The King, with his usual keen appreciation of public opinion,
has decided that in future the whole of Richmond Park shall be open to the public,—the woods, which up to now have been carefully preserved, being included. The King has played his part to the full; but we trust that when the detailed regulations are drawn up by the Department realm- sible, the King's soldiers will not be forgotten, and the supposed interests of the lovers of Nature be allowed to override those of the men who desire to train themselves to arms for the service of the nation. The Volunteers an,d Yeomanry, and indeed all London troops, should be made free of Richmond Park, as they are of Wimbledon Common. Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, Barnes Common, and Bushey Park form together an • area ample enough to carry out operations on quite a large scale. That any harm will be done to the wild life of Richmond Park by training soldiers there in field operations. on Saturday after- noons is a complete delusion. When some two years ago we advocated the opening of Riohmond Park to the Volunteers, the better opinion as expressed by the experts clearly went to show• that the wild life of the Park would in no way be injured by the discharge of blank cartridges or the advance of a skirmishing line.
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