not easily does the War Office take to the black-coated man of business.
Mr. Weir was tact itself. For some weeks the soldiers were hardly aware
of his presence, then they learned that the quiet Scotsman in the black
coat was saying the most laudatory things about their organization;
then they found themselves marvellously improving this organization
merely by acting on the most modestly given suggestions from the smooth
civilian; and finally the very greatest of them discovered that somehow
or another Supply had now got a wonderful "move on," and that among
other things this wonderful "move on" had brought the civilian on top of
them--still smooth and modest, still in the background, but absolute
master of the whole machinery.

Lord Inverforth's work soon involved not merely the care of the British
Armies but the care of the Allied nations. What did he do? Besieged by
the unconscionable rascals of the world, fawning or blustering to get
contracts at extraordinary prices, Lord Inverforth struck a master blow
at this international cupidity by obtaining control of the principal raw
materials and instituting the system of costing. Manufacturers got their
contracts on a fixed basis of profits. Lord Inverforth knew the exact
cost of every stage in the manufacture of each article he bought, and he
saw that the manufacturer received from the taxpayer only a small
percentage of profit on that cost.

The greatest thing he did at that time, and the bravest, for he did it
without authorization and at a cost of L250,000,000, was to buy up the
Australasian wool-clip from 1917 to 1920. In this way Germany was doomed
to defeat. England, so to speak, had the clothing of humanity in her
right hand.

But Lord Inverforth also controlled flax, hemp, leather, and jute, so
that the enemy's case was as hopeless as our own was secure.

These gigantic operations involved an expenditure of over L500,000,000.
They brought an actual profit to the British Government of over
L20,000,000, saved the taxpayer Heaven only knows how many millions, and
were conducted at an administrative cost of three shillings for every
L100.

Nothing like it had ever been done before in the world.

Early in 1919 Lord Inverforth was asked to clear up war's rubbish-heap.
He became Minister of Munitions. Within twenty-four hours his body of
expert buyers had become the Disposal Board--a body of expert sellers.

The property of the British taxpayer was scattered ov