The San Francisco call., 1898-02-09
ENCLAND'S
 PARLIAMENT
 REOPENED Victoria's Speech Is Read in Both
 Houses. Foreign Affairs Closed Over in Diplomatic
 Language. Some Legislation Promised in Behalf of Troubled
 Ireland. HOME RULE IS DEMANDED. Leaders Of the Opposition Not in Accord With the Views
 From the Throne.
HOME RULE IS DEMANDED.
Leaders Of the Opposition Not in Accord With the Views
 From the Throne.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

LONDON. Feb. S.-The fourth session of the Fourteenth Parliament of Queen Victoria, and the twenty-sixth of the United Kingdom, was opened by com mission at o'clock this afternoon with the customary ceremonies. The Queens speech was as follows:
 My Lords and Gentlemen: My relations Tlth Thd the other powers continue friendly: The negotiations between the Sultan of Turkey and the King of Greece have | been brought to a conclusion by the sign ing & Of a treaty of peace, under which the powers are practically unchanged
 The question of the autonomous gov ernment of the island of Crete has occu- pied the attention of the powers. The difficulty of arriving at unanimous agreement on some points has unduly protracted the deliberations, but I hope these obstacles will, before long, be sur mounted.
 Intelligence, which is apparently trust worthy, was received of the intention of tian army in the Soudan, and I have therefore given directions that a contin- gent of British troops should be dis Highness, the khedive.
 have concluded treaty of friendship and commerce with his Majesty, the Elm perOr of AbySsinia-
 The report of the committee I appointed | in December, 1896, to inquire into the con- dition of certain of my West Indian colo nies has .conclusively established the ex- fstence of severe depression in those colo nies, caused by the heavy fall in the price l of sugar, which is mainly attributable to 1 the reduction in the cost of production and the great increase in it's extent of re- cent years But the fall has been arti- i ficially stimulated by the system of boun- ties to producers and manufacturers of beet sugar maintained in many European states.
 On the northwestern borders of my In- | dian empire an organized outbreak of 1 fanaticism, which spread in the summer along the frontier, induced many of the tribes to break their engagements with my government. to attack the military the settled district of my territory. I was compelled to send expeditions against the offending tribes for the punishment of the l outrages and to insure peace in the fu- | ture. A portion of the Afridi tribes have not yet accepted the terms offered them | but elsewhere the operations have been brought to very successful close. The courage and endurance exhibited by my troops, British and native, have overcome almost insuperable difficulties in the country in which they were operating valuable lives, both among my own | troops and those whose services were vol untarily and Loyalty placed at my dispos- al by the native servants in my Indian empire.
 | rejoice at the fact that there Is reason to anticipate prosperous year, both for agriculture and commerce, throughout | India.
 On the reassembling of the House of Lords the new Peers were introduced and took their seats with the usual cer- emony. The House was full and the l galleries were crowded with peeresses and the daughters of Peers. The gal l leries were filled before business in the House of Lords began. The Duke of Marlborough and Lord Dunraven were among the Peers present on the floor The Prince of Wales and the Duke of l York were present.
 After the address in reply to the 1 speech from the throne had been nov ed and seconded the Earl of Kimberly l the opposition leader in the House of Lords, replied that he regarded the To- cal Government of Ireland as being one l of the most important subjects of the Queens speech, and while he regarded the Government measure favorably he was compelled to add that the Liberal party was of the opinion that the only way to permanently satisfy Ireland was by establishing home rule.
 The Marquis of Salisbury then arose. and fortifying himself with a glass of | water and leaning his hands upon the | table which separated him from the | opposition began in plain conversation al tones, as If addressing Lord Kim berly alone. The first announcement which provoked Hear, hear!' was that before many months he hoped that their efforts in Egypt would result in the capture of Khartoum When the | Premier reached the question of China | there was a murmur Of expectancy. The pacific assurances he gave were received with evident approval and re- {! lief
 On the resumption of business in the House of Commons this afternoon the new members took their seats. Gerald Balfour, the Chief Secretary for Ire land, gave notice that on Thursday he | would introduce the local Government bill for Ireland.
 1 After notices of the introduction of other bills had been. given Speaker l Gully read the Queens speech, which had previously been read in both houses of Parliament. The speech was then moved and seconded. Sir Will | liam Vernon Harcourt, the opposition leader, said the Government could not complain that the House and court were demanding explanations on many matters. When 100000 men were in arms in various parts, he added, they l could not congratulate themselves upon Pax Britannia.
 The Irish Parliamentary party met | in committee room No. Ia. Timothy | Healy and his supporters, who ab- stained from attending the party meet ing previous to the last session of Par liament, were present. John Dillon was e-elected chairman, and the whips and 1 secretaries were also reelected.
 MT. Healy proposed Edmund Vesey Knox, member for the city of London 1 derry, as chairman, and Michael Dayitt proposed John Dillon, who was elected l by vote of 34 to 14
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