Cylchgronau Cymru

One reason for the wide dispersal of shares in the Pioneer Company becomes apparent in observing the class structure of the shareholders. The majority were skilled or semi- skilled workers, usually miners, and there were no professional or senior administrative personnel among the shareholders. After the miners, the next largest group, though very much smaller in number, were shopkeepers and self-employed people, followed closely by clerical workers, supervisors, foremen and 36 teachers. Only four clubs or trade union branches invested any money in the company and none of these were branches of the ILP. It would be wrong to conclude, however, that the ILP was in no way involved. In the absence of a list of members of the Party in Merthyr it is impossible to establish how many of the Pioneer Company's shareholders were members of the Party but it was probably a considerable number. There is, however, one surprising name among the list. The largest shareholder by far was D. A. Thomas, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil and owner of the Cambrian Collieries. The significance of this investment lies in its curiosity value, however, for D. A. Thomas was a strange, contradictory man-perhaps the most vilified coal-owner in South Wales and yet the friendly associate of Keir Hardie and sponsor of innumerable working class causes. 10 Certainly his large investment in the Pioneer Company did not act as a constraint on the editorial policy of the Merthyr Pioneer when the occasion demanded. By early 1911, the Pioneer Company was beginning to be profitable. The deficit of £ 66 in the previous year had been turned into a profit of £ 74 and there seemed to be a reasonable prospect cf being able to make some inroads into the accumulated deficit. Yet it was at precisely this moment, when the company was still not entirely solvent, that the decision was taken to launch the promised weekly newspaper. There are two possible reasons for this. 1910 had been a year of unexpected and unusual political activity. Two General Elections had transformed the position of the Liberal Government which, henceforth, depended for its survival on the Irish and Labour votes in the House of Commons. Clearly the Labour movement was potentially in a stronger position than it had been before and this applied as much to Merthyr Tydfil as any other part of the country. But it is also likely that the lack of a newspaper was brought home to Keir Hardie's supporters much more clearly in 1910 than previously. Though he polled well against the second Liberal candidate, Hardie still failed to oust Edgar Jones, D. A. Thomas' successor, from the head of the poll. The second reason is, perhaps, more substantial. 1910 had also been a memorable year in the field of industrial relations, culminating in the Tonypandy riots in November. The Cambrian Combine dispute, which was the main cause of the riots, remained unresolved at the end of the year and by March 1911 was in its sixth month. Judging from the content and editorial remarks of the Merthyr Pioneer, it is clear that the inauguration of the newspaper was judged to be essential in the circumstances. The first editorial of the Pioneer on 18th March 1911 spelt out, in clear terms, the policy and aspirations of the paper.