The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-19

wage scale.
 The entire mass of workers live but little above the line of extreme poverty. The majority pass their without en- American travellers who pay . flying visit to Belgium. and bring away the Idea that this is one of the brightest, and most prosperous little countries to be found on the continent. The most densely populated state in Europe.
 1t is also the most iiiitefats. Fifty l per cent. of its wcrkmen do not earn more than SO cents . day. Even in Brussels. where the conditions are by
 no means the worst. the majority of workmen's families occupy but one room. Before the Socialist movement which had It's beginning about twenty one years ago. there were but two political parties. and both represented the elements that are rich by cheap Children of tender age were employed
 in dangerous occupations One or the other Of the two parties of capitalists being always in power. all legfsiation aimed tc save young lives was defeat ed. The iaborer's vote has changed all that The Belgium labor party l now includes in itself every organisa- | ton that expressed working class as- pirations. The trade unions. the CO., ! operatives with their Houses of the | Seopie." the great stores and their public meeting halls and the friendly societies with their insurance schemes, all are closely associated with one pol | litieai party. ,'The House of the People" which realizes to degree the | Socialists dream, merts partiuiar | mention. for in sooms respects 1t is unique.
 1t is a palatial structure erected at | a cost of nearly quarter of million doliars in one of the busiest streets of Brussels. Here are the offices of | the various Socialist organizations, | co operative tailor shops. stores, etc. | while on the ground floor Is a large | cafe crouded every evning with kork- | ing men and their families. At the | top of the building Is a superb hall | generally used for dramatic purposes. containing a large department store, where almost everything needed oy | working classes is sold, handsome library and a cafe that seats thou sand people. There is large library l and other profitable enterprises are with mural paintings illustrating in heroic forms the dignity of labor. Distributive stores Managed by Labor | Party.
 The distributive stpres of Belgium
 managed by the labor party have had i an unprecedented success. The profits | in 1908 amounted to se,soo0oo. while | the profits of ssoo.o0o were distributed
 to about 1900 people associated with l the co-operatives. In every town and city of importance in Belgium, brew cries. dairies. bakeries, cotton mills and otherptofitabIe enterprises are l conducted by the Socialists. The
 value of these stores does not consist | In the profits they distribute annually among their members in times Of strikes they furnish supplies in vast quantities to halp the cause
 During the past six years the House ! of the People" in Brussels contributed half million francs to aid the propa-
 gafda.
 Another useful service performed by the co-opeFatives is to find work Tor l the laborar who has been blaekltsted 1 by his employer.
 l In Ghent there to . large co.opefa- tive printing establishment which | prints two daily papers, and aN the books and pamphlets of the proga"
 gands. For 90 cents year subscrio- CTS are entitled to all the publicauoons ! of this establishment. As 50 many members of the tmovment are very peon
 a daily paper has been recently started
 which sells for a filth of cent copy
 But the Socialists do not depend on their many publications to promote
 the propaganda. A large number of party members are speaking ana \ egitating all the time. At the co. | operative theaters socialist plays ere given. The poorer working people gre l informed through the medium of the cfnematoEraphs. Political criticism. words of enthusiasm and revolt are thrown on the screen between the nicturAs. and so the most uneducated | are informed of the aims of soeialistnf' There is also in Brussels university
 managed by the party.
 l Success in Belgium a Marvel. What anlazes one the most in re. viewi-xT what has been accomplished
 that shey oof all people in Europe.
 sh.e,d have been able to carry out | their dreams to success. As the battle- rrcund of Europe. this country has suffered at the hands ofconduerers. from Philip the Second to the FriSt Nopoleon, and the workingman have
 always got the worst of the deal. NO
 step has been made forward without suffering; it was their misery which drove them together, to act in concert To the lay mind this question arises.
 Why are Socialists in better educatea lands not doing even 1.-the Of what the most illiterate workers in Europe have accomplished in two decades.
 The explanation of this rise Of the Belgian workingman from his dead
 self to higher things" may be traced to the fact that the Socialists are not controlled by a few politicians, or op-
 portunists, but that every man, woman
 ana child is enlisted, heart and soul
 in the movements. As regards the programe of Socia- lism, which forms a long chapter in MT
 Hunters book. with slight variations
 the workingmen of the various count
 ries have much the same aims. Wha' lthese are it would be impossible to
 state in detail here, but few import
 ant demands of the Socialists may be
 mentioned which are especially radical
 Universal suffrage, without distinction
 of sex; suppression Of armtes--organ-
 ization. provisionally of national nili'
 tia. Application of the elective prth'
 cip:e to all judicial appointments; xiet'
 inns of Judicial error to be indennifled
 popular Initiative and referendum ir all legislative matters maintenaces oi
 children attending schools at the pub
 lie expence.
 Among the laws the Socialists hopt
 to establish which will most directly
 benefit the- workingman are the fol
 lowing; Transformation of public char
 ity into a general insurance of all cit
 izens against unemployment, disable
 ment and death. Prohibition of the
 employment of woman in all indust'
 ries where 1t is incompatible with mara
 and health Assignment of common
 lands to groups of laborers engaging
 not to employ wage labor; prohibi'
 tion aS aii ni0bf vyark where if is moi