Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-03

half Of whom are women, only 390 women
get as much as so cents day.
Among the best-paid women here are
those who work underground In the mines.
The work is hard and degrading. 1t un-
sexes those who are thus working away
day after day in the semi-darkness, and In
time makes them animals. In old age they
are little better than the horses and dom
keys which work with them and which
stay in the mines until they die. Some OF
the horses will live from ten to twenty
years after going down underground, but
they become perfectly blind at the end OF
three years.
How the Miners Live.
I have been interested in the life of the
people. Every great mine has its dwelling
houses about it, collection of little two
story bricks built together in blocks. Each
house has five rooms, two on the ground
floor, two above and little attic under the
roof. The families are large, and the av-
erage number of children Is six or seven.
The miners are miserahly poor. Nearly
every one pays a rent of $40 or 500 year
for his home. but only the fewest save
money. The people are great drinkers. In
this region every third house is a saloon,
and the most of the wages go for drinks.
The people drink alcohol, and the women
drink as well as the men.
Belgium spends more than eight times as
much for liquor as it does for schools.
am surprised at the number Of
saloons They are known as ''estami-
nets" and you see them everywhere
There is hardly a block in the city
without one or more, and they are scattered
along the country roads. There are more
than two hundred thousand saloons in Bel
GUM, and it is said that one person in
every thirty Of the whole population is en-
ployed in selling intoxicating drinks.
Many OF the workmen get drunk on Sat
urday and lay off over Monday. Similar
conditions prevail in England where drunk
enneSS is If ANYTHING than here.
Workingmen's Associations.
There are a number of workingmen's as
sociations in Belgium. The men have their
trades unions and their cooperative soci-
cites. There is one kind of organizations,
known as "Mutualities," which has over
fifty thousand members. There are So
cieties for mutual help so formed that the
members support each other in times of
trouble, providing medical attendance and
other such things
Many of the societies are protected by
the government, and to some the state
gives subsidies, Increasing their funds for
medical attendance and support in time OF
sickness. The government now has pen
sions for such working men of over sixty
five as need them, and also associations
which insure the lives of working men at
low rates.
Belgium has ministry of industry and
labor which has to do with matters re1at-
ing to workfngmen, and there is also what
Is known as the superior council of labor.
organized to consider labor interests and
prepare measures regulating them for pre-
sentation to parliament. This council Is
composed Of sixteen workmen, sixteen man.
ufacturers and sixteen scientists. 1t is said
to be of great value to labor interests.
The governments are becoming more and
more paternal in many Of the European
countries. They are taking the place of a
father to the people and trying to benefit
them in variety of ways. In Belgium the
state has erected dwellings for working
men in certain localities, and has arranged
so that they can buy them on easy terms.
It is helping the farming interests by
schools of agriculture, and through its rail-
road service is reducing freights and facil-
itating the marketing. I have spoken OF
the postal arrangements of Switzerland and
France, whereby the farmer can express his
goods to consumers through the post Of
fees. Here in Belgium the government has
put on fast trains for the shipment OF
dairy products. 1t facilitates trade and 1t
seems to be on the outlook to help the pro-
ducing classes. .
The Beehive Of Europe.
am surprised at the enormous manufac-
turing industry of Belgium. The country is
a very beehive of work. 1t has about
5000 900 people. and fully 10000 of them
are at work making something to sell. The
factories are as thick as in the black
teens with house industry. There are
about $4,000 workshops which employ on
the average only three hands each, and an
enormous amount of cotton and linen cloth
is woven at home.
On the eastern edge of the Belgian coal
field is Liege, which has 175. 900 people, and
which was built up out of manufactures Of
iron It is the Sheffield of the country, max
ing vast quantities of firearms for home
use and export. 1t has 10000 workmen.
bod -