Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-21
BELGIUM: THE
 INNOCENT sYsTANDER
Instructive Statement Relative to That Country by William J. Sho- walter.
Especial to ghe Bulletin.

Especial to T,he BuIIetin)
 Washington. D. C., Nov. 20.-Per- haps no other organization in the Tinted States is keeping in such close touch with the geography of the Euro
 :" lhe National Geographic society, of Washington. While it Is furnishing geographical data daily to the press. it is itself receiving a wealth Of geographic material with reference to the countries at war, their peoples . their geographic history In com mun1cation on Belgium: The Innocent Bystander, William Joseph Showalter tells the more than 300,000 members of the society:
 '"The Belgium of today has an area less than one-fourth as great as Mis- sissippi, yet at the outbreak of the present war it's population was four times as large as that of Mississippi. Twenty-two and a half countries like Belgium could be tucked away in a state like Texas and their aggregate population would be more than that of the United States and Germany to- gether.''
 According to this writer, Julius Cae- sar himself bears early witness to the bravery of the Belgians, who, he says, were braver than the Aquitani or the Celts. due to the fact that they were nearer the Germans with whom they were constantly at war
 Within Belgium's Il, ,375 square miles or territory, smaller than Massachu- setts and Connecticut, with a popula- tion of 7.579, 900 there lived. at the out break of the war, nearly three million French speaking WalIoons who cannot talk with a like number of their com patriot Flemish speaking F1emings Tn their habits of mind and methods of gaining GynIJhnn1 fIaTy widely as the English and the French. but the bond of religion has bound them together for generations, with never a fratricidal war in their mod ern history,
 The Belgian constitution, framed in guarantees freedom of conscience, of education, and of presS and the right of peaceful assemblage The kingship is filled by succession. There is a cabinet, a senate and a house of rep resentatives. A senator's pay, remark able as it may seem. is a free pass on the railroads without a, dollar of actual salary. A representative gets a free pass and $500 a year.
 The suffrage laws are interesting. A Belgian gets one vote when he reaches the age of 25. If at the age of 35. he pays one dollar in taxes, and is married or a widower with legiti- mate children, he gets a second vote. If he pays a certain amount of taxes or holds a university diploma he is entitled to two additional votes-ex- cept that in no case may man cast more than three votes. In selecting representatives, parties and not men are voted for. and each party gets g. representation in proportion to its voting strength.
 The BeIgians are fine farmers. They grew, last year, 37 bushels of wheat to the acre where we grew 15; 50 bushels of barley to our 24; 312 bush els of potatoes to our 90.
 Belgium has been a land of low wages and cheap living. Many of the people who fashion our exquisite Bel gian faces get only $5 a week, and the average wage earner's income Is only about $165 year. But with all that, the Belgian housewife, an artist in fed her family well and clothed them comfortably
 There were no milkmen in Belgium, for the women drove the dog carts that constituted the nations milk wag- ons. Every milk can had to shine, every dog had to have harness to fit him bowl for his drinking water, and arpet or bag to lie down on when tired. No dog in Belgium, except those of the rich, escaped bearing his share of the family burdens.
 The people of Belgium were the worlds greatest beer drinkers before the outbreak of the present war. with 4S.S gallons per capita per year. as compared with the German consump- ion of 26.3 gallons. On the other hand the Belgian used only one gallon of wine as compared with the French mans S4 gallons.
 Railway fares were very low. A double-daily journey of 20 miles cost 37 1-2 cents week; of A miles, 50 cents week. Every person entering a railroad station had to pay one cent for that privilege. and the revenue therefor amounted to $50,O00 a year.
 BIegium's foreign business was large. Those wonderful little engines that did such good work at Panama were Lere Liege-made, and an example of Belgiun's exports. The country's for eign trade was greater than that of all South America together. If the TTnited States imported as much ner capita as Belgim. it's imports would tota4 twelve billion dollars a year; if we eported as muxch per capita our export business would amount to ten billion dollars a year.