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

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' VICTORIA. 3 :01VDON DOCKS.—SALE OW Stol#llg4 i
81. order (if the Prihr4pal Officers of her Msjest±'it.
War Papa r ;ment, to be Sold, by public auction, in the Vic-
toria London Docl.l i. on THURSDAY, 31st July, and FRIDAY, Ist
Atrgust, 134, at Elc yen o'clock in the forenoon precisely, the follow-
ing STOIWS, viz.: -, To /1 (various), accoutremcnts,•fur caps, water-
proof co.it.i.:Gc., bede 'mg, sneepskin Coals, great coati, gregos, but-
fair, robes, t-'ll ware, . heel ropes, coats, lined fur boots, forage cords
and nets, iron bedstsa d., and miscellarreoas articles. .
?or's Stores, consisting of lime or lemon juice, •
Aiso, Medica.l raing
fl 11 for candle stoves.
pre served froitv.
from la to 4 o'clock on three days previous to the '
May be viewed
had tat the War Department, Pall•mall, the 1
sale, an 4 catalogues ti oolwlch. arid Victoria Docks.
Tower, Royal Arsena,,. • l'
THOMAS . HOWELL, Director-General of Contracts.
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TEE SOUJ(D, 1-)CIES.--REPOIZT.

' • ited to inquiro'into the
The select coMmittee appei. •
operation of the Sourd Dues, to consider in what
degree they are detrimental to t. '0 commerce of the
country, and who were empowered to .rt'D. ,rt their obser-
vations, together with the minutes of eviciee, 'e taken bo-
tore them, have considered the matters to the', I referred,
and have agreed to the following report
Yonr committee have considered the matters ret..Tred•
to thew, and have to report that they have examh, ed
witnesses from different parts of the country, including 1
merchants, manufacturers, shipowners, and others in-
terested in the Baltic trade (as well as the British Ali- '
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 n,t consider it within their pro-
vince to inquire into the right exercised by the crown of
Denmark to levy tolls on ships and merchandise passing
between the German Ocean and the Baltic Sea.
It is a matter of history that this country has ac-
quiesced in the payment of these dueS for some centuries
_past, and, at this titne_taley4re vaid and regulAte4. 4*r
-erigagetnent by treaty Midi; between the two cotintriels
for that purpose, .
In the year 1340, and several previous years, coni-
plaints having been urged by the trade upon the Gn-
vernment, of the injurious operation' of these dues, h
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 now imposed consist of a fixed
uniform- duty levied uniformly upon ail ships 'above 49
tons, and a smaller duty upon vessels of less tonnage,
the proceeds of which are said to be applied to the rea'n-
tehance of lights, buoys, and beaCons ; and also of du-
ties on cargoes levied specifically on'certain goods which

are enumerated, and on all goods unenumeiated, twit the
rate of one per cent. ad valorem, the amount of which
is avowedly for the purpose of Danish revenue.
The mischief and inconvenierc) 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 wise partly from the rate at which
they are levied, but mainly from the manner in which
they are collected.

The detention of vessel?, 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 byithe 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 max

be estimated on an average to amount to one day in

a voyage ; for though it he 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 induceueents which present themselves to the
captains and crews when ou 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. The risks of suoh prolonged
detention apply less to steamers than to sailing ve;sels ;
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 been shown to your committee to

be attended with great expense and incr4ivenience.
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 occaiion-

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 ars about fifty at Elsinore, whose profits
are stated by some of the witnesses to be very consider-
able. They undertake thdclearance of the vessel, pay;
ing,tall the dues demanded at the ctistom-honses, 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 mush 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 chaTges for which theowner
of the cargo was made liable ; tnese are composed of
various items, such as commission, expedition, transla-
tion, stamped paper, ete. ; and though some of these
charges aro sanctioned by treaty, the account when de-
l'vered is seldom examined, ald if questioned, redress is
difficult to obtain.

Mr. Wilson, of Hull, say e: —" We have to take the ac-
)unt of our agents, and I do not see that we can check
them; we should always be in a correspondence with
them if we did ; wa are completely in their hands ;" and
witnesses admitting the correctness of the return that
has been made by the DanishGavernment in the amount
alleged to be paid by this country, namely, 70,0001. per
annum, place the burden falling on British commerce at
net less than between 200,0001. and 300,0001.
The loss from these superflhous 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 bythe 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 Las:-
ness finished and returns on board and gets under
weigh again, it is scarcely possible to proceed through
the Grounds (channel) with 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 chat ,
of ,wind occurs ; and from the peculiar nature ofrth
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 binds 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 al-
lowed half a dozen of wine, or equivalent in money
or tea, and, if a new ship, a china punch bowl.
The captain may go on chute with his own boat in
fine 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 from one to three guineas,
and even as high as 5 guineas, There is another circum-
stance which renders it almost indispensable to employ
shore boats, namely,the risk of the ship's boat's crew,
in the absence of. the master attending to the clearance
business getting intoxicated. The men have many op-
portunities while on shore of obtaining spirits, and is is
more prudent to keep the crew on board. There is also
another class of boats, called bumboats, which come off
from the shore for the purpose of buying oldropes, bones,
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, tobacco, &0., which are
more readily sold when the captain is absent. Each
agent in Elsinore keeps a general store for supplying the
ships clearing with him, but the prices are usually abuut
ten per cent. higher than those current at the 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 trans-
mitted by the Elsinore agent to his correspondent
in this country, who collects the money, and for which a
commission, varying from 2 to 5 per cent., is received by
the latter. Should a ship clear on a Sunday, an addi-
tional charge of ss. 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 Dundee, confirm-
ing the 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
„nigh:v.oo el the detention of vessels at Elsinore, and in-
deed sonic of the witnesses connected with the -shipping iret
terest state that the evil of the detention is greater than
the evil of the payment. It would be difficult to suggest
any relief to the trade for this evil, short of renderkigit
_

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ogy,f(yfies4hito stop for the purpose of paying these
dam in future. The apparently arbitrary rates at which
these duties are fixed is also the subject of complaint.
The duties leviab'e on the articles enumerated in the
tariff do not appear to have been ajasted in 1841 to
the value of the goods at that period, although it is
alleged that in 1645 the duties were regulated accord.
,ing to their value ; the great difference which has taken
place of late years in the cost of their production must
leave the rates now without any certain relation to the
-eeal-value.;
It is indeed a question raised by Denmark, as to
sykether, by the treaty of Christianople (1645) or any
'-subsequent treaty, it was ever intended that the duty` on
the enumerated articles should be charged ad valorem,
'Ma practically at present there is no guide but the tariff
for determining 0- e amount of duty. It appears, how.
ever, that all the ithenurnerated articles were intanied
to be rated upon that principle; and open the general
belief that the dues on these goods ought to be one per
cent. only, there is much complaint thet, in fact,' the
duties are much higher, rated even sucerding to their
~talue in 1841. It is bet just also to state ti a, it bee
been shown that in the case of same go, ds exported
.from the Baltic the ripe is lees than one per cent.
''There can be no doubt, however, that on many im-
portant articles, whether named in the tariff or not, the
duty levied is actually much higher- than one per
cent.
, Mr. Bowring, re„eistrer of the Board of Trade, says :
"I have a list of articles here upon which the duty is
more than one per cent. They are sugar, coffee, rulphur,
spices, salt, cotton, rice, saltpetre, wine, shumac ; all of
swhich are chiefly imported into the Baltic."
Mr. Higgete of Liverpool, emit manufacturer, who ex-
;ports largely of salt to the 13aqie, • say; that the duty
,now levied upon that article, according to its present
.valus, is 12 per cent., and the trade is more limited than
it Vibuld be in consequence ; and he considers that not
less than 6,0001. a year is paid for dues on English salt
to the Danish Government. And Mr. Stephen West,
es, importer of Wood, sayse--" We are at this moment
importing teals from Russia which will cost us Si., and
probably in the same ship shall have others that will
cost ree
.101., but the same charge is made upon us for
Sound duos." And he further alleges that the dues pay.
able on dents froni Russia are only Is. 9d. per hundred,
whilst those iiton Prussia pay 2s. 3d. Mr. Pearson, of
Hull, says that indigo pays at the rate of 10s. to 12s. a
°hest, while the vvhole freight upon that to St. Peters.
burg is only 85.,,50 t!'et the duty is 2s. more than the
actual freight; and that upon wersteeoiarsu it ie
I tlettrgbe6ifF
al
4n ...0) ife

4.—a. ton, ZE:

Le Sound flues w•iil

amount to 9i. 10s. a too.