202 
THE ARMS TRADE OF BELGIUM. 
BY MR. BARRON, 
HER MAJESTY'S SECRETARY OF LEGATION AT BRUSSELS. 
(Concluded from p. 157.) 
Section III. — Government Factories. 
The Belgian artillery possesses four great establishments for manu- 
facturing and repairing arms and ammunition, viz. : — 1. The cannon 
foundry at Liege ; 2. The small-arms factory at Liege ; 3. The Arsenal 
de Construction (carriage -factory) at Antwerp ; 4. The Ecole de Pyro • 
technie (laboratory) at Antwerp. There exists, besides, a shot foundry 
at Antwerp, intended for use in time of war. The powder is all made by 
contract, as also some ordnance stores. Nearly everything else pertain- 
ing to the armament of the troops and the fortresses is manufactured by 
the government itself. Trials of cannon are held at the Polygon of 
Brasschaet, or on the Qstend beach ; those of small arms at the camp 
of Beverloo or on the "champ d'epreuves" at Liege. Since 1859 the 
Minister of War, Lieutenant-General Baron Chazal, has imparled the 
greatest activity to this department. Under his energetic impulse, 
every practical improvement has been introduced into the system of 
national defences. 
Of all the royal factories the Cannon Foundry of Liege stands first 
in importance and celebrity. It has from time to time supplied most 
European States with iron and bronze cannon. Thus, from 1840 to 1857 
it has executedfor foreign governments 2,991 pieces of cannon and 123,000 
projectiles, of an aggregate value of 140,000^. The government 
deemed it advisable, in the interests both of science and industry, to 
keep this establishment constantly at work. The high quality of its 
productions has become well established by frequent competitive trials, 
especially that held at Woolwich in 1850. The superb cannon 
foundries of Truvia, in Spain, and of Vienna, were imitated from that 
of Liege. The whole strength of the establishment is now employed 
upon the Belgian artillery. Consequently no orders have been ac- 
cepted since 1859 for foreign governments. It is not accessible to visi- 
tors. 
Since the introduction of rifled ordnance the foundry has been kept 
in extreme activity. Bronze has been entirely discarded, experience 
having shown that that metal, so superior in tenacity, is deficient in the 
hardness necessary for rifled guns. In 1861, the new breech-loading 
rifled gun was adopted, and 14,461,000 francs were voted for " trans- 
forming" the whole artillery, i.e., for the manufacture of new and the 
alteration of old guns. The Belgian cannon is, with slight modifications, 
that invented by Baron Wahrendorff, and adopted by Prussia. It gives 
perfect satisfaction. The minister instituted some experiments with 
