the reward
to such a man does not come in the ordinary way. I had proved the value
of his great work and that is all the reward he ever wanted."

LORD RHONDDA

LORD RHONDDA OF LLANWERN (DAVID ALFRED THOMAS MACKWORTH)

First Baron, 1916. Born, in Aberdare, Wales, 1856; died, 1919.
Educated with tutors, and later at Caius College, Cambridge;
Scholar also, of Jesus; President South Wales Liberal Federation,
1893-97; M.P. for Merthyr, 1888-1910; for Cardiff, 1910; Food
Controller, 1917-1919.

[Illustration: LORD RHONDDA]

CHAPTER XI

LORD RHONDDA

_"Whereof what better witness can ye expect I should produce than
one of your own now sitting in Parliament."_--MILTON.

In the _Merry Passages and Jests_ of old Sir Nicholas Lestrange record
is made of the following witty definition: "Edm. Gurney used to say that
a mathematitian is like one that goes to markett to buy an axe to break
an egg."

This perhaps had been the fate of Lord Rhondda, for he was by nature of
a true mathematical turn, had not the circumstances of his economic life
forced him to apply this natural tendency to the practical affairs of
commerce. But nature herself had given him with this aptitude for
mathematics another quality which must eventually, one would suppose,
have saved him from the unfruitful fate of a theorist--he was a man of
rare imagination. And so this mathematician, who was also a poet,
brought a unique mind to the affairs of commerce and there scored a
success which attracted attention in both hemispheres.

I do not know a better example to illustrate the main thesis of this
book than the case of Lord Rhondda. No doubt the case of a greater man,
Lord Leverhulme, would lend itself to a far stronger illustration of
that thesis, but, unfortunately for my argument and for the nation, Lord
Leverhulme has never had an opportunity of vindicating in office those
qualities which the House of Commons neglected or overlooked during the
years in which, like Lord Rhondda, he sat humbly on its back benches.

For the best part of his manhood Lord Rhondda was a political failure.
The House of Commons, which prides itself on its judgment of men,
treated him as a person of no importance. He represented one of the
largest industrial constituencies in the country, was always returned by
an overwhelming majority, and was known to be in his own district an
administrator of far-reaching talent; bu