LIVE CHICKliNS: MALINES, BELGIUM 



Photo by Emil P. Albrecht 



In no other country is the dog team so much used as in Belgium. Three and four dogs 

 abreast are frequently seen, and they draw quite heavy loads 



Half of the Senate is elected every four 

 years. 



In the United States we pay our sena- 

 tors well, and by law forbid them to 

 ride upon free passes. In Belgium a 

 senator serves without other pay than 

 a. railroad pass. But as the railroads 

 there are State - owned and State - con- 

 trolled, nobody thinks of objecting to a 

 senator thus accepting free transporta- 

 tion, especially since that is an inexpen- 

 sive way of paying legislative salaries. 



The House of Representatives con- 

 sists of 1 66 members elected for four 

 years, half of them every two years, 

 while our representatives are elected for 

 two years — the whole House at once. A 

 Belgian representative must be 25 years 

 old, and, unlike the senators, he is a paid 

 official, getting $800 a year and a railroad 

 pass into the bargain for his services. 



Prior to 1894 a very small part of 

 the people were vested with the right of 

 suffrage, as may be inferred from the 

 statement that out of 6,500,000 people 

 only 137,772 votes were cast. In that 

 year the people demanded an extension 

 of the suffrage, and they got it. 



THE SUFFRAGE LAWS 



Under the new law then enacted every 

 male citizen who has reached the age 

 of 25 is entitled to a vote. When he 

 reaches 35, if he is a married man or a 

 widower with legitimate children, and 

 pays a direct tax of $1 a year, he is 

 entitled to a second vote. If a man has 

 a certain amount of property, or if he 

 holds a university diploma, he is entitled 

 to two additional votes because of that 

 fact, except that in no. case shall he be 

 entitled to cast more than three votes. 



A man does not dare stay away from 

 the polls in Belgium if he is entitled to 

 a vote, unless he is willing to incur the 

 penalty of the law, for failure to vote 

 is a misdemeanor. 



The election returns for 1910-11 show 

 how the system of plural voting works. 

 There was a total of 1,636,000 votes cast 

 in that election, of which 933,000 were 

 by men having one vote, 395,000 by men 

 having two votes, and 308,000 by men 

 having three votes. 



On the whole, this system of plural 

 voting has worked satisfactorily, tend- 

 ing to preserve a sort of relation be- 



