The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-20
Ceremony Lacks Usual Pomp.

London, February 19-King Edward opened the second Parliament of his reign this afternoon with the customary cere- moniaL The absence of Queen Alexandra, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and the mourning Into which the court had been thrown on account of the death of King Christian, detraeted somewhat from the brillancy of the pageant.
 Otherwise the royal procession from Buckingham palace to the palace at Vest minister and the proceedings in the House of Lords followed the well known lines of those of previous years. The weather was cloudy but rain held off. and all the points of vantage along the troop lined route, were well occupied by cheering crowds. The rich military and naval uni- forms, the quaint garb of the yeomen and watermen and the gilded state coach with it's handsomely eaparisoned horses, all combined to form an effective pie ture.
 King Enters Gllded Chamber
 Within the "eilded chamber" a bril- liant scene met the Kings gaze as he entered from the robing room, attended by all the high officers of state. bearing the various insignia of the monarchy. The hall was crowded to it's capacity. The mourning dresses of the women were shown off to the fullest extent by mag nificent displays of 1ewelry and con- trasted with the brightness of the peer robes and the uniforms of the distinguish ed diplomats and the soldiers and sail ors. who participated in the ceremony.
 For the first time since the reign of the late queen Victoria only single chair occupied the dals in consequence of the absence from England of Queen Alexan- dra The King arrayed in robes of crim- son silk and velvet having seated himself on the throne commanded the presence of the Commons 10 hear his spech As soon as the speaker and the Commons had arrived the King took the document containing the text of his speech from the kneeling Lord Chancellor and read fl.
 Refers to Roosevelt.
 The speech contained no surprises. Tho usual reference to the continuance of friendly relations with foreign powers was followed by paragraph rejoicing over the fact thut the Russo-Japanese war has been brought to an end by the satisfactory conclusion of negotia- tions commenced in August and due to the initiative of the President of the United States which had resulted in an honor able peace.'
 Referring to the Moroccan conference, the King remarked
 'It Is earnestly to be hoped that the result of these negotiations may be condu- cive to the maintenance of peace among all nations"
 Colorless mention was made of the AngIo-Japanese treaty, the dissolution of the union of Norway and Sweden and the condition of Macedonia which has continued to give cause for anxiety"
 The speech announced that the idea of an intermediate stage for a representa- tive government for the Transvaal had been abandoned and that a new consti- tuition would be drawn up as expedtiously as possible adding that until the Trans vaal assembly meets the importation of Chinese will be suspended.
 After announcing the postponement of the proposed colonial conference until early in 1907. the King congratulated the Commons on the steady increase in im- ports and exports, indicating that the industries generally are in a sound and progressive condition, but immediately afterward the King invited the earnest attention of the legislators to the addi- lions made in recent years to the na- tional expenditure and capital liabilities of the state.
 important Paragraph for Ireland.
 The speech closed with a mention of irrespective leslslation. An important