LORD RHONDDA

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3091, 23 May 1917, Page 5

LORD RHONDDA

THE MAN WITH A "PUNCH" (By W.B.S. in the "Doily Mail."l "When we don't hate you, we leve you," wrote a Socialist miners' leader in an open letter to Lord Bhondda, Jt was a sub-acid jest, admirably suited to tho . palnto of the new President of tho Local Government Board. When the Cabinet was announced, somo public men expressed surprise that so forceful a personality, with wide dominion in commerce, should bo available for a Department rather overshadowed by its neighbours. ' They did not understand "D.A.," as his Cardiff admirers still call him, or .they had forgotten his fighting qualities. When he was rescued from the submarined Lusitania national interests again called to him almost immediately to brave ocean perils. He set his square jaw at the challenge and went. So I can imagine his combative temperament being attracted to the opportunity of grappling' with public administrative problems under peculiarly adverse circumstances. Since then no Minister in the Business Government has contributed more cheerfully to the bonfire of Departmental red tape and official 'conventions, to my suggestion one day that he must be remarkably energetic to manage all hw Business interests ho replied, ;f.ot at an. I am renllv indolent except in things L like." Observing the evidence of activity in his new Department, the spurring forward of tribunals, the aiding ot tootl production through local .authorities, the relaxation of restrictive by-laws, tho 1 promise to mothers of protection for themselves and their children, the sateguarding of tenants from profiteering landlords, the warning of quacks, and the furtherance of the National Service movement. I can only conclude that Loi 1 lihondda finds his occupation congenial. He recently spoke of the Local koveriiment Board as "the Cinderella of the Departments," but with characteristic confidence he predicted her coming recognition. There are signs that he has at ]ea=t fitted Cinderella's shoe in readiness for the coach that is to take her to the ball. '. At the first glance you can recognise this-voung man. of CI as a doughty antagonist in any arena, there is the sec. cleanshaven jaw, the well-poised head on the' square shoulders of a strong but spare frame. The next moment you are under tho spell of his inscrutable smile. Toil recall that at- Cambridge ho was Mlv as efficient with his fists in the gymnasium as with his brains in the lec-ture-room. The instinct has remained Trith him, strengthened rather than marred by a long and s«^" s ' ne ? career. The sportsman survives to-da) m tho statesman. Many. a heckler m politics and business has grown wary of Set. smile, .with its faint •usseahou of cynicism, for he has learned to know if .4 the portent of a coming, ujFWjt What Mr. Lloyd George .is » M* Wales Lord Rhondda is.in the bus; south. Even his opponents admit his quality. While they criticise him and chaff at his triumphs they concede that ho is no hypocrite. Describing him as an "industrial Jekyll and Hyde Mr. Vernon Hartshorn, the miners leader, raid of him: "In so far as Lord Rhondda is an organiser of industry, a, man whose talents enable wealth to bo'made more efficient, ho is a producer, a worker, and a public benefactor. But in so far a* he is a capitalist, a mere owner, or wealth, and a drawer of profits, ho is a public menace." , / Not long ago miners' leaders were declaiming against, the profits of tho coalowners: ' The smile on, the face ot •*'DA." broadened as ho retorted to a. deputation in his suavest tones: ihen why not invest the funds of the. Miners Union in mines? You know the industry, and, you. can have full fnciUtiej. to become mine-owners." It was tlio-logi-cal "left-hander." The deputation sidestepped, and the round went to Jekyll and Hvda." About that time I was in South "Wales listening to. denunciation, of the head of tho Cambrian Combineas he then was-as a hated opprwm. That evening I attended a meeting in a district peopled entirely by working miners H t which he was to speak on education. Inside tho hall were fifteen hundred ot them and outside,,..another thousand Sed his coming... They cheered him with Celtic fervour, just as they used to when they sent him for over .20 years, as ■5 * Thomas, M.P:. to represent them in the Souse of Cowaons' br record maiorities. Frankly, 1)6 told me ho was Sbted with it, and that ho was on cood terms with himself. Nest to his S and his jaw, his disarming candour '™1 is greatest asset., Commercial sue e=J wMicnl advancement, elevation to the Peerage, have made no change in him Ho hates cant. A good deal of his influence among the Welsh peopleZr\ from his complete !">d=«tandn g of their temperament-rests on then know edge that they can talk to him ns "man to man," without pretence or affectation, and .thoy *ill receive the same measure- in „ return. Even his opponents are "Jim" and Jack to him. •%Rr a moment will he deny that commercial success popularity attract him. Hi» spirit le ioices in the contest. .1 fancy if ho has his wish he will be in harness when 1 is Jast call comes.. His tastes are simple and I doubt if he has had to cut a ' Single one. oTthem to^meet!«« Controller's ration scheme. His leiaxa •tinn is farming-he has some yonderfulHereford ™tlle-his pride is in the ali ity of his daughter, Lady Mackworth. and his mental .hobby is applied «yonomto. A little-while, ago Mr Protheio. Resident of the Board of Agriculture^, -toucan onVrd laws restricting pig-keening. I •M■ *» back in a He was ™£ for ho knew his man. ™» ™f minutes the matter was settled. Itwas a demonstration of the antidote to "Wait and See." -