78 



BELGIUM. 



value 

 OS 1. ;:,( 

 to 1^7 

 at 21. | 

 crland 



>30 francs, making the total 2,607,- 

 The debt charge in 1900 amounted 

 i Uti francs, including not only interest 

 .,'11 1. on the share of Belgium in the Neth- 

 ,-bt and interest and amortization of 

 t) lt . :; p-r-cent. irnli-s. but 2.500,000 francs for in- 

 t-re-t on temporary loans for extraordinary ex- 

 penditures 380.634 francs for annuities to the 

 city of Brussels anil the Duke of Wellington, 

 144 :>:>o frunes for annuities in the Netherlands, 

 1,751.1)30 francs for instalments on the price of 

 railroads. 3.120.410 francs on railroad debts as- 

 mimed by the state. 8,471.837 francs on debts in 

 c-urred in completion of railroads, 612,000 francs 

 annual instalment for seventy years from 1870 

 on the rolling-stock of railroads, 750.859 francs 

 annual instalment for the telephone system, 

 1.105.000 francs for a fund for the construction of 

 local railroads. 150.000 francs of guaranteed in- 

 terest. 136.000 francs for various expenses, 4,882,- 

 OOO francs for military pensions, 7,652,973 francs 

 for civil pensions. 2,825,000 francs for teachers' 

 pension-. 9.200.000 francs for the militia, and 

 2.153.050 francs for interest at 3 per cent, on cau- 

 tion money and other deposits. 



Commerce and Production. The special im- 

 ports in 1899 had a total value of 2,260,200,000 

 francs; special exports. 1,949,000,000 francs; tran- 

 sit trade, 1.402.300.000 francs. The special imports 

 of grain and flour were 343,700,000 francs; of 

 wool, 187.200,000 francs; of wood, 123,400,000 

 francs; of gums, 96,400,000 francs; of hides and 

 skins, 96.000,000 francs; of chemical products, 71,- 

 700.000 francs; of seeds, 69,200,000 francs; of coal, 

 52,600.000 francs; of animals, 48,200,000 francs; 

 of iron, 41,600,000 francs; of drugs, 40,900,000 

 francs; of machinery and vehicles, 40,600,000 

 francs; of coffee, 39,400,000 francs; of flax, 36,- 

 500.000 francs; of colors, 34,300,000 francs; of 

 cotton. 31,800.000 francs; of cotton .manufac- 

 tures, 31,800.000 francs; of wine, 27,800,000 francs; 

 of animal fats, 24,100.000 francs; of vegetable oils, 

 22,400.000 francs; of woolens, 22,200,000 francs; 

 of butter and cheese, 21,200,000 francs; of fish, 

 2.500.000 francs. The special exports of coal were 

 120.500.000 francs; of machinery and vehicles, 

 111,200,000 francs; of grain and flour, 93,300,000 

 francs; of iron, 92.700,000 francs; of skins, 89,- 

 900,000 francs; of glass, 87,800,000 francs; of 

 linen yarn. 79,600,000 francs; of cut diamonds, 

 67.000,000 francs; of sugar, 62,800,000 francs; of 

 zinc, 53,200,000 francs; of woolen yarn, 50,100,000 

 francs; of flax, 48,500,000 francs; of chemical 

 products, 46,400,000 francs; of minerals, 44,300,000 

 Irancn; of fertilizers. 39.600,000 francs; of ani- 

 mals. 34,700.000 francs; of seeds, 34,200,000 

 francs; of gums, 33.000.000 francs; of colors, 30,- 

 900.000 francs; of cotton cloth, 25,400,000 francs; 

 of meat. 23.200,000 francs; of animal fats, 22,- 

 200,000 francs. 



The special trade with the different foreign 

 countries in 1899 is shown in the table above, 

 giving the values of imports for consumption and 

 exports of domestic merchandise in francs. 



Of the total area of Belgium about 65 per cent. 

 is arable land, 18 pt-r cent, forest, and 17 per cent. 

 river, marsh, roads, and waste. Less than 19 per 

 cent, of the people are engaged in agriculture. 

 The yield of wheat in 1898 was 4.210,000 hecto- 

 liters; of barley, 1.302.031 hectoliters; of oats, 

 12.238.231 hectoliters: of rye, 7,296.932 hecto- 

 liters; of potatoes, 32.161.916 quintals; of sugar- 

 beets. 15.071.981 hectoliters; of other beets and 

 turnips. 16.393.133 hectoliters; of tobacco. 35.270 

 quintals. The production of raw sugar in 1898 

 was 188.026.000 kilograms; of refined sugar. 66,- 

 725.000 kilograms; of proof spirit, 593,340 hecto- 



liters. The value of fish caught was 3,857,279 

 francs. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered at 

 Belgian ports during 1899 was 8,672, of 8,632,62& 

 tons^ of which 765, of 352,464 tons, were sailing 

 vessels and 7,907, of 8,280,162 tons, were steamers. 

 The number of vessels cleared in 1899 was 8,581, of 

 8,521,331 tons, of which 750, of 340,777 tons, were 

 sailing vessels and 7,831, of 8,180,554 tons, were 

 steamers. 



The mercantile navy on Jan. 1, 1900, consisted 

 of 6 sailing vessels, of 2,751 tons, and 67 steamers, 

 of 105,786 tons. There were 381 fishing boats, of 

 3,826 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 railroads at the end of 1899 had a total length of 

 2,850 miles, of which 2,521 miles were operated by 

 the Government and 329 miles by companies. The 

 number of passengers on the state railroads in 

 1899 was 114,858,223, paying 64,853,772 francs of 

 the gross receipts of 201,229,218 francs. The ex- 

 penses were 118,661,088 francs; cost of construc- 

 tion, 1,884,033,112 francs. 



The post-office in 1899 carried 130,202,227 pri- 

 vate letters, 57,800,288 postal cards, 24,119,478 

 official communications, 127,701,208 newspapers, 

 and 114,924,160 book packets; receipts were 23,- 

 995,997 francs, and expenses 12,806,997 francs. 



The telegraphs in 1899 had a total length of 

 3,958 miles, with 20,840 miles of wire. The num- 

 ber of internal despatches was 3,300,944; of inter- 

 national despatches, 3,363,927, including 567,320 

 in transit; of service despatches, 5,886,000; re- 

 ceipts were 8,783,017 francs, and expenses 6,372,- 

 931 francs. There were 91 urban telephone cir- 

 cuits with 22,340 miles of wire, and the number of 

 conversations was 34,469,019; the interurban sys- 

 tems had 8,378 miles of wire, and the number of 

 conversations was 566,590. 



The Session of the Chambers. A bill to 

 regulate gambling, introduced by the Govern- 

 ment and discussed by the Chamber in the early 

 months of 1901, was intended to put an end to the 

 public scandal of high play without destroying 

 the prosperity of Belgian watering-places. The 

 governments of France and Spain offered to co- 

 operate with Belgium in drawing up an inter- 

 national code for the regulation of public casinos 

 in their respective countries or, if found advisable, 

 to suppress them altogether. The Government 

 proposed special dispensations in favor of the 

 casinos at Ostend, Spa, Namur, and Dinant. but 

 the Chamber by a majority of 81 rejected the 

 motion, and again refused to grant to the sea- 

 bathing resorts an extension of their privileges for 



