, and that was all. There were
many shrugs of the shoulder, many doubtful whispers, at the hazards
which Campbell-Bannerman was taking in putting such a person into the
Cabinet. True, he was but one of the lesser appointments--namely, that
of president of the Board of Trade--but was he capable of even that
responsibility? Had he any capacity at all as an administrator? These
were the doubts pretty freely expressed in political circles when the
appointments to the new Cabinet were announced.

It is significant of the reserves in Lloyd George that from the time he
took his place among the line of Ministers on the Treasury bench he
began to show signs of qualities unsuspected. Gone was his
combativeness. He answered questions about his department with
urbanity, replied to criticism with courtesy and painstaking detail.
Out of the House he devoted himself assiduously to learning the
intricacies of his department. Very soon reforms began to be
manifested. The Board of Trade, an old and historic department,
largely bound up with red tape, became the most unconventional office
in Whitehall. Moreover, the activities of the Board of Trade began to
get an importance in Parliament that they had never hitherto possessed.
Novel measures were brought in by Lloyd George and, what was more
surprising, were successfully piloted into law by him. His grasp of
detail, his unfailing tact, his readiness to meet reasonable
objections, all contributed to the result. I do not mean that he was
always suave, because occasionally biting sentences would make
themselves felt as of old, but wherever courtesy and politeness were
forthcoming from opponents he returned them in full measure.
Responsibility was certainly having its effect on him.

He passed the Patents and Designs Act, formulated to compel
manufacturers holding British patents to make their goods in Britain
instead of abroad, and he passed also the Merchant Shipping Act, for
the purpose of giving British sailors better food and healthier
conditions of life. While the Board of Trade was thus forging its way
in public estimation it suddenly became the most important Government
department in the country. The railway men all over the lines planned
a strike to get more pay, a strike which would have dislocated if it
had not stopped all the trains in Britain. It is the business of the
Board of Trade to handle labor disputes. Lloyd George was at once in
the vortex. To the surpr