The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1940. THE KING TO THE FAMILY.

Evening Star, Issue 23690, 25 September 1940, Page 8

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1940. THE KING TO THE FAMILY.

Thk King’s speech, broadcast from tho underground shelter at Buckingham Palace during an air raid warning, was kinglike in every most enlightened sense. In words simple, instinct with sincerity, it conveyed to all his peoples the conviction of his oneness with them, along with sympathy, support, and reinforcement of confidence in their sharp ordeal. Tho subjects are fortunate whose Sovereign, envisaging them over a wide Empire, addresses them most naturally as the “ family.” It was natural that His Majesty should refer particularly to tho distresses which Londoners. bearing before others just now “ the brunt of the enemy’s spite,” are enduring, and his tribute to their courage, cheerfulness, and faith in the final outcome was based not on reports, but on the experiences of both the Queen and himself in mingling among them. The indomitable spirit of the Cockney under whatever afflictions is proverbial, and it has not been wanting in his latest trials. 11 It is not walls that make a city but the people who live within,” says the King, and no truer word was ever spoken. (But London has a long history of troubles to confirm it in its present siege. It had a Great Plague and a Great Fire, and there was a time when tho Dutch sailed up the Medway burning British ships, but it survived all those calamities as it will survive this onslaught. As Mr Keynes, the distinguished economist, among others has pointed out, the, damage and loss that have been done to it, and to Britain, though enormous, and in their appearances and the manner of their visitation most alarming, arc, in comparison with total area and resources, almost inappreciable. “There can be a mighty power of destruction before the building properties of Britain are seriously touched. One million sterling worth of destruction is a frightful sight, but if we suffered as much damage nightly for a year we should not lose more than 4 per cent, of our buildings and their contents, or more than is restorable in a couple of years.” That puts the whole accomplishment of the Nazis in a new perspective, though it does not detract from the courage of the Londoners and all who have been enduring like trials. The King’s institution of a new distinction for civilian heroism, to be known as the George Cross, ranking next to the Victoria Cross, also a George Medal for wider distribution, marks his appreciation of this fortitude.. The task of awarding the new honours, however, will not be easy owing to the great multitude of heroes, deserving knights of every rank and class.