78 
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES 
chant marine and shipping. Statistics giving the net registered 
tonnage of vessels entering the free port show that there was an 
increase from 1,500,000 tons in 1921 to 2,700,000 tons in 1926. 
The influence of the free port of Stettin on the merchant marine 
is not believed by Vice Consul Harry L. Franklin to have been of 
considerable importance. 
The Spanish free ports of Cadiz, Barcelona, Santander, Almeria, 
and Bilbao are reported to have exerted very little influence on the 
merchant marine. The free port of Cadiz serves chiefly as a source 
of steamer’s provisions and supplies, and, while a majority of the 
vessels calling are of Spanish registry, it can not be said to have 
been of any importance in the development of the Spanish merchant 
marine. 
Vice Consul Howard A. Bowman, in his report on the free port of 
Trieste, states that the institution of free zones at the ports of Trieste 
and Fiume has encouraged the establishment of regular steamship 
lines to Greece, Turkey, the Danube, Russian Black Sea ports, and, 
after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, to India and the Far 
East. He states that the existence of the free zones is vital to these 
shipping lines, as they could not thrive without a regular flow of 
traffic sufficient to maintain the lines in operation. 
The reports on the free ports of Genoa and Leghorn indicate that 
these free ports have not influenced the development of the Italian 
merchant marine to any marked extent. It is the opinion of Consul 
General H. P. Starrett that the free zone at Genoa has probably 
influenced the entry of certain items into the trade of the port as a 
whole. Consul K. de G. MacVitty believes that the privilege of 
importing raw materials free of duty, which is accorded local manu- 
facturers at Leghorn, for use in the production of goods destined for 
foreign markets, has facilitated and enhanced to a considerable extent 
the foreign trade from this district. 
In reporting on the free zones of Saloniki, Consul Charles J. Pisar 
states that: 
With the expansion of the transit trade through the free zone of Saloniki 
there will undoubtedly be an increase in the number of vessels using this port. 
At the present time the trade of this port is served by the vessels of many nations, 
some of which operate in regular services and others in tramp services. 
Vessel and tonnage statistics of this port show that during the year 
1927, 1,540 ships unloaded 424,486 tons of foreign cargo and loaded 
16,169 tons for foreign destinations. 
It is obvious that any general increase in the foreign trade of a 
port carries with it an increase in the number of vessels calling. 
The extent and frequency of vessel service are determined by cargo 
offerings, and the successful operation of ships is directly affected 
by the amount and character of cargo which can be procured. Un-