The King opened Parliament on Tuesday. The King's Speech began
with a reference to the good work done at Wash- ington and to the fact that our relations with America "enter upon a new and even closer phase of friendship." Agreements with France and Belgium "for common action in the event of unprovoked attack by Germany" were under discussion. The Estimates would show an effort to reduce expenditure to the lowest possible limit. Measures to give effect to the Irish agreement would be introduced. The prevalence of unemploy- ment caused the deepest concern. The only remedy for it lay "in the appeasement of international rivalries and sus- picions, and in the improvement of the conditions under which trade is carried on all over the world."_ The Genoa Conference, it was hoped, would establish peace on a fair hasis. Proposals would be made for the reform of the House of Lords and for the adjustment of differences between the two Houses. The new Bills would include measures framed to give effect to the policy of retrenchment, as, for instance, a proposal to audit the accounts of rural district councils and boards of guardians once instead of twice a year.
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