Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1903-01-23
RACE CONFLICTS N BELGWM.


There has been a revival of racial
conflicts in Belgium of late. brought
about by the excessive demands of the
Flenings, who claim equal rights for
the Flemish language with French.
The Flemish element in theHPopuiation
has for several years past been carry.
ing on an active campaign throughout
the country under the pretext that
Flemish is really . national language
of Belgium, and that French is but a
foreign Importation. says foreign
correspondent of the New York Times.
The demands Of the Fleimngs have
become more and more excessive.
Their pretensien to have Flemish
placed on an equal footing with French
is, of course, absurd. It may be remem-
bered that about four years ago, after
a boisterous campaign in the Flemish
press, supported by the ignorant rural
population of the Flemish provinces,
the Belgian parliament passed the
much-discussed Flemish law or s'Loi
Elamingante;" a. it is termed here.
According to the terms of this law,
Flemish was placed on a footing of
perfect equality with French. This
means that every parliamentary bill
and every official act OF the govern
ment, every street name, the text of
every government qualifications, must be
printed in two languages.
The expense to the country may
easily be imagined when it is stated
that the plumber of clerks of the
various government departments here
in Brussels. has been doubled owing to
the red tape resulting from ia loi
Flamingante." At first sight the
Flemish act may seem to be only
matter of justice. A superficial exam
tnation of the statistics of the rival
races which make up the population of
Belgium would also tend to show thet
the two languages-French and Flem-
ish-hold about the same position In
the kingdom.
According to the last census the
number of inha bitants whose mother
tongue was French amounted to $780,
S44 and Of those who spoke Flemish
i,4ss.4s1.e But-and here is the great
point-whereas the great mass Of the
Frenchspeaking Walloons are entirely
ignorant of Flemish, all the educated
people OF the Flemish provinces speak
French as a matter of course. In
Brussels where the two languages are
sominally on an equality, it would be
possible to walk the streets OF the city
for a month without ever hearing a
word OF Flemish. The relative posi-
ton Of the two languages is aptly IL
Illustrated by the French and Flemish
newspapers in Belgium. All the lead
ing sheets in Brussels, such as the In
dependence Beige, L'Etoile Beige. the
Soir, and the Vingtieme SiecIe,s are
published in French. Even in Ant
~erp the leading paper, La Metropolis,
S published in French. g
These facts are easily explained
Educated Belgians realize that the
French language puts them in touch
with g nation of 10000. 900 people,
Ehereas Flemish, which is not even
understood in Germany, isolates them.
Nevertheless there are certain num-
Der of Flemish agitators who are not
satisfied with the present concessions
made to the people of Flanders. These
worthless, led by handful of men in
parliament are distinctly in favor Of
the movement looking toward separ-
alton of the Flemish and WaIioon
provinces. Thus the Flemish move
ment assumes more and more the char
acter of Pan-German campaign, and
Is ultimately connected with the Pan
German crusade in Germany.