FOREIGN TRADE 20NES 
islative decree dated December 22, 1927, authorized the ports of 
Savona, Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, Brindisi, Pari, Ancona, Venice, 
Trieste, Fiume, Palermo, Messina, Catania, and Cagliari to be 
declared either entirely or partly free. No action has thus far been 
taken under this decree to establish free ports or to enlarge these 
already in existence. A free port was authorized in Vigo, Spain, in 
1918, and the organization approved in 1923, but no steps have been 
taken to put into effect the provisions of the charter. At Hango, 
Finland, a free port was authorized in 1921, but it was taken over by 
the Government before it was quite completed and is now operated 
as an ordinary port. Laws and regulations regarding the establish-~ 
ment of free ports in Latvia and the control of same were enacted 
by the appropriate authorities prior to 1921, but no further steps were 
taken or are contemplated for their establishment. The question of 
establishing free ports has been discussed in Norway, Czechoslovakia, 
Portugal, and in Ireland. Canada has studied the subject also, 
and there has been some talk of making Colon, Panama, a free port. 
In addition to the foregoing, there are free ports at Cuxhaven, Altona, 
Kiel, Bremerhaven, Koenigsburg, Brake, Geestemunde and Norden- 
ham, Germany; Almeria, Spain; Cueta, Spanish Morocco; and 
Budapest, Hungary. 
As Hamburg is to-day the most important free port of the world, 
it is interesting to note the circumstances which led’ to the establish- 
ment of the free port. In his report on the port of Hamburg, Dr. 
Edwin J. Clapp makes clear some of the conditions which existed 
prior to the establishment of the free port. The following is quoted 
from his report: 
Steamship connection between Hamburg and foreign ports falls into two 
periods, which are divided by the year 1871, the date of the foundation of the 
German Empire. At this date Hamburg had one oversea line, the line of the 
Hamburg-American Co. to New York. For part of its trade with other ports 
it was dependent on casual (framp) service, offered only when a shipload of 
goods, usually bulk goods, presented itself. For regular connection, such as 
the importer of valuable wares or the manufacturer or his exporter must have, 
Hamburg was dependent on England, principally London. This transchipment 
traffic accounted for a large portion of its trade with England and * * * 
in 1869 arrivals from England amounted to 60 per cent of the tonnage of ships 
entering Hamburg. 
Such casual and indirect connections are the rule in all trade relations 
which are not enough developed to support direct, regular lines. The fact that 
half the steam tonnage of the world is still in tramp steamers testifies to the 
demand that still exists for casual service. The large transshipment trade of 
Hamburg and London to Scandinavia and the Baltic serves those ports that can 
not yet exchange regularly full shiploads with the particular countries to which 
they transship via London and Hamburg. It was from such a state of dependency 
as this that Hamburg had to free itself. 
The significance to a part of direct oversea connection with all parts of the 
world is perhaps better understood in Europe than in America. European