Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Tables
- List of Illustrations
- Glossary
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Dutch Whaling and Sealing in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- Chapter 2 King Willem I and the Premium System (1815-1855)
- Chapter 3 Nineteenth-Century Dutch Whaling in the South Seas (1827-1849)
- Chapter 4 Nineteenth-Century Dutch Whaling and Sealing in the Arctic (1815-1885)
- Chapter 5 Ships and men. Driving and Floating Forces
- Chapter 6 Clients, Commodities, and Distribution
- Chapter 7 Profitability of Dutch Involvement in the Whaling and Sealing Industries
- Summaries
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Curriculum vitae
- Index
Chapter 7 - Profitability of Dutch Involvement in the Whaling and Sealing Industries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Tables
- List of Illustrations
- Glossary
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Dutch Whaling and Sealing in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- Chapter 2 King Willem I and the Premium System (1815-1855)
- Chapter 3 Nineteenth-Century Dutch Whaling in the South Seas (1827-1849)
- Chapter 4 Nineteenth-Century Dutch Whaling and Sealing in the Arctic (1815-1885)
- Chapter 5 Ships and men. Driving and Floating Forces
- Chapter 6 Clients, Commodities, and Distribution
- Chapter 7 Profitability of Dutch Involvement in the Whaling and Sealing Industries
- Summaries
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Curriculum vitae
- Index
Summary
Introduction
In 1844, Algemeen Handelsblad, one of the leading newspapers in the Netherlands, enthusiastically reviewed the prospectus compiled earlier that year by Brandligt and Marselis to generate interest in South Seas whaling. In the article, the reviewer stated that
“The subscribers get the great probability of an equitable profit; but the certainty of contributing to a variety of industries that are immediately connected with the fitting out of these ships; the certainty of promoting the prosperity of all factories whose products could be used as means of exchange in the Indies; the certainty of reviving the trade in whale oil and bone, and supporting those factories that use those as raw materials; the certainty of spreading civilisation among the populations of the Indian archipelago”.
From these lines it is evident that the anonymous author of the article wanted the audience to focus on the certainties in the text. The ‘great probability’ of an ‘equitable profit’ in the South Seas whale fishery was presented as of secondary importance.
This chapter will deal with this very question: did these men follow the advice given in the newspaper article? How profitable did nineteenth-century Dutch whaling and sealing turn out to be for entrepreneurs? In order to come to grips with this issue, the elements connected with profitability – costs and revenues – will be the focus of the discussion.
Maritime trade – as trade in general – is stimulated by several fundamental factors related to input and output. On the input side factors include manpower, the skills to build the ships to pursue one's goals, and expenditure to realise these goals and the associated revenues. To explain developments in Dutch whaling in the nineteenth century, focus must be placed on both the ecological situation (the numbers of whales and seals, for instance) and on at least four economic factors – labour, technological know-how, costs, and revenues. Labour and technological know-how, in this case meaning the state of the art with respect to shipbuilding, was discussed in previous chapters. The remaining two elements – costs and revenues – require more attention as they are the two cornerstones of calculations regarding profitability and will receive more detailed discussion here.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Trying OutAn Anatomy of Dutch Whaling and Sealing in the Nineteenth Century, 1815–1885, pp. 233 - 268Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2008