RIIRAI, CO-OPERATIVE BAKEHOUSES 2$ 



office at the market rate. Yet the member's grain accepted is limited to 

 the requirements of the bakehouse, and no more is received when there 

 is a sufficient quantity in the warehouse. 



The price of the bread is fixed, at the end of each month, by the office 

 in accordance with the general expenses of the previous month and the cost 

 price of the merchandise utilised in the month. Orders for bread are sold to 

 the members for cash ; they may also obtain flour, bran, embers and ashes 

 either in return for orders or for cash. The mayors of the communes in the 

 district of the society have the right, on 48 hours' notice to the secretar}^ and 

 book-keeper, to take from the bakehouse the amount of bread allowed to the 

 the poor ; payment is only made at the end of each month or quarter b}- the 

 Charity Bureau. The members cannot, under pain of expulsion, sell 

 the bread or any other article supplied by the society ; but exception is 

 made in favour of innkeepers who are authorised to supply themselves in 

 order to meet the requirements of their profession, and this is perhaps 

 a slight deviation from co-operative principles. 



The society is administered by a bureau and a committee of super- 

 vision appointed at the General fleeting of shareholders. The members 

 appointed may not refuse office under penalty of a fine. The paid employees 

 are a baker, a bread porter and a secretar}^ and bookkeeper ; they are ap- 

 pointed by the bureau and must give security : these offices, for whi:h 

 there are many applicants, are often put up to tender. 



In case the dissolution of the society becomes necessary, it is decided 

 on at the General JMeeting and the bureau is entrusted with the liquid- 

 ation, the profits or losses being distributed among all the members in 

 proportion to the total amount contributed by each since the society's 

 foundation. 



2. The society with variable capital and variable number of members. — 

 The bakehouses of this type are regulated by law of July 24th., 1867 on 

 societies. 



Their legal object is the purchase of wheat or flour and the exclusive 

 manufacture of bread under the best and cheapest conditions possible. 

 The capital is generally 2,000 or 3,000 frs. An excellent example of this type 

 is the co-operative bakehouse of Montchanin-le-Haut (Saone-et-Loire), 

 founded in 1880 with a capital of 2,000 frs. in 50 francs shares. The first 

 payment of 20 frs., to be made at date of s ubscription, gives a right to bread 

 on credit for a month : on the first Sunday- of each month the accounts in the 

 passbooks are regulated and payments made. The member who ceases 

 his orders for bread without sufficient reason has ten francs deducted fiom 

 his share of the capital, to pay the costs of settlement of his account. In con- 

 formity with the rules regulating these societies, the obligation incurred 

 by each member is limited to the payment of his subscription. The society 

 is administered by a board of nine members, elected at the members' 

 general meeting for three years, a third of the number of members being 

 elected every year ; the secretary and the cashier, elected in the same way, 

 are members of the board by right of office. The cashier is bound to give se- 

 curity to the amount of the initial capital. Four commissary members, ap- 



