File No. 763.72112/2022
The whole matter is being very sharply criticized by the Swedish
newspapers, who consider it to be simply a continuation of the
interference by the British authorities with the trade between
America and Sweden.
[Enclosure]
The Monopoly of Transition Traffic
A company called “Aktiebolaget Transito” has been formed in
Stockholm with Axel R. Bildt as leading man
and supported by the director of the Finnish Steamship Company
and a number of Englishmen. The reports that have been
circulating about this company have been of such a nature that
various business men, forwarding agents and spedtitioners have lodged complaints with the
Department of Commerce.
Mr. Bildt makes the following statement
about the purpose of the new company:
During the past year it has been shown that goods licensed in
England for Russia, or vice versa, have
been lost on the way, in spite of the efforts of the Swedish and
Norwegian Governments to hinder such illegal traffic. As a
result, both England and Russia have of late refused to grant
licenses for goods that were to pass through Sweden in transit.
However, through the good work of our Department of Commerce,
our trade with England has again been taken up by allowing
ordinary goods (not war material) to pass through Sweden in
transit to England and Russia in exchange for goods that England
herself sells to Sweden. In this way licenses for goods to be
transited through Sweden are a method by which Sweden obtains
from England or her allies the material necessary for her
industries. Then it was necessary for England to make sure that
when licenses were granted the goods would reach their
destination and not be lost on the way, and therefore an
agreement was made between me (Mr. Bildt)
and the British and Russian Legations here that all goods which
passed through Sweden in transit should be handled by the
Transito Company.
There is no truth in the statement that the company is owned by
the Finnish Steamship Company or that foreign capital has been
invested. Neither is it true that the British and Russian
Legations have salaried employees in the company. Through the
Wilson Line a very able man, Mr. Franke
Leake, has been obtained to manage the company,
and a Russian correspondent has been employed. These constitute
the “Anglo-Russian [Page 287]
staff,” but neither of these men has been employed by the
legations.
A statement has been made that Swedish vessels and Swedish
forwarding agents would not be used by the Transito Company but
this is pure fantasy, as is the report that certain Norwegian
companies had been given the monopoly of forwarding the goods.
These companies have only been given the preference when goods
must be forwarded by land via Haparanda and Torneå. All goods
that normally would be, or which can be shipped via Göteborg and
Stockholm, will continue to go that way. The Transito Company
will not concern itself with the actual shipping of the goods,
but the goods have to be consigned to them, although the
shippers may use any line or agents they wish.
As the company is organized, it will aid not only the traffic of
transition goods but will also further Sweden’s direct import.
It is also quite evident that this company can be of much use to
Sweden after the war, as many business connections will be made
and goods between Russia and England, and Russia and other
European countries will most likely continue to go via
Sweden.
