Belgium’s Suffrage Agitation
Late despatches from Belgium show that the situation there is very grave, and a general strike of all laboring men seems imminent. The Socialists and Liberals are demanding a revision of the constitution which will give to them equal rights of suffrage with the clericals and the wealthy class. As it is to-day in that country, some are able to cast two and three votes each. These are the clericals, men who have received “higher instruction,” and men who have engaged in professional occupations. But men belonging to the laboring classes are entitled to only one vote each. Thus, while there were 1,418,480 voters in the election of 1898, there were 2,175,957 votes cast. Belgium is a Catholic country, and this disproportionate voting system has given to that element a power greater than belongs to its numbers. The Socialists and Liberals demand equal representation for the laboring classes. It is recognized that this would reduce the Catholic power in the government, and naturally the clericals are against the proposition. So while the present agitation is of a political nature, it has also assumed an anti-clerical character. The Catholic element is said to have made itself unpopular with the masses because of its disposition to interfere with the public school system. Another probable element of discontent is the fact that the Catholic clergy receive from the government each year 5,234,000 francs besides 56,000 francs for various ecclesiastical expenses. The Protestant clergy receive from the government 93,200 francs yearly, and the Jews 19,000 francs. During the week there have been many encounters between the soldiers and the police and the Socialist and Liberal element, in which considerable blood has been shed and some lives lost. Strikes are occurring in all parts of the kingdom, and the strikers are joining the rioters. The declaration of the Socialist leaders is that “the country has had enough of clerical despotism.” Unless the demands of the dissatisfied element are complied with, it seems certain that there are dark days ahead for Belgium.