Golden Age, April 24, 1935
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The Golden Age
A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE
in this issue
BELGIUM—
THE CROSSROADS OF EUROPE
REPENTANCE AT DEATH
THE BUSINESS
OF A RADIO "PRIEST"
NEW JERSEY HATE BILL AND
"THE COMMONWEAL"
NEPHILIM
AND SPIRIT MEDIUMS
every other
WEDNESDAY
five cents a copy
one dollar a year
Canada & Foreign 1.25
Vol. XVI - No. 407
April 24, 1935 CONTENTS
LABOR AND ECONOMICS
Four Unemployed Generals . . . 461
Depression and Liberty . . . 462
In Eighteen Months . . . 462
What the American People Lost . . . 462
Vocal Lessons in North Carolina . . . 462
Still Plenty of Unemployed . . . 479
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
The Golden Age . . . 463
Newark Evening News for Free Speech . . . 463
Machine Guns Decried as Educators . . . 463
31 Persons Living in One Room . . . 464
REPENTANCE AT DEATH . . . 465
A Truthful Statement . . . 466
N. J. Hate Bill and The Commonweal . . . 474
MANUFACTURING AND MINING
Whipstocking Oil Wells . . . 464
The Concrete at Boulder Dam . . . 470
Glass Thirteen Times as Strong . . . 470
FINANCE—COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION
Hurrah for the Baltimore Sun! . . . 463
Adam and John D., Jr. . . . 464
Some of the War Profits . . . 464
The Billion-Dollar Gold Racket . . . 464
A Thousand Miles on Ten Cents . . . 467
Increase in Railroad Accidents . . . 467
Plane Service to China . . . 467
THE BUSINESS OF A RADIO "PRIEST" . . . 472
POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
Federal Reserve Desires More Rope . . . 464
Uncle Sam Has Learned His Lesson . . . 468
W.C.T.U. Law Enforcement Division . . . 468
Great Achievement by League of Nations . . . 468
Kansas City Gone to the Devil . . . 468
Relief Workers' Banquet at Breckenridge . . . 469
Anarchy in Kansas . . . 469
The Pedigree of Mr. Roosevelt . . . 473
AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY
Forests Need 70,000 Men a Year . . . 462
MORE ABOUT TALC . . . 470
HOME AND HEALTH
"TRUE CHRISTIAN HEARD IN COURT" . . . 471
Moving Pictures of Souls . . . 471
TRAVEL AND MISCELLANY
BELGIUM—THE CROSSROADS OF EUROPE . . . 451
Two New Railroad Wrinkles . . . 467
The Wrong Frederick . . . 469
RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
It Shall Not Return Void . . . 466
Laughing at the Courier-News . . . 466
EIGHT POSTAL CARDS . . . 473
The Lying Spirits of "Purgatory" . . . 474
NEPHILIM AND SPIRIT MEDIUMS . . . 475
LYING SPIRIT REPRESENTS THE DEAD . . . 478
A PRESUMPTUOUS SIN . . . 479
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The Golden Age
Volume XVI Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, April 24, 1935 Number 407
Belgium — the Crossroads of Europe
BELGIUM has the misfortune of lying at the crossroads of Europe, between three contentious empires. As long ago as the time of the Roman Empire Belgium was the meeting-ground between two great races, the Celts and the Teutons. The former occupied what is now France, while the latter occupied the territory north of the Rhine. Roughly, the Rhine was the dividing line between these two warlike races, but it did not serve to keep them apart in the early dawn of history, nor has it since.
The Belgae, as Caesar called the fifteen Celtic tribes living in the territory between the Rhine and the Seine, were semibarbaric and uncultured. They were beginning to be subjected to the attacks of the Teuton and Frankish tribes from beyond the Rhine when Caesar’s armies came and conquered the Belgians (57 B.C.). The Belgians put up a stiff resistance, but finally had to surrender to the superior military power of the Romans.
The conquerors took complete possession, with this advantage to the Belgae, that they hindered the Germanic tribes from making further inroads into the territory south of the Rhine for a considerable period. The Belgae learned the Roman language, after a fashion, and later became “Christian”. It is said that Christianity was introduced into Belgium in A.D. 42 by Eucharius, who is supposed to have been one of the seventy disciples; but that is legend, and not history. In fact, there is considerable uncertainty about much of the “history” of those times, and it is only with difficulty that historians construct a connected account of the general course of events. It is generally conceded that Maternus, who lived in the beginning of the second century, was the first missionary to the Belgian tribes.
The First German Invasion
During the third and fourth centuries the Germanic tribes became stronger, while the Romans, due to the decline of the Empire, growing weaker, were unable to keep them from breaking across the Rhine and establishing themselves on Belgian soil.
The Germanic Franks made great inroads into the country and pushed their armies as far south as Paris, just as in the World War the Germans nearly succeeded in making that goal. At Paris the Franks established their capital of the surrounding territory, making it the Frankish kingdom. Tournai became the capital of Belgian territory. The Germanic language became the language of the northern part of Belgium, because of the large number of Franks that settled there, but the southern part retained the Roman dialect. There the conquering Franks adopted the speech of the Belgians. The result is that division of language in Belgium which persists to the present time and is one of that country’s greatest problems. Belgium marks the terminus of the dividing line between the two prominent divisions of Europe, the Latinized Celts, including the Gauls, living to the south, and the Teutons, being located to the north. It is most interesting to note how the dividing line is still noticeable in the fact that the southern nations of Europe are almost entirely Catholic, while the northern nations are largely Protestant. (In England, incidentally, we have a mixture of the two races, together with an attempted compromise between the two religions.)
Charles the Great, who was of Belgian extraction, sought to bring all the states of Europe together under his own control, and succeeded in large measure. But it was customary among the Franks to divide the kingdom among a ruler’s sons upon his death, and so the empire which Charlemagne had succeeded in uniting was divided, and his work undone. Belgium fell to Lotharius, and became a part of Lotharingia, which later fell to Louis III. Flanders was separated from the rest of Belgium and assigned to Charles. Belgium continued divided in this way for three centuries.
During feudal times Belgium was divided among several counts, dukes, and even bishops. During this period the peasants were reduced to serfdom, if they ever were much more. No doubt the bishops ably assisted in this process.
Defender of the Holy Sepulcher
Godfrey of Bouillon belongs to this period. He captured Jerusalem in the first crusade. Offered the crown as king of Jerusalem, he refused, saying he would not be crowned king in the city where the Lord had been crowned with thorns. He accepted instead the title of "defender of the holy sepulcher". Perhaps Godfrey meant well, but he overlooked the Bible statement that the weapons of the Christian's warfare are not carnal.
In a later crusade another Belgian, Baldwin of Flanders, was made emperor of Constantinople.
The Belgian feudal lords owed allegiance to greater princes, but exercised almost unlimited power over their respective tracts of territory. It is during the feudal period that the various provinces took form.
When the towns grew in size and merchants increased in wealth, Belgian commerce brought ships from all parts of the world to Antwerp and Bruges. The merchants began to compete for the power exercised by the feudal lords. The towns, especially of Flanders and Brabant, became very democratic. There were frequent revolts against the ducal rulers.
Philip the Fair, of France, then interested himself in the situation. He sided with the nobility and sent his soldiers into Flanders to help the nobles. Philip was not unselfish as his action in this matter seems to suggest. He saw an opportunity to add Belgium, or at least part of it, to his own kingdom. The French soldiers remained in Flanders, to the great annoyance of the merchants and people. After five years, in 1302, a terrible uprising took place at Bruges. Then as now, the main cause of the trouble was a commercial one. The Flemings murdered all their French Catholic brethren in the early morning hours of a set day. Then Philip sent a powerful army to put down the "rebellion", but it was defeated at Courtrai, in a battle called "the Battle of the Golden Spurs", because of the large number of spurs collected on the battlefield after the defeat of the noblemen and the French.
The Dukes of Burgundy
Meanwhile the dukes of Burgundy had succeeded in increasing their possessions by various devices.
The dukes of Burgundy brought about the unification of the country, the lesser nobles having been eliminated from the field of competition. The possessions of these dukes included not only what is now Belgium, but also portions of the Netherlands and France. In 1361, with the death of Philip, last duke of the ancient Burgundian line, King John of France added Burgundy, as the country was then called, to his own possessions. In 1363 this king gave the dukedom to his favorite and youngest son, Philip the Bold. In 1382 the Battle of Rosebeque restored the waning power of the nobles. The marriage of the daughter of the last French duke of Burgundy to Maximilian of Austria brought the Low Countries under the control of the Hapsburgs. It is interesting to see how these "kings by the grace of God" conducted matters as if they owned everything in sight, and as a matter of fact they had things pretty much their own way, except when some "king by the grace of God" was pleased to question the right of one of his fellow kings.
Anyway, from the time of the Battle of Rosebeque until the time of the French Revolution the interests of the Low Countries were sacrificed to the schemes of their masters, first the Austrian, then the Spanish branch of the Hapsburg family, one about as bad as the other.
As an outpost of the Spanish power Belgium held about the worst position that could be imagined in the political picture. Its interests were neglected among the huge dominions of Charles of Spain. Cut off from Spain as far as any Spanish assistance was concerned, and open to the attack of enemies, poor Belgium and Holland had a tough time of it.
The interests of these countries were to a large extent similar. From the standpoint of language as well as geographically they were one country, but they had no national existence, being merely a part of the greater empire, their interests being neglected for the benefit of the Spanish power. Added to this were the horrors of religious persecution and inquisition.
In 1567 civil war broke out in the Low Countries, which resulted in their ultimate separation into two distinct nationalities. The sovereign rights (!) of kings began to be seen in their true light when these same kings butchered their subjects right and left in an effort to deprive the people of the right to worship God according to their understanding of His will.
The Inquisition
Charles V and Philip II of Spain, which then held possession of the Low Countries, tried to stamp out Protestantism by resorting to the most barbarous cruelty in what is known as the Inquisition. Philip sent the duke of Alva to carry on the war of suppression. It has been estimated that during these times 100,000 were burned, beheaded, buried alive, strangled or otherwise slain, not to mention the atrocious tortures to which additional thousands were subjected. One of the reasons why Belgium is a Catholic country today is that the Protestants were all butchered, with the exception of those who fled to the northern provinces and to England.
The prince of Orange had tried hard to keep all the Netherlands together, but when, on July 10, 1584, he was assassinated by the Spanish, the last hope of unity was gone. The northern provinces gained their independence, while the southern provinces, more completely under the power of Roman Catholicism, were constrained to submit to the despotic rule of Spain, though extorting from that rapacious power some guarantees of liberty.
In the succeeding century the northern provinces, as a republic, made rapid strides toward becoming the first maritime power of Europe; the southern section tasted the dubious benefits of subjection to religious and political despotism. Spain ruled the Belgians, but did nothing to help them. Belgium was in a bad way. It lay neglected and impotent, while liberty-lovers and devoted Christians who would not deny the truth God had given them pressed into the Netherlandish republic, strengthening and enriching it.
Belgium Slowly Recovers
Belgium has progressed only to the extent that it has resisted the encroachments of Roman priests and princes. At the end of the sixteenth century the country was in bad shape. Dikes were pierced, polders flooded, cultivation neglected, and wild beasts were rampant. It is reported that within a mile of some of the largest cities travelers were attacked by wolves. The Thirty Years' war saw the country in its worst condition.
Then followed a period during which Belgium was the football of the great powers, now subject to this ruler, then to that, and always hampered by Romish influence. Not that Belgium was wholly supine under religious and political oppression, but that the large number of its inhabitants, still blindly loyal to the greatest of all systems of oppression, caused them to constantly lose what little ground was gained in their efforts toward betterment.
When Joseph II, emperor of Germany, by the edict of toleration (1781) tried to sever the relationship between the pope and the clergy the Belgians were ready to fight for independence. It was one of those occasions where the religious or Catholic and the progressive element in the country got together, for Joseph also tried to introduce measures of government which displeased the more liberal Belgians. The United States of Belgium was the result, in imitation of the other United States across the Atlantic.
One of the leaders in this effort for independence was Van der Noot, styled the Belgian Franklin, while another, Van der Meersch, is called the Belgian Washington. However, the nobility and the clergy retained the chief power in the Belgian "United States", and they lasted only a year.
The Nineteenth Century
At the close of the eighteenth century Belgium was subject to Catholic Austria. The revolution then raging in France extended to Belgian territory. Then came Napoleon, and later Waterloo, fought on Belgian territory. The Belgian and Dutch troops were under the command of William I of Holland.
After Waterloo the rulers got together at Vienna and tried to decide what was to be done with the map of Europe; a question, by the way, that has never been settled, and will not be settled until God's kingdom settles it once for all in justice and righteousness.
At Vienna Belgium and Holland were united under William I, and they stayed that way for a few years. Then came the separation, in 1830, largely as the result of the machinations of the international meddler, the Roman hierarchy, now so active in the affairs of the United States of America. The aim of the Hierarchy was to separate the Catholic provinces from the influence of the more enlightened northern section, chiefly Protestant.
Belgium became a "constitutional, representative and hereditary monarchy", and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg was made king of the Belgians, June 4, 1831.
As soon as Belgium was definitely separated from the Netherlands the Roman Catholic clergy got busy and tried to get control of the whole business. They were particularly anxious to concentrate the entire educational system into their own hands, of which more will be said later.
King Leopold I is called the founder of modern Belgium. He was an uncle of Queen Victoria of England, who valued his advice, given unofficially, in her position as ruler of the incipient British Empire.
In spite of the fact that Leopold I became king as the result of a supposedly democratic revolution, he was annoyed because a liberty tree had been planted in front of the royal residence. He had it watered with a poisoned solution, so that it died. He felt better after that.
Leopold II was largely instrumental in building up the Congo Free State in Africa, exploiting it for his own benefit until the brutal treatment which his officers accorded the natives provoked so much unfavorable comment that in 1908 he gave the "free" state to Belgium, which made that country fifth in size among the empires of the world.
Leopold II was "a merry old soul". On one occasion a priest undertook to lecture the king on the subject of his private life, telling him about the things that were said of him. The king listened for a while and then said, "What a funny thing, Monsieur de Cure. Do you know, people have told me the same things about you—only I refused to believe them."
A Strange Accident
The next king of Belgium, Albert, was evidently a better-behaved monarch. In fact, all men spoke well of him, giving one the impression that the thing was rather overdone. He was the only one of all the kings involved in the World War to take personal command of his armies. Belgium was completely overrun by the Germans, leaving only a small corner of Flanders to the king and his troops, and naturally the king could not escape close association with his army.
The king was an experienced mountain climber and often visited Switzerland. On one occasion he is reported to have been saved from injury in a bobsled run by one of his companions holding on to the seat of the royal trousers. We suspect, however, that the royal companion may have been trying to save himself rather than the king, who was a big man.
It has been a matter of considerable comment that King Albert should have undertaken to make the climb in which he met his death. Frosts and thaws were known to have loosened many rocks.
The place where the king fell became a great center of attraction, and was plucked bare of stones, leaves, branches and everything movable. The great rock from which he is supposed to have fallen was surrounded by barbed wire. This was probably done for fear that the Catholics might take it away to some church and subsequently charge admission for a look at it, or at least make it an object of pilgrimage with the same general financial result. Most Catholics are great hands at collecting gruesome souvenirs. They dote on bones, hair, teeth, shrouds, and other relics.
While King Albert's body lay in state at the Laeken chateau two "Sisters of Mercy" knelt all day at the bedside. Just why they should make themselves so conspicuous when praying we cannot explain. Jesus counseled His followers to withdraw from view when praying.
Some time after the king's death an English author, Lieut. Col. Graham Seton Hutchison, said, "The biggest piece of spoof put over on the world in the past six months was the story of Albert's death. A man with a rope around his waist does not go climbing by himself. There were no bruises on the body. In other words, he was rapped on the back of the head. That is known in Brussels, and nobody dares speak of the death of King Albert in Belgium today."
Borel de Bitche, first secretary of the Belgian embassy in London, said, "If that colonel will come to the embassy and dare repeat his allegation I will give him a punch under the jaw." That, of course, proves conclusively that the story was false, and makes it unnecessary for us to discuss it further.
"Uneasy Lies the Head..."
Not everybody in Belgium was fond of the royal family. About the time of the marriage of the Belgian Princess Marie Jose to Crown Prince Humbert of Italy, elaborate precautions were taken against possible attempts on the lives of the king, queen, prince and princess. As it was, an effort was made to prevent the wedding by an attempt to blow Prince Humbert off the map. It was not successful, and the man who tried to save Belgium’s tomboy princess from marriage to Humbert was sentenced to five years in prison. He was subsequently pardoned at the request of Marie Jose. Perhaps the princess, after two years of married life, sort of wished the man had aimed more carefully!
An official film of the wedding at Rome was shown at Brussels and the director of the theater was overwhelmed with anonymous letters threatening to blow him up as well as his theater if he did not take the picture off immediately. It was withdrawn. While in Italy, the Belgian photographers were given very little consideration by Mussolini’s henchmen. Royalty is in a bad way.
When the present king of the Belgians, Leopold III, rode into Brussels on a white charger, elaborate precautions were taken to prevent a demonstration in favor of a republic.
With the strong sentiment for democracy all about them the Belgian rulers try to be “democratic”. The present queen even went so far as to push her baby’s carriage through the streets of Brussels. That was when she was still crown princess. The time may not be far distant when royalty will be scrubbing its own floors. And why not? It would be good exercise, and more safe than mountain climbing.
The Land of the Belgians
The land of the Belgians comprises an area of 11,752 square miles, not quite the size of the state of Maryland in the United States. There are nine provinces, or states, in present-day Belgium. They are Antwerp, Limburg, Liege, Luxemburg, Namur, Hainaut, East Flanders, West Flanders, and Brabant. As a result of the World War the German districts of Eupen and Malmady were added to Belgian territory. The people of these districts are now agitating for a return to Germany.
The Belgian seacoast is about fifty miles long, but her best port, Antwerp, must be reached through the Netherlands, a situation which Belgians would like to have changed. However, entrance to the port is now entirely free, tolls at the mouth of the Scheldt having been abolished long ago.
The land is somewhat elevated in the southeast and slopes gradually toward the seacoast, where the low level plains are only a few feet above the sea and in some places below sea level. The southern heights are an extension of the Ardennes, which in some places attain a height of over 2,000 feet. Toward the north of this mountainous section is the coal field of Belgium. North and west of the coal field are deep beds of clay and sand. Part of the clay is suitable for the manufacture of earthenware or bricks, and part of it is suitable for making fine pottery.
The chief rivers of Belgium, the Meuse and the Scheldt, have a northerly direction and reach the sea through the Netherlands. These rivers have many tributaries, so that no other country in Europe, with the possible exception of Holland, is so well provided with internal water communication. The mouth of the Scheldt makes an admirable harbor, and Antwerp, located at that point, is one of the chief ports of Europe.
The climate of Belgium is subject to sudden changes, but generally temperate and agreeable. In the higher regions the air is pure and healthful; but in the low flats, rather sluggish and humid. Recently there was considerable concern over a certain fog which caused the death of nearly a hundred inhabitants in the Meuse valley. Cattle and animals likewise were affected. Scientists were unable to account for the unusual and fatal effect of the fog.
Nearly a fifth of Belgium is covered with woods. In Luxemburg and Namur the forests still shelter wolves and wild boars. The total value of timber produced yearly is about $4,400,000.
Most Dense Population
Belgium has a population of 8,159,824, which is almost 700 to the square mile. It is the most densely populated country in Europe. In the province of Brabant the ratio is 1,216 to the square mile. The majority of the population is said to be Catholic, but the amount of opposition there is to the Catholic party indicates that many Catholics are such in name only and that there is a considerable proportion of the inhabitants that are not interested in the “church” at all. We are told that the government impartially subsidizes Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish places of worship by contributing to the stipends of ministers, but as Catholicism is the prevailing "religion" and there are a negligible number of adherents to Protestantism, it can be seen that the Roman Catholic church is the chief beneficiary of this piece of legislation.
Immediately following the revolution which separated Belgium from the Netherlands the Catholics began to gather the entire educational system into their hands. Then the liberals got busy and made themselves heard.
A compromise was reached in the Education Act of 1842 which made religious teaching obligatory in the elementary schools, children of beliefs other than Catholic having their instruction on that subject elsewhere.
Blocked in one direction the Catholic party, with true Catholic spirit, tried to put it over on the people in another way. They appropriated more and more money for "education". As a result, the people threw out the Catholic ministry in 1878.
The liberty-loving people of Belgium then united to secularize education and they obtained the passage of an education bill which threw out religion as a public school subject. There was a big fight over this, and the premier went so far as to break off diplomatic relations with the pope, who was no doubt inserting his proboscis into the affairs of Belgium to an offensive degree. Then the Catholic people were forbidden on pain of hell and damnation to send their children to the public schools, and Catholic teachers were forbidden to teach in them. These unprincipled tactics resulted in the reinstatement of the Catholic party. Consequently, as late as 1890 nearly 27 percent of the population above 14 years of age could neither read nor write. By continued agitation on the part of the Liberals this percentage dropped to 3 percent in 1923, but even yet the educational system of Belgium leaves much to be desired.
There are now both public and "church" schools. Pupils attending "church" schools and attaining the highest grade there must be sent to the third grade in the public schools if a change is made. So say the Liberals, and it may be something of an exaggeration, but there is doubtless much truth in the allegation. The conflict over religious or secular education continues to be a prominent issue in Belgium, indicating that the country is not as completely under the thumb of "mother church" as is suggested in her rating as one of the three most devoted children of that "church".
The Language Question
Closely related to the education squabble is the language question, which keeps Belgium a divided people. In spite of the strong link that adherence to the Catholic church is supposed to provide, the Flemings and Walloons, representing the two linguistic divisions of Belgium, are not overly fond of each other. It is required that every one connected with the central government must speak both Flemish and French. The Flemish members of Parliament, however, insist on speaking Flemish in the Chamber, and when they do so, the Walloon members walk out. The Flemish, in turn, repay their fellow parliamentarians from the Walloon section by walking out when one of them rises to speak in French.
There was a great furor about the Ghent University, which the Flemings insisted should be an exclusively Flemish university. This objective was finally attained. The two sections of the country also disagree as to what part of the territory is Flemish and what part French, and so the fight continues. Extremists are not wanting who would like to separate the Flemish part of the country from Belgium altogether, which would mean about equal division of the territory. The Flemings form the majority of the population, and have strongly resented the efforts of the French section in trying to make that language predominant.
There are even some Flemings who would like to reunite the Flemish territory to the Netherlands, but that country is indifferent to the idea. No doubt the Dutch have trouble enough of their own.
Acta Sanctorum
One indication of how prominently Catholicism appears in Belgian education is the fact that the Jesuits receive an annual stipend from the government for working on a collection of books called "Acta Sanctorum", which contains a record of the lives of the "saints" of the Catholic Calendar. This collection of writings, which is still in process of preparation and publication, will consist of over a hundred volumes. It has been in progress for nearly 250 years, and, while it is a most remarkable work, is comparatively worthless as far as containing any information of practical use is concerned. The "Acta Sanctorum" are supposed to have had their origin as a result of the destruction of Christian records by Diocletian, after which the attempt was made to fill the gap in the records of the church with legends and traditions. As time went on the record increased in length. The Bollandus edition, begun by Bollandus of Belgium, is an attempt to get out something "authentic" on the subject, but the result is not very convincing. The Catholic records on any subject are not overly reliable, since the end too frequently justifies the means, and it too often serves the purpose of "holy church" to distort and suppress the facts.
Belgian Politics
In Belgium politics is a three-cornered affair and the only way they can get anything done is for two of the three chief political parties to get together on a proposition. The three main parties are the Catholics, the Liberals, and the Socialists. Much of the time of the Belgian legislative body is spent in wrangling, which is not unusual in politics of any country. The three parties are internally divided on the language question. This question has for the time been settled by making French the official language in the south and Flemish the official language in the north. In the Brussels district both languages are declared official. The king tries to speak both Flemish and French, but not at the same time.
The subject of disarmament and cooperation with France, both in a military and commercial way, is another cause of friction in the Parliament. The majority, however, demand adequate (?) means of defense. There is almost complete agreement between Belgium and France on all the main questions of foreign policy. Belgium is nervous about Germany's military activities. In December of last year about $150,000,000 was appropriated for building forts all along the German border and for the fortification of the Herve plateau. The Belgian line of fortifications will be a continuation of the French line. It is evident, however, that, in the event of war, fortification will play only a minor part in the military operations. Forts will not keep out enemy airplanes or poison gas or bombs. The only nation that is now completely protected is that "nation whose God is Jehovah".
In 1931 Belgian army officers numbered 4,010, and the army itself numbered 68,920. It is planned, however, to enlist the entire man power of the nation, together with its economic and financial resources, in the event of a war. The navy has been abolished.
Under agreements concluded since the World War, Britain, France and Italy undertake to guarantee the rights of the Belgians against foreign aggression. But Belgium's faith in the League and the Locarno pact is evidently not very strong.
The Belgian Socialist party, which is only slightly less powerful than the Catholic party, is strongly in favor of progressive reduction of armaments, while a large proportion of its membership favors complete and unilateral disarmament on the part of Belgium.
The thought of war is never far from the minds of the Belgian people. Anti-gas masks were on sale in the stores until the Government prohibited their sale and the display of exhibits showing the results of gas attacks. It was pointed out that the possession of such masks gave a false sense of security and that they were not of much good in the hands of the uninitiated.
Edith Cavell, the British war nurse, was shot on Belgian soil as a spy, having been incarcerated by the Germans in the St. Gilles prison. It is said that it was her honesty that led to her execution and that she also implicated a large number of Belgians who were accused of being her accomplices. Belgians are not unanimous in their appreciation of the boasted heroism of the nurse, thinking her rather stupid than honest. However, the cell in which she was kept has been set aside as a show place and is always decorated with fresh flowers by warm admirers.
There seems to be a difference of opinion as to why Aerschot was destroyed by the Germans at the beginning of the World War. It is stated that it was done by way of reprisal against sharpshooters, but this is vehemently denied by the Council of Aerschot.
There appears to have been some kind of understanding by which the Germans allowed King Albert to keep the little piece of Belgium in which he and his soldiers were quartered during the entire period of the war. The king himself was located at La Panne, about five miles from the battle line. The Germans could have shot La Panne to pieces at any time, but it was not bombarded.
Belgium and America
During the war and also after the armistice 6,000,000 Belgians were fed and otherwise cared for by means of funds raised in the United States. After the war the United States helped in the reconstruction of Belgium. Three seats of learning were built with American funds: the new University of Brussels at Solbosch, the School of Medicine on the Chaussee de Waterloo, and the new Louvain Library. Belgium has decided to pay nothing more on debts she owes the United States. However, the king always says nice things about the Americans at Memorial Day celebrations.
The architect of the Louvain Library planned a balustrade with the inscription, "Destroyed by German Fury; Restored by American Generosity." This was objected to on the grounds of perpetuating the hatred engendered by the war, and a plain balcony was erected instead. Three times "patriotic" Belgians smashed the plain balcony; but the courts finally decided that it should be plain, and that ended the matter.
Belgium has decided to tax foreigners. As a result many tourists and visitors have left the country. The Dutch were most indignant at being taxed. Belgians in Holland are not thus treated. The Hollanders feel that the Belgians do not show much appreciation of the hospitality given them in Holland during the war.
The Belgian People
The Belgians are short in stature. Statistics show that 29 percent of them range in height from four feet three inches to five feet two; 69 percent range up to a maximum of five feet seven inches. Only 2 percent are over five feet seven inches.
Booksellers say the literary taste of the general public is very low. The best seller is usually a detective story, and novels that have been put on the screen sell readily. An attractive paper jacket counts for 50 percent in the sale of a book.
Women do not take part in funerals in Belgium, but remain at home while the men accompany the casket to the cemetery.
At King Albert's funeral 10,000 war veterans marched before the coffin. It is said that many of them wept in the procession.
Belgium, like other countries that could be mentioned, is troubled with grafters in public office. Embezzlement by tax collectors attained such proportions that the minister of finance issued a special circular dealing with the subject.
However, in spite of the foregoing, crime has fallen off in Belgium to the extent of enabling her to close four prisons. Officials attribute this state of affairs to the leniency of the courts and to the fact that minors who formerly went to prison now go to the reformatory.
Alarm has been expressed at the steadily increasing number of mental defectives. About ten years ago there were 17,000 registered lunatics; now there are 23,000. Physicians report that there are 60,000 abnormal children in the population of about 8,000,000 Belgians. Belgium, a Roman Catholic country, refuses to consider birth control.
Walking Accordion Players
Walking accordion players are popular in Belgium. There are 40,000 Belgians who get a lot of fun and good exercise out of this diversion. The accordion, "the poor man's piano," is a favorite musical instrument.
Emil Gleaneur was acclaimed the accordion champion some years ago. He played his instrument from Thieu to Brussels and back, about fifty miles, taking off an hour for lunch and six hours for sleep. The people along the country roads gathered in groups and cheered him on his way.
Antimilitarism is increasing in Belgium, and the munition makers are exerting their influence to counteract this tendency. Statements appear in the controlled press that in the event of war conscientious objectors will be shown no mercy.
Many of the Belgians are still extremely superstitious. Recently an apparition of the virgin Mary was reported to have been seen at Beauraing, where a new Catholic church was being built. It was also stated that snowflakes had fallen at the spot in midsummer. The Belgian state railway ran forty excursion trains to the town and made a haul of $240,000. Of course, the building fund of the church got a big boost, and that was the inspiration back of the swindle.
Belgium has a Boy Scout organization, as well as a collection of Rotarians. King Leopold is the honorary president of the Brussels Rotarians.
The sale of liquor is restricted in Belgium, and there is a great deal of smuggling and bootlegging. Regulations prohibit the sale of liquor by the glass in public, but allow its sale in specially licensed stores in quantities of not less than two quarts.
At Arlon an ancient Belgian custom giving aid to lonely lovers is still observed. The young farmers who are looking for wives visit the fair, called "The Lovers' Fair", where blooming girls from the Ardennes highlands assemble in goodly numbers. The first negotiations are made at the fair held sometime in December, and they are finally completed at another fair held shortly after New Year.
The Belgian flag consists of three vertical stripes of black, yellow and red. The national flower is the azalea.
The saxophone is said to be the invention of a Belgian professor of mathematics, named Sax. The first white man to see Niagara Falls was a Belgian.
Picturesque Cities
As most of Belgium's cities are many centuries old, there is much that is picturesque and reminiscent of the past. Foremost among the cities is Brussels, the capital, with a population of about 800,000. Like Boston, it has many crooked streets which run in all directions, seemingly without purpose and certainly without plan. The old fortifications have been changed into raised boulevards, planted with numerous trees, and extending for five miles around the older part of the city. The only remnant of the old fortifications is a gate, the Porte de Hal, built in 1379. The Hotel de Ville, built 1401-55, has a spire 364 feet high, which is pretty good for the time it was built. There is also an ancient cathedral the construction of which spanned a period of nearly 400 years. The city is filled with monuments, sculptures, and works of art. John Esch and Henry Vos, the first martyrs of the Reformation, were burned at Brussels July 1, 1523.
Antwerp is the most prosperous city of present-day Belgium, and its only important gateway to the sea. The seaport is open to the largest vessels, in spite of the fact that it is 50 miles from the sea. Ostend, the only other port, is comparatively unimportant.
At one time Bruges was the main port of the country. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries sometimes as many as 150 ships a day entered the harbor, bringing in products from all the then-known world. Bruges was a rival of Venice both as a port and as a city of art. The river Zwyn gradually filled with sand, and Antwerp took the place of Bruges as the main port of the land. Today Bruges is only a dream city. The Belgians call it Bruges la Morte, which means "the dead". It is the oldest of Belgian cities and a fascinating relic of the Middle Ages.
Ghent, with a population of 200,000, is famous for its flower market, its cotton and woolen manufactures, and is sometimes called the Belgian Manchester. During the Middle Ages it was the chief manufacturing town of northwest Europe.
Liege, with a population of 250,000, is the principal city of the Walloon country. Its main industry is the manufacture of armaments. It also produces steam engines, machinery, hardware of all kinds, watches and jewelry. Liege might be called the Pittsburgh of Belgium. Blast furnaces, machine works and factories line the shores of the Meuse.
Finally, there is Spa, 20 miles southeast of Liege. It is a watering place and was known to the Romans, Pliny the Elder making mention of it. It has been a health resort for 2,000 years. It contains wonderful medicinal springs. The waters are shipped to all parts of the world.
Belgian Manufactures
Belgium is famous for its fine linens, its lace, carpets and porcelain. These products are all of superior craftsmanship. Belgium is the most highly industrialized country in Europe. The factories, as a result of the war and subsequent reparations, contain the most modern machinery. Foreign trade for 1933, total imports valued at 15,217,000,000 francs and exports to the amount of 14,328,000,000 francs. Belgium can support only a third of its population, the remainder depending on industry and commerce.
The diamond trade is an important part of Belgian industry, employing 15,000 skilled workers who draw good salaries. Exports of diamonds, which before the American stock market crash amounted to $50,000,000, have since decreased noticeably.
Belgian workers do not get much for their toil, and there have been repeated demonstrations and strikes, both in the mining section and in other industries. During the miners' strike the women took an active part. An eight-hour-day law was enacted providing for a work week of 48 hours. American workmen enjoy as comforts what the Belgian workers consider luxuries.
American manufacturers of automobiles are making inroads into the Belgian market and competing with European cars. This the Europeans in general and the Belgians do not like very much, but there seems to be no way of stopping it at present.
The Belgian Farmer
The Belgian farmer is considered the model farmer of Europe. The farms are usually small and every foot of soil is used for productive purposes, only a narrow road being left between farms. The spade is the instrument most frequently in use, and the ground is divided up into small square fields having the highest point at the center and sloping gradually toward the sides, where ditches carry off the surplus of water. The Belgian farmer has recourse to a process of trenching his farm to a depth of about 18 inches. This is not done all at once, but gradually, and begins by laying out the land in ridges about five feet wide. When seed is sown it is not covered by the harrow, but with earth dug from the furrows about two spits deep and spread evenly over the surface. The furrow is dug a little farther over each year, until in the course of five years the entire ridge has undergone an even spading. This process prevents the formation of a subsoil such as would take place if the ridges remained the same from year to year. The ground remains evenly trenched to a depth of about eighteen inches. Every province has what is called an agricultural commission.
Belgian cattle and horses are of a superior quality. The horses of Flanders are good draught horses.
Belgian farms are fully stocked. The cattle are fed at home instead of being allowed to graze in the field. In winter their food consists of turnips and roots; and in summer, of green crops so arranged as to succeed one another in regular order and supply a sufficiency of good food.
Each farm homestead has a tank into which the liquids of the cattle sheds are gathered. Rape cake is added thereto to increase its fertilizing qualities, especially for promoting the growth of flax.
Those parts of Belgium which are not suitable for raising crops are devoted to pasturage. The mast of the forests is utilized as food for large herds of swine.
Tobacco is raised in the Ardennes valleys, and vineyards line the slopes of the southern highlands.
The dominating factor in Belgian farming is economy, making use of every foot of soil and every bit of produce. Nothing is wasted. An equally important item is the industry which the farmers manifest in making the very best use of the materials at hand.
A considerable expanse of moorland waste, the Campine, composed mainly of sand, occupies a part of the Limburg and Antwerp provinces. There are in this barren section patches of cultivated soil which are made to produce corn and furnish pasturage. Agricultural colonies have been established in various parts of the Campine. Some of these are voluntary, and others are composed of convicts. Some of the best cattle of the country are now raised in this section.
The Belgian Congo
While Belgium itself is but little larger than the state of New Hampshire, it owns territory in Africa eighty times its own size, one-third as large as the United States. It was explored by Henry M. Stanley, upon order of King Leopold II, in 1876. The explorer founded stations and made treaties with the native chiefs, spending four years in the work. In 1885 the Congo Free State was founded, having its own flag, and being subject only to Leopold. He subsequently transferred it to the Belgian people.
Within this vast tract of land, estimated at 918,000 square miles, there are about 22,000 white people, and 8,800,000 blacks, of Bantu origin. Much has been done to develop this region. Where only fifty years ago there was nothing but boundless wilds inhabited by savages, we now find 2,566 miles of railway, 21,180 miles of roads, 80 post offices, 65 special telegraph offices, 27 wireless stations, and 60 telephone offices and 14 central stations, serving 1,420 subscribers. There is regular air service between Leopoldville and Stanleyville, a distance of over 1,000 miles.
Within the Belgian Congo three vast stretches of mountain, forest and stream have been set aside as natural parks: Parc Leopold, a million acres; Parc Ruwenzori, 500,000 acres, and Parc Albert, 800,000 acres. There are forests so dense that only at midday is the sun able to send down thin streams of light through the heavy foliage. Rain stands for months in the depressions under the overarching trees. The Ruwenzori tract includes the fabled Mountains of the Moon, rising, snow-capped and glittering, 18,000 feet above the jungle. Parc Albert is especially intended to preserve wild animal and plant life of the Congo, particularly the gorilla and the hippopotamus, threatened with extinction. The killing of animals or removing of plants or trees in Albert National Park is prohibited by severe penalties. The sanctuary is policed by Belgian colonial officers, and no one is allowed even to enter it without a special permit.
Belgium is encouraging the production of rubber and cotton in the Congo, with a view to rendering her industries independent of raw material from the United States.
In giving special concessions to exploit the agricultural and mineral resources of the Congo to any company the Belgian government requires that roads be built throughout the district and that the natives be encouraged in their agricultural activities. It is further required that hospitals be built and public health and education be given attention. At the same time the government does not relinquish its sovereign prerogatives in the territory. Evidently natives are given more consideration than under Leopold II.
The principal industries of the Congo are the mining of copper, diamonds, gold and radium, the production of cotton, rubber, copal, rice, coffee, cocoa and tobacco. The Congo is in reality an extension of Belgium, which takes most of its exports and transforms the raw materials into the finished commercial product. The diamond industry rivals that of the South African mines. The yearly production runs into millions of carats. The diamonds are of the alluvial variety and are of small size. The native workers are concentrated in villages which are provided with hospitals and other sanitary arrangements as well as schools. The diamonds are sent to Antwerp, where they are cut and polished. The cutters handle an average of $200,000,000 worth of diamonds yearly.
Occasionally there is an uprising of the natives, who seem not to like the idea of the white man's running everything just about as he pleases. Such revolts are of little good to the native; for the white man, with his superior weapons, has no difficulty in subduing any effort at resistance.
Ruanda-Urundi
Belgium has a mandate over the former German colony of Ruanda-Urundi, in Africa. During the last fourteen years 85,000,000 francs has been spent to construct a system of roads; settlements, houses for administrators, schools, dispensaries, hospitals, clinics, laboratories and coffee plantations have been built, for which a total of 145,000,000 francs has been set aside. It is hoped that by 1951 this territory will be able to meet its own public debt and pay its expenses from mining deposits and coffee plantations.
"Great" Men
Belgium, like other countries, has its quota of "great" men, who doubtless figured prominently in its affairs. It has to its credit some noted names, but we will not here devote space to mention of these, believing that the tendency to hold men in high esteem has been carried to an unwarranted extreme in the affairs of this world. In due course, Belgians, together with the other peoples of earth, will come under the administration of the kingdom of God, that is, as many of them as love righteousness and truth, and they will share in the world-wide prosperity that will then be realized.
Four Unemployed Generals
WHEN Mayor LaGuardia took over the Tammany government of New York he found four unemployed generals. It was this way. In the Bronx district there was a staff of 91 laborers employed in the mosquito war then in effect. Over the 91 laborers with their weekly pay roll of $1,930 there were 95 generals with a weekly pay roll of $2,242. This left four of the generals without any privates in their ranks. The others had one each. Timekeepers, one for each five laborers, managed to keep the time; how did they ever do it? There was a chief supervisor for each four men. Fourteen engineers planned the tasks of the army.
Disappointed
OHIO provides pensions for the aged, but not all who expected to benefit from this arrangement had their hopes fulfilled. Those who have only first papers are not entitled to the provision of the state, nor are those who have not lived in the state a sufficient length of time or those who have children who can aid them. Applicants for pensions who have some property are required to turn it over to trusteeship of the state.
Labor and Economics
Depression and Liberty
By Dr. Hugo Fack (Texas)
MISERY during the war enthroned Lenin, the Russian dictator, who swept away personal freedom.
When economic misery under the communistic régime became more serious, Stalin, the man of steel, became the man of the hour, wiping out the last remnants of liberty.
The depression following the war lifted Mussolini into the saddle, the Italian dictator, suppressing all freedom of thought and expression, and turning the whole nation into soldiers, trained to shoot innocents on command.
The depression (deflation) policy of Bruening in Germany caused such disintegration of the economic and moral structure that the rise of another dictator was possible, Hitler, with freedom of thought, speech and publication ended.
Economic misery meant the end of the democracy in Austria, and other countries are on the way, for the same cause, to revert to tyranny which not only suppresses all popular rights and liberties, but the elimination of all hope of general peace and happiness and individual prosperity.
The depression is the road-paver of dictatorship.
But behind dictatorship stands high finance.
In Eighteen Months
IN Snohomish county, Washington, 175 heads of families organized for self-help and borrowed $13,000 from the government. In that time they have cared well for their families; canned 80,000 cans of fruit; put in tons of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, turnips and rutabagas; cut 302 cords of firewood; opened a shoe shop capable of making 40 pairs a day; opened a clothing shop where all necessities of clothing for men, women and children are produced; have built and equipped a woodworking plant, machine shop, garage, and blacksmith shop, and bought trucks. The assets are now considerably more than the amount borrowed. If these families had been put on a dole of $25 per month per family, it is estimated, the sum required to care for them would have been seven times the amount borrowed, and at the end of the eighteen months the borrowers would be as badly off as at the start.
What the American People Lost
ACCORDING to a governmental survey prepared under the direction of Langdon W. Post, tenement house commissioner, the American people, since 1929, have lost $287,000,000,000 worth of goods and services which were not bought and which could easily have been produced by the nation. Meanwhile the masses were underfed and poorly clothed and taxes raised to care for the unemployed. The report states: "Wholly without strain on production, the national survey budget, drafted to meet a suitable standard of living, would allot 67,000,000 suits and 363,000,000 shirts to the men and boys of the country, and 275,000,000 dresses, 681,000,000 pairs of hose, and 427,000,000 pieces of underwear to the women and girls. As for housing, 60 percent of our people are shown to be financially unable to live in proper homes. Only some $2,262,000,000 was spent for home building in 1929. The budget calls for 1,550,000 new homes each year (as against 434,964, the annual average from 1920 to 1930), a program which would offer no difficulty, since there are ample construction supplies available."
Vocal Lessons in North Carolina
LABOR men in North Carolina complain that when they obeyed the injunction of Congress to vote for joining whatever labor union they chose, the railroad company had a former detective standing at the door of each polling place warning all employees that they must vote as the company wished or they would lose their jobs. This former detective, posing as a carman, but working only now and then a day, and stopping at the best hotel in town, stated on the witness stand that his unexplained large income was due to his method of conducting vocal lessons. Here is a suggestion for struggling music teachers. Vocal lessons at the door of a meeting of railway employees are much more profitable than any other form of vocal lessons known.
Forests Need 70,000 Men a Year
STUDIES by the forest service of the United States Department of Agriculture show that to keep the national forests alone at their point of highest profitable production, 70,000 men would be needed constantly. The federal-owned forests include only a fraction of the country's total forest area.
Social and Educational
The Golden Age
FROM the "Salutatory" of The Golden Age, Volume 1, Number 1, the following explanation is given as to the object of the magazine, and the reason for according it the name by which it has now become known in every corner of the earth:
Its purpose is to explain in the light of Divine wisdom the true meaning of the great phenomena of the present day and to prove to thinking minds by evidence incontrovertible and convincing that the time of a greater blessing of mankind is now at hand. Like a voice in the wilderness of confusion, its mission is to announce the incoming of the Golden Age.
There is a wide diversity of knowledge, which, if properly applied, would result in great and beneficial wisdom to the people. What, then, is the real meaning of the present conditions, and is there a supreme remedy that will bring order out of chaos and establish a lasting peace, prosperity and happiness to the people? THE GOLDEN AGE enters the field for the very purpose of answering these questions and confidently expects to answer them to the satisfaction of all thinking minds.
THE GOLDEN AGE will carry into the homes of the people the desired message which will tend to restore calmness to the disturbed minds and comfort to the saddened hearts.
The name THE GOLDEN AGE has no back reference to any mythological "golden age" under the so-called reign of the heathen god Kronos or Saturn (the heathen counterfeit for Lucifer before he became Satan), nor does it have reference to any so-called "restitution" of such "golden age". The new world, "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Peter 3:13), are established by Jehovah God, hence are of divine source, and therefore the Bible symbol "golden" is properly applied to the aion or age which they introduce.
No Jury Necessary in Woodworth Case
IN The Golden Age No. 371 was narrated how a jury of God-fearing men and women awarded $250 damages to Daniel E. Morgan for false arrest and imprisonment at Pittston, Pa., for distributing free copies of The Golden Age. C. J. Woodworth was arrested at the same time, for interceding for those already arrested. After three years' delay, the counsel for the Pittston officials advised them to agree to a consent verdict in Woodworth's favor for the same amount: no jury was necessary.
Newark Evening News for Free Speech
THE Newark Evening News, one of the most influential papers in the East, stands squarely for free speech. In a stirring editorial it declares that "a congressional group with strong backing is planning to clamp an alien and unenforceable gag upon the United States", and that this committee thus aiming at the destruction of American liberty "is supported in its efforts by the American Federation of Labor, the United States Chamber of Commerce, members of the armed services and an assortment of patriotic societies". The News says, truthfully, that "such a law would be an entering wedge for complete suppression of criticism and concealment of political evils, as well as a present weapon for political reprisal and official gangsterism. The cure is so much worse than the disease that it must be emphatically rejected before the prescription is compounded". Without a doubt the Jesuits of the Roman hierarchy are back of the whole thing.
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