Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1857-04-24
THE DANISH SOUND DUES.

The Washington Uai0n considers the abolition o
the Danish Sound dues An accomplished fact II Ii
understood that the capitalization of them proposed
by Denmark has been accepted by the European 60
vernnents interested and that treaty has beer
signed with the United Ststes By the terms of which
in consideration OF the payment Of al inconsidera.
bic amount Of money tS393,OOOl this annoyance tc
our commerce is TO be forever discontinued The
treaty must await, Of course, the approval Of the
Senate but Of this and the necessary appropriation
by Congress of the stipulated to be paid, the
can be no reasonable doubt and we take il tor
granted therefore, that tho "Belt and Sounds" will
be and remain free Of toll from the opening of nav
CATION this II is gratifying to remember ths
this concession to the commerce Of the world wal
initiated by the measures OF our own government
and it marks, also, the spirit Of the age, that it hal
been accomplished by Denmark md the other powers
interested through peaceful nego.isons and withou
q resort to arms.
An Intelligent correspondent of the State Depart
mert, at Hamburg, who has given much attention tc
the subject, furnishes the following information con
cernng the origin of the S;ade dues
'About 25 miles below Hamburg, st narrow place
on the Elbe, the Schrominge, a small river empte,
itself, the bahke Of which, back few miles from
its mouth is situated the town of Stsde. At this place
toll under the name Of BrinShaHscn or .Sad,
Dues is levied on all vessels coming from the ga
except on :hose of Hamburg These dues owe their
origin 10 grant from Conrad IL, Emperor OF Ger
many, who in the year a. ID. 1923 granted permis.
sion to the Archbiohopric of Hamburg es,abi,sh
fair or mar.et az Stade; and he appropriated the
duties which were 10 be levied hreon to the benefit
Of the church at Hamburg, which had been sacked
a b,,t tba all raid
called in those days. Nothing beyond r market toll
duty to be levied goods brought 10 the market OF
Stadc was contemplated in this grant But the
archbshups particularly after the transfer OF the See
10 Bremen, not slow in converting, by al arbl
trsry and unjust interpretation the Stade market pr
yiiege, with the rihiug duty attached 10 it, into H
source of lucrative revenue for their treasury and in
place Of simple right of holding market at Stade,
ihsy f-gned privilege of compulsory market; viz
that no vessel sailing upward from the sea had right
10 pass but should lay to and pay sort OF transit,
or r.the. passage duty, for the purpose were,
Of buying oil the right of sale pretended to have
been granted at Sade-a right which could be easily
enforced, from the circumstance tnat yesaels, ~
already mentioned, were obliged TO sail close by
tho Stads river, Schwnge. On 80 groundless a tic.
ton rests the origin OF the Stade dues In the year
A. D. ll8g the German Emperor, the great Frederick
Barbarosa, granted to Hamburg tine privilege which
bears his name, beside other privileges and lmmun
ties in favor Of the trade of Hamburg. The Empe-
ror, by this privilege, granted TO her citizens, for
their ships and merchandise, O free navigation from
the bla e the city, with On entire exemption from all
dues. At the peace Of Weophalia, the territories OF
The Archbishop of Bremen were ceded to the Crown
Of Sweden; which government, in consequence,
claimed the right to levy the duee, as customary
right In A. u. 1861 a treaty between Hamburg
ard Sweden WAS formed, wherein the rights of the
former were acknowledge in the broadest senses and
a tariT was formed by Sweden for the rest OF the
world, aud fixed the rate n; about one-sxteenth per
-. StuHn IN
the Duchss Of Bremen and Verdun, was occupied
by The Danes, aud finally ceded by them in a. ID.
MS to the electorate of Hanover; which cession was
brought about by the CABINET of George |. of Eng.
land who at that time WAS E!ector of Hanover, and
for which the British government paid Denmark
$4,000 sterling. These tolls or dues have ever
siuce been collected by Hanover. except for some
four or five years during the elder Bonapartes wars,
when Hanover was in possession OF the French;
none were collected, bu. the lower Elbe was left as
Tree as any part of the North sea.
For correct understanding OF this question II Is
proper 70 premise that the Lower Ebe, as it is call
ed, that is from Hamburg TO the North sea- is,
strictly speaking, part Of the sea, An arm OF the
seq, and has 90 been considered by all the E'
ropean nations in their otcia! acts and intercourse
Even al the great Congress of 4. ID. lSl5 when the
commerce Of all the German rivera w.s regulated,
the Lower Elbe and Siade dues were especially
omitted for the reason hssgned-that they We're Htn-
rnl ,ratcrs and the "dueS" were sen tolls. lience,
in my opinion, it ress alone upon the sa!na tuunda.
ton which the Danish Sound dues 90, or which the
old Tripoitan tribune did. ana no other; and If the
former is, and the latter was, Illegal and unjust, 80
are the Slads dues Il should be borne in mud that
Denmark has the territory OH the right bank OF the
Elbe below Hamburg, and Hanover on the lett
bank except ut Oaxhafen. where Hamburg owns
rome territory Neither Hanover nor Denmark hs'
ever contributed one dollar to the Improvement OF
tho navigation of the Lower Elbe; but on the CON
trary, have ever declined to do 80, while Hamburg
has ever borne the whole burden ol making sucil
improvements, and keeps them up now at her own
expense. In this respect Denmark has decidedly
the advantage over Hanover, for she has done some
thing to add TO the safety of the navigation OF the