The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-08-03
EXHIBIT e..

EXHIBIT G.
DEPARTMENT OF FOREeS RELAT1ONs,
COPENHAGEN, July 2Sth, 1855.
sR: Under the date of the 18th February last you have addressed
the Department, n account of n order with which you have been
charged by your Government at Honolulu, respecting an Interpretation
Denmark and the Sandwich Islands on the 18th Of October, 1916, in a
of May last year, in a case between the firm of Melchers & Co. as
plaintiffs. and the Custom Office, as defendant, concerning the amount
into the said port by the said firm in the 6eE DANISH PS vessel "4sa ThefS
could be made Of Of the Act passed d' by the h. H Hawaiian L Ias 81 uRp" % te
24th May, 1853, by which the duty on Chinese goods was fixed at Is
per cent as being in dscordance with the said article of the Treaty,
whereas in the case in question there could only be claimed a duty of
8 per cent, being that payable Q goods which are the produce, of the
most favored nations; and on this ground the Court decided that the
said firm should be entitled to recover the sum of 81, 141Os overpaid
by them on the said cargo. As, however, the Hawaiian Government
could not admit the opinion expressed by the Interpretation put on the
aforementioned article by the said decision, pretending that such an
YOU have, sir MI through ouch this hi Den DepaFt nJgTt' Teo % ms the %a' onjnion of tbe
Danish Government, as the other contracting party, concerning the in
depreciation to be given to the said article Of the Treaty.
of the Danish shlp-ofwar "GaIathea," visited the Sandwich Islands in
Hawaiian Government having now. at my request communicated his
views a s to the Interpretation of the 7h and 8h Articles of this Treaty,
t apd T narIus foF",r o. c ru gtedI het ugane 10 p sad using Snsamg a. uS
Foreign Relations do hereby hand to you the following communication
When Denmark, as in the year 1916, concluded a Treaty with a
indSe. a 5 tb the G a@~nTnn kI of fa f f6h9re could III be n TO- o. sufficient ef6snG IN motive tive to
treaty, the acquisition of any greater advantage than that of procuring
eqmI to that granted in the said Kingdom to the most favored nations.
Dr. Dre sn6ta% %f ANN AMY Of dG te s aPfioes h cda}sin t9 FH in te .5 Fsg9 T9ed to the the inter Ha.
waHan Government might be convinced that the Danish Government
trade and navigation of this country, but only what must, in the sincere
opinion Of the same, be regarded as the real intention of the function;
negotiated the said Treaty. Such a doubt has now risen, it being, as
above remarked, the question in what manner the 18th Article of the
Treaty ought in the future to be interpreted, according to the mutual
opinions OF the two negotiatOrs, without any regard to the interprea-
ton put o N it by others, either on the one or the other side. By the
decision delivered by the Supreme Court at Honolulu, in the action
expressions of the said article have been interpreted in a manner o a
to imply that Danish productions r other goods. on board of or i'm
ported in Danish vessels, which are allowed to be imported by the ships
Of other countries, shall not be prohibited nor pay any. higher duties
than those levied on productions of the most favored nations; whereas
the Hawaiian Government averred that the wording of the said article
could not receive any other Interpretation than this: Tat goods i'm
Treaty o n which the question chiefly depends is then those words of
the ed 7S Article GIe which %6 say 1yt that the e there GnF%a ed Danish sJ productions %ai ms
or other goods on board of Danish vessels 4" shall not be prohibited nor
On a mere perusal of these words, without any regard to other mat
tiers which might igm else posi- !n6 be worth h noticing tsrngst Hs Danish thns os Mdp5Gsfys
by the said court as the only correct one but, on the other hand, it
could not be thought strange that the Hawaiian Government should be
of opinion that it had been the intention of the respective representa-
tves of the said contracting Powers, in regard to the duty in question,
court, an opinion which might be supported as well by the construction
M Mi 5s sro Of Fore Foreign IN Re Relation: at it Honolulu, w VI rep represented the " H I-
waHan Government in negotiating and concluding the said Treaty,
that, for his part, he had never thought of such an Interpretation as thst
established by the Supreme Court as the only correct one.
The second of the negotators, the Rear-Admial Billie, has, in his
report to this Department, declared that he had in every respect shared
the same opinion IS to the negotiations and the final conclusion of the
Relations, in addition to which he has further remarked that it had
never been ih his thought htn by the in sa r.aa dde4 tG the fo lm nrpposa AMY r ef Tiaima on on
lowering duties at its own discretion, but that, on the contrary, he
G SUCH nude a declaration nsa of His Danish Majesty's representative must
naturally have great influence on the Interpretation of the said article
TO be followed in the future. But, besides this, there is another cir
cumstance of great moment which still more corroborates the deClara-
ton of the two representatives, viz, that while the wording of the 7h
Article of the English original Treaty are sc dubious, as above shown,
the corresponding words of the Danish translation of the Treaty, which,
like the Hawaiian translation, is annexed to the English original, are
clear and evident, saying, that the aforementioned Danish productions
or goods in Danish vessels E" Ickeheler skulle betale mere end saa-
dame Todafgiher, som saadant Tifade ere paalagte de incest
begunstigede Nationer."
In consideration hereof the Royal Danish Government does not OBJ
iet to the future admission of this Interpretation by the Hawaiian
Government, as soon as an official notification concerning the same has
previously been issued.
But as the original of the above said article is interpreted in the
aforementioned manner by the Supreme Court of the Hawaiian King
dom, this Interpretation must, in the opinion OF the Danish Govern
be valid until such a declaration shall have been published by the
Government at Honolulu and, moreover, 1t must be considered as a
matter of course that the firm of Mechers II Co, at Honolulu, either
have received or will receive of the Hawaiian Government reimburse
ment of the said 10 per cent. overpaid by them on Chinese goods I'M
norted in the Danish ship &" Asa Thor " into Honolulu.
Finally. [ observe that, in consideration of the premises, there will,
when a notification as that aforementioned has taken place, according
to the said Act of the oath May, 1853, hereafter be paid on Chinese
goods, imported in Danish vessels into the ports of the Sandwich
Islands, the higher duty Of 10 per cent, instead of the earlier of 3 per
cent, as long as this duty is paid in the Hawaiian Kingdom by the
vessels of the most favored nations. '
Having. the honor to return to you the different enclosures which
followed your said letter tt this Department, L avail myself of this op-
portunity to assure you, Sir, of my high esteem.
(Signed) SCHEELE.
EXHIBIT II.
COLLECTOR GENERALS OFFICE,
Honolulu, II. 1, July 18th, 1878. !