bases of capitalization which the Danish government would find mostly suited to the nature of the revenues which would have to be capitalized, and the adoption of which would render, in his opinion, the share to be contributed by each respective power the most proportionate to the pro rata of the duties levied upon their navigation and their commerce. The duties of the sound and of the belts are partly levied upon vessels and partly upon cargoes. The latter duties are the veritable sound dues, while in the first category are principally included lighthouse duties, clearance duties, &c., &c. It was formerly intended to adopt, as an exclusive basis of capitalization, the nationality of vessels passing through the straits, but it is evident that this plan would be anything but just, seeing that the number of vessels belonging to a certain nation and passing through the sound and belts does in no way represent the quota which this nation actually contributes to the dues which are principally levied upon merchandise. This quota would be more in conformity to the true state of things if we were to adopt as a basis the quantity of merchandise which has passed through the sound and the belts. In adopting this basis, it might be agreed upon, for instance, that the respective States, Denmark included, should contribute, in proportion to the quantity of goods exported from their ports and imported into the Baltic, passing through the straits, or exported by the same way of the Baltic, to be imported into their ports, and vice versa; and by combining this basis with that of the nationality of the vessels, so that the compensation to be paid to Denmark might be calculated, as relates to the real sound dues, after the transit of goods, after the direct importations or exportations of each State, in merchandise, having passed the straits of the sound and of the belts; and with regard to light-house and other duties, after the flag, we might, perhaps, get a little nearer the just and equitable solution of a problem, the full settlement of which must always present the greatest difficulties.

The two tables accompanying this represent, one, the amount of duties collected at the sound and belts upon vessels of each respective State in the years 1851, 1852, and 1853, and the other the amount of duties collected upon the goods imported into the Baltic, or exported from that sea during the same year.

In placing these documents at the disposal of the cabinets, the Danish government ventures to express a hope that they will be treated with all the discretion which the delicate nature of the affair in question demands.

[No. 10.]

Mr. Marcy to Mr. Bedinger.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 3, 1855.

SIR: I proceed to communicate the President's reply to the proposition of the Danish government to the United States to join in a convention with other powers interested in the "sound dues," at Copenhagen, for the purpose of deliberating on that subject.

The friendly relations between Denmark and the United States have never been interrupted. The President cherishes an ardent disposition to sustain and strengthen them, and he would extremely regret that his determination to assert what he believes to be a just right, in an unexceptionable manner, should be regarded as an indication of disrespect for Denmark, or a want of a proper appreciation of her friendship. The exactions on foreign commerce at the entrance into the Baltic have been a productive source of revenue to Denmark, and it is very natural that she should struggle to retain it. If these exactions were founded in right, the United States would be the last power to interfere with her enjoyment of them.

It is not proposed to discuss the question of right in this communication, that has already been done, and the United States have adopted the conclusion that they are under no obligation arising from international law or treaty stipulation to yield to this claim. Denmark, on the contrary, has adopted a different and an opposite conclusion. It is readily conceded that both nations are anxious to arrive at a satisfactory solution of this vexed question. The subject interests several other powers-indeed, all maritime nations and Denmark has invited them to be represented in a convention to assemble this month at Copenhagen, to consider a proposition to be offered by her to capitalize this revenue, and to apportion among commercial powers the sum to be paid for this renunciation of the present mode of collecting it. The United States have been respectfully invited to send a representative to the proposed convention.

Without at all questioning the fair intention of Denmark in proposing this measure, the President feels constrained by a sense of duty to decline the acceptance of this invitation. The convention is to assume, as the basis of its proceedings, the very right on the part of Denmark which the United States deny. It is assembled without any power to pass upon the right of Denmark to levy a contribution upon foreign commerce, but only authorized to adjust the share to be paid by cach nation in lieu of the collections theretofore assessed upon their respective vessels and cargoes. The United States, however, contest their liability to pay any contribution whatever. The main question at issue between this government and that of Denmark is, not how much burden shall be borne by our commerce to the Baltic, but whether it shall be subjected to any burden at all. The proposed tribunal, it will be perceived, by the restriction upon its jurisdiction, is expressly precluded from deliberating and deciding upon the only serious question at issue between the United States and Denmark.

This is not, however, the only difficulty which prevents the President from consenting to be represented in the convention. In claiming an exemption of our ships and their cargoes from taxation by Denmark at the straits of the Baltic the President is vindicating a great national principle of extensive and various application. If yielded in one instance, it will be difficult to maintain it in others. If exactions upon our trade at the entrance into the Baltic were acquiesced in by the United States, similar exactions might, on the same principle, be demanded at the straits of Gibraltar and Messina, at the Dardanelles, and on all great navigable rivers whose upper

branches and tributaries are occupied by different independent

powers.

The President cannot admit the competency of such a tribunal as that proposed by Denmark-as he would do if this government were represented therein-to deal with a principle of such vast importance to the whole commercial world.

There is another ground of objection to joining in the proposed convention quite as controlling as either of the foregoing. The government of the United States will never consent to the pretension that the New World is to be appropriated to adjust the political balance of the Old. It is clearly stated in the proposition which Denmark has submitted to the United States, that the convention is to act upon the question relative to the sound dues in connexion with the system of the European balance of power. It is more than intimated that the former is to be subordinated to the latter. Of the utility or wisdom of the political theory of the balance of power, in its application to the European family of nations, it is not proposed to express an opinion; but enough of its operations has been seen to impress upon this government a fixed determination to avoid being brought within its vortex. It has long been the cherished policy of this government to avoid such a dangerous complicity, and the President will not yield in any case to the slightest relaxation of it.

The following quotation from the Danish document submitting the proposition to this government will show the intended connexion and commixture of the two subjects:

"Besides this condition, there is still another, which the Danish government considers essential, namely, that the affair in question (the sound dues) be not considered as one of commerce or money, but as a political one. This would be in accordance with the history of the sound dues, and with the part which they have performed in the politics of the north of Europe. Otherwise, the negotiation would be deprived of that scope and character which are requisite to prevent its being fettered by questions of a secondary nature which may be pertinent to an arrangement merely commercial and fiscal, but not to one destined to serve as a complement to treaties of peace and compromises by which the system of the political balance has been adjusted."

In passing upon the political question presented by this extract, this government cannot be induced to take any part; nor will it submit to have its international rights restricted or modified in subservience to the political theory with which the question as to the sound dues is intermixed in the Danish proposition.

In the paper submitted by Denmark to the consideration of this government there is an allusion to "the sacrifices" she has made for facilitating the navigation of foreign vessels through the Baltic straits. Any expenditure she has made for the safety and facility of this navigation may constitute an equitable claim upon foreign powers for remuneration to the extent they have participated in this advantage. The collections hitherto made have much more than compensated for these outlays. While the United States would not consent to purchase a right which they consider indubitable-the free

use of the Baltic sound-they would not hesitate to share liberally in compensating Denmark for any fair claim for expenses she may incur in improving and rendering safe the navigation of the sound. There is undoubtedly a necessity to keep up, at a considerable expense, light-houses, buoys, &c., for the security of this navigation. For such expenses in future, disconnected from a claim for surrendering a pretended right to control the navigation of the sound and belts, the United States are willing to enter into an arrangement with Denmark, and to pay a fair equivalent for any advantages to their commerce which may be derived from these outlays.

You are therefore instructed to invite Denmark to submit a proposition on this subject, and to assure her that it will receive due consideration from your government; but she must not expect that it will be favorably entertained if it should include, either expressly or impliedly, any compensation for the surrender of her pretended right to control the free use, by our ships, of the sound and the belts of the Baltic.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, .

HENRY BEDINGER, Esq.

W. L. MARCY.

Mr. Bille to Mr. Marcy.

[Translation.]

LEGATION OF DENMARK, Washington, November 7, 1855.

The undersigned, chargé d'affaires to his Danish majesty, has the honor, by order of his government, to enclose to the Hon. W. L. Marcy, Secretary of State of the United States, the accompanying memorial, addressed by the government of his Danish majesty to the powers interested in the commerce and navigation of the Baltic sea, inviting them to enter, as soon as possible, into negotiation with Denmark, and to furnish their diplomatic agents at the court of Denmark with full powers and necessary instructions, or to send special missioners to Copenhagen, to concert and establish, definitely, a general agreement upon the basis of the proposition made in the aforesaid memorial for the abolition of the sound dues.

This invitation is particularly addressed to the government of the United States as a pledge of the desire of the government of his Danish majesty to reconcile, as much as possible, its interest with those of America; and the undersigned flatters himself with the hope that it will be received in the same spirit by the goverment of the United States, and that it may thus bring about an understanding between the two countries upon the question of the sound.

He avails himself of this occasion to renew to the honorable Secretary of State of the United States the assurances of his high consideration. TORBEN BILLE.

Mr. Marcy to Mr. Bille.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 9, 1855.

The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Torben Bille's note of the 7th instant, communicating a copy of a joint memoir, addressed by the Danish government to the governments interested in the navigation and commerce of the Baltic, inviting them to send special representatives to Copenhagen, or to empower their established diplomatic agents, to agree upon some general arrangement on the basis of the propositions contained in the joint memoir for the abolition of the sound dues.

In reply, the undersigned has the honor herewith to transmit a copy of a dispatch addressed, on the 3d instant, to the minister of the United States at Copenhagen, which will acquaint Mr. Bille with the President's views in regard to the proposition of the Danish govern

ment.

The undersigned offers to Mr. Bille the assurance of his high con.sideration.

W. L. MARCY.

Mr. TORBEN BILLE, &c., &c., &c., Washington, D. C.

Great Britain, for a long period, has had possession of a district of country on the shores of the Bay of Honduras, called "the Belize." The right she has to hold it is derived from a grant by Spain; and this right is limited to a single purpose, with an express prohibition against using it for any other. A possession so restricted as to its use could never be considered a British colony. While she confines herself to the boundaries specified in the treaties with Spain, in 1783 and 1786, and uses the district or country described only for the purposes stipulated therein, we have no right to complain that she is infringing our policy; but when she extends her occupancy by encroachments far beyond the prescribed bounds and changes its tenure by exercising over it civil authority, a very different character is given to this settlement; it then becomes a new colony on this continent.

Since the acquisition of California, Great Britain has manifested a more matured design to change this Spanish license to cut dye-wood