lines outside the area of the town proper, the omnibus-traffic that once existed
has almost entirely disappeared.
Gothenburg, the second city of Sweden, has, like Stockholm, during the
course of the last few years, obtained good local communications. Of the
ra ilw a y s running into the city, it is chiefly the western main-line that has
any considerable suburban traffic. In addition, the Saro railway-line — which
was constructed chiefly for the convenience of the citizens of Gothenburg th a t
go to the local seaside places during the summer — has a considerable amount
of local traffic, as may be seen by Table 131 above. The tramway traffic has
rapidly attained an unexampled development, since the town, some years ago,
took over the management of the lines, which had hitherto been in the hands
of an English company. The length of the lines and the extent of the traffic
is shown by the appended Table. In this town, too, the tramway lines have
been carried beyond the municipal boundaries, to Kviberg (a military centre) and
Molndal, and also to Langedrag, a seaside- and sporting-resort. There is
also a good service of ferry communications between the banks of the river Gota
alv, which flows through the city.
Malmo had horse-trams at a comparatively early date but, in 1906 the system
were electrified, and the lines very considerably extended. With one exception,
the lines lie within the municipal boundaries, and only one line, running
southwards, viz. that to the Fridhem district near Limhamn, lies outside the town.
To the last-named place, which in future (1915) will be incorporated with
Malmo, there runs a suburban railway (Malmo—Limhamn Railway), which, ;in
proportion to its length, has the largest passenger-traffic in the whole of Sweden.
Other railway lines running into Malmo, the State lines especially, enjoy an
extensive local traffic, for, in the neighbourhood of these railways, there lie
several large suburban communities, the chief of which is the manufacturing
centre of Arlov.
There are also tramway lines in the following Swedish towns: Oavle, Halsing-
borg, Jonkoping, Karlskrona, Norrkoping, Sundsvall, and TJppsala, some of the
lines being . carried to the larger centres of population lying near the towns
mentioned. The length of the lines and the extent of the traffic are shown
by Table 131.
3 , COUNTRY ROADS,
At the end of 1912, Sweden had 62 526 kilometers of country roads
or, on an average, 15-2 km per hundred square kilometers of its area. In
the six most northerly Ians, there were, however, only about 5-5 kilometers
of country road per hundred square kilometers, whereas in the middle and
southern parts of the country, the corresponding figure amounted to 34-3
kilometers. For the Lan of Malmohus, the proportion rises to 66-2 kilometers
of country road per hundred square kilometers, but, in the Lan of
Vasterbotten, is no more than 5-0, and in- that of Norrbotten only 2-7.
In a thinly populated country with a configuration so broken as that of Sweden,
the construction of roads between the farms and village communities, and the
keeping of these roads in repair, has always been a heavy burden on the people.
For this reason, it was not possible in the earliest times and during the whole of
the Middle Ages to get anything but a small number of roads constructed th a t
were practicable for vehicles. The “Eriksgata”, i. e., the road used by the newly
elected king when making his progress to receive the homage of his people,
formed a circuit through the central parts of the kingdom, running round Lakes
Vattern .and Hjalmaren and the western part of Lake Malaren. But even this road
was in old times certainly nothing but a bridle-path. From various points
of that “Eriksgata”, roads branched off towards the surrounding parts of the
country, e. g., one south-eastwards to Kalmar, one south-westwards to Halmstad, a
westerly; one to the estuary of the Gota alv, a north-westerly one to Kopparberget
in Dalarne, and a north-easterly one to the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. In
the time of Gustavus Vasa, it was decreed by the Riksdag of Vasteras (1544)
that all public roads should be cleared by the help of the common people and
at their expense, “so th a t all the roads might be passable without any risk,
both from Ny-Lodose (now the Gamlestad of Gothenburg) towards Kalmar and
thence to Stockholm, this should likewise be done with all the other roads necessary”;
further, that the peasantry of Northern Vastergotland should “clear the
Tiveden forest (between the provinces of Vastergotland and Narke), so th a t
people might easily pass along it with vehicles”. In spite of this, it is rather
unlikely that a road passable by carts was really constructed across the Tiveden.
Far , into the 16th century, assemblies of importance were almost exclusively
held in towns that could be reached by boat. According to a descripton still
extant, written by a German traveller about his journey from Halsingborg, via
Jonkoping and Norrkoping, to Stockholm, in 1586, the way was in winter-time
generally laid across frozen lakes and level country, whereas in summer the
route by water was preferred, “for”, he says, “because of the deep roads and
the i marshy lands it is difficult to make one’s way on horseback”.
But, from time to time, arrangements were made to improve the roads. In
1664, it was enacted th a t all thoroughfares between towns, parishes, and the
courts of assizes should be improved, in some places they were to be altered,
levelled, and straightened. With this object, the roads were divided into
various sections to be kept “well cleared and in good repair”, by the peasantry;
at the same time an ordinance was issued concerning the survey of the roads and
the erection of mile-posts. Nevertheless, at the end of the 18th century there
existed but few 6arriage roads except the highroads, and, on the whole, it was
n o t: till the 19 th century that the roads of Sweden were put into a condition
comparable with their present good state. In Skane, 8. G. von Troil, Governor
of Malmo (1851—74), made himself famous for his successful efforts for the
improvement of the roads.
Since 1840, the State has, to a steadily increasing extent, made grants towards
keeping the roads in a good condition. In the year mentioned, grants to the
amount of 75 000 kronor were made “for the laying out of new roads, or else
for the improvement and reconstruction of hilly and less, satisfactory roads”; moreover,
the people in the neighbourhood of such roads were enjoined to contribute
towards the costs of construction, as well as to undertake their future maintenance.
The State grant has ever since constantly been on the increase, so
that in 1915 an amount of 3 million kronor is to be allotted to the purpose.
By those means some 19 250 km of road has been constructed or improved
between 1841—1913.
The construction of new roads has of late chiefly been carried on in
the north of Sweden. During 1841—1913, State grants of 36-16 million
kronor have been made towards the construction of new high-roads and the
repair of old ones; the total calculated cost of these roads amounts to 54-82