Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/538

522 them falls in the first instance upon the commune, afterwards upon the province, and finally, in case of necessity upon the state. They are divided into three classes : (1.) Those affording assistance or an asylum to the poor in case of age. infirmity, disease, want of work, &amp;lt;fec., including dispensaries, foundling and maternity hospitals, deaf-mute and blind institutions, &c. ; (2.) Those more particularly designed for the prevention and suppression of vagabondage and beggary, as depots of mendicity and reform schools; and (3.) Those specially intended to foster a spirit of in dependence and foresight among the working classes, as savings-banks, and assurance and mutual assistance societies. Every town of importance and many of the rural communes have hospitals for the aged, infirm, and indigent. Asylums for incurables are also numerous, but much less so than the former. Farm hospitals have been established in the rural communes of the two Flanders, where the inmates contribute by work to their own maintenance. They form small agricultural colonies of old people and children, mutually assisting each other. The products of the farms generally suffice for their maintenance. Foundling hospitals are established in Antwerp, Brussels, Louvain, Bruges, Ostend, &c. The children generally remain only for a short time in the hospitals. They are pensioned out to inhabitants of the rural communes till their twelfth year, at which period the wardship of the hospital terminates. Inspectors are appointed to visit the children quarterly, to report upon their physical condition, see that they are attending school, &c. There are mater nity hospitals at Brussels, Louvain, Ghent, Liege, Bruges, Xieuport, an&amp;gt;l Tournay, in several of which courses of midwifery are given. Maternity societies for aiding females with money, medicine, ifcc., are formed in many of the towns. There are a number of lunatic asylums, which in 1873 had in all 6801 patients, of whom 5024 were paupers. A colony of lunatics has been formed in the commune of Gheel, province of Antwerp, where, under the direction of a permanent committee, they are pensioned out among the inhabitants, and generally employed in agricultural labours. There are also a number of insti tutions for the education of the deaf and dumb and the blind. To prevent the misery, and frequently the crime, arising from the want of employment among the working classes, charity workshops have been established in Ghent, Liege, and other towns. These are accessible to all workmen without employment and in poor circumstances. The able-bodied are paid according to their work, and the aged and infirm according to their necessities. The workshops of apprenticeship and improvement are intended not only to supply work to the unemployed, but principally to initiate the people in the exercise of new or improved branches of industry, and to instruct the young men in some trade or profession by which they may be able to gain an honest livelihood. They have been found of great benefit to many of the poorer classes who would otherwise have been brought up as vagrants and beggars. The apprenticeship generally lasts from four to six months. Similar to these are the manufacturing schools, intended principally for girls, where they are employed in the manu facture of lace, &amp;lt;fec. These are supported partly by the state and partly by the province and commune, but many of them are private. In 1872 there were of these insti tutions 29 communal, 144 private but subject to inspec tion, and 294 non-inspected. The total number of persons was 26,739, of whom 1067 were in communal establish ments, 9649 private inspected, and 16,023 non-inspected; 25.565 were females and 1174 males. There are three depots of mendicity or workhouses in the kingdom, at Bruges, Hoogstraeten, and Reckheim. In 1873 they contained 1819 persons. A reform school was founded in Ruysselede in 1848 for male vagrants and mendicants under eighteen years of age. It contains about 500 members, employee! in cultivating a large farm of 128 hectares. At a short distance is a similar institu tion for 400 girls and infants, between two and seven years of age. There is also a similar school for girls and infants at Beernem. In each commune is a bureau de biefaisance, for assist ing the poor with money, food, clothing, &c., and, where there are no hospitals, providing them with medical attendance and medicines. It also contributes to the maintenance and education of poor children, foundlings, deaf-mutes, and lunatics. There are also Monts de Piete, or charitable institutions for lending money to the poor upon the security of pledges, in twenty of the larger towns. Caisses de prevoyance, both general and special, and mutual aid societies to succour the members in sickness, pay their funeral expenses, and aid their families are numerous.

The judicial system of Belgium consists of courts and tribunals of various kinds, as the court of cassation, the courts of appeal, and of assize, tribunals of primary instance, of commerce, &c. The court of cassation or annulment sits at Brussels, and is divided into two chambers, the one for civil and the other for criminal matters. It is com posed of a president-general, a president of the chamber, and fifteen councillors. It deckles upon appeals against judgments pronounced in the other courts and tribunals in contravention of legal forms. There are three courts of appeal : one at Brussels, for the provinces of Antwerp, Brabant, and Hainault ; another at Ghent, for the two Flanders ; and a third at Lie&quot;ge, for Liege, Limbourg, Luxembourg, and Namur. In the capital of each province is a court of assize, composed of a councillor, deputed from one of the courts of appeal, who preside.&quot;, and two judges chosen from among the presidents ani judges of the primary tribunal, where the court is held. Crimes, graver misdemeanours, political offences, and abuses of the press are judged by the courts of assize. In each judiciary arrondissement is a tribunal of primary instance, judging in misdemeanours belonging to the correctional police, in civil matters, and in commercial affairs where there is no commercial tribunal. The number of judges varies from three to ten in each tribunal. Tribunals of commerce are established by law in several principal towns. They judge definitively in civil matters of not more than 2000 francs, but above that sum their decisions are subject to appeal, as in the tribunals of primary instance. In several of the manufacturing towns are councils of prud hommes, composed of master tradesmen and workmen. They decide in all questions and disputes arising between masters and workmen. For all criminal and political cases, as well as offences of the press, trial by jury is established. The jury is composed of twelve persons chosen by lot from a leet of thirty. Justices of the peace and judges of the tribunals are chosen directly by the king. The councillors of each court of appeal, and the presidents and vice-presi dents of the tribunals of primary instance in its district, are chosen by the king from two double lists of candidates, the one presented by the court of appeal, and the other by the provincial council. The councillors of the court of cassation are named by the king from two double lists, the one presented by the senate, and the other by the court of cassation. The judges are appointed for life, and cannot be suspended or deposed but by a judgment. They cannot hold any salaried office under the Government, or, at least, must perform the duties of it gratuitously. Tha duties of public minister at the court of cassation nro exercised by a procurator-general, and two advocates 