58 



BELGIUM. 



ties to be paid of a capitalized value of about 

 30,000,000 francs. The largest part of the debt 

 bears interest at 3^ per cent., and the rest pays 

 3 and 2^ per cent. The debt was raised for rail- 

 roads and other useful works, and is being ex- 

 tinguished by a sinking fund, with the excep- 

 tion of the 2| per cent, debt of 208,615,792 

 francs, which was a part of the old debt of the 

 Netherlands, contracted before the secession of 

 Belgium in 1830. 



Commerce. The general imports in 1890 were 

 3,189,160,016 francs in value, and the general ex- 

 ports 2,948,151,841 francs. Of the imports, 1,- 

 504,775,060 francs were imported through the 

 seaports and 1,684,384,956 francs by land or 

 river; and of the general exports, 1,288,151,012 

 francs went by sea and 1,660,000,829 francs by 

 way of the land frontiers. The transit trade 

 was 1,511,100,000 francs. The special imports 

 amounted in 1890 to 1.672,100,000, and the spe- 

 cial exports to 1,437,000,000 francs. In the sum 

 of the imports for domestic consumption 302,- 

 698,000 francs represent cereals, 204,524,000 

 francs textile materials, 93,372,000 francs vege- 

 table substances, 76,41 5,000 francs various miner- 

 als, 70,363,000 francs timber, 69,259,000 francs 

 hides and skins, 61,086,000 francs metals, 

 59,895,000 francs resinous and bituminous sub- 

 stances, 59,641.000 francs chemicals, 57,339,- 

 000 francs textile fabrics, 54,713,000 francs live 

 animals, 52,534,000 francs coffee, 41,780,000 

 francs butter and eggs, 37,458,000 francs various 

 other animal products, 30,127,000 francs coal, 

 28,506,000 francs yarns, 28,506,000 francs meat, 

 26,764,000 francs 'fertilizers, 26,252,000 francs 

 vegetable oils, 24,406,000 francs wine, 17,664,000 

 francs rice, and 13,287,000 francs fish. In the 

 total exports yarns were represented by 135,119,- 

 000 francs, coal and coke by 113,706,000 francs, 

 machinery, etc., by 104,601,000 francs, textile 

 materials by 95,090,000 francs, cereals by 90,- 

 014,000 francs, textile fabrics by 69,370,000 

 francs, iron by 67,925,000 francs, hid'es and skins 

 by 60,386,000 francs, sugar by 53,197,000 francs, 

 glass by 45,134,000 francs, various vegetable 

 products by 43,523,000 francs, various animal 

 products by 36,451,000 francs, chemicals by 35,- 

 179,000 francs, various mineral substances by 

 32,698,000 francs, zinc by 31,841,000 francs, meat 

 by 30,694,000 francs, steel by 29,056,000 francs, 

 live animals by 23,415,000 francs, stone by 22,- 

 781,000 francs, arms by 16,537,000 francs, and 

 paper by 14,441,000 francs. 



The various foreign countries participated in 

 the import trade in the following proportions : 

 France, 316,389,000 francs; Great Britain, 212.- 

 942,000 francs ; Netherlands, 206,389,000 francs ; 

 Germany, 182,189.000 francs; United States, 

 157,022,000 francs; Russia. 114,334,000 francs; 

 Roumania, 101,629,000 francs; British India, 

 76,615,000 francs ; Argentine Republic, 74.558,- 

 000 francs; Sweden and Norway, 46,393.000 

 francs; Brazil, 30,503,000 francs ; Spain, 21,319.- 

 000 francs ; Peru, 20,965,000 francs ; Italy, 19,- 

 904,000 francs; Australia, 16,923,000 francs; 

 Chili, 14,360,000 francs; Uruguay, 12,200,000 

 francs. 



The exports of domestic merchandise were 

 distributed as follows: France, 358,691,000 

 francs; Great Britain, 267,840.000 francs; Ger- 

 many, 205,116,000 francs; Netherlands, 208,336,- 



000 francs; United States, 50,684,000 francs; 

 Spain, 38,749,000 francs ; Italy, 34,860,000 francs ; 

 Switzerland, 28,642,000 francs; Portugal, 16,- 

 044,000 francs; Brazil, 15,626,000 francs; Tur- 

 key, 14,033,000 francs; Sweden and Norway, 11,- 

 190,000 francs ; Russia, 9,664,000 francs ; British 

 India, 9,564,000 francs ; China, 8,507,000 f rancs ; 

 Chili, 8,186,000 francs; Australia, 5,577,000 

 francs. 



Navigation. The number of ships that put 

 in at Belgian ports in the course of 1890 was 

 7,357; the tonnage entered, 5.785.980. The 

 number that sailed was 7,381, and their tonnage 

 5.803,168. Of the total number entered, 3,984, 

 of 2,269,105 tons, were from England, and of 

 those cleared 1,159, of 630,987 tons, were bound 

 for English ports. The United Slates stood 

 next on the list, with 297 vessels, of 562,392 tons, 

 entered, and 109, of 313,400 tons, cleared. 



The merchant marine on Jan. 1, 1892, consisted 

 of 10 sailing vessels, of 4,393 tons, and 46 steam 

 vessels, of 71,553 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. On 

 Jan. 1, 1890, there were 3,250 kilometres of rail- 

 roads operated by the Government and 1.276 

 kilometres operated by corporations, making 

 4,526 kilometres, or 2,830 miles. The receipts 

 for 1890 amounted to 141,251,314 francs on the 

 state lines and 40,966,925 francs on the com- 

 panies' lines. The working expenses of the Gov- 

 ernment lines were 83,657,947 francs, and of the 

 others 21,054,885 francs. 



The post office during 1890 carried 95.484,491 

 private letters, 16,567,965 official letters, 36,- 

 865,077 postal cards, 73,599,461 printed inclos- 

 ures, and 94,639,558 newspapers. The post 

 office receipts were 16,455,630, and expenditures 

 9,527,694 francs. 



The telegraphs transmitted 8,062,837 messages, 

 The length of the state telegraph lines in the 

 beginning of 1891 was 4,265 miles, and the length 

 of wires was 20,315 miles. The receipts for 1890 

 were 3,465,089 francs, and the expenses 4,169,- 

 222 francs. 



Commercial Treaty with Germany. The 

 treaty that unites Belgium with the commercial 

 league formed by the Central European Alliance 

 under the lead of Germany encountered opposi- 

 tion because it seemed to many that the Bel- 

 gian Government had failed to obtain as favor- 

 able terms as had been granted to Switzerland, 

 for example. The members of the mercantile 

 community complained that after questioning 

 them very carefully the Government had agreed 

 to an arrangement in which no account was 

 taken of the views they had put forward. The 

 treaty was approved by the Chamber on Jan. 28, 

 by 77 votes against 16. This result was, how- 

 ever, not a brilliant success for the Government, 

 since 45 members refrained from voting because 

 they did not like the treaty. Unsatisfactory as it 

 was, it was concluded for twelve years, and joins 

 Belgium to the commercial combination formed 

 by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Switz- 

 erland, which will probably include Servia also. 



Revision of the Constitution. The agita- 

 tion of the Radicals and workingmen for univer- 

 sal suffrage fell in with the desires of that section 

 of the Conservative party that dominated the 

 Government, the Clerical element, which had 

 swept away the system of secular education. 



