Belgians Put Red Badges on Peddlers

Special badges were introduced today by the Belgian authorities for market peddlers of foreign citizenship, ninety per cent of whom are Jews.

The order issued today provides that those peddlers who are not Belgian citizens must display red emblems in distinction to the blue badges which the Belgian citizens will display.

This distinction is causing grave consternation among the Jewish peddlers, who are chiefly subjects of Poland and other east-European countries. A campaign against permitting foreign Jews to trade in Belgium has been going on for several years. The government, however, paid little attention to this drive. Introduction of the special badges for foreigners is feared to be the first step towards the realization of the demand for restrictions on foreigners trading in the local markets.

The Belgium government today conferred the knighthood of the Order of Leopold upon R. Goldmintz, a Jewish diamond dealer, active in Jewish life in Belgium.