The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-23
KING EDWARD |S
 WATCHING VOTERS keenIy Interested In Outcome
 Of Elections VICTORIAN ANNIVERSARY England Expects No Lack Of Royal Visitors During the Present Year. Duke of Westminster Will Grow Cotton.
BY PAUL LAM BETH.

London, January 22.-(Special.)-Wh some of them may make more noise about
 1t. 1t may be doubted if any one of his
 subjects Is taking a keener interest in the election of a new parliament than is
 King Edward himself.
 Of course his majesty by custom, which has the force of law. is supposed to be.
 and in fact is, so far as humanly possible. i non-partisan-
 In fact, at court the progress of the
 election may not be discussed at all in the
 true sense of the word. and if 1t is men-
 toned it will merely be as an item of general news-just as golfers might say.
 q hear Taylor has won the Chattersmith Challenge cup" This is a point which guests at court do wen to remember, for if they exhibit any party bias in the pres
 ence of the King and Queen they will certainly not be invited again. Nevertheless an idea of the great inter est felt by the King may be found in the fact that, following the example of the American president. a private telegraph
 wire has been installed at sandringham, where his majesty may receive the elec- tion results promptly. Lord Knollys, his private secretary. in addition to this pre-
 sents the King each morning a carefully prepared summary of the previous days results. the standing of the parties and the various newspaper comments on the progress of the election.
 So punctilious is the King in preserving
 neutrality that only to his closest and
 most intimate friends will he talk of the election at all
 The anniversary of the death of the late Queen Victoria was observed as usual by memorial services at the mausoleum at
 Frogmore today. The King and Queen and Princess Victoria left Sandringham on Thursday for Buckingham palace. They came down to Windsor yesterday in order to be present at the memorial services. Practically all of the royal fam fly now in England were present at Frog more today to do honor to the late queen. The King and Queen expect to return to Sandringham next week and make it their home until fall
 Lord Althorp has issued the usual regu- Iations for their majesties' courts during the coming season. The tradition of the Edwardian court has now been thorough ly established. and but slight variation in the rule has been made The only nov city is an fntimation that the custom Of holding two courts before Easter and two afterwards is not invariable. This is intended to pave the way for an alter ation in the dates should the convenience of the King and Queen ,or the political exigencies of the season, render that course desirable.
 The fatigue imposed upon Queen A. exandra by an evening court Is very per- ceptible, and his majesty desires to re- duce the tax upon her strength as much fo I L. posed to any attempt on the part of en- thusiasts for palace pageants to increase their number. It Is fully hoped that her majesty will be able to take her place beside the King at each of the courts, although she will spend as much time possible in the comparative Quietude of Sandringham.
 All the levees of the season also will eb held at St. James palace by the King in person. The first of each of these functions will be very full, because there will be large number of recruits to the diplomatic and official circles to be presented. The new members of par liament and their womenfolk will also be expected to make their bow at the opening of the season, 50 that the second court and levee, which are attended by general society--with only a sprinkling of the official element-wfll also be crowded
 England is to have no lack of royal visitors during 1910 When the Duke of Connaught attended the funeral of the late King Leopold of Belgium he carried with him a very cordial invitation on behalf of King Edward for King Albert to make a state visit to England, and I understand that the new king of the Bel gians has decided to accept the invita- ton. It Is generally understood that on tho nf ha uvfI ha fy1- vested with tho Order of the Garter made vacant by the death of King Leopold.
 The new Belgian king is a great favor ite with both the King and Queen of England. They are old acquaintances.
 Another royal visitor. understand, will cording to present arrangements. which may, however, be changed. the Italian king, with his queen, will come to London early in June Upon the occasion of this
 visit King Victor Emmanuel will be made | general of tho British army and a great formal review of the troops at Aldershot win be held in his honor. This will be the first review of this character held in . number of years.
 The Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Princess Patricia and Prince Arthur left London yesterday for Naples, where they will embark for Nairobi. The royal party intend 10 BpenO several mOnlNb Tn Africa, and they will not return to Eng land until the end of May or early in tune.
 It is possible that the royal party win meet former President Roosevslt's party while fn Africa
 After tho elections and the gathering of the new parliament some important changes will be made in the diplomatic corps Mfr Bryce, the British ambassa-
 dor at Washington, is one of the men
 who will retire. MT. Bryce is now 77 years old. and has made a brilliant name for himself in the world of letters as well as in diplomacy. His retirement 1t may be said, Is not in any measure due to dissatisfaction with his work at Wash- ington. In point of fact, he has been re- markedly successful in maintaining the most pleasant relations between the Brit fish government and that of the United
 States, but he has earned the right to . nrst-ciass pension on retirement and has,
 it is understood, expressed his desire to
 retire from public nfs as soon e pos
 sible
 Tho young Duke of westminster is the
 latest addition to the ranks of the cotton
 planters. Ills grace, while serving in
 South Africa during the Boer war, was
 very much impressed with tho possibii- ties of that country and purchased short ly after the war . tract of 5000 acres in the Orange River Colony. This he has partially settled with hard-woriing, in- tslligent DnsifsA farmsrs, many of them