The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1893-06-03
The Peoole,s Cause In Belgium.

Belgium is a constitutional hereditary
monarchy. Two bodies, a senate and
chamber Of representatives, constitute
its lawmaking power. Representatives
and senator's have been hitherto elected
by the votes of male citizens 81 years old
and over who paid annual taxes to the
amount Of about So of our money. This
Of course cut off nearly all the Belgian
workingmen from voting. AS matter
of fact, the Belgian legislature has been
elected by vote Of about in Is Of the
adult males Of the country. The nation
was practically run and owned by the
rich manufacturers and middle class.
King Leopold himself has been in favor
of universal manhood suffrage, but the
rich bourgeois would not permit it. They
elected whom they pleased to the as
sembly. and their tools passed exactly
the laws the masters demanded. The
lot of the Belgian factory operative, me-
chanic or laborer was in consequence
harder than that of any other of his class
in Europe, except perhaps in Russia.
No legislation shortening hours of work
or fixing the duties and liabilities of en-
ployers could be passed.
This was the distinctive grievance of
the common people in Belgium. A spe-
cial session of parliament had been called
to revise the Belgium constitution. The
extension of suffrage was the burn
ing question they had to deal with. The
chamber of representatives voted against
taking it up at all. Then the working
and marched through the streets of the
towns rioting, fighting and demanding
a revision of the vote of the representa-
tives under threat of revolution. There
workingmen and women. The first mar
tyr to the cause of universal suffrage
was a woman in Jolimont. who was
killed by policeman's sword stroke
while she was working for the right of
men to vote.
Dynamite was brought to bear to en-
force the strikers demand for manhood
suffrage. In staid old Client there was
tremendous riot. The strikers drove of
the police who tried to dispense them,
and it was not till a military troop ar
: rived and charged them that they scat
tered. In Antwerp the very women and
children left their homes and marched
through the streets with guns in theil
hands to help the downtrodden work
ingman gain his rights. The only thing
t that at all detracts from the story is tn,
fact that in many instances the down
trodden nottingham got crazy drunl
and acted shamefully.
There is scarcely shadow of doub
a that in few days more revolution
/ would have occurred and Belgium beef
Q proclaimed a republic. But the mem
/, bers of the chamber of representatives
t frightened out of their senses, huddlet
/ together in a hurry and decided tina
they would take up the question of sui
frage at this session and do it immedi
ately. Then, with a dynamite bonn
practically under their seats, they quick
ly passed an act granting suffrage to al
male Belgians p years old and over, bu
giving two votes to heads of famile
who own a certain amount of propert
/ and three to those who in addition t
I property have also certain amount c
learning. The politico-industrial striker
accept that for the present, and SO one {
the great historic steps in the march {
o human progress was taken. The striker
s say they win agitate peacefully till the
obtain the rest of their demands, whic
= is plain manhood suffrage without an
|, frills.
ie If the chamber of representatives ha
Is persisted in its refusal to revise the su
y frage law, the streets of Brussels woul
y have run with blood. An army of %, 0C
desperate strikers stood waiting to el
a force their right to vote by fighting fl
n it. We congratulate the working Peep
" of Belgium on their great victory. v
II approve of all they did except gettir
re drunk. It was labor strike to ga
u political rights.
n,
~ The situation with regard to Hawaii