384 promptness with which matters were dealt in the college, the kansliordningen of 1661 introduced a careful division of labor among the various secretaries “so that the one does not confuse his work and business with that of the other, but that each and every one pays attention to that which actually concerns him with diligence and loyalty, and that business may be continued so much more correctly. With the introduction of absolutism, the kanslikollegium was subjected to careful royal control, which significantly reduced its dominant position in the government. Charles XI even went so far as to interfere directly in the affairs of the college,^^ and in 1713 his son Charles XII promulgated at Timurtasch a kansliordning which presaged a thorough reorganization of the chancellery. The most important innovation was the reorganization of the college into sections {expeditioner) along functional lines.There were to be six sections, namely a revisionsexpedition and five sections for state affairs, three for domestic affairs and two for foreign affairs. The revisionsexpedition was to deal with legal matters and was to be headed by a supreme ombudsman, who was charged with enforcing laws and statutes and prosecuting negligent civil servants and officials. The sections for domestic affairs were the military expedition, the treasury expedition, and the trade expedition, while those for foreign affairs were the first expedition for foreign affairs and the German expedition. Each section for state affairs was to be headed by a so-called omhudsråd (ombudscouncillor), who thereby assumed the functions of the former state secretaries.^® The fifth article of the new kansliordningen listed the college’s spheres of responsibility in the following general terms: The business of the kanslikollegium should consist primarily of deliberating on foreign affairs and considering and discussing how Sweden’s advantage in relation to foreign powers and magnates may be promoted in all situations and informing the royal government {Kungl. Ma}:t) about it. The College is also to have under its direction the Chancellery, the Antiquities Archives, the Royal {Kungl. Ma}:ts) Library, the whole Postal System, the Censor Librorum, and the Historians, and urge them, as well as all of the Chancellery servants in general, to perform their duties properly. The kansliordningen of 1713 represented a clear advance both in terms of legal technicalities and of administrative organization, and the new organization went into effect as of 1715. Instruktioner II, 340. Munthe, 144. '■ Ibid., 167. Samuel Loenbom, ed.. Handlingar til Konung Carl Xhtes historia (15 v.. Stockholm, 1763—1774), III, 102—106. '■ Ibid., 101. ” 13
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