See (in this volume) BERING SEA. BÊL, Temple of: Exploration of its ruins at Nippur. See (in this volume) ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA: AMERICAN EXPLORATION. BELGIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. See (in this volume) POLAR EXPLORATION, 1897-1899. {50} BELGIUM: A. D. 1894-1895. The first election under the new constitution. Victory of the Catholics and surprising Socialist gains. Elsewhere in this work the full text of the Belgian constitution as it was revised in 1893; See in volume 1 CONSTITUTION OF BELGIUM). The peculiar features of the new constitution, especially in its provision of a system of cumulative or plural voting, are described. See in volume 3 NETHERLANDS (BELGIUM): A. D. 1892-1893) The singularity of the experiment thus introduced caused the elections that were held in Belgium in 1894 and 1895 to be watched with an interest widely felt. Elections for the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate occurred on the same day, October 14, 1894. Previously the Belgian suffrage had been limited to about 130,000 electors. Under the new constitution the electors numbered no less than 1,370,000, and the working of the plural system gave them 2, 111,000 votes. The result was a more crushing victory for the Catholics than they had ever won before. Of 152 Representatives they elected no less than 104. The Liberal party was almost annihilated, securing but 20 seats in the Chamber; while the Socialists rose to political importance, winning 28 seats. This representation is said to be not at all proportioned to the votes cast by the several parties, and it lent force to the demand for a system of proportional representation, as the needed accompaniment of plural voting, which had been urged when the constitution was revised. In the Senate the Conservatives obtained 52 seats and the Liberals 24. In the next year an electoral law relating to communal councils was passed. In this law, the principle of proportional representation was introduced, along with that of cumulative or plural voting. Compulsory voting, enforced by penalties more or less severe, was also a feature of the law. In November, the first election under it was held, and again the Socialists made surprising gains, at the expense of the Radical party, the Catholics and Liberals generally holding their ground. BELGIUM: A. D. 1895. New School Law. Compulsory religious teaching restored. See (in this volume) EDUCATION: A. D. 1895 (BELGIUM). BELGIUM: A. D. 1897. Industrial combinations. See (in this volume) TRUSTS: IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. BELGIUM: A. D. 1897 (July). British notice to terminate existing commercial treaties. See (in this volume) ENGLAND: A. D. 1897 (JUNE-JULY). BELGIUM: A. D. 1898 (June). The Sugar Conference at Brussels.