Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-18
Kingdom OF Belgium and the King.

state ,yftl: him as the ruler. and / can't
tell you Just what he gets out OF i'll q
oniy that its government revenues now
amount to not quite 5000, 600 a year and
that the expenditures are greater than
u.at Whether Leopold has any private
property there or not do not kno
His ma iesty has been accused of not
geint. very good guardian of the wealth
OF his own family. and especially OF that
of his sister who was the wife OF the
urfor:tr ate Macmillan of Mexico. Her
name was Charlotte. and, as. the story
goes. when Macmillan was executed he
left her a vast estate of which Leopold
/, was trustee. Then Charlotte became in
sane and her estate Was almost absolutely
In the power OF her brother It is gossip
ed that the most of this property has been
squandered in various epeculations. and
that a large part of It has gone into GER
tain enterprises along the Congo river
In the nlea ntin1e the enemies of Leopold
say Charlotte has recovered her reason,
but that his majesty does not dare to
take her out Of the asylum for fear Of be-
Ing held to an accounting.
THE ROYAL FAMILY.
| King Leopold mas no son 10 succeed him.
He has had three children, but they are
all girls. The Princess Louise. wno is now
a. was born before he assembled the
throne, as was also the Princess Ste
phanle. who is now Ss. Both OF these
princesses are married. The third daugh-
ter is the Princess Cleme1tine, who was
born July 90. 1872. and who is consequent
ly5 so years of age. BY the constitution,
however, the succession can only go in
the first male. line Of the family, and
the girls have no chance. If the king
should die to-day his brother. who is two
years his junior. would take his place,
and in case Of his death the succession
would go to his son. Prince Albert, who
is now o. and who has a baby boy
named Leopold. about 2-years old, ready
to succeed him in case he dies.
HOW BELGIUM IS GOVERNED.
The government OF Belgium is some
what different from those of the other
European monarchies. The king has lit
tie more power than the King of Eng
land. the most Of the governing being
carried on through the congress and minis
tors. III the royal acts must be counter
signed by one of ne ministers. who thus
becomes responsible for them. The con-
gross consists Of a senate and house Of
representatives elected by the peorle,
and ii Is a curious thing that some men
have as much as three votes. Every clti-
zen over g years of age has one vote,
and those ov IS who pay at least. 81
a year in house tax, and have had chill
dren. have each an additional vote, as.
,
property TO the amount Of over $500. or
who for two years has received $50 annu-
ally from his government bonds or funds
in the savings banks. Graduates OF, high
colleges have two extra votes but no
man can have more than three votes.
Another regulation provides that every
man must vote. and that If he does not
he may be arrested and punished. Thus
you see the government enforces voting
and .r1veS of extra votes
such who have children, property, and
higher education.
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP.
In Belgium, as in most of the coun-
tries Of Europe the government owns
the telegraphs and telephones. Each of
these branches is worked at a profit,
and they add materially to the govern
ment revenues. The revenue from the
railways last year was about S56.0o0000.
and that from the telegraph $4,000 900.
The railroads are managed In the inte-
rests of the people. and more especially
for the lower classes. The dif1crentaroadss
have U'orkingrlen's tickets. by which a
latorer may go to his factory and back
If it is within fifteen miles for 81 cents
a week every day by train. There are
also reduced tickets for school children
and a half rate for school excursions
where the children are taken away under
the charge Of the teacher for instruction
purposes. The ordinary rate for bicycle
taken along with a messenger Is IA cents,
and dogs travel at tiairdclass rates.
The Swiss sys y of yearly passes at
fixed rates prevails here. For about
s1s5 you can get a ticket that will allow
you to travel through the year second
class on any Of the State railways. and
tickets for a shorter time at proportions
ately low rates. A present there are more
than $500 miles OF railroads in the coun-z
try, With a passenger traffic numbering
about 140.o00.000 rides per year.
find the cars very good. although
they are generally filled. The service at
the stations is excellent. There are plenty
of porters dressed in blue jeans and
black cloth caps, with numbers on them,
vino take your baggage, weigh your
trunks, and carry your small truck
into the trains for 10 cents or even less,
per person. l have been riding second
class and find it comforta BILE. The cars
arc divided up into compartments, with
seats facing zach other. SO that each
compartment will accommodate six. The
seats are cushioned with felt or leather,
and their backs are upholstered to high
above your heads. The fares are remark
ably low.
PosT-oFFICE AND THE SAVINGS
BANKS.
The Belgian postoifice department man
ages also the telephones and telegraphs,
as we'll AS the savings banks The tele-5
graph rates are much lower than ours,
ard the service is quite as good. You
| can send fifteen words for 10 cents, fifty
words for "a cents, paying only cents
fo1 every ten words thereafter There
are now about 1900 miles of lines in the
country. with enough wire to reach around
the world. There are $1,000 miles of tele-
phone wire, and 5000 Stations The con-
versations last year were almost forty
millions.
The national savings banks are patron
inzed by all classes The books number
more than a aillion and half, and the
deposits approximate slS5.000.0O0. In adj
6ition to this there is a fund of govern
| ment annuities amounting to s33.0oo0o0.
SO that the Belgians have i'll their own
savings banks about Zoo. The most
of such accounts are small and the saw
ings come from the poor More than so
per cent. of the books have total of
| less than $50, and fully three-fourths of
them are under 500. Taking the whole
population into consideration there is
one savings bank account for every four
Inhabitants or on the average about
| one Fer family. The accounts are steadily
| Increasing and the people deposit thus
more and moro every year. The system
enables deposits to be made in the small
est villages. and every laborer has a
safe place to put his savings if he wishes
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