successful experiment in cultivation is thus | be said to be based upon almost the broadest certain of being reported to the Government, principles of liberalism. The liberty of the and is immediately made generally known. press, the right of petition, the independence This action of the State is well seconded by of the judges, the responsibility of ministers, the intelligence of the people, who have the power of taxation, the dependence of the established agricultural societies throughout army upon an annual vote, assimilate the the country. A grand Agricultural Exhibi- constitution of Belgium to the British; but tion is held every five years at Brussels, and in its representative system it departs widely prizes of considerable value are awarded. from that model. Numbers form its basis, but the qualification of an elector is the annual payment of forty-two francs in direct taxation, and one deputy to each 40,000 inhabitants is the proportion fixed by the constitution. The second chamber is elective, and is chosen by the same voters who elect the first. In all the attempts which have been made on the Continent to form governments on the model of the British constitution, the most conspicuous failure has generally been in originating a second chamber analogous to our House of Lords. Such an institution cannot be the hasty product of a day,' and certainly no country but England possesses to the same extent the elements of such a Senate, namely, a nobility of great territorial possessions, ancient titles, and hereditary consideration, arising in many instances from eminent services and great historical renown, raised by their assured rank above the impulses of vulgar ambition, and removed by their preponderating wealth beyond the suspicion of corruption, yet possessing popu lar sympathies and yielding to public opinion when that opinion has been unequivocally expressed. A second Legislative Chamber so composed may occasionally interfere, and does often interfere with effect, to modify, or suspend, or annul the hasty action of a first; but a Senate elected by the same voters that return the more popular assembly is a political anomaly, and can possess little real importance or value in the State. Although Belgium is not exempt from some of the evils of centralization, and the Government has occasionally endeavoured to accomplish for commerce what it never ought to have attempted, the territorial divisions of the kingdom encourage a healthy political activity. The country is divided into 9 provinces, 28 arrondissements, 365 cantons, and 2528 communes. The provinces have each a governor, nominated by the King; and councils, the members of which are elected. These councils perform functions of great importance. Their session does not continue longer than four weeks, but they are charged with the duty of watching over the interests of the provinces, of regulating local taxation, superintending public works, and reporting on agriculture. Roads, canals, Bridges, and education are all subject to their jurisdiction. When the council is not in session a standing committee of six members is entrusted with executive functions, and performs the duties of a provincial administration. The cantons are established chiefly for facilitating the administration of justice; each possesses an effective and inexpensive police, and a jurisdiction for the trial of offences not involving a fine of more than 200 francs. The communes in some respects resemble our parishes, but are without the power of taxation, which is the exclusive right of the provincial councils: they have important local duties to discharge, and can appeal to the King against any acts of the provincial council which they consider unreasonable, and it is a proof of the general equity of the local administration of the kingdom that this right has only been exercised three times during the present reign. Belgium is only one-eighth of the size of England and Scotland, and one third of the size of Ireland, yet on this small space it maintains a population of 4,426,202, which is thus classed according to the last cen The educational system of Belgium may possibly be worthy of attention in the present unsettled state of our own. Ample provision has been made for elementary schools, but the instruction is rarely carried beyond reading and writing, the elements of arithmetic, and a knowledge of the legal system of weights and measures. Belgium seeks not to impart advanced knowledge unsuited to the age and capacity of children, but only the rudiments of education, and the means of carrying it on afterwards without assistance. Elementary instruction is thus made the basis of future self-education. Considerable reluctance is shown to embrace even these advantages, and the same difficulties are encountered in Belgium as elsewhere, in inducing parents to retain their children in the primary schools sufficiently long even for the above simple purpose. The expense of education falls, in the first instance, on the commune; and in the event of a deficiency of funds, the province, and ultimately the State, comes to its assistance. There is an institution, however, peculiar to Belgium which must considerably interfere with long attendance at the schools of primary instruction. In England the labour market and the school come into early competition, but the ateliers d'apprentissage in Belgium afford strong inducements to pass at a very early age from the schools into establishments where the trade of the future artisan is carefully taught, and wages are immediately carned. These schools of industry are founded on the principle that a special education is of more importance for the future workman than primary instruction carried beyond a certain and very limited extent. These practical schools are of the greatest importance in the social economy of Belgium. Opinion was once divided on their value, but they have now become firmly established as public institutions. Education,' their advocates say, 'is a good thing, but it is not everything; the future labourer ought to have his future occupation always in view, and his faculties should be specially trained for the employment by which he must live. To read, write, and cypher is good; but to acquire an early proficiency in the pursuit by which he must earn his bread is better. The habit of industry is acquired; children are saved from the corruption of the streets; and the earnings, although small, foster independence and self-respect. The value of the articles produced in these establishments is divided among the young apprentices, who earn wages, varying from fifty centimes to two francs per day. The pupils on leaving the establishments receive certificates which procure for them a ready admission to the mills of the great manufacturers, who regard them with much favour. The skill which some of these young workmen have acquired, and the talent that has been occasionally developed, have even led to improvements in manufactures and to new branches of industry. Many thousands find employment in the industrial schools; and as the labouring population cannot be employed in agriculture, it is considered right to encourage manufacturing industry in order to prevent the country from being afflicted with a pauper peasantry.* In 1850, out of 38,326 men who were drawn for the militia, 13,965 had received no education whatever; 9294 could read and write, 2945 could read only, and 12,102 had received a somewhat more advanced education than reading and writing. This low condition of primary instruction has since been considerably raised. The schools are entirely under the control of the communal authorities, and religious instruction is imparted by delegates from the different religions bodies. The schoolmaster appointed by the communal Council must have attended a training college for two years. The minimum salary is 200 franes (87.), in addition to a house and garden, and the school fees. The average income of the teachers does not exceed 201. An admirable institution supplies a fund for providing pecuniary assistance to aged and infirm teachers, their widows and children. All schoolmasters and mistresses are obliged to become members of, and to contribute to, the caisse de prévoyance. The widow of a teacher who has been employed for twelve years is entitled to a pension, as well as the children, until they attain the age of sixteen. Each member contributes 3 per cent. of his income to the fund, which is frequently augmented by grants from the Provinces and the State, and is a favourite object of testamentary bequests and charitable donations. Every province possesses a general inspector, appointed by the Crown, who visits once a year all the communal schools in his district, and makes an annual report. Cantonal inspectors visit their schools twice a year. The provincial inspectors assemble annually, under the presidency of the Minister of the Interior, for consultation; and the cantonal inspector calls a meeting of all the masters in his district at least once in every three months to compare the different modes of teaching employed. At all these meetings the bishops and clergy have a right to be present, but they possess no vote or author. ity whatever in the practical management of the schools. Their interference is strictly confined to advice-certainly a remarkable feature in the elementary education of so Catholic a state as Belgium, and proving that the influence of the priesthood is regarded with general distrust. Protestant nations, happily, know little of this disunion, for that perfect identity of spirit and purpose which the reformed faith has established between the laity and the clergy secures their complete and cordial co-operation. Although there are probably few persons in Belgium who would not resent the imputation that they were not good Catholics, opposition to the domination of an Ultramontane clergy has there been manifested in the most unequivocal manner. The laws affecting charitable bequests have, after an obstinate struggle with the Church, been framed to guard against the consequences of spiritual influence. Attacks are often directed through the press against clerical politicians. Belgium, it has been said by one of its most popular writers, must struggle against the Papal theocracy as Holland once struggled against the inundations of the sea. With the acquisition of political independence has reappeared not a little of the ancient spirit of the Belgic race, which made it famous in Europe before it was enfeebled by the govern ment of Charles V., and nearly crushed by the tremendous despotism of his son, who was but too well served by the able and unscrupulous men who governed the Netherlands in his name. In few Roman Catholic countries does the power of the priesthood excite more jealousy or inspire greater precautions against its abuse. The coal-fields and iron-mines of Belgium have made it a manufacturing country capable of competing successfully with Great Britain in some of the most important of its staples. Belgium is almost traversed from east to west by beds of coal. The estimated extent of the western basin alone is 222,400 acres. All varieties are found, from anthracite to the richest gas coal. It has been estimated that Belgium contains 140 workable beds, the total thickness of which amounts to 90 metres, or 296 feet. In 1860 the quantity raised was 9,610,895 tonnes, nearly equivalent to our tons, of the estimated value of 107,127,282 francs, or about 4,285,0807. There were employed 78,237 colliers, of whom 59,954 worked underground. To raise this amount of coal, and pump the water from the pits, 783 steam engines were in operation, representing a total force of 45,969 horses. All the collieries of France did not produce, in 1859, more than 7,500,000 tons of coal, including lignite. The productive capability of Belgium in coal, although small in proportion to our enormous produce (80,000,000 of tons in 1861), is, it will be seen, greater than that of France. Iron ore is almost equally abundant. Seraing, the great manufactory for machinery, is one of the wonders, not of Belgium only, but of the world. Coal mines are worked within its walls; iron ore is raised and smelted; canals and railroads, intersecting the town in every direction, convey the rude materials from the mine to the forge, from the forge to the workshop, and from the workshop the finished articles are transported to warehouses, or despatched direct to the countries for which they have been made. Iron rails are now being made in large quantities for Russia and Spain, and thirty locomotives have recently been turned out for the Saragossa Railway by one firm, which has also contracted for supplying the whole rolling stock of the Russian line now in course of construction to the Sea of Azoff. Iron ore and manufactured iron compose the principal exports of Belgium, and her natural advantages in these productions, joined with the comparative lowness of wages and moderate taxation, make her a formidable rival of England. In 1860 the manufactories of Liège turned out 563,279 stand of arms, of which 179,000 were for troops, showing an increase over the preceding year of 80,512, occasioned chiefly by the demand from Italy. The value of the productions of the Liège gunsmiths for eleven months in the year 1861 is estimated at 15,638,000 francs. The manufacture of arms is one of the most successful branches of Belgian industry. The oldest industry of Belgium is her cloth manufacture, in which she for a considerable period commanded the markets of Europe, and still maintains a respectable position. The looms of Verviers are now fully employed in supplying a cheap uniform for both the Federal and Confederate armies of America. Belgium has attained a considerable development in cloth manufacture by carefully adapting its production to foreign markets. A manufacturer of Verviers receutly obtained almost a monopoly of the American market by sending out light and cheap cloths, fabricated to last only one season. The productions of Verviers are well represented in the International Exhibition. Whether they equal those of Leeds and Somersetshire, or of the Zollverein, and of Austria, which is making rapid strides to perfection in this branch of industry, we must leave to the judgment of those conversant with the manufacture and experienced in the trade. There is a branch of industry, in which Belgium possesses an undisputed superiority, namely, in the production of that wonderful fabric known as Brussels lace. The artistic taste and minute labour employed in this texture are amazing. The specimens which adorn the Belgian department of the Exhibition have probably never been surpassed. Fairy fingers seem to have woven tissues of surpassing beauty out of the lightest gossamer that floats on the summer air. The cotton manufacture of Belgium has been long in a deplorable state of depression. It has felt, in common with our own, the inconvenience of being deprived of cotton from America, but the loss has been in some degree met by the substitution of linen for cotton yarn in mixed fabrics. This branch of national industry, although highly protected, has long since ceased to show any real vitality; nevertheless the relative advantages of the Belgian producers, in light taxation The great advantage which Belgium derives from her commerce with England was long ungraciously acknowledged and ill requited. England it was said by timid and disheartened manufacturers, is a giant, which seeks to embrace Belgium only to stifle her. But it is to the market of England that Belgium owes much of the prosperous condition of her agriculture, while the people of Belgium receive politically the unfailing support of Great Britain. It was to her action that Belgium owed its independence in 1830; it is to her attitude since 1851 that it owes it now. No one can suppose that if the English Government had not clearly shown its determination to oppose, at any sacrifice, the annexation of Belgium to France, the name of Belgium would now be found on the map of Europe. England admitted, absolutely free of duty, almost every article that Belgium produces; and in return only asked to be put, in matters of trade, on an equality with France. The duties on French commodities imported into Belgium vary from 10 to 15 per cent. France imposes heavy duties upon many Belgian products; but the return which Belgium long made to England for her liberality was to impose duties upon almost every article of British production, ranging from 18 to 130 per cent. Thus with her hostile differential tariff she placed Great Britain in a far worse position than many of the obscure States of South America, Italy, Turkey, and Greece. Previously to the great alterations in the English tariff, the exports of Belgium to this country were insignificant, and did not much exceed in value 9,000,000 francs; they now amount annually to nearly 100,000,000. It is chiefly to its commercial relations with England that Antwerp owes whatever prosperity it now enjoys. The trade with England forms one-sixth of all the and low wages, are so decided that their | taining 20,000 spindles amount to 1289 francs; manufactures, if really good, ought not to in England they would amount to 15,875 fear competition in any market of the world. francs, making a difference of 14,586 francs.* They are, however, almost every where under- This, with a commission of 25 per cent. paid sold. It needs but a glance at the cotton in England, but not in Belgium, would make fabrics of Belgium, as displayed in the Inter- a total difference of 23 per cent. in favour of national Exhibition, to discover the cause of the Belgian manufacturers. this disappointment. It is evident that, while other countries have rapidly advanced in the art of calico-printing, Belgium has stood still. Anything more unattractive than the cotton prints of Ghent and other manufacturing towns of Flanders can scarcely be conceived; and when seen by the side of Manchester goods, with their bright dyes and tasteful patterns, they are positively repulsive. The art of design has greatly contributed to diffuse a taste for British cottons and muslins over the world. Nature has been imitated in her most brilliant colours and beautiful forms, to give variety and attractiveness even to the cheapest fabrics of our looms. The monopoly of the home market, which the Belgian manufacturers have long possessed, must have made them indifferent to improvements in design; and the Flemish peasantry, having nothing better presented to them, buy of necessity whatever is offered. The same conspicuous defect in the cotton manufacture was commented on by Sir Emerson Tennent, in his work on Belgium, to which we have before referred. 'Fast colours,' he said, ' are all they seem to aspire to.' Belgian prints were then constantly under-sold from 10 to per cent. by English goods in foreign markets. The long monopoly of the home, and during the incorporation of the country with Holland, of the colonial trade, has doubtless been one of the principal causes of this inferiority. The productions of Belgium had formerly an outlet in the Indian possessions of the Netherlands. If the manufacturers were suffering at home from a plethora of production, they poured the contents of their overstocked warehouses into Java. Holland alone supplied two millions and a-half of customers. The Belgian manufacturers have now certainly no right to be surprised if fabrics suited only for semi-civilised Asiatics or for the uncultivated tastes of their own people are returned unsold upon their hands when offered in competition with the artistic productions of Manchester. The wages of a Ghent workman scarcely amount to onethird of those of an English artisan; for although cotton is on an average 2 per cent. dearer in Antwerp than at Liverpool, labour at Ghent is from 40 to 50 per cent. cheaper. In Belgium, the rates and taxes on a mill con 181. * See Report of H.M. Secretary of Legation at Brussels' The nomination of the Duke de Nemours to the Crown of Belgium was the result of French in trigues, and but for the energetic protest of Eng land would in effect have made Belgium a dependent province of France. British iron was taxed 794 per cent. (ad valorem), wrought iron 59, tin plates 39, bleached linen 28, cotton yarn bleached 31, cottons 19, cotton hosiery 48, woollen hosiery 244, woollens 184, bottles 69, window-glass 644, common pottery Sir Emerson Tennent's 'Belgium,' vol. i., p. 24, bottled beer 49, porcelain 234, brandy 40, wine 39, and refined sugar 130 per cent. ! Hamburg The commerce of Belgium, nevertheless, is considerable. The gross foreign transactions of the country in 1860 were estimated at 72,120,000l., a prodigious sum for so small a State.* An Great efforts have been lately made to extend the foreign commerce of Belgium and to force a market for her manufactures. apprehension seems to exist that the exportations of the country will be gradually restricted to such raw productions as coal, marl, and minerals; symptoms, it is thought, have already manifested themselves of a second industrial fall, and the aid of Government has been loudly invoked to ward off the impend mercantile transactions of Belgium, but the Although the elaborate cultivation of the soil has given Belgium a high rank in agriculture, manufacturing industry is to some extent a social necessity, and in the abundance of coal and iron she possesses the two most essential conditions of success. But Belgium, in endeavouring to increase her manufactures and extend her commerce, has committed serious mistakes. Her commerce is comparatively a modern revival. When she was annexed to the Austrian monarchy the annual exports did not furnish a sufficient cargo for one large ship, and her internal trade was almost equally insignificant. A coasting voyage from one home port to another was regarded almost as a phenomenon, and this depression continued until the establishment of the kingdom of the Netherlands. How restricted her commercial marine now is, will appear by the following return. In 1861 the relative quantity of shipping possessed by Hamburgh, Bremen, and Belgium was as follows: *British produce exported to Belgium in 1861 amounted to 1,610,144., while Portugal took from England in the previous year commodities to the amount of 1,698,9317. calamity. 'The excellence of our productions,' say the manufacturers, and their moderate price, give us a right to a good position in the markets of the world; and we fail in obtaining them because our means of export are not proportioned to our powers of production. Placed between the great TransAtlantic continent and the centre and east of Europe, the commercial position of Belgium ought, as heretofore, to be a commanding one; but our marine is insufficient for our exports, therefore the stranger is obliged to come to us for what he wants. We know how to produce, but we have not learned how to sell. The Government must explore the world for markets for our productions; the disproportion between our powers of production and our means of sale will then disappear. Individual enterprise cannot ef fect this; it must be the work of the State.' Such is the theory enunciated in a work, the title of which we have prefixed to this arti cle, and which is attributed to his Royal Highness the Duke of Brabant. It is impossible not to admire the public spirit which has induced the heir of the Belgian monarchy to take so anxious an interest in the commercial condition of his country, and to devote his considerable abilities to the service of the *The sum of 980,000,000 francs represents the gross amount of the dealings of Belgium with all foreign countries in 1860. The largest share of this trade is possessed by France. The share of France was (in millions) 271-3 Netherlands Zollverein 64 177-9 164.5 66 1139 + 'Complément de l'Œuvre de 1880.' |