88 



BELGIUM. 



an efficient army, will never be carried as long 

 as the franchise is restricted to the class that is 

 interested in preserving its immunity from per- 

 sonal service. In November, 1890, when the 

 Chamber met, it had placed before it a proposi- 

 tion to amend Article XL VII of the Constitution 

 by extending the franchise to all householders, 

 which was referred to a committee. The pas- 

 sage of a proposal to revise any part of the Con- 

 stitution by a majority vote necessitates a dis- 

 solution of Parliament and the convocation of a 

 new one, in which a two-third vote is required in- 

 each Chamber before the amendment can become 

 a law. The dilatory proceedings of the minis- 

 ters and Chamber in the matter caused the cham- 

 pions of popular suffrage to suspect that the in- 

 tention was to postpone the question indefinitely. 

 Before the reassembling of the Chamber the 

 Liberal Association, representing the middle 

 class in Brussels, arranged for monster 'meetings, 

 to be followed by a street demonstration on the 

 day that the Chamber reopened, Jan. 20. The 

 burgomaster having declined to prohibit the 

 demonstration, the ministry called out two 

 classes of the reserve to prevent disorder. The 

 men were all in camp within forty-eight hours, 

 showing that mobilization is well prepared; but it 

 seemed doubtful whether the army, recruited 

 from the class demanding the right to suffrage, 

 could be depended on to repress the popular ex- 

 citement. In the Chamber, where the Moderate 

 Liberals and Radicals, forming the united Oppo- 

 sition, held only one third of the seats, M. Jan- 

 son, the Radical leader, offered a bill to secure 

 universal suffrage. The Moderate Liberals, un- 

 der M. Frere-Orban and M. Bara, expressed 

 themselves in favor of a considerable extension, 

 based upon educational and other qualifications. 

 M. Janson's plan was referred to the committee, 

 but only for the purpose of being shelved. The 

 Workmen's party made the right to vote their 

 sole demand, and, while holding themselves inde- 

 pendent of all other political bodies, appealed to 

 the sympathies and fears in turn of the Liberals 

 and Conservatives. They sent a petition asking 

 the King to intervene, and another to the bish- 

 ops, wherein they declared it to be " a monstrous 

 iniquity, carried out in utter disregard of the 

 Catholic faith, which permits 130,000 Belgians, 

 who are no better than their fellow-citizens, to 

 be absolute masters." They announced before- 

 hand a general strike of all the working people 

 in the country as a demonstration in favor of 

 universal suffrage, and many of their employers 

 called on the Government to grant their demand 

 and avert such a calamity. To prepare for the 

 strike, they not only saved up their wages, but 

 obtained assistance from outside by means of a 

 subscription fund. Every sympathizer who con- 

 tributed a penny to this fund received a little 

 green ticket as a receipt and a badge of his opin- 

 ions. This strike fund was swelled by contribu- 

 tions from abroad. In March, M. Beernaert pre- 

 sented a scheme of revision, to which the Gov- 

 ernment would agree if the Liberals would ac- 

 cept it, that would enlarge the electorate so as 

 to embrace about 600,000 persons by granting 

 the right of voting to all persons who rent an 

 unfurnished lodging. Coupled with this was a 

 proposal for proportional representation of par- 

 ties in elections to the Chamber and to the pro- 



vincial and communal councils. It was also 

 proposed to transfer the right of electing Sena- 

 tors from the people to the provincial councils, 

 and to give the King an absolute veto on all legis- 

 lation. This scheme was denounced as a propo- 

 sal, not to increase, but to curtail the polical 

 power of the people. The committee of the Cham- 

 ber discussed a proposition to make the age of 

 twenty-five and the payment of ten francs a year 

 in direct taxes qualifications for the parliament- 

 ary franchise, but continued to delay its report. 

 The members of the Labor party grew incensed 

 at the slowness of the Cabinet and its supporters 

 in the Chamber. The 1st of May passed without 

 the general strike being declared, and it was an- 

 nounced that the General Council of the Labor 

 party were opposed to it; but on the following 

 day men began to leave their work. In the 

 Charleroi coal district 30,000 went out. They 

 were followed by the miners and foundry- 

 men of Liege, the operatives of Monceau and 

 Marehienne, and the carpenters and other 

 trades of the capital. On May 5 the Labor 

 Council and the Miners' Federation consented to 

 support a general strike in all four coal basins. 

 Dynamite cartridges were exploded by strikers in 

 vengeance on men who continued at work. In 

 the provinces, collisions took place between strik- 

 ers and the authorities. The Labor Council, 

 compelled to take the lead in a movement that 

 it was unable to resist, ordered a strike of dock 

 laborers at Ghent, Antwerp, and Ostend, to pre- 

 vent the landing of imported coal, and called 

 out the metal workers of Brussels and the me- 

 chanics in all the large cities. At Seraing, Her- 

 loz, and other places rioters were wounded 

 in fights with the gendarmes. Although indus- 

 trial demands were put forward by the miners, 

 the declared object of the great strike was to en- 

 force the demand for unrestricted suffrage. It 

 abated when the parliamentary committee hast- 

 ened to make their report and the ministers 

 pledged themselves to electoral reform. In a few 

 weeks the strike was over, having accomplished 

 none of its objects. The final recommendations 

 of the committee were announced at the last 

 sitting of the Chamber, on Aug. 16. The report 

 condemned universal suffrage and commended 

 a franchise based on occupancy, as in England, 

 and proposed the postponement of revision till 

 the parties could agree on a communal and pro- 

 vincial electoral system. 



Diplomatic Relations. An international 

 office for the publication of the customs tariffs 

 of all countries in the five principal European 

 languages began its work on April 1, 1891, at 

 Brussels. The French Government having de- 

 nounced the commercial treaty with Belgium, 

 which lapses on Jan. 31, 1892, the Belgian 

 Government retaliated by a notification that the 

 convention of navigation between the two coun- 

 tries and the convention for the guarantee of 

 property in literary and artistic works, models, 

 designs, and trade marks, would expire on the 

 same date. A convention was concluded with 

 Bulgaria containing the same provisions as the 

 new Anglo - Bulgarian commercial treaty. All 

 the powers, excepting the United States, France, 

 and Portugal, ratified the general act and dec- 

 laration of the Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference 

 of 1890. The American Government, which was 



