Welsh Journals

was partly the case; nor can the massive efforts of the ILP-ers themselves be ignored. But the majority of the miners were not, at this time, supporters of the ILP. Their political ideals were still couched in terms of the alliance of Liberalism and Labour, and it is more likely that they voted for Hardie as a direct, rather than as an independent, labour representative-for them, Keir Hardie, the former miner, was 'just like one of us'.97 And, despite the local ILP-ers' intensive organization, their numbers were far too small to return Hardie unaided as the 867 'plumpers' indicate, and as their own collection of £ 45 2s. 3d., much less than the local collections of the ILP in the constituencies contested by the socialists in the rest of the country, confirms.98 There can be little doubt that Hardie won Merthyr Boroughs not as the candidate for the ILP, nor as the antagonist of the war in South Africa, but as the only alternative, for the Liberals who followed D. A. Thomas, to Pritchard Morgan, and, above all perhaps, as the tacit personal choice of Thomas himself.99 Hardie's return was as much a defeat for those who supported the cause of Welsh particularism as it was for the Liberal imperialists. William Abraham condemned Thomas for his support of the Scotsman, and declared that 'the seat is now his in virtue of personal importunity, and stands as a warning and a corrective to Welsh leaders' want of presumption. In reality the seat belongs to one of them, but their extreme modesty and consideration for an old member has allowed the seat to be occupied by a stranger'.100 There would always be a section of hostile critics ready to censure Hardie simply because he could not 'roll off in one breath such a word as "LlanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllLlandysiliog- ogogoch" '.101 But the labour electorate was rapidly casting aside the old Welsh prejudices, and the defederationists themselves were becoming a minority group on the fringe of Liberalism in Wales. The election set the pattern for the political future of the coalfield. In 1898, disappointed by their leaders' failure to impose on the coal- owners a scheme to restrict output and thereby to keep the wage rate steady by means of the sliding scale, the miners had, during the WLL, 13 October 1900. 97 W. J. Edwards. From the Valleys I Came. p. 90. ILP Conference Reports, 1901. p. 9. When the result of the poll was announced, Thomas stated that he would be pleased to work with Hardie who, he was sure. was 'honest and sincere'. Morgan, himself, attributed his rejection to the hostile attitude of Thomas and his supporters, SWDN, 4 October 1900. ioo CT. 9 February 1907. Abraham's criticism tends to support the importance of D. A. Thomas' alignment with Hardie during the election. 101 Rhondda Leader, 9 February 1907.