84: 



BELGIUM. 



tration, military school, train, etc., 631 officers 

 and L449 men; total, 3,419 officers and 48,014 

 men, with 9,040 horses, besides 1,845 for the 

 gendarmery, and 204 guns. The war strength 

 is 4,406 officers and 143,628 men, with 25,823 

 horses. The civil guards, organized in the towns 

 for the defense of the national territory, number 

 42,827 men. 



Commerce. The imports in the general trade 

 for 1897 were valued at 3.090,829,820 francs, and 

 exports at 2,837,271,890 francs. Of the imports 

 1,522,554,528 francs came by sea and 1,503,275,292 

 francs by land and river; of the exports 1,326,- 

 318,124 'francs went by sea and 1,410,953,766 

 francs by land and river. The value of the 

 transit trade was 1,268,800,000 francs. The im- 

 ports for domestic consumption were 1,818,000,000 

 francs in total value; the exports of domestic 

 produce and manufacture, 1,268,800,000 francs. 

 The values of the principal special imports were 

 312,505.000 francs for cereals, 161,912,000 francs 

 for textile materials, 102,503,000 francs for tim- 

 ber, 101,828,000 francs for chemical manufactures 

 and drugs, 89,415,000 francs for mineral sub- 

 stances, 89,132,000 francs for metals, 83,680,000 

 francs for gums, resins, etc., 64,867,000 francs 

 for hides and skins, 60,828,000 francs for coffee, 

 60,781,000 francs for woolen, cotton, and silk 

 goods, 49,803,000 francs for oil seeds, 46,816,000 

 francs for live animals, 38,086,000 francs for coal 

 and coke, 35,478,000 francs for animal products, 

 28,718,000 francs for linen, woolen, and other 

 yarns, 25,893,000 francs for dyes and colors, 24,- 

 834,000 francs for machinery, 24,565,000 francs 

 for wines, 16,698,000 francs for fertilizers, 13,519,- 

 000 francs for butter and margarine, and 10,217,- 

 000 francs for tobacco. The values of the chief 

 exports of domestic produce and manufacture 

 were 107,153,000 francs for linen, woolen, and 

 other yarns, 90,731,000 francs for coal and coke, 

 84,358,000 francs for cereals, 80,168,000 francs 

 for textile materials, 76,082,000 francs for glass, 

 74,961,000 francs for machinery and vehicles, 

 72,590,000 francs for iron, 72,135,000 francs for 

 chemicals and drugs, 66,573,000 francs for leather 

 and hides, 63,147,000 francs for steel, 59,382,000 

 francs for sugar, 55,841,000 francs for textile 

 goods, 50,494,000 francs for mineral substances, 

 42,597,000 francs for zinc, 35,095,000 francs for 

 horses, 34,519,000 francs for animal products, 

 28,328,000 francs for fertilizers, 26,078,000 francs 

 for bitumen, 23,032,000 francs for dyes and colors, 

 21,839,000 francs for meat, and 21,179,000 francs 

 for oil seeds. 



The values in francs of the special imports 

 from and exports to the principal foreign coun- 

 tries in 1897 are given in the following table: 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at the ports of Belgium during 1897 was 8,241, 



of 7,971,950 tons; cleared, 8,210, of 9,727,525 

 tons. Of the total 4,551, of 3,023,916 tons, were 

 entered from and 5,781, of 4,644,281 tons, cleared 

 for English ports, and 361, of 929,991 tons, were 

 entered from and 238, of 690,333 tons, cleared 

 for United States ports. 



The merchant navy of Belgium on Jan. 1, 1898, 

 comprised 5 sailing vessels, of 917 tons, and 56 

 steamers, of 84,510 tons. 



Bailroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads in operation on Jan. 1, 1897, 

 was 2,851 miles, of which 2,056 miles were oper- 

 ated by the Government and 795 miles by com- 

 panies. The number of passengers carried in 

 1896 on the state railroads was 82,676,592, paying 

 52,877,800 francs; on the companies' railroads, 

 24,155,216, paying 13,184,718 francs. The total 

 receipts were 160,434,763 francs on the state 

 railroads, and expenses 90,757,306 francs; on the 

 companies' railroads the receipts were 43,182,882 

 francs, and expenses 20,429,910 francs. The total 

 cost of the state railroads was 1,434,552,921 

 francs. 



The post office in 1897 carried 117,848,690 pri- 

 vate and 23,145,817 official letters, 49,420,449 

 postal cards, 96,456,423 printed packets, and 110,- 

 587,241 newspapers. The receipts were 21,625,862 

 francs; expenses, 11,141,089 francs. 



The telegraph lines had in 1897 a total length 

 of 3,955 miles, with 41,895 miles of wire. The 

 total number of messages sent during that year 

 was 9,448,856; receipts, 7,141,089 francs; ex- 

 penses, 6,068,318 francs. 



Political Events. In the beginning of 1899 

 the Cabinet had under discussion an electoral re- 

 form bill for establishing uninominal voting 

 that is, voting for single candidates in separate 

 districts, instead of list voting. Under the ex- 

 isting law the Conservative Clerical party had 

 elected 112 Deputies, while the Opposition parties 

 were represented by only 40 28 Socialists and 

 12 Liberals yet the coalition between Socialists 

 and Liberals was likely to change very much 

 the composition of the Chamber, for these parties 

 together had polled 980,000 votes jn the last 

 election, while the total number of Clerical voters 

 was 930,000. The secession from the Clerical 

 party of the Christian Socialists, led by the 

 Abbe Daens, who were now affiliated with the 

 Socialist Democrats, constituted a new and seri- 

 ous danger to the continued supremacy of the 

 Conservative Clericals. The changes to be 

 brought about by a combination of the Opposi- 

 tion parties would occur chiefly in the repre- 

 sentation of the great towns. In Brussels, for 

 instance, the 60,000 Socialists and 40,000 Lib-, 

 erals, voting together, could displace the whole 

 list of 18 Clerical Deputies, who had been elected 

 by 90,000 votes. The Socialists and Liberals de- 

 nounced the proposed electoral bill as a gerry- 

 mandering device, and when it was reported that 

 the King had approved it, as he must any bill 

 presented by the Government, charges were made 

 that he was influencing the Cabinet to force upion 

 the country this unpopular measures The de- 

 mand of the Socialists was universal suffrage, 

 on the principle of one man one vote. The Lib- , 

 erals, although upholding the political doctrine 

 of universal suffrage, or at least not venturing 

 openly to condemn a principle which Liberals 

 everywhere make a part of their creed, were less 

 inclined to promote its immediate realization in 

 Belgium than were the Clericals, who would gain 

 votes thereby from the peasantry and working 

 classes, though the Socialists would profit most, 

 whereas the Liberals would get no votes from 

 the classes to be enfranchised. The last exten- 



