New-York tribune., 1907-04-07

| treaties with Sweden For several +,,
| 'aT Danes were masters OF the coasts an botb
o'i'S 'I tle sound. the province of Scanfa nov
| situated IN Sweden. having belonged to ne,
marx untiI I61S- Ceded TO Sweden in that vea-
| by the Treaty Of RoeskiId il was stiDuIata1 II,
' nc 'EIeeteht that sweden should never Law
any claim GO mastery ownership of the IVA tarS
o' the sound IN connection with thar cessioD ~
Scdhla In fact, the Danish sOvereis-Dtv o,,s,
the sound and the two belts which form rba
outlet of the Baltic Sea into the ocean is basad
. upon what might be described as almost inn
memorial prescription The earliest treaties CON
hrlnlng II bear the date of 1868 wherein ~.
sovereignty of Denmark was recognized nv tha
hhlSeatic republics. In 1890 a treaty of the
same character was concluded with King Henry
VII OF England while in 1911 Emperor Charles
" OF Germany. by a treaty with Denmark CON
firms previous agreements respecting the toIIs
paid To Denmark by German shipping entering
the Baltic. The Netherlands followed in 16i5
with treaty concluded with Denmark at chris
tianople. and even late as 1871 England
concluded an agreement at EsinOre. revising the
duties payable To Denmark by British shiDpinr
passing through the sound These dues had
Oeen paid until then by the foreign powers to
Denmark, partly by reason of her ownership
of the waters of the sound partly because she
maintained a costly and elaborate system Of
lighting and buOying OF the Intricate channels
and partly. too. the ground that in Olden
times she had made 1t her business to police the
straits. and 10 clear them of the pirates who
were wont To make the entrance to the Baltic
their hunting ground.
It was the United States which first began
to take exception to the rights which Denmark
had enjoyed for many centuries. James
Buchanan. as Secretary of State in the Presi
dency of James Polk. gave notice through the
American charge d'affatres az Copenhagen that
under the public law OF nations IL cannot be
pretended that Denmark has any right To levy
duties on vessels passing through the Sound
from the North Sea 10 the BatiC' On the
accession of President Pierce. in 1883, instruC-
tions were given to the charge daffaires at
Copenhagen to press the matter of the Sound
duties 10 conclusion, and I'm response to Den
marks request for compensation this govern
ment declined to consider the idea of having
for as a favor something which il demanded as
a right. Finally, in 1857, international con-
gresS took place at Copenhagen, whereby the
Danish government received from the vSriO1Is
powers represented a of about S15OO0 OON
IN return Tor her renunctatiOn for ever after OF
hef rights OF levying tolls foreign shiDpinp
entering and leaving the Baltic. The payment
on TINS sum was divided among the nations in
terested IN proportion to the value of their
commerce passing through the Danish straits
Engiand paying almost half. The United States
in pursuance of its policy at that time Of keen
ths tFee from European entanglements declined
70 become party to this agreement but con-
cluded a short time previously with Denmarl- a /
separate treaty bearing the date OF March, 1857
ny the terms OF which Denmark consented
20 exempt American shipping entering and Ieav-
tns the baltic trOm all dues and tolls OF any
kihd' receiving IN return from this country a
sum of about 100000 on the distinct under
StaholnS tnat IL was not compensation for the |
loss OF pfefoSaCives which America had never
recognized, but an indemnity for DenmaFlS's |
In the past and in the future OF the
Hshts ana buoys at the entrance OF the Sound
ARMED VESSELS NOT INCLUDED.
But. as pointed out above. these agreements |
relate exclusively to the tolls formerly i'm
posed by Denmark upon the mercantile shipping |
OF foreign nations. There is not a word in these |
treaties 1901 tfa av,fro,,oa