4 
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES 
Consul R. A. Boernstein reports that the free port of Malmo can 
hardly be said to have exercised any notable influence on the develop- 
ment of foreign trade. He states that: 
It is a matter of common knowledge that the free port of Malmo, which was 
axpected to give this city a commercial development eventually rivaling that of 
Copenhagen, has thus far proved a great disappointment. 
This is a comparatively new free port, however, and it is too soon 
to Teach conclusions as to its value as & permanent institution. 
Consul General Jobn Ball Osborne expresses somewhat similar 
siews with reference to Stockholm. He states that: 
{t can hardly be said that the free port has as yet exercised any great influence 
on the development of Sweden's foreign trade. The favorable development of 
the trade during recent years would undoubtedly have taken place even if there 
nad been no free port. It appears that the free port up to now has only offered 
rompetition to the other harbors in Stockholm. 
The free port at Danzig has apparently not exercised any important 
influence upon commerce. ’ 
Consul H. C. von Struve states that while the establishment of the 
free port at Gothenburg has proven of considerable advantage, it can 
hardly be said to have had a great deal of influence on the development 
of foreign trade. 
Consul General G. Bie Ravndal, in reporting on the influence the 
free port of Hamburg has had on the development of foreign trade, 
holds the view that the part played by Hamburg’s free harbor in 
properly handling and encouraging its enormous OVerseas trade can 
not be overestimated. The following is an extract from his report: 
Although Hamburg thus is blessed by its location at the terminus of the Elbe, 
one of the world’s most important highways of commerce, and just off the Kiel 
Canal, connecting the North and Baltic Seas, where trade routes from all quarters 
of the globe converge, the part played by Hamburg’s free harbor in properly 
handling and encouraging its enormous overseas trade can not be overestimated. 
The free harbor, with its extensive storage accommodations, its low warehousing 
costs and handling charges, its facilities for repacking, refinishing, or actually 
manufacturing in the free port, constitutes the very center of Hamburg's eom- 
mercial life, and Hamburg’s position as the leading port of northern Europe is 
‘nextricably bound up with the free port. It is impossible to disassociate Ham- 
burg from the free port, even in one’s mind, as historically and commercially 
shey are one. Should the free port be abolished—an unthinkable step—Hamburg 
would no longer be able to maintain its position as a world factor in the various 
commodity markets, such as rice, jute, crude rubber, cocoa beans, hides and skins, 
and so forth. The port doubtless would continue to be used, but merely as a 
port of entry for goods being shipped into Germany. The paramount importance 
of the free port is indicated by the jealousy with which the free port privileges 
were guarded when Hamburg became a part of the German Empire.