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 statistics] BELGIUM 197 communal receipts amounted to 178,020,761 francs, and that of el la 1 its expenditure to 179,316,792 francs. ?Lo °, i produce), 136 francs in 1870 rising to 270 francs in Defence. The constitution establishes a permanent army a m, 9 > 1111116 transit trade, 165 francs in 1870, 187 francs in 1898. gendarmerie, and a civil guard {garde civique). The army is Ihe countries with which Belgium did the greatest business in recruited by voluntary engagement and by annual calls on the country, regulated by a drawing for conscription among the 1870. 1880. 1890. 1898. citizens who have reached twenty years of age. The continImports, General Commerce 1760-2 2710-4 3189-2 3654-3 XC< eac 1 ear ^ ^ out ^ ofy an by enactment. Ordinarily it is about ?, Special ,, 13,000 men average inscription of 63,000 men. 920-8 1680-9 1672-1 2260-2 Exports, General ,, ffeCtlVe rengtl1 n a on a eace 1521-8 2225-2 2948-1 3351-6 ro con me ; ^ C pl t P war y P footing is about >, Special ,, 690-1 1216-7 1437-0 1949-3 ?fik°nno TK strength T of~ ®the gendarmerie, strength, officers including officers, 165 OOO. The included, is 2865 men. In time of war the gendarmerie accompanies the army liie expenditure of the ministry of war for 1898 was 65,670 000 2P4 3^7^’ fr°|111 wIllcl1 sIie received imports valued at a d t0 hicl1 she S8 t ftancs, hve millions of which were on account of the gendarmerie. 485-5 m ln a ™ fran fr“?CS| p ':from which the ” imports “1'orts were valued at • » Prance, 3857 Ihe expenditure on the war service in 1875 was 46,066,000 francs f 1 1116 e )0 h Ihe civic guard (garde civique) is composed of Belgians and PorWsTqT’an ?'rt rt ; t°7which 345-8 ; Great Britain exforeigners who have been resident at least one year in Belgium fmnortW 11 .^/"d'ortingSeO6 211 exporting and ] 4 ^ ’ U^rted Statesand exporting 280-1 and169-0 importsubject, however, in respect of the latter, to any provisions in ing 69 4 ; Russia exporting 131-9 importing 43-16. In the international conventions. It is organized per commune or group relative magnitude of the annual value of its special commerce can r <r°mP1into .UIJesthe - Itactive onlythe be inactive mobilized by enactment. It of is Belgium takes the sixth place among the nations of the world’ divided and guard. The strength foilowing Great Britain, Germany, the United States, France’ the active guard is about 44,000 men. The yearly expenditure and Holland The articles of greatest value imported were’: of the ministry of the interior for the civic guard is 139,000 francs, cereals and their derivatives, 19 per cent, of the total import there are five fortified places in Belgium: Antwerp, capable of raw textiles such as cotton, wool, silk, flax, hemp, and jute 13 serving the army as a base of operations and as a refuge f it con- per cent.; mineral such as iron-ore, diamond, sulphur sists ot a fortified enceinte and fourteen detached forts sur- copper, tin, lead; substances and timber. The exports of greatest value rounding it at a distance of 3 to 7 kilometres (1-86 to 4'35 miles! Ihe others are Dendermonde on the Scheldt, and Diest on the their tfofo- te ,X(tl.les> wool> 5Kllnen 9 percent.; cerealsglass and _ derivatives, per> oakum, cent. ; hemp, coal, coke, briquette, ilemer, these two and Antwerp forming a triangle of defence • and railway carriages, arms. » L Liege, surrounded at a distance of 6 to 7 kilometres (3‘73 to 4-35 machinery Shipping and Navigation. Belgium has no navy for purposes miles), by fourteen detached forts; and Namur, surrounded by war. There is a daily service of steamers between OstendPand nine detached forts, which, with those of Liege, defend the valley of Dover, between Antwerp and Harwich. The national ol the Meuse. There is an exercise-camp at Beverloo in Limbourg merchantand marine is not considerable, the number of vessels has little varied since 1870, amounting in 1898 to but 73 six of Anta S^00^in° artillery school at Brasschaet in the province of wnch were sailing vessels ; the total tonnage being 108,537 .is Production and Industry.—The principal mineral production coal at present extracted from 115 mines actually in work was 8672 ol o?88,632,862 tons, and clearing ^ P8581, °rtS °fofBelgium ^9 86/2, 8,521,331in tons against 175 in 1875. These mines employ 120,00 workers’ was" Ihe ports are Antwerp, one of the most important Europe, the their annual production is about 22 million tons, of the value ships entering which number annually more thanin5200 (480 of ol 243 million francs. Notwithstanding the reduction in the 11 sa number of working mines, the output has increased by 5 million rw* _ ihng vessels), with a united tonnage of 6,423 000 • 16 N th ea with a ea tons since 1880. Black and red marble, building aid paving ?'mTnnnV ® communicating ’ .y rtywith entrance of 1923 of 1,202,000 tons ; n, Ghent, the sea by theships Ghent stone, limestone and slate are extracted from 1500 quarries em- canal to lerneuzen; Brussels, communicating with the Scheldt, ploying more than 35,000 workers, and yielding material to the value yearly of about 50 million francs. Iron, zinc, lead, and ^; Nieuport x/- Wlllebroec k ; North Bruges, communicating canal Ostend on the Sea; Selzaete on thebyGhentmanganese are extracted by about 1600 miners, and the annual with canal. Among the vessels arriving in 1898 the yield is valued at 2 million francs ; since 1875, however, the pro- lerneuzen arg st urnber ca e fr ® ^ om (599). Great Antwerp Britain (4010); fromintercourse Germany duction of these minerals has much declined, and it has been (986); and“Sweden has regular necessary to import them to the value, in 1898, of 90 million francs. with ailNorway parts of the world. Ihe most important branches of industry are: agriculture Internal Communications. — Inland communication is highly metallurgy, glass-works, and textiles. Agriculture employs the developed, especially when compared with its extent of territory greatest number of labourers—19 per cent, of the general popula- Ihe State and provincial roads, paved or macadamized, and the ereals occu oad Py 2,000,700 acres ;beetroot fodder (sugar) and orchards, r s have a total length of 5737 miles, against 5002 in Q£ acres ; potatoes, l,oio,860 456,950 acres; 133 380 concrete 75. i he communal roads have likewise experienced a verv acres ; and cattle number 1,420,000 head. The annual value of arge development. The total length of railway line open in the agricultural products is estimated at about U milliards of Belgium in 1899 was 2867 miles (2069 belonging to the State, and irancs. Nevertheless, great quantities of food products are annu- 798 to companies), 2175 in 1875. This gives an average of ally imported, amounting in 1898 to 480 million francs. The one mile of railway against for every 4J square miles of territory, and for industry in metals, employing 32,000 workers and yielding a every 2420 inhabitants. The gross receipts in 1898 amounted for yearly value of 340 million francs, is represented by the manu- the State to 183,950,458 francs, of which 60,185,764 francs were lacture of pig-iron, the construction of machinery and railway 1 01 8 5 and for the com a material; by the manufacture of arms, Liege producing annually vrln^o ! ’ P nies, 24,835,703 francs, of which 7,ol9, /68 francs were for passengers. The number of passengers one million of assayed pieces ; by glass and crystal works employ- conveyed in 1898 w-as 126 millions. Since 1886 “vicinal” rail1 ga tog t he1 p I f. ' ', about 23,000 workers, and yielding in 1898 a value ways have been opened to the number of 96 lines, their total ol 66 million francs. The manufacturing industry is represented mngtn ot line in actual operation being, in 1898, 1094 miles more particularly by the fabrication of woollen yarn and woollen Horse electric tramways have been laid down in the principal tissues, cloths, flannels, covers, &c., employing 30,000 workers towns. andThe railways and tramways are constructed Wools are imported to the amount of 110,250,000 lb from La Plata’ and worked byvicinal Navigable waterways are formed of Australia, and the Cape. The manufacture, again, of cotton numerous canals,societies. canalized rivers such as the Upper thread and tissues employs 18,000 operatives; and cotton is Scheldt and its and tributaries, the Lys, the Durme, the imported yearly to the amount of 99,225,000 lb, principally from Bender,_ the Gnat and the Little Nethe; the Meuse and its the United States of America, East Indies, and England. The tributaries; the Sambre; and the Lower Ourthe. The manufacture of linen thread and linen cloth employs 36,000 total length of navigable waterways is 1360 miles. workers, the flax being in part grown, the rest imported to Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones are exclusively in the managethe amount of 143,325,000 lb from Russia, Holland, and France. ment °f the State. The gross revenue of the post office in 1898 Lace is also manufactured. The sea fisheries occupy about 400 exceeded 22 million francs, and the expenditure was more than vessels, and crews to the number of 2000 men. 12 millions. The total number of letters and post cards conveyed Comynerce. The annual value of the commerce with foreign m 1898 was over 200 millions, of newspapers and printed matter, countries amounted in 1899 to 7 milliards of francs in the over 130 millions. In 1898 there were 1022 post offices in way of general commerce, and to over 4 milliards in the way of Belgium. The total receipts of the telegraph service in 1898 special commerce. The value of the commerce has since 1870 amounted to than 74 million francs, and to an ordinary experienced a continuous increase, as shown, in millions of francs, expenditure ofmore over 5,700,000 francs. The telegraph lines had in in the table given below. 1898 a combined length of 3964 miles ; there were 1058 telegraph . I1!16 average share of each inhabitant in the special imports i.e. offices. The use of the telephone dates from 1884. All the lines imports for home consumption, amounted in 1870 to 183 francs’ constructed the beginning, were taken up by the State in using to 310 francs in 1898 ; in the special exports (i.e., exports 1896. Therefrom were in 1898 local telephones of a total length of
 * Holland