The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-23 00:00:00

THE SUN; LONDON; TUESDAY

;we I RosLwAre.

Leasinr
Compans

losing •`rice..
yesterday.

Business
this day.

OCTOI3 RR 23, 1856:

THE SOUND DUES.

Such is substantially the memorandum accompanying
the despatch of Oct. 1. Of the two annexed tables, one
gives the amount of the dues levied in the Sound and
the Belts on the vessels of each of the States in the years
1851, 1852, and -1853 ; the other the amount of the
dues levied on the goods imported into the Baltic or
exported from that sea.

The following appears in yesterday's Indepen-
dance Beige :

Hurg, Oct. 18.
The Danish despatch of Oct. 1, on theamb conference upon
the Sound dues, of which I cent you an analysis in my
letter of yesterday, was accompanied, I told you, by a
memorandum, addressed, in the same form, to all the
governments interested. I think myself fortunate in be-
ing able to forward you a detailed account of it to-day:
It is as f.)llows :-
4 The memoir alludes, first of an, to the agitation for
a long time levelled against the toll, and which would
have entirely disregarded the claim of the Danish esta-
blishments, whose object it is to facilitate naviga-
tion, tc.
" Under the late King Christian VIII., in consequence
of negotiations entered into by Denmark, England, and
Sweden, a revision of the tariff was effected. There was
then a stationary period.
"Christian VIII. had in view other modifications and
revisions. He was prevented from carrying them out
through the war (with Schleswig-Holstein) and its con-
sequences. Later, the war iu the East broke out.
" If, in order to seek a solution, Denmark has chosen
the present moment, it is because the situation has been
created for her, in this way :
" By a note dated last April, the 14th, the American
envoy to the court of Copenhagen denounced the con-
vention of April 26, 1826, the only one in which, in so
far as America is concerned, there is any mention of the
toll.
"It results from the explanations of the American
envoy that the avowed object of this denunciation is to
release the American shipping from this toll, although,
in the Danish point of view, this release would not be
the natural consequence of the cessation of the conven-
tion.
"This has therefore created for Denmark anew situa-
tion, and the ideets previously imparted must from that
moment become problematical.
"Denmark herself would be disposed to have a revision
of the tariff, but neither America nor other powers would
be satisfied with that. The Danish government, there-
fore, put the revision on one side, withoutaltogether aban-
doning it. It results from this hypothesis that the other
governments, considering the revision not calculated to
prevent the conflict,• might have invited Denmark to
make other propositions.
" But it is wished to come to some definitive airange-
ment for putting an end to the toll, without infringing
on the rights of the Danish crown.
"It is from these motives that Denmark is induced to
propose the capitalisation of the toll.
"One essential condition is, that the question should
be treated, not as an affair of trade or money, but as a
political affair. On this head, the memorandum alludes
to the Sound duos, and the part that the toll has played
in the poiicy of northern Europe. In thus mating the
question the negotiation will have impressed upon it
the character and impulse to which it is entitled.
"Denmark's desire to see the negotiations opened at
Copenhagen in the course of November next, already
expressed in the circular, is repeated and supported by
motives to be found in the circumstances and in the im-
portance of the city of Copenhagen for the affair in
question.

"Without wishing, in the slightest degree to antici-
pate the decisions of the Governments, Denmark points
out the basis, the adoption of which in her opinion
would have for its result that each of the powers should
contribute on the payment of the capital in a ratio to
the duty levied on its navigation and commerce.
" The Sound dues are partly levied on the ships,
partly on the cargoes.
" These latter are the true Sound dues, whereas the
former consist especially in lighthouse dues and the like.
" Formerly the idea was propounded of adopting for
the exclusive basis of capitalisation the nationality of
the ships passing through the straits ; but this plan was
anything but just, seeing that the number of ships be-
longing to a nation and passing; through the Sound does
Lot at all represent the quota contributed by the nation
to the toll, which is chiefly levied on the goods.
" There would be far greater conformity with the true
state of things if the quantity of goods that have passed
through the Sound and the Belts were taken as a basis.
"It might, fur instance, be agreed upon that' the re-
spective Sates, including Denmark, should contribute
in propOrtion to the quantity of goods exported from
their harbours and imported into the Baltic through the
straits, or exported by the same Baltic route for the
purpose of being imported into their harbours.
"By combining this basis with that of the nationality
of the ships, so that the compensation to be paid to
Denmark might be calculated, for the true Sound dues,
according to the movement of the goods, according to
the direct importations or exportations of each State, in
goods having passed the Straits of the Sound and the
Belt, and for the lighthouse dues, according to the flag,
a more just and equitable solution of the difficulty would
be arrived at."