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THE PROPOSITIONS OF THE COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION COMMITTEE. 951
The propositions of the Commerce and Navigation Committee.
Bather unfavourable conditions in certain cases with regard to
our foreign shipping, caused, a few years ago, the appointment of the
above-mentioned Commerce and Navigation Committee, charged with
the mission of proposing such measures as may be found necessary to
the helping up of commerce and navigation. Above we have already
given an account of the propositions made by this Committee for the
promotion of commerce, and it is evident that part of these must be of
significance also to navigation. Other propositions of the Committee
more directly relate to this latter; of these we will here make a brief
mention.
In the communications which the local commerce and navigation delegates
as well as private associations and individuals have submitted to the Committee,
the principal causes of the rather unfavourable state of our navigation were
unanimously pointed out as being the lack of easily accessible capital for
carrying on trade in accordance with the claims of the times. At the
turning-point characterized by the transition from sails to steam and the exchange of
wooden vessels for iron ones, our country was unable to keep apace with the
rapid development of certain other countries. With us capital has been
demanded principally for other purposes: industrial establishments and, above all,
for railways. What has thus been lost in the domain of navigation, cannot be
regained without some special exertions. It will be necessary, first of all, that,
in place of the many small and powerless ship-holders, such come to the fore
in collected force and of sufficient capital, capable of putting at sea vessels of
modern size and equipment and of surmounting casually unfavourable
conjunctures, which of course cannot be altogether avoided.
In order to obtain the capital requisite, the Committee proposed a new
legislation with regard to the right of giving a mortgage on vessels; as things
were then, vessels could not be used as security for loans without being handed
over as a pledge, in which case the owner was prevented from the free use of
his vessel. For more directly to assure the shipping the affluence of capital, the
Committee also proposed the establishment of a Maritime Mortgage Bank;
instead of this some members of the Committee proposed a Loan Fund of 5
million kronor, which amount, however, ought to be brought up to 10 million
kronor when necessary. — Finally, the instituting of traveling stipends was
proposed for persons desiring in foreign countries to acquire further skill in the
carrying on of a ship-holder’s business.
For the revival of our navigation is of necessity also to effect a pulling up
of the Swedish shipbuilding industry, which for several decades has been on
the retrograde. In order to effect this, the Committee proposes extended right of
restitution of duty for importB of materials and ship-building requisites used for
the building, rebuilding, and repairing of vessels of over 40 tons. — Further, it
is proposed, by the aid of a State grant, to build, in the first place at Stockholm
and Malmö, and afterwards at some other place north of Stockholm, docks of
such dimensions that big modern vessels can be taken into them; and finally, that
also here traveling support be given to persons deBiring to study ship-building
in foreign countries.
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