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polled 129 and was thus acclaimed as the officially nominated Liberal candidate for Gower (i3) This flirtation with the establishment cost Hodge dear in spite of his unconvincing efforts to claim that his name had been submitted without his knowledge. But after this fatal step his candidature as an official 'Labour' candidate, with the support of the new Labour Representation Committee in London (Keir Hardie was the only other L.R.C., candidate in Wales), made brave progress. Hodge was acclaimed in the tinplate areas of Morriston, Pontardawe and Gorseinon, and particularly in the I.L.P., strong- hold of Y stalyfera. Many union leaders rallied to his side, Ben Tillett (Dockers), Wassail (Swansea Trades Council), even Henry Davies of Cwmavon of the hostile Tin and Sheet Millmen (") WE. Morgan, a miners' agent, gave him support, as did the future Labour prime minister, James Ramsay MacDonald.(15) If the nonconformist ministers were hostile, Hodge picked up useful though unexpected support from the vicars of Oxwich and Reynold- ston.(16) Some effective dents were made in Aeron Thomas's armour. Thomas prided himself on his Welsh speech Hodge countered that if he (Hodge) spoke Welsh, he would have more respect for the language than to speak it as badly as Aeron Thomas did' !(17) Aeron Thomas upheld temperance reform in the land of Sunday Closing. Hodge's supporters pointed out that he was a substantial share-holder in Swansea United Breweries.(IS) Above all, some effective ridicule was poured on the Gower Liberal Association, a clique of wire-pullers, who resurrected the Association for the purposes of an election and buried it the day following !(19) But the obstacles confronting Hodge were too great. Capitalism and the Whiggery of the Big Pew' formed a powerful coalition in so scattered and lengthy a constituency, which created many problems of registration. Despite the Corrupt Practices Act (1883), there were still many loopholes in the laws relating to electoral expenditure. Above all, Labour was deeply divided indeed it is misleading to imply a collective unit at all Interpretations of the early Labour movement frequently neglect the intricate pattern of personal and local connections which acted as a substitute for an effective machinery and a coherent programme until the Labour Party constitution of 1918. In Gower, Tom Phillips of the Tin and Sheet Millmen came out strongly for Aeron Thomas as a man who understood local conditions better than his old rival Hodge More significantly still, the miners were politically quiescent Aeron Thomas had received the cabled support of the great Mabon himself.(20) The dominant voice among the Gower miners, that of John Williams of Ynysybwl, agent for the Western Miners, was heard from many platforms late in the campaign in opposition to Hodge. Williams was a powerful figure, whose occasional lack of scruple in politics belied the genial, avuncular