Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-03
A Protective Tariff Has Made
the Little Nation One
of the Great Ones.
PEOPLE HAPPY AND BUSY.
Population Larger Than New York's
on Less Land Than Maryland.
THE POLICY OF THE TWO PARTIES.
Schools Under Church Rule Supported BY
Regular Taxation.
YOUNG WOMEN KNIT ON THE STREETS

/ CORRESPONDENTS OF THE pIsPArcH.I
ANTWERP, June 22.-Empty the inhab-
itants Of the State of New York into an area
no larger than the State Of Maryland,
throwing in for good measure the people Of
one or two of our sparsely settled Western
States, and you will then have practical
illustration of what Belgium is both as to
its geographical circumference and the
density of its population.
With 50 many mouths to fill and so little
soil to cultivate she has had tremendous
problem to solve, but under q revenue
| policy of the sort which Lord Salisbury
sys England ought to have, and hardly at
| all dissimilar in kind TO that obtaining at
present in the United States, she has fought
| her great battle for material prosperity
with so much wisdom and so much success
that to-day she is in all vital particulars
one of the most thrifty and happy nations
on tine globe. Her tariff regulations have
had in view as their main feature the promo
tion of her own interests
The Identical Republican Policy.
That which the people needed and could
not produce in sufficient quantity by their
own labor or through the exercise of their
own ingenuity, she has allowed to come in
free; but upon things of luxury she has i'm
posed duty, and in all cases in which it
has been evident that a tariff upon imports
would inure to her OVID advantage, she has
used it. All this may have been very selfish
in little Belgium, but it is nevertheless
very business like, and very human. In
deed, one might venture to add-remember-
ing what the New Testament says about the
duty we are under to provide first for our
own household-that such policy is entire
ly scriptural
A careful study for some time Of the laws,
institutions and conditions of life under
which this plucky and happy little people
are working out their destiny, has left in
my mind feeling OF real admiration for
them. Many things I could wish vastly
otherwise, but the impression as a whole is
favorable. As a loyal American I must
naturally wish that they were freed alto
gether from the burdens of royalty. Still,
the sway of King Leopold is exceedingly
mild. He costs considerable, but he doesn't
interfere much in the Government
Leopold Tired of The Veto Power
So far is he from being a despot that he is
actually at this time asking the country to
relieve him of the veto poTer:- Wa
proposes is that in all those matters in
which the King has exercised a constitu-
tionaI check upon the Assembly, appeal
shall be made hereafter, not to himself, but
to direct vote OF the people. Truly this is
q wonderful age when kings, instead Of
reaching out on all sides for an increase of
power, are voluntarily laying aside even
the few shreds of authority which still
cling to theml Whether Leopold is lazy,
and does not want to bother with such
things, or is conscientious, intending
to express in this Referendum, as it is
called, his conversion to the great New
World idea that the people of a country are
Its rightful sovereigns, have not yet had
motive. the act itself is right, and if kings
are at all necessary, Leopold certainly il
the sort to have around.
Another feature of Belgian affairs which
Is not satisfactory, but which, happily, will
be changed for the better before long. is the
restricted status of the electoral franchise.
1t is substantially money franchise, though
1t has attached to it, chiefly for ornamental
purposes, it would seem, somewhat COM
plicated educational proviso. In local cleo
tions one may acquire vote by the success =
full passing of an examination in certain ele-
mentary branches of learning. Otherwise
the would-be voter, to take hand in town
politics. must pay 81 per annum in taxes,
and county vote comes little higher
Taxation Confers tho Right of Suffrage.
speak of the educational pro viso as being
ornamental rather than useful, because so
few comparatiyely take advantage OF it, and
for the additional reason that it applies only
locally. In general elections, like that just
held, this provision has no force Here 1t Is
only taxation which confers the right Of
suffrage. The voter must pay about IS 40
in direct taxes This may be on property,
or In any other way, but that amount must
be handed over to the Government in some
form, or there is no vote. The amount
seems small enough, but to see how entirely
prohibitive it is to the great mass OF the
people, one has only to look at the exceed
ingfy abbreviated election lists. The voters
at present number about 130, 900, while the
is over 5000, 900. Surely there
is abundant need for reform, and it is graft
fying to know that what is 30 necessary 10
also imminent
Both of the leading parties are pledged to
an extension of the franchise. The Catholic
party, which, by q reduced majority, has e,
iust been given new lease Of power, will
hardly extend it on lines which will satisfy
The Liberals.' Party politics, like human
nature, are much the same the world over,
md here, as elsewhere, the dominant party
may be expected, in its new measure of re-
'orm, to consider first how, in serving the
lear pcOPlc, IL Sdh eASO @SSSA@- ONS
he people will be served all the same
Names of the Parties Arc Misleading.
REQUIRED to choose between the two lead
ng parties in this country, American senti-
nent would be sure to array itself under
he banner OF Liberalism. The Catholic
,artv il conservative, and Its opponents
ay. reactionary. The names, however,
night uislead. There are probably few
Who are not devout church people attached
% the latter, but the Liberals muster many
catholics as we'll If they did not they
would be too utterly insignificant to attract
,otice, for there are not more than 20, 900
orotestants in all Belgium and the He
,rews in the country would not swell the
lumber to much beyond %, 900.
It is not wholly Q struggle for spoils be-
ween these contending factiona There are
,rest principles at stake and perhaps the
oremost of these is the school question.
The Catholic party is for keeping the educa-
ional interests of the country in the hands
If the Church. The supreme dictator In
very school must be the priest Against
his policy the Liberals protest, and In the
reat centers where they are in contfol-as
q Brussels and Antwerp-they 20 manage
,atters as to keep the priests in partial
They may enter the school.
nd may even teach Q lesson, but they have
o voice in the management, and what 10
gious instruction is regularly given, Ike