BELGIUM 



GC8 



BELGIUM 



coal, which is of excellent quality, averages 

 about 23,000,000 tons a year, valued at $76,000,- 

 000. Other minerals are zinc, with a production 

 of 206,000 tons, valued at $27,000,000; lead, 

 with a production of 50,000 tons, valued at 

 $9,000,000; and silver from lead, with a pro- 

 duction of 580,000 pounds, valued at $6,500,000. 

 These figures represent production in normal 

 times; by comparing them with the similar 

 products in the United States we are better 

 able to realize their magnitude. In the United 

 States the yearly production of zinc averages 

 337,000 tons; of lead, 436,000 tons; and of 

 silver, 70,000,000 ounces. The metals are found 

 chiefly in the Ardennes region. 



Numerous quarries of marble, granite and 

 slate are worked, and their products reach an 

 average value of $12,500,000 yearly. 



Manufactures. Belgium is normally one of 

 the greatest manufacturing countries in Europe. 

 Coal and iron are the bases of modern industry 

 and, as we have seen, Belgium possesses them 

 in abundance. The iron and steel manufac- 

 tures are on a large scale. The production of 

 pig iron in 1913 amounted to 2,500,000 tons; 

 of manufactured iron, to 335,000 tons; of steel 

 ingots, to 2,500,000 tons; and of steel rails, to 

 1,903,000 tons. When one notes that the 

 United States produces about 30,000,000 tons 

 of pig iron, a better idea of the enormous pro- 

 duction of this little country is gained. Ma- 

 chinery of all kinds, firearms, tinware, nails, 

 wire, brass, are some of the chief metal manu- 

 factures, and these are produced at Liege, 

 Malines, Namur, Ghent, Charleroi, Mons and 

 Brussels. Brussels and Ghent are the centers 

 of an important jewelry manufacture. 



Flanders, the center of the flax industry, has 

 for centuries been noted for the superior qual- 

 ity of its linens. The manufacture of woolen 

 and cotton goods is very extensive. It is car- 

 ried on in all parts of the country, but the chief 

 seats of the industry are at Liege, Venders and 

 Ghent. Lace is one of the most widely known 

 of Belgian manufactures. Much of this is made 

 by hand in the homes of the people, and the 

 same can be said about weaving and the manu- 

 facture of gloves. One of the characteristics 

 of the industry of Belgium is the great number 

 of articles made in the homes of the people or 

 in small shops, which employ only a few hands. 

 These subsist side by side with large establish- 

 ments where the latest machinery is used. 



Belgium is. one of the leading glass manu- 

 facturing countries in the world. Porcelain and 

 other varieties of pottery ware of high grade 



are manufactured at Tournai, Mons, Ghent and 

 Brussels. Belgium has also become of lute 

 years one of the principal beet sugar manufac- 

 turing countries of Europe. Other manufac- 

 tured products are leather, chemicals, paper, 

 beer, tobacco and furniture. 



Commerce. This little kingdom carries on in 

 normal times an immense foreign trade. In 

 fact, only the United States, Great Britain, 

 Germany, France and Holland export and im- 

 port greater totals. Belgium nearly quadrupled 

 its trade between 1880 and 1914; its trade in 

 1913 was twice as large as that in 1900. The 

 total value of the trade of Belgium in 1912 

 was 2,270 million dollars, of which nearly 1,000 

 million dollars were imports for home con- 

 sumption, 600 million dollars exports of Bel- 

 gian produce; 470 million dollars represented 

 transit trade. In order to realize the magnitude 

 of these figures we will again compare them 

 with those of the United States, which were 

 1,788 million dollars imports and 2,071 million 

 dollars exports in 1914. Germany, France, 

 Great Britain, Holland and the United States, 

 in the order named, are the leading countries 

 connected with the foreign trade of Belgium. 

 During the fiscal year 1913-1914 the United 

 States exported to Belgium merchandise worth 

 $61,219,000, and imported from that country 

 merchandise worth $41,000,000. 



Transportation. Belgium has an unrivaled 

 system of transport facilities, consisting of rail- 

 ways, navigable rivers, canals and good roads. 

 With its 5,400 miles of railroads, Belgium has 

 a greater railway mileage compared to its 

 size than any other country. The railways 

 are owned by the government, and the fares 

 are the cheapest in the world. There are in 

 Belgium 1,240 miles of navigable waterways, 

 rivers and canals, which reach all the principal 

 towns of the country, and are also connected 

 with the canal and river systems of Holland, 

 Germany and France. The Flemish plain espe- 

 cially is intersected by a network of canals. 



The chief seaports are Antwerp and Ostend. 

 Nearly seventeen million tons of shipping en- 

 tered and left Antwerp yearly, before 1914. 

 Good roads, most of them macadamized or 

 paved with stone, traverse all parts of the 

 country. 



Education. Official elementary education is 

 created and organized by the communes (see 

 COMMUNE) ; there must be at least one school 

 in every locality. Elementary education, which 

 has been mostly in the bands of the Church, 

 has been almost as backward as in Spain or 



