GREAT BRITAIN: Silent George

Just eight months ago King Edward VIII trudged through the coal dust of South Wales “Distressed Areas” on what the British press called his “errand of mercy” (TIME, Nov. 30). After looking at the treeless, blackened hillsides, the abandoned coal mines, the pitiful brick hovels, the haggard faces of the inhabitants, more than 45,000 of whom were unemployed and only 2,000 employed at the time, His Majesty exclaimed publicly: “Something must be done for Wales!”

In Belgium it is customary for the King to say a good deal more than this on issues of Government policy (TIME, Oct. 26) but in England many authorities consider it “unconstitutional” and last week, when new King George VI & Queen Elizabeth undertook to visit South Wales, it was something of a test case whether they would express themselves about what they saw. As a matter of fact nothing has been “done for Wales.” The Government do not claim to have brought about the pick-up in Welsh coal exports which has reduced the registered unemployed figure to 33,000, increased the employed to 32,-ooo. The price of coal still averages about $4.00 per ton, and the average South Wales employed miner still earns about $2.40 daily.

As the King & Queen trod the bleak Welsh scene last week, and were greeted with cheers approximately the same as for Edward VIII, George VI was seen to chat in undertones with Queen Elizabeth. Fortnight ago in Edinburgh his radio broadcast showed a recurrence of his speech difficulty—with pauses of as much as 15 seconds between some words,—and last week no royal broadcast was scheduled in South Wales. Never once speaking loud enough to be heard in public, His Majesty handed to the officials who welcomed him a reply thanking South Wales in 100 unexciting written words.