Public Affairs in Belgium.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 29, 17 July 1902, Page 3

Public Affairs in Belgium.

A whiter in a Home paper, who has been residing in Belgium for several years, throws considerable light on publio affairs in that country, and- especially on the methods and aims of those who instigated the late strike. He Bays that the real object of the Socialists is the setting up of a republic after the French model Their seditious language in the Chamber, the teaching of their Press the speeches at their meetings the cries lately heird in the courVe of their procession-, sufficiently reveal their sentiments concerning monarchical institutions and the form c f Government they desire to set up. For the moment they might be content with universal suffrage ; later on, we fihould see them u n e it ax a convenient instrument whereby to gratify us with Republican regime. The Ministry and its supporters having declined to be intimidated by either the threats or violence of the revolutionary agi tutors, the Socialist chiefs, as a last resource, decreed a general strike, expecting that the resulting paralysis or industry, the great ii jury to trade and business, and the terrorism exercised by the strikers, would force the Government into a surrender. A gfeuaral strike was the great weapon with which thay hoped to carry their point. But the strike turned out A Complete Failure. It was far, indeed, from being general. In some parts of the country— in the Flemish provinces especially— the manifesto proclaiming it was practically unheeded ; in ether places numbers joined only under threats of personal violence ; nowhere did the men enter the movement spontaneously or with any enthusiasm After a few days the combination collapsed ; there were no funds to fall back upon, and the subscription started for the support of the strikers proved a wretched fiasco, the total amount received being a little over £1000. of which £400 came from the Socialists in Germany. Large numbers of men had already returned to work and almost all the re<-t would hav<; followed thxir exainp'e in a day or two, when the Council-G' ner.tl of the party deemed it prudent to is«ue a fiesh manifesto, directing a ct»-ut on ■ f the strike although within the same week the leaders in the agiia. ion had again and again declared that the fight should be continued to the bitter end and that it was certain to be crowned with success. The so-called general strike having thu3 ended in absolute failure and the Civic Guards and the army having shown unshaken loyalty the insurrectionary bubble burst, and no more was seen of it Whatever unrest there may be in Belgium is us factitious as it is superficial ; in truth, no elements exist to justify cr provoke serious discontent, and the vast majority of the working population if left to themselves, would ask nothing better thr.n to be r.llowed' to pursue in quiet their customary avocation*. But tins would not suit the designs of the scheming, insincere politicians who, to put themselves in evidence and obtain ponuun*. whioh bring them honor and profit, proclaim themselves the sole champions of tne interests of the masses, whom they repieueut as cruelly and heartle^ly oppressed Wealthy Pseudo-Democrats who preach upon the beautiea ot theCollectivist theories, who pre tend to have a robust faith in the Social millenium, and profess a

devouring zeal for the well-being 1 of the toilers, have as much true ■ympathy for the workers, as muoh genuine desire to improve their condition, as they have of tearful commiseration for the possible woes of the problematical inhabitants of the planet Mar*. For them the working: man is simply » voter, a political tool, a °ort of commercial asset to be exploited for the benefit of the exploiter only. The present writer may claim to know Belgium (airly well. He has been residing in the country for several y< a-s, h.»s visited on many occasions all the larger towns, has travelled through mo«t parts of the provinces, carefully observing the social life of the people, and inquiring, as opportunity offered, into their economic and industrial condition. As the result of what he has s*en and heard, he ventures to think there is more downright poverty, more abject misery, in London, or any two of the great English cities, than exists from one end of Belgium to the Other He haß not yet heard or read of a single death from starvation in any part of the kingdom, an event not quite unknown in rich and happy England. We have not here, it is true, the colossal fortunes so common iv Great Britain, but all the same, the public wealth id very considerable and, better still, is more widely and equitably distributed. For the toiling masses there is Abundant Employment, and if the scale of wages is relatively low (as in all the Continental countries), it must not ba forgotten that living is comparatively cheap, that thrift is a national habit, and that the common people are content with a modest standard of domestic comfort. Then consider how light is the incidence of taxation. There in no country in Europe, save Switzerland and Russia, where the burden of direct taxation falls lees heavily on its inhabitants than it presses on those of Belgium ; as regards taxes on articles ot necessary consumption, the amount per head is the trifling sum of sa. I may add that the quota of indirect imposts paid by the working classes is more than refunded to them iv the shape of old age pensions, reduced fares for railway travelling, exemption from house tax, subsidies to benefit societies, etc. A further confirmation of what I have remarked concerning the satisfactory social condition of the mass of the working population is to be found in the returns of The State Savings Bank, an institution which corresponds to the Post Office Savings Bank in the United Kingdom. At the close of the year I'JoO the amount invested was no less than 600 million franc, or close upon 22 J millions sterling, which compares very favorably with the Bum standing at the same date to the credit of a similar class of investors in the British Savings Bank. The number of depositors was 1,757,1)16, or more than a fourth of the entire population. Against the Government now in office, or against any of the Governments that preceded it since 1 884, no charge of incompetency, maladministration or want of active interest in the welfare of the workers can be adduced that will be bear a moment's scrutiny. If Liberals and Socialists declaim against ' Clericals,' as is their wont, it is because Catholics are in possession of power, not because they abuse it. Never in its previous history was the country so prosperous, never were the public finances in a more satisfactory state, never was such encouragement given to education, and never did the Legislature occupy itself so actively and so successfully with measures to ameliorate the lot of the majority of the people. To the Catholic G-overnment is due the credit ot" powerfully aiding the development of trade, Diminishing Taxation, rendering the military servic- less onerous by introducing voluntary enlistment, and granting remuneration to the private s-oldier. To the Catholic Government we also owe it that the franchise has been placed on a bioad and extremely liberal b<vi<(. that woman and child labor in the mims has been all but ab dihhed. that great facilities are given to the working classed for the fcqtiisition of their dwellings, that adi qunte protec tion is &ff )ided to the workers in mines and factories, tk*t ol.)-uge pensions have been instituted, that friendly societies have takeu so remarkable and gratifying an extension. And what a splendid array of religion-, social, and charitabls institutions have I ten founded and maintained through the zeal and generosity of the Catholic cle;gy and laity. Wherever we turn we find numerous schools, orphanages, patronages, workingmen's clubs, workmen's hostelnes. and kiudrei works, ail devis. d in the moral and mauerial interests of the toileis, whilst foi the agricultural laborer and the peasant firmer ex -el lent societies have been organised in all, or nearly all. the rural di*t r icts, to aieet thuir special necessities. In no other country have Catholics shown such alacrity to carry out both the letter and the spirit of the encyclical instructions of Leo XIII. on the Hoi-ial Qu^sti >n, and in no other country has obedience to the Ton ifiuj.l counsels been followed by more happy results.