BELGIUM. 



73 



an. 1 ,\847,005,898 francs of exports. The special 

 import- f,.r is<u were valued at 1,799,800,000 



francs, and the special exports at 1.519.000.- 

 (t(M) francs. The, values of the chief classes of 

 special import* were as follow: Cereals, 450.- 

 llliO.OOO francs; textile materials. IMS,-! (57,000 

 francs; vegetable substances, l^l.'-'TT.ooo franc.-; 

 chemical products, H7,75:{,(HK) francs; minerals, 

 ;.(HX) francs; timber, C7,9(i 1.000 francs; 

 resinous substances, 66,057,000 francs ; hides and 

 kins, 64,862.000 francs; cloths, 55,708.000 francs; 

 c,.llee. :>l.!!i."i,ooo francs; live animals, 51,207,- 

 (i(M) I'rano; metals, 47,298,000 francs; animal 

 substances, 88,084,000 francs; meat, 32,015,000 

 francs; yarns, 28,581,000 francs; wine, 28,327,- 

 000 francs ; coal, 28,120.000 irancs: fertilizing 

 material, ' l,ir,.->,000 francs; machinery, 18,800,- 

 000 francs; colors and dyes, 17,840,000 francs: 

 able oils, 17,864,000 francs ; rice, 15,788.000 

 franc -s. The principal exports of domestic prod- 

 ucts were the following: Yarns, 165,435,000 

 francs; cereals, 1C5,3G9,000 francs; machinery, 

 1 1 is. 11 0,000 francs; textile materials, 81,384,000 

 francs; vegetable substances, 63,170,000 francs ; 

 ir.m. 02,911,000 francs; hides and skins, 55,342,- 

 000 francs; cloth, 52,909,000 francs; sugar, 47,- 

 (i'.M.ooO francs; glass, 45.103,000 francs; chem- 

 ical products, 44,698,000 francs ; meat, 43,273,000 

 francs; zinc, 38,775,000 francs; animal sub- 

 stances, 35,860,000 francs : mineral substances, 

 :::!.!03,000 francs; fertilizers, 29,938,000 francs; 

 live animals, 28,959,000 francs; steel, 22,624,000 

 francs; arms, 22,023,000 francs; stone, 21,823,- 

 000 francs ; resinous substances, 19,901,000 francs. 

 The values of the special imports from and 

 exports to the principal foreign countries in 1891 

 are given in the following table : 



Navigation. During 1891 there were 7,395 

 vessels, of 6,025,339 tons, entered, and 7,377, of 

 6,060,913 tons, cleared. Of the vessels entered, 

 3,954, of 2,257,348 tons, came from British ports, 

 and the next largest number, 335. of 665,523 

 tons, from the United States : while 5,049, of 

 J.ii-js,)04 tons, cleared for England, and 268, of 

 588.706 tons, for the United States. 



The mercantile marine in 1891 consisted of 8 

 sailing vessels, of 2,045 tons, and 47 steamers, of 

 70.860 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 railroad network in 1892 comprised 4,517 kilo- 

 metres of lines, of which 3,241 kilometres were 

 operated by the Government, and 1,276 kilo- 



metres by companies. During 1891 the state 



railroads carried ri7.-HJ9.47H passengers, the other 

 railroads 19,107,832. The receipts of the state 

 lines were 142,815,489 francs, and the r.\; 

 sl.u|!i.!i23 francs; the companies took in 40,- 

 77UM2 francs, and had 20,826,302 francs of ex- 

 penses. The capital cost of the state railroads 

 up to 1891 was 1,341,245,043 francs. 



The post -oilier in 1891 forwarded 97,802,555 

 private and 18,484,731 official letters, 87,226,241 

 postal cards, 81,978,680 printed inclosures, and 

 96,287,637 journals. The receipts were 17,021,- 

 805 francs, and the expenses 9,747,848 francs. 



The number'of telegraphic dispatches for the 

 year was 8,445,593. Tho receipts were 3,9(;5,<X)H 

 francs and the expenses 4.349,752 francs. There 

 were 7,225 kilometres of lines, with 34,397 kilo- 

 metres of wires. 



The Army. Under the military laws of 1870 

 and 1873, modified by the act of Dec. 19, 1890, 

 the regular arrny is recruited by voluntary en- 

 listment and by conscription in such manner 

 that about 13,300 men are called into the service 

 annually. Substitution is allowed, but no greater 

 price than 1,800 francs must be paid for a sub- 

 stitute. The peace effective is as follows: 118 

 officers of the general staff ; 262 officers and 869 

 men employed in the administrative service ; 222 

 surgeons ; 1.745 officers and 28.810 men, compos- 

 ing 58 battalions, 415 cadres of battalions, and 2 

 sedentary companies;. 61 officers and 2,447 men, 

 forming 9 companies of gendarmerie, with 1,633 

 horses; 304 officers and 5,744 men, forming 40 

 squadrons of cavalry and 8 cadres, with 5,520 

 horses; 290 officers and 3,400 men, composing 

 34 field batteries and 14 cadres, with 204 guns 

 and 2,542 horses ; 146 officers and 4.518 men, in- 

 cluding 108 artificers, composing 58 batteries 

 and 4 companies of fortress artillery, besides 4 

 cadres ; 29 officers and 402 men in the train ; and 

 146 officers and 1,541 men in the engineers ; 

 making a total of 3,421 officers and 47,731 men. 



The civic guard, a volunteer militia main- 

 tained in places of over 10,000 inhabitants, num- 

 bers 42,827 men. Inclusive of these the war 

 effective is 3,846 officers and 134,881 men, with 

 25,369 horses, divided as follow : Field army, 

 2.190 officers and 74.333 men ; fortress troops, 

 1,609 officers and 59,134 men; territorial gen- 

 darmerie, 47 officers and 1,414 men. 



The behavior of the soldiers of the regular 

 army during the strike for universal suffrage in 

 April, 1893. led to an inquiry into the discipline 

 and composition of the army and the revival of 

 the old question of the introduction of universal 

 obligatory service, which is regarded as a con- 

 comitant of universal suffrage on the Continent 

 of Europe. Gen. Pontus, who had allowed the 

 question to slumber during his nine years' ten- 

 ure of the Ministry of War, resigned in May, 

 and was succeeded by Gen. Brassine. The new 

 minister went to work to devise a project for the 

 reorganization of the army on the basis of uni- 

 versal liability to personal service. An increase 

 of the war strength of the regular army to 300,- 

 000 men is contemplated, and also the conver- 

 sion of the Civic Guard into a Landsturm capa- 

 ble of placing 100,000 men in the field in case of 

 a hostile invasion. 



Finances. The revised budget for 1893 makes 

 the total ordinary revenue 344,589,828 francs, of 



