Evening star., 1933-06-11

capable Of compelling world attention
still less Of rallying world opinion as
Roosevelt did with his great appeal
which turned the tide at Berlin and
Geneva
Ramsay Macdonald comes nearest to
striking the international note, but he
has an execrable radio voice and man
ner. When he last broadcast on an
international hook-up from Geneva
ju before catching the train for Rome
and Mussolini's four-power pact. his
oratory was pronounced even by hard
ened listeners to Geneva speeches to be
insufferable and. worse still, in his the
atrical pauses audible filters from the
distinguished cosmopolitan audience hit
the n.icrophone and were duly relayed
through the ether. Further Ramsay
Macdonald is not taken seriously in
Europe now.
But the British sovereign has every
thing that Macdonald has not got, and
the latter is big enough to realize 1t
and yield first place at the microphone
to a King without executive power.
King George has perfect radio voice
clear, deliberate. natural, unforced and
easy But that Is detail, although
he probably is the most respected fig
ure in the world today. No one has
anything against him anywhere. He Is
one of those rare men. patient. endur-
ing. self-sacrificing. yet shrewd and OF
well balanced Judgment. who can,
without sentiment or righteousness, be
termed good A good man. good
husband. a good father, good king.
Successful King.
He is, moreover, the worlds most
successful King. Over the critical and
anxious period Of the Irish troubles,
the war, the Irish settlement, the ad-
vent of the Labor government, the
general strike and the economic bliZ-
zard he has skillfully kept his feet and
his head. He has quietly provided so
lutions for problems. and as sovereign
he has emerged from each crisis
stronger than before. Every time the
political leaders get in a jam, the King S
library at Buckingham Palace or the
vast old pile, Windsor Castle on
Thameside, or his east coast seat at
Sandringham in the midlands, pro-
vides safe harbor for conferences and
counsel and subsequent action. The
Irish troubles were settled at Buck
ingham Palace The national govern
ment came into existence there.
The world will pay heed to this Brit
ish King as it paid heed to President
Roosevelt. Roosevelt and Macdonald
agreed about that when they talked to-
gether in privacy on the Potomac.
Somebody has got to take the lead
and If the Anglo-Saxons between them
do not do it nobody else will. and the
greatest conference Of all will be still
born. King George, who knows very
clearly what it's all about, has his own
reasons for wishing to see this confer
ence delivered Of lusty man child
which will assure the succession OF
the line of the civilization he knows
and prefers. If it fails and the eco
nomic war intensifies. it would seem to
be only a matter of time before the
entire. world capitalist structure col
lapses-and with it civilization as We
know it. What would follow, Bolshe-
vism or Fascism, is anybody's guess.
But certain it is that no state whose
inhabitants are dependent on the ex-
change of goods and commodities be-
tween nations can long survive This
means Britain despite her empire It
also means the House of Windsor since
defeat in the present economic war
will perforce be more disastrous, dis
ruptive and violent in its effects than
defeat In any military war.
Not Original Idea.
This is not an original idea to the
British King. He is well informed
about the whole unprecedented world
situation and its potentialities for Brit
ain and for his house He does not
bend an ear only to political chieftains.
When Macdonald had to explain the
necessity for drastic action he took
along to the palace with him Sir Jo-
siah Stamp. Britains leading econo-
mist (practical SCHOOL, statistician and
big business executive. to do the scien-
tific explaining for him. That sort Of
thing happens all the time. 1t may
be news to the public when J. p. Nor