86 



BELGIUM. 



closer relations with the Congregationalists and 

 with the free churches generally were received 

 with much interest. A resolution was passed 

 calling on the Liberal party to place the disestab- 

 lishment and disendowment of the ecclesiastical 

 establishment in Wales among the first acts of 

 justice which the new Parliament is to perform. 

 Another resolution was passed, renewing a previ- 

 ous resolve to protest and agitate the question 

 of free education till all parish schools are placed 

 under the control of the rate payers, and are_ 

 made thoroughly unsectarian, alike in govern-* 

 ment and instruction. 



BELGIUM, a constitutional monarchy in 

 western Europe which seceded from the King- 

 dom of the Netherlands in 1830. Prince Leo- 

 pold, of Saxe-Coburg, was elected King of the 

 Netherlands by the National Congress, and as- 

 cended the throne on July 21, 1831. The inde- 

 pendence of Belgium was recognized by Austria, 

 Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia in the treaty 

 signed at London on April 19, 1839, which 

 pledges those powers to defend the neutrality 

 and inviolability of Belgian territory. Leopold 

 II, born April 9, 1835, son of the first king, came 

 to the throne on the death of his father, Dec. 10, 

 1865. The King has three daughters by Queen 

 Marie Henriette, daughter of Archduke Joseph, 

 of Austria; but under the Belgian Constitution 

 they are precluded from succeeding to the throne. 

 By the death in 1891 of the heir-presumptive, 

 Prince Baldwin, the eldest son of the King's 

 brother Philippe, Count of Flanders (see OBIT- 

 UARIES, FOREIGN), the succession passes to the 

 latter's younger son, Albert, born April 8, 1875. 



The Chamber of Representatives consists of 

 138 members, 1 to every 40,000 of population, 

 elected for four years by the direct suffrage of 

 tax payers paying 42 francs a year in direct 

 taxes, a qualification which limits the fran- 

 chise to about 1 in 50 persons. The Senate is 

 elected, in the same way, for eight years, and 

 has half the number of members. Half the Sen- 

 ate is renewed at the quadrennial elections. 



The Cabinet, constituted Oct. 26, 1884, is com- 

 posed of the following ministers : President of 

 the Council and Ministei of Finance, A. Beer- 

 naert ; Minister of Justice, L. Lejeune ; Minister 

 of the Interior and of Public Instruction, J. 

 Devolder ; Minister of War, General C. Ponfrus ; 

 Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Public 

 Works, L. Debruyn ; Minister of Railroads, Posts, 

 and Telegraphs, J. H. P. Vandeupeereboom ; 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Chimay. 



Area and Population. The kingdom has 

 an area of 29,455 square kilometres, or 11,373 

 square miles. The population was estimated on 

 Dec. 31, 1890, at 6,147,041. The number of 

 marriages registered in 1889 was 43,759 ; the 

 number of births, excluding still-births, 177,542; 

 the number of deaths, 119,726; excess of births 

 over deaths, 57,816. The number of immigrants 

 in 1889 was 23,190. and the number or emigrants 

 was 22,150. The population of the chief cities 

 on Dec. 31, 1889, was as follows : Brussels, with 

 suburbs, 477,398; Antwerp, 221,360; Ghent, 152,- 

 391 ; Liege, 146,162. 



Commerce. The value of the general com- 

 merce, which includes re-exports, was 3,106,843,- 

 078 francs for imports and 3,01 1,026,21 6 francs for 

 exports in 1889. The imports by sea were 1,327,- 



867,876 francs, and the exports by sea 1,320,292,- 

 463 francs in value. The total value of the im- 

 ports for home consumption was 1,556,400,000 

 francs, and of the exports of Belgian products 

 1,458,500,000 francs. The values of the principal 

 classes of special imports in 1839 were as follow : 

 Cereals, 250,863,000 francs ; textile materials, 

 195,291,000 francs ; vegetables ; 93,205,000 francs : 

 timber, 65,001,000 francs; live animals, 53,648,- 

 000 francs ; mineral substances, 70,652,000 francs ; 

 gums and resins, 61,698,000 francs; hides and 

 skins, 65,500,000 francs; textile manufactures, 

 51,070,000 francs ; metals, 54,424,000 francs ; cof- 

 fee, 47,565,000 francs; butter and eggs, 37,481,- 

 000 francs ; meat, 20,105,000 francs ; other ani- 

 mal products, 34,304,000 francs ; textile yarns, 

 26,270,000 francs ; wine, 22,898,000 francs ; oils, 

 17,749,000 francs ; fish, 12,914,000 francs ; rice, 

 14,551,000 francs ; waste and manure, 25,235,000 

 francs. The leading exports of domestic prod- 

 uce and manufacture in 1889 were of the fol- 

 lowing values : Yarns, 147,507.000 francs ; ma- 

 chinery, etc., 98,069,000 francs; raw textiles, 

 92,844,000 francs ; coal, 90,998,000 francs ; iron, 

 74,981,000 francs ; sugar, 73,349,000 francs ; grain, 

 72,874,000 francs ; textile manufactures, 63,344,- 

 000 francs : hides and skins, 60,408,000 francs ; 

 stone, 58,073,000 francs; vegetables, 56,975,000 

 francs ; glass, 46,340,000 francs ; various animal 

 substances, 34,175,000 francs; zinc, 31,720,000 

 francs; steel, 31,442,000 francs; chemicals, 31,- 

 198,000 francs ; meat, 27,501.000 francs; various 

 mineral substances, 23,683,000 francs ; live ani- 

 mals, 20,761,000 francs; fire-arms, 18,098,000 

 francs ; paper, 14,390,000 francs. The share of 

 each of the principal commercial countries in 

 the Belgian special commerce in 1889 is shown 

 in the following table, giving the imports and 

 exports from and to each country in francs : 



The total trade compared with that of the 

 previous year shows an increase of 4 per cent. 

 The imports from France increased 12 per cent., 

 and the exports to France 3 per cent. The ex- 

 ports to Germany increased 47 per cent. Those 

 to the United States showed a decline of 17 per 

 cent., while to the other parts of America they 

 increased 16 per cent. The imports from Eng- 

 land increased 9 per cent., and the exports to 

 England 17 per cent. The total imports for 

 domestic consumption showed an increase of 1 

 per cent, over the value in 1888, and the exports 

 of Belgian goods increased 17 per cent. There 

 was a marked increase in the imports of wood, 



