THE CORN MILL, 1863.

"The mill will never grind with the water that is past."

NO greater proof of the courage and unbounded

confidence of our pioneers need be given than the way they tackled the question of the erection of a corn mill. Indeed, their courage might well have been described as recklessness by an outsider, who considered the matter solely from a financial point of view. For a small body of working men to embark on the expenditure of about £5,000 in the erection of a corn mill, when they at the time had only about £1,000 of available capital and no reserve funds to fall back upon, was, to say the least, a very risky experiment; and especially so when it is remembered that the members of the society at the time could not consume fourth of the productive capacity of the mill, and that any additional trade would in all probability be confined to a few small societies within a radius of, say, ten miles. The success of the society was dependent upon a steady quarterly dividend being paid; and the failure of this productive experiment might very easily have spelt ruin to the society.

one

It should be remembered that this was taking place at a time of great depression in trade, owing to the cotton famine, referred to in the last chapter.

A safer course would have been to have erected the mill out of transferable instead of withdrawable shares,

so that the shareholders would receive only the profit made, whether large or small, without interfering with the ordinary dividend on the members' purchases from the shops.

An attempt was made in 1861 to carry out this idea, and work the corn mill as a separate society, but nothing came of it.

Both the Leeds and the Rochdale Co-operative Corn Mills were erected and worked independently of the distributive or retail shop business, and could not, therefore, be a menace to the ordinary quarterly dividend which members expect from the purely retail shop business.

But our working-men pioneers knew no fear and went right ahead, and the result has entirely justified their confidence, for the corn mill has from the beginning, with the exception of one or two brief periods, been a conspicuous success.

It has been previously stated that the committee had been in the habit, from a very early period in the society's history, of purchasing wheat from farmers and having it ground and made into flour at the "Old Hall" Mill, worked by Mr. Atherton.

The first recorded step in connection with the corn mill business is a resolution passed by the committee on May 7th, 1860, which states "that steps be taken to rent or build a corn mill," and the following month Wm. Hill, the secretary, was instructed to wait on Mr. Atherton with a view to renting the "Old Hall" Mill. Nothing, however, was done in this direction. The question stood in abeyance until the end of the following year, when an attempt was made to take on lease the Pennington" Corn Mill, situated near to the gas works in Gas-street, at that time owned by Wm. Atherton.

On this occasion there was every appearance of a bargain being fixed up, for it is stated on the minutes of December 14th and 18th, 1861, that a draft agreement was submitted and approved for the mill being taken for one year. In this case, however, the committee were inclined to be cautious, and before finally

settling they decided to take the opinion of Mr. Taylor, solicitor, as to whether it could be done with safety to the society."

Whether it was owing to Mr. Taylor's advice is not stated, but the lease was not completed and the bargain fell through.

After an interval of another twelve months we have a resolution that a portion of the Towns field' be leased for a corn mill." The "Towns field" was the site now occupied by the corn mill and the weaving shed, and belonged to the Bridgewater trustees.

The committee had at last found a site for the corn mill, and in this case there was no turning back.

The committee's report on the balance sheet for June, 1862, states that "since the Committee last addressed you, they have commenced the erection of the new Corn Mill, which is progressing favourably, and will be an honour to the Society; and the Committee are encouraged to appeal to the members for their cordial co-operation, to enable them to carry out this great work."

Mr. Millington was engaged to prepare specifications for the corn mill, and his son Benjamin as clerk of works. Tenders for the work were asked for through the Leigh Chronicle.

The tender of Mr. Wm. Boardman, builder, Bradshawgate, Leigh, was accepted for the erection of the building.

The engine, boiler and mill gearing were supplied by Messrs. Musgrave and Sons, of Bolton.

The foundation stone was laid by the president, Mr. Enoch Holt, on June 23rd, 1862, and it is recorded that the bricksetters who assisted were given "lowence to the amount of IOS.

During the remainder of the year the committee were exceedingly busy holding frequent meetings, and criticising the work as it progressed.

The erection of the building was completed by the end of the year, and in the Leigh Chronicle for December 27th, 1862, appears the following :-" The Leigh Friendly Co-operative Society has just erected a sub

stantial and lofty Corn Mill, which speaks volumes for the success of the movement. The building is now a conspicuous feature in the Town and reflects great credit on Mr. Boardman, the contractor, and Mr. Limon, who has so efficiently superintended the works."

Mr. Jno. Pritchard was engaged in November, 1862, "to superintend the fitting of the Corn Mill gearing" at the salary of 25s. per week, and on the completion. of the mill he became the first manager or foreman miller.

Samuel Worrall was engaged as first assistant at 20s. per week. Worrall had previously had charge of the Old Hall" Mill, where, as previously stated, the society had for several years been sending wheat to be ground. Pritchard and Worrall, along with the engineer, James Evans, were the only men employed in the mill for a number of years. Corn milling being a business which requires very little manual labour in proportion to the value of the goods produced.

Mr. Pritchard continued as foreman of the mill until 1869, when he was succeeded by Mr. Valentine Farrington. Worrall stayed with the society until 1873.

Adam Smith, the general manager, continued as buyer of grain for the mill until June, 1867, when the work was placed in the hands of the corn mill manager.

On New Year's Day, 1863, a monster tea party was held to celebrate the opening of the corn mill, and the following were appointed a Tea Party Committee :Messrs. Arnold Hampson, Robert Wainwright, Henry Woodward, Thos. Hurst, Henry Brooks, Richd. Foulds, William Boydell, John Prescott, and John Smith (Lord John), with power to add to their number. The price of admission was fixed at 8d. for males and 6d. for females, and 3d. for the entertainment.

Those who have had to do with large tea parties know how difficult it is, even with all modern conveniences, to carry through the arrangements smoothly; and we can well imagine the difficulties of the Tea Party Committee, none of whom would have had any experience of so large a party, when they had to provide for no less than 1,300 persons, and when the tea and

provisions had to be carried up four or five different heights of rooms. No wonder that, as one old member still living states, there was great confusion, in fact it was a case of "muddling through." However, all passed off satisfactorily.

Mr. J. C. Farn, of Eccles, delivered an admirable address on "Co-operation," which was fully reported in the Leigh Chronicle.

The editor of the Chronicle, in his comments, states: "The managers and promoters were literally overwhelmed with success. Such a scene has never before been witnessed in Leigh. Upwards of 1,300 partook of tea, and numbers were turned back."

Such was the auspicious commencement of our corn mill, which has proved to be one of the few conspicuous successes in co-operative production.

Omitting a few brief periods in its history, which will be afterwards referred to, the mill has been a profitmaking concern all along.

In the early years of its career the grinding of the grain was done by the old fluted stones, and it was not until 1887, or twenty-four years later, that steel rollers were introduced.

Corn milling machinery has been revolutionised during the past twenty years. In our own mill the machinery has been almost entirely replaced with new, on three different occasions, as it is absolutely necessary to keep up to date with the latest improvements.

As a proof of the soundness of the financial position of our corn mill, thanks to an enlightened policy on the part of the committee in providing adequate depreciation and reserve funds, it may be interesting to state that the entire cost of the buildings and machinery from the commencement has been the sum of £18,536. This has been reduced, by depreciation and occasional special allowances from the profits, by the amount of £14,096, so that the nominal value appearing on the books at the present time is only the small sum of £4,400.

Additional extensions and new machinery are at the present time being erected, and nearly the whole cost of these will be paid for out of the reserve fund.