Placid Poll

In Belgium, voting is compulsory. That is why, in a nation of 7,744,000 people, some 2,500,000 votes were cast last week in a little-noticed general Belgian election.* The event drew small attention because there was very little at stake. M. Henri Jaspar is still prime minister. In the central legislature, the greatest gain in seats was made by the Liberal party, which had encouraged closer relations with France and opposed the liquor laws forbidding the drinking of hard liquor in public. To win voters from Antwerp and Brussels, notorious amateurs of fine Burgundy, the Liberals promised reduced duties on imported French wines.

*Belgian women have no votes, except in local elections, or if they are "war widows or sufferers."