The Month (Volume 90) (Paperback)

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1897. Excerpt: ... The Situation in Belgium. When Leo XIII., in his reception of the French pilgrims last August, blessed the "advance guard" of Catholic democracy, his action was nowhere commented on with greater eagerness than in Belgium. For in Belgium the struggle between the old Catholic Conservatism and the new Catholic democracy has taken on itself far larger proportions than in France, and it is in great measure to Belgium that the Pope looks for the firstfruits of the policy the principles of which he laid down in the Encyclical, Rerum Novarum. Few people in England have realized how completely the condition of parties in Belgium has changed within the last few years. To-day, the old Liberalism, individualist and free-thinking, which since 1830 has supplied the country with so many Administrations, is for practical political purposes almost extinct. It had no solution to offer for those deep-rooted industrial problems upon which men's minds have become centred, and it had ceased to possess an effective policy to serve as a rallying-ground for its adherents. Hence to-day the Liberal party consists of little more than mere drifting fragments, without cohesion and without influence. Its place has been taken by Socialism, which, in proportion to the population, is numerically stronger in Belgium than in any other country of Europe, and it is in the main to combat Socialism that the new Christian Democratic party has arisen, with its definite programme of social and economic reform, founded on clearly defined principles of Christian justice. Behind the Democrats lies the vast mass of the Catholic population, at one with them in their hatred of Socialism, but differing fundamentally from them as to the means by which Socialism should be combatted. It is to this Conservative Catholic majority, all-p...