BELGIUMGovernment and Institutions
TWO
The charters of medieval provinces formed the basis of the Belgian Constitution, which, with the exception of the Dutch, is the most ancient written constitution still in force on the Continent. The makers of this most excellently devised code of fundamental laws decreed that as an independent state Belgium should be a constitutional, representative and hereditary Government, and that a King should rule, supported by a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives elected by the people. The ministries of War; Interior; Finance; Foreign Affairs, Science and Art; Justice; Agriculture and Public Works; Railways; Marine, Posts and Telegraphs; Industry and Labor; Colonies are appointed to act for the King in relation to his subjects. Though a majority of the seven and a half millions of people adhere to the Roman Catholic Church, there is no State religion. The chief political parties are the Catholic, the Liberal, the Socialist, and the Catholic-Democrat.
Originally, only those men of the monarchy that owned a certain amount of property had the vote. Since 1894, every male citizen twenty-five years of age has been permitted to vote if he has lived at least a year in the same commune. As a result, the number of the enfranchised has increased ten-fold. By the “plural-voting system,” extra votes are allowed to heads of families, to tax-payers who receive a stipulated sum from Belgian sources, and to certain men of learning. The limit of votes that can be cast by one man is three. The clergy, professional men and peasant landowners have a voting advantage over the laboring class, many of whose members belong to the Socialist Party.
The political affiliations of the Belgian people very intimately affect their daily lives. As an English writer observes, “Politics enter into almost every phase of social activity and philanthropic effort. Thus in one town there will be a Catholic, a Liberal, and a Socialist trade union, a Catholic, a Liberal, and a Socialist co-operative bakery, a Catholic, a Liberal, and a Socialist thrift society, each catering for similar people, but each confining its attention to members of its own political party. The separation extends to cafés, gymnasiums, choral, temperance and literary societies; indeed it cuts right through life. It often happens that one of the parties in a particular town is not strong enough to maintain an organization. In such cases its members must dispense with its benefits or leave their party in order to enjoy them elsewhere.” In a village near Bruges the writer knew an adherent of the Liberal Party who for days suffered grave need of a physician because the only one of his own political leanings was absent from town on a vacation. A Socialist blacksmith has only Socialist horses to shoe; the flour of a Catholic miller is baked only in ovens owned by a Catholic.
When the French ruled Belgium, before the Fall of the Empire, early in the nineteenth century, they introduced the Napoleonic Code—a system of laws partially observed in the kingdom today. TheCodes Belgesalso comprise sundry ancient laws of the original nine provinces.
The Court of Cassation, the highest court in the land, has but one judge. It is his duty to examine every judgment passed by lower courts, and to determine whether or not it shall be annulled. The Courts of Appeal are three, and their judges are appointed by the King for life. Civil suits are commenced in the Courts of First Instance, which are supplemented by Tribunals of Commerce, held in Antwerp, Ghent, and other cities, to decide disputes that arise between persons having business relations. The equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon Criminal and Police Courts are the courts of Assizes and Justice of the Peace. Trial by a jury of twelve men is required by law. Capital punishment is provided for those found guilty of murder, but, though sentenced formally to death, the prisoner is actually consigned to live out his span of years in solitary confinement in the great prison at Louvain.
The kingdom of Belgium is divided into nine provinces—Antwerp, Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège, Limburg, Namur, and Luxemburg (not to be confused with the adjoining political state of the same name). Each province is subdivided into cantons and communes, presided over by a governor nominated by the King.
The children of Belgian subjects are educated at the expense of the State, unless their parents are able to pay a modest fee. The Minister of Instruction regularly receives reports from inspectors who make a tour of all the schools in each province, and, in the grammar schools, the Government has the right to name the teaching staff. State universities are maintained at Ghent and Liège; at Brussels and Louvain there are institutions that afford free instruction in advanced subjects and in law and medicine. There are also many schools that are maintained by the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. As a result of compulsory education laws, about ninety per cent. of the population are able to read and write.
WRITTEN FOR THE MENTOR BY RUTH KEDZIE WOODILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 8, No. 3, SERIAL No. 199COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION. INC.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN BEFORE THE BOMBARDMENT OF AUGUST 1914COPYRIGHT, UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOODTHE VILLAGE OF DINANT-ON-THE-MEUSE
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN BEFORE THE BOMBARDMENT OF AUGUST 1914COPYRIGHT, UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD
THE VILLAGE OF DINANT-ON-THE-MEUSE