Pommer Esche to The ratifications of the above treaty have been exchanged at Berlin, July 8, 1867

Appendix No. 9.

Treaty between the North German Union, Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden, and Hesse, relative to the continuation of the Zollverein and Commercial Union. Concluded at Berlin, July 8. 1867.

His Majesty the King of Prussia in the name of the North German Union, His Majesty the King of Bavaria, His Majesty the King of Würtemberg, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Baden, and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine for the parts of the Grand Duchy not belonging to the North German Union, with the view to securing the continuance of the German Zollverein and Commercial Union, and to extending the provisions thereof suitable to the present requirements, have caused negotiations to be commenced, and appointed as plenipotentiaries, viz:

His Majesty the King of Prussia: his excellency the Privy Councillor Johaun Friedrich von Pommer Esche; his excellency the Ministerial Director Alexander Max von Philipsborn; and his excellency the Ministerial Director Martin Friedrich Rudolph Delbruck;

And of the other members of the North German Union:

His Majesty the King of Saxony: his excellency the Privy Fiscal Councillor Julius Hans von Thümmel;

His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine: his excellency the Privy Chief Customs Councillor Ludwig Wilhelm Ewald.

The sovereigns participating in the Thüringian Zollverein and Commercial Union besides His Majesty the King of Prussia, viz:

His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimer-Eisenach, His Highness the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, His Highness the Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, His Highness the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, His Serenity the Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, His Serenity the Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, His Serenity the Prince of Reuss, elder line, and His Serenity the Prince of Reuss, younger line: the Grand Ducal Saxon Privy Councillor Gustav Thon;

His Highness the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg: his Minister Resident at the Royal Prussian Court, Privy Councillor Dr. Friedrich August von Liebe;

His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oldenburg: his excellency the Minister Resident of the Duke of Brunswick, Privy Councillor Dr. Friedrich August von Liebe;

Furthermore, His Majesty the King of Bavaria: his excellency the Ministerial Councillor Wilhelm Weber and his excellency the Chief Customs Councillor George Ludwig Carl Gerbig;

His Majesty the King of Würtemberg: his excellency the Chamberlain, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Royal Prussian Court, Privy Councillor of Legation, Friedrich Heinrich Carl Baron von Spitzeuiberg; and his excellency the Fiscal Councillor Carl Victor Riecke;

His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Baden: his excellency the Minister of the Treasury and President of the Department of State, Carl Mathy;

His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine for the parts of the Grand Duchy not belonging to the North German Union: his excellency the Privy Chief Customs Councillor Ludwig Wilhelm Ewald;

By which Plenipotentiaries the following treaty has been concluded, subject to ratification:

Article I.

The contracting parties maintain until the last day of December, 1877, the union, entered into for the purpose of establishing a joint system of customs and commerce, and based upon the treaty for the continuance of the Zollverein and Commercial Union of 16th May, 1865.

Until that date the Zollverein treaties of the 22d and 30th March, and 11th May, 1833; of 12th May and 10th December, 1835; of 2d January, 1836; of 8th May, 19th October, and 13th November, 1841; of 4th April, 1853; and of 16th May, 1865, remain in force, together with the separate articles between the contracting parties belonging thereto, in so far as they still remained in force and are not modified by the following articles.

With these restrictions, and subject to the agreement of article 6, the stipulations of the aforesaid treaties are also applied to those states and territories belonging to the North German Union which, as yet, do not participate in the Zollverein and Commercial Union.

Article II.

Those states or territories remain incorporated in the general Zollverein which have joined the customs and commercial systems of the contracting parties, or one of them, with consideration of their particular circumstances, based upon the treaties of adhesion.

Article III.

The following has been agreed upon in regard to the community of legislation and the executive arrangements:

§ 1. Within the territories of the contracting parties there shall be uniform laws on duties of importation and exportation, as well as on transit; but those modifications shall be admissible which result as necessary from the peculiarity of the general legislation of every participating state, or from local interests, without prejudicing the common object. Especially as regards the re venue-tariff concerning certain articles less adapted for general trade, such deviations from the fixed rates of collection, which appear to be especially desirable for separate states, shall not be out of order when they do not injuriously affect the general interests of the Zollverein.

No duties shall be collected on goods in transit, and the arrangements which have been made as to transit-duties in the treaties named in Article I, shall become void.

§ 2. The joint customs-tariff shall be prepared in two principal sections, according to the thirty-thaler standard, and fifty-two and a half florins standard determined by the monetary treaty of 24th January, 1857.

The hundred-weight (quintal of 50 kilograms) existing as the generally accepted measure of the country in all states of the Zollverein, except the kingdom of Bavaria, shall constitute the unity for the joint customs measurement. Therefore, all declarations, weighing, and levying of duties on articles taxed by weight shall exclusively be made according to that scale.

§ 3. Corresponding laws on the taxation of the salt and’ beet-sugar manufactured within the limits of the Zollverein shall govern within the territories of the contracting parties.

The contracting parties have agreed that when the manufacture of sugar or sirup made from other domestic products than beets—for instance, from starch—should become very extensive in the Zollverein, this manufacture also would have to be subjected in all the states thereof to a corresponding taxation according to the principles agreed upon for the taxation of beet-sugar.

§ 4. Tobacco cultivated or manufactured within the limits of the Zollverein shall be subject to a corresponding taxation.

§ 5. Corresponding measures for the protection of the common tariff system against smuggling and against evasion of internal-revenue taxes, shall be instituted in the territories of the contracting parties.

§ 6. The supervision of the duties referred to in sections 1, 3, and 4 hereof, and the organization of the authorities requisite for that purpose, shall be put on an equal footing in all countries of the whole Zollverein, the existing especial conditions being considered.

§ 7. In accordance with the foregoing agreement the contracting parties shall bring into effect—

• The customs-law;
• The customs-regulations;
• The customs-tariff;
• The principles regulating the customs penal law, as such have been agreed upon be-, tween them; and furthermore,
• The agreement for the collection of a duty on salt, of May 8 of this year;
• The agreement for taxing beet-sugar, of 16th May, 1865;
• The customs-treaty, of 11th May, 1833.
• The general duty on importation mentioned in the common laws and regulations is to be understood as a tariff-rate of 15 groschen or 52½ kreuzers.

Article IV.

No import, export, or transit duties shall be levied on the common frontiers of the contracting parties, and all free-circulating articles may be imported from one territory into the other, with the exception of such domestic products on which no common taxes have been imposed within the territory of the contracting parties, in accordance with article V.

There shall be no intermission in the freedom of commerce and exchange of products between the contracting parties even in the event that on extraordinary occurrences, more particularly on the outbreak of a war, one of them should see fit to prohibit, during the continuance of such occurrences, the exportation into foreign countries of certain products or manufactures having free domestic circulation. In such an event, steps shall be taken that all the contracting parties prohibit exports in a like manner. If, however, one or the other of the contracting parties should not find it to its interest to issue such a prohibitory law, that party or those parties which shall find it necessary to issue such a law, shall have authority to extend said law to the territory of the party not joining.

The contracting parties grant to each other authority to take the necessary defensive measures against dangerous contagious diseases of persons and of cattle. In the relation of one country of the Zollverein to another, however, no arrangements more onerous shall be made than, under the same circumstances, would affect the interior commerce of the state which adopts them.

Article V.

The contracting parties shall endeavor to bring about the medium of treaties corresponding legislation as regards the collecting of revenues on products taxed in the interior, partly at the time of their production or preparation, partly at the time of consumption, not subject to the regulations of sections 3 and 4 of article III, Until the time when this object shall have been obtained, the following principles shall be made use of in regard to the aforesaid taxes and to the trade in such amides among the states of the Zollverein for the prevention of such injuries and losses which might result from diversity of their domestic tax systems, and particularly from the inequality of the tax-rates, as well for the producers as for the revenues of the several states of the Zollverein.

I.—Concerning foreign products.

No other duty of any kind, either for account of the state or for account of communes or corporations, shall be levied upon any products upon which more than 15 groschen (52½ kreuzer) import-duties per hundred-weight are imposed, and of which it is proven, according to the manner prescribed in the customs regulations, either that they have undergone the custom-house treatment at a collection office of the Zolverein as foreign importations or transit goods, or are still subject to the same; but, as concerns goods of importation, such inland customs are reserved which in a state of the Zollverein are uniformly imposed upon their further refinement, or upon other manufactures of such products, without distinction of their origin in foreign countries, in separate states, or in the whole territory of the Zollverein.

Among such taxes shall be named, for the present, those on manufactured brandy, beer, and Vinegar, and also the tax on flour and butchered cattle, to which, therefore, foreign cereals, malt, and cattle are subject, in the same manner as those of the interior and of foreign countries.

In those states in which the domestic duties on liquors are ordered in such a way that they are collected on storing the latter, or are charged to the parties liable, the regulation of exempting foreign products from internal duties takes place in such a way that the first storage of taxed foreign liquors, i. e., that which immediately follows upon its direct importation from abroad, on its transportation from public or private warehouses, shall be free from all inland duties. This rule shall apply also to cases where the collection of an internal tax on liquors takes place for account of communities and corporations.

Foreign products which are entered free or not taxed more than 15 groschen (52½ kreuzer) are subject to the following conditions, under No. II:

II.—Concerning products of the several states and of the whole Zollverein.

§ 1. No inland duties shall be collected, either for account of the state or for account of communities or corporations, on articles produced within the Zollverein, which are on transit through a state thereof, to be carried into another state or to foreign countries.

§ 2. It shall be optional with the contracting parties to maintain, to modify, or to remove the domestic duties to which products, at the time of their production, manufacture, or consumption are liable, or to levy new duties of this kind; but such duties shall, for the present, only be levied upon the following productions of the several states and of the whole Zollverein, viz: Upon brandy, beer, vinegar, malt, wine, must, cider (fruit-wine), flour and other products of the mill, also pastry, beef, prepared meats, and lard.

For brandy, beer, and wine the following rates shall be regarded as the utmost limits, to which the said products shall be taxed for account of the state within the Zollverein, viz:

• For brandy containing 50 per cent, of alcohol, according to the Tralles scale, 10 thalers per Ohm of 120 Prussian quarts.
• For beer, 1 thaler 15 silbergroschen per Ohm of 120 Prussian quarts.
• For wine, viz:
  • When the duty is collected according to the value of the wine, 1½ thalers per Zollverein-hundredweight (5 thalers per Ohm of 120 quarts, Prussian).
  • When the duty is collected without regard to the value of the wine, 25 groschen per Zollverein-hundred weight (2 thalers 23½ groschen per Ohm of 120 Prussian quarts.)
  • When the duty is collected according to a classification of the vineyards, no limitation shall be considered necessary.

Certain rates shall also be fixed, as far as necessary, for the other products, subject to a domestic duty, which amount shall not be exceeded in determining the duty.

§ 3. As to all the taxes that are collected in the territory of the states of the Zollverein, according to the requirements of section 2, a mutual uniformity of procedure shall take place, so that the products of another state of the union shall under no consideration be taxed with a higher or more burdensome rate than domestic products (of the taxing State) or the products of other states of the Zollverein. In conformity with this resolution the following was adopted:

• States of the Zollverein which do not collect internal revenue from their own domestic products shall also not tax the same products imported from other states of the union.
• Where internal revenues are collected according to the value of the merchandise, not only the very same rates of customs shall be indiscriminately used as well on domestic products as on products imported from other states of the Zollverein, but also the domestic product shall not be more favored in estimating its value than that from other states of the Zollverein.
• Those states in which internal revenue is collected from an article of consumption at the time of its purchase or sale or consumption shall, in an equal manner, demand these duties on productions of the same kind coming from other states of the Zollverein.
• Those states which have imposed internal revenue taxes on the production or preparation of an article of consumption may also collect the full legal amount on the importation of this article from other states of the union.
• The North German Union shall not collect transit duty on wine-must produced in the other states of the Zollverein, nor shall such a duty be collected from those states which may, during the continuance of this treaty, subject the production of wine to a domestic revenue tax.
• In so far as there exists an understanding between the several states of the Zollverein as to equal duty regulations, these states shall be regarded as a unit as respects the privilege to collect the respective taxes indiscriminately from products imported from other states of the Zollverein.

§ 4. Those states which have imposed an internal tax upon the purchase or sale, consumption, production, or preparation of any article may, when said article is exported to other states of the Zollverein, leave this tax uncollected, or refund the legal amount of the same, either in whole or in part. With regard to the exercise of this privilege the following has been agreed upon:

• A reimbursement shall take place only in case a drawback is granted in the state in question, and not exceeding the amount of such drawback.
• The different governments will take especial care that in no case more than the amount of tax really paid be returned, and that this return do not partake of the nature and effect of an export-bounty.
• Exemption from the obligation to pay taxes shall not take place and the taxes shall not be refunded until it shall have been shown that the taxed productions in the neighboring state of the Zollverein, or in the country of destination, have entered in the manner agreed upon among the different states.
• Exemption from the payment of the internal tax on brandy used for the making of vinegar shall not be granted, and, excepting in case of the exportation of the vinegar to a foreign country, this tax shall not be refunded.

§ 5. It has been specially agreed what amounts, suited to the present state of legislation in the states of the Zollverein, may be collected and refunded according to the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of this article. If alterations shall be subsequently made in the existing rates of taxes on state products, the government concerned shall inform the federal council of the Zollverein (article VIII), and with this information it shall send proof that the amounts which, in consequence of the alterations made or proposed, are to be collected on productions of the countries of the Zollverein, and to be refunded on the exportation of the taxed articles, are according to the principles agreed upon.

When the transit duty on beer is collected according to Zollverein weight, the hundred-weight of 50 kilograms shall remain the standard for its collection.

§ 6. The collection of state taxes on the productions of the countries of the Zollverein which are subject to them shall take place in the state of their destination, unless this is done, by special arrangement, either at places of collection on the frontier or in the state whence they are sent for the account of the state entitled to the tax. The ordinances necessary to secure the collection of the taxes, in so far as they relate to the routes to be followed in sending goods from one state of the Zollverein to another, shall be prepared in such a manner as to obstruct trade as little as possible, and only by mutual agreement, and if the territory of a third state is to be crossed, it shall be done only with the consent of that state.

Where state taxes are levied ad valorem, attention will be paid (in view of the products sent over from other states of the Zollverein) to arrangements for inspection, according to which the value shall be settled first in the place of destination, thereby avoiding time-consuming examinations on the frontiers or on the way between the place whence the goods are sent and that to which they are sent, such examinations being annoying to trade.

§ 7. The collection of taxes for the account of communes or corporations, either by additions to the state taxes or independently, shall only be allowed on articles intended for local consumption, and the general principle expressed in section 3 of this article in reference to uniformity of treatment of the productions of other states of the Zollverein shall be enforced, as in the case of state taxes.

The following articles are, in general, to be considered as intended for local consumption, on which, according to this section, the collection of a tax shall be allowed for the account of communes or corporations alone: beer, vinegar, malt, cider, and products subject to the grinding and slaughter tax; also fuel, provisions, arid forage.

On wine the levy of a tax of the aforesaid kind shall only be admissible in those parts of the Zollverein which belong to the wine-producing counties, properly so called.

Where, in any particular place in the states belonging to the Zollverein, the collection of a tax on brandy for the account of communes or corporations now takes place, or, according to present legislation, cannot be refused, such a state of things will be allowed to exist as an exception.

The taxes on wine and brandy, however, which are levied for the account of communes or corporations, likewise that on beer, shall be subject to the limitation that the tax on brandy, taken together with the state tax, shall not exceed the maximum rate of 10 thalers per Ohm, which is fixed in section 2 of this article, and that on wine and beer shall not exceed the rate of 20 per cent, of the maximum rates therein fixed for state taxes. Exceptions to this shall only be admissible in case individual communes or corporations already impose a higher tax, in which case such tax may be continued.

If taxes should be anywhere levied on other than the aforementioned articles, the collection of such taxes maybe temporarily continued, but the governments of the countries in which such places are situated will endeavor to abolish such taxes at the first opportunity. With regard to the success of efforts made in this direction, reports shall, from time to time, be made to the federal council of the Zollverein.

Taxes for the account of communes or corporations may, when the taxed articles are sent to other states of the Zollverein, be refunded either in whole or in part, as the state taxes are, provided such reimbursement takes place on the occasion of the transit of the taxed articles to other places in the same country.

§ 8. The governments of the several states shall make a full report to the federal council of the Zollverein:

• Concerning all alterations hereafter to be made of their laws and ordinances with regard to the state taxes mentioned in section 2 of this article.
• And with regard to the communal taxes, etc., concerning the alterations made respecting those who are authorized to collect them, the places, articles, amount, and the manner of collection.

Article VI.

The provisions of articles III, IV, and V, and those of articles X to XX, and XXII, are for the present not applicable:

• To the following-named states and portions of the North German Union:
  • In Prussia, to the villages of. Dreuikow, Porep, and Sukow, the colony and the hereditary farm-land of Grosz-Menow, the manors and villages of Zettemin and Peenwerder, Duckow, Rottmannshagen, Rützenfelde, Karlsruh, and Pinnow, the sea-port town of Geestemünde, Fort Wilhelm in Bremerhaven, the islands (in the Elbe) of Altenwerder, Krusenbusch, Finkenwerder, Finkenwerderblumensand, Kattwieck, Hohenschaar, Overhacken, Neuhof, and Wilhelmsburg, the bailiwick of Kirchwerder and the village of Aumund.
  • To the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the former with the exception of Rossow, Netzeband and Schönberg, which are surrounded by Prussia.
  • In Oldenburg, to the sea-port town of Brake.
  • To the Duchy of Lauenburg.
  • To the Hanseatic towns of Lübeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, together with a suitable portion of the surrounding country.
• To the following-named portions of Baden: The island of Reichenau, the town of Büsingen, the Bittenharter-Hof, the towns of Jestetten and Flachshof, Gunzenrieder-Hof and Rutehof, Lottstetten and Balm, Dietenberg, Nack, Locherhof, and Volkenbach, Dettighofen and Hauserhof, Altenburg, Baltersweil, Berwangen, and Albführenhof, near Weisweil.
• As soon as the reasons shall no longer exist, which prevent the enforcement of this treaty in any of the states and portions of territory mentioned under the foregoing No. 1, the President of the North German Union shall notify the governments of the contracting other parties. The federal council of the Zollverein shall then fix the date when the provisions of articles III to V and X to XX shall take effect in that state or portion of territory.

Article VII.

The laws concerning the matters specified in article III, as well as the measures required in the excepted localities (article VI) for the security of the customs frontier, shall be executed by the federal council of the Zollverein as the common organ of the governments and by the customs-parliament (Zollparlament) as the common representative of the population. Uniformity of the resolutions of the majority of both bodies shall berequired for a law of the Zollverein; their competency shall not extend to other than the matters above referred to.

The promulgation of the laws of the Zollverein in the territories of the contracting parties shall take place according to the usages which are there customary.

Article VIII.

The following agreement is made as to the organization and competency of the federal council of the Zollverein:

§ 1. The council shall consist of the representatives of the members of the North German Union and of the South German states.

In the council—

§ 2. Each state of the Zollverein may nominate for the council therof as many plenipotentiaries as it has votes; the total number of votes, however, to which a state is entitled can only be cast as a unit. Votes which are not represented or are not according to instructions, shall not be counted.

§ 3. The council shall appoint from among its members permanent committees:

• On duty and taxes.
• On trade and commerce.
• On accounts.

In each one of these committees at least four states of the Zollverein shall be represented besides the chairman, and each state represented therein shall be entitled to only one vote. The members of the committees shall be elected by the council. The composition of these committees shall be renewed for each session of the council, i. e. each year; the outgoing members being again eligible. Such officials as may be required for the performance of the necessary work shall be placed at the disposal of the committees.

§ 4. Each member of the council shall have the right to appear in the customs-parliament, and upon his request he shall be heard there for the purpose of representing the views of his government, even if they have not been adopted by the majority of the council. No person shall, at the same time, be a member of the council and of the customs-parliament.

§ 5.

§ 5. It shall be the duty of the president to afford to the members of the council the customary diplomatic protection.

§ 6. The presidency shall belong to the Crown of Prussia, which, in the execution of the same, shall have the right to agree, in the name of the contracting parties, to treaties of commerce and navigation.

For the conclusion of these treaties, by which the stipulations of the existing treaty shall in no manner be infringed upon, the consent of the council shall be necessary, and for their validity the approval of the customs-parliament.

§ 7. The presidency shall have the right to convoke, to open, to adjourn, and to close the council.

§ 8. The convocation of the council takes place annually. The customs-parliament shall not be convened without the council.

§ 9. The convocation of the council must take place as soon as it shall be demanded by one-third of the number of votes.

§ 10. The right to preside in the council and to conduct its business shall belong to the representative of Prussia designated for that purpose. He shall have the right to be represented in the management of its affairs by any other member of the council by means of substitution in writing.

§ 11. The presidency shall lay, in accordance with the resolutions of the council, the necessary bills before the customs-parliament, where they are supported by members of the council or by commissioners especially appointed by the latter.

§ 12. There shall be submitted to the council for its action:

• The lawful regulations under the provisions of article VII, which are to be laid before the customs-parliament or have been adopted by the same, inclusive of the treaties of commerce and navigation.
• The administrative directions and arrangements necessary for the execution of the mutual legislation. (Article VII.)
• Defects which may present themselves in the execution of the mutual legislation. (Article VII.)
• The final adjustment of the proceeds of the duties laid before it by the committee on accounts and of the taxes designated in article III, sections 3 and 4.
• Each proposition made by one of the states of the Zollverein respecting the subjects in 1 to 3, and by a controlling official respecting those in 3 (article XX), shall be subject to joint action. In case of a difference of opinion, the vote of the president decides on subjects mentioned in 1 and 2, when it is in favor of the maintenance of the existing regulations and arrangements; in all other cases the majority of votes shall decide, and in case of a tie the vote of the president.

Article IX.

On the subject of the organization and power of the customs-parliament, the following was agreed to:

§ 1. The customs-parliament (Zollparlament) shall be composed of the members of the Parliament of the North German Union and the delegates from the South German states, who shall be elected by universal suffrage, direct vote and secret ballot, in accordance with the law under which the elections for the first Parliament of the North German Union took place.

The right to determine citizenship shall be reserved to the legislature of the South German states, by which the eligibility of deputies to the customs-parliament is regulated.

§ 2. Officials require no leave of absence to become members of the customs-parliament.

In case a member of the customs-parliament accepts in one of the states of the Zollverein a salaried government office, or enters upon the duties of an office in the service of the government, he shall lose his seat and vote in the customs-parliament, and he can recover his seat therein only by a new election.

§ 3. The proceedings of the customs-parliament shall be public.

Truthful reports of the proceedings of the public sessions of the customs-parliament shall not be subject to any responsibility.

§ 4. The customs-parliament shall have the right, within the limits of the subjects designated in article VII, to propose laws and to refer petitions addressed to it to the federal council of the Zollverein, i. e., to its president.

§ 5. The convocation, opening, adjournment, and closing of the customs-parliament shall take place through the president. The convocation does not occur at regular periods, but only when legislative necessity renders it expedient, or when it is requested by one-third of the votes of the federal council.

§ 6. The deputies from the South German States shall be elected for three years. After the expiration of that time new elections shall be held. The first elections shall take place as soon as the present treaty shall have been carried into execution.

§ 7. For the dissolution of the customs-parliament, a resolution to that effect of the federal council shall be requisite and the assent of the president. In case of dissolution, the voters shall be assembled within a period of sixty days thereafter, and the customs-parliament within ninety days after dissolution.

The dissolution of the North German Parliament shall not render new elections in the South German states necessary.

§ 8. Without the consent of the customs-parliament, its adjournment shall not exceed a period of sixty days, and shall not be repeated during the same session.

§ 9. The customs-parliament shall examine the legitimacy of the election of its members and decide thereon, provided this has not already been done previous to its assembling in cases of members belonging to the North German Parliament. It shall regulate independently the mode of transacting business and matters of discipline by its own rules, and also elect independently a president, vice-president, and clerk.

§ 10. The customs-parliament shall decide by an absolute majority of votes. To make a resolution valid, the presence of a majority of the lawful number of members shall be deemed necessary.

§ 11. The members of the customs-parliament shall be the representatives of the whole people, and they shall not be bound by commissions and instructions.

§ 12. No member of the customs-parliament shall at any time be prosecuted on account of his vote or utterances made in the execution of his functions or otherwise called to account outside of the assembly.

§ 13. Without the consent of the customs-parliament no member thereof shall, during the period of its session, be subjected to an examination for a punishable offense, or be imprisoned, except when apprehended in the act or on the day next following. A similar consent shall be necessary in the case of arrest for debt.

At the request of the customs-parliament all judicial proceedings against a member shall be suspended during the period of its session, as well as every arrest for the purpose of investigation.

§ 14. The members of the customs-parliament shall not be allowed to draw any salary or be compensated as such.

Article X.

The proceeds of the duties on imports and exports, of the tax on salt and beet-root sugar, in those districts of the contracting parties which are subject to joint legislation, (article III), including those states or districts mentioned in article II, are in common. This mutual participation shall extend to the proceeds of the tax on tobacco, as soon as the provisions of section 4 of article III shall have been carried into execution.

The following shall be excluded from the mutual participation and shall remain re-served for the use of the individual state governments, if special treaties between different states do not provide otherwise:

• The taxes which are collected in the interior of each state on domestic productions, inclusive of the duties exacted according to article Von productions of the states of the Zollverein of the Same kind.
• Water-tolls.
• Taxes on public highways, tolls on pavements, dams, bridges, ferries, canals, locks, harbor-dues, as well as charges for weighing and warehousing, or similar exactions of whatever kind.
• Fines for violations of the laws relating to tolls and taxes, and confiscations, which, excepting the shares of the informers, are left to each state government in its territory.

Article XI.

The proceeds of the taxes received in common shall be divided among the contracting parties, including the states and districts mentioned in article II, in proportion to the population of the districts which are subject to joint legislation. (Article III.)

These proceeds consist of the entire revenue receipts, after deducting—

• Reimbursements and reductions of taxes based upon the laws or general regulations.
• Reimbursements for illegal exactions.
• Costs of collecting taxes and of superintendence, viz:
  • The expenses in the import and export duties which the protection and collection of the duties on the borders adjoining foreign countries and within the border districts render indispensable. (Article 30 Of the treaties of the 22d and 30th of March and 11th of May, 1833, as well as of the 12th of May, 1835; article 18 of the treaties of the 10th of December, 1835, and 2d of January, 1836; article 29 of the treaty of 19 th of October, 1841; article 30 of the treaties of the 4th of April, 1853, and 16th of May, 1865; and article XVI of the treaty of this date.)
  • The expenses in connection with the tax on salt caused by the payment of salary to the officials in the salt mines charged with the collection and control of that tax. (Article 3 of the agreement of the 8th of May, 1867.)
  • Reimbursements in connection with the tax on beet-root sugar, which are to be granted to the individual states of the Zollverein according to the existing treaties for the expenses incurred in the supervision of this tax. (Article 2 of the agreement of the 16th of May, 1865.)

A census of the districts of the contracting parties shall be taken every three years, and the returns thereof laid before the federal council.

Article XII.

The silver coins of the states of the Zollverein corresponding to the monetary convention of the 24th of January, 1857 (with the exception of small money), shall be receivable at all tax-offices of the Zollverein; four thalers being equal to seven florins as fixed by said convention. Respecting the acceptance of gold coins at the tax-offices, the provisions of the monetary convention relating to the acceptance of these coins shall remain in force.

Article XIII.

Privileges to trades-people in the collection of duties, when such privileges not in accordance with the laws on the subject, must be borne by that government which grants them. As to the limits within which such concessions are to be granted, the existing agreements shall be applicable.

Privileges in respect of duties on machinery and parts of machinery shall likewise not be granted on privats account.

Article XIV.

In accordance with the object of the Zollverein to advance and facilitate commercial intercourse, special privileges in respect to duties derived from certain fairs, especially drawbacks, shall not be extended where at present they still exist in the several states; but they shall be limited, as far as possible, under proper consideration of the industries of the places where fairs are held which have hitherto been favored, as well as their commercial relations with foreign countries, and said privileges shall, as soon as practicable, be entirely suspended, and new ones shall under no circumstances be granted without general assent.

Article XV.

Articles imported for the use of the courts of the high sovereigns and their royal fam ilies, or for the use of the ambassadors, envoys, and chargés d’affaires, &c., accredited to their courts, shall not be exempted from the exaction of duties as fixed by the schedule of the tariff, and if drawbacks have been given therefor they shall not be charged to the common account. Neither shall reimbursements be taken into account which are to be paid in one or the other state to former states of the empire, or to communes or private individuals, on account of discontinued rights to exact duties, or suspended privileges. On the contrary, each state shall have the privilege to allow certain articles to be imported and exported on free permits without the exaction of duties. Such articles, however, shall be treated in conformity with the customs laws, and entered in special registers, which are to be kept like the ordinary registers, and the duties which would have been exacted thereon shall be charged in the next adjustment of the revenues to the state by which the free permits were issued.

Article XVI.

With reference to the expenses of the collection and administration of the duties on imports and exports, the following principles shall be observed:

• No mutual participation therein shall be allowed, in the absence of other special agreement. On the contrary, each government shall assume all expenses of collection and administration which may occur in its territory, whether they are caused by the establishment and maintenance of chief or branch custom-houses, of custom-houses in the interior, salt-mine tax-offices and warehouses, and the directions of the customs, or by the maintenance of the officials employed in the customs service, and the pensions to be paid to the latter, or finally by any other wants arising out of the administration of the customs.
• With reference, however, to that part of the expenses required on the borders adjoining foreign countries or within the border districts belonging to the same, for the authorities charged with the collection, supervision, and control of the customs duties and the custom house guards, an agreement shall be made respecting the aggregate sums which shall be deducted, in accordance with the provisions of article XI, from the annual gross receipts derived from duties and charged in common.
• In determining the necessary expenses in states where the collection of special taxes is connected with the collection of duties, only that portion of the salaries and official outlays of the revenue officers shall be taken into account which is equal to the ratio of their duties performed in connection with the revenues to those of their office in general.
• The subject of equalizing, as nearly as possible, the salaries of the officials employed in the revenue and inspectors’ offices, as well as those employed in the offices of the directors of revenues, shall also be taken into consideration.

It shall be obligatory on the states of the Zollverein to be responsible for the faithful performance of the duties of the officials and employés appointed by them, and for the safety of the funds and the conveyance of moneys, that any deficiencies in the revenues caused by the dishonesty of officials or the embezzlement of moneys already paid in, shall, in the division of the revenues, be charged to, and borne by, that government by which the official was appointed or by which the funds were collected.

In consideration of the fact that the expenses of maintaining the custom-houses in the interior of a state, or the supervision of salt-mines, are borne by each state of the Zollverein, it shall be optional with each of them to establish such number of offices within their territory as they may deem proper, so that, with reference to their competency and appointment of officials, no other restrictions shall take place than those which are allowed by the customs regulations of the Zollverein and the existing instructions and agreements.

The entire official correspondence on the subject of revenue matters between the authorities and officials of the states of the Zollverein, within the limits thereof, shall be conveyed free of postage in all mails, and, to secure such free postage, the correspondence shall contain on the outside envelope or wrapper the words, “On the customs service.”

Article XVII.

The quarterly extracts to be produced at the expiration of each quarter by the revenue authorities, aud the settlements to be made at the end of each year, and the closing of the books respecting the revenues received during the quarter or the fiscal year from the common taxes, shall, after examination, be consolidated in a principal report by the supervising authorities, in which every item of revenue shall be accounted for separately, and these reports shall be transmitted to the committee on accounts. (Article VIII, § 3.) In addition, said committee shall receive, on or before the last day of March, a general statement of the revenues received from the tax on beet-root sugar, and or the expenses to be charged for the supervision of this tax, embracing the period of four months, ending on the last day of December of the preceding year, and, on or before the 10th day of November, a statement embracing the period of eight months ending on the last day of August.

Upon the basis of these general statements the committee on accounts shall prepare between the contracting parties a temporary settlement of the revenues and the tax on salt every three months, and of the tax on beet-root sugar in the months of April and November of each year, which shall be sent to the central finance offices of the contracting parties, and arrangements shall at the same time be made to cover any deficit of the one or the other party in its revenue receipts by reimbursement on the part of those parties who have received a surplus in the revenue receipts. Reimbursements, which are to be rendered upon the basis of the settlement of the tax on beet-root sugar for the four months commencing on the, first of September and ending on the last of December, shall be due on the 1st of September of the following year.

In order that those of the contracting parties who may have occasion to be reimbursed from the treasuries of other governments for the purpose of covering their deficits in the revenue receipts may receive each time their dues as soon as possible, a plan of division shall, at the same time with every quarterly settlement, be laid down by the committee on accounts, in which the amounts shall be set aside in round sums which some of the contracting parties are to receive for the purpose indicated from the treasury of another party, and the treasury designated by which the reimbursement is to be made. According to this plan of division, which is to be transmitted with each settlement to the central finance offices, action shall be taken and the necessary orders for its execution shall be given, if no important objections to it exist, in which case they shall be communicated to the federal council without delay. The reimbursement shall not be held back on account of claims which have no connection with the settlement of the revenue receipts.

On the occasion of the transmission of the above-named plan of division, the committee shall state what proceedings were observed in its preparation according to the wishes of the contracting parties, expressed in advance, and to what extent their express approval of any proposition can be definitely accepted.

The committee shall submit the annual statement of accounts, with their remarks, to the federal council for final decision.

Article XVIII.

The right of pardon and the right of commutation of sentence shall be reserved to every state of the union within its territory. The periodical reports of the pardons granted shall be communicated to the federal council of the Zollverein.

Article XIX.

The collection and administration of common taxes (article X) is left to each state of the Zollverein within its territory, in the same manner as it has exercised the right heretofore. Therefore, the officers and employés shall also hereafter be appointed by the local governments, in each of those states, for the collection and supervision of customs of local and district places which, according to special stipulations and uniform provisions, shall be designated, occupied, and instructed. In each of these states of the Zollverein, with the exception of the Thüringian territory, the discharge of the duties of the local and district authorities, as well as the execution of the common tax laws in general, is transferred to one or, if necessary, to several boards of customs, which are subordinate to the administration of the respective states.

The organization of the boards of customs and the regulation of their business transactions is left to the separate state authorities; but their sphere of operation can only be limited by an instruction of the federal council of the Zollverein; unless otherwise stipulated by the present convention or in the common customs laws.

In the Thüringian united territory the common inspector-general, in connection with the federal council and with the customs authorities of the other states of the Zollverein, performs the functions of a board of customs.

Article XX.

The president shall be charged with the observance of legal forms in the collection and administration of the common taxes. To this end, after hearing the committee for customs and taxes of the federal council (article VIII, § 3), the presidency shall appoint the principal board of customs on the frontiers as well as in the interior (principal tax offices with warehouses), and also the directing board of officers of the Zollverein.

The comptrollers who are attached to the principal offices shall take notice of all the transactions of the principal and the secondary offices in regard to the custody of the frontier and the procedure for the collection of duties and taxes, and see that lawful proceedings are observed and also the correction of whatever defects may occur, but for the rest shall desist from any other controlling action. Their official functions and their authority shall be regulated by an instruction. The authorized inspectors attached to the board of direction shall procure full information in regard to all the management of affairs which relate to the present convention of the Zollverein. Their business relation shall be more precisely defined in a separate instruction, based upon unlimited truthfulness on the part of the managers, in relation to all the matters of the corporation and the facilitation of all means by which reports on the subject can be obtained; while, on the other hand, their attention should be called in all candor to dispose of in a suitable manner all occurring delays and differences in opinions.

The ministers or the high functionaries of the states of the Zollverein shall, moreover, communicate, upon demand, to the federal council all desired information in regard to mutual transactions.

The salaries and all other expenditures of the comptrollers of the Zollverein and of the authorized agents are defrayed by the union.

Article XXI.

The contracting parties shall only issue patents for inventions and for privileges in accordance with the established principles of the agreement of September 21, 1842. Should one of them desire, daring the period of the present convention, to recede from this obligation, it shall then announce its withdrawal to the other contracting parties three months beforehand. This withdrawal, however, shall not extend to the provision under No. Ill of the said agreement, or to the obligation to treat the subjects of the other contracting parties in regard to the granting of patents, as also in regard to the protection of established rights, in the same manner as their own subjects.

Article XXII.

Turnpike-tolls, or other taxes existing in their stead, as well as moneys for paving, dike-taxes, bridge-toll, and ferriage, or under whatever name such taxes may exist, whether the collection be for the account of the state or of a private individual entitled to such taxes, and especially when it is made for a commune, shall be retained or newly introduced on turnpikes, as well as on unpaved roads, which form a direct means of communication between the coterminious states of the Zollverein, and where more extensive commerce and traveling take place, only in such an amount as is sufficient for the usual expenses of repair and maintenance.

The turnpike-tolls as specified in the Prussian tariff of turnpike-tolls of the year 1828, shall be considered as the highest rate, and in future shall not be exceeded in the territories of the contracting parties; with the sole exception of turnpike-toll on such turnpikes as may be built by corporations or by private individuals or stock companies, and when the turnpikes are branch roads or are only used for the local traffic and connection of separate districts and neighboring places with larger cities or with the main commercial roads.

By the stipulated obligations entered upon in regard to the rate of turnpike-tolls, Oldenburg is bound not to increase the present turnpike-toll rates.

The special collection of gate-money and money for paving, shall, on turnpikes where these still exist, be abolished, according to the aforesaid regulation; the paving of the districts shall be thus included in the whole extent of the turnpike, so that only the turnpike-tolls shall be collected, according to the common tariff.

Article XXIII.

Waterage and also river navigation dues, including those which are levied upon vessels (receipt dues) shall also in future, on such rivers where the stipulations of the Vienna congress or of special state conventions are also applicable, be paid b the navigation, according to those provisions; provided no special arrangement is or shall be agreed upon.

Upon other rivers, to which neither the acts of the Vienna congress nor of the state conventions are applicable, the waterage and river dues are collected according to the special regulations of the respective governments. These dues, however) shall not exceed the amount of ¼ groschen per Zollverein-hundredweight or 1 kreutzer, per Bavarian hundredweight per mile. On all these rivers each state of the Zollverein shall treat the merchandises and vessels belonging to persons of other states thereof, and particularly those of inland navigation, on an equal footing with its own.

Article XXIV.

Staple rights and sale rights in the territories of the contracting parties shall also in future be inadmissible.

No person shall be compelled to load or unload, except in cases where the general customs laws or the ship’s regulations admit or prescribe the same.

Article XXV.

Canal, sluice, bridge, ferry, harbor, weighing, elevator, and Warehouse duties and expenses for the operation of contrivances, which are designed to facilitate traffic, shall only be collected in compliance with the existing regulations thereon, and, with exception of the duties collected from navigators of artificial water-channels which are not the property of the State, shall not exceed what is necessary for maintenance and the usual repairs. All these dues shall be collected by the officials in all the states of the Zollverein in an impartial manner, regardless of the future consumption of the goods. Should it become necessary to resort to weighing, in order to determine the customs, or, in general, a customs regulation, no exaction of fees shall be made therefor.

Article XXVI.

The contracting parties shall co-operate, by adopting uniform laws, with the view of promoting industry by granting the privilege to subjects of one state to obtain work and carry, on business in another state.

There shall be no other tax imposed upon subjects of the states of the Zollverein who carry on business or industry or who seek work in the territory of another state, than one equal to that to which its own citizens in a similar occupation are subjected. Also, all merchants, manufacturers, and other tradesmen, who can prove that they have paid for carrying on their business the lawful taxes to the state of the Zollverein where they reside, when making purchases, either in person or through their employed travelers, or soliciting orders by samples carried with them, shall not be obliged to pay any further taxes in the other states of the union. Also, the subjects of one state of the Zollverein, in visiting the markets and fairs of another state thereof for commercial purposes and for the sale of their own products and manufactures, shall be treated in those states in the same manner as their own subjects.

Article XXVII.

The contracting parties shall co-operate for the purpose of effecting for the progress of reciprocal commerce and industry a uniformity in the system of measures, and, as far as may be necessary, in the system of weights of their territories.

Article XXVIII.

The sea-ports of the states of the North German Union shall be opened to the commerce of the other contracting parties on payment of the same dues as those levied upon their own citizens. The consuls of the one or the other of the contracting parties who are stationed at foreign sea-ports and at other commercial places shall also be requested to use their good offices in such cases in behalf of the subjects of the other states of the Zollverein.

Article XXIX.

The present convention shall take effect on the 1st of January, 1868. In case, on the 1st of January, 1876, no notice of revocation on either part shall be given, by the contracting parties, the treaty shall be considered as extended for twelve years longer, and so on every twelve years. It shall at once be submitted to the contracting parties for ratification; and the exchange of the ratifications shall take place at Berlin not later than the 31st of October of the current year.