rican Slave

II. By the first additional article of the treaty of peace, § 19. Abolisigned at Paris on the 30th May, 1814, between France tion of the Afand Great Britain, the two powers agreed to unite their ef- Trade. forts at the approaching congress for the abolition, by all the powers of Christendom, of the African slave trade, as being contrary to the principles of natural justice and an enlightened age. The subject was accordingly taken up in the conferences of the eight powers, parties to the treaty of peace at Paris, by whom a declaration was signed on the 8th February, 1815, announcing that they had taken into consideration the commerce known under the name of the African slave trade, which had been at all times regarded by just and enlightened men as repugnant to the principles of humanity and universal morality.,

That the peculiar circumstances in which this trade had originated, and the difficulty of suddenly putting an end to it, might in a certain degree have concealed the odium of continuing it; but that at last the public voice had been raised in all civilized countries to demand its suppression as soon as possible; that since the character and particular details of this trade had become better known several European governments had determined on its abolition, and that successively all the different powers, possessing colonies in the different parts of the globe, had recognized the necessity and duty of this measure :

That the plenipotentiaries assembled in the congress could not more honourably fulfil the duties of their mission, and manifest the principles which guided their august sovereigns, than by endeavouring to give effect to this engagement, and proclaiming, in their name, the desire of putting an end to a scourge, which had so long desolated Africa, degraded Europe, and afflicted humanity :

That for this purpose, they had agreed to declare in the face of Europe, that considering the universal abolition of the slave trade as a measure particularly worthy of their attention, conformably to the spirit of the age and the generous principles of their august sovereigns, they were ani

§ 20. Free

gation of the great rivers.

mated with the sincere desire of concurring in the most prompt and efficacious execution of this measure, by all the means in their power, and to act in the employment of these means with all the zeal and all the perseverence due to a cause so great and so admirable :

That this general declaration could not prejudice the limitation of time within which each power in particular should judge most proper for the final abolition of the slave trade; and that consequently the determination of the period when this commerce should totally cease should become an object of negotiation between the powers, it being well understood that no proper means would be neglected of securing and accelerating its progress; and that the reciprocal engagement contracted by the present declaration between the parties should only be considered as fulfilled when complete success should have crowned their united efforts.a

III. The treaty of peace at Paris of 1815, had stipulated dom of Navi- that the navigation of the Rhine and the Scheldt, (the former of which had been impeded by various regulations of the riparian states and the latter had been shut up by the treaty of Westphalia,) should be henceforth free, and that the future congress should consider of the means of extending this freedom of navigation to all the other European rivers separating or running through different states.

The congress of Vienna accordingly appointed a committee of navigation, to which was referred a memoir, presented by Baron Wilhelm Von Humboldt, plenipotentiary of Prussia, on the 3d of February, 1815. In this memoir, which formed the basis of the labours of the committee, it was stated, that in order to adopt general regulations on this important subject, it would be necessary to consider:

1. The principles which the general interest of commerce rendered it expedient to adopt, and which might

a Klüber, Acten des Wiener Congresses, tom. iv. p. 531.

be established without going into those details, which could not be followed without discriminating between different localities.

2. To apply these principles to the Rhine and the Scheldt, adding those particular rules which a knowledge of the localities should suggest, and which the relations between the different riparian states might render necessary in order to fulfil the stipulations of the treaty of peace.

3. To determine in what manner the same principles might be applied, so far as circumstances would permit in so vast a subject, to all other navigable rivers in every part of Europe.

In order to conciliate the interests of commerce with those of the riparian states, it would be necessary, on the cne hand, that every regulation indispensable to the freedom of navigation, from the point where a river becomes navigable to its mouth, should be adopted by common consent in a convention, subject to be altered only by the unanimous consent of the parties; and, on the other hand, that no riparian state should be disturbed in the exercise. of its rights of sovereignty, in respect to commerce and navigation, beyond the stipulations of this convention, and at the same time should be entitled to its share of the nett revenues collected upon the navigation in proportion to the extent of its territory along the banks of the river. It would. be necessary to establish, upon those bases, principles so general that the difference of localities should only require modifications in their detailed application.

The points to be regulated by these principles were the + following:

1. The freedom of navigation.

2. The duties of staple (d'étape) where they already exist, since nobody would think of establishing new duties of this nature.

3. The general tariff of duties to be levied upon the navigation. It was deemed indispensably necessary to

regulate these duties in their totality from the point where the river becomes navigable to its mouth, in a fixed, uniform, and invariable manner, subject to a periodical revision, (if it should be thought necessary,) of the tariff, by all the riparian states, after the lapse of a certain number of years. It was also deemed necessary that the rate of duties should be sufficiently independent of the particular quality of the goods, to avoid the inconvenience of detaining the vessel on its passage in order to make a detailed examination of its cargo.

4. As nothing is so injurious to navigation as to be compelled frequently to touch at intermediate points for the purpose of paying duties, the attention of the committee would, above all, be directed to the object of diminishing the number of bureaux.

5. An absolute separation of the collection of the duties of customs from those imposed on the navigation of the river, and the necessary precautions to prevent the right of the riparian states to establish custom houses from interfering with the free navigation.

6. The appropriation of the receipts of the duties to the necessary works, and the distribution of the residue among the riparian states in proportion to the extent of their territory along the banks of the river.

The separation of the works, necessary to navigation, from those which have for their object the preservation of the country from inundation, with the necessary precautions to be taken in order that these double works should be undertaken on the same system, so as not to interfere with each other.

7. The regulations of police for the navigation to be uniform, and established by common consent, so as not to be changed by one of the riparian states alone; but so as not to interfere with the police which these states may exercise upon the rivers, without interfering with the freedom of navigation.

8. Mutual engagements to provide, as far as possible,

for the security of navigation, even in case of war between the riparian states.

The application of these general principles to the navigation of the Rhine would be facilitated by a reference to the convention relating to the octroi of the navigation of the Rhine concluded in 1804, subject to such alterations as supervening circumstances might render necessary. It would be found impossible to conclude similar conventions applicable to the other great European rivers during the sitting of the congress. But a considerable advance might be made towards the general freedom of river navigation, by inviting the powers who should sign the final act of the congress to pledge themselves to conclude with each other, and with other powers, arrangements respecting the freedom of navigation of those rivers within their territories which are common to other states, in the same manner as it is the usage to stipulate in treaties of peace for the conclusion of treaties of commerce. In order to obviate the vagueness of this pledge, which might render it illusory, the powers should also be invited to declare, in a positive and obligatory manner, that the general principles before stated should form the basis of the arrangements to be thus concluded.b

The principles thus laid down by this celebrated statesman and philosopher were adopted in the final act of the congress, and have since been applied, by detailed conventions, to regulate the navigation of the Rhine, the Scheldt, the Meuse, the Moselle, the Elbe, the Oder, the Weser, and the Po, with their confluent rivers.c

b Klüber, Acten des Wiener Congresses, 3 Band, § 24.

• Art. 108.—Navigation des rivières.

Les puissances dont les états sont séparés ou traversés par une même rivière navigable, s'engagent à régler d'un commun accord, tout ce qui a rapport à la navigation de cette rivière. Elles nommeront à cet effet des commissaires, qui se réuniront au plus tard six mois après la fin du congrès, et qui prendront pour bases de leurs travaux les principes établis dans les articles suivans.