In Norway the laws put no restriction upon shipowners as to purchase in any market. Most of her steam tonnage is foreign-bought, and largely second-hand. Her merchant fleet, however, consists for the greater part, of wooden sailing-ships, and these are mostly of domestic build.[EM] Besides the mail subsidies the Government grant "trade" subsidies to some forty Norwegian steamship companies to enable them to maintain routes to various foreign ports. These subsidies amount to about half a million dollars annually.[EO] In 1910 Norway stood in tonnage fourth among European maritime countries: her total tonnage being 2,014,533 tons.[EP] Norway has by far the largest percentage of sea-faring population, and her mariners are found in the crews of all nations in Europe and America. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote EI: Meeker.] [Footnote EJ: Parl. papers.] [Footnote EK: Meeker.] [Footnote EL: U.S. Con. Rept., no. 82, 1910, p. 106.] [Footnote EM: Meeker.] [Footnote EN: Lloyd's Register, 1910-11.] [Footnote EO: Report of (U.S.) commissioner of navigation for 1909.] [Footnote EP: Lloyd's Register, 1910-11.] CHAPTER X RUSSIA In Russia steamship lines were early subsidized with mileage bounties, besides receiving postal subventions; and later the Government adopted the policy of returning the Suez Canal tolls to the subsidized lines. The mileage subsidies are direct bounties avowedly for the encouragement of Russian navigation, and are very large.[EQ] In 1898 a Government commission, appointed to consider and report upon the state of the empire's mercantile marine, declared that Russia was losing a vast sum annually through the lack of a sufficient commercial fleet of her own, and yet no progress seemed to be making toward increasing her tonnage. To remedy this unsatisfactory condition the commission suggested the removal of the duty on ships built abroad for Russia, and the free admission of all material necessary for ship construction.[ER] Favoring laws followed. By a measure of July that year (1898) ships bought abroad, if destined for the foreign sea-borne trade, were exempted for a period of ten years from the heavy duties levied on such vessels.[EQ] The next year (1899) the coasting trade, reserved exclusively for Russian ships, was extended to include navigation between any two Russian ports in any seas; and, further to restrict this trade to subjects of the empire, it was enacted that ships engaged in it must be manned exclusively by Russian officers and seamen.[EQ]