MASTER BAKERS IN CONFERENCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12903, 14 February 1906, Page 6

MASTER BAKERS IN CONFERENCE.

'■The fifth annual conferencei of the' United Master Bakers'. "Association of New : Zen- s land, -which concluded-' in Wanganui yes- < terday, says the "Chronicle" of the 10th[ \s inst v must" have'served to give the people'"i of this district V clear insight into 'tae } aims .and.objects' of the organisation. Pri- '■ marily, of course, the master bakers have ' adopted the principle of unionism lor the I purpose of -individual _ and mutual. bsnetit. ' By so doing they have taken a-wise and legitimate step, perfectiy in accord!" >vitli tW spirit of the times. Bur the.master : bakers have shown,, by the -ione and trsrd '• of their deliberations in > conference, ; that ■ theirs is by no means a selfish •lor.'-greedy combination. They seek, it is true, a fair price far the product of their industry,' but the unanimous adoption by the Conference of a fixed sliding scale,' regulating the price .of bread. in--' sympathy with the fluctuating price of flour, is in itself the best, possible .proof that-' the bik*rs ha.vK no desire to make the public pay any more than is reasonable for that most necessary or" all commodities, the daily loaf. In ore ■respect the baking trade occupies a unique r and r not altogether enviable position, in that it is perhaps the only trade in which the jiublic are tempted to calculate,. wah.,.as-.' sumed conviction, the difference * between the cost of the raw. material ..'and. the finished article.- The uninitiated,'-shall we saw the unthinking, are apt at timjs to argue that, assuming -that a ton of flour costs so much, and that so many loaves can be got ou£ of thfe. tons, bread ought totbe so -ihuch. *But inrihis rough and ready style of reckoning risfi.£ccount is taken of all the other inclde;;tal expenses—labour, plant, rent (or its equivalent), bad debts, horses, horse-feed, etc., which those "in the know" declare to equal in the aggregate, if not exceed, the cost of what is supposed by the public' to be the chief essential. This fallacious style of reckoning has frequently been.refuted, but it will no doubt be* repeated. But its repetition will make it none the less erroneous, and, obviously, erroneors calculation, while it may tend to unsettle the public mind, cannot possibly affect the actual :price of bread, which, if konestly mrtde, must be honestly sold at a. price which will yield a reasonable profit to the baker. A very noticeable, and a very pleasing feature of tbe conference just concluded, was the - evidently earnest desire the representatives..of the trade to-sub-mit''themselves, to such official supervision.: as -Tvill ensure that the public shall not only be supplied "with a"thoroughly"clean",' wholesome, and full-weight loaf. The delegates were emphatic in declaring .that such a loaf could'hot'Tie supplied by what they termed the "..cutting" or "•sweating" tra'femen, and, as was .: very, .truly.; bread is one of those thing's in" which quality cannot be sacrificed. without injury''to the health of the community. The master bakers, as represented by their delegates, showed themselves to, be iully. agje^to the advantages of technical education, as- is evidenced by the motion which was carried unanimously at yesterday's session; - AsiburreaderS: wifl; B otice froffiflW report of it-he-proceedings, it is the"-wist SF'fhe master bakers" tfikt ul!" apprentices to; tlfe trade should undergo a course-of technical, instruction, covering bothj.tlietheoretical and practical aspects of;"'-.th%: tradei, and in conformity with the .'resjb-v fetion of the onference* steps are Siken to encourage the formation of bakers': passes in the technical schools of 'the folbhy. In regard to the important quesion of short-weight bread, the Conference :oak up an entirely praiseworthy attitude. l The delegation made it pe: f:-etly " clear :hat they recognise it to be to their own idvantage to encourage eve;y; reasonable precaution'being taken lor the protection >f the public iu this connecii-m: but, as hey very reasonably..pointed out. the regulation of -the weight of a !o:-f to .within.

a fraction of an ounce of a *;;-: .ilied weight is a piactical impossibility. Tin most" that it seems possible to do, and all that it seems reasonable to expect, is that a recognised margin to allow for evaporation should be included when -weighing. ar.d scaling off

the dough. What- seemed to be a sensible ivas made~by -one_ of the delegate's;~lcr effect, that the present system- of ; ' ; testing, the weight, _of bread should and that instead the should be empowered to pay surprise visits to the bakehouses for the purpose of weighing the dough as it is being scaled, prosecution to lie in the event of it;.being found that the standard -margin allowed for evaporation had not been included. It was pleasurable to note that there was a complete absence of anything in the shape of hostility towards the employees. -The masters, through their delegates, found no fault with the principle of the labour legislation to which they are subjected, nor did they quarrel with the reasonable demands of their men. On the contrary, in one important respect the masters revealed -themselves-rs "whole hoggrrs," in that they declared for the principle of "'preference to unionists" in its eompletest meaning. Ou the whole, as we have indicated, the Conference proved of a highly satisfactory character, and should result in benefit both to the trade and to the public. It is gratifying to know that the delegates arc well pleased with the hospitality which has been extended to them during their brief stay in Wanganui. and that in that rcspect the reputation of our town is not likely to suffer at their .hands.

Mr A. Budd, president of the South Can-j terbury Master Bakers' Association, acted j as Timaru's delegate to the annual Confer-1 ence just concluded at Wanganui. He re-' turned yesterday afternoon, very pleased with the Conference, the work, done at it, and the hoMday it afforded the delegates. The Conference, he told a "Herald" representative, was the' most successful yet held by the Master Bakers and a lot of important work was done. Some of it was exacting work, but it was'very important, and better for the trade than any hitherto done by.the Conferences. Of it. he conconsidered the discussion of a Pure Foods Bill took the chief place. Its chief relation to the trade will be in its insistence .upon sanitary conditions in the pun-eying of bread; every dealer who sells the commodity will, -under it, have to keep his store as sanitary as a bakery; and bread will no longer be packed alongside "soap and candles and such commodities. In "addition the Bill provides for a,,-license to sell .bread, and thus those who make it a small side line and cut prices will not feel inclined to pay a license fee, and will give up the bread-cum-kerosene business. The Association are to have a litographed diploma of membership henceforward, to give the members some evidence of their -status as belonging to the Association. The next Conference is to be he'd in Timaru. and Mr Budd thought the delegates would thoroughly enjoy themselves if they had as good "a holiday as those of this Conference did at Wanganui.' They had a most enjoyable river trip on Thursday, and wound up their session with a social on Friday. The Wanganui people exhibited all their talents hi the. direction of hospitality; the weather, except for one day, was fine, and in every way the Conference could not have i been more royally treated.