In 1905 considerable opposition developed against the increase in naval expenditures, occasioned chiefly by the necessity of keeping step with the accelerated pace in naval armament which Germany began to set at that time. In July, 1905, Lord Roberts made a speech in the House of Lords in which he called the attention of the country to the fact that the English army was unfit for war both in members and equipment and training. In August, 1905, the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 was modified to conform to the new conditions that had been created by the Russo-Japanese War. The terms of this new arrangement have already been considered fully in that section of this book which is devoted to Japan's history. In April, 1906, an Anglo-Chinese conference modified the Anglo-Tibetan treaty allowing China to maintain its suzerainty over Tibet, but giving full protection to all English interests. This year, 1906, also saw the beginning of the agitation for woman suffrage, which in the following years assumed rapidly great proportions and violence. Other matters of internal importance--educational, religious, financial, and other legislation--made English internal politics during this period more virulent than at any other period in recent times, and gradually led up to the change from a Conservative to a Liberal Government and to a series of very radical legislative measures. One of the chief causes of recent friction between Russia and Great Britain was removed in March, 1907, by the signing of an agreement between the two countries regulating their respective interests in Persia. A colonial conference, which met in London in April, 1907, gave new impetus to the imperialistic movement and to the closer union between the United Kingdom and the colonies. In June of that year, 1907, the great parliamentary struggle between the two Houses of Parliament began with the passage by the House of Commons of a bill reducing very materially the powers of the Upper House. As a result of their agreement, Russia and Great Britain decided in December on joint intervention in order to prevent a threatening uprising in Persia. Slight friction between Japan and Great Britain, which had been caused by strong popular demonstrations in Canada against the increased Japanese immigration, was removed by Japan's announcement of its intention to limit extensively this immigration.