At length, toward the end of 1898, the subject was taken up by the Convention of City Societies, and the Baking Society’s board being only too willing to render all the assistance in their power, a representative meeting was held in the Union Hall, West Nile Street, at which Mr James Bain, secretary of the U.C.B.S., read a paper. Mr Bain entitled his paper “Our Bread Delivery,” and dealt at length with the craze for new bread and the difficulties which it imposed on bakers and baking firms. He began by describing the evil conditions which it had introduced into the baking trade, the principal of which was probably the “jobber,” or half-day man. Alluding to a correspondence which had been going on in a Glasgow paper for some time, he said that they, in M‘Neil Street, could not describe the jobbers as anything but clean, respectable, intelligent tradesmen, the majority of whom were only waiting until a regular opening occurred for them. Under a more humane system, however, they could all be dispensed with, and all the men required could be employed regularly. Mr Bain pointed out that the limited time between the hour when the bakers started work and that at which societies demanded that they should have their bread delivered was too short to allow the bread to be thoroughly and carefully prepared. The rush did not allow the bread room workers the time necessary to pack the vans carefully, so that it frequently happened that the bread was crushed and bruised into shapes it was never intended to assume. The demand for new bread also entailed great hardships on the bakers because of the early hour at which they had to begin work, and he was convinced, he said, that bread baked in the morning and delivered in the afternoon, and bread baked in the afternoon and delivered next morning, would be healthier and more suitable for use. All the medical opinion was against the use of new bread; certain chemical changes took place in the bread after it was baked and before it was fit for consumption, and some hours were necessary to permit these changes to take place. He suggested, as a remedy, that the Co-operative societies should lead the way in fostering a demand for stale bread, and that the bakers, through their Union, should assist in educating the general public into a more rational system. Commenting on this subject, the _Scottish Co-operator_ said:—