The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-15
PARLIAMENT
 IS CONVEND Sixth Session Opened BY
 King Edward. READS HIS OWN ADDRESS Document is Regarded As
 Commonplace. Lengthiest Paragraph Devoted to lsmzzE- an situation, Which Continues ts Give Anxiety to England's
 Ruler.
READS HIS OWN ADDRESS

London, Feb. I4.~-The sixth sessiek of the first Parliament of his reign wa< opened this afternoon by King Ed ward with all the historic pageantry which has marked the ceremony since his accession. The sovereign himSetf read the speech from the throne to the assembled lord and commoners In the upper chamber. The document was commonplace. The only reference to the Russo-Japan ese war which the king said "unhappily continues, was to announce that "my Government has been careful to observe in the stricteat manner the obligations incumbent on neutral power"
 The lengthIest paragraph. devoted ko the Balkans. says the situation com tinues to give cause for anxiety. Tho measures adopted at the instance Of the Austro- Russian Governments have been instrumental in bringing about some amelioration in the state of the disturbed districts. but these meas ures have still to be supplemented by radical reforms especially of the financial system before any perma- nent improvement can be effected in the administration of these provinces Of the Turkish empire"
 The speech noted with satisfacttcn that the Austro-Russian Governments had addressed to the Porte proposals for this purpose and added that the British Government was In comrnuri- cation with the powers concerned on this important subject.
 CongratulatoFy references were made to the visit of the King and Queen or Portugal to England, to the ratifica- tion of the Anglo-French convention and to arbitration agreements with Sweden and Norway, Portugal and Switzerland. The speech also men, tioned the international commission 'intrusted with the investigation of the circumstances connected with the disaster to British trawlers which ee- suited from the action of the Russian fleet in the North Sea and of appor- tioning the responsibility for this da- plorable incident"
 | TrnnsvanI AmaIrs. The King expressed the hope that the steps to establish a representative constitution for the Transvaal would result in substantial progress towards the ultimate goal of complete self government.
 The king referred to the Thibetan expedition, to the exchange of visits between representatives of Lord Cur zon of Kedlestone, the viceroy of India and the Ameer of Afghanistan to dia- cuss questions affecting the relations of two Governments and concIuded with mentioning the proposals for the redistribution of Parliamentary seats to be laid before the Commons; the alien bill to be introduced and the leg- islation dealing with the unemployed. besides other important domestic leg islation.
 At the resumption of business Lord Chancellor Halsbury read the Kings speech and the Marquis of Winchester (Conservative) moved the address in reply.
 Earl Spencer, the Liberal leader, re- ferred to the war in the Far East. He said 1t was the most earnest wish of the people of Great Britain to see the end of the conflict and he trusted His Majesty's Government would not lose a fair and proper opportunity to bring the conflict to a peaceful solution. Foregin Secretary Lansdowne ex- pressed his sorrow and concern at the continuance of the war in the Far East and said that should an opportunity for bringing itself to a close present itself, the government would avail itself thereof, but an attempt at inter- vention now would mean retarding the very object desired. Speaking on the subject of Macedonia, Lord Lansdowne said there was consensus of opinion among the powers in favor of drastic reforms and a scheme would be pro- posed which he hoped would meet with sympathetic criticism.
 l After a few words from Lord Goscheu ! (LiberaD the address was agreed to and the House of Lords adjourned House of Commons. | Tho House of Commons assembled for business at { o'clock.
 In the House, W. A. Mount (Conser- vative) moved and Samuel Roberts | (Conservativel seconded the address | in reply to the kings speech.
 The first division approaching party line occurred in the House of Com mons ,when Mir. DaIziel GiberaIl moved that the House censure Lord Arlington for breach of privileges by ton. Premier Balfour said nothing could be gained by continuing the discussion and moved the previous question, which was carried by 257 to 121 votes.
 l Henry Campbell Zimmerman said that the opposition would soon en- deavor to secure a straight answer from MT. Balfour showing whether or not he was in agreement with Joseph Chamberlain's proposals.
 Sir Henry Campbell Zimmerman spoke at great length. attacking the governments policy in Thibet and South Africa. and in fact at all points. He continued speaking up to T:s0 D. m. when Sir Edgar Vincent Cconser- vative) took up the debate and was speaking when the house suspended it's sitting. The first hour and q half | of the night session was taken up with desultory speeches in the debate upon the address in reply to the speech | from the throne,
 | Premier Balfour rose at 10:sO o'clock | to reply to Sir Henry Campbell- Banner
 man. MT. Balfour justified the Gov ernment's action in Thibet, said 1t was | the MinistTy's earnest desire to main | tain the friendliest relations with Af- 1 ghanistan, and that negotiations to that | end were proceeding satisfactorily. He | also defended the sugar convention.
 Replying to Sir Henry Campbell-Ban- ne-man's assertion that the Govern ment was too feeble to carry ouk an ] effective policy Mir Balfour said the decision lay entirely with che H0usa
 of Commons whether It could effective