BELGIUM’S RE-BIRTH

Hokitika Guardian, 24 January 1929, Page 2

BELGIUM’S RE-BIRTH

TRADE DOUBLED IN TEN YEARS. BRUSSELS, Nov. 22. Some remarkable facts concerning the results of ten years of economic restoration in Belgium are furnished by the Bulletin de la Mutuelle Solvay. At the close of the war the Belgians, under the guidance of their King, buckled to the task of putting their house in order, and, comparing the situation to-dav, with that of 1(118, it may well he said that unqualified success has crowned their efforts. For instance: The railways, which carried 66.500, 000 tons of goods in 1913, transported 76,600,000 tons in 1927. in 1913, 11,305 vessels with a net tonnage of 16,900,000, entered Belgian ports compared with 18,684 and 27,800,000 in 1927. The land area under cultivation has risen from 4,165,742 acres in 1913 to 4,526,500 acres in 1927, and a larger quantity of cereals per acre is now »e----iug produced. The number of horses, cattle, and pigs at present being raised is little behind the pre-war standard, while poultry has increased from 12,000,000 in 1913 to 20,000,000 in 1927, producing 1,500,000,000 eggs, against 1,000,000,000 in 1913. 27,000,000 tons of coal were mined last year, an increase of 4,800,000 over 1913.” . 27,600,000 tons of coal were mined against 2,500,000 in 1913. THE ELECTRIC AGE. The production of finished Btecl shows an increase of 65 per cent, while the output of certain mechanical construction works is three times what it was before tho war. Zinc production has attained 99 per cent of its pre-war quantity, and Belgium practically supplies the world with radium. All branches of the glass trade, ol which 95 per cent of the production is exported, are doing considerably better than before the war, and the same may be said of the whole of the textile industry. The chemical industry in 1913 produced 48,000 tons rtf sulphate of ammonia and 580,000 tons of sulphuric acid, while last year the figures were 80,000 tons and 770,000 tons. In 1913, 1,500,000 tons of Portland cement were maiuilactured, compared with 2,900,000 tons in 1927. Enormous strides are being made in the use of electricity. The consumption per inhabitant, which was 69.1 kilowatt hours in 1913, rose to 203 last year, and 5,576,000 persons are now employing electricity, as against 2,022,000 in 1913. It is worthy of note that during the past ten years there has been but little political or social disturbance in the country. The people have been too engaged otherwise.