The fifth Session of the Queen's twelfth Parliament was opened
on Tuesday, with a Message in which her Majesty first of all alludes to the dispute with Portugal. An armed force from Mozambique had in the autumn invaded territory where British settlements had been formed, and com- mitted acts "inconsistent with the respect due to the flag of this country." "The Portuguese Government have now, at my request, promised to withdraw their forces from the terri- tory in question." Her Majesty next mentions the Con- ference on the Slave Trade, and the Convention about Samoa, and proceeds to declare that any well-considered measure for the federation of the Australian Colonies will be favourably received. The condition of Ireland is so much improving, that the districts in which certain offences are dealt with by summary process may be "largely restricted," and proposals will be made for increasing, "under due financial precaution," the number of occupying owners, for extending the principles of local self-government to Ireland, "so far as they are appli- cable to that country," and "for improving the material well- being of the population in the poorer districts." Her Majesty then promises a variety of Bills, and among them one for facilitating the collection of tithe, and its redemption, another for diminishing the cost and difficulty of private legislation for Scotland, and others for improving the crofter districts, for winding-up limited-liability Companies, for amending the laws on the housing of the Metropolitan poor, and for regulating Savings-Banks and Friendly Societies. There will also be a proposal for the better accommodation of the troops in barracks. The programme, it will be seen, though moderate in form, even to weakness, covers most of the work expected of the Ministry, though it leaves the ques- tion of Free Education to be settled as circumstances or the surplus may render convenient.
