It is with this object in view, Mr. Secretary of State, that I have the
honor, by order of my government, and in its name, herewith to transmit to
you a translation of the principal articles of the royal ordinance of May
15, 1874, in relation to admeasurement, and to propose to the American
Government to establish, on the 1st April next, reciprocity as regards
recognition of the certificates of admeasurement mentioned in article 3.
Galling your attention to the fact, Mr. Secretary of State, that article 6 of
the ordinance mentions the deductions to be made from the gross tonnage in
order to find the net tonnage, and that both will be found inscribed upon
the certificates of admeasurement, I take the liberty to add that my
government presumes that, if our proposal is accepted, the official
publication at Washington and Stockholm of the advantages granted to the
vessels of both parties will be sufficient to give the required sanction to
our agreement; bat that, if the American Government deems it necessary for
said agreement to be made in a more solemn form, the government of the King
proposes, to that end, an exchange of ministerial declarations.
Be pleased to accept, &c.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Royal ordinance concerning tine admeasurement of
merchant-vessels; issued at the castle of Stockholm May 15,
1874.
[Stockholm, May 15, 1874]
- Article 1. The capacity of vessels
serving as a basis for the collection of light-house and other
duties, a method of measuring their tonnage shall be established.
The measurement shall be effected by sworn measurers, and shall be
verified in the order hereinafter prescribed by superintendents of
admeasurement especially designated for this purpose.
- Art. 2. The capacity of vessels is to be
determined by the space which they contain appropriated to goods and
to passengers.
- The unity of measurement is a ton, which is
a volume of 108.187 Swedish cubic feet, or 100 English cubic feet,
(1 ton of register.)
- Art. 3. All vessels devoted to commerce
and freight, including the conveyance of passengers, must be
measured; but vessels whose capacity does not exceed ten tons, and
foreign vessels furnished with certificates of admeasurement issued
in their own country according to rules similar to those established
by this ordinance, shall be excepted, provided always that Swedish
vessels arriving in the ports of said country are likewise exempted
from admeasurement.
- Art. 4. The capacity, which must be
expressed in tons and hundredths of tons, shall be ascertained,
either according to an improved method of admeasurement called
hereinafter Rule I, or, in the case of vessels having their cargoes
on board, or which for any other reason cannot be measured by that
rule, according to a provisional method called Rule II.
By tonnage-deck, mentioned in the definition of Rule I, is understood the
upper deck of vessels having one or two decks; and the second deck,
starting from the bottom of the hold, of all other vessels.
[Page 1272]
Rule I.
Art. 5. § 1. The length of the vessel is
measured in a straight line from stem to stern inside of the
foot-waling, on the upper surface of the tonnage-deck. There are then
deducted from it quantities corresponding to the rake of the stem on the
part comprised in the thickness of the bordering of the deck and to the
rake of the stern on a height equal to the thickness of the bordering of
the deck, increased by a third of the convexity of the beam. The length
thus found is divided in conformity to the following table into equal
parts, of which the number depends on the class of the vessel, to
wit:
Length of the tonnage-deck, according to
the method indicated above.
|
Number of divisions to be made. |
| 1st class, 51.33 feet (50 English feet) or less |
4 |
| 2d class, from 51.33 exclusively to 123.19 feet (120 English
feet) inclusively |
6 |
| 3d class, from 123.19 feet exclusively to 184.79 feet (180
English feet) inclusively |
8 |
| 4th class, from 184.79 feet exclusively to 230.99 feet (225
English feet) inclusively |
10 |
| 5th class, more than 230.99 feet |
12 |
§ 2. The interior of the vessel having been then rid of everything which
could prevent the taking of the measures of height and breadth, the
transversal sections, at each point of division of the length, are
determined as follows:
At each of the points of division is measured the depth or the height
from a point marked at a third from the rounding of the deck beneath the
deck, or, if the deck is not united, from a line drawn in continuation
from the deck, until on the upper narrow surface of the floor-timbers on
one side of the step of the mast, by deducting the mean thickness of the
foot-wale between the streak of the limber-board and the clamp. If at
the middle section the height does not exceed 16.43 feet, (16 English
feet,) the heights of all the transversal sections are divided into four
equal parts. The horizontal breadth is then taken, inside of the mean
thickness of the foot-wale, at each of the points of division of the
height of each section, including the extreme points. Each breadth is
numbered, (Nos. 1, 2, 3, &c.,) starting from the tonnage-deck, and
multiplied; the breadths Nos. 2 and 4 by 4, the breadth No. 3 by 2, and
to these added-up products are added the breadths Nos. 1 and 5. The
total is then multiplied by the third of the distance between the
divisions of the height. The result gives the area of the section.
If at the middle section the height exceeds 16.43 feet, each height is
divided into six equal parts. The horizontal breadths are measured at
each of the points of division, the extreme points included, and are
numbered starting from the tonnage-deck; the breadths Nos. 2, 4, and 6
are multiplied by 4, the breadths Nos. 3 and 5 by 2; the products are
added up, and the breadths Nos. 1 and 7 are added. The total is
multiplied by the third of the distance between the divisions of the
height, and the result gives the area of the section.
§ 3. The area of each of the transversal sections thus found, the
calculation of the capacity of the vessel is continued as follows:
The transversal sections are numbered starting from the head.
Independently of the number of divisions of length, there is multiplied:
the 2d section and all other sections of even numbers by 4, the 3d
section and all other odd sections (the first and the last excepted) by
2. The products are added up, and the first and the last sections are
added if they are expressed in figures; the whole is multiplied by the
third of the interval between the sections. This product gives the
volume in cubic feet of the space beneath the tonnage-deck, and on
dividing it by 108.187 the capacity of this volume expressed in tons is
obtained.
§ 4. As regards large or small poops, rouffles, or any other closed and
permanent structures on the upper deck which can be utilized for the
stowage of goods or provisions, or for the lodging of the passengers or
crew, the capacity is determined in the following manner:
In the inside the mean length of each compartment is measured, and the
middle of this length is taken; at this point, as well as at the two
extremities, the breadth of the compartment at half of its height is
measured; to the breadths of the extreme points is added the breadth of
the middle multiplied by 4, and the total is multiplied by the third of
the distance between the divisions of the length; the product gives the
mean horizontal area of the compartment, expressed in square feet, which
area, multiplied by the mean height of the compartment, gives its volume
in cubic feet. This volume is divided by 108.187, and the quotient which
expresses the tonnage of the compartment is added to the tonnage already
found from the space beneath the tonnage-deck.
[Page 1273]
§ 5. When the vessel has a third deck, the space comprised between this
deck and the tonnage-deck is determined in the following manner:
The length of the middle deck is measured on the inside at midway of the
height, from the foot-wale at the side of the stem to the inside facing
of the futtock of the stern. This length is divided into as many equal
parts as for the tonnage-deck. At each of the points of the division, as
well as at the extreme points, the breadth is measured at midway of the
height. The breadths are numbered, (1, 2, 3, &c.,) starting from the
head. The second and the others having even numbers are multiplied by 4,
and the third and the others having odd numbers, except the first and
the last, are multiplied by 2; to the total of these products the first
and last breadths are added; this total multiplied by the third of the
distance between; the points of division of the length gives the mean
horizontal area of the middle deck expressed in square feet. The bulk of
the middle deck expressed in cubic feet is then obtained by multiplying
this area by the mean height. This product is divided by 108.187, and
the quotient which expresses the tonnage of the middle deck is added to
the tonnage already found. If the vessel has more than three decks, the
tonnage of each middle deck will be calculated separately in the manner
before described and added to the principal tonnage.
§ 6. In vessels without decks the upper edge of the streaks of plank from
stem to stern is considered as the limit of the space to be measured.
Consequently, at each point of division of the length, the heights will
be taken starting from a transversal line led from one side to the other
of the above-mentioned limit.
Art. 6. In order to determine the tonnage which
is to serve as a basis for the collection of duties, (net tonnage,) there will be deducted from the total tonnage,
calculated according to the preceding article:
- (a)
- In vessels propelled by steam or by any other mechanical power
requiring a room for the engines, the space occupied by the
impelling apparatus or which may be necessary to give access to
the air and the light in the engine-room; in no case shall this
deduction exceed 50 per cent. of the total tonnage;
- (b)
- Each compartment, whether above or beneath the deck,
exclusively appropriated to the lodging of the crew, and having
a bulk of 78 cubic feet (72 English cubic feet) at least, and a
horizontal area on the flooring of 12.64 square feet (12 English
square feet) at least for each man intended to be there lodged;
on condition, however, that the flooring, the bulkhead, and the
roofing of the compartment in question should be well and duly
calked, that it should be solidly constructed, and provided with
the necessary arrangements for the change of air and the
drainage of water, and, finally, if the vessel be Swedish, that
the compartment shall have inscribed over the entrance or door,
or on the beam, “—men,” indicating the maximum number of persons
who can be there lodged according to the foregoing rules;
- (c)
- The galley, if it only occupies the space which is
indispensable to enable the cook without difficulty to prepare
the victuals for the passengers and crew;
- (d)
- The hatch-frames of the stairways leading to the cabins and to
the lodgings of the crew, the sky-lights, the hatchways, the
quarter galleries, and other similar constructions of limited
dimensions; and
- (e)
- The shelters for the deck-passengers, as well as the saloons
for passengers in general, placed on the decks of boats
performing service on the rivers and coasts, (saloons and cabins
used for lodging not included,) but this deduction shall only be
allowed after the fitter-out or owner shall on his request have
obtained from the general custom-house a special license for
this purpose.
§ 2. In case the rules already prescribed cannot be applied to a
calculation of the space of the compartments in question, the provisions
of the instructions to measurers, of to-day’s date, will be conformed
to.
Rule II.
Art. 7. The length of the vessel is taken on
the upper deck, from the after-surface of the stern-post to the outside
surface of the bordering near the stem, or, if the vessel is without
decks, from the after-surface of the stern-post beneath the streaks to
the outside surface of the bordering near the stem. The length is
divided into four equal parts, and at each point of division the whole
circumference is measured, and thus becomes known as to three parts of
the vessel. The area of each of the sections is determined by tables
calculated in advance. To the forward section is added half of the
middle section and the after-section. The result is multiplied by the
third of the length, and by multiplying also the product by one of the
following factors, to wit,
| For wooden vessels |
0.0075 |
| For iron vessels |
0.0078 |
the number of tons is obtained. The compartments on the
deck, included in the tonnage according to§ 4 of article 5 of Rule I,
having then been measured and added, the total tonnage of the vessel is
obtained.
[Page 1274]
§ 2. To find the tonnage of these compartments, the mean length, breadth,
and height of each of them are multiplied by each other, and the product
is divided by 108.187.
§ 3. To determine, then, the tonnage which is to serve as the basis for
the collection of duties, the same deductions will be made as are
mentioned in article 6 relating to Rule I.
* * * * * * *
Art. 36. This ordinance shall go into effect on
and after the 1st of April, 1875. Every Swedish vessel whose tonnage
prior to that period has been measured according to the old method, and
whose certificate of admeasurement is valid according to the regulations
in force up to that day, shall be measured anew, in conformity to the
provisions of the present ordinance, in the interval between the 1st of
April, 1875, and the 1st of April, 1877. Every vessel in this category
which shall enter into a Swedish port after the latter period, as well
as every other vessel of more than ten tons capacity which, after the
1st of April, 1875, shall enter into a Swedish port, and shall not have
had her tonnage measured according to the present ordinance, must be
admeasured, even though they be laden, and on that account or on any
other can only be admeasured according to Rule II.
