BELGIUM. 



53 



exhibits the population of each province at the 

 close of 1878: 



PROVINCES. Pop. in Dec., 1878. 



Antwerp ................................ 560,020 



Brabant ................................. 978,071 



Flanders, West .......................... 693,580 



East ........................... 879,682 



Hainault ................................. 975,252 



Liege .................................... 650,801 



Limburg ................................ 209,343 



Luxemburg .............................. 208,405 



Namur .................................. 321,835 



The population of the principal cities on 

 December 31, 1878, was as follows: Brussels, 

 167,693; Antwerp, 159,579; Ghent, 130,671; 

 Li6ge, 119,942; Bruges, 44,968; Malines, 40,- 

 586; Verviers, 39,278; Louvain, 34,664; Tour- 

 nay, 32,508; Oourtrai, 26,672; Saint-Nicolas, 

 25,628; Namur, 25,627; Seraing, 24,888; Mons, 

 24,791 ; Alost, 21,399. 



The movement of population from 1872 to 

 1878 is shown in the following table: 



Total. 



Almost the entire population is connected 

 with the Roman Catholic Church. The num- 

 ber of Protestants is estimated at 15,000 ; that 

 of Jews at 3,000. The larger portion of both 

 live in the provinces of Antwerp and Lim- 

 burg. Of the 5,336,185 inhabitants, according 

 to the census of 1876, 2,256,860 spoke French, 

 2,659,890 Flemish, 340,770 French and Flem- 



ish, 38,070 German, 22,700 French and Ger- 

 man, 1,790 Flemish and German, 5,490 these 

 three languages, 7,650 foreign languages, and 

 2,070 were deaf and dumb. 



The immigration into Belgium has since 1871 

 always exceeded the emigration from the coun- 

 try, as will be seen from the following ta- 

 ble : 



The budget for the years 1878 and 1879 esti- 

 mated receipts and expenditures as follows (in 

 francs) : 



I. RECEIPTS. 



1. Direct taxes 44,003,000 44,413,000 



2. Indirect taxes 102,955,000 102,735,500 



8. From means of communication 



(railroads, telegraphs, post, etc.).. . 100,652,500 103,922,600 



1878. 



1879. 



4. Miscellaneous 



5. Eeimbursements 



Total receipts 



II. EXPENDITURES. 



1. Public debt 



2. Dotations 



3. Ministry of Justice 



4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs 



5 Ministry of the Interior 



6. Ministry of Public Works 



7. Ministry of War 



Budget of the gendarmerie 



8. Ministry of Finance 



9. Reimbursements and outstanding 



debt... 



9,772.000 10,101,000 

 2,921,360] 3,2(53,160 



260,333,860 264,435,'260 



74,785,815' 

 4,535,303 



16,272,349 

 1,903,535 



20,371,424 

 81,354,389 

 41.063,000 

 2,920,000 

 15,274,950 



77,990,229 

 4.699,475 

 15,901,169 

 2,073,110 

 9,806,273 

 14,254,599 

 84,240,352 

 44.040,000 

 8,410,000 

 15,242,110 



1,126,000 1,187,000 

 Total expenditures 259,606,765 272,344,817 



The members of the Chamber of Represent- 

 atives are elected at the rate of one member 

 for every 40,000 inhabitants ; the members of 

 the Senate at the rate of one member for every 

 80,000 inhabitants. The number of members 

 of both Chambers is, therefore, constantly vary- 

 ing, as will be seen from the following table: 



The most important events of the year re- 

 lated to the discussions of the laws concerning 

 the schools and their operation ; to the contro- 

 versy between the Government and the bishops, 

 ending in the withdrawal of the Belgian lega- 

 tion from the Vatican ; to the elections for the 

 renewal of one half the Chambers; and to the 

 celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of Bel- 

 gian independence. 



The Chamber of Representatives met after 

 the conclusion of the Christmas vacation, Janu- 

 ary 21st. The debate on the budget of in- 

 struction was taken up and continued till Feb- 

 ruary 6th. The budget was adopted, February 

 17th, by a vote of seventy in favor of it to 

 fifty-seven against it. Oh" the last day of the 

 debate, M. Frere-Orban, the Prime Minister, 

 defended the Government, contending that 

 more liberty was nowhere given to the clergy 

 than in Belgium, and that they were com- 

 plaining because the Government refused them 



