Helsinki and
its people had to endure difficult times,
especially in economical sense. The access to
the most important export goods, tar and
timber, had became increasingly difficult.
Farming had suffered because of the long
period of fallow. The town merchants were
forced to sell salt at a give away price to
attract the peasants to come to Helsinki.
In the 1730s it
was decided that a new customs house should be
built. The tight customs and excise policy was
in accordance of the Crown’s policy. This
policy aimed to increase the state’s
precious metal reserve by increasing export
and supporting home industries. The amount of
foreign imports was limited and the imports
were heavily taxed. There were two kinds of
customs duties in Helsinki, the so called
Great sea toll and the Small toll. |
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The Great sea toll was paid for all
the imported products. The Small toll was a
duty that was paid by the peasants who came to
Helsinki to sell their produce. The town was
surrounded by a fence that had two toll gates.
Erik Sederholm worked at the customs house as
the inspector of the Great sea toll.
Shipping in
Helsinki was connected almost entirely with
commerce and trade. After 1721 the burghers of
Helsinki owned mostly small vessels, the
larger ships sailing to the town harbour ships
came from abroad, for example from Holland,
but also from Stockholm and the important
eastern staple town Hamina. The quantity of
ship traffic in Helsinki was fairly low during
the first half of the 18th century. |
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