The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-04-10
Troops Occupy Great Industrial
Centers Today.
TURNING POINT IN HISTORY
Socialists Desperate for Man.
hood Suffrage.
Revolution and DynaStic TrOu-
BILE Is Predicted.

Brussels. April l0.-Troops today oc-
cupied most of the great Industrial cen
ters of Belgium in preparation Tor tHe
general strike order for Monday Wheh
900. 900 or 100000 men will quit work
In most of the cities, large crowds
which gathered to watch the arrival OF
the troops, cheered the marching SOL
diers.
To aid in preserving order, the So
cialist strike leaders have offered to
the authorities the services of special
constables drawn from the socialist
ranks. The socialists affirm that any
outbreak of violence will delay thelr
cause for half generation
The strike is an attack on the present
system of plural voting in EelgluIn,
whereby citizens according to thelr
station in life have one, two or three
votes The strikers demand that all
male citizens shall have one and only
one vote. -.
Under the present system every cltl-
zen over 25 ! ars of age has one vote.
Every citizen over 50 years of age, with
one or more children and paying a dol
lar or more in house tax has supple
mentary vote as has also a citizen
over 25 years who owns over $4OO worth
of real estate. Two supplementary
votes are given to graduates of uni
versities or men who hold offiGe or are
ex-office holders, no person has more
than three votes and failure to vote
is a misdemeanor.
In 1911 the total number OF voters
was 100000 of whom $4,000 had one
vote, 395, 900 two votes and 3lO'eOO three
votes.
Women and Children Protected.
The first active move in pre-
marathon for great general
strike to enforce the grant OF
manhood suffrage in Belgium has been
made. The Socialist party has sent ouo %
to the country many children OF the
200. 900 or 4OO,0 900 workers who Will lay
down their tools Monday, April IA.
1t is expected that train service VIII
cease or be greatly impeded after
Sunday. Accordingly, the wives and
children of hundreds of workmen are
crossing the frontiers on every train,
placing the noncombatants, as it We're
in the safety of a neutral state.
offers of provisional homes abroad
have arrived this week at the rate of
900 daily, and the directing commit
tee of the strike has received 1000
offers thus far, 5000 from France,
900 from Holland and 1000 from Ger
many.
Trade has increased in all kinds of
preserved foods, beans, rice and -four
and the sales of illuminating oils and
candles have tripled.
Workmen Are Determined.
The Belgium movement appears to
have been planned with extraordinary
skill and care; the workers are deter
mined and full of faith in the justice
of their cause. The resources at their
disposal are considera bic, and they
have the practical though unofficial
support of the Liberals, none the less
vigorous from being indirect.
The proprietor of the Liberal news
paper. the Petit Bleu, has formally
promised to pay $4,000 per week into
the strike fund as long as the move
ment lasts, and the strikers assert that
they can hold out for six weeks.
MAN. Belgians believe that this strike
will prove turning point in the history
of Belgium; that it will result in political
changes of incalculable Importance, and
some even predict a revolution and the
separation of the Walloon and Flemish
provinces. or dynastic crisis. The gov
ernment faced with the serious problem
meaning economic catastrophe for an IN
dustrial country like Belgium has occu-
pied itself chiefly in makiss arrangements
to repTess disorder, which the Socialists
deride they are determined that the
strike shall be peaceful The Socialist
chiefs. Emil Nandervelde and Edouard
Anzele, affirm that any violence which
may occur will be provoked by the gov
ont nd r1n nv hoy