PROGRESSIVE BELGIUM

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 17, 30 April 1908, Page 11

PROGRESSIVE BELGIUM

In our last issue, reference was made in our editorial columns to the remarkable progress- made by, Belgium' an recent years, and we now supplement trtiose remarks by particulars as to tlie direction in 'which that Catholic country is coming to the front. Belgium* might be called the New" Zealand of Europe, as regards its' industiial legislation, although it 'falls behind this country as to tine- extent of such legislation. It led the way in legislating against the employment or children and women', in mines, and in providing, ia a manner superior to that of other countries, for thempra'i and physical well-being o f those employed mi shops and factories/ Belgium presents a very striking illustration of the benefits ■ resulting -from self-government. Some seventyfive years ago a - successful revolution released the country from its subjection to the Dutch 1 , and placed 1 its destinies in the hands of its own people. In the train of national Independence 'an era of remarkable prosperity opened for the newly-created State, and' during] the Past three-quarters of. a century, the social and economic condition ol the population has continued to improve at a pace that may well .excite surprise and admiration. Reference is frequently made to the' -industrial .importance of BeCigJiunr, to tHe high degree of perfection to which her arts and manufactures have reached,

to-l Ker ever-growiwg commercial prosperity ; but few persons, probably, have other than a vague idea of the marvellous strides the Belgians have made, and continue to make, in the development of their many resources. It is only by examining in detail the various elements ,that go to the material advanc.emcJnt of a ' nation, we shall be a/ble 'adequately to appreciate the 'immense progress that has marked the history of the country since it,sWook off the Dutch connection in 1830. Hail-jesting-ly, half-contemptuouisly, Frenchmen' sometimes speak of their neighbors as , les petits Beiges, the slight implied in the .phrase is, however, far from being deserved ; for, the little Belgians have in many respects shown themselves much superior to their critics. ISie density of population, the manufacturing and commerci a position to which the kingdom ,has been raised 1 , the gratifying spread of education, not to speak of the civil and religious liberty which her citizens enjoy, are in striking contrast with the condition of things existing under the Republican regime in France. The growth of population has been unusually rapid. In 1831, the territory embraced by the new I'Aingdom, numbered 3,786,000 inhabitants ; on the 31st of December, 1904, the population reached a total of 7,0751,000, an increase in rhe interval of nearly 87 per cent. Belgium is, in fact, one mt-J: e j. most Sickly-peopled countries in the world. With its 622 inhabitants to the square mile its density is more than double that of Germany or Italy, ' more tibhn triple that -of France, of Austria, •or of bpa/in. Were Ireland proportionately peopled, she would count tonday wthm her four shores, a Population of at least twenty mdlkona. Agriculture and Trade AlthoUgth" agriculture is widely and successfully carried on Belgium is largely dependant (on> foreign supplies for her food p, 1 hence her, inhabitants a,re impelled. to industrial activity, in order that the products of her manufacturers and' various workers may enable them t 0 purchase abroad the food-stuffs and raw materials needed for the national consumption. The progress of industrial enterprise has accordingly gone on pan passu with the growth) in population. Contrasting the present commercial situation with that which existed seventy years ago, we find that the total imports, which in 1835 were estimated 1 at less than eight millions sterJ ins, rose to upwards of 138 millions in 1906, and the total exports from six and a quarter millions to 112 millions. In other words, although the population had not iquite doubled within the above period, the volume of trade had increased twenty-three fold. The imports and exports give a greater average per head of trade than those of Great Britain, they are nearly three Si? 6 ?*, 11 * 6 + Sr erman or French averages, four times greater than those of the United States, and seven times greater than those of Italy. ~~

The expansion of, tr a de .has naturally ?ed to the invprovement o£ facilities for transport a nd the increase erf rapid means of communication. Perhaps in no other Part of Europe has the feature of our modern economic conditions being so nobly exemplified as dn Belgium. The country is covered with a network of railways, its system— not including steami trams or light railways—ex6nsinff J . oVer some 283 ° miles, which for every 1000 in■habitants, is one and a half times that of Great BritT a + m w IF* *£*£ oi France ' and three times that of W Remarkable as the above record is, it does not laciufle all the rail accommodation provided for the Pubhe. The mam systems and their connections are fed by no fewer than, 145 Mnes of chemins Se fer vicSnaux, w ca?nn-i al lr ayS ' ich the B elsians were prompt to Y §5Sm« tte 'ff S8 i WW Itle?I tle ? f ? r the P ur P°^ of trade and travelling;. The first of these lines', 13* miles in length XT W? m + i 885 tt ~ SLt *■* close of December, Job,' 1704 A length of the various lines m operation was 1704 miles whalst at the same date some 546 mjiles were under construction or about being commenced The third-class fare on the railway amounts to but a shade over a Halfpenny a mile, not quite a penay for secona class, and the return journey can be made for a trifle over a fare and a half. As is pretty genetally known, nearly tthe Thole of the ordinary or broad gauge system is the property of, and is worked by the btate ; the light railways have been constructed for the most part toy the Societe des Chemirs de fer Vacinaux, with capital provided by the State, the Provinces and the Communes, the* State subsidy usually amounting to , a third cf the cost. The thrift of the people is) illustrated by the deposits in the Savings Bank the amount stanflin? to the credit of deuositors in December, 1904, was over 21 mililion , sterling. And what is more interesting and perh'ans more important tfiis very considerable sum was distributed among 2,205,000 flepoators; TEere •is thus a post office bank! account

for about every three persons of the entire population. | Education At the close of December, lUO4, tlie number ofi children on rolls of the primary schools subject to State nspection, was 859,436 ; of the attendance in the *■, free ' schools not subject to official examination, no returns are available. In 1903 the State, Provincial, and Xioanmunal subsidies for elementary education came to nearly £1,700,000. For secondary instruction- ample provision exists An the Government athenees, and in the numerous high; schools official and other. The State secondary institutions had an attendance of 33,122 students, on the 31st December, 1904, but to this number should bd added the population of the many colleges and high; schools under exclusively Catholic control. The attendance in these colleges and schools is, it is safe to s-ay, greater than dn the Government secowaary . establishments. . The Be'gi&n educational edifice is crowned by four Universities, of whdeh two, Ghent and Liege, are fetate institutions ,; the other ,two, ' that of Brussels and . that of Louvain, are entirely independent of Government oooiitrol, and consequently receive no assistance from the State. The total numibjer of undergarduates in the year 1904-5,* was 6098— 0r more than five times the number receiving a similar education' in 1830— the Catholic University of Louvain coming first with 2,134 students. It is instructive to learn that of the entire University population in the academic year 1904-5 at least 33 per cent were attending the special schools, of mining, engineering, commerce,, agriculture, etc., an evidence of the growing 1 importance attached to purely professional training. In 1890 the proportion was but 15 per cent.

As might be expected in a country so conspicuous for industrial enterprise technical instruction receives at large amount of attention and. encouragement from Government andi munricipal bodies. That the Belgians fully recorntze tKe necessity of. special) training for youths destined for industrial or manufacturing pursuits, may be inferred from the fact that in 1903-4 there existed throughout the country 280 Institutions in which! a stactly commercial, professional „< or technical training was imparted, the' number of students being about! 43000, of whom 8,250 were girls. Belgium has been the first European State to attempt a practical solution" of the old-age pension difficulity, as it has been the nrst to legislates f;tw: the satisfactory housing otf the workers. M. Payen, a •iKstanKuished menvbjer ofl the French Institute, was well within the truth, when he wrote (some time ago, that of all the European couim tries Belgium, has in. in these latter years, ma&e the noblest a nd most successful efforts for the furtherance of social progress.' To the Catholic party, "in the and fa the country, must be awarded* the , praise of having initiated and carried through those S ;w^>f social betterment which have not only been admired but imitated by otheri nations. For now more than twenty years Catholics have had the atiministra- - tion of the national affairs : Belgium is, in fact, 'the ?H y J° UU n tT Z !? ?, uro P b w:ith a -distinctively and professedly Catholic Government.

in lL r e Ji eady ** v « lc > pment of tKe nation's resources Stftf nt m gr °^ th «° f commCTC ial prosperity, fn the i ctor^ s P re *d of education, in the generous encouragement given to the arts and sciences? in) the orderly advance of social reform, we have conclusivS evidence that 'reactionary cB-rioals •' are no enemies to genuine progress or true " enlightenment enemi6S to