From the newspaper Rabochy Potrebitel of January 1, 1925.
A bonus on purchases, or a dividend on the share? What our readers say.
A lively discussion has flared up around the question of how to reward consumers. The редакция has received many letters from readers who have taken a keen interest in this issue.
Most of those who sent in their views speak in favor of a bonus based on purchases.
Comrade A. P. writes:
"It is not enough to be a shareholder of a cooperative; one must also be an active member, i.e., take an interest in its affairs and buy goods only at one’s own cooperative. To reward both a mere shareholder and a conscious member of the cooperative with the same bonus is entirely unfounded."
"I believe the bonus should be issued on the basis of all purchases—the larger the purchases, the larger the bonus."
A. A. Vidmenko, a regular reader of "Rabochy Potrebitel", did not doubt at all that Tserabkoop would settle on the bonus-on-purchases system. Comrade Lyubitov’s article, proposing to introduce a dividend on the share and, in Comrade Vidmenko’s view, having the "character of something final", prompted him to immediately express his thoughts on this question.
"After all, if a housewife knows that for the purchases she makes—say, totaling 10 rubles—she will gain the right to take whatever she wants for 30–40 kopeks, she will not only refrain from losing those one-kopeck or two-kopeck vouchers, she will keep them more carefully than Tserabkoop itself would keep them in its iron cash boxes. For her, those vouchers will turn into money. And besides, only active members of the cooperative—those who truly and consciously support it—will be rewarded, not dead weight that ended up in the cooperative by misunderstanding."
Both Comrade A. P. and Comrade Vidmenko equally believe that what matters to a cooperative is not so much shareholders in general as devoted members who purchase only from their own cooperative. Therefore, they support the bonus-on-purchases system and believe that this system is not so complicated that it should be abandoned for that reason. They propose recording purchases by means of duplicate receipts or special stamps.
There is, however, an opposing point of view.
T. Davidovich believes that issuing bonuses based on purchases "will increase overhead costs and will not be able to satisfy the consumer due to incomplete coverage of his purchases." Comrade Alivkon is against bonuses altogether. Rewarding 50,000 members of the cooperative "will entail such expenses that it will significantly raise the prices of goods, as a result of which the bonuses will be reduced to zero. Profits should be used to improve and lower the price of goods, and, on the other hand, to organize assistance for the members of the cooperative who are most in need."
The question of a system for rewarding members has been ripe for a long time. Numerous responses from the consumers themselves speak to this. The question must be resolved as soon as possible.
From the newspaper Rabochy Potrebitel of June 11, 1925.
What the KhTsRK is doing to improve the operation of canteens.
The Organizational Department of the KhTsRK conducted an inspection of the work of the public catering department. In total, the KhTsRK has 16 canteens: 4 open and 12 closed, located at factories and plants.
In April, the closed canteens produced a loss of 16,000 rubles. This is explained by the fact that while meat prices, compared with the autumn, rose twofold, the prices of meals in workers’ canteens remained the old ones. For example, at the 4th canteen (VEK) revenue from meals in April was 10,663 rubles, while raw ingredients alone cost 11,592 rubles. At the 7th canteen (Serp i Molot), revenue was 5,920 rubles, while raw ingredients alone cost 6,420 rubles. Together with overhead expenses, the loss for the 4th canteen for April was 3,794 rubles, and for the 7th, 1,736 rubles. The total loss across all canteens was 16,000 rubles.
All canteens purchase the highest-grade, best-fed meat. The public catering department has been instructed to pay greater attention to purely хозяйственные matters. In order to improve the work of the canteens and further develop public catering, it has been decided to bring women worker delegates into the work as permanent responsible staff members in canteens (buffet attendants, storekeepers, inspectors). In the near future it has been decided to involve at least 10–15 delegates. The canteens purchased meat from different organizations, and as a result there are fluctuations in prices for the same raw product. A special comrade has now been assigned who, within the Public Catering Department, will oversee the entire organization of raw-material purchasing. This will make it possible to reduce the cost of ingredients and thus partially reduce the loss of the closed canteens.
It is impossible to eliminate the loss entirely, because otherwise it would be necessary either to raise meal prices or to reduce the amount of fats. Since this would hit the worker’s budget hard, it has for now been decided not to resort to such measures. It has been decided to pay attention to the development of professional and political work among the staff, since most canteen workers are poorly literate and undeveloped. To bring the entire staff closer to the work and increase participation, it has been decided to begin holding production meetings within the canteens and monthly meetings of canteen managers and head cooks.
For the further development of public catering, it has been decided to replenish the cooking staff with youth—apprentices—paying attention to drawing Komsomol members into this work. It has been decided to improve bookkeeping by developing a unified format for internal canteen bookkeeping (storekeeper’s book, buffet attendant’s book, cashier’s reporting). Considering that the first canteen (Moskovskaya St.) and the third canteen (K. Liebknecht St.) are located in unsuitable premises, it has been decided to take urgent measures to find suitable premises where consumers can be served normally. In addition, it has been decided to speed up work on mechanizing kitchens in all canteens.