Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-04

time will come sooner than they expect
when they will be asked by the govern
ment In the name of the nation to put
their house in order. 1t is more than likely
that one Of the results of the present dis
pute will be an imperative demand from
parliament for an inquiry into the working
Of the railway system. This will be much
worse for the directors than recognition
of Mr.. Bell.
Lloyd George Is rising man. 1t was
In the early nineties of the last century
when the young Welsh lawyer was al
ready beginning to make name for him.
self as a debater In the house of COM
mons. From 1895 onward Mr.. George be-
came one of the most daring and one of
the most resourceful Of the young radi-
calls below the gangway.
Those who remember him in the days
when, almost singlehanded, he faced Mr..
Chamberlain night after night, denounc-
ing the policy that led to the Boer war,
find it difficult to believe that the suave
and diplomatic president of the board OF
trade, who is now endeavoring to arrange
a truce between the railway directors and
the railway servants, Is the same man.
1t seems strange. indeed. that the most
pacific man in the government today
should only a few years ago have had
to fee, disguised as a policeman, from an
Infatuated mob at BIRMINGHAM. No one
denied his courage in those days that
now seem so far off But there were not
a
their heads when Lloyd George was given
a place in the cabinet. The liberal i'm
perialists, who will not forget his atti-
tude on the war. were certain that the
fiery demagoEue would Kick over the
traces and drag the government into
reckless radical ventures.
A Sudden Transformation.
They we're wrong. The passionate ora
tor. the Camille Desmoulins of the last
parliament has developed as Mirabeau.
His opponents. who once regarded Mr..
George as the Incarnation of unruly radi-
calism. were amazed at the sudden trans
hated the very sight of him in former
days. now talk of him as II he were the
only sane man in the government.
1t would be difficult to exaggerate the
confidence that George has inspired on
both sides of the house of commons by his
work at the board of trade. He has even
conquered his natural loquacity, and dur
ing the first session of the new parlia-
ment the house contemplated the remark
able phenomenon of an almost silent
Lloyd George The man who has been
the life and soul of the back opposition
benches in the last parliament was now
content to hold his tongue in order to
learn the dreary details Of official work
In the dullest of all government depart
ments.
He had plenty Of scope for his energy
in overhauling the board of trade, and,
at the same time. he finds a safety valve
in his speeches in the country, where the
old Lloyd George reappears In Wales
he is not the cautious, farsighted cabinet
minister, but the champion Of an oppress-
ed nationality against parson and peer
There is no hint here of the language
which he uses to his own compatriots in
the house of commons when he bids them
to patiently wait for Welsh disestablish-
ment until the government has more
leisure.
Once within the precincts of parliament
or Whitehall Lloyd George assumes once
more his official attitude, his calm and
down to study the developments of trade.
He keeps a watchful eye on all parts of
the world. and has devised a system OF
commercial scouts, who are instructed to