At the Royal Academy Banquet last Saturday, the first since
May, 1914, precedent was followed—the precedent which pre- serves eminent British statesmen from the danger of being tempted to discuss the Arts, possibly with more goodwill than knowledge. Thus Sir Roselyn Wemyss discussed naval affairs. and Sir Douglas Haig the gallantry of his. Army. The Prince of Wales, however, linked up the Arts with a national question at least aa vital and urgent as the welfare and efficiency of the Services. He discussed the housing question with intelligent sympathy. "We all wish to see our fellow-countrymen happy, healthy, and contented, and we axe agreed that this end cannot be attained without securing decent and comfortable homes for others, the blessings of which we ourselves enjoy. . . . This pressing need must be boldly faced and boldly handled." The Prince reminded his audience also that what the Services owed to camouflage during the war they owed in no small part to a distinguished Royal Academician.
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