[Inclosure in No.
165.—Translation.]
Baron von
Marschall to Mr. Uhl.
Foreign Office,
Berlin, November 2,
1896.
In response to the note of July 31 last, the undersigned has the
honor to inform his excellency the ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary of the United States of America, that this office
has caused investigation to be made in reference to those tonnage
dues levied on ships in German ports, which, as is alleged, are in
apparent contradiction with the declarations made by Mr. von
Alvensleben in his note, dated Washington, January 24, 1888. The
result of this investigation is not yet at hand, but in the meantime
the Imperial Government is not in a position to retract from the
declaration then made.
In order that the declaration be more fully understood the
undersigned now permits himself to remark the following:
After the enactment of the American law of June 19, 1886, the
Imperial Government in the first place made clear to itself what
charges were understood to come under the head of “tonnage or
light-house dues or other equivalent taxes.” In the spirit of the
Constitution of the United States (Chap. I, sec. 8, art. 1 of the
Constitution) only such dues come under this head—as is also
recognized by competent experts, whose opinions were solicited—which
are collected and applied “for the purpose of paying the debts of
the Government, and meeting the costs of a general defense and
meeting the expense of general welfare.” Dues of this or of a
similar nature are, however, not collected from American or from any
foreign ships in German harbors.
The constitution of the German Empire fixes in article 54, chapter 3,
that dues collected in sea harbors from ships (native as well as
foreign),
[Page 160]
or their
cargoes, are not to exceed the cost of maintenance and the
establishment of the naval offices (schifffahrtsanstalten), and
furthermore in chapter 5, that to levy a higher duty on ships or
their cargoes of foreign countries than on the ships or cargoes of
the Confederated States, does not rest with any individual State but
with the Empire,
There are no dues of any description placed on ships by the Empire.
But even in the individual Confederated States those dues which are
therein collected in the ports from ships, as was shown by careful
and thorough investigations made at the time as to such dues, are
not in contradiction of the said regulation of the imperial
constitution. For all dues paid by a ship services are rendered
therefor. The dues are differently graded according to the
requirements of the place, and appear in the individual ports under
different names, i. e., harbor, lock, tonnage, dock, fire, buoy, and
crane dues, dues for fire police and loading places, etc. The
designation as such is not to lead to a wrong impression as to the
character of the dues. If, for instance, the ship’s dues in Hamburg
are known as “tonnage dues,” this is an expression used for a long
time. The money thus received is not, however, used for general
public purposes, but for the maintenance of the entire harbor works,
and for maintaining the channel in the Elbe. When, for instance,
light-house dues are collected in Bremen, these are used for the
lighting of the harbor and the mouth of the Weser, but not for
lighting and keeping in order the sea channel.
In order that all future doubts be dispersed and future objections be
met, Mr. von Alvensleben, when he together with the commissioner of
the Department of State drafted the note of January 24, 1888, did
not fail, as is shown by a report of the Imperial envoy which is at
hand, to call especial attention at the time to the fact that
tonnage dues, etc., in the sense of the American Constitution are
unknown here. This condition has in no way, so far as is known to
the Imperial Government, been changed since.
While the undersigned reserves to himself a further communication as
to the results of the investigation referred to above, he avails
himself of this occasion to renew, etc.,
