BELGIUM. 



65 



line and a reserve of 30,000, while the oppo- 

 sition leader asserts that a mobilization would 

 not produce more than 80,000 men. Of 26 

 bridges across the Meuse only seven remain un- 

 protected by the new fortifications; and of 19 

 railroads only three, and two of these lead from 

 Holland. With the protection of the tetea-de- 

 pont of Liege and Namur, the Belgians expect 

 to be able to reach without danger any point 

 where an invading army should . attempt to 

 cross the river, and resist the passage or force 

 the invaders to detach large forces and delay 

 their march until troops could arrive from 

 France or Germany. 



Commerce. The general commerce in 1884 

 amounted to 5,450,200,000 francs. The special 

 commerce consisted of 1,425, 700,000 francs of 

 imports and 1,337,500,000 francs of exports. 

 The chief articles of import were breadstuffs 

 of the value of 275,007,000 francs; wool and 

 woolens, 101.479,000 francs; metals and min- 

 erals, 99,636,000 francs; textile fabrics, 90,- 

 149,000 francs; hides and skins, 73,693,000 

 francs; live animals, 63,118,000 francs; oil- 

 seeds, 47,666,000 francs; cotton, 52,743,000 

 francs; timber, 45,307,000 francs ; coffee and 

 sugar, 31,583,000 francs; chemicals, 38,076,000 

 francs; butter, 21,597,000 francs; flax and 

 hemp, 16,227,000 francs. The chief exports 

 were yarns, valued at 131,962,000 francs; 

 breadstuffs, 105,157,000 francs; machinery, 

 80,353,000 francs; stones, 98,839,000 francs; 

 coal, 76,581,000 francs; wool, 76,481,000 

 francs; textiles, 70,398,000 francs; hides, 63,- 

 338,000 francs ; iron, 50,050,000 francs ; glass, 

 48,406,000 francs; zinc, 41,022,000 francs. 



France leads in the import trade with 276,- 

 858,000 francs, the Netherlands coming next 

 with 187,530.000, and then Germany with 

 185,423,000, Great Britain with 184.856,000, 

 the United States with 160,673,000, and Russia 

 with 123,873.000 francs. Of the exports 411,- 

 964,000 francs went to France. 252,142,000 to 

 Great Britain, 236,240,000 to Germany, 176,- 

 205,000 to the Netherlands, and 39,559,000 

 francs, the next largest amount, to the United 

 States. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The railroads 

 of Belgium have a total length of 4,410 kilo- 

 metres, or 2.758 miles. There are 3,166 kilo- 

 metres worked by the state and 1,244 kilo- 

 metres by companies. The receipts of the 

 state lines in 1885 were 119,772,557 francs, 

 the expenses 70,097,356 francs; the receipts 

 of the companies' lines 37,229,787 francs, the 

 expenses 20,333,582 francs. The capital ex- 

 pended on the state lines up to 1886 was 929,- 

 697,462 francs, besides annuities of the capital 

 value of 319,798,631 francs for the purchase 

 of lines already constructed. 



The post-office in 1885 transmitted 91,498,- 

 150 private letters, 13,917,560 official letters, 

 26,539,334 postal-cards, 51,473.000 circulars, 

 i<] 1 ":; .">59,000 journals. The revenue 

 amounted to 14,393,081 francs and the ex- 

 penses to 8,609,871 francs. 

 VOL. xxvn. 5 A 



The length of telegraph lines in 1885 was 

 3,800 miles, with 17,713 miles of wires; the 

 number of dispatches, 6,807,772 ; the receipts, 

 2,666,736 francs: the expenditures, 3,587,659. 



Navigation. Belgium had on Jan. 1, 1885, a 

 commercial navy numbering 64 vessels, of 80,- 

 592 tons, including 51 steamers, of 74,667 tons. 

 There were 324 vessels, of 11,474 tons, em- 

 ployed in the fisheries. The aggregate tonnage 

 of vessels entered at Belgian ports during 1884 

 was 4,072,987, and the total tonnage cleared 

 4,060,612. 



Revenue and Expenditure. The ordinary re- 

 ceipts of the treasury according to the budget 

 estimates for 1886-'87 amount to 319,625,109 

 francs, of which 118,897,000 francs represent 

 the railroad receipts, 39,128,000 francs the ex- 

 cise duties, 25,507,100 francs the customs du- 

 ties. 23,860.000 francs the registration fees, 23,- 

 699,700 francs the land-taxes, 19,320,000 francs 

 the succession duties, and 19,100,000 francs the 

 personal taxes. The total ordinary expenditure 

 was estimated at 316,663,411 francs, 102,532,- 

 547 francs being the interest on the public debt, 

 87,245,471 francs the expenses of the railways, 

 posts, and telegraphs, 45,624,1 00 francs the mil- 

 itary budget, and 22,005,421 francs the appro- 

 priation for public instruction, etc. The total 

 revenue for 1887-'88 is estimated at 313,- 

 661,559, and the expenditure at 307,743.123 

 francs. 



The public debt in 1887 amounted to 1,874,- 

 510,824 francs, besides annuities requiring the 

 payment of 12,243,000 francs. The debt was 

 mainly contracted for public works, and large 

 as it is, representing a burden of $75 per capita, 

 the revenue from the railroads alone is more 

 than sufficient to pay the interest. 



Cattie Duties. The Clerical party brought for- 

 ward in the Chamber a long contemplated pro- 

 tectionist measure imposing high duties on for- 

 eign cattle and meat. The Premier himself 

 took strong grounds against the bill. While 

 it was under discussion the price of meat rose 

 30 per cent, in the retail market. Although 

 meat is too dear a luxury for most Belgian 

 workingmen, the proposed law produced a 

 ferment throughout the masses of the people, 

 and when disturbances resulted, the Premier 

 proposed the adjournment of the debate, on 

 the ground that it would be improper to reject 

 the bill as a concession to threats and outrages. 

 The majority were not influenced by the popu- 

 lar excitement, and after adopting an amend- 

 ment exempting cattle sent through Belgium 

 for re-exportation, carried the bill on May 10 

 by a vote of 69 to 54, the Premier and the 

 Minister of Railways voting with the minority 

 against their own party. The measure in- 

 creases the duties on cattle, sheep, and all 

 fresh meat fifty or sixty per cent. The Sen- 

 ate passed it on June 1 by a vote of 36 to 23, 

 after a declaration of the Minister of Agricult- 

 ure that the ministry would demand the repeal 

 of the duties if any considerable rise in the 

 price of meat resulted. The Chambers also in- 



