BELGIUM. 



87 



grain, potatoes. !i.-h. minerals, iron. load, chemi- 



d cake, oil seeds, beet root, resin and petro- 

 leum, ami in the exports of arms, vegetables, 

 linen thread. ca>l stj'd, gla.ss, wrought iron, re- 

 tiiied Migar. and >\< 



v. i M_. 1 1 ion. -During 1889 there were 7,010 



~i, 158,480 tons, entered, and 0,094, of 



r>.l l.Vi'.i'i i'ii-. cleared, at Belgian ports. The 



share. l.;;n;.si>4 tons entered an<l 1,489,- 

 ;ired. belonged to Great Britain, the United 



States coming next, with 474,104 tons entered 

 and 4.'il.?IJi cleared. The commercial navy on 

 Jan. 1. IN'IO. numbered 42 steamers, of O.").!)."il 

 ton-, and !) sailing vessels, of 4,271 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. On 

 Jan. 1, is'.'d. there were 3,209 kilometres of rail- 

 n>ads in Mc.lgium under the management of the 

 Government, and 1,201 kilometres worked by 

 private companies, making a total length o'f 

 4,4?o kilometres, or 2,793 miles. The number 

 of pas>e Hirers on the state lines in 1889 was 59,- 

 !.")?, l!i!i The gross receipts for that year were 

 i:;ti.!l!),G93 francs on the state lines and 40,223,- 

 5i!'J francs on the companies' lines, and the ex- 

 penses for the state were 75,285,052 francs, and 

 for the companies 19.858,345. The capital expend- 

 ed on the state system was 1,301,452,773 francs. 



The number of letters carried in the mails dur- 

 ing 1889 was 95,407,301, besides 17.021,382 of- 

 cial letters ; the number of post cards, 34,331,- 

 674 ; of printed inclosures, 68,457,974 ; of news- 

 pa pers, 91,546,377; receipts, 10,135,714 francs; 

 expenses, 9.320,296 francs. 



The total number of dispatches transmitted 

 by the telegraphs during 1889 was 7,737,353. 

 The length of telegraph lines in operation at the 

 end of that year was 4,054 miles, with 19,332 

 miles of wire. The receipts for the same year 

 were 3,336,203, and the expenses 3,992,340 francs. 



Finances. The budget for 1891 states the 

 total amount of the ordinary revenue of the Gov- 

 ernment as 346,012,721 francs, of which 24,333,- 

 000 francs are derived from property taxes, 19,340- 

 000 francs from personal taxes, 0.080,000 francs 

 from trade licenses, 000,000 francs from min- 

 ing royalties, 27,923,331 francs from customs, 

 40,934,504 francs from excise duties, 19,010,000 

 francs from probate duties. 24,970,000 francs 

 from registry fees, etc., 5,900,000 francs from 

 stamps, 1.458.000 francs from various indirect 

 taxes, 139,000,000 francs from railroads, 3,900,- 

 000 francs from telegraphs, 10.380,000 francs 

 from the post-office, 2,505,000 francs from nav- 

 igation and pilot dues. 1.280.000 francs from 

 domains and forests, 15,098,000 francs from 

 funds amis securities, and 3,300,786 francs from 

 repayments. The total ordinary expenditure 

 was "estimated at 338,381,503 francs, of which 

 102,090.726 francs are allocated to interest 

 and sinking fund of the debt, 4,686.155 francs 

 to the civil list and dotations, 17,111,075 francs 

 to the Ministry of Justice, 2,482.655 francs to 

 the Ministry 'of Foreign Affairs, 22,965,915 

 francs to the Ministry of the Interior and of 

 Public Instruction, 17,016.597 francs to the Min- 

 istry of Public Works. 104,094,123 francs to the 

 Mini-try of Railroads. Posts, and Telegraphs, 

 46,588,469 francs to the Ministry of War. ir>..Yj:;.- 

 *''") irancs to the Ministry of Finance, 4.267,400 

 francs to the Gendarmerie service, and 1,548,500 

 francs to repayments, etc. 



The total amount of the consolidated debt in 

 1891 was 1,785,185,007 francs, in addition to 

 which there were annuities amounting to almt 

 HO.OOO.IHM) franc-, and a floating debt of ^0,000,- 

 000 francs. Tin- debt wa- incurred mainly for 

 tin- construction of railroads and other product- 

 ive works. During iH'.m the debt was increased 

 by 83,500,000 francs to provide for the new 

 fortifications on the Men-e. The expense of 

 these fortifications was originally estimated by 

 General Brialmont at 24,000,000 francs, but by 

 the middle of 1891 there had already been ex- 

 pended 72,000,000 francs, and additional credits 

 were voted for completing the line of forts. 



The Army. The strength of the Belgian 

 army on the peace footing, according to the mil- 

 itary budget for 1890, is as follows : 



This enumeration does not include the gen- 

 eral staff, numbering 474. The Gendarmerie, of 

 whom there are 2,449, form a part of the regular 

 army in time of war. The number of horses 

 maintained in time of peace is 7,200, besides 1,- 

 636 for the Gendarmerie. The artillery has 200 

 guns in peace and 240 in war time. 'The avail- 

 able strength of the army for war is 154,780 men, 

 not including the Civic Guard, or volunteers, who 

 numbered 42,827 in 1889". 



The Suffrage Question. The Moderate Lib- 

 erals, who were in power before 1884, with their 

 chief, Frere-Orban, as Prime Minister, and who 

 carried through the scheme of state education 

 that has been partly annulled by their successors, 

 were unwilling to enlarge the franchise, because 

 the new voters would add sufficiently to the 

 strength of their opponents to drive themselves 

 from power. Since the accession of the Conser- 

 vative or Clerical party the conflict over secular 

 education has been cast into the shade by the 

 labor question and the agitation for electoral re- 

 form. A strong Radical party has grown up 

 among the intelligent middle classes, whose 

 watchword is universal suffrage, and in this de- 

 mand it is supported by the Socialist 'c Labor 

 party, which, though deprived of the ballot to a 

 great extent, has made its power felt in Belgium 

 by sharp and protracted labor struggles and 

 clamorous political agitation. Frightened by 

 these new political elements, the Clericals have 

 been averse to offering a moderate scheme of re- 

 vision that, if it should pass, would only open the 

 door for a wider extension of the suffrage. The 

 Moderate Liberals were equally reluctant to 

 share the voting privilege with the masses. The 

 apathy of the ruling classes incensed the people, 

 and gave such impetus to the agitation that it 

 could no longer be ignored. The question of 

 national defense, which has become urgent since 

 the virtual repudiation by Knglandof her pledge 

 to defend Belgium from invasion, complicated 

 the matter; for not only the Radicals but emi- 

 nent military men declared that compulsory mili- 

 tary service/without which Belgium can not have 



