THE KING IN SOUTH WALES
[To the Editor of THE Sewr.vroa.]
S1R,—The gracious visit of His Majesty King Edward the Eighth to the distressed areas will never be forgotten by their inhabitants. He came to fulfil an arranged programme, but with his characteristic independence he enlarged upon it, and did a number of unusual and unexpected things. I personally saw him get out of his ear, right in the heart of a vast crowd, with not more than one or two policemen anywhere near him. He stopped in this way at Merthyr, and shook hands with Mr. Collins, V.C., behind whom I was standing at the moment. His utter confidence in the goodwill and the affection of a much maligned people was 'magnificent.
It would seem churlish to complain. where so much was good. Yet those responsible for the arrangements omitted Dowlais, which he none the less visited. There was also one other striking omission. The schemes initiated by the. Commissioner and the Ministry of Labour, and many examples of the excellent work of the National Council of Social Service, were all included. Yet no single clergyman or minister in this area was presented to him.
It might appear that I am moved by personal prejudice, but I had already had that privilege, and also been summoned to the presence of his beloved father. I am, therefore, not complaining on my own behalf. In the churches of every denomination in South Wales courageous and kindly ministries have been exercised by hundreds of faithful pastors and priests. Many of them have rendered service similar to that of the National Council of Social Service, long before that body was established, and many of us have heartily co-operated with it. It seems a great pity that men like. Rev. Dilwyn Llewellyn Jones. or Rev. E. C. Phillips, who have worked heroically among a constituency ninety to a hundred per cent. of which is out of work, were not presented. Going in and out of the homes of the people they, or colleagues of theirs elsewhere, might have been remembered, for they could have told His Majesty much that he wanted to know, and from a unique angle. We still claim that this is a Christian country, and the omission is significant.
One further remark is called for. The reception accorded to His Majesty was wonderful in its sincerity and spontaneity. It should finally dispose of the myth that South Wales is " Red," in any sinister or menacing meaning of that term.=
Cartrefle, Queen's Road, Merthyr Tydfil.
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