Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Second part - X. Manufacturing Industries. By Å. G. Ekstrand, Ph. D., Chief Engineer, Control Office of the Department of Finance - 12. Handicraft and Domestic Industry, by A. Raphael, Ph. D., D. C. L., Stockholm
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X. MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES OF SWEDEN.
After the introduction of the new constitution (1809), the development towards
free trade found its first juridical expression of significance in the two ordinances
(of 1821 and 1828) by which the old matter of dispute was settled concerning
the limits between the respective territories of work for guild artisans and
manufacturers. It was now stipulated that the protection of the manufactory
privileges was to be granted by the Board of Trade: a) to those who duly had
proved their ability of manufacturing, either such articles as were not made within
the guilds or else such as were of a better quality than those generally made
by the guildmasters; 6) also to those who at a manufacturer’s had got a
complete knowledge of his trade and, according to the certificate of the proper
magistrate or court of industry, were able to work on their own account Such
a fabricator should have the right to produce all kinds of goods within the trade
of which he had obtained a privilege; besides, the same liberty of work was to
be enjoyed by already appointed manufacturers and their workmen. In 1828,
the clauses of the guild ordinance were declared no longer to be applicable to
brewers, bakers, and butchers in the towns, and in several new towns and boroughs,
the same liberty was proclaimed for handicraft in general. In 1845, the parishes
obtained the right to decide what kinds of artisans ought to settle in them.
In 1846 then followed the abolishment of the guilds. In their places
should be instituted free handicraft unions to promote the interests of the artisans.
The right of practising a trade as a master was made dependent on several civic
qualifications and, for most trades, on the obligation of having qualified oneself
as a master; to keep a workshop in town, burghership was required besides. But
any trade might be driven in the country, and the carrying on of several at the
same time was also allowed. Besides, to every respectable Swedish man having
attained majority the right was granted, without having acquired master — or
burghership, to manufacture goods with the assistance of his wife and such
children as were living at home — a right which was, moreover, extended to women.
Complete free trade was established in 1864.
In 1900, there were in Sweden 44,517 handicraftsmen with 42,805
workmen; the masters’ joint income of their trades was in the
taxation-rolls entered at an amount of 26-7 8 million kronor. Among the employers,
1,541 were women, and among the workers, 3,950. As to the entire
number of drivers of the trade — masters and workmen counted
together — the following trades were the most numerous, namely: the
shoemakers] with 13,708 individuals, the tailors with 12,430, the
joiners with a number of 9,486, the smiths (8,794), the bakers (6,354),
and the painters (5,656). The largest income assessed for employers
was found among the tailors with 3-06 million kronor, builders and
masons 2*91, the shoemakers with 2-84 million, etc. Though statistical
information concerning handicraft in our country is to be found for
several decades, it is, nevertheless, for distant times, not of sufficient
exactitude to throw a clear light upon the important question about
the retreat of handicraft as a result from rivalry with the great
industry. It is to be supposed that the course of development has been
chiefly the same in our country as on the continent of Europe.
In certain parts of Sweden, special crafts did of old attain a rather
considerable development; in our days, the most important branches
have, however, as a rule, passed over into great industry. For the rest,
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