GOYERNMENT AND ADMINISTEATION. 443 



by tlie people. The suffrage, however, is limited, even in parish elections, to 

 persons paying a certain sum iu direct taxes. Parish voters must pay at least 

 8s. a year, but in parishes having less than 25 inhabitants paying that amount in 

 taxes, the privilege of a vote is extended to the 25 who pay most. Widows may 

 transfer their votes to a son or son-in-law. In order to be permitted to vote for 

 provincial councillors, 16s. annually must be paid indirect taxes, whilst a so-called 

 " general " elector must pay £1 14s. Under these limitations the number of 

 electors is naturally very small.* As a rule the Belgian electors are not particularly 

 zealous in the exercise of their electoral privileges. In 1867, when a portion of 

 the Senate had to be re-elected, only 48 out of every 100 voters came up to the poll. 



In virtue of a law made iu 1878, the country is divided into 40 electoral 

 districts, who elect 132 representatives and 66 senators. The representatives are 

 elected for four years, one-half going out every two years, except in the case of a 

 dissolution, when a general election takes place. The senators are elected for eight 

 years, one-half going out every four years. The representatives are paid £17 a 

 month when in session. Financial and army bills are first submitted to them, 

 and they appoint the members of the Court of Accounts. Salaried officials of the 

 State are not eligible as representatives or senators. The Senate is sujjposed to 

 represent the conservative element in the balance of power. Its candidates must 

 be forty years of age, and pay annually £84 12s. in direct taxes, and, as the 

 number of persons in such prosperous circumstances is small, the electors are 

 sometimes very much restricted in their choice. In 1876 there were only 480 

 persons throughout Belgium qualified as senators, and in the province of Luxem- 

 burg the electors would have been compelled to select one out of eight individuals, 

 had not the law provided for an addition to the list of candidates in all those cases 

 in which there is less than one to every 6,000 inhabitants. The senators receive 

 neither pay nor indemnities. 



The King represents the State by promulgating the laws and signing all 

 decrees. His veto is absolute, his person inviolable. He is commander-in-chief, 

 appoints his ministers, dissolves the Chambers, and orders fresh elections. He is 

 in receipt of a civil list of £132,000. There are seven ministries, viz. for 

 Judicial Affairs, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Military Affairs, Public Works, 

 Financial Affairs, and Public Education. In addition to these responsible 

 ministers, there is a Privy Council, occasionally summoned by the King, in which 

 a certain number of " Ministers of State" appointed by him have seats. 



The judicial institutions of Belgium resemble those of France. Judges are 

 irremovable. Inferior magistrates are nominated by Government, but the judges 

 of the Courts of Appeal and Cassation are selected by the King from lists prepared 

 by the judges, the provincial councils, or the Senate. A jury decides on questions 

 of fact in the case of crimes, and in political and press offences. There are three 

 Courts of Appeal, with 26 district and 204 inferior courts. 



Education is not compulsory, but each commune is bound to maintain an 



* In 1877, 365,000 communal electors, 230,380 provim'ial ekctors, and 117,140 general electors, only 

 these latter voting for the Senate and the House of Represent itives. 



