TH [Sound Dues.] No.278.-TREATY between Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, France, Hanover, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Oldenburg, the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Norway, and the Hans Towns, on the one part, and Denmark, on the other part, for the Redemption of the Sound Dues.* Signed at Copenhagen, 14th March, 1857. 1. Abolition of Sound Duties on Vessels passing from the North Sea to the Baltic. Reservation as to Powers not Parties to Treaty. Abolition of all Taxes on Commerce and Navigation. 2. Maintenance of Lights and Lighthouses. Change and Increase of Lights, Lighthouses, Buoys, Beacons, and Sea-marks when necessary. Pilotage to be Optional, and Charges the same as for Danish Vessels. Permission to Danes and foreigners to establish Tugs for Towing Vessels. List of Articles to be Exempt from Duties. Fixed Transit Duties. Reduction of Transit Duties. Convention to be concluded with Sweden and Norway for the Maintenance of Lighthouses. 3. Engagements to commence on the 1st April, 1857. 4. Compensation to be made to Denmark. 5. Payments to be made by Instalments. 6. Separate Engagements to be made by each Contracting Power. 8. Ratifications. Protocol. Right of Denmark to charge Duties on Vessels of such Powers as shall not have concluded separate Treaties on the 1st April. Verification of Nationality. Provisional Reduction of Transit Dues to commence from 1st April, 1857. (Translation as laid before Parliament.†) HER Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, His Majesty the King of the Belgians, * Separate Treaties were also signed with Portugal, on the 12th November, 1858; with Sardinia, on the 25th November, 1857; with the Sicilies, on the 2nd January, 1858; with Spain, on the 25th February, 1860; with Turkey, on the 15th March, 1859; and with The United States, on the 11th April, 1857. + For French Version, see State Papers," vol. xlvii, p. 24, [Sound Dues.] His Majesty the Emperor of the French, His Majesty the King of Hanover, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of MecklenburgSchwerin, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, His Majesty the King of Prussia, His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, and the Senates of the Free Hanseatic Cities of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, on the one part; and His Majesty the King of Denmark on the other part; being equally animated with the desire to facilitate and enlarge the Commercial and Maritime relations which at present exist between or through the medium of their respective Dominions, as well by means of the complete and perpetual abolition of all Toll levied upon Foreign Vessels and their Cargoes on passing through the Sound and the Belts, as by means of a reduction of charge upon goods passing in Transit over the lines of communication which connect the North Sea and the Elbe with the Baltic, have resolved to conclude a special Treaty for that purpose, and have accordingly furnished with their Full Powers, that is to say : Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Andrew Buchanan, Esquire, her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of Denmark; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, the Sieur Charles Jaeger, his Chargé d'Affaires at the Court of His Majesty the King of Denmark; His Majesty the King of the Belgians, the Sieur Alcindor Chevalier Beaulieu, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Danish Majesty, &c.; His Majesty the King of Denmark, the Sieur Christian Albert. Bluhme, his Privy Councillor of Conferences, and Director of the Customs of Oresound, &c.; His Majesty the Emperor of the French, the Sieur Adolphus Dotezac, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to his Majesty the King of Denmark, &c.; His Majesty the King of Hanover, the Sieur Charles Hanbury, his Minister Resident, and Privy Councillor of Legation, &c.; His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Sieur Charles Frederick William Prosch, his Councillor of Regency and Privy Councillor of Legation, &c.; [Sound Dues.] His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, the Sieur Albert John Theodore Erdman, his Councillor of Regency, &c.; His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, the Sieur Henry Charles du Bois, his Minister Resident to His Majesty the King of Denmark, &c.; His Majesty the King of Prussia, the Sieur Alphonse Henry, Count of Oriolla, his Chamberlain, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of Denmark, &c.; His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, the Sieur Jules. de Tegoborski, his Councillor of College, &c. ; His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, the Sieur Nicholas William Baron de Wetterstedt, his Chamberlain, his Chargé d'Affaires at the Court of His Danish Majesty, &c.; And the Senates of the Free Hanseatic Cities of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, the Sieur Frederick Krüger, Doctor of Laws, Minister Resident of the said Cities to His Majesty the King of Denmark; Who, after having exchanged their Full Powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles : ART. I. His Majesty the King of Denmark engages to Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, His Majesty the King of the Belgians, His Majesty the Emperor of the French, His Majesty the King of Hanover, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, His Majesty the King of Prussia, His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, and the Senates of the Free Hanseatic Cities of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, who accept such engagement : Abolition of Sound Duties to Vessels passing from the North Sea to the Baltic. Reservation as to Powers not Parties to Treaty. 1. Not to levy any duty of Customs, Tonnage, Light, Lighthouses, Beacons, or any other charge whatever, either in regard to Vessel or Cargo, upon Ships sailing from the North Sea to the Baltic, or vice versa, on passing through the Belts or the Sound, whether they simply traverse the Danish waters, or whether [Sound Dues.] they may be obliged by casualties or by commercial operations to anchor or lie-to therein. No Vessel whatever shall henceforward be subjected, under any pretext, to any detention or impediment whatever, in the Passage of the Sound or of the Belts; but His Majesty the King of Denmark expressly reserves to himself the right of regulating, by special Arrangements, not involving Visit or Detention, the treatment in regard to Duties and Customs, of Vessels belonging to Powers which are not parties to the present Treaty. Abolition of all Taxes on Commerce and Navigation. 2. Not to levy upon such of the said Vessels as may enter or depart from Danish ports, whether with Cargo or in Ballast, and whether they have or have not performed any operation of Commerce therein, nor upon their Cargoes, any Tax whatever to which such Vessels or their Cargoes would have been liable on account of the Passage through the Sound and the Belts, and which is abolished by the stipulations of the preceding paragraph; and it is well understood that the Taxes which shall be so abolished, and which consequently shall not be levied either in the Sound and the Belts or in Danish ports, shall never be reimposed indirectly by any augmentation, for that purpose, of the Port and Customs Dues now existing, nor by the introduction for that purpose, of fresh Dues of Navigation or Customs; nor in other manner whatever. ART. II. His Majesty the King of Denmark engages, moreover, to the above-mentioned High Contracting Parties: Maintenance of Lights and Lighthouses. 1. To preserve and maintain in the best state all the Lights and Lighthouses existing either at the entrance or in the approaches to his Ports, Harbours, Roads, and Rivers or Canals, or along his Coasts, as well as the Buoys, Beacons, and Sea-marks actually existing, and serving to facilitate Navigation in the Kattegat, the Sound, and the Belts. Change and increase of Lights, Lighthouses, Buoys, Beacons, and Sea-marks when necessary. 2. To take into most serious consideration, as heretofore, in the general interest of Navigation, the utility or expediency eithe [Sound Dues.] of changing the position or the forms of such Lights, Lighthouses, Buoys, Beacons, and Sea-marks, or of increasing the number thereof; the whole without charge of any kind upon Foreign Vessels. Pilotage to be optional, and Charges the same as for Danish Vessels. 3. To superintend, as heretofore, the service of Pilotage, the employment of which in the Kattegat, the Sound, and the Belts, shall at all times be at the option of Captains and Masters of Vessels. It is understood that the charges for Pilotage shall be moderate; that the rate thereof shall be the same for Danish Vessels and for Foreign Vessels; and that the charge for Pilotage shall be exacted from those Vessels only which shall have voluntarily employed Pilots. Permission to Danes and Foreigners to establish Tugs for Towing Vessels. 4. To permit, without any restriction, any private individuals, Danes or Foreigners, to establish and to station in the Sound and in the Belts, freely and on the same conditions, whatever nation they may belong to, Tugs serving exclusively for the Towing of Vessels which may desire to employ them. 5. List of Articles to be exempt from Duties. Fixed Transit Duties. 6. To reduce on all the said Roads or Canals to a uniform rate, in proportion to weight, not exceeding 16 skillings Danish per 500 pounds Danish, the Transit Duty on all goods which are now chargeable with duty, such charge not to be augmented by any other charge, under any denomination what ever. Reduction of Transit Duties. In case the Transit Duties should be reduced below the rate above specified, His Majesty the King of Denmark engages to place all the Roads or Canals which do or may connect the North Sea and the Elbe with the Baltic or its Tributaries on a footing of perfect equality with the Most Favoured Roads which now exist or may hereafter be established, upon his Territory. |