the actual *wil we will authorise him to get approved samples from the seed merchant and w<- will pay ihe accounts in Lao meantime, and entering into an arrangement with the tenant for repayment. "This will ensure promptness and will do away with a danger which we wenapt to fall into—of purchasing from the big dealer in the large centres and overlooking the men who could only supply limited quantities in the smaller places, but who are yet on the spot. For instance, suppose a farmer in a backblocks district- has forty acres burnt, and there is a seed merchant be usually deals with, and who knows his mixture, and ho is satisfied with tho soundness of it. On our representative examining the burnt-out. area and passing it. we can authorise him to purchase the seed, with certain limitation*, and have the account forwarded to us. "'lf. however, ihe farmer prefers it, we will supply him with the seed direct, but as one who is acquainted with the buying of seeds myself, 1 know the dillieuitv of oil'- goneral mixture fjlitisfyiug a ihiuilkm' of fanners. Very fow farmers adopt the same mixture. The damage done has Injen extensive, though perhaps not quite .so extensive, 1 am happy to say. as one would believe from reading the papei> v In the South Islaud the damage has been small, coiai paratively speaking. in f>ne land dis--1 \liit I know of. where .there were a | good number of reports of damage done. I inquiries by the Department only elieil- | ed six caws of damage. "Throughout the North; lsl md there I arc ,onn' very unfortunate cases. The ca>es of damage may .Ik? ch» Allied: I Those tenants who haw been left com- | paratively <m the verge of ruin, with S the destruction of slock and the after-

.•rt'erts <>n tin* sioek through iho uii<»!' of the lieing destroyed. J>ui llit'i* ■ is iu pretty nearly all cases where the whole of the picture ha< hoi been destroyed area-. covered l»y logs and fallen limber which have been clean a l l ».l left a heap of a-hes, Thus what luu bwn done by the tiros is what tlie tenants Inve been trying to gel. done for \viw>. Seed sown there promptly, provided tlie settlers have pastures for ll."ir -toek, will pui their farms in a j \tar or K>o in a better condition than j they were before the tires. In other | words we have all varietie- of Mill'er- | ei«. it<mi ilkim' almost on the verge >f I ruin to tlio.-v who have sustained no j los< at All. I "All the will be carefully ex-

amined. The Mipply of seed will he immediate. a> far as we ran do so with

tin l large ipiantily required. The termto the settler will depend on the extern

of hi- po-ition financially. in cases where complete repayment has to be

made, the terms will ]m» liberal. In all ca-e- time is saved, by the sufferers applying direct to the Commissioner of Crown Lands in their distiicl. for to tho-e direct to the Minister (and even through member-1 it means nnuiv day* 1 delay.