BELGIUM. 



81 



erlands, 177,030.000 francs; to the United 

 States, 43,342,000 francs; to Spain, 38,665,- 

 000 francs; to Italy, 30,844,000 francs; to 

 Switzerland, 22,030,000 francs; to Asia, 12,- 

 843,000 francs; to the Argentine .Republic, 

 10,203,000 francs; to Brazil, 10, 059,000 francs. 



Industry. An official return relative to the 

 collieries gives the output in 1885 as 17,000,- 

 000 tons, as compared with 18,000,000 in 

 1884; the number of pits worked as 285, as 

 compared with 289 ; miners employed, 103,- 

 095, as compared with 105,182; average an- 

 nual pay, 813 as compared with 914 francs; 

 cost of extraction per ton, 8 francs 67 centimes, 

 as compared with 9 francs 18 centimes ; pro- 

 duce of sales per 1,000 kilos, 8 francs 87 cen- 

 times, as compared with 9 francs 53 centimes; 

 aggregate profits, 6,929,055, as compared with 

 6,250,110 francs. 



Navigation. The maritime commerce is car- 

 ried on chiefly by British vessels. The com- 

 mercial marine in 1883 numbered 62 vessels, of 

 86.360 tons, of which 47, of 79,902 tons, were 

 steamers. The total tonnage entered at Bel- 

 gian ports in 1884 was 4,064,816 ; cleared, 4,- 

 032,317 tons. 



Railroads. The length of railroad lines in 

 operation on Jan. 1, 1885, was 2,730 miles, or 

 4,366 kilometres, of which 3,110 kilometres 

 were worked by the state and 1,256 kilo- 

 metres by companies. The gross receipts in 

 1884 were 162,172,058 francs, the expenses 

 95,368,409 francs. The state had spent, up to 

 the end of 1883, 888,404,000 francs in the con- 

 struction of railroads, and had purchased lines 

 by means of annuities of the capital value of 

 319,798,000 francs. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The post-office in 1884 

 forwarded 88,203,550 private and 13,793,075 

 official letters, 24,748,490 postal-cards, 54,959,- 

 000 circulars, and 94,522,000 journals. 



The telegraphs transmitted, in 1884, 6,788,071 

 dispatches. There were, on Jan. 1, 1885, 3,- 

 749 miles of state lines, and 17,587 miles of 

 wires. The receipts in 1884 were 2,637,074 

 francs; expenses, 3,435,327 francs. 



The Army. The standing army in 1886 num- 

 bered 47,237 men of all ranks. The war 

 strength is 103,860 men, with 13,800 horses, 

 and 240 guns. There is besides a civic guard, 

 numbering in 1884 34,985 men, and a gendar- 

 merie of 2,011 men. 



Finances. The budget for 1886 makes the 

 total ordinary revenue 320,555,406 francs, of 

 which 132,821,000 francs are derived from 

 railroads, posts, and telegraphs; 37,367,200 

 francs from excise duties; 25,579,900 francs 

 from land taxes; 25,531,600 francs from cus- 

 toms duties ; 24,360,000 francs from registra- 

 tion and other fees; 19,320,000 francs from 

 succession duties; and 19,066,000 francs from 

 personal taxes. The total ordinary expendi- 

 ture is estimated at 319,166,330 francs, of 

 which 102,583,964 are required for the inter- 

 est on the debt; 89,176,814 francs for rail- 

 roads, posts, and telegraphs ; 45,624,100 francs 

 VOL. xxvi. 6 A 



for the army; and 22,155,898 francs for pub- 

 lic instruction. The ordinary budget in 1885 

 showed a small surplus, but the extraordinary 

 expenditures left a deficit of about 38,500,000 

 francs. The public debt in 1886 amounted to 

 1,780,727,000 francs, not including 16,446,000 

 francs of annuities. The 4 per cent, consols, 

 amounting to 1,048,000,000 francs, are being 

 converted into 3 per cents. The other debts 

 pay 3 and 2^ per cent. 



The bill for the conversion of the 4 per cent, 

 debt into 3 per cent, bonds, which could be 

 effected at par, and will save 5,300,000 francs 

 a year in interest, was passed by the Chambers 

 in November, 1886. 



Legislation. In 1870 the Liberal ministry of 

 Frere-Orban proposed to create a reserve army 

 of 30,000 men, but the measure was defeated 

 by the clerical vote. The Clericals upon com- 

 ing into power themselves concluded that the 

 existing military establishment was insufficient 

 for the security of the frontier, and a bill to 

 increase the standing army was brought in by 

 Minister Pontus, which was carried in the 

 lower chamber on Feb. 12 by a vote of 70 to 

 52. The plan, which was denounced by Frere- 

 Orban as a waste "of money, is to promote 54 

 captains and to create their commands when 

 necessary in the future by prolonging the term 

 of liability to service in five classes of the mili- 

 tia from eight to thirteen years. The reserve 

 men who are affected by the law are of the 

 class not qualified to vote, while the property- 

 owning class escapes. 



In a bill dealing with authors' rights in lit- 

 erary property, a clause was inserted providing 

 that newspaper intelligence or telegrams must 

 not be reproduced without indicating the 

 source if accompanied by a notice from the 

 editor prohibiting republication. 



The Belgian Senate in March voted against 

 sending a minister to Rome, on the ground that 

 the Kingdom of Italy had robbed the Pope of 

 his rights. 



In the beginning of June elections were held 

 for the renewal of half the members of the 

 Chamber. The result was favorable to the 

 Clericals, who before the elections had 86 mem- 

 bers to 52 Liberals, and after, 98 to 40. 



Labor Riots. The deplorable condition of 

 the 100,000 miners in Belgium led to a series of 

 strikes and riots, which at times assumed a 

 most alarming character. The miners' wages, 

 which in 1873 averaged $264 per annum, were 

 reduced from time to time, until in 1884 they 

 were $183. The average day's wages in the 

 mines of Seraing was 52 cents, and at Li6ge 

 the common rate was 48 or 50 cents, and the 

 highest 79 cents. The only food of the miners 

 is bread, sometimes flavored with oleomarga- 

 rine, or a taste of sausage made of pork and 

 horse-flesh. On Sundays they may have a lit- 

 tle meat. The mine-owners asserted that, ow- 

 ing to the depth of the mines, they could pay 

 no higher wages and compete with German 

 and other foreign coal-mines. The capital in- 



