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occurred, and such offences shall be punished according to the laws and regulations of the State in which they are discovered, or where the Boatman shall be arrested. For this purpose an Officer shall be appointed at each Toll-office to take cognisance of, and to decide upon, such matters.

If, on the borders of a State, at any of the Elbe Toll-houses at which a Vessel arrives, a difference be discovered between the Cargo and the contents of the Manifest, so that an intended or actual evasion of the Tolls of the State is apparent, the Boatmen may be made amenable for such evasion agreeably to the laws and regulations concerning imposts in force in such State.

Appointment of Officer at Toll-offices to decide question of Contravention, &c.

ART. XXVI. Previously to the present Convention becoming operative, an Officer shall be appointed, to reside at each Tollhouse, or as near to it as possible, who shall be authorised to decide, summarily, upon the following objects:

(a.) Contraventions of the Toll Regulations, and the penalties thereby incurred, should the Boatman not voluntarily subject himself thereto.

(b.) Disputes concerning the payment of toll, crane, weight, harbour, wharf, and sluice Duties, and the amount thereof.

(c.) Stoppage of the Towing-path by private individuals. (d.) Damages occasioned to meadows and fields by the Towing of Vessels, as well as damages caused by the negligence of Boatmen and Conductors of Floats of Timber during the passage or landing.

(e.) Amount of Salvage Duties, and other remunerations for assistance in cases of accident, where the persons interested do not agree.

The name and residence of the Officer shall be posted up in the Toll-house.

Arrest of Boatmen for non-payment of Toll Dues.

ART. XXVII. The Contracting States also agree to give directions to the Toll Collectors and Authorities, that if one or more Toll Collectors of another State shall apply to them to arrest Boatmen, in order to enforce payment of a Toll become due, which, in case of opposition on the part of the Boatmen, can only take place in consequence of a decision of the competent

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Officer, such application shall be complied with; and on the demand thereof, the result of any Revision on the Elbe, or any explanation, shall be readily afforded.

Repair of Towing-paths, &c.

ART. XXVIII. The States, exercising the right of sovereignty on the Elbe, engage to take particular care that the Towing-paths within their Territories, shall be, without the least delay, and as often as may be necessary, properly repaired, in order that no obstacle may be experienced to the navigation. They engage likewise to remove, as soon as possible, within the limits of their Territories, all impediments in that part of the River which is used for navigation, and not to permit any buildings to be erected upon or along the Banks of the River that may be injurious thereto. In cases in which the opposite Banks belong to different States, the practice hitherto followed for the preservation of the works on the River shall continue to be observed; and any differences which may arise respecting the same shall be laid before the Commission of Revision.

Measures in cases of Wreck. Wreck Privileges Abolished.

ART. XXIX. In cases of Wreck, the Local Authorities shall take the necessary measures in order to save the crew and the vessel, and to deposit the cargo in security. With this view, the States bordering on the River engage to provide those Authorities with the necessary general instructions, and to renew the special Ordinances formerly issued upon the subject. The Wreck Privileges (Strandrecht), should they exist on any part of the Elbe, are for ever abolished.

Commission of Revision.

ART. XXX. When this Convention shall have become operative, a Commission of Revision shall assemble from time to time, to which each of the States bordering on the River shall delegate a Plenipotentiary, the President whereof shall be elected by a majority of votes. The object and powers of this Commission of Revision shall be: to watch over the due observance of the present Convention; to form itself into a Committee for the settlement of any differences which may arise between the States bordering on the River; and to determine upon the measures which by experience may be found to be necessary to the improvement of commerce and navigation. Each Plenipotentiary

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shall lay before his Government these measures, in order to the obtaining its decision thereupon.

First Commission to assemble at Hamburgh.

The first Commission of Revision shall assemble at Hamburgh, at the expiration of one year from the day on which the Convention shall begin to be operative. The Commission, before closing its sittings, shall determine upon the period and place at which the next Commission shall assemble.

Present Regulations alone to be acted upon.

ART. XXXI. The Regulations established by the present Convention shall alone be acted upon, no regard being had to any Special Treaties, Laws, Ordinances, Privileges, or Usages hitherto existing.

Special Regulations to be made for Branch Rivers.

ART. XXXII. The application and extension of the stipulations of the present Convention to the Branch Rivers which divide or intersect the different States, shall depend upon separate arrangements between the respective States, provided that they are in no particular circumstances at variance therewith.

Execution of Convention. Ratifications.

ART. XXXIII. This Convention of Navigation shall have its full and entire execution along the whole course of the Elbe after the 1st January, 1822; and for that purpose it shall be printed and published, and communicated to the competent Authorities, and the Ratifications of the same shall be exchanged within the space of two months from the date hereof.

In faith of which the Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the different States have signed and affixed the seals of their arms to the present Convention.

Done at Dresden, the 23rd June, 1821.

(L.S.) JOHANN LUDWIG VON JORDAN.

(L.S.) BARON VON MUNCH BELLINGHAUSEN.

(L.S.) GUNTHER VON BUNAU.

(L.S.) CARL FRIEDRICH BARON VON STRALENHEIM.

(L.S.) MATHIAS FRIIS VON IRGENSBERGH.

(L.S.) JOACHIM CHRISTIAN STEINFELD.

(L.S.) ERNST LUDWIG CASIMIR ALBRECHT REICH. (L.S.) CHRISTIAN NICOLAS PEHMOLLER.

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Prussian Act of Ratification of the Elbe Navigation Convention.— Signed at Dresden, on the 23rd June, 1821.

(Translation.)

Berlin, 20th November, 1821. WE, Frederick William III, by the Grace of God, King of Prussia, &c., make known and declare hereby that;

Whereas, for the accomplishment of Article CVIII of the General Treaty, signed in Congress at Vienna, on the 9th June, 1815 (No. 27), we agreed with His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, His Majesty the King of Saxony, His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, as King of Hanover, His Majesty the King of Denmark, as Duke of Holstein and Lauenburg, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Mecklenburgh-Schwerin, their Highnesses the Dukes of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Coethen, and Anhault-Dessau, and the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburgh, to assemble at Dresden a Commission of Plenipotentiaries from all the parties, in order to determine upon the application of the general provisions contained in the said Treaty of Commerce relative to River Navigation, as far as regards the Elbe, and to record the result of their deliberations in a mutual Convention :

And whereas, the said Convention has been happily concluded by common consent, and was signed on the 23rd June of the current year by the respective Plenipotentiaries, in nine copies of the same tenor, eight of which are for the several Contracting Parties, among which is one copy for their Highnesses the three Dukes of Anhalt, and the 9th is to be deposited with the other Acts of the Commission, to serve for the general use of the Governments interested, when the Ratifications thereof shall have been signed: We hereby declare, that, after careful examination and consideration of all and each of the stipulations contained in the aforesaid Convention for the Navigation of the Elbe, which are to be considered as if they were recited herein, word for word, and, with reference to the proceedings of the Commission, in the 44th Conference, at which the Convention was signed by the respective Plenipotentiaries, as well concerning the Duties of "Reconnaissance," as those to be levied on timber; as also the resolutions concerning the mode of collecting the same, in Articles X and XI, and in the general stipulation in Article XXX, agreeably to which the points referred to the Commission of Revision in the 43 previous Conferences are reserved: We, by the force of this present

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Act of Ratification, drawn up in the usual form, have entirely approved, and do solemnly approve of the same; pledging our Royal word, for ourselves and our successors, truly to observe the said stipulations, and also to watch over them, so that they may be at all times strictly executed by our authorities and subjects.

And for the greater assurance whereof, we have signed with our own hand, and caused to be sealed with our great Seal of State, our Act of Ratification in ten copies of the same tenor, of which 9 are intended for the Contracting Parties, amongst which is one for their Highnesses the three Dukes of Anhalt, and the tenth is to be deposited with the general Acts of the Commission.

Done at Berlin, the 20th November, in the year of Our Lord 1821, and the 25th of our Reign.

C. FURST VON HARDENBERG.

V. BERNSTORFF.

(L.S.) FRIEDRICH WILHELM.