THE RIOTS IN BELGIUM. B ELGIUM is not the plague spot
of Europe, but if we described it as the powder magazine the exaggeration would not be gross. It is a much more dangerous place than Macedonia, for if Macedonia broke into revolt she could be occupied in ten days by irresistible forces ; while if- it became necessary, in order to prevent anarchy, so to occupy Belgium, the occupation itself might be, in all human probability would be, a live shell in a magazine. Only France can occupy her suddenly, and two Great Powers at least would consider her occupation almost a declara- tion of war, and all the Courts would regard it as the warning preliminary to a call to arms. There is no State where a, revolution would be so dangerous to the general peace as Belgium, and there is none where from time to time it seems to be more probable. The Belgian people are sensible enough, are industrious, and are exceptionally free from militarism, but there is something in their inner temper inconsistent with their surface character. They always take their beliefs " hard," as is evident from their conduct in regard to the Boer War; there is a strain of cruelty in them, as we see from their administration in the Congo State : and they rarely or never riot without shedding blood. The casual visitor of experience would take Brussels to be one of the most civilised cities in the world, but if the parties ever get into a quarrel with each other or the police, the cemeteries and the hospitals sud- denly increase their population. The mob in any large city of Belgium is fiercer than almost any in Europe, and just now it has a good deal to be fierce about. The people, as is natural in a neutralised State, concentrate most of their attention and their passionateness upon their domestic differences, and at present their difference is upon electoral reform. That divides men sharply in all countries, but in Belgium the cleavage is for two reasons exceptionally wide. Half the artisans, who, though not as numerous as the peasantry, are more numerous than is usual on the Continent, are Collectivists, and both they and their allies, the Liberals, are at deadly war with the RoMan Catholic Church. Many of them, indeed, would treat that Church as the Terrorists did, and make of adhesion to it a political offence. The Conservatives, on the other hand, are for the most part Clericals, not like those of France, who are often at heart Voltairians, who wear Clericalism as a badge of caste, but Clericals in the way which Roman Catholics are Clericals when they regard sceptics as enemies alike of God and man. The latter party, supported as they are by the country population, possess under the present suffrage a majority which has made them absolute for sixteen years, and they have driven their opponents nearly mad, first, by their control over education, which they push to the practical boycotting of all but " Evan- gelical " teachers, and secondly, by supporting employers against their workmen. Strikes are, in fact, or at least the artisans so believe, treated as revolts. This would be exasperating enough to workmen anywhere, and it is particularly exasperating in Belgium, because the work- men have some serious grievances. Their pay is not good as compared with French pay, and their hours of labour are very severe ; while all misfortunes, like low prices, bankruptcies, and so on, are aggravated for them by the fact that, the charities being mainly in Clerical hands, dismissal implies starvation for their households. Every riot, therefore, partakes of the character of a bread riot, thus leading at once to plunder ; while those who hold power are enabled to plead that Liberalism threatens the very existence of property.
Why the Liberals and Collectivists are so anxious for universal suffrage it is difficult fOr outsiders to see, for apparently that suffrage would still leave them in a minority ; but men who intend fighting must fight for something, and they say that this demand embodies a great principle. They probably hope in the end to convert many of the peasantry, and it is to be observed that their opponents exceedingly dread the cry, so much, indeed, that they threaten if the demand is granted to admit all women to the suffrage as well as men, and thus " hand Belgium over for all time to the dominion of the priests." They will withdraw that threat, for Rome disapproves it, dreading, we fancy, the " secularisation of the female mind " ; but the proposal shows that the fear of the Conservatives is real, and not a mere preference for quiet and the status quo. The cleavage, in fact, could not be deeper, and as the minority are powerless in the Chamber, their followers endeavour to carry their reform by terror. They fill the cities with rioting, they organise grand strikes, which not only throw idle men into the street but throw them hungry, and they exert them- selves to induce the soldiers, and more especially the Reservists, who have been called out and who have to live among the people, to " demonstrate " in their favour by refusing to fire. The alarm in society is profound, and it will be increased if the miners, who are striking in thousands, put themselves in motion to march upon the cities.
Which side will win ? Properly speaking, there should be no doubt, for the Government has the Army behind it, the whole of the upper class, and a considerable section of the Liberal party itself, which distrusts violence, or is unwilling to see its ancient and beautiful cities wrecked. The agitators are formidable from their numbers and their recklessness, but they are not a majority, and they are incapable of keeping their followers together for more than a few days, as they have not the means of feeding them. A mere adjournment of Parliament would, in fact, baffle all their efforts. Once dispersed, it would be difficult again to rouse the mob, and the majority might proceed to business as if no riots had occurred. It is probable, however, in Belgium that, in spite of M. Woeste's threats and the Cabinet decision, the result may be different. The Conservatives, as distinguished from the pure Clericals, are disinclined to a course which might lead to civil war, the King always favours compromise, and the foreign Ministers, who exercise great influence in Belgium, will earnestly dissuade the Ministry from any extreme course which, by producing anarchy, might lead to inter- vention from outside. The change proposed in the suffrage is not very great, for in principle Belgium has manhood suffrage already, though it is neutralised in practice by a system of proportional representation ; and the alteration would still leave the Conservatives some hope. They may still retain a majority, and if they do their hands will clearly be much stronger than at present. We imagine, therefore, that as the riots die down some modus vivendi will be discovered, that universal suffrage will be established, and that the combat will be renewed under new Conservative leaders. The danger, however, will not be over, for Belgium is really at present, as it was in the " sixteens," one great industrial city with a population composed in great part of " hands " who have no security, and far less comfort than they consider their due. The true remedy would be a Poor Law, but to this those who possess anything will not consent. They are possessed with the notion that a Poor Law is Socialist—which it is —and must consequently be inimical to property—which, if wisely administered, it is not. They will leave matters, therefore, much as they are, waiting till in the course of some new outbreak the artisans' leaders will make some bad mistake, and thus induce the majority to support the Government without much attention to either its objects or its acts. That is to say, all the serious causes of unrest will be suffered to remain.
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