Friday's papers contained the announcement that the King intends to
be present at the parade of the London Division of the National Reserve in Hyde Park on June 8th. It is un- necessary to insist how greatly this fact increases the importance of the occasion. It was announced on Thursday that it will be impossible to find room for detachments from the country at the parade. The Commandant, Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood, has, we understand, reluctantly come to the conclusion that as the numbers of the London Division are now well over 25,000, and as the space available in Hyde Park is strictly limited, it will be a difficult task even to accommodate all the London men. Though we deeply regret that the country contingents cannot be present, we fully realize that the decision was inevitable. The Reserve has grown at so encouraging a rate in the last few months that our original suggestion of 10 per cent. contingekts from the provinces would have meant
something like an addition of 8,000 men to the London numbers.
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