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Show A "Clerical" Govcrmncntv i r The Belgian government is frequently launted with being clerical. We venture tot assert that when its work is weighed the general opinion will be that the. more widely the principles by which it has been guided are adopted the better it will be for the interests of the masses. In twenty years, without exceeding the ordinary budget of 1.(HX,000 francs, they have achieved most notable results and kept the nation in the forefront of progress. Old age pensions have been "introduced; a fund has been provided for the remuneration of men engaged in military duties; the price of sugar has been lowered by ' pence in the kilogramme; the public services have been improved; there has been an increase of 3,000,000 francs annually in I the sum devoted to education, and of 300,000.000 ! in ihe economic provisions for the benefit of the people. Xo new taxation has been imposed other than a rise in the duty on alcohol, in the consumption con-sumption of which there has, in consequence, been a diminution of a ihird. M do Smet de Xaeyer, president of the cabinet and minister of finance;, during a recent discussion on the budget observed that the man who would have said twenty years ago that all this could be done would be looked upon as a dreamer. He is proud of the programme the government has carried out, and the pride is v?ry justifiable. London Catholic Times. |