Certain other occupations are subjected to special restrictions, thus, for instance,
chimney-sweeping in towns. Then again, chauffeurs and motor-cab owners
require certificates of competence (Ordinance of 1906).
A special license is required for the exhibition of kinematograph films both
in town and country, and all films have to pass censure, except those representing
events of the day (Ordinance of 1911).
A special license is required for keeping a registry office for servants (Ordinance
of 1884), or an emigrants agency (Ordinance of 1893).
The relations of manufacturers or traders to the workmen in their
employ come under various Acts; thus, for instance the Liberty of Trade
Ordinance, the Ordinance of 1896 providing for measures to prevent
necrosis among workmen engaged in match factories, the Sale of Lucifer
(Phosphorus) Matches Ordinance of 1900, the Protection of Workers Act
o f 1912, and so forth. Lor a more detailed account of legislation on this
subject see the section Legislation for the Protection, of Workers (p. I, 704).
Companies.
The Swedish Companies. Acts distinguish between three different kinds
o f companies, namely handelsbolag, or partnership, enkelt bolag, or private
company, and ahtiebolag, or joint-stock company.
A handelsbolag, (literally: trading company) or partnership, is a company
formed by two or more persons for the purpose of any kind of trade in which
the keeping of merchant’s books is obligatory (Law o f -1895). The obligation
to keep books devolves on all persons, companies, or societies, that carry on
business, wholesale or retail, or manufacture goods with a view to profit (Ordinance
o f '1 8 5 5 ; law of 1895). A handelsbolag is at Swedish law a legal
persona, which as such, can acquire rights, incur liabilities, and enter into legal
proceedings. The rights and liabilities of the partners during the life of the firm
are determined by contract. Each of the partners is, as a rule, entitled to act
on behalf of the firm. Profit and loss are distributed between the partners pro
rata. If certain principles have been agreed upon for the distribution of profit
solely or loss solely, they shall hold good in the distribution both of profit and
of loss. Partner is not liable, at the instigation of his co-partners, to advance
capital beyond the amount of his share. Apart from agreement, each of the
partners binds the firm. The members of a handelsbolag are jointly and severaMy
liable for firm debts. (Law of 1895.)
Besides the ordinary handelsbolag, which as will have been seen corresponds
approximately to a partnership in England, the Swedish law recognizes limited
partnerships, or partnerships in commandite (kommanditbolag). What constitutes
a Tcommanditbolag, is that pne or more (not all together) of its members have
reserved themselves the right of not being liable for more than he or they have
invested, or have engaged to invest, in the company. A firm of this kind shall
contain the word “kommanditbolag”. Unless otherwise’ agreed, a member of
a kommanditbolag (which very nearly corresponds to a “sleeping partner in
England”) is not entitled to participate in the management of the business,
and his aots do not bind the firm. (Law of 1895.)
Enkelt bolag, (literally: simple company) is the Swedish term for what in
English would be called a private company. Should an enkelt bolag be registered,
as sometimes happens, it is deemed to be a handelsbolag. An enlcelt
bolag cannot, as a legal persona, acquire rights or incur liabilities, nor engage
in legal proceedings.
The mutual rights and liabilities of the members during the existence of the
firm are determined by contract. Apart from agreement, a member of the
company- cannot take action on behalf of the firm without the express consent
of the other members. Profit and loss are distributed in the same manner as
in the case of a handelsbolag. ^Contracts entered into in the name of the
members of the firm, or under a designation jointly covering the members of
the firm, do not affect a member of the firm who has not taTcen part in the
contract. Where several members have taken part in the contract, their rights
and liabilities are pro rata, unless otherwise agreed in entering into the contract.
Where, in entering .into a contract, the firm has been so styled as to imply a
more unlimited liability, the members with whose consent the firm has
been so styled are liable jointly and severally. I f an enkelt bolag transact
business with a view to commercial profit, the members of the company will
in like manner be jointly an severally liable. (Law of 1895.)
An ahtiebolag is almost the exact equivalent of an English joint-stock company.
In an ahtiebolag the members of the company are not personally liable
for the engagements of the firm. In former times a company of this kind could
not be formed except by a royal charter. The first Joint-Stock Companies
Act was that of 1848. This Law was based on the charter principle: the powers
and mode of management of the company were defined by charter. The Law
of 1895, Wvhich entered into force two years later, introduced the registration
system,, under which persons desirous of forming a company are obliged to
conform to certain regulations. It is the business of the registrar to see that
the required formalities are complied with before registering the company. The
company is incorporated as a joint-stock company as soon as registration has
been made. The Law of 1895 was supplemented by that of the 12 August 191 0
which extends the former.
The joint-stock company system has been largely developed in Sweden. Not
only big enterprises, but a number of smaller undertakings of the most various
kinds are jointstocked. The total number of joint-stocks companies in Sweden
in 1908 was 4 919, with an aggregate capital of 2 034 228 000 kronor. The
average amount-, of the share capital of these companies was 413 000 kronor.
The following are the principal provisions of the Law of 1910. The funds
invested are divided into shares (aktier) of equal size, and indivisible. Where
the articles ,:iof association allow of variation in the amount of the capital, the
minimum Capital shall not be less than a third of the maximum. The share
capital, or, ifi the case referred to, the minimum capital shall not be less than
5 000 kronor, and the nominal value of shares shall, as a matter of principle,
not be less than 50 kronor. However, where the share capital does not exceed
50-000 kronor, shares may be issued for smaller amounts, though in no case
less than 10 Mronor. Shares shall be personal, but in certain cases Government
may authorize the issue of shares to bearer.
Persons desirous of forming a joint-stock company shall subscribe a memorandum
of association (stiftelseurhundj, stating the general objects of the company.
The memorandum of association is signed by the promoters of the
company, who shall be at least five in number and all of them Swedish subjects
domiciled in Sweden. The memorandum shall be published in the official
Swedish gazette1 and also in one of the local papers of the place where the Company
is to have its registered office, two copies of the memorandum, and one copy
of papers in which it has been inserted shall then be lodged with the proper authorities
1 The “Post och Inrikes Tidningar”.