The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-29 00:00:00

THE SOUND DUES.-REPORT.

The select committee appointed to inquire into the
operation of the Sound Dues, and to consider in what
degree they are detrimental to the commerce of the
country, and who were empowered to report their obser-
vations, together with the minutes of evidence taken be-
fore them, have considered the matters to them referred,
and have agreed to the following report :
Your committee have considered the matters referred
to them, and hare to report that they have examined
witnesses from different parts of the country, including
tnerchants, manufacturers, shipowners, and others in-
terested in the Baltic trade (as well as the British Mi-
nister at Copenhagen), and have found a very general
concurrence of opinion among them as to the effect and
operation of the Sound dues.
Your committee did not oansider it within their pro.
vince to inquire into the right ex. ised' by the crown of
Denmark to levy tolls 'on abitis erollandfle passing
between the German Ocean.** • b.Baltic Se&
It is a 'Matter of history - ntry4wll-411.=
qtziesced in the payment of thew duVi for tiOtnnenturies
past, and at. this time they are paid and regulated under
engagement by treaty made between the two countries
for that purpose.
In the ye...r 1840, and several previous years, com-
plaints having been urged by the trade upon the Go-
vernment, of the injurious operation of these dues, a
revision of the tariff took place, and in 1841 the treaty
(now in operation), purporting to give effect to the new
regulation, was concluded in London.

The dues which are novr imposed consist of a fixed
uniform duty levied uniformly upon ail ships above 40
tons, and a smaller duty upon vessels of less tonnage,
the proceeds of which are said to be applied to the main-
tenance of lights, buoys, and beacons ; and also of du-
ties on cargoes levied specifically on:certain goods which
are enumerated, and on all goods unenumerated, at the
rate of one per cont. ad valorem, the amount of which
is avowedly for the purpose of Danish revenue.
The mischief and inconvenience attending upon the
payment of these dues appeared a matter of great com-
plaint among all persons engaged in this branch of our
trade. This seems to arise partly from the rate at which
they are levied, but mainly from the manner in which
they are collected.

The detention of vessels, rendered necessary by the
collection of Sound dues at Elsinore, appears to be a fer-
tile source of mischief and needless expense, which is
not adequately measured bylthe payments actually made
to the Danish Government. Competent persons, such
as shipowners, and those who have commanded vessels
in the trade, have stated to your committee that the
loss of time consequent upon this circumstance may
be estimated on an average to amount to one day in
a voyage ; for though it be possible to comply with
all the requirements connected with this impost in a
few hours, yet owing sometimes to the loss of a fa-
vourable wind, or to the circumstance of a number of
ships arriving at the same time, or to the arrival at a time
when the Custom-house authorities were not bound to at-
tend, or to the inducements which present themselves to the
captains and crews when on shore to remain longer• than
they need, vessels are said to be detained occasionally for
periods varying in time from one day to three months ;
instances having been mentioned where, owing to this
delay, at an advanced period of the season, vessels have
been unable to quit the Baltic, and have remained in
that sea during the winter. Tile risks of such prolonged
detention apply less to steamers than to sailing vessels ;
but, on the other hand, the cost of detention is greater
in the case of steamers.

The system under which vessels are cleared at Elsinore,
by the agency of persons who derive their profit entirely
from that business, has beon shown to your committee to
be attended with great expense and inconvenience.
The captains and masters of vessels are bound to go on
shore, which they do either in their own boats with the
crew of the ship, or in boats which go out to them, and
which are paid according to a tariff, the charge varying
with the state of the weather, and amounting occasion.
ally to 51. and upwards ; the latter mode,-however, being
preferred in order to avoid the consequences of the crew
going on shore. The captain is here met by agents, of
whom there are about fifty at Elsinore, whose profits
are stated by some of the witnesses to be very consider-
able. They undertake the clearance of the ves.,el, pay-
ing i:all the dues demanded at the custom-houses, on
which they charge a commission of 3 per cent., and draw
a bill on the merchant for the whole amount.

It is a matter of mueh complaint that these charges,
which are only incidental to the payment exacted by the
Danish Government, amount to more than the dues
themselves, in some cases being double the amount ; and
an agent's account was submitted to the committee,
showing that the dues properly so-called amounted to
one-fourth only of the whole charges for which the owner
of the cargo was made liable ; these are composed of
various items, such as commission, exped►tion, transla-
tion,-stamped paper, &c. ; and 'though some of these
charges are sanctioned by treaty, the account when de•
livered is seldom examined, and if questioned, redress is
difficult to obtain.

Mr. Wilson, of Hull, says :—" We have to take the ac-
e :unt of our agents, and I do not see that we can check
:hem; we should always be in a correspondence with
them if we did ; we are completely in their hands ;" and
witnesses admitting the correctness of the return that
has been made by the Danish Government in the amount
alleged to be paid by this country, namely, 70,000/. per
annum, place the burden falling on British commerce at
not less than between 200,000/. and 300,000/.
The loss from these superfluous charges is aggravated
by the risk incurred by the captains delaying in return
to their ships ; many of them receive gratuities from the
agents, either, as it is said, to disclose the full value of
their cargoes, or as an inducement to employ the same
agent again ; and they areinduced to layout their money
in the port, and are exposed to the temptations afforded
by cheap intoxicating liquors. Great complaints have
also been made of the temptations held out by the agents
at Elsinore to captains to purchase stores unnecessarily.
Mr. Fleming, of Dundee, has given, in the follow-
ing passage, a summary of the mischiefs which follow
from the stoppage at Elsinore :
The delays ships meet with at Elsinore from having to
remain for their necessary papers from the Custom-house
is often the cause of many disasters. In fine weather
the master may be on shore for two or three hours only,
but if the weather is not fine he may be absent five hours
and occasionally much longer. The roadstead in spring
and autumn is very exposed and unsafe anchorage, and
frequently serious accidents occur, such as collision,
slipping chains, parting from anchors, driving on shore ;
and some ships are lost, and the crews drowned. A ves-
sel arriving late in the afternoon must come to anchor,
and by the time the captain gets his clearance lus.-
ness finished and returns on board and gets under
weigh again, it is scarcely possible to proceed through
the Grounds (channel) a ith daylight that day, and
the attempt to proceed through that dangerous chan-
nel during the night very often terminates in the vessel
getting ashore ; and if assistance be required to get
the ship off a heavy expense is incurred to the owners
and merchants. It often happens that during the time
occupied in attending to the clearance business a change
of wind occurs ; and from the peculiar nature of the
channel, the direction or course desired to be steered,
change of currents, &c., vessels may be delayed for a
number of days ; whereas if they could have proceeded
without having to stop, the voyage might have been ac-
complished instead of being at anchor. When the cap-
tain goes on shore at Elsinore he gives his papers to the
agent who does the Custom-house business. There are
many agents, and the captain employs whom he thinks
proper, unless otherwise ordered by the owner, or unless
the charterer birds him to clear with a particular agent.
Each voyage a gratuity of 20s. to 30s. is allowed by the
Elsinore agent to the owner, charterer, or captain,
according to arrangement; the captain is also a:-
lowed half a dozen of wine, or equivalent in money
or tea, and, if a new ship, a clrira punch bowl.
The captain may go on shore with his own boat in
flue weather, but in bad weather it is necessary to em-
ploy a shore boat, the charge for which varies according
to the state of the weather tram one to three pintas,
and even as high as 5 guinea. There is another circum-
stance which renders it almost iniiispen.iahle to employ
shore boats, namely, the risk of the hip's boat's crew,
in the absence of the master attending to the clearance
business getting intoxicated. The Meil ha, e many op-
portunities while on snore of obtaining spirit 4, and it is
l more prudent to keep the crew on board. There is also
another class of boats, called hu:nboats, which come off
from the shore for the purpose of buying old ropes, hones,
or anything else on board the ship, and instances have
occurred of part of the cargoes having been sold ; besides
the same boats take off spirits, tobocoo, &c., whch are
more readily sold when the captain is absent. Etch
agent in Elsinore keeps a general store for supp:ying the
ships clearing with him, but the prices are usually about
ten per cent. higher than those current at tbe shops.
In settling the amount of clearing dues and cost of
supplies, the captain gives his draft or bill on the
owner, at one to three months' date, which bill is trcinFl;
int.tted by the Elsinore agent to his correspabcil
nide:
in this country, v.ho collects the money, and for a
commission, varying from 2 to 5 per eeet-r is received
by
the latter. Should a ship clear on a Sunday, an addi-
tional charge of Sc. is made, and when a ship passes
downwards without stopping for clearance, a fine is .paid
as already mentioned. Perhaps I may be allowed to re-
fer to two letters which have been addressed
to the sec-
retary of the Chamber of Commerce of Dun'dea, confirm-
ing tbe statement which I have just made."
Upon reference to other evidence, it will be seen that
, strong and unvarying
.testimony is borne to the mischief
arising out of the detention of vessels at Elsinore, and in-
' deed some of the witnesses connected with the shipping in-
terest state that the evil of the detention is greater than
' the evil of the payment. It would be difficult to suggest
any Wief to the tree for this evil, short of rendering it ult!