[Navigation of the River Po.] Fund for Payment of Expenses of Commission. ART. X. For the Expenses of this Commission and the persons depending on it, as also for the Expenses of the maintenance of the Towing Paths, and for the improvements to be introduced into the Navigation of the Po, a provision shall be made by a suitable Fund arising from Navigation Dues. Navigation Dues. ART. XI. These Navigation Dues shall be unconnected with the Tolls and Customs Dues of each several State for those goods and commodities which may be landed and consumed in the surrounding country, or taken to the interior, in relation to which the States are at liberty to make arrangements according to the Regulations established in them. Levy of Navigation Dues. ART. XII. The Navigation Dues shall be levied according to the Tonnage of the Ships or Boats with Cargoes, on the basis of the annexed Tariff, and without regard to the goods or commodities with which they may be laden. Ships and boats without cargoes pay only half. These Dues shall be taken all at once, giving a regular acknowledgment for every trip, in whatever direction, at the first Custom-house going upwards or downwards; and for internal navigation at 3 other intermediate Custom-houses, at equal distances, as far as possible, to be appointed by common consent. Vessels not touching at Custom-houses to be Free of Navigation Dues. The Navigation taking place between two Custom-houses, without touching either, is Free from Navigation Dues. For carrying these Regulations into effect, the Vessels proceeding from any of the confluent Rivers, and continuing their voyage on the Po, shall, so far as it concerns the Navigation on that River, be considered as having begun their voyage from the respective embouchures. Monthly Payments to be made by Custom-house Officers. ART. XIII. It shall be the duty of the Custom-house Officers to pay in monthly the produce of the Navigation Dues at the Central Treasury of the Commission, to be determined by a Regulation accordingly; and the Officials shall take oath that they will conscientiously observe the Rules and Regulations which shall be issued. [Navigation of the River Po.] Mode of Levying Navigation Dues. ART. XIV. The Levy of the Navigation Dues shall be executed in the manner most convenient to promote the despatch of Vesels, and at the same time to prevent any means of carriage being exempt from them; and for that purpose the precise spots where the Custom-houses are situated, at which the Dues are received, shall be pointed out by suitable notices or papers. Preventive Measures against Non-Payment of Duties. ART. XV. And in order to prevent any Vessel or Convoy from omitting the payment of the Duties, or from carrying on Illicit Trade, respective Superintendences shall be established with common consent: but always keeping in view that these precautions do not place any obstacle in the way of the development of Free Navigation. Custom-house Registers. ART. XVI. In the Custom-houses appointed to levy the Navigation Dues a special Register shall be kept, in which the weight of the goods simply shall be taken and the amount entered, and a certificate of the same delivered, which shall be an authority for the free passage of the Vessel on the Po, and particularly for leaving it. The amount of Cargo shall be ascertained according to a suitable scale, which shall be fixed up in the respective Customhouses. Increase of Navigation Dues to be by Common Consent. ART. XVII. The Navigation Dues shall not be increased unless by common agreement; and the Governments of the Contracting States, acting on the principle that their true interests consist in favouring commerce, and that the Duties on Navigation are exclusively intended to defray the expenses of maintaining and improving the course of the River, and to increase more and more the safety and facility of the Navigation, do formally bind themselves not to admit any increase of the above Duties, except for the most fair and urgent reasons, and, in general, not to burden the Navigation by any other Duties than those expressed and established in the present Convention. [Navigation of the River Po.] Division of Excess of Navigation Dues. Payment of Deficiency. ART. XVIII. If it should happen that the produce should not be exhausted by the expenses of superintendence, and of the maintenance and improvement of the course of the River for Navigation, the remainder shall be divided in proportion to the respective territorial extent along the shores, the accounts being regulated at the close of each year. The same shall be done in the event of any deficiency for the expenses which the Governments shall have sanctioned. Prohibition to Exempt or Augment Dues. ART. XIX. Neither the Commission nor any Custom-house Officer shall be allowed to give exemption from the Dues fixed, nor to augment them, whatever may be the nature, the origin, and the destination of the goods and merchandize, and without any respect to the party from whom they come, and to whom they are going, and by whose order the transport is effected. Settlement of Disputes. Police Regulations. ART. XX. All affairs in dispute relative to Navigation shall be decided by the Superintending Customs Officers, and in last appeal by the Commission. Affairs of Police, whether Correctional or Criminal, shall be under cognizance of the respective Judiciary Authorities of the district or commune where they occur, and they shall be proceeded with regularly according to existing laws. Prevention of Smuggling. ART. XXI. The care of preventing Smuggling on the banks of the Po, and in the interior of the adjoining countries, is entrusted to the several Governments, who shall, for that purpose, issue to their Customs Officers and Guards instructions in conformity with the spirit of the present Convention. Sanitary Regulations. ART. XXII. Every Ship or Vessel coming from the Sea which shall enter the Po, shall be subject to the Sanitary Regulations prescribed in the Austrian or Pontifical ports, at the mouth of the River, and shall not continue the voyage until the same be fulfilled, receiving a certificate of free pratique, which must be exhibited whenever required by competent authority. [Navigation of the River Po.] Service and Payment of Pilots. ART. XXIII. Matters relating to the Service and Payment allowed to Pilots shall be arranged by a Special Regulation, the preparation and publication of which shall be entrusted to the above-mentioned Commission. Moneys, Weights, and Measures. ART. XXIV. With respect to Moneys, Weights, and Measures, the Italian Decimal Metrical System shall be the rule observed. ADDITIONAL ARTICLE. Negotiations to be entered into with Piedmont. In order to extend still more the advantages to be derived to the Navigation of the Po from the present Convention, the Austrian Government undertakes to enter into suitable negotiations with Piedmont, on the basis of the principles laid down above. Tariff of the Dues for Navigation on the Po. Throughout its course between the two extreme Customhouses, and beyond the same: 1st class ships, boats, and barges, of the 3rd ditto ditto 200 to 500 4th ditto ditto under 200 Lira. 12 0 60 3 0 1 30 Between the two extreme Custom-houses one-half the Duty shall be paid. Ships, Barges, and Boats not loaded shall pay in every case one-half. In testimony whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present original in triplicate, and have affixed the Seal of their Arms thereto. Milan, 3rd July, 1849. (L.S.) DE BRUCK. [Islands of the River Po.] No. 213.-CONVENTION between Austria and Parma, respecting the Sovereignty over the Islands of the Po. Signed at Milan, 3rd July, 1849. TABLE. Reference to Vienna Congress Treaty of 9th June, 1815; and to Conventions of 25th July, 1821, and 11th July, 1834. Additional Article. Sovereignty over Islands on the Po becoming attached to each other. (Translation.) Reference to Vienna Congress Treaty of 9th June, 1815; and to Conventions of 25th July, 1821, and 11th July, 1834. His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Bohemia, &c., &c., and His Royal Highness the Infant of Spain, Duke of Parma, &c., inasmuch as by the Conventions of 25th July, 1821, and 11th July, 1834, the rules are established between Austria and the Duchy of Parma, which are to be observed for the transfer of the Islands of the Po from one to the other dominion, in consequence of fluvial variations by which an Island belonging to one State becomes attached to the Continent of the other State, as well as to who the new Islands shall belong, and this in modification of what was determined on the subject by Article XCV of the General Act of the Congress of Vienna (No. 27), but the case of the Union of two Islands belonging to different States, having been left out of consideration, and in order to supply that omission, have agreed as follows, and therefore appointed their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say : His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, Charles Lodowick di Bruck, his Minister of Commerce, &c., and His Royal Highness the Infant Duke of Parma, Thomas Baron Ward, his Chamberlain, &c., who, having met at Milan, and having produced and exchanged their Full Powers, found in good and due form, have agreed and stipulated as follows: |