§ MR. MITCHELLsaid, he would beg to inquire of the First Lord of the Treasury whether, as the Danish Government now make no charge equivalent to Sound dues on goods passing by the new rail- 555 way through its own country from Tonningen, in the North Sea, to Flensburg, in the Baltic, it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to leave longer unsettled the general question of the Sound dues, to the great detriment of British shipping engaged in the direct trade to the Baltic?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, that the hon. Member had been misinformed upon the fact which formed the basis of his question. A toll was now charged upon goods passing along the railway, which was nearly equal—in some cases, indeed, larger—than the tolls levied in the Sound. Those tolls were paid by the railway companies, who included them in their charge to their customers. There was another passage to the Baltic through Sweden; and in that case, also, tolls were levied nearly equal to those levied at the Sound. With respect to the Sound dues, a correspondence had been going on for some time between the Danish Government and the other maritime Powers, but no final arrangements had been concluded. As far as the British Government was concerned, the matter was still under consideration.