RUSSIAN EAST ASIATIC STEAMSHIP COMPANY AND THE STATE: INTERACTION IN THE CONTEXT OF REGULATING LABOR MIGRATION IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Transatlantic labor migration of the early 20th century led to the creation of new steamship companies and changed approaches to the formulation of Russian imperial migration policy. Government, Ministry of Trade and Industry in the first place, viewed transportation of passengers as a means to support Russian merchant shipping, while steamship companies lobbied legal and administrative transformations. The article examines forms of interaction between Russian East Asiatic Steamship Company (REASC) as an owner of a direct line Libava — New York and state institutions in the context of regulating foreign labor migration from the Russian empire. That Russo-Danish company used several strategies in order to strengthen its position as a monopoly carrier of labor migrants across the Atlantic. REASC entered into cooperation with the Volunteer Fleet to lobby necessary administrative measures, such as issuance of foreign passports in Libava. The company informed government of its competitors’ abuses, which was both profitable for the enterprise and helpful for imperial officials who aspired to control migration flows. The company’s managing director took part in the creation of emigration law, which enabled REASC to fix its outstanding status. However, imperial government resisted any attempts of the company’s board to expand its sphere of influence at the cost of governors and consuls’ authority. As a result, REASC could maintain its outstanding position only within the legal and administrative framework of the late Russian empire.