studied at the Boston Law School; was graduated at Amherst in 1837; studied theology at Lane Seminary. In 1839 he entered upon his first pastorate, the Lawrenceburg, Ind., Presbyterian Church, but soon went to the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, where he served for eight years. In 1847 he accepted an invitation to become pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. This society had just been formed by a few leading men especially interested in temperance, the new school theology, antislavery, and other questions of reform. He labored with this people until his death, which terminated a pastorate of forty years. As a preacher and reformer he had worldwide fame and influence. In the Plymouth pastor the opprest ever found a champion for their cause. On his platform in antebellum days stood Frederick Douglass, the black man, pleading for his race. Here often appeared fugitive slaves whose freedom Mr. Beecher purchased with the contributions of his congregation. Here Wendell Phillips, the abolitionist, was invited to voice his convictions when driven by mobs from the halls of New York City. Here Kossuth, the exile, pleaded for his people, and $10,000 was raised for the freedom of Hungary. Here Mr. Beecher was confronted by a fierce mob which attempted to "clean out the nigger-worshiper." In 1850,

in his famous star paper “Shall We Compromise?' in The Independent, he vigorously opposed the proposal of Webster and Clay to save the Union by moral compromise.

Beecher did much toward shaping the course of the Republican Party as a new political force. In 1863 he visited Great Britain, and there vindicated his national government. He spoke in several of its principal cities, where sympathy for the Confederacy prevailed. His life was often threatened; the press denounced him; and he frequently confronted vast, turbulent mobs, contending with them for an hour or more before they would listen to his argument. Once he reached the platform only by being carried over the heads of the dense crowd. But by his good humor, pluck, and eloquence he converted men to Northern principles. Tho a formidable opponent of the Southern policy, after the war he manifested great tolerance and compassion for the defeated states and their leaders. In 1870 he became editor-in-chief of The Christian Union, retaining this office till 1881. (See ABBOTT, LYMAN.) Through his voice and pen he had the widest influence of any preacher in America. Author: "Star Papers' (2 vols.); "Lectures to Young Men"; "Lectures upon Preaching"; "Patriotic Addresses"; "Evolution and Religion"; "Plymouth Pulpit Sermons." He died in 1884.

THOMAS A. BICKFORD.

His

BEESLY, EDWARD SPENCER: Positivist; author; born in Worcestershire, England, 1831; educated at Oxford; was assistant master in Marlborough College, 1854-59; professor of history, University College, London, 1860-93. life has been principally devoted to the propagation of the positivist philosophy of religion, founded by Auguste Comte. He has also favored radical social reforms, and in 1863 presided at the organization of the INTERNATIONAL. From 1878

to 1901 he was president of the London Positivist Society, and in 1893 founded The Positivist Review, to which he is still a frequent contributor. In 1868, in recognition of his services to trade

Belgium

unionism when it was suffering under unjust laws, he was made an honorary member of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. Beesly is the translator of Comte's "Discourse on the Positive Spirit," and joint translator of the same author's "Positive Polity." He has written: "Catiline, Clodius, and Tiberius," 1878; and "Queen Elizabeth," 1892. Address: 21 West Hill, St. Leonards-on-Sea, England.

BELGIUM: A kingdom of Europe, formed as an independent state in 1830, with constitution (1831), and guaranteed neutrality by treaty of London.

I.-Statistics

Belgium has a population (1900) of 6,693,548, with 11,373 sq. m. It is the most densely inhabited country in the world: 589 to the square mile. About 3,000,000 of its inhabitants speak Flemish (in the north), and a slightly smaller number speak French (in the south). Almost all are Roman Catholics. Chief cities (1904): Brussels (capital), 598,599; Antwerp, 291,949; Liège, 168,532; Ghent, 162,482. Of the total population (1900) 3,324,834 were males and 3,368,714 females. Of the males 2,047,607 were unmarried; 1,146,774 married; 127,014 widowed; and 3,439 divorced. Of females 1,968,383 were unmarried; 1,143,483 married; 252,202 widowed; and 4,646 divorced. The birth- and death-rates per 1,000 inhabitants since 1847 are shown in the following table:

The annual numbers of suicides were: 1871-80, 441; 1881-90, 658; 1890-1900, 799; 1900-1, 856. General education has been low but is rising. In 1902 the percentage of the population enrolled in elementary schools was lower than in any other country of western and northern Europe. In 1904 there were 859,436 pupils in 7,092 schools. In 1880, of the population more than seven years of age, 33 per cent were unable to read and write; in 1890, 28 per cent; in 1900, 22 per cent. There were, in 1904, 2,688 infant schools with 254,658 children, and 3,897 adult schools with 193,907 scholars. Middle-class public schools for boys numbered 88 with 17,112 pupils; and for girls 40. with 7,689 pupils. Royal atheneums and colleges numbered 35, with 7,641 pupils; normal schools, 58, with 4,980 students. There are 4 uni

General Statistics

versities: at Brussels, Ghent, Liège, and Louvain (R. C.), with a total attendance of 3,780 students. Besides these there are 80 colleges, 65 middle-class private schools for boys, 150 private institutions for girls, and numerous private primary schools, mainly under ecclesiastical care. There are 8 commercial high-schools, and 84 schools of design with 14,977 students. In 1871 the state appropriated 15,282,171 francs for primary education, and in 1903 the sum of 43,867,450 fr. Crime, measured by commitments in the assize courts, has fallen from 97 in 1890, to 72 in 1903, but commitments in the Correctional Tribunals have risen from 40,275 in 1890 to 56.754 in 1903. Commitments in police courts have likewise increased 54 per cent since 1880. The population in the workhouses (dépôts de mendicité) was 2,857 in 1880, and 4.781 in 1890; in the refuges there were 1,983 in 1898, and 1,733 in 1903; in the schools of charity there were 698 in 1890, and 2,222 in 1993.

In no other country is so large a proportion of the population employed in purely industrial Occupations. Mining, especially of coal, is very important, and cheap fuel has led to considerable metallurgical industry. Manufacture is the most important source of wealth. Textile industries employed 169,493 people in 1896; clothing, 137,903; metal, 133,875; mining, 128,313; building, 93.942; food products, 90,285. Characteristic features are very low wages, and an unusual proportion of small industries. Belgian glass works lead the world. Brussels lace and carpets are renowned.

Wages are low but rising. Blacksmiths (1903), made 17 cents per hour; carpenters, 15 cents; compositors, 13; laborers, 10; hod-carriers, 9; machinists, 13; plumbers, 15. (See WAGES.)

In 1896 more than one fourth of the Industrial population, without distinction of Conditions age or sex, earned less than 2 francs (40 cents) per day; 172,000 earned from 2 to 3 fr.; 169,000, from 3 to 4 fr.; and 102,000 over 4 fr. More than 100,000 men received from 3 to 3 fr. per day; and more than 80,000 received less than 2 fr. per day. Of the women, more than 100,000 received between I and fr. per day (less than 30 cents). hours of labor are long.

The

Agriculture occupies a comparatively small place. In 1895, 1,204,810 persons or 18.79 per cent of the population were engaged in agriculture; and 49.5 per cent of the farmers owned their farms. These are usually very small, tho the average size is increasing somewhat. In 1895, there were 544,041 holdings of less than 1 hectare (2.47 acres). Agricultural wages, in 1895, were 1.98 fr. (38 cents) per day without food for men, and 1.22 fr. for women.

The coal industry has increased from a product valued at 169,680,000 francs in 1880 to 286,648,000 fr. in 1904. (See COAL.) There were (1903) 218 coal mines of which 123 were worked. 139,592 persons were employed in these, of whom 95,933 men, 6,976 boys, and 55 women worked underground. There were (1903) 16 pig-iron works, 35 blast-furnaces, 44 works for the manufacture of iron, 343 puddling furnaces, 35 steelworks, and 49 Bessemer converters. Of shipping, Belgium had (1904) 65 steamers and 4 sailing vessels, with a total tonnage of 102,737. The number of vessels entering Belgium (1904) was 9,063, with a tonnage of 11,176,239.

The commerce of Belgium more than doubled from 1890 to 1900. In 1904 the exports amounted to 2,183,300,000 francs; and the imports to 2,782,200,000 fr. Chief exports: coal, textiles, sugar, machinery, agricultural products. The commerce of Belgium with the leading countries was (1904): Exports to Germany, 505 473.000 francs; Great Britain, 392,324,000 fr., chiefly iron, steel, and iron and cotton manufactured goods; France, 346,670,000 fr.; Netherlands, 268,781.000 fr.; United States, 86,324.000 fr., chiefly rubber goods, glass, iron and steel work, jewelry. Imports from France, 465,684,000 francs; Germany, 351,025,000 fr.; Great Britain, 335,404,000 fr. (chiefly cottons, woolens, machinery); Netherlands, 240,873,000 fr.; United States, 222,301,000 fr., chiefly wheat, provisions, cotton.

II.-Constitution and Government

Belgium is a constitutional kingdom. The reigning sovereign is Leopold II.; the Premier, Comte de Smet de Naeyer. Legislative power is vested jointly in King, Senate, and Chamber of Deputies. The Senate has 110 members, of whom 83 are elected directly for eight years by manhood suffrage, tho heads of families, those with diplomas of higher education, those occupying certain positions, or those having certain property, may have one or even two additional votes, giving them a balance of power, much opposed by the Socialists. The 27 indirectly elected senators represent county councilors. The Chamber of Deputies has 166 members, elected for two years, one for every 40,000 people. Belgium has compulsory voting, and a system of proportional representation of minorities. The leading political parties are the Clerics or Catholics, the anti-Clerics or Liberals, and a well-organized Socialist party. The Catholics are generally strongest in the Flemish provinces, and the Socialists in the Walloon. The Senate stands: Catholics, 61; Liberals and Progressists, 43; Socialists, 6. The Chamber of Deputies: Led by the Premier, 87; Liberals and Progressists, 41; Socialists, 35; Christian Democrats, 2.

The estimated public revenue for 1906 was 558,863,927 francs; expenditures, 557,805.483 fr.; public debt (1905 consolidated), 3.117,038,048 fr. Taxation presses somewhat heavily altho the debt was largely contracted in the construction of public utilities, particularly the State railroads; and the revenue from these more than covers the interest.

The standing army numbers 49.731 men. It is recruited by voluntary enlistment, supplemented by annual levies. The war strength is

180,000 men.

Belgium was one of the first countries to develop State railroads. She began her system in

State Railroads

1833, and in 1904 the State had 4,008,291 meters (2,500, miles) and private companies 530,998. meters (330 miles). Belgium has more railroads per sq. m. than any other European country; and the rates are lower. In 1904 there were carried by the State roads 136,409,599 persons, and by private companies 16,455,767. The gross receipts of the State roads were 232,314,767 francs, of which 74,279,290 fr. were for passengers; and of the private roads 27,949,884 fr., of which 7,940,523 were for passengers. The expenses of the State roads were 138,381,322 fr., leaving a profit of 94.376,418; those of the private companies were 12.619.157 fr., leaving a profit of 15,330,327. The first cost of the State roads from 1834 to 1904 was 2,161,245,528 fr.; the total net receipts 1,885.332,731 fr., and the financial charges 1,740,895.391 fr.

were

On Jan. 1, 1905, there were 1,330 post-offices in Belgium. Postal receipts for 1904 30,095,288 francs; expenses, 15,256,520 fr. There were 1,438 telegraph offices, with 4,110 miles of line, carrying 15,586,354 dispatches; the receipts were 11,203,006 fr.; and the expenditures, 7,618,064 fr. There were 20,875 telephone stations, with 58,590 miles of telephone wire, and 47,010,611 conversations. The receipts were 4.956,011 fr. Telegraph and telephone lines are all owned and operated by the State.

III. Social Reform

In Belgium reform ideas began to work early in the nineteenth century. The spirit of cooperation and organization came down from the Middle Ages. Belgian trade-unions are developed from

Trade Unions

old trade benefit societies which arose toward the end of the eighteenth century after the abolition of the old medieval gilds in 1795. Thus, for example, the Hat-makers' Benevolent Union was originally a trade friendly society, but became in 1838 "a society for the maintenance of prices and for resistance." Even down to the second half of the century the old spirit lingered. In 1867 the weavers at Ghent still bore on their banner the motto, "God and the Law" (God en de Wet).

The Master Glass-workers' Association at Charleroi was established in 1836; the Free Typographical Association originated in 1842; the Jewelers' and Goldsmiths' Society in 1852. The trade-union movement in Belgium, however, early took a socialistic form. (For early Belgian theoretical and Christian Socialists, see COLINS; HUET; LAVELEYE.) Karl Marx, banished from Germany and Paris came with his friend Engels to Brussels, where they gathered around them a little band of Socialists, and here published the famous manifesto of 1847. Organization, however, did not endure till the International gained footing in Belgium in 1866. It spread rapidly in the crowded industrial cities, and especially in the mine region where men, and women too, worked long hours for piteous wages. Marx called Belgium the paradise of capitalism. Sections were formed at Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, and Charleroi, and elsewhere in the mining section. Papers were started, and some strikes were carried out. De Paepe became a leader. In 1877. however, he declared for Marxian socialism, and the movement became split. The anarchist wing, however, did not endure. A new and most important movement now sprang up, which has differentiated the Belgian Socialist movement from that of any other country, and made it one of the strongest in the world.

In the year 1879 a Ghent typewriter, an active Socialist, Edward ANSEELE, founded a cooperative bakery, and in connection with it a club, the Vooruit. Up to this time cooperation had not succeeded in Belgium, but this Socialist cooperative movement succeeded and spread.

A

Socialism

similar organization, called the Maison du Peuple (House of the People), was started by the Brussels Socialists in 1882, and another at Verviers in 1884. In the next four years the movement spread through all the important Belgian cities and industrial centers. Soon the societies began selling other things than bread, till gradually the movement became one of vast size and importance. By 1893 the Maison du Peuple had 10,000 members, representing some 10,000 families, and manufactured 100,000 loaves of bread a week. It possest a large club house, which was the center of Socialist propaganda, a library, a tool store, and other property; and it provides coal, groceries, meat, furniture, clothing, medical attendance, and insurance, all at cooperative prices. It maintains a monthly, a weekly, and a daily. This cooperative society gave stability to the Socialist movement.

M.

In 1885 a Socialist workingman's party was organized (Parti ouvrier belge), and in 1893 this was able to effect in a few days a veritable revolution in the Belgian Constitution. Hitherto the Belgian Socialist had been able to accomplish little politically, because of property limitations to the suffrage. A bill to institute free suffrage was introduced into the Chamber and Senate and defeated. Immediately the Labor Party called a universal strike. M. Volders, the leader of the Labor Party, was arrested with two others. Buls, the Brussels burgomaster, ordered "The House of the People" closed, and prohibited meetings and processions. But this only added fuel to the flame. Collisions with the police took place. Numbers of men, women, and even children were shot down, and some mortally wounded. But the strike was won. On April 18th, only eight days after its rejection of universal suffrage, the Constituante (the Assembly) met, and a hurried plan to revise the Constitution and grant a vastly enlarged tho not universal suffrage was devised and carried, and the Labor Party declared the strike off. Since then the party has had a growing representation in the legislature, and the government has been compelled to introduce many reforms (see below). In 1902 the Socialists undertook to gain complete universal suffrage by another universal strike. This time, however, they were unsuccessful, and the attempt even resulted in some setback; nevertheless, the movement is still strong and growing. M. Vandervelde writes of it (1906):

In Belgium all labor unions and societies of any importance, with the exception of the glass-workers, compositors, and a small number of Christian cooperative societies, are affiliated with the Workmen's Party. According to the latest statistics there were 95,000 labor-union Socialists out of a total of 132,000 organized workers. The Socialist strength is thus about 72 per cent of the total. As for the cooperative socie

Labor Organizations

ties, the great majority are not only commercial, but also political organizations. Some of them hold to the Clerical Party, and to be admitted to any of these one must fulfil his religious duties and pledge himself to the defense of "property, religion, and the family." But the other societies, much more powerful in the industrial centers, adhere to the Workmen's Party. It is necessary, on entering any of them, to accept the Socialist program and agree to the deduction from the annual profits of sums, more or less considerable, for use in the party's general propaganda.

At

The various local federations that compose the party present identical characteristics throughout the country. the center is the cooperative society, whose home, la Maison du Peuple, is the home also of the friendly societies, the labor unions, the political groups, the artistic and educational associations, all of which constitute the federated organization. In Brussels, for instance, the cooperative society-la Maison du Peuple-includes about 20,000 families. Its busi

Bemis

ness averages about $1,200,000 annually. It has butcher shops, grocery, dry-goods, and department stores, a dairy and two large bakeries, which produce annually almost 12,000,000 loaves of bread of 2.2 pounds each. This society devotes annually about $10,000 to the Socialist cause, and moreover, furnishes free quarters to the seventy groups belonging to the federated organization of that city.

Similar organizations, tho in differing degrees of development. are to be found in all the principal centers. Thus, in the very bosom of capitalist society, is found another society. like a state within a state, the members of which are united. not only by their political convictions, but by economic ties that become more binding as time runs on, and that insure a stable and enduring organization.

These Belgian Socialist societies now number 238, with annual sales of $7,600,000. There are 6 Socialist dailies, notably Le Peuple (Brussels) and Vooruit, 22 weeklies, and 14 monthlies. These Socialist successes have compelled the Roman Catholic Church to make especial social efforts in Belgium. (See CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM.) Dr. Varlez writes of them (1906):

Especially have the Catholic Conservatives been active, and for every working-class Socialist or Cooperative Society they have organized a similar cooperative society, only in connection with the Conservatives. These cooperative societies, altho with less enthusiasm and vitality than the working-class societies, nevertheless slowly grow. They are largely supported by the Catholic clergy in the villages and country towns of Flemish Belgium. Many, however, of the most conservative Catholics oppose these efforts to organize such societies for fear that they will one day break away from their conservative moorings. They advocate instead, organizing the working class into religious charitable and beneficial societies, in union with the Church and wealthy conservative patrons. Many such conservative and religious societies are organized, particularly in the villages, and take a great variety of forms-organizations for the cooperative purchase of food, grain, machinery, and other supplies; for the improvement in the breeding of horses, cattle, and other animals; for cooperative dairies, breweries, and the like; for mutual relief and benefits, loans and insurance; for a thousand forms -all alike, however, in being organized under the patronage of the Church and opposed to the democratic Socialist organizations. Strenuously opposed by the Socialists, Christian, and non-Christian, attacked by the freethinkers, now numerous in every country of the Latin race, these agricultural religious organizations embrace now some 100,000 of the peasantry and are still growing.

State action for the working classes has been largely on the lines of savings funds and insurance for old age and for the unemployed and also of direct protection of laborers. There are special acts dealing with contract of employment (1900);

State SavingsBank

truck-system (1887); shop regulations (1896); employment of women, children and young persons (1889) with many regal decrees incidental thereto; Sunday rest (1905); safety and security of labor (1899) completed by important decrees of 1905; workmen's compensation for accidental injuries (1903). There are also other institutions created by law on behalf of the working classes, viz.: councils of experts (1889); councils of industry and labor with a view to prevent and settle trade disputes (1887); tradeunions (1898); benefit societies (1894); laborers' dwellings (1889). In 1906 there was established a bureau in aid of the middle classes, dealing with industrial education and other matters concerning the small traders, etc. The State SavingsBank of Belgium was established by a law of March 16, 1865, and to it was added the Pension Fund, established in 1850. Its total receipts in 1905 were 1,143,900,000 francs. The movement has now become international, and any one depositing in the savings-banks of France, Belgium, or Holland can transfer his account to any of these countries without cost. Savings-banks have had a remarkable development in Belgium, owing to incessant agitation on the part of the teachers, and are due to the initiative of the city of Ghent.

They have spread to almost all the cities and towns of the country, especially since the issue in 1881 of savings cards, to which the children can attach stamps of 10, 5, or 2 centimes (one cent), and which, when they amount to a franc, can be deposited with the savings-bank, in any branch or in any post-office. At the end of 1902 out of a total of 1,151,756 pupils 360,000 had about 10,000,000 fr. in the banks. The bank has also been allowed by different laws to make loans to various funds of social benefit, such as cooperative societies, agricultural banks, and workingmen's dwellings. At the end of 1904, seven agricultural banks had loans amounting to 7,873,000 fr., and 166 societies for erecting workingmen's dwellings had loans of over 66,000,ooo fr., and more than 33,000 houses had by this means been erected.

The Old Age Pension Fund, established in 1850, permits the granting of pensions not above 1,200 francs, and made payable at different ages, between fifty and sixty. This has become of particular importance since the granting by the State, in 1900, of premiums to persons entitled to a pension through the endowment of a friendly society, or to persons of modest means, directly connected with the institution. A Department of Life Insurance was created in 1889, and connected with the savings-bank, but limited to the insurance of those who have borrowed for the construction of a workingman's dwelling. In 1894 it widened its scope, and is now open to all, with the maximum limit of 5,000 fr. insurance.

Public Labor Bureaus for the Unemployed (Bourses du Travail), mainly of a charitable nature, have existed in Belgium for some years, beginning at Liége in 1888, but have not been favored by the working classes, except at Liége

The Unemployed

itself, and have only been made use of by the least efficient, and that without large results. Their main effort has been to find places for those out of work. More recently, however, beginning at Ghent in 1901, there has developed a plan of insurance against unemployment, which has had more success, and is being largely copied throughout Belgium and in other countries. This is the creation of a public fund by the municipalities, to be increased by private gifts, and to be used in supplementing the out-of-work benefits given by trade-unions. Thus every trade-unionist receiving a small out-of-work benefit from his union, can, under due restrictions, have this supplemented by a grant from the fund of perhaps 50 or 30 per cent of the amount of his benefit. Non-unionists can get the same aid by paying dues to a special thrift fund. This plan has the advantage of being taken out of the sphere of charity and of cooperating with and calling out the efforts of organized labor. By May, 1904, there were seven such funds established by the principal cities of Belgium. The portion of the plan for trade-unionists seems to have been very successful; whereas that for non-unionists seems to have failed. Labor colonies, for the unemployed, or more truly for vagrants, are maintained by the Belgian Government at Merxplas and Wortel, and are called "Colonies Agricoles de Bienfaisance"; they are practically penal colonies for vagrants, committed by judicial authority or municipalities. They are committed for a certain period, but receive a small wage, which is kept for them. Merxplas is for those who have committed some misdemeanor; Wortel for those who

have committed none, but are reduced to vagrancy. There is also a private labor colony at Haeren, near Brussels. There is a system of Central Inspection and a Superior Council of Relief. Under these each commune is responsible for its relief work, tho weak communes may combine. "Commissions d'Assistance" are created for each commune, or union of communes, with from five to ten members, among which must be a clergyman, an alderman, and a laborer. No salaries are paid, tho the laborer can be indemnified for time lost. Women are eligible. The indigent are divided into those unable to work, those willing to work, but unable to find it, and those unwilling to work. To the first class is given relief, indoor relief for the most part. Private charity in Belgium is very great, providing for at least one half of the indigents, but is controlled by the State. For the other two classes there are workhouses, refuges, and schools of charity. The workhouses are for persons able to work, but who do not. The refuges are intermediary between the workhouses and the poorhouses, for those willing to work, but unable through sickness, old age, or disability. Persons found begging can be assigned to these for seven years. In 1901 there were 6,384 in these refuges. The schools of charity are compulsory training schools for youths up to eighteen, who have become vagrants or have committed misdemeanors. The expense for these institutions is divided equally between the State, province, and commune. Very low wages are paid in the workhouses and refuges.

Important Belgian societies and institutions for social reform are:

Institut de Sociologie Solvay, founded 1901. Leopold Park, Brussels.

Office du Travail. 2 Lambermont, Brussels.

Caisse d'Epargne. 50 Rue Fossé aux Loups, Brussels. La Bourse du Travail. 17 Rue de l'Amigo, Brussels. La Maison du Peuple. 11 Rue Joseph Stevens, Brussels. (Socialist Cooperative Society.)

Ligue Belge du Droit des Femmes, founded 1892. Secretary, Mlle. Marie Popelin, Hôtel Ravenstein, Brussels.

Ligue Patriotique contre l'Alcolisme, founded 1879. Secretary, Dr. de Vaucleroy, 306 Avenue Louise, Brussels.

Société Belge d'Economie Sociale, founded 1881. Hôtel Ravenstein, Brussels.

Société Belge de la Paix et de l'Arbitrage, founded 1885. Secretary, Henry de la Fontaine, Sénateur, 81 Rue d'Arlon, Brussels.

Société Belge de Sociologie, founded 1899. Secretary, Camille Jacquart, 11 Rue Brialmont, Brussels.

Société de Moralité Publique, founded 1881. Secretary, Ed. Belleroche, 65 Rue de Stassart, Brussels.

REFERENCES: Annuaire Statistique de la Belgique, Brussels; L'Office du Travail de 1895-1905, ib., 1905; La Législation et les Euvres en Belgique, by S. J. Vermeersch, Louvain, 1904; Cities of Belgium, by Richard Grant Allen, 1897.

BELLAMY, EDWARD: American nationalist and author; born in Chicopee Falls, Mass., 1850. He graduated at Union College and studied law, but soon entered journalism, writing for many papers, principally the Springfield Union. His first novel was "A Nantucket Idyl." "Dr. Heidenhoff's Process," "The Blind Man's World," and "Miss Ludington's Sister" followed. All are dreamy, fantastic novels, but with such power that Mr. Howells declared that "the mantle of Hawthorne has fallen upon Mr. Bellamy." He then wrote "Looking Backward," upon which his great fame depends, and which many consider to be the ablest socialistic Utopia ever written. (See NATIONALISM.)

In The Nationalist magazine he has related how he came to write that book; how it took shape

Bemis

from an original plan to write a sort of fairy tale of social felicity-"a cloud palace for an ideal humanity"-in the shape of a great world nation. "The idea of an industrial army for maintaining the community, precisely as the military army protects it, suggested the advisability of seeing if a plan which was found to work so well for purposes of destruction might not be profitably applied to the business of production, now in shocking confusion." This idea had been vaguely floating in his mind for a year or two, but it was not until he began to work out the details of his romance that he perceived the full potency of the instrument he was using. This led to a complete recasting of the book, both in form and purpose, and the author was filled with the fervent desire to acquaint the people of his country with its beneficent possibilities-a desire which the popularity of "Looking Backward" has abundantly realized. The form of a romance was reluctantly retained, with a view to obtain a reading for the book.

The year 2000 was fixed upon as the date of the story, at which date Mr. Bellamy believed that nationalism would be in operation.

The book soon made a sensation; a Bellamy Club was started in Boston, and from that grew the Nationalist Club, and then the Nationalist movement. (See NATIONALISM.) The book reached a sale of over 500,000 copies in this country, and has been translated into most of the languages of Europe. In the beginning of 1891 Mr. Bellamy commenced the publication of a weekly, The New Nation, as an organ of nationalism. It was suspended, however, at the close of 1893. In 1897 he published "Equality," a continuation of "Looking Backward," and on the same lines, but a larger book. Bellamy died in 1898.

BELLERS, JOHN: Quaker; philanthropist; born about 1654. He was a member of the Society of Friends, joint lord of the manor of Coln St. Aldwyn's, and devoted to philanthropic projects. He wrote numerous pamphlets, the best known of which is "Proposals for Raising a Colledge of Industry," in which he proposed that the rich should provide capital and receive profit by building a college in which destitute men and women could find work. He died in 1725.

In

BEMIS, EDWARD WEBSTER: Superintendent of water works; economist; born in Springfield, Mass., 1860; graduated from Amherst College, 1880; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1885; in charge of the departments of history and political economy at Vanderbilt University, 1887-92; assistant professor in economics, University of Chicago, 1892-95; professor of economics and history at Kansas State Agricultural College, 1897-99; head of the Department of Municipal Monopolies in the Bureau of Economical Research, New York City, 1899-1901. 1901 he was appointed superintendent of water works in Cleveland, O., by Mayor Johnson, a position he still occupies. An investigator and writer upon municipal monopolies and kindred questions, he has appeared frequently before courts and state commissions as expert witness for cities in cases involving the rights of the people with respect to gas companies. Mr. Bemis, while believing in municipal ownership of public-service corporations and public ownership of railways and telegraphs and a few other monopolies of that