be entirely free, and may not, in respect to commerce, be prohibited to any one; it being understood that the regulations established with regard to the police of this navigation shall be respected, as they will be formed alike for all, and as favourable as possible to the commerce of all nations.
Art. 110. The system that shall be established both for the collection of the duties and for the maintenance of the police, shall be, as nearly as possible, the same along the whole course of the river, and shall also extend, unless particular circumstances prevent it, to those of its branches and confluents, which, in their navigable course, separate or traverse different states.
Art. 111. The duties on navigation shall be regulated in an uniform and settled manner, and with as little reference as possible to the different quality of the merchandise, in order that a minute examination of the cargo may be rendered unnecessary, except with a view to prevent fraud and evasion. The amount of these duties, which may in no case exceed those now paid, shall be determined by local circumstances, which scarcely allow of a general rule in this respect. The tariff shall, however, be prepared in such a manner, as to encourage commerce by facilitating navigation; for which purpose the duties established upon the Rhine may serve as an approximate model for its construction. The tariff once settled, no increase shall take place therein, except by the common action of the riverain States; nor shall the navigation be burdened with any other duties than those fixed in the Regulation.
Art. 112. The offices for the collection of duties, the number of which shall be reduced as much as possible, shall be determined upon in the above Regulation, and no change shall afterwards be made but by common consent, unless any one of the riverain States should wish to diminish the number of those which exclusively belong to the same.
Art. 113. Each riverain State shall be at the expense of keeping in good repair the towing paths which pass through its territory, and of maintaining the necessary works through the same extent in the channels of the river, in order that no obstacle may be experienced to the navigation. The intended Regulation shall determine the manner in which the riverain States are to participate in these latter works, when the opposite banks belong to different Governments.
Art. 114. There shall nowhere be established store-house, port, or forced harbour duties (Droits d'étape, d'échelle et de relâche forcée). Those already existing shall be preserved for
