66 Augusta Moore, (1859); Pulpit Pungencies" (1866); "Royal Truths" (Boston, 1866), reprinted from a series of extracts prepared in England without his knowledge; Prayers from Plymouth Pulpit" (New York, 1867); 'Sermons by Henry Ward Beecher : Selected from Published and Unpublished Discourses," edited by Lyman Abbott (2 volumes, 1868); "Morning and Evening Devotional Exercises,' edited by Lyman Abbott (1870); and "Comforting Thoughts" (1884), by Irene Ovington. BELGIUM, a constitutional monarchy in Western Europe. The Legislature is composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Chambers meet annually in November, and sit for at least forty days. The members of both Chambers are elected under a property qualification, which excludes twelve thirteenths of the citizens from the voting franchise. The House is composed of 138 members, elected for four years; the Senate of half that number, elected for eight years. The present ministry was appointed on Oct. 26, 1884, and is composed as follows: President of the Council and Minister of Finance, A. Beernaert; Minister of Justice, J. Devolder; Minister of the Interior and of Instruction, J. Thonissen; Minister of War, Gen. C. Pontus; Minister of Railways, Posts, and Telegraphs, J. H. P. Vandenpeereboom; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince de Chimay; Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Public Works, Chevalier A. de Moreau. Area and Population.-The area of the kingdom is 11,373 square miles. The population on Dec. 31, 1885, was estimated at 5,853,278 persons, of whom 2,923,902 were males and 2,929,376 females. The population of the principal cities at that date was as follows: Brussels, with suburbs, 416,659; Antwerp, 198,174; Ghent, 143,242; Liége, 135,371. The number of births in 1885 was 175,043; of deaths, 117,775; of marriages, 39,910; increase of population, 57,268. The net immigration during the year was 5,075. The Army. The army is recruited by conscription and voluntary enlistment. Every Belgian of the age of twenty is liable to service, but substitution is allowed. The legal period of service is eight years, but the men are not usually required to serve more than a third of that time. The peace effective provided for in the budget of 1887 is as follows: the war panic in the early part of 1887, when it seemed probable that war would break out before long between France and Germany, the old question of frontier fortifications became an urgent one. Strong hints were received from England, when the sentiments of that country were probed in regard to defending the neutrality of Belgium, that the Belgians could not look for military assistance from that quarter, notwithstanding the international guarantee of the treaty of 1839. The ministry determined on fortifying the Meuse valley and increasing the army. A committee of the Chamber found Gens. Brialmont, InspectorGeneral of Fortresses, Nicaisse, Inspector-General of Artillery, Wouvermans, in charge of the works at Antwerp, Vandersmissen, Commander of the First Military Circumscription, and nine other general officers who were consulted, all in favor of a first line of fortifications in the valley of the Meuse. The Catholic majority opposed augmenting the army by the introduction of universal obligatory military service. Military authorities were found who asserted that the army was sufficiently numerous to man the new forts, proposed in the plan of Gen. Brialmont, and the central citadel at Antwerp with its chain of outlying forts, and still leave a considerable force to maneuver in the field. M. Frère-Orban, supported by other military experts, opposed, not the principle, but the expediency of the projected fortifications, and insisted on the importance of maintaining a large field army. The Government did not abandon the idea of a central fortress for the army to fall back upon, as provided in the plan of 1857, but proposed to strengthen the works in and around Antwerp. The fortification project was adopted by the Chamber on June 14 by a vote of 81 to 42. The forts will be able to resist the new explosives. Their cost was originally estimated at 24,000,000 francs, but it will exceed that figure. To arm and provision them will cost 5,500,000 francs. It was also decided to provide the infantry with a new rifle at an expense of 11,000,000 francs; also to complete the outlying defenses of Antwerp, consisting of a line of forts extending to the Nethe River on one side and to the Senne on the other, which will be a work of four years. The Meuse fortifications were begun, under the direction of Col. Kebers, on August 15, but are hardly expected to be in condition for effective defensive operations before the summer of 1889. Six large and six small forts are to be built at Liége, and five large and four small ones at Namur, while Huy is to be made a fortified post. The plan for the disposition of the available military forces is as follows: army of campaign, 67,732 men; Antwerp garrison, with a flying column 12,000 strong, 35,785; at Termonde, 4,796; at Diest, 2,594; at Liége, 6,997; at Namur, 5,124; at Huy, 541; depot troops and territorial gendarmerie, 5,422; total, 129,191 men. The ministry claim that they can mobilize 100,000 troops in the first line and a reserve of 30,000, while the opposition leader asserts that a mobilization would not produce more than 80,000 men. Of 26 bridges across the Meuse only seven remain unprotected by the new fortifications; and of 19 railroads only three, and two of these lead from Holland. With the protection of the tétes-depont of Liége and Namur, the Belgians expect to be able to reach without danger any point where an invading army should attempt to cross the river, and resist the passage or force the invaders to detach large forces and delay their march until troops could arrive from France or Germany. Commerce. The general commerce in 1884 amouuted to 5,450,200,000 francs. The special commerce consisted of 1,425,700,000 francs of imports and 1,337,500,000 francs of exports. The chief articles of import were breadstuffs of the value of 275,007,000 francs; wool and woolens, 101,479,000 francs; metals and minerals, 99,636,000 francs; textile fabrics, 90,149,000 francs; hides and skins, 73,693,000 francs; live animals, 63,118,000 francs; oilseeds, 47,666,000 francs; cotton, 52,743,000 francs; timber, 45,307,000 francs; coffee and sugar, 31,583,000 francs; chemicals, 38,076,000 francs; butter, 21,597,000 francs; flax and hemp, 16,227,000 francs. The chief exports were yarns, valued at 131,962,000 francs; breadstuffs, 105,157,000 francs; machinery, 80,353,000 francs; stones, 98,839,000 francs; coal, 76,581,000 francs; wool, 76,481,000 francs; textiles, 70,398,000 francs; hides, 63,338,000 francs; iron, 50,050,000 francs; glass, 48,406,000 francs; zinc, 41,022,000 francs. France leads in the import trade with 276,858,000 francs, the Netherlands coming next with 187,530,000, and then Germany with 185.423,000, Great Britain with 184,856,000, the United States with 160,673,000, and Russia with 123,873.000 francs. Of the exports 411,964,000 francs went to France. 252,142,000 to Great Britain, 236,240,000 to Germany, 176,205,000 to the Netherlands, and 39,559,000 francs, the next largest amount, to the United States. Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs.-The railroads of Belgium have a total length of 4,410 kilometres, or 2,758 miles. There are 3,166 kilometres worked by the state and 1,244 kilometres by companies. The receipts of the state lines in 1885 were 119,772,557 francs, the expenses 70,097,356 francs; the receipts of the companies' lines 37,229,787 francs, the expenses 20,333,582 francs. The capital expended on the state lines up to 1886 was 929,697,462 francs, besides annuities of the capital value of 319,798,631 francs for the purchase of lines already constructed. The post-office in 1885 transmitted 91,498,150 private letters, 13,917,560 official letters, 26,539,334 postal-cards, 51,473,000 circulars, etc., and 103,559,000 journals. The revenue amounted to 14,393,081 francs and the expenses to 8,609,871 francs. VOL. XXVII-5 A The length of telegraph lines in 1885 was 3,800 miles, with 17,713 miles of wires; the number of dispatches, 6,807,772; the receipts, 2,666,736 francs; the expenditures, 3,587,659. Navigation.-Belgium had on Jan. 1, 1885, a commercial navy numbering 64 vessels, of 80,592 tons, including 51 steamers, of 74,667 tons. There were 324 vessels, of 11,474 tons, employed in the fisheries. The aggregate tonnage of vessels entered at Belgian ports during 1884 was 4,072,987, and the total tonnage cleared 4,060,612. Revenue and Expenditure.-The ordinary receipts of the treasury according to the budget estimates for 1886-'87 amount to 319,625,109 francs, of which 118,897,000 francs represent the railroad receipts, 39,128,000 francs the excise duties, 25,507,100 francs the customs duties, 23,860,000 francs the registration fees, 23,699,700 francs the land-taxes, 19,320,000 francs the succession duties, and 19,100,000 francs the personal taxes. The total ordinary expenditure was estimated at 316,663,411 francs, 102,532,547 francs being the interest on the public debt, 87,245,471 francs the expenses of the railways, posts, and telegraphs, 45,624,100 francs the military budget, and 22,005,421 francs the appropriation for public instruction, etc. The total revenue for 1887-'88 is estimated at 313,661,559, and the expenditure at 307,743,123 francs. The public debt in 1887 amounted to 1,874,510,824 francs, besides annuities requiring the payment of 12,243,000 francs. The debt was mainly contracted for public works, and large as it is, representing a burden of $75 per capita, the revenue from the railroads alone is more than sufficient to pay the interest. Cattle Duties.-The Clerical party brought forward in the Chamber a long contemplated protectionist measure imposing high duties on foreign cattle and meat. The Premier himself took strong grounds against the bill. While it was under discussion the price of meat rose 30 per cent. in the retail market. Although meat is too dear a luxury for most Belgian workingmen, the proposed law produced a ferment throughout the masses of the people, and when disturbances resulted, the Premier proposed the adjournment of the debate, on the ground that it would be improper to reject the bill as a concession to threats and outrages. The majority were not influenced by the popular excitement, and after adopting an amendment exempting cattle sent through Belgium for re-exportation, carried the bill on May 10 by a vote of 69 to 54, the Premier and the Minister of Railways voting with the minority against their own party. The measure increases the duties on cattle, sheep, and all fresh meat fifty or sixty per cent. The Senate passed it on June 1 by a vote of 36 to 23, after a declaration of the Minister of Agriculture that the ministry would demand the repeal of the duties if any considerable rise in the price of meat resulted. The Chambers also in creased the import duty on vinegar, and abolished the stamp-tax on insurance policies. an invalid fund for workmen, the democratic Labor Strikes.—The vote of the Chamber was the signal for strikes among the workinen all over the country, which had for their object the redress of political grievances. By quitting work the laboring-class not only intended an imposing political demonstration, but expected to force their employers to join them in their demands. Chief among these was universal suffrage, or a wide extension of the franchise. This reform they wished to have immediately accomplished by the dissolution of the Chambers and the convocation of a Constituent Assembly. Another urgent demand was a general amnesty for all who were convicted for offenses connected with the labor disturbances of the year before. The abolition of substitution in the army was also desired, and an income tax instead of duties on consumption, the removal of the high property qualification for the Senate and other reforms were urged. The strikes began in the coalmines, and spread to the metal-workers of Louvain, Centre, Brussels, and other places, the carpenters, tailors, painters, and other mechanics of Brussels, the quarrymen at Tournai, and the iron-workers in the large foundries of the Seraing, Charleroi, and other districts. Collisions with the gendarmes occurred at La Croyère, where two miners were killed and Fishery Riots. Belgian fishermen have for several wounded; La Louvière, where dyna- years carried on a warfare against the English mite was used by the strikers in an attempt steam-trawlers by cutting their nets with grapto blow up a cafe, and against workmen who nels. Finding that their better-equipped comwould not join them; and Brussels, where dy- petitors were ousting them from their own namite outrages occurred, and where several market, they felt aggrieved because, while policemen and rioters were wounded. Later foreign fishermen have free access to the Belsevere collisions between troops and strikers gian markets, they themselves must pay heavy occurred in Ghent, and dynamite outrages duties in France, and are excluded from the were perpetrated in the Centre district and London market by a combination of middleelsewhere. Many agitators, including a French men. A British cruiser which was stationed on anarchist named Jahn, were arrested. Troops the fishing-grounds to protect the English boats were stationed at Seraing and other places, and from piratic outrages was unable to capture two classes of reserves were called out. At the users of the submarine cutting-apparatus; Morlanwelz the coal-mine proprietors agreed but evidence was produced before Belgian to unite with their workmen in demanding the tribunals on which some of the misdemeanants adjournment of the cattle-tax project by the were convicted and fined, a result which furSenate, the pardon of the convicted rioters of ther inflamed the minds of the fishing popula1886, and the establishment of councils of con- tion. The British Government subsequently ciliation and a laborer's benefit fund. The increased the naval force in the North Sea to French authorities closed the frontier within five steamers and four sailing cruisers. On the Department of the Nord, and arrested and August 23, when the crew of three English conducted to Paris the Belgian socialist leader, smacks were landing their cargoes at Ostend a de Fuisseaux. Fauviaux, a noted socialist, was crowd gathered, destroyed a part of the fish, arrested at Quaregnon, and a leader named and broke the windows of a proprietor of Loor in the mining districts. After two or three English fishing-boats. The gendarmerie inweeks the strikes subsided, and by the 1st of terfered, and were beaten off, but came again June nearly all had returned to work. in greater force, and charged the rioters with their bayonets, wounding many of them and killing three. The civic guards were called out, but during the next day fishermen attacked some English smacks in row-boats, and would not leave them in obedience to a formal summons, whereupon the artillery fired, killing two and fatally injuring three. The women took an active part in the disturbances, and The Progressist and Radical associations in a congress at Brussels on May 29 adopted a programme embodying modification of the senatorial tax qualification, lay education, separation of Church and State, equal military burdens, an income-tax instead of taxes on consumption, responsibility of employers for accidents, councils of arbitration, professional syndicates, |