58 



BELGIUM. 



The national debt in 1899 amounted to 2,603,- 

 787,175 francs, including Belgium's share in the 

 old Netherlands debt. This share amounts to 

 219,959,032 francs, on which 2i per cent, interest 

 is paid. The Belgian consolidated debt, amounting 

 to 2,383,827,543 francs, all raised for railroads and 

 other useful works, bears 3 per cent, interest, and 

 is being paid off by means of a sinking fund. 



The Army. Belgium has only recently begun 

 to train a national army and build a system of 

 fortifications, having formerly relied on the treaty 

 of London, by which Austria, Great Britain, 

 1'nissia, and Russia undertook to protect the neu- 

 trality and inviolability of Belgian territory. A 

 system of conscription has been introduced, al- 

 though the army is still partly recruited by enlist- 

 ment. Every able-bodied man at the age of nine- 

 teen is liable to be drawn, but those who have the 

 means can provide substitutes. The annual con- 

 tingent is 13,300 men. The term of service is 

 nominally eight years, the actual requirement not 

 over a third of this period. The peace strength 

 of the army in 1899 was 3,472 officers and 48,030 

 men, or 51.502 of all ranks. The infantry num- 

 bered 1,745 officers and 27,900 men; cavalry, 304 

 officers and 5,762 men; artillery, 544 officers and 

 8,225 men; engineers, 146 officers and 1,880 men; 

 gendarmery, 65 officers and 2,839 men; general 

 staff, military schools, train, administration, etc., 

 668 officers and 1,424 men. The regular army had 

 9,045 horses, the gendarmery 1,810 horses. There 

 were 204 pieces of field artillery. The war strength 

 of the army is 163,000 men of all ranks, with 

 25,823 horses, not including the civil guards, who 

 in 1899 numbered 40,443 men. 



Commerce and Production. The value of the 

 general imports in 1898 was 3,279,047,704 francs, 

 and of the general exports 3,019,882,489 francs. 

 Of the imports, the value of 1,714,379,111 francs en- 

 tered by sea and 1,564,668,593 francs by river and 

 rail, and of the exports, 1,256,226,730 francs in value 

 were shipped by sea and 1,763,655,759 francs by 

 river and rail. The imports for consumption were 

 valued in 1898 at 2,044,700,000 francs, the exports 

 of domestic products at 1,787,000,000 francs; the 

 transit trade was 1,232,800,000 francs. The special 

 imports of cereals in 1898 were 383,408,000 francs 

 in value; textile materials, 191,743,000 francs; 

 mineral substances, 127,657,000 francs; chemicals 

 and drugs, 103,205,000 francs; gums and resins, 

 94,611,000 francs; lumber and wood manufactures, 

 91,802,000 francs; metals, 81,328,000 francs; oil 

 seeds, 65,203,000 francs; hides and skins, 64,713,000 

 francs; cotton, wool, and silk fabrics, 60,275,000 

 francs; coffee, 46,342,000 francs; live animals, 

 44,262,000 francs; coal, 40,347,000 francs; animal 

 products, 37,682,000 francs; dyes and colors, 34,- 

 812,000 francs; machinery, 28,004,000 francs ; linen, 

 wool, ami cotton yarns, 26,475,000 francs; wines, 

 25,723,000 francs; tobacco, 14,965,000 francs; fer- 

 tilizers. 14.031.000 francs; butter and margarine, 

 11.807,000 francs. The special exports of textile 

 materials in 1898 were valued at 112.655.000 

 francs; cereals, 109 ,005,000 francs; coal, 107,386,000 

 francs; linen, wool, and cotton yarns, 97,873,000 

 francs; machinery and vehicles, 88,705,000 francs; 

 glass, 80,000,000 "francs; iron, 75,330,000 francs; 

 chemicals and drugs, 70,616,000 francs; hides and 

 leather. 67,889,000 francs; mineral substances, 

 r,7.u:>:!.0(i<) francs: sled. 57,701,000 francs; zinc, 

 54,037,000 francs; textile fabrics, 52,651,000 francs; 

 sugar, 45,220,000 francs; oil seeds, 37,571,000 

 francs; hor-es. 34.040,000 francs; fertilizers, 34,- 

 105,000 francs; animal products, 32,844,000 francs; 

 resin and bitumen, 30.313.000 francs; dyes and 

 colors, 28,504,000 francs ; meat, 20,958,000 francs. 



The special trade with the principal foreign 



countries in 1898 is shown in the following table, 

 giving the values of the special imports and ex- 

 ports in francs: 



When Belgium first became a kingdom in 1831 

 the total value of imports was only 98,000,000 

 francs, and of exports 108,000,000 francs. In 1898 

 Belgium was the seventh country in the world 

 according to the value of its special commerce, the 

 imports having increased in the year 10 per cent, 

 and the exports 9 per cent. According to the 

 value per capita Belgium leads all countries, this 

 being 574 francs, while in Great Britain it is 480, 

 in Germany 211, in France 207, in the United 

 States 129, in Austria-Hungary 92, in Italy 83, and 

 in Russia 40 francs per capita. Belgians have in- 

 vested a great amount of capital in Russian indus- 

 tries, estimated at 1,100,000,000 francs, and the 

 present value of the investments is 50 per cent, 

 more. Half the foreign companies started in Rus- 

 sia during 1899 are Belgian. Belgians, too, have 

 turned their attention to the industrial develop- 

 ment of China, sending a commercial mission to 

 that country and forming companies and syndi- 

 cates to build railroads and to work mines. 



The agricultural lands of Belgium were divided 

 up in 1895 among 829,625 holders, of whom 544,041 

 had less than a hectare and only 3,584 more than 

 50 hectares. The area farmed by the proprietors 

 was 593,333 hectares, while 1,320,358 hectares were 

 cultivated by tenants. The wheat crop in 1897 

 was 6,681,568 hectolitres; barley, 1,264,914 hecto- 

 litres; rye, 6,520,380 hectolitres; oats, 10,596,398 

 hectolitres; potatoes, 29,037,626 quintals; sugar 

 beets, 8,722,105 quintals; other roots, 11,776,950 

 quintals. The tobacco crop in 1895 was 5,166.000 

 kilogrammes. There were 271,527 horses, 1,420,976 

 cattle, 235,722 sheep, and 1,163,133 hogs in 1895. 

 The forests, which cover 17.70 per cent, of the total 

 area of the kingdom, belong in part to the state, 

 some of them to communes and public institu- 

 tions, and the rest to private individuals. The 

 annual value of forest products is 22,000,000 francs. 

 About 19 per cent, of the working population is 

 engaged in agriculture and about the same per- 

 centage, in mining and metal industries, while 

 other industries employ a larger proportion. The 

 number of persons employed in coal mines in 1SH7 

 was 122,846. The production of coal in ls!>s \\a> 

 22,088,000 tons, valued at 242.894,000 francs. The 

 pig-iron product was !)?!). 101 tons; manufactured 

 iron. ."iO'.i.Hiu tons; ingot steel, 653.130 tons; steel 

 rails, 558,90.1 tons. The import of iron ore. chiefly 

 from Luxembourg, was 2,544,403 tons, while the 

 product of Belgian mines was 240,774 tons. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered at 

 Belgian ports during 1898 was 8.335, of 8,233,700 

 tons; cleared, 8.370, of 8,283.910 tons. Of the total 

 number entered 4.010, of 3.993.180 tons, and of 

 those cleared 4,035, of 4,054,203 tons, were British; 



