King Leopold II of Belgium and His Royal Family
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KINO LEOPOLD II OF BELGIUM.
PALAIS DE JUSTICE AT BRUSSELS.
(fopyrlKht. Ii2, by Frank Q. Carpenter.)
1RUSSELS, Jan. 7. (Special Corre
I apondence of The Bee.) I law tho
King oi ueiKium warning aiuus iu
the park near bis palace tbla
morntna. Yea, alone! He wai
printing along with a springy step, his
shoulders well back, as though walking tor
a wager. He had a cane In bis hand and
bis trousers were rolled up, although the
paths were perfectly dry and the sun was
shining. lis was dressed In business
clothes and wore a sack coat and - derby
bat. Altogether he looked more like a
gentleman farmer with a touch of,the sport
In him than the king of one of the busiest
little nations of Europe.
Nevertheless Leopold II Is a king In every
sense of the word and aa klnga go he Is
not so bad after all. He Is now 67 years
ld and be has been ruling Belgium for
aore than thirty-seven years. He ascended
the throne Just about the close of our civil
war and has held his own through the
various changes of government In France,
Germany and the other countries about blm.
His title, you know. Is Leopold II, King of
Belgium. He Is the second king that
Belgium has had. This country was a part
if the Netherlands until 1830, when l;
became an Independent kingdom, and Its
congress elected Leopold, the father of thl
man, as
and since then Belgium has walked alone
Austria, Russia, Great Britain and Prussia
guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium and
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PRINCE ALBERT, NEPHEW TO
KINO LEOPOLD AND HEIR TO
THE BELGIAN THRONE.
the country, or more than $500 per family.
as the ruler, and I can't tell you just what
he gets out of it. I only know that Its
government revenues now amount to not
. quite $6,000,000 a year, and that the ex
penditures are greater than that. Whether
Leopold has any private property there or
not I do not know.
His majesty has been accused
of not being a very good guard
Ian of the wealth of his own
family, and especially of that of his sister,
who was the wife of the - unfortunate
Maximilian of Mexico. Her name was
Carlotta, and, as the story goes, when
Maximilian was executed he left her a vast'
estate, of which King Leopold was trustee.
Then Carlotta became Insane and her estate
was almost absolutely in the power of her
brother. It is gossiped that the most of
this property bas been squandered In various
speculations and that a large part of it bas
gone into certain enterprises along the
Congo river. In the meantime the enemies
of Leopold say Carlotta has recovered ber
reason, but that bis majesty does not dare
to take ber out of the asylum for -fear of
being held to an accounting.
King Leopold has no son to succeed blm.
He has had three children, but they are all
girls. Princess Louise, who It now 44, waa
born before be ascended the throne, as was
also Princess Stephanie, who Is now 38.
it. kin. HniinnA .oni off i it.if Tblnk.of a land that can produce so much Both of these princesses are married. The
lis sing, noiiana em on 10 uoru v. i. r. nuiir. ahi
uiorv iiiNu u ulcus mat e r xanui can mnvi ukuuii a uu. ihuu.iuv,
sell $500 worth a year to foreign nations, was born July SO, 1872, and who Is conse
That Is what Belgium did. It buys as well quently SO years of age. By the constltu-
a few year, later .11 the state, of Europe "'""- "00;?'"'
HU lUipuriS aiUUUUl lO lUUUl f IVU,UUV,VUV an IU lug uuow lua.v nuv vt tuv taiuu;,
nuallr. and of these more than $50,000,000 the ilrU hav do chance. If the klof
worth come from Yankeedom. It.buys eren should die today hit brother, who la two
mnv-rf than tVtm frnm Vmnnm norma n v mnA Viri hlfl IliniAIV would talfA hla Illa.ee. and
1865 and upon his death his eldest son. the ClW BrIlaln but ,t it.ng t0 each of them in case of bis death the succession would
present king, took his p ace During bis alm0Bt much M u whn- ouf De,. g t0 hl ,on p,, Albertl . who Is now
administration the country has steadily gian ,mport, are a btUiie in comparison. 27. and who ha. a baby boy named Leopold.
recognised It as an Independent govern
ment. Leopold I was the ruler from 1831 until
grown in population and wealth. It la But , iUrte(I wrUing on the Belgian about 2 years old, ready to succeed blm In
u.u., u.ir .uu,, king. He is so wrapped up In the country case he dies,
and I s .co..t Is not longer than from ,n,t u , h,rd t Bepar. hlm from . The gcvernment of Belglu
1. 'm!r': 'U " 'UPPr ! And .till in many respect.. If gossip tell, different from those of the ,
uuri cii iu aa uinuy iicuo aa iuo wuuiv
m la somewhat
other European
t h A t ml h ha raim ft I si fun nut fit nittAP Tk. lu. v.. little
111,., V ? , P Pl III thlng th,n " Notwithstanding his than the king of England, the most of the
nn kJ vrw with the ynn of ,ife , thlrty..even year, g0,ernIng being carried on through the
in.ul.rt iu.i.?,Tm i. m.n.rt cf rc,Kn he U gay ana f,ddy- H" sr congress and ministers. All the royal acts
Indeed. Belgium Is ss well managed aa . k.. . -(.. . -iri it . v. I .
any land cn the Klobe. The soil la natu- .a u . i t... t ' ...
waa at 18 when he married Marie Hen
I ( r pi lhn t hli a hAtvmoi voannnathla fA
. L Th Z . u.v A ,n TnV r,etU' ln duht' Archduke Joseph of them. The congress cons.... of a senate
im.Th'oldlI.T,h7Jr J AuB,r"- AH 'orU of ,tor,', ,re wbl- n1 hou- ' representative., elected b,
small holdings and the greater part of it is pere(, about BruMeU of ,he klng., egca. th , d . . ' . .
worked with the spade, so Intensively that .dp. ,Dd ot hl, ilh.riit, to certain f- PeoP'e- na " curious tning mat
.. . .. . . paaes ana ox nis liDeraiity to certain re- some men have as much as three votes.
It produces vastly In excess of other coun- -,,1, n.n. -,v .v, 1.,., ... ... muiu
,,.. v, nnlw ,h. . Kllf ,. nlal Pr,on who. to ssy the leaat. are no Every citizen over 2a years of age baa one
trlea. Not only the farms, but the mines better tha th,r ,noul, H gaM 35 who cav at leaat II
and factories are well handled. There are to b. . B,,roB of .rt .d eaneclallv of . Z . i , wf.V
1 mm nu.rru. ... 10 M P,ron 01 rt- n1 peciauy or k year n house tax and have had children
1,600 stone quarries, which are worked, em- tha, -, of ,rt ronnectl with tha oner. i.
awo cii,u mu auuuiuutti vuir. aa una ainu
nlnvlnaT atmif XT nil A man mnt vlaldlniv an mm . . . .
.n , 7JPi .f iM Mftm i w r .i Una ,la8"' ,M pr,ma aonDM 01 Wn,cn ery cltlsen of over 25 who owns property
"."d"; WE of S.VSoal mln a'nd .n 'tr"U " ? th' Tia ,4 T 'V
oVU!e9.vs.ucdVer.Vt,,nduh.tt.'p8,, th- "a f
of .torle. of the different industries. the ballet. He Is a great lover of borae- Graduates of bi.h colleae. have two extra
Belgian Iron goe. all over the world. It. back rldln and freouentir rldea alone - . v . college, nave two extra
..,.,.,, ... ., ,v. c" "aln na irequenuy nae. aione. T0tes, but no man can have more than three
foi.t if SoT Am.Hca and thl .rl.7rl?i TU "a' "l ' tn Parta TOt. Another regulation provide, that
.roiected Cm Hankow to PeW.n U ,n th 'UbUrb 01 BrU"eU ,0,D "l man must vote and that if he doe.
roi.d projected from Hankow to Pekln 1. a g00(1 trot through the woods, with a. Bot he may be arrested and nunlahed
being built with Belgian .teel rails. There 08tent.tlon as I saw blm out walking Thus y0re the governmn
are three steel plants here, now working on this mornlna .. 7 M f government enrorcea
a 60.000-ton order o, steel ,.,1. for Mexico. ' indeTd "ieopold has many thin,, to com- J?!ZJSfi& p "pertan"
"V?" 'Ti rZ 2h .'- ha. a iUUrCa:c;0t,ohnT ChUdfen' '"
1.7. Z t'"'"c" or ,0 ,n uPPer P" 01 Brussels. i fielHum aa in moat of the countrle.
npai r w wa i nwmw rna wnri 11 nni a nawai naiwr a... a a. i a. . . .
in atiia to tft out of itrtt of Belirlan .. . . . " ex"aT"Kny "r of Europe, the government owns the tele
been able to get out ot Sight of Belgian iu exterior Is concerned, and It cost, as rsDhs and telephones and to a lr
nrddrmoV0.flonrSe.rconmmeWrJ.er g'Um "" f"'"'"' ' a' " fer.he' railroad Each of he.'.'b fn'ch
bad not more or less commerce. arcn of Europe. He has a civil list four- i. worked at a nroflt and thev add ma
Think of a land like this not more than teen time. a. big a. the .alary of Pre.l- erlll,, to the government revenue.
one-third the .lie of Indiana which Is thus dent Roosevelt. He has 1700.000 a rear !!" ' 2 L Z 7 Uf!l.
was
ii tfc- .n7 a J th. dollar, out , u "p " "l"D,1,nmeBl. na n aaai abou, $3.ooo.OOO and that from the tele
all the world and draw the dollars out. ion he owns a large private fortune. He ,r,Ph $2 000 000 The rallroada are man
They say Its king Is a sport, and my in- own. land. In Belgium, botela at Ostend Kd In the In ere.ts of thT people id
rigbt. but he must be a business .port In houses there. For a long time he was different roads have workingmen'e tickets
order to accomplish such business results, the sole po.aes.or ot the Belgian Congo. by which a laborer may go to hi. factor;
Let me give you a few commercial fact., the va.t territory which he acquired d back if It I. within fifteen mile, for
In 1900 Belgium .old more than $100 worth through Stanley, but of late thl. h. been n cent. 4 week ev.O day by tral" There
Of good, tor every man. woman and child In turned Into aa Independent state, with blm are al.o reduced ticket, for school chlldrea
BABY SON OF -PRINCE ALBERT,
HEIR-PRESUMPTIVE TO THE BEL
GIAN THRONE.
and a half rate for school excursions where
the children are taken away under the
charge of the teacher for instruction pur
poses. The ordinary rate for a bicycle
taken along with a passenger is 14 cents,
and dog. travel at third-class rates.
The Swl.. system of yearly passes at a
fixed rate prevails here. For about $123
you can get a ticket that will allow you to
travel throughout the year second class on
any of the state railways, and tickets for
a shorter tlmo proportionally low rates.
At present there are more than 2,800 mile,
of railroad, in the country, with a passen
ger train o numbering about 140,000,000 ride,
per year.
I find the car. very good, although they
are generally filled. The service at the sta
tions is excellent. There are plenty of por
ters', dressed In blue Jeans and black cloth
caps and numbers on them, who take your
baggage, weigh your trunks and carry your
small truck Into the trains for 10 cents, or
even les, per person. I have been riding
second class and I find it comfortable. The
cars are divided up into compartments,
with seats facing each other, so that each
compartment will accommodate six. The
seats are cushioned with felt or leather,
and their backs are upholstered to high
above your heads. The fares are remark
ably low.
The Belgian postofflce department man
ages also the telephones and telegraphs, as
well as the savings banka. The telegraph
rates are much lower than ours and the
service Is quite as good. You can send
fifteen words for 10 cents, fifty words for
24 cents, paying only 2 cents for every ten
words thereafter. There are now about 4,000
miles of lines in the country, with enough
wire to reach around the world. There are
S7.000 miles of telephone wire and 16,000
stations. The conversations last year were
almost 40,000.000.
The national savings banks are patronised
by all classes. The books number more
than l.SOO.OOO and the deposits approximate
$120,000,000. In addition to thl. there I. a
fund ot government annuities amounting to
$33,000,000, so that the Belgians have In
their own savings banks about $150,000,000.
The most ot such accounts are small and the
savings come from the poor. More than 60
per cent of the books have a total of less
than $20, and fully three-fourths ot them
are under $100. Taking the whole popula
tion into consideration there is one savings
bank account for every tour Inhabitants, or
on the average above one per family. The
accounts are stesdily Increasing and the
people deposit thus more and more every
year. The system enables deposits to be
made in the smallest villages, and every
laborer bas a ssfe place to put his savings
If he wishes it. It Is a pity that some
similar arrangement cannot be made for
the United Statea.
I like Brussels. It is one of the best built
and best managed cities of Europe. It has
only about 200,000 people In the town
proper, but with its suburbs its Inhabitants
are more than 500,000. It Is in the heart
of Belgium, and as such Is within a couple
of hours or so of the whole population of
mere than 6,000.000.
The town Is divided Into two sections, one
of which is high above the other. It Is In
the upper part that the king's palace and
all the government buildings are situated.
It is here that most of the foreigners live,
including about 2,000 English residents. Our
minister has a fine home not far from the
palace of the king, and the consul general
Is about equally distant from the palace In
an opposite direction. w
Tho government buildings are especlalr
fine. Take the Palais de Justice, which
stands upon a hill high above the business
part of the city. It is said to be the grand
est structure of the world. It is bigger
than the capltol at Washington and covers
one acre more than the enormous Church ot
St. Peter at Rome. It Is built of marble
and It rises high over Brussels with a dome
100 feet higher than that of our capltol. The
structure in general 1. pyramidal, each suc
cessive section diminishing in bulk. It is
beautifully decorated, the rotunda being
embellished with colossal statues of Justice,
law, strength and mercy, and the vestlbulo
adorned with statues ot Demosthenes and
Lycurgus and of Cicero and Domltlus. Not
far from this are other government build
ings, including the famous art gallery, the
National Bank and the Palais de la Nation
A. far a. education 1. concerned the Bel
gian, do not compare with the Swiss. 1
seldom met a man in Switxerland who
could not apeak more than one language,
and In the cities nearly every one under
stood more or less English. Here the peo
ple speak French and Flemish, but many
of the lower classes have a dialect of their
own which Is difficult to understand.
The Belgians are Roman Catholics. Of
the six million odd people In the country
there are only 10,000 Protestants anJ 4,000
Jews. The constitution grant, full religious
liberty, but, notwithstanding this, many of
the schools are under the church, and thia
is always detrimental to education. There
are in all four universities, two of which
belong to the state, and also schools of
arts, engineering and manufactures, which
have about 1,500 students.
The public school system is not as good
as that ot Switzerland and the percentage
ot illiteracy Is much higher. In Switzer
land you can scarcely find a man who does
not read or write. Here fully one-fourth
of the population cannot read, and of the
young men called out for military service
last year more than 12 per cent could not
write.
This Is the only place I know of wd'eY
newspapers are sold for nothing. There are
two ot the kind In Brussels and both are
making money. One Is known as Le Solr
and the other as Le National. Le Solr has
125,000 circulation and it has made the for
tune of its founder, who was a newsdealer
originally, starting with nothing. He dis
tributed his paper free and gradually built
up a business out ot the advertisements.
The only charge for the paper is for deliv
ery, which costs 6 cents a month If the cus
tomer lives on the ground floor or 12 cents
if he lives upstairs. Mail subscribers pay
merely the postage and the newsboys sell
the papers on the street for a cent and
pocket all the profits.
In addition to these two papers Belgium
has a number of other Journals which are
paid for, but no other dallies of large circu
lation. There are In the whole country leas
than 1.500 Journals, of which 429 sre politi
cal, 178 commercial, industrial or agricul
tural, 180 financial and 755 devoted to other
subjects. FRANK G. CARPENTER,
