16 JUNE 1933, Page 6

A Spectator's Notebook

KING GEORGE was in what would, I suppose,' be called excellent voice at the opening of the Eco- nomic Conference on Monday, but the battery of loud- speakers ranged down the length of the hall gave his tone just that cardboard note in which loud-speakers seem to Hpecialize.. The inflexions of the voice were much clearer in the gramophone record broadcast the same evening. There was nothing of the coldly formal about the speech, and what must have struck everyone who heard it was the remarkable cordiality of the King's references to the League of Nations. " I have always. followed the work of the League with the keenest appre- ciation and interest. The . League has convened this Conference and prepared the way for it. . . . Without the League and without the ideals of the League, I. doubt whether this great meeting could ever have taken place." That is obviously sincere and spontaneous, and I have every reason to accept the assurance of a delegate qualified to speak from personal knowledge. that the King's interest in the League and concern for its welfare has long been all that his speech indicated.