Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 108, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1916 — IMMENSE COST OF WATERLOO [ARTICLE]

IMMENSE COST OF WATERLOO

Wellington’s Descendants Stole Reserve Money From Belgium—Article by Pierre Maes. "What the Battle of Waterloo Costs Belgium,” is the title of an article in the Belgian supplement to the London Everyman. The author is Pierre Maes, a well-known Belgian man of letters. Among the many titles inscribed upon the magnificent monument erected ever the tomb of the duke of Wellington is that of “Prince of Waterloo.” “It is a fine title,” says Pierre Maes, “but to us poor Belgians, the greatgrandchildren of the victims of 1815, that title brings up some unpleasant memories. We are still paying, and paying dearly, for this great man’s glory. Eighty thousand francs is the total of interest entered yearly under the name of the duke of Wellington in our great book of national debt. The present duke receives from entailed estates in Belgium revenues that reach the nice little sum of 210,000 francs. That is one of the heavy charges that the great coalition of 1815 has left us. Can we hope that the services we have rendered Europe and the heroism our soldiers have shown will deliver us from it? Great Britain only gave him a sum of £200,000. The king of the Netherlands gave him entailed estates bringing in 210,000 francs.” As the result of an arrangement between the Belgian state and the representative of the duke of Wellington the descendants of the great man today enjoy a yearly income of 80,637 francs.