Belgium had now a sovereign who was strong, both physically and mentally. He entered the Senate while still Duc de Brabant, and was soon recognized as a thinker and orator. But before all else, he was an able man of business. He had the foresight and breadth of view of a statesman, with the financial ability and power to handle men that belong to a captain of industry. He was interested in the construction of roads and tramway lines, in the extension of the canal system, and in measures for restoring Antwerp and Bruges, and other Belgian towns to their ancient position as queens of commerce.
In every way the King sought to develop the resources of his realm, and the marvelous prosperity of the country before the present war broke out is proof that he succeeded. In addressing the delegates of industry and commerce, early in his reign, he said, “We have been the first on the Continent to construct railways; let us understand how to prolong them by lines of navigation.” It was not many years before Belgian steamship lines were formed. Under his rule the army was strengthened, and if he had been allowed to carry out his plans, the country would have had at least the nucleus of a navy. He had new forts built and the army increased. It was decided that the army was deficient in numbers and in quality. The latter defect was owing to a system of recruiting which allowed any man called to the barracks by the ballot, who did not wish to serve, to find a substitute, who for a small sum of money, would take his place. The law doing away with substitutes in the army was one of the last signed by King Leopold before his death.
An early riser and indefatigable worker, Leopold often summoned his attendants at five o’clock in the morning and remained at his desk until evening. All day long, a procession of orderlies on bicycles, in swift succession, bore his orders from the study at Laeken, where he worked, to his secretary’s office in Brussels.
Although in the previous reign the two political parties, Clericals and Liberals, had fought some hard battles, the Liberals continued in power more or less for twenty years. The return of the Catholic party was effected in 1884, and although their rule has been bitterly contested by the Opposition, they have held the reins of government for thirty years.
LEOPOLD II.
While still Duc de Brabant, Leopold traveled in Morocco and Tunis, and Algeria and Egypt, as well as in China. On his return he presented to the statesmen of Belgium a Grecian stone, on which he had inscribed, “Il faut à la Belgique des Colonies.” Ten years later, his dream of colonization began to be realized.
At the Geographical Congress held in Brussels in September, 1876, which was attended by representatives from all the great Powers, the question of the suppression of the slave trade in Africa was discussed. Leopold wanted to open Africa to civilization, and records and letters of the time show that he was apparently quite sincere in wishing to suppress a traffic of unspeakable cruelty, carried on by Arabs and Portuguese adventurers of the worst type.
The King’s speech before the Congress contained the following words:
“The Slave Trade, which still exists over a large part of the African continent, is a plague spot that every friend of civilization would wish to see disappear. If we succeed in establishing stations along the routes followed by the slave merchants this odious traffic will be wiped out. The stations, while serving as points for travelers, will powerfully contribute toward the evangelization of the blacks and toward the introduction to them of commerce and modern industry.”