New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-10-28

have so far only forty-four seats. The Socialists
have won nineteen places The second poll
will add something to each Of the parties, prob
ably 10 the advantage Of the Catholics.
1t is anything but certain that the Socialists
will unite with the Liberals in Parliament 10
form a stable opposition On the contrary
whenever social questions arise, as they are
bornd to do--hours of labor. insurance against
! accidents. and the rest-thc Socialists WIFI nhu
/ themselves voting with nobody can foresee now
| many of the Catholic Deputies, against the rep
Iesentatives Of the bourgeois. 1t is another sign
| that the old ordar changes 1t is also sign u
| Belgian good sense. thrift. and general civiliza-
! ton that the change should be made peaceaDly
! and without the violence Of revolution.
II was in 1880 that Belgium declared its inde-
| DC ndence of Holland. The following year IL
! ad0pted its present Constitution, and made
! German prince it's king. This was Leopold oil
/ Saxe-C oburg -Gotha. uncle of Queen victoria
and father of Leopold IL, the present KING OF the
Belgians. He Protestant called To RUE
over an exclusively Catholic country where iio-
erasm ranged from AnGlomania TO freeHia-
sonry He was a man Of compromise ana Ioi
fifteen years managed 10 maintain mixed MIN
stries made up Of men Of diverse politcal opih-
ions
In 1916 he was obliged 10 name dlstlhc"s
Catholic Cabinet: but the following year oE
turn of the electoral wheel. the hrst h'oe' 81
Ministry took possession of the political Adj
ministration OF the country. one Ol l's ieauV''
was NJ Frere-Orban. who now, in his eighty
third year. has lost the Parliamentary seat u
his native city. Liege. which had been faithful
70 him for half century. He is popular! sup
posed to owe his name itself to the society OF
he
port of Belgian Liberalism-Frere. "bro'her,
and Orban a Latin dervative for orphan III
allusion to the lodge at Liege which took the
place of parents to him. The following year
1S4S brought the Liberals to the heigh' Oh the"
bower with eigbty-hve members OF Pariaheh''
as against thirty-eght Catholics.
Eight years later in 1879, the tide again '"f"eu'
and the Catholics held power Tor TWO !'"9'
Then the Liberals. led by Frere-Oroah' came
back on a triumphant wave OF BOURGEOIS op'i''""'
with seventy Deputies in the Chamber OF hepIt-
sentatves 10 thirty-eght OF thciI oppo.'.'
This time they succeeded in keeping tneir pace
until 1S70-thirteen full years. a Catnohc cdp-
met followed for eight years, when frcre-orDah
and the Liberals came into power LOT ""1 80 ~
il seems was To be the last time. Like rhh'-
BETA and Jules Ferry. IN France, they SET aoout
realizing the pet Radical idea-the secuiarlzins
Of schools This was done wlthout ne iH 1 ~
expedency among people winch is sun deePAy
religious Il was resisted, ana the 'dtHoH,9
built up free schools everywhere from lnp' pr
vate resources But the burden weighed heaNii!
and in 1884 the de,uge came, sweeping the
Liberal dOctrinaries from Office Inc eIe''oIS
had been so turned against them that the general
election of 1856 returned nineiy-eight CathoiicS
TO Parliament. as against forty Liberals
From that day to this successive plumbers nave
marked the decline Of Liberalism Inc deh'ahu
for universal suffrage. when was sure 10 "
Donular was left TO the CathONc Ministry 10
formulate and carry through. The Liberals
chung TO their bourgeois privileges 10 inc emu
tn
bridge between themselves and Socialism. when
has led to the formati IN OF Radical -Socia'ls'
party in France. This has permanently aiien-
ated the workingmen, who may nate the pre-
but at least recognize mat he mikes Win 'Hc'r
world as one Of them; while they know tle
Liberals only as school-mastering capitalists
Now that the labor parties. whether Spc!aIIst OF
CATHOLIC can command many seats In Parma
ment the debacle of Liberalism is complete
The Liberals have also remained uoc,,i it,nr
To the end. The Catholic Prime Minister
Beernaert had included IN the proposed revision
Of the Constitution 4 scheme for the proportional
representation Of minontes Under the p'e5yh'
circumstances this would have saved TO the LAD
erals a number Of places in Parliament But
II was not down in their English or French text
books and the measure was thrown out Dy a
majority made up Of the French-speakins MAJ
loom Liberals. who joinel with the Catholic OPP
ponents OF NJ. Beernaert 70: the purpose. ms
again was quite in opposition with both REM
ish and Socialist sentiment. NJ Beernaert re-
signed but the Catholic Ministry when sue
ceeded him has carried through the remaining
most Catholics and all members or the lhDor
parties Thus Belgian Liberals, at one stroke
managed to put themselves on record az against
both universal suffrage and the WoIklnSheh.
The question between Flemings and Walloons
needs some explanation. as II presents defn-
tie problem which has still to be settled. IL -
a pity that the French view, partly Liberal ana
partly racial. should be 50 universally adopted
in the English and American press. The facts
do not bear II out.
turned only Catholic members of Parliament,
the other three only Liberal or nearly So Inc
latter were precisely the Waloon provinces,
where a dialect Of French IS the popular speech.
and The race is Of Gallo-Belgic stock. The Tor
mer Included indeed. the Walloon province Oh
Namllr and what is much the same. Luxem-
bourg; bu; most important were the eNG.us'seN
Flemish provinces Of Antwerp. the two flahdeis
and Iimbourg Hence 1t was commonly said
that Belgian unity was compromised maj
Erencb Belgium was Liberal. while Flemish Bel
a,um was Catholic This was true only OF the
IDENTITIES elected .ncer the OLD system Oh IS
stricted suffrage and was not true or the Peope
themselves The proportional representation 81
minorites would put an end to this raise sHua'loh
As II is with the first application OF universal
suffrage the Catholics have come TO the top III
IJepe and Brussels falsely reckoned Walloon
from its province, BrabanD; ana l-peldi ~
cess has appeared, 100 late. in fianders; ne
Socialists show themselves iInparually Win r.
spect to race or language -
From another point Of view, Belgium Is favor
able field for experimenting with pohucal rene
dies for social evils 1t is not oveIpo"ered as Is
Franc ar GERMANY by the necessities OF an ex-
elusive nationasm. Its army ana us patr1ouc
GO ointment ale needed only To preserve It's own
neutrality Perhaps the prime lesson OF the pres
ent election is that apart from such questions
OF nationality, civilized society now iapois WIZ.
the nroblem-how 10 provide for the HE OF
those who work for wages. 1t is already fariy
plain that the Catholic Church VIII nav he'
accustomed part in steering the bark OF cIVlh~a-
ZION and also-wh.ch Liberals will think scarceIy
iass 'ohnoxious-that the Socialists stand a good
running chance oil some cay trying theii me
theories in practice