Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-13

societies were distinctly socialistic others
have been formed of a non-poiitical char.
acter.
In the agricultural districts the farm.
ers formed cooperative societies for the
sale of their dairy and other products
and for the purchase of agricultural i'm
plements The employees of the railways
and other departments of the government
administration. formed cooperative so.
cieties of their own The clerical party
which is the most pronounced and az
gressive opponent of the socialists, form
ed federation of cooperative societies
as means of combating socialism
The government, In its paternal poll.
cies. while also combating soc alism, has
favored some of the measures of the so.
cialists. The railways are owned and
operated ~ the state. The government,
has established rural schools for do
policy of welfare legislation. One fea-
ture of this policy is liability insurance
for employees by employers.
Belgian capacity as coloniZing coun-
try has been fairly tested in the Congo
and the Congo is one of the pro -pective
prizes Of the present war. Notwiths' and.
ing the abuses disclosed when King Leo
pold held 1t as a personal appanage. and
which caused Belgium, through the pres
sure of international sentiment. to as
sumo the responsibility of admin;stra-
ton and to annex the Congo. it is the
testimony of fairly disinterested OBJ.
servers that the Belgians have shown
administrative capacity in this colonial
possession. They at least have done as
well as the Germans in the German
colonies Of Africa.
4
Belgian expositions have given the rest
of the world some conception of Bel
gian character on its International side
ho no tp
monopolize the expositions for the beau
tiful capital Of Brussels. There was the
Liege exposition in 1905. with Its inter-
national features. and the Brussels ex-
position In 1910. which was one of the
most successful ever held.
which was also International Four mil
lion visitors attended 1t. Some features
of the Client exposition showed some
thing more than industrlalism. There
were three separate horticultural exhi-
billions, including flower shows of orchids
and chrysanthemums.
The congress of cities and town plan
ming, with exhibits Of model villages. of
recent progress in civic betterment. and
means for supplying adequate sunlight
to tenement jewellers and providing sani-
tary houses was another feature at Client
Belgian municipalities from the middle
ages have been forward in the express
sion of the civic spirit. Brussels is the
most artistic capital in Eurone. The
statue and fountain to Brabo at Ant
werp and the monument to Anspach at
Brussels are tributes to municipal public
spirit
The efforts of the burgomasters Of the
various Belgian cities to safeguard them
from destruction by the invading Ger
mans will be appreciated by whoever
is familiar with the Belgian towns.
Relgium's neutrality and the convenient
geographical situation Of Brussels have
combined to render the capital of the
country an international headquarters.
The International Custo ms Society, under
which the tariffs of the different coun-
tries are published, has its head uarters
at Brussels. An international bureau OF
commercial Information is n its incep-
ton. The Brussels sugar convention
was the medium by viii, h the sugar
producing countries arranged to do away
with tounties There is central bureau
of international associations. Students
of European politics will recall the calm
and authoritative discussion of this tan
gled subject by a leading newspaper of
Brussels.