existed by the aid of public relief. The State had to assume the support of these unemployed masses. Labour exchanges were established to facilitate the distribution of recruits to reviving industry. The vast numbers of the workless might have led to famine wages; to obviate this the State decided that any workmen offered less than the minimum rate of one franc per hour in the towns and 0-75 in the country, might refuse work, while yet continuing to draw out-of-work relief. Workers, moreover, were organizing themselves so as to improve labour conditions. The trade-union movement advanced with enormous strides. In 1919 the number of organized workers had risen to over 600,000, hav- ing been only about 200,000 in 1914. Wages, as a matter of fact, never fell below one franc per hour. Industrial workers in general have obtained two francs per hour, metallurgical workers earn 2-25 to 2-50 francs per hour, miners 16 to 20 francs per day.
The astonishingly rapid reconstruction of 2,000 km. of destroyed railway lines, effected by the end of 1919, the re- newed activity of the collieries, which in the first quarter of 1919 produced 8-5 million tons of coal (against 11-5 million tons in 1914), and of the coke furnaces, which in May 1919 produced 58,000 tons (against 245,000 tons in May 1914), helped on the gradual revival of industry.
The Commission de rfcuperation induslrielle gave a first stimu- lus to industry by recovering Belgian machinery from Germany, and by 1919 huge orders from English and American firms had restored the country to economic activity. These orders were made possible by credits opened to Belgian industry by the banks. After the war the banks had indeed become of capital importance. The 13 principal banks of Belgium increased their capital by 380,000,000 francs.
In Dec. 1919 the output of the mines reached 81-3% of the pre-war output. The coal-fields of Limburg were becoming active; in 1919 the Winterslag mine began work, producing 500 to 600 tons per day, in 1920 a second mine was opened. The metal- lurgical industry achieved 20% of its 1913 output of cast iron, and 49% of steel and finished iron.
Alimentary industries, the building trade, industries of art and precision, were now employing 75% of their pre-war staffs, glass-may ng 80%, mines and transport over 100%, chemical industries, ceramics, paper-making, linen-weaving, tobacco manufacture 70%, clothing 87%, metallurgy 64%, the timber trade and furniture-making 66%.
Such a revival, effectuating itself in the midst of the gravest economic difficulties, could not but raise one problem after another. Questions of wages and of hours of labour were con- tinually endangering relations between employer and employed. Thanks to a policy of foresight and moderation the Government managed to avert most of the conflicts. In April igig two com- missions were appointed to inquire into the possibility of re- ducing hours of labour in steel manufactories and in mines. The principle of the 8-hour day was admitted. On June i 1919 work was reduced to 8| hours per day, on Dec. i to 8 hours per day.
In June another commission took up the same question for mechanical construction. Later, national councils were appointed for the public services of gas and electricity, for ice factories, the building trade, the timber trade, and furniture-making, glass- making, the textile trade of Flanders, and the port of Antwerp. The committees, presided over by officials, and composed of employers and employed in equal numbers, discussed questions of wages and conditions of work. They often passed resolutions constituting actual collective contracts, in some cases they pro- ceeded to codify their decisions. They settled many local dis- putes, and checked movements dangerous to national life. The law does not enter into either their constitution or their functions; they have no means of enforcing their decisions other than the appeal to public opinion; yet there had not been one instance up to 1921 where resolutions passed by the committees had not been loyally applied. Employers and employed found in these bodies a means of discussing and solving problems which formerly would have been met by a strike. The establishment of these committees marks an interesting tendency towards the
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Imports 1919.
Exports.
Tons.
Thou- sands of francs.
1919 (tons.)
1920 (tons.)
Germany France . England Holland United States Argentina Congo .
1,550,142 2,087,273 1-805,573 623,868 900,804
394,165 12,252
659,921 1,850,476 1,687,474 585,098 I,547,8o8 519.954 87,327
191,032 2,213,875
166,333 1,931,946 223,364
5,044 18,107
471,883 3,885,704 685,701
1,491,553 317,961 52,656 21,342
decentralization of economic legislation, towards a professional organization quite outside political parties, towards the assump- tion by the worker of his share in the solution of industrial problems.
Since the war, as a general rule, wages had risen considerably, with a tendency towards uniformity and towards their fixation according to index numbers published by the Government. In Dec. 1919 the index number was 359 relatively to the month of April 1914.
Belgium's resumption of commerce after the war is shown in the following table in which the imports for 1919 and the ex- ports for 1919 and 1920, from and to the chief regions in ques- tion, are shown.
These figures show the war's disastrous effect on Belgian com- merce. In 1914 exports and imports were fairly equivalent. In 1915 imports exceeded exports by about three milliards of francs. In 1920, it is true, the export trade to the seven countries named above began to revive, improving from 4,749,701 tons to 6,926,800 tons. But trade was involved in the gravest difficul- ties. Markets had been captured during the war by England and the United States. France's protectionist tendencies and Ger- many's easy rivalry in foreign markets owing to the depreciation of her exchange were also causes of the serious commercial crisis that Belgium was passing through in 1920-1.
The resurrection of the port of Antwerp was rapid. In 1919 4,820 vessels, registering 5,245,048 tons, entered the port; in
1920 7,698 registering 10,852,341 tons (in the same year Rot- terdam received 5,951 registering 7,609,777 tons). Antwerp's development is closely linked with Belgium's prosperity. The port's connexion with the Rhine by means of a ship canal was in
1921 under consideration.
Belgium made great efforts to develop her commercial marine. The Lloyd Royal Beige, entirely promoted by Belgian capital, was formed to add to the Red Star Line's already existing service between Antwerp and America regular services to Brazil, the British West Indies, the Far East, Australia, Spain, Italy and the Near East.
But though Belgian commerce and industry were showing their powers of rapid recuperation, the country's financial situation could not but be serious. Scarcely was it back in Belgium when the Government had to face the cost of redeeming the marks put in circulation by Germany; the amount represented 7-5 milliards of francs. Other heavy charges upon State finances were: the payment of arrears of salary due to officials; the augmentation of salaries necessitated by the enormously increased cost of living; the expenses of victualling the country and of reconstruct- ing railways, canals and roads; the sums voted for compensation to industrial concerns and private persons for war damage and destruction.
In 1919 the national debt amounted to 12,964,050,000 francs; in 1920 it was over 30 milliards. To meet a situation of such gravity new taxes had to be imposed. The income tax established by vote on Oct. 21 1919 took 10% on unearned incomes, and a graded percentage on earned incomes which only reached 10% when such an income was over 48,000 francs.
On Oct. it 19193 new law of inheritance imposed a tax varying with the heir's degree of kinship to the deceased from i to 50% upon the sum inherited; while inheritance from an intestate was suppressed in favour of the State beyond the fourth degree of kinship. New taxes fell on beer, tobacco, alcohol, and cinemas. On March 3 1919 war profits were taxed progressively up to 10% and railway fares were doubled.
