The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-25 00:00:00

THE SOUND DUES.

A letter from Copenhagen of the 16th says a—
"M. Bluhme, director of the toll-house of the
Sound, has been here for some days, to open the
conferences relative to the tolls. In addition to
M. Tengoborski, another Russian functionary has
arrived to attend the conferences, M. Tunkel, and
he is said to have received a special mission. The
only country besides Russia which is thus far re-
presented in the conferences is Sweden, and she has
sent Baron Gillen Stjerno. We are assured that
different German States, and particularly Hanover,
have given notice that they will not cause them-
selves to be represented at the conferences."
The Stock Exchange Gazatt of Berlin of the 20th
says :—" The Danish Government has addressed
to several States which it did not at first invite—
for example, the free towns of Hamburg and Bre-
men—a request to send representatives to the con-
ferences. In a now circular which it has issued on
the subject, the Danish Government has divided
the interested States into groups, according to
their geographical position, the amount of Sound
dues they pay, and the manner in which the dues
are levied from them—that is to say, whether by
treaty or by custom. It is by these categories that
the indemnity for the abolition of the tolls will
have to be paid ; but the system is very compli-
cated, and calculated to lead to numerous discus-
sions."

A letter from Warsaw of the 17th, in the Cologne
Gazette, states that the improvement in Prince
Paskie witch continues, and that he is each day
able to devote a greater length of time to official
business.
We have mentioned that an amnesty has been
accorded to different categories of political offenders
in Poland ; but it is necessary to state that it does
not extend in any way to the Polish refugees in
foreign countries.—G atignani.
The budget of Prussia for 1856, which has just
been submitted to the Chambers, estimates the re-
ceipts at 118,864,071 thalers, the ordinary expenses
at 113,308,218 thalers, and the extraordinary at
5,555,853 thalers.
The communal bill which the Prussian Govern-
ment has just presented to the Chambers proposes
that mayors and other municipal functionaries
shall be elected for life instead of for six or twelve
years as heretofore.
Letters from Cattaro (Montenegro), in the
Piemonte of Turin, state that Prince Danilo has
returned to Cettigne after a long absence, and that
he has expressed au intention of indemnifying the
Turks for the losses sustained by them during the
late inroad of his subjects. He has, according to
these letters, just rendered himself extremely un-
popular by a decree, in which he lays s tax on ex-
portation, and another on importation, a thing
never heard of before in Montenegro. The exas-
peration caused by this innovation is said to be
such that a large number of the population have
threatened to emigrate to the Turkish territory.

TIIE DANI:111 SOUND DUES.

(From the Bankers' Circular.)

There has been for some time rather an angry feeling
expressed in several of the American journals relative to
the custcm of charging certain dues upon the passing of
ships through the Sound into the Baltic in proportion to
their tonnage. By the principal European States these
charges have been long acknowledged and paid as a
demand justly due to the Danish Government ; for
which it has bound itself to render all the necessary as-
sistance to the marine of every foreign nation naviga-
ting those waters ; and also to be at the cost of light-
houses, pilotage, and such aid as is required by mer-
chant vessels passing through these shallow and danger-
ous seas. We need scarcely remark that these dues
have been long acknowledged as a part and portion of
the Danish revenues ; and from the certainty with
which they have been regarded, they have been made a
portion of the securities upon which Denmark has raised
loans in this country ; and as a debtor to foreign nations,
Denmark has maintained her credit with the utmost
punctuality, although her finances were greatly disor-
ganised during the revolution of the Dusky of Schleswig-
Holstein. We can, therefore, well understand why she
should adhere with some degree of tenacity to the pre-
servation of rights upon which her national interests so
much depend. These dues have been collected for cen-
turies ; and originated in an agreement between one of
the Kings of Denmark and the Hanse Towns ; but for
more than two centuries they were arbitrary in the
amount, being subject entirely to the will of the Danish
monarchs. It was not till 1659 that a union was entered
into by the English, French, and the Dutch, to compel
the Danish Government to fix the dues at permanent
and moderate rates, when they were arranged by treaty.
These dues were formerly claimed as a part of the re.
venues of Sweden as well as Denmark ; but at the peace
of Freidriohsburg, in 1720, Sweden ceded her right of
receiving the dues to Denmark, with the sovereignty of
Schleswig-Holstein ; and from that period she has en-
joyed the undisputed right to demand them upon ships
passirg the waters of the Sound.
It will be seen, however, by an official document from
the American Foreign Minister that the right to levy
these dues is disputed by the United States Government.
The Danish Government has invited a Congress of re-
presentatives from several States in order to adjust these
dues, by a process of capitalisation. America, on her
part, refuses to recognise this congress ; as it would be
tantamount to an admission that Denmark possesses the
legitimate right to control the passage through these
waters.
There cannot be a doubt that by the common consent
of nations Denmark has had conceded to her certain
even after
claims based upon the performance of certain specific'
duties, and that she has a just right to demand them;
psa h rough
but when she asserts her right to refuse
the waters of the Sound to a foreign shit),
having paid these dues, she is taking too high a position,
unless armed with sufficient power to maintain it against
foreign nations.
The question, therefore, of renderin these charges
g
perpetual must be dissociated entirely from the right to
control the navigation of the Sound and Belts ; but from
navigating those
waters,t heg eneirtaellayn
scarcelydmi t
be doubted that America wouldd difficulty of
unite with other commercial nations in paying Iser fair
proportion towards any outlay for the security of her
mercantile marine.

THE CONDEMNED ABRAHAM BAKER.—The execution
of Abraham Baker fur the murder of his fellow•servant,
Naomi Kingswell, at Southampton, is fixed to take
place at Winchester on the sth of next month.
A. WOMAN BURNT TO DEATlL—Yesterday morning, a
female of the name of Mrs. Jane Inpur, aged 40 years,
expired in the accident ward of St. Thomas's Hospital,
from the effects of severe injuries received through her
clothes accidentally catching fire.
111. Thalberg has left Rio for Buenos Ayres, where big
performances have been attended with their usual bril-
liant success, and the attentions lavished upon the great
pianist are equal to any that could be paid to the
highest envoy from any foreign etato,