Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1405

 INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS — MONEY AND CREDIT 1283

The port of Goteborg had the largest shipping in the beginning of 1911 — namely, 296 vessels of 200,683 tons ; and next to it came Stockholm, possessing 259 vessels of a total burthen of 136,577 tons.

Vessels entered and cleared with cargoes and in ballastin 1910, as follows : —

1909

With Cargoes In Ballast

Total

No.

Tonnage No.

Tonnage

No.

17,798 17,637

Tonnage

Entered : Swedish .... Foreign ....

9,027 5,070

3,771,116 ' 8,771 2,262,895 j 11,967

1,765.993 .3,231,075

5,537,109 5,493,970

Total entered Cleared ■

14,697

6,034,011 ' 20,738

4,997,063

35,435

17,710 17,697

11,081,079

Swedish .... Foreign ....

11,567 9,108

4,021,308 6,143 3,548,530 8,589

1,517.800 1,976,511

5,539,108 5,525,041

Total cleared

20,675

7,569,838 14,732

3,494,311

35,407

11,064,149

Total entered & cleared 1910

3.5,372

13,603,849, 35,470

8,491,379

70,842

22,095,228

Internal Communications.

In 1910 133,498 ships and boats passed through the canals of Sweden.

At the end of 1911 the total length of railways in Sweden was 8,677 miles, of which 2,770 miles belonged to the State. The receipts in 1909 were 126,544,718 kronor, and expenses 100,135,869 kronor. The total cost of con- struction for the State railways to the end of 1909 was 502,705,727 kronor, and for private railways 535,239,454 kronor. The total number of passengers on the State railways in 1909 was 18,173,613 ; weight of goods carried on State railways, 10,969,250 tons; private railways, 20,164,840 tons of goods, and 35,612,240 passengers.

The length of the telegraph and telephone lines at the end. of 1911 was 24,502 miles, 6,560 miles of which belonged to the railways. The wires of the State telephone had a length of 177,114 miles, the wires of the private telephone lines a length of 84,837 miles. There were 2,904 telegraph offices. The number of despatches sent in the year 1911 was 4,380,997, including 930,551 in transit. In 1911 there were about 201,500 instruments employed in the telephone service, including 63,700 private telephones.

The Swedish Post Office carried 460,123,748 letters, post-cards, journals, &c., in the year 1911. The number of post-offices at the end of the year was 3,790. The total receipts of the Post Office in 1911 amounted to 23,260,148 kronor, and the total exijenditure to 20,395,816 kronor, leaving a surplus of 2,864,332 kronor.

Money and Credit.

The Riksbank, or National Bank of Sweden, belongs entirely to the State and is managed by directors elected for three years by the Diet, except one, the president, who is designated by the King. It is a bank of exchange to regulate financial relations with foreign countries, it accepts deposits of money, and on sufficient security it lends money for purposes in which there is no speculative element. The Bank is under the guarantee of the Diet, its capital and reserve capital are fixed by its constitution, and its note circulation is limited by the value of its metallic stock and its assets in current accounts

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