THE BELGIAN RIOTS.

Evening Post, Volume LVII, Issue 155, 3 July 1899, Page 4

THE BELGIAN RIOTS.

* The rioting in Belgium seems from our latest cable advices to have assumed serious proportions, and the municipal authorities of the large towns are evidently fearful of the consequences unless tho Proportional Representation Bill is -withdrawn. The trouble apparently began in the Chamber of Deputies over the discussion of that Bill, which is said to favour unduly the Roman Catholios, by which is meant presumably the Clerical Party, for almost the whole of the population b Roman Catholic, only some fifteen to twenty thousand being Protestants and about three thousand Jews. Our cable messages have not explained the nature of the obnoxious Bill beyond the fact that it favours the Catholics. The present franchise in Belgium is manhood suffrage tempered by plural voting. All citizens of twentyfive who* have resided a year in the same commune have a vote. An additional vote is accorded to them if they are either (1) thirty-five years of age, married, witih legitimate offspring, and pay bfrs. in taxes ; or (2) are twenty-five aud own immovable property to the value of at least 2000frs, or have an income of that value from such property, or for two years have received at least lOOfrs. a year from Belgian funds. Two additional votes are allowed to citizens who possess a diploma of higher education or have filled a public or private position implying the possession of such education. No citizen can have more than three- votes. The present Chamber of Deputies, which consists of 152 members, comprises 112 Clericals, 6 Liberals, 6 Kadicais, and 28 Socialists. Up to 1893 there wero only two Parties — the Clericals and the Liberals — but in that year the Liberals split up into three parties, of which the Socialist or Labour Party is the most extreme. It is this latter Party, apparently, that is responsible for the .fierce opposition to the Proportional Representation Bill. Although the Socialists have been growing in strength, the Clericals still dominate Belgium. In 1886-87 there were serious industrial and Socialistic riots, which led to several reforms t and, although the Clericals are in the ascendency, they cannot go too far in crushing their opponents, more especially as there is a racial question involved, the Socialists for the most part representing the Walloon provinces, while tihe Clericals are strongest in the Flemish provinces.