Mahaim, Westergaard 1902. the General Strike in Belgium, April 1902

8/8/2019 Mahaim, Westergaard 1902. the General Strike in Belgium, April 1902

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The General Strike in Belgium, April 1902

Author(s): Ernest Mahaim and Harald WestergaardSource: The Economic Journal, Vol. 12, No. 47 (Sep., 1902), pp. 421-430Published by: Blackwell Publishing for the Royal Economic SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2956917

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THE GENERAL STRIKE IN BELGIUM, APRIL, 1902 421lives in a climate which is sufficientlyhealthy to permit the rearing ofwhite children, but insufficiently stimulating to create an enterprisingand energetic race. The Creole looks to take life easily. He is notgoing to "hustle around" and learn new miethods. Even when theabsentee owner, mentally stimulated by residence in England, spendstens of thousands on new machinery, the inan on the spot will nottrouble to exert himself to get the best results out of this costly plant.His blood-corrupted by the climate forbids exertion. Mtoreover,like all unenterprisingpersons,he resists enterprise on the part of others.The new Department of Agriculture in the West Indies, maintainedand controlled by the Imperial Government, is by no means popularwith the planters. It tries to teach theim more than they want toknow. The attempt made by Mr. Chamberlainto open up the Hinter-land of British Guiana was blocked by the Colonial legislature. Thesugar planters who doininate that body prefer to confine the colony tothe fringe of land alonigthe sea coast. The opening up of the interiormight deprive thenii of their cheap labour.It is this absence of enterprise that is killing the West India sugarindustry, not Continental bounties. As a matter of fact most of thesugar produced in the West Indies goes to the United States where itis protected against bounty-fed sugar by the American countervailingduties. That portion at any rate of the West Indian sugar industrywill not be benefited by the abolition of bounties, for it will lose itspresent protection against Germanand Austrian sugarin the Americanmarket. In any case, however, this trade with the United States isprecarious, because it is at the mercy of the sugar trust. Even nowthe sale of low class " Muscovado" sugar to the States does not appearto pay so well as the sale of high class Demerara to the UnitedKirngdom.What the future will bring, it is impossible to predict, exceptnegatively. The abolition of bounties will make but a slight differencein. the selling price of sugar, because the industry is now so wellestablished thlrou(ghouthe world that the withdrawal of the bountieswill not greatly diminish production. The difference in price willcertalinlynot be equal to the increased profit that the West Indianplanters could now obtain by a more intelligent management of theirbusiness, but the intelligent management will certainly not be forth-coming from the present generation of planters. HAROLD COX

THE GENERAL STRIKE IN BELGIUM, APRIL, 1902IT is impossible to give an adequate account from an economic pointof view of the general strike which took -place last April in Belgium

without setting forth the political situation through which it wasbrought about. Nor are the effects of it on the course of industry, on


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422 THE ECONOMIC JOURNALwages and on trade in general, of any consequence as comparedwithits political importance. So much is this the case, that the Revue duTravail, issued by the Belgian Labour Department, which publishesmonthly statistics of strikes, refused to look upon this great labourmovement as a strike properly so called, describing it as a " chonage(cessation of work, ' play ') volontaire, etranger a tout desaccord entreles ouvriers et leurs patrons respectifs." The estimate is accurate, andis not dictated by administrative indolence, nor by the party spirit ofopposed politics. But it is no less true that this colossal demonstra-tion, whatever we may call it, interfered powerfully for some days withthe functioning of certain essential organs of the national economy,and may be reckoned among the active methods of the Belgian trade-unions. To this extent it is of interest to the economist.Agitation in Belgium for the extension of the franchise may be saidto have begun twenty years ago, when, under the Frere-Orban ministry,the Radicals demanded a revision of the Constitution.When, however, in 1893, a revision had been agreed to by theCatholic ministry headed by M. Beernaert, the movement received acheck which seemed likely to last many years at least. The systemof basing the electorate on the census was then replaced by the systemnow in force. The parliamentary votes rose in number from about120,000 to over a million. Every Belgian citizen who had attained theage of twenty-five, and had resided for one year in the same commune,had the right to vote. This seemed nothing short of "manhoodsuffrage." But, with the object of " mitigating " or " organising" it, asupplementary vote was granted to any man, not under thirty-fiveyears of age, having legitimate offspring and paying direct taxation ofnot less than five francs to the state, or to any man who either ownedreal estate to the value of 2,000 francs, or was a bond-holder in BelgianGovernment stock drawing an annual dividend of not less than 100francs. And to any man who had had a complete course of secondaryeducation, or was exercising a public function or profession requiringthe qualification of secondary education, two supplemlentary votes wereallotted.

There was thus a franchise of single, dual, and triple votes.The result, of course, was that the greater part of the middle classeshad two and three votes per head, while most of the working men hadbut one. Very many of them, nevertheless, received two votes, andstill more among the peasantry, a fact which gave rise among theopposition to the saying, "vote plural, vote rural."That the working classes benefited by this system of franchise, ascompared with that which it superseded, is evident from the par-liamentary election of 1894, following the revision of the Constitu-tion, when some thirty representatives of the Labour party obtained aseat in the House.

These new members lost no time in denouncing the electoral machineas unjustly favouring the middle classes, whose supplementary votes


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THE GENERAL STRIKE IN BELGIUM, APRIL, 1902 423outbid and annihilated those of the masses. They demanded manhoodsuffrage " pure and simnple,"hat is to say, a vote for every citizen overtwenty-one years of age.

For a long time none but Socialists had demanded this freshelectoral reform. But when, in consequence of the introduction ofproportional representation (1899) the Liberal party came in, it joinedthe Socialists in demanding, if not the abolition of the plural vote, atleast certain modifications in the conditions under which the supple-mentary votes were conferred. It had, in fact, become evident that, ifthe effect of the plural vote was to limit manhood suffr-age, it mainlybenefited the Catholic party and agricultural classes. Besides, it wasalleged that frauds and false allotment of supplementary votes weresufficiently numerous to vitiate the system entirely. From that timethe Liberal party made common cause with the Labour party indemanding a fresh revision of the Constitution.

It should be stated that a revision is practically only possible whenthe different parties agree to it. Parliament can, it is true, decide thata revision of the Constitution is desirable. This suffices legally for adissolution of both Chambers. But the new Parliament may onlydiscuss the motion if two-thirds of each Chamber are present. And noresolution introducing a change is carried unless the majority be atleast two-thirds.

Now the opposition, consisting of Socialists and Liberals, was in aminority of about twenty. Hence it was necessary to win over aconsiderable portion of the Government majority.

This it was hoped to achieve through energetic pressure on publicopinion. The Liberals counted on working this through pacific andlegal methods, but the Socialists had recourse to street agitation. Twoprecedents encouraged them therein. In 1893, when Parliament couldnot agree on the revision of the Constitution, a solution-that, namely,of the plural vote-was unquestionably precipitated by vehementmanifestations at Brussels and a strike in the collieries of the Hainautdistrict. In 1899, similar agitation, in which, moreover, some of thebourgeois took part, brought on the fall of the VandenpeereboomCatholic Ministry.

This time, however, it was clear that the Government meant toresist with every resource it could command. In Parliament precau-tions were taken for paralysing obstruction. In the country manyclasses de miliciens, men, that is, who had discharged their year ofmilitary -service, were mobilised, apd troops were concentrated so as tobe ready to protect the capital and manufacturing localities.

From the beginning of April meetings and manifestations in favourof the reform bill grew miore violent in character, and in the secondweek of the month riots took place at Brussels and in the provinceHainaut. Bands of youths, disowned for that matter by the Labourparty, came into collision with the police and gendarmerie, windowswere smashed, pistol-shots were fired, officials were wounded. The


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424 THE ECONOMIC JOURNALNational Guard-the militia of the bourgeoisie-was mobilised onspecial service lasting at Brussels for nearly a fortnight.It was only after that week of outbreaks, which, for that matter,were at once suppressed, and which had no other practical result exceptundermining the confidence of the Liberal middle class, that theCouncil of the Labour party decided to give the word for a generalstrike.Such a crisis had been for months "in the air." It was knownthat, at the critical moment, the Labour party would use it against themiddle classes and the Government. And that moment was supposedto have arrived when the Chamber was about to consider the motionof revision. Oii the 14th April, two days before the date fixed for theParliam-lentarydebate, the Brussels Federation of the Labour partyissued a inanifesto calling on the working " classes to reply to thesanguinary and odious brutalities of the police and gendarmes byhaving recourse, calm in their strength, to their sole remaining legalweapon-a General Strike."The appeal was heard. With a unanimity which amazed not onlytheir opponents, but even the Labour chiefs themselves, the workingclasses obeyed the signal. From the morrow 150,000 to 200,000workiingmen were on strike; in three days, 300,000 to 350,000. Ifthe Belgian working classes engaged in trades and industry be esti-mated at 700,000, it will be seen that the strike, if not absolutelygeneral, deserved fairly well to be so called. Never had so formidablea rising of the working classes been seen.What were the constituent elements ? Unfortunately, we have nosound statistics to drawupon..But we can form approximateestimates.The miners were the first to come out, and the last to stay out. Theywere certainly the kernel anidchief support of the movement. Out of130,000 Belgian miners, some 120,000 decided to "play." In certaincollieries hardly enough workmen were left to keep the wells in goodorder. Next to the miners came the metal-workers of the greatfoundries of the Hainaut and of Lieoe. Their calling is closely boundup with the collieries. Their opinions and their aims they have incommon with the colliers. There were probably 50,000 or 60,000 ofthem on strike at the height of the agitation. All the workshopsof the great John Cockerill Society at Seraing were closed, an eventhitherto unprecedented. Then came the quarryrmen, mong whom theSocialists have a numerous following, and lastly only, textile workers-in wxool t Verviers and in cotton and linen at Ghent. It should benoted that the Socialist workers of Ghent did not go on strike till theThursdayor Friday. I do not know if this was due to the slow-movingdeliberate Flemish intellioence as contrasted with the heedless im-pulsiveness of the Walloon. But I am inclined to believe the moreprobable reason to be that, at Ghent, the powerful co-operative societiesof the Labour party have to compete with the equally prosperous co-operative societies supported by the clerical party, and that ther the


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THEI GENERAL STRIKE IN BELGIUM, APRIL, 1902 425trade unions (synidicatsouvriers)are richer and better organized thanelsewhere. It needed no long reflection to understand that the strikethreatened to ruin these institutions.

Side by side with these groups of workers belonging to large-scaleindustries there stood only a small minority of tradesmen. In thetowns trade went on almost as usual. No bakers, butchers, or carrierswere noted among the strikers.Thus it is not true, as has been fancied abroad, and as certainFrench theories about the general strike would have it, that we wereconfronted by a vast intimidation of the middle classes by the labouringclasses. There was no instantaneous suspension of all the functionsof social life. But there was a cessation of some of the most im-portant. Coal anld ron are the staple products of Belgium. Hence,throughout whole districts there reigned a deathly stillness in place ofthe humming of the hive which was the usual sign of activity and of life.From a business point of view, the strike broke out at a veryunfavourablemoment for these two leading industries. The stock ofcoal was getting very low. And a recuperative movement in metal-working had just set in after the worst period of crisis that had beenknown for years. " Consumption "-to quote La Revute du Travail-"has been radically checked, and the recovery which seemed to betaking shape in the metal industries has received through the strike ablow that has reacted heavily on the coal market. On the one hand,the colliers of the Mons valley have now to struggle against the sharpforeign competition which has found its opportunity in the strike ofthe coal-mines-a longer affair than that of the foundries. It has beennoted that, even in our own ports there have been large deliveries ofEnglish, French, and German coals, and that several consumers, tosecure their supplies, have been forced to enter into contracts bindingfor a relatively considerable time."

In some branches of inclustry, where the crisis is still felt, em-ployers have not looked upon the strike as a misfortune. It is truethat they have not been careful to retain their full staff on their books,and have even, in some cases, taken the initiative in a lock-out, glad topractise economy for some days in their employ and in the generalexpenses of a scarcely remunerative rate of production. This is saidto have been the case at Ghent, where the textile industry is under-going a period of depression.

Some employers, again, judged it opportune not to resist thevoluntary play of their workmen, lest they should expose themselvesnot only to the animosity of their own employees, but also to annoy-ance, or possibly violence, at the hands of the operatives of otherestablishments.

Finally, there were a few who, through their political sympathies,gave leave of absence to their staff. The journal of the Labour party,Le Peujple,asserts that some did not even allow their men to lose byceasing work.


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426 THE ECONOMIC JOURNALNone among employers held that the movement was directly aimedagainst their interests. It may even be said, as a general fact, that inlarge establishments the men took the trouble to go to their directors

to explain the purely political character of their secession.Being, as it was, a strike among the larger industries and, to a lessextent, among urban working men, it did not affect either home-workers, or artisans properlyso-called, or country labourers. Hence,too, it follows, as has been noticed by Al. Van Overbergh in his inter-esting study entitled La GiIevegyM6rale elge d'Avril, 1902 (Bruxelles:Schepens), that Wallonia plays the leading part in it. For the largeindustries are, as is well known, located in Wallonia, i.e. in Le Hainaut,and in the Liege country.As it only completely stopped certain branches of industry, thestrike could only succeed if it were long in duration. Coal, iron,stones, even textiles are unquestionably articles of prinmaryecessity.But in a mcdern nation, waited on by trade, wholesale and retail, andmaintaining its lines of communication and transport, life does notdepend, altogether and absolutely, on these industries as it does onthose which deal with food. To use the language of M. Bohm-Bawerk,the arrested production consisted, for the most part, of goods of a"remote order." It followed that several weeks were required beforethe general strike could make itself felt by the public as sufficientlyappalling to compel the Government to give way.But it could not hold out, and that for two reasons. The one waspsychological. Of the 300,000 strikers, there was certainly a thirdwho went on strike because others did so, and without enthusiasm.Their heart was not in it, and they would certainly ask nothing betterthan to be allowed to return to their work.

The second reason was want of money. The strike had beentaking shape a long time in idea, through speech and print, but it hadnot been guaranteed by the purse. The Belgian trade unions are weakand poor. In a remarkable work on the subject by M. L. Varlez,published in the Mmrnoires ut Mus&eSocial de Paris, and entitled"Quelques pages d'histoire syndicale, 1902," he reckons the number ofworking men who are unionists and affiliated to the central organisation.or Labour Party as 90,000. But their subscriptions are very small,only 65 of the 146 trade unions under observation in 1900 requiring oftheir members over one franc per month I In other words, the unionfunds were incompetent to assist a strike in any way whatever. Therewere, it is true, the co-operative societies, and they furnished consider-able subsidies. But they depend for their very credit and reputationon the system of cash down. It'would have been suicidal for them tohave supplied funds proportionateto the needs of thousands of strikers.The journal Le Petiple opened a fund to which Liberald bourgeoiscontributed. The Social Democrat party in Germany sent ?500(10,000 marks). In eight days, however, this subscription listamounted to only ?2,000. This would not avail much among 300,000


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ECONOMICS IN SCANDINAVIA 427men, with a probable total of 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 mouths tofeed.

From Friday, April 18th, the very day on which the Chamberrejected the nmotioni o discuss the revision of the Constitution by eighty-four votes of the Right to sixty-four of the Left, it became evident thatthe strike could not be maintained. By the next day secessions hadbegun everywhere. The central committee of the Labour party, toavoid checlkmate, published an instruction to working men to return towork. They thus had the satisfaction of seeing their orders promptlycarried out, for on Monday, the day following, work was everywhererecomnmenced. The Hainaut miners alone showed a sulky andgrudging temper by keeping up the strike eight or ten days longer.From the political point of view the general strike was a grievousmistake. It estranged the Liberal middle classes from the Labourparty, after they had made common cause to get the reform of theplural vote. And it broughlt coinsterniation to manyminds, even amongthe ranks of those who had hitherto voted Socialist. This is why,in the parliamentary election of the 25th May following, there was afalling off in the number of Socialist votes.

Notwithstanding, theve seems a disposition to repeat the experiment,and the order has gone forth among Socialist trade unions to preparefor the next general strike.

It is doubtful, however, if a fresh appeal.by the central committee ofthe Labour party would have the prestige of the first. It was shownrather too clearly that so far from dictating to circumstances they wereits slave.

However that may be, the episode must react on the organisation ofthe Belgian trade unions. It has coincided with the existing tendencytoward a grouping according to trade, an increase of subscriptions, theformation of workable strike-funds, paymnent of permanent secretaries,in a word, toward the best possible practical conistitution of the unions.They have now thrust uponi them an object that is purely political andrevolutionary. It is to be feared that this will not work altogether forthe good of their members.

ERNEST MAHAIxI,Correspondentof the British EconomicAssociation for Belgitti.

THE Scandinavian universities have only a moderate number ofprofessorships in political economy. In Christiania there are two pro-fessors, one of whom also lectures on constitutional law, Copenhagenhas two or three, and the two old Swedish Universities in Upsala andLund altogether three. The latest appointment is that of K. JYicksell inLund (not without considerable opposition on account of certain radicalviews which he has publicly professed). In Sweden, however, an im-


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428 THE ECONOMIC JOURNALportant change is going to take place, the private University in Gothenburg (founded in 1891) has resolved to appoint a professor in politicaleconomy and sociology, an example which the sister university inStockholm (founded in 1878) will probably follow. Two well-knownpolitical econonaists are candidates for these professorships, viz Dr.Gutstav Steffem and Dr. Cassel. The former has spent several years inEngland, where he was an intimate friend of Philip JFicksteed,who hasdedicated his " Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution " to him. Hehas just published a study on the history of wages in England (Studienzur Geschichte der Englischen Lohnarbeiter, I, 1901), containing severalinteresting investigations into the economic and social history of theworking class. Dr. Cassel has written several papers on financial andeconomic subjects, miiostlyin Swedish and German journals. In 1900he published a remarkable treatise with the same subject and the satmetitle as A. Menger's well-known: Recht auf dent vollet Arbeitsvertrag.He is also the author of a remarkable scheme for progressive taxation,published in the EcoNoMic JOURNAL, vol. xi, p. 481, 1901. Looking overthe list of publications of the two authors, it would probably be foundthat Dr. Steffen is best qualified for the Gothenburg chair and Dr. Casselfor that in Stockholm, the university in Stockholm being chiefly a facultyof science and mathematics, whereas the Gothenburg institution chieflydeals with history, philosophy and languages.

The Scandinavian economic literature canrnot of course be very ricb,partly because the authors often prefer publishing their ideas in Englishor German instead of burying them in a hardly known language. Stillsome valuable contributions to political economy have recently beenpublished. Wicksell has written the first part of an elaborate text-book(Teoretisk Nationalekonomi, 1, 1901). After a short introduction fol-lows a chapter on population, in which the author pleads for New-Malthusianismn, the next chapters deal with value, production and dis-tributioni and capital. As appears from his former works, he belongs tothe mathematical school of political economists, chiefly perhaps follow-ing Walras, if it is right to use this expression of an author with suchan independent mind as Wicksell. It is not easy to foreshadow theoutlines of the following parts, in which Wicksell will have to dealwith several practical questions; but at all events I feel sure that theywill have the same stimulating power as his former works, whetherwe can follow him in his final conclusions or not.

If Wicksell perhaps takes too li,ttle interest in the historical side ofpolitical economy, especiallv Lkeeping he modern society in view, with-out caring much for its gradual evolution, this is not the case with theNorwegian economist, J. H. Aschehong, the famous author of severalworks on constitutional law, who will this year celebrate his fiftyyearsjubilee as university professor in Christiania. Norway is the countryof loDg-lived people, and he seenms to be one of them, with youthfulenergy following the rapid evolution of social science in the presentage. His treatise on the history of the theory of value and price


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ECONOMICS IN SCANDINAVIA 429(1902) bears testimony to his vast reading and his thorough graspof modern thought as well as of that of past times. He has just nowpublished the first part of a great work on political economy, whichwill, on the whole, contain about eighty sheets. It is very character-istic of Aschehong as a contrast to Wicksell, that he, after a shortintroduction on the scope and method of political economy, beginswith an elaborate treatise of its history from Aristotle downwards,whereas Wicksell immediately takes up the great problems of theday.The University of Copenhagenhas for many years had a peculiarexamination under the faculty of law in political economy an(] statist-ics combined with the outlines of Danish constitutional law, civillaw and sociology. This study can be completed in the course ofabout four to five years, a little less than usual for the law students,who make the great bulk of the students of the faculty of law. Thestudents who pass this examination partly find a position in the civiladministration, in the post-office, the custom-house, &c., partly ininsurance offices, banls, and other private institutions. Some im-portant changes of the examinations of the faculty of law have latelybeen proposed.The students of law will have to follow an elementary course inpolitical economiy,as is the case in Norway, so that nearly the wholestaff of civil officers, judges and barristers, will in future have someknowledge of social science. On the other hand, it has been proposedto establish a course in applied matheinatics. c-)mbinedwith politicaleconomy in order to provide life-offices with actuaries (somethingcorresponding to-though probably very different from-the examin-ations of the Institute of Actuaries in England). There is a very greatchance that at least the former scheme will be realised, and in con-sequence thereof some less important change in the original examin-ation in political economy will probably take place. Each of thefaculties in the CopenhagenUniversity has its doctorate,requiring thewriting of a book and the publicdefence thereof, andgivingthe possessorof the degree the right to lecture in the University as a " Privatdocent,"a riAghtwhich is frequently made use of, especially in the faculty ofmedicine with its immense division of labour. There has now of latebeen established a special doctor'sdegree in political economy (like theGerman Doctor der Staatswissenschaft), and the first dissertations havebeen published. Pio has written: Det fr,i Ionknltrreces GennernbritdEizglanzd: wlhich, in 318 pages, deals with the social evolution ofEngland till the middle of the 19th century, with an appendix on thecraft-guildsin Denmark. The following dissertation, by L. Birck, dealswith value and price, and the third, by M Helenius, with alcoholism.The Scandinavianstatistical literature contains several interestingcontributions. One of the most important is, perhaps, the report of aNorwegian Parliamentary Committee for working-men's insurance(Socialstatistike,by A. N. Kiaer and E. Hanssen), which contains a


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430 THE ECONOMIC JOURNALmass of curious details as to the influence of age and profession oninvalidity and income, the influence of the profession of the parents onthe choice of the profession of the children, &c. It would be veryuseful if a condensed translation into one of the great languages couldbe published. The statistical method has been explained by A. N.Kiaer in StattistischesArchiv; its principleis to use " representatives: "instead of observing the whole mass of population, a proportionallysmall number of observations is taken out at random, after a curiousand well-contrived system, just sufficient to draw correct statisticalconclusions. HARALD WESTERGAARD,

Copenhagen, July, 1902. Corres_pondent f the British EconomicAssociation for Denmark.

RECENT OFFICIAL PAPERS.AnnuitalReview of the Trade of India for the Year ezdizgMaGrch 1, 1902.

MR. O'CONNOR'S report shows a recovery from the effects of thefamine. Both exports and imports exceeded the figuresfor the last fiveyears. The share of the United Kingdom in the total import tradeamountsto 64 5 per cent., whereas in 1898-9 and 1899-1900 it was 68 8and 68 9 per cent. respectively. The decline is partly due to the largershare taken by Austria-Hungaryand Germany in consequence of theirlarge shipments of bounty-fed sugar. In spite of the imposition of thecountervailing duties, the importation of beet-sugar into India largelyincreased, amounting to about 151,517 tons, as comparedwith 95,000tons in 1900-1. Accordingly a law has been passed " imposing furtheradditional duties on sugar imported from Austria-Hungary and Ger-many."

Correspondence relating to the Brussels Sugar Bomnty Conferece.[Cd. 1013 and Cd.940.]

Royal Comm,issionlontLocal Taxqtion. Fin al Report. Scotlantd.[Cd. 1067.]A MAJORITYeport, on lines similar to the majority report forEngland and Wales, is followed by separate recommendationsby LordBalfour of Burleigh and Lord Blair Balfour, and a report on urbanrating and site values by Lord Balfour of Burleigh and those who werehis co-signatories in the analogous separate report for England andWales.

Documents

Mahaim, Westergaard 1902. the General Strike in Belgium, April 1902