BELGIUM. 



57 



gathering of converts and a great improvement 

 and advance in Christian elementary schools. 

 Similar conditions prevailed in China. The new 

 memorial station at Kibokolo had been opened on 

 the Congo, and large additions had been made 

 to the native churches. A considerable number 

 of young men had offered themselves for mission- 

 ary service who could not be sent out for want 

 of means. 



The Zenana Mission reported 60 missionaries, 

 with about 200 native Bible women and school 

 teachers laboring in India; 3,470 children in the 

 schools, 310 of whom were in boarding schools; 

 1,500 pupils regularly taught in zenanas; and 

 Bible lessons given in 3,283 houses. On account 

 of its distance from other stations, the mission in 

 Madras had been transferred to the Wesleyans. 

 The financial reports showed an increased deficit 

 on the year's working, the amount having reached 

 1,434. 



The American Baptist Yearbook gives the num- 

 bers of the Baptists in the British Isles as 2,750 

 churches, 1,959 ministers, and 378,475 members, 

 with 16,996 baptisms during the year. 



Baptists in Germany. The Baptist Union of 

 Germany, which was formed in 1849, held its 

 eighteenth triennial meeting in Hamburg, Aug. 

 20-23. The report upon the newly erected pub- 

 lishing house mentioned a gift of $10,000 from 

 Mr. J. D. Rockefeller to pay off a current debt 

 on the pi'operty, which after some parleying with 

 the authorities had been admitted free of income 

 tax. The report upon the Orphan fund, the ob- 

 ject of which is to aid in locating orphans in Bap- 

 tist families, represented that no trouble was had 

 in finding places for orphans, that the supply of 

 good homes was larger than the demand, and that 

 such an institution as an orphan asylum was not 

 needed among the Baptists of Germany. The 

 Chapel Building fund had a capital of about 

 77,000 marks. Mr. W. S. Oncken, son of the Rev. 

 J. G. Oncken, founder of the Baptist Church in 

 Germany, had begun a collection in England for 

 a Jubilee Chapel Building fund in commemoration 

 of the one hundredth anniversary of his father's 

 birth. An effort was instituted to raise a jubilee 

 endowment of 100,000 marks for the Widows' and 

 Orphans' Invalid fund, toward which subscrip- 

 tions of 26,000 marks were made during the meet- 

 ings of the union. 



The Baptists in Germany have 155 churches, 

 with more than 700 additional preaching stations, 

 and 28,898 members. Twenty-four churches had 

 been built and 5,665 persons baptized since 1897. 

 During the same period, 355,000 copies of 80 books 

 had been issued from the publishing house at Cas- 

 sell; and this establishment had realized profits 

 amounting to $20,000. Eleven colporteurs were 

 employed. 



Baptist Union of Jamaica. The Baptist 

 Union in Jamaica reached its fiftieth year in 

 1900. During the half century of its existence 

 the number of churches had increased from 44 to 

 182, the number of ministers was twice what it 

 was when the union was formed, and the mem- 

 bership had nearly doubled. The jubilee report 

 referred to many public questions on which the 

 voice of the union had been heard. Among them 

 was that of the disestablishment of the Church of 

 England in the island, for which it had sent re- 

 peated petitions to the local Legislature and the 

 British House of Commons, eventually with success. 



The Baptists in this island number 182 churches, 

 61 ministers, and 33,638 members, and return 1,669 

 baptisms during the year. 



BELGIUM, a constitutional, representative, 

 and hereditary monarchy in western Europe. The 



legislative power is vested in the Senate and the 

 Chamber of Representatives. The Senate consists 

 of members who are elected by the direct suffrage 

 of male citizens over thirty years of age for the 

 term of eight years, and in addition 2, 3, or 4 mem- 

 bers from each province elected indirectly for the 

 same term. The members of the lower chamber 

 are elected directly for four years by all male citi- 

 zens over twenty-five years of age. An additional 

 vote or two votes additional are allowed to those 

 having certain legal qualifications, which are the 

 possession of real property worth 48 francs a year, 

 money in Belgian funds or savings banks yielding 

 100 francs interest, a profession, a public ol!ic< 

 past or present, a diploma from one of the higher 

 educational institutions, or the status of a married 

 man or widower thirty-five years old who has 

 legitimate issue and pays a house tax of 5 francs 

 or more. Any one who possesses three or more of 

 these qualifications is entitled to cast three votes. 

 The number of electors in 1898 was 1,418,480, 

 possessing 2,175,957 votes. 



The reigning sovereign is Leopold II, the second 

 King of the Belgians, bom April 9, 1835, who suc- 

 ceeded his father Dec. 10, 1865. His heir is his 

 brother, Philippe, Count of Flanders, born March 

 24, 1837, who has one son, Prince Albert, born 

 April 8, 1875. The Cabinet of Ministers in the 

 beginning of 1900, constituted on Aug. 5, 1899, 

 was composed of the following members: President 

 of the Council, Minister of Finance, and Minister 

 of Public Works, M. de Smet de Naeyer ; Minister 

 of the Interior and of Public Instruction, M. de 

 Trooz; Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. de Fave- 

 reau ; Minister of Justice, M. van den Heuvel ; 

 Minister of Agriculture, Baron van den Bruggen; 

 Minister of War, Major-Gen. A. Cousebant d'Alke- 

 made; Minister of Railroads, Posts, and Tele- 

 graphs and Minister of Industry and Labor, M. 

 Liebaert. 



Area and Population. The area of Belgium is 

 11,373 square miles. The population at the census 

 of 1890 was 6,069,321. On Dec. 31, 1898, it was 

 computed to be 6,669,732, comprising 3,326,190 

 males and 3,343,542 females. The number of births 

 in 1898 was 190,108; of deaths, 114,736; excess of 

 births, 75,372. The number of emigrants in 1898 

 was 22,860, and of immigrants 27,393, giving an 

 excess of 4,533 immigrants. Brussels, the capital, 

 had on Dec. 31, 1898, an estimated population of 

 56U30; Antwerp, 277,576; Liege, 169,202; Ghent, 

 162,652. 



Finances. The revenue of the Government in 

 1897 amounted to 499,613,000 francs, and expend- 

 iture to 511,398,000 francs. The budget voted for 

 1900 makes the total ordinary revenue 452,246,618 

 francs, of which 56,135,000 francs are the yield of 

 direct taxes, 100,764,764 francs are derived from 

 customs and excise duties, 14,633,000 francs from 

 registration and other fees, 221,620,060 francs from 

 railroads, tolls, etc., 14,776,800 francs from capital 

 invested, and 4,316,974 francs from repayments. 

 The total ordinary expenditure was estimated at 

 450,929,726 francs, of which 127,940,416 francs 

 were for interest and sinking fund of the public 

 debt, 5,044.157 francs for the civil list and dota- 

 tions, 24,959,885 francs for the Ministry of Justice, 

 3,069,228 francs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

 29,245,259 francs for the Ministry of the Interior 

 and Public Instruction, 11,801,470 francs for the 

 Ministry of Agriculture, 4,582,520 francs for the 

 Ministry of Industry and Labor, 147,122.930 francs 

 for the Ministry of Railroads, Posts, Telegraphs, 

 and Telephones, 53,520,911 francs for the Ministry 

 of War, 34,747,385 francs for the Ministry of Fi- 

 nance and Public Works, 7.019,564 francs for the 

 gcndarmery, and 1,876,000 francs for repayments. 



